And that's when Rui noticed something odd.
Freund was continuously breathing with his mouth open. Not just a little open, he looked like he was trying to pump out air as much as possible. If he was exhausted, Rui would not have minded, but he shouldn't have been that exhausted that quickly. Furthermore, there weren't any other signs of exhaustion that accompanied heavy breathing.
Rui's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.
('He's exhaling poison!') He mused with absolute incredulity.
Rui couldn't even begin to fathom the kind of body conditioning Freund Gamor had put himself through to obtain that kind of technique. It also explained why he removed his mouth mask. Everything fit.
Furthermore, this technique was especially effective against Ian. Ian was abusing breathing techniques the entire fight, taking in an impossible amount of air every second.
A technique that poisoned the very air was a technique that was extremely well-suited to taking Ian down!
Down there, Ian had immediately shifted tactics when he realized that he was being poisoned even though he avoided Freund like the plague.
If that was the case, then he simply had no choice.
He lashed out at Freund with Lightning Breathing, and began an onslaught with Fire Breathing. If he could not avoid or even minimize the rate at which he was being poisoned, then there was only one thing left to do.
To ensure that rate at which Freund was being damaged was even higher.
He peppered Freund with an enormous amount of power! Only Fae and Fiona could match his offensive prowess.
Freund fought back valiantly, yet he was enduring damage at an astronomical rate. Wounds appeared on his body every second. After just fifteen seconds, he was already bleeding from multiple places, and half his body had been bruised badly.
As long as he could come maximize the amount of poison that entered Ian's system, he had a realistic chance of victory.
A swift kick crashed against his jaw, rattling his brain.
He fell to the ground, unmoving.
Several moments passed as the referee check up on him.
"Winner; Representative Ian Nepomniachtchi!" The referee declared.
"Aaaand we have a winner folks! Representative Ian Nepomniachtchi managed to snatch victory from the jaws of loss! He will be moving onto the third round of the Martial Contest!" The commentator announced
Immediately after, Ian fell to one knee as he was unable to maintain his balance very well for any longer. His vision was blurring too much to. He knew more than anyone how incredibly close that fight was.
Rui, on the other hand, was very impressed.
Freund was quite strong. Furthermore, he had a solid compatibility advantage against Ian too. Yet, Ian managed to win despite that.
He was strong, there was no doubt about that.
"Rui." Squire Kyrie called to him. "It's time."
"Mmm." Rui nodded. He turned around, heading towards the exit. Servil Bisha had done the same, taking a different route that would lead to the entrance on the other side of the arena.
Rui was already prepared.
He quickly gathered his concentration, honing his mind.
His attention gathered.
He had been finding it easier to enter states of absolute concentration recently. His command over his own mind had been growing rather well.
"Aaaand for the next match we have representative Servil Bisha, the Flickering Ghoul, and her Flickering Core style representing the Gragol branch! On the other hand, we have representative Rui Quarrier and his Flowing Void style representing the Hajin branch!"
The two of them entered the arena, stopping at a distance from each other.
The atmosphere tightened as the two fighters stared at each other without breaking eye-contact.
"Take your stances." The referee instructed.
Servil brought both her fists in front of her, with her center of gravity leaning forward and her legs closed and centered. It was a stance that focused on offense and mobility.
Rui immediately understood her intentions.
They were within his predictions.
He centered his legs, crouching while bring his open-handed palms to his chest.
A stance that had a strong grappling affinity to it. But it also had a lot of mobility.
"Begin!" The referee instructed.
Servil shot straight at Rui, launching a fist. But Rui had simply cleanly avoided it. At his current level, his reaction and reflexes were extremely quick. His reincarnated-enhanced mind, the depth of his Martial Path, the VOID algorithm and the Primordial Instinct technique ensured his reflexes were far above what most Martial Apprentices could possibly have.
Nel was his equal because he had superhuman reflexes even before he broke through, while only Kane was his superior because of his affinity for speed, as well as the reaction speed-oriented techniques.
Landing a strike when he was going his best to avoid it, was a difficult task as Servil was coming to learn.
Rui simply avoided the initial flurry of blows. He wanted to win, but he also wanted to hold back his trump cards. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to try and balance between the two.
Suddenly Servil paused, she was getting nowhere, she realized. Rui was as slippery as an eel. The best she was able to was land some imprecise angled strikes, that too only if she significantly sacrificed accumulating power for quickness. She wouldn't be able to win this way.
Her stance changed as she stomped one foot in front of her.
Rui's eyes widened as the entire arena started vibrating sharply. He had to focus just to maintain his balance.
Servil short forward, maintaining the vibrations with every step.
Rui understood her plan. It was clear was extremely accustomed to vibrating surfaces, most likely thanks to extended training. She was using the fact that her opponent was not comfortable under such circumstances to increase their vulnerability.
Rui felt a sharp sense of danger as Servil rushed towards him. He needed to be extremely careful with how he dealt with this.