Park Minzhe was an orc who left his community as he found his Qi affinity at an early age. He travelled for many years and amassed wild experience, and was finally introduced to the world of cultivation by an old shopkeeper as he wandered into Piscerent. The old man was a solitary cultivator living in the city, because he failed to pass the entrance tests of the four major giants at a young age. Keeping his shop closed for the weekends, the old man and Minzhe would go to the Cultivator's Guild to take missions. It was for earning money, but it also gave teen Minzhe a lot of practical knowledge. He lived with his mentor for about 28 years, and the old man died at an age of 91.
After his death, Minzhe went back in search of his community, but did not find any. So he came back to the city after dropping the search. He took the shop as his own and took great care of it, until the city had to renovate a great deal and the shop had to be demolished as a part of the development. To compensate with demolition of the memorial shop, he was given the membership of Cultivator's Guild, which could only be acquired after a series of tests. The Guild took his mentor's and his contribution in the last 8 years and thus granted the identity.
After officially receiving his membership, he began to finish missions and acquire reward at a much faster pace. Though the missions he took were all hunting or gathering, he took great care to use his orcish sense of smell to detect the surroundings. Many times had he escaped death by the width of a hair, just because he trusted his olfactory senses.
The reward for the Tri-annual Tournament were 1500 gold coins and a spatial ring. The demand of gold as the highest level of money transaction allured many, but it was the presence of a spatial ring that made them fight all out. Minzhe was looking to buy a new weapon as his double headed battle axe had some cracks from continuous usage for about 22 years.
As he stepped onto the arena, the battle axe on his back was taken into his arms, and laid horizontally on his shoulders. Tera displayed her Pumice Steel hatchets. After they firmly stood on the arena, Typhoon Clan head who was also the referee, shouted-
"Fight!"
To strike first was equal to stealing the win. Thus Minzhe cautiously stepped forth with his battle axe in his arms. It was placed in his arms in a way that he can swing it with ease and in almost all directions. Tera too gripped her hatchets and held them in front of her. Both of them took a few steps forward, yet there was still a lot of space between them on that 20 metres long and wide stage!
"Haa.."
Minzhe was tired of waiting, and he stepped forth with vigour. He swung his axe at her chest, which she easily evaded by stepping backward. He did not let her go as he twirled and brought down the axe with an intense amount of momentum from the 360 degree twist. Tera found that the speed of the axe had at least become twice. She couldn't evade it, so she held her hatchets up and confronted the metal axe blade.
*Creak*
A short shrill sound rose up as the twin hatchets grated against the axe blade. The force pushed Tera backward, but she found a firm footing instantly. The axe passed and the orc's backside was visible. She pushed herself with everything she had and aimed her hatchets at the backside of his fiery red robe. Just as her hatchets almost scratched the robe, Minzhe twisted the axe's trajectory and it went up. Without any delay, he turned around and saw his target. The axe came down with immense strength and gravity did it's part. Tera found herself in a troublesome situation. She stepped to her right, and missed the axe by an inch from her shoulder. The hatchets creaked against the axe blade as it drew a straight line on it.
*Bang*
The sound of the axe hitting the arena floor was loud and clear. But there were no dents on the floor. The smooth and polished surface was reluctant to be deformed by the likes of a simple battle axe. The spectators and other contestants were aware of the material with which that arena was made. But Lee, An and Mia did not know that it was made out of Spirit Obsidian Rock. D quickly gave a short description regarding the properties of the special rock. Lee was surprised to hear that this rock is unyielding once it hardens into solid state from molten state. He glanced to his left and saw An and Mia curious about the arena, so he promptly send the information into their heads. At once, they turned their heads at Lee and saw him giving a nod. With content with the information obtained, they focused back on the match.
Minzhe was relentlessly attacking Tera with a combo of attacks, which she evaded by a slight margin. He did not exhibit the arrogant attitude of screaming out his technique's name, which was usual with cultivators. His breath was calm and his actions were fierce. Lee saw her attempts to evade nearing its limit as the axe began to scrape and tear her dress. He wanted to help her using Information Transfer, but he realised that it would only spoil her talent. So he decided to sit tight and spectate.
A few seconds later, Tera fell on one knee and admitted defeat as she rubbed her left shoulder. Her opponent made her twist and turn so much that she felt her own body crying from fatigue. Without waiting a moment, she accepted defeat. Yet, she was happy that, she, who had no affinity was able to stand against an 8th stage Qi Accumulation realm cultivator, only by her courage. She immediately sprang up onto her feet and went back to her seat. The spectators did not lose the bet as they had bet on the cultivator rather than the girl.
"You did great!"
An and Mia were excited to see Tera fighting with no tinge of fear. They leashed their voice and congratulated her, without being a disturbance to others. Lee too was surprised and happy to see someone with no affinity bravely fighting a cultivator. Tera sat on her seat and the next contestants were called into the arena.
"Lian Mingyu, Xiu Fu."
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