The Ranch

Newcomers Tournament (2)

After the time for signing has ended, the densely packed crowd moves along the stone path to find empty seats they can occupy. Bleacher-like seats made out of marble line the rim of the colosseum like a football stadium.

The venue is quickly filled to the brim with spectators. A very small percentage of the island's population are the newcomer, the ones stirring in their seats are soldiers and instructors. They are either looking for potential or are using the tournament as a means of entertainment. Hollers of food vendors can still be heard among the bustling crowd.

The arena is set up so that multiple matches would take place at once. If they went by one at a time, it would take infinitely longer to get to the most anticipated part, the finals. After getting rid of all the average newbies in the first couple rounds, you're left with the newbies that have actual potential and ability. That's what many of the audience members are looking forward to.

Finding three empty seats with relatively good views, Kai and Tih sit down along with Instructor Kane, with Tih being squished between the two.

The noisy audience finally quiets down once an announcer speaks up," Welcome to this years Newcomers Tournament! Information on the participants will be inputted into any electronic devices you own. Bets will end in fifteen minutes, when the competition officially commences!" The announcer with a voice like a typical sports commentator, speaks through what looks like a megaphone, but unlike a regular speaker, this one allows his voice to travel across the entire colosseum, as if the man is speaking right next to each individual.

Kai focuses on a certain sentence," Betting? Instructor Kane, we can bet on who's gonna win?"

"Yep, but unless you got money to spare, newbies better hold back from throwing away your money. But if you really want to risk it and somehow win, there'll be a big payout. I don't recommend testing your luck."

"But we have information on all the participants, we can't use that to determine who has the best chances of winning?"

"You can try, but I wouldn't rely on the info given." Instructor Kane shrugs nonchalantly.

"I see..." Kai goes into thought.

As their conversation ends, the fifteen minutes quickly passes, and the announcer returns. "Have all your bets in? Good! Then let's start the first round. An impartial raffle will decide which classes will be pitted against each other. Please look at your devices to view the incoming results."

Neither Tih's nor Kai's watches show the raffle. This is because they were made by Sherlock's friend and aren't connected to the mainframe. In other words, the island's system has no control over their wristwatches. The rest of the audience, including Instructor Kane, bought their electronic watches from a shop in the central market.

Using the excuse of not having money to buy devices, Kai asks to looks at Instructor Kane's screen. Since Tih is in the middle, all three can see the 3-d interface showing martial arts names. The words fly up and down the screen like a slot machine, swiftly slowing to a stop. The final list looks like this:

Muay Thai vs Kendo

Archery vs Capoeira

Jujitsu vs Hapkido

Jeet Kune Do vs Krav Maga

Ninjutsu vs Iaido

Wushu vs Taekwondo

Sambo vs MMA

These are only some of the pairings, as there are many classes and groups within the new recruits. Pairing are based on the luck of the draw. Classes like Archery have the short end of the stick, seeing that their first opponent utilizes close combat.  Others are more evenly matched like Jeet Kune Do and Krav Maga.

The bets are placed and the contestants walk on stage. The arena is large enough to hold around eight circular stages. As there are more than sixteen classes, this will not be the only round.

Winners will be determined through team fights. Cooperation, mutual understanding, and tactics will be the main components of the Group Tournament.

As the groups walk onto stage and the fighting commences, people in the crowd start whispering and pointing at certain individuals.

"Look over there. That's Abel right. Rumor has it that he's really fast."

"No no, more specifically, he's very swift. His attacks flow together like one continuous movement."

The group looks towards the fight they're pointing to. Tih sees a person of similar age with peach colored skin and brown eyes. He adorns straight black hair that's short at the sides with long fringe in the front, partially covering his eyes. He's around the average height for his age and is on the skinner side.

"What martial arts is he using?"

"Looks like he joined a Jeet Kune Do class."

"Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned and is a philosophy with guiding ideas. Jeet Kune Do's practitioners believe in minimal effort with maximum effect and extreme speed." Kai recalls from memory. The people in hearing distance look at him in amazement.

Tih watches as Abel's classmates attack their opponents. Using swift moves to kick and punch their bodies as the opponents fight back with their own style of martial arts. It's obvious at a glance that Abel is on a different level than his classmates. His attack are faster and more powerful. They hit hard with accurate precision, easily defeating his enemy.

Seeing that one of his comrades has fallen, a familiar child takes his place as Abel's opponent. This person is Axel. With one mangled ear, he starts fighting his new opponent.

"Their opponents should be using Krav Maga right?"

"Ohh, I heard it's one of the most violent martial arts you can learn!"

That's correct. Axel joined a Krav Maga class that places emphasis on attacking soft tissue and pressure points. "It bases its teachings around learning how to defend oneself from an armed attack. They rely on an aggressive philosophy, combining offensive and defensive maneuvers." Kai comments.

"You sure know a lot about the different styles of fighting." Instructor Kane comments with a smirk.

Kai starts bragging," Not just it's basic information, if I wanted to, I could go more in-depth about its history, like who created it and how it was formed and changed over the years. Would you like m-"

He's cut off by Instructor Kane who point down at the fight," Oh look!"

Kai's attention is dragged back to the fight effectively.

Although Axel caught Abel by surprise in the beginning, he was quickly overpowered by the latter. This isn't to say that Krav Maga isn't as strong as Jeet Kune Do, But the person fighting isn't conditioned to the act of fighting. At the end of the day, it has only been a month since the new recruits arrived on the island. There's only so much one can gain from a month of practice.

With this being the case, it seems like Abel has talent in the fighting style of his choice. After a couple minutes, he finishes his fight with Axel and Axel succumbs to his defeat. Abel moves on to defeat all the other opponents one by one, which was made easy, because they only had three people left and although Abel's classmates couldn't beat them, they could tire their opponents out and keep them busy, allowing Abel to swoop in for the kill.