Ashley(On Hold)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once the round started, I didn't even bother to look at who I'm against, it doesn't matter.

He lunged at me, but I quickly dodged and landed a blow on his leg. He was clearly inexperienced. He staggered back a few steps, then lunged again. My sword met his and I easily overpowered him and landed another blow on his arm. This time I lunged and he quickly dodged, but I saw an opening and landed another blow on his bad leg. He fell to his knees and I hit him over the head with the handle of my sword and knocked him out. That was too easy.

~*~*~*~*~

Once everyone finished there fight, we moved on. Hopefully this round would be more of a challenge.

"Good job everyone. As you can see, we already have a fan favorite." I looked up and sure enough, everyone was staring at me. "Our 'mystery man', seems to have finished this round in less than a minute, Congradulations." He continued. I looked at the King, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Prince Austin staring at me curiously. I looked away and continued to listen to the king.

"Now, everyone. The second round follows the same rules as round one. There are now fifty competitors and only half will move on. Good luck."

Now I know why the first round was so easy. I should have remembered that I trained against Ryan after all.

~*~*~*~*~

This time, my opponent was smarter. Instead of lunging at each other. We started the circle each other. He attacked first and his sword met mine. I reacted quickly and placed a blow to his arm. He recovered and tried to land a blow to my hand but I quickly dodged. We started to attack each other, only to meet each others sword. After a while, we heard some cheering and he looked up. Big mistake. I lunged and knocked his sword out of his hand and hit him again, just for him to get knocked out.

When I won, I looked up to see the cheering was for another person who won.

I looked away and put my sword back. When I looked up again, I saw Prince Austin staring at me like he was trying to solve a puzzle or something. What's up with him?

~*~*~*~*~

"Okay! Before we go to round three, I would like everyone to take a break. We will continue soon. Also, my son will be walking around to talk to the competitors." From the corner of my eye, I saw Prince Austin looked shocked and surprised. I turned around before I could see more and started to look for Ryan.

*Austin's POV*

Once my dad said that, I was shocked. Once everyone started to do their own things, I turned to my dad, but before I could speak, he did.

"Before you say anything, yes you have to do this, and I did this because I thought you might want to get to know the competitors, especially the 'mystery man'."

Well I can't argue with that!

~*~*~*~*~

I started talking to the competitors that were left. I learned why they were here and some things about their lives.

Once I finished talking to another person, I saw the 'mystery man' talking to Ryan. I really wanted to talk to him, so I made my way over there. Once they saw me, they stopped talking and Ryan said good-bye to the 'mystery man'. Guess he knew what I was going to do.

He looked behind him confused and probably didn't see me because he started to walk away. Before he could, I grabbed his wrist but quickly let go when where I touched him felt like a...good kind of fire.

I didn't know what I was going to say anymore so I said the first thing that came to mind. "So, I just came to say go-good luck." I stuttered, then I ran away.

*Ashley's POV*

I was listening to Ryan giving me a pep talk when he suddenly stopped. He said a quick 'Goodbye' and practically ran away. Confused, I turned around, just to see Prince Austin heading my way. I was about to run away, when I felt him grab my wrists. I quickly pulled back, as did he, when the place that he touched felt like fire, but in a good way. He must have felt it too, as he was just as shocked as I was.

When we were finally over the shock of what just happened, he started to talk. "So, I just came to say go-good luck." He said in a rush and just like Ryan, he practically ran away.

I stood there dazed until Ryan came back.

"So...how did it go?" He asked.

"Not so good. Why did you just leave me here though? You couldn't say or even tell me anything!?!"

He looked down with a pout on his face. "I'm sorry." He said softly.

I laughed. "What am I going to do with you?" I questioned between laughter. He just smiled.

~*~*~*~*~

"Now for round three!" The King roared. Everyone started cheering. "This round, you are going to fight in groups of five. Other than that, everything is the same. There are only twenty-five fighters left, and at the end of this round, there will be only five. Good luck!"

~*~*~*~*~

As soon as the round started, everyone went at me. What the heck!?! I ducked and managed to dodge all of them. One of the were already knocked out because when I ducked, he was behind me so he got all the blows instead. Hm...one down, three to go.

They all came at me again, but this time when I ducked, I grabbed two of the by the head and force the heads against each other. The blow was so hard, one of them got knocked out right then and there. The other one stayed strong. Two to go.

This time, they circled me. I went at one and kneed him in the head. Then I quickly landed blow on the other ones arm. As soon as the first one recovered, I hit him over the head with the handle of my sword. Hm...didn't I do that in the first round? Interesting.

The last one stumbled a little when he lunged at me. He was weak already so all I had to do was kick him in the face and he blacked out. Wow. I won. I heard cheering and when I turned around, everyone was standing up and clapping for me. A few girls threw their underwear at me. Gross.

One more round to go.

~*~*~*~*~

"Time for the last round!" If everyone wasn't wild for the last rounds, they were now. Even more girls threw their panties and I had to dodge them all. Throw them at someone else won't you! "This round is just like the last, except the stakes are higher. The winner will become a warrior. Good luck!"

~*~*~*~*~

This time, everyone went at each other in pairs and I was left out. Stealthily, I waalked behind one of the guys that were fighting and kicked them in their knees, causing them to stumble and their opponent to knock them out.

When I looked at the other guy, he screamed and ran away, right in the middle of the other fight, causing him to get knocked out.

The other guys finished their fight with one more blow and the winner came at me. I dodged quickly and sent a blow at his leg. He stumbled and started to limp, but continued to fight. Again, I hit him in the leg and this time he couldn't walk. Perfect. I knocked his sword out of his hand and punched him in the face. Out he went.

I heard cheering and looked up to see everyone cheering for me.

"And the winner is the 'mystery man'!" Yells the King.

I look around the room, smiling like crazy. Oh, ya!

"But it's not over yet!" My head snaps in that direction so fast, it's a wonder it didn't break. "My son has decided to fight the winner. Everyone, Prince Austin!"

I see Prince Austin get up and gets ready to talk. "That is true. 'Mystery man', I challenge you to a fight."