Chapter 2900: Excitement
Another twelve years old young boy entered the arena with him, looking surprised. "Hey, it is you already, Rean?"
Excitement.
"Hey Foster! Don't hold back on me. Friends should give their best, no hard feelings!" Rean spoke with excitement. Weeks of talking with the village people got Rean quite some new friends of the same age.
"Obviously!" Foster nodded and assumed a fighting stance. "No hard feelings when I win."
"Hahaha!" Rean laughed and assumed a stance as well. There were no weapons, so there wasn't really a need for a judge. The only rule was that you should stop when your adversary hits the ground. It was that simple.
Foster ran forward and punched out... easily hitting Rean's face and forcing him back a few steps. However, he didn't fall.
Foster laughed and tried again, although Rean dodged this time and delivered a kick on his belly... just barely.
"Go, Foster, go!"
"Rean, don't give up!"
Rean was quite surprised. He was definitely holding back, but even without any cultivator, Foster was much stronger than the kids back in the Varen Tribe, where Rean and Roan were born. Twelve-year-old kids back then would already be in the second or third stage of the Body Transformation Realm. Yet, Foster was stronger without any cultivation, and it wasn't just a little.
'Can you see it?' Rean spoke while he pretended to have a hard fight with Foster.
Roan obviously nodded. 'He doesn't have cultivation, but he should be as strong as an Initial Stage Energy Gathering Realm expert back in our Varen Tribe. And this is just a forgotten village in the middle of nowhere in a mortal world. Quite impressive.'
After a minute of fight, Rean finally delivered a blow that knocked Foster to the ground. He pretended to gasp for air and extended his hand forward. "Ni-Nice fight, Foster. You- You are strong."
Foster coughed and accepted Rean's help to get up. "Man... can't believe I lost to you, but I almost got you too."
"Hahaha!" Rean laughed. "Better luck next time."
Rean and Roan then glanced at the green crystal that only they and the village Chief could see. Yet, the crystal had absolutely no reaction whatsoever, much to the twins' surprise.
'Weird... is it rejecting me?' Rean wondered.
'Try to finish the fight faster this time,' Roan asked.
During the next fight, Rean defeated his opponent in around thirty seconds, being faster than any of the kids in the other arenas. And yet, the crystal still showed no reaction.
'That is not good,' Roan commented. 'Didi doesn't seem the least bit interested in you since the crystal isn't shining when you win.'
'Then it is definitely a talent check,' Rean commented back.
'Not exactly,' Roan shook his head. 'I've been paying attention to the energy entering the bodies of the other kids who won. I think it is more about compatibility. The crystal is using the fights to check the compatibility with the Werdlem Crystals.'
'That's possible too.' Rean didn't deny that possibility. 'But this is not good regardless. If I don't make the crystal accept me, Didi won't give me a crystal even if I'm the last one standing.'
Roan pondered a bit. 'Don't hold back anymore. Just show a strength that he will be forced to select you even if the crystal floating above the arenas doesn't shine with your victories.'
'Wouldn't that be too suspicious?' Rean asked back, concerned.
'If you have a better idea, I'm all ears,' Roan shrugged in response.
Rean sighed and nodded in the end.
"Rean! It won't be easy this time! Haaaa!" A kid called Dorio quickly charged in Rean's direction. No doubt, he was a lot strong than the previous kids.
Rean felt bad for him, but he had no choice. He walked slowly in Dorio's direction with his hands on his back. When Dorio punched out, Rean easily dodged. What followed was basically one kid punching and kicking the air as Rean dodged everything effortlessly. In the end, Rean left his leg in the right position, making Dorio trip and fall with his face on the ground after The tried to punch again.
That display obviously caught many eyes. It was completely different from what they had seen so far.
In the next fight, Rean changed his approach. He was the one to charge forward. The kid tried to hit Rean when they got close to each other. Yet, Rean parried the fist with one hand while he punched with the other, delivering a heavy blow to the kid's belly and forcing him to kneel. Another victory and it only took two seconds. 'I feel like a Roa- I mean, a bully...'
'Hmph!' Roan snorted but didn't say anything. That was indeed his method, and he didn't regret it.
In the end, Rean reached the final, but the other kid only trembled in fear. Everyone saw Rean fighting so far, so how could they not be afraid?
"Rean, you are too strong..." Larson, his opponent in the final, complained.
"Sorry. But hey, I will teach you guys later. How about that?" Rean asked back with a smile. "Really?!" Larson's mood immediately improved. "You promised!"
Rean faintly smiled and quickly ended the battle again. Larson was also not a match for him.
By now, there wasn't a single eye that didn't focus on Rean and his fighting prowess. Yet, at this moment, the green crystal finally showed a reaction. It began to shine with such intensity that it couldn't stay hidden from everyone's eyes anymore.
Following that, the same energy came out of it and entered Rean's body. The amount of it was much higher than it was for any kid so far.
Roan glanced at Didi, who couldn't even pretend anymore. The excitement on Didi's face was obvious to anyone to see. It's just that everyone was still confused about what that light was.
*Pin!*
[Werdlem connection detected.]
[New parameters have been provided.]
[Waiting for Werdlem Stone acquisition.]
'Well, seems like we didn't need to impress Didi in the end,' Rean spoke through their
connection.