Chapter 106: Surprise Surprise
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
"Same here!"
Hu Yangxuan started the Tactics of the Hexa-Solaris to channel his soul energy into the sword. Infused with energy, the sword began to glow brighter by the second, and Hu Yangxuan hacked the glowing sword at Apache.
Cautiousness flashed in Apache's eyes, but he had kept his composure and did not lose his ground. Apache wrenched the long curved blade to meet his attacker. As the two steel clanked, a few bright sparks erupted from the impact.
These two contestants represented the cream of the crop at the school where they were from. Without Samantha's effort in bringing in exceptionally talented students into the first year, Ayrlarng would not have stood a chance against Bernabeu. The competition in the morning had heightened the morale among the students from Ayrlarng as they eagerly prepared for the fight in the afternoon.
Bernabeu was also very confident in their victory for this round. Despite the fame of Hu Yangxuan, students and teachers at Bernabeu had firmly believed that Apache was a much better fighter, after all, Apache had once defeated rivals from S-Class Academy.
On the stage, two combatants were engrossed in the battle. Hu Yangxuan's vicious attacks seemed to have let him gained the upper hand. The audience from Ayrlarng had started to cheer for Hu Yangxuan, even Rumi seemed to have recovered from his failure and joined the cheering.
Hu Yangxuan appeared to have the pace of the battle under his control. However, he could feel the firmness in every counter, and he knew that his opponent was blocking his attack with ease. Hu Yangxuan conceded that this was going to be a tougher fight that he had thought. When faced with a tough opponent, Hu Yangxuan figured that the best way to deal with it was to finish the opponent off as soon as possible.
Every move of Hu Yangxuan seemed elegant and effective, suggesting his training received from the prestigious Templar Court; his soul reading had sustained around 100 or so, and every single strike was packed with energy.
Any one of the good fighters knew how to boost their soul reading above 100, but only a handful knew how to sustain it for an extended period of time. This could only be achieved through rigorous training and strenuous physical conditioning. A constant high output of soul energy was the only way to guarantee the maximum effect of any tactics. In addition, the continued pressure exerted on the opponent would wear the opponent out much faster. Therefore, in the Templar's Court, as well as other prestigious S-Class Academies, training students to make sure they could sustain a steady output of high soul energy was one of their top priorities.
The same goes with Wang Ben's Fist of the Racing Tiger as every single punch he delivered had the same belligerent intensity and fluctuation in this soul reading was hardly noticed.
Faced with Hu Yangxuna's barrage of attacks, Apache held his ground firmly with ease. Apache's blocks and countermeasures were short but effective and thereby helped him to conserve much of his energy. On the other hand, Hu Yangxuan had spilled out his soul energy in attacks, and he knew that soon he would have nothing left in him. Apache's held a smug on his face as he lifted one corner of his lips that read: "I have a lot of energy left in me, how about you?"
He was sending a message that intended to unnerve his opponent.
Hu Yangxuan had noticed the smug, but he was unruffled. Controlling his emotion was part of the Templar's training; therefore, Hu Yangxuan was unaffected by Apache's effort to break him down from the inside.
Five minutes later, instead of winding down the attack, Hu Yangxuan revealed his real power, and his strike seemed to have gained a new level of aggressiveness as he sped up his movements and attacks. He reminded everyone with his action that even at Capth, he would have been one of their top students, and if his opponent had measured him with the standards of Ayrlarng, they would have made a huge mistake.
As Hu Yangxuan cranked up the intensity of his attacks, the smug on Apache's face also disappeared. He had attempted twice to break free from the storm of belligerence, but both time he was met with even more fearsome attacks which made him retreat. Hu Yangxuan had survived the brutal training of the Templar, and every move had already become muscle memory.
Suddenly, Hu Yangxuan took a swift step back but immediately followed up with a coup de grace, the Triple-cut. The sudden change of pace had caught Apache off-guard. He stumbled back to dodge out of harm's way.
Hu Yangxuan's soul energy spurred abruptly from 120 to about 150 sols as the sword bore down on Apache. This high amount of soul energy would have made the attack unstoppable; any attempt to block it would melt away instantly.
However, as the sword traveled to mere inches away from its target, a strange light glinted in Apache's eyes. Apache sprung upward in lightning speed, and before Hu Yangxuan had realized what had happened, he felt the coldness of Apache's blade against his neck.
The fight was over.
"You Templar's Followers fights, all the same, that's your downfall," Apache sounded so casual that it was almost condescending as if he had just finished a harmless spar with a younger classmate.
Martyrus nodded. He had expected this victory, but seeing how easily Apache had won the match made him regret to have placed Apache in the last round to face that no account Wang Tong. Martyrus considered it a waste since he believed that Wang Tong — who he considered much weaker than Hu Yangxuan — would never defeat Apache.
Never say never; Martyrus had miscalculated the effectiveness of Luo Manman, and so he might have just underestimated the power of the no-account Wang Tong as well.
The defeat had come so suddenly that Hu Yangxuan felt like he needed a moment to take it in. Apache had predicted accurately his movements as well as his thoughts, even the deception of him fumbling around right before his killing strike had eluded Hu Yangxuan. The Templar's Followers were indeed powerful, but their training was mechanic, and the tactics were every similar to each other. When Hu Yangxuan used the Triple-cut, the much more experienced Apache had already anticipated his next move since he had seen it numerous times in fights against other Templar's Followers.
Truth be told, Apache could have finished the fight much sooner should he had used his signature High-speed kicks, which he had used to finish off rivals from Yalen years ago.
Apache unsheathed the curved blade. Hu Yangxuan took a step back and then lowered his sword and said, "You won."
"Brother Hu, don't be so gloomy. Think of it as a free lesson." Apache grinned.
Hu Yangxuan felt even more helpless, but he could not deny the fact that his opponent was much stronger than him, perhaps not even regarding soul energy. Hu Yangxuan reckoned that what helped Apache won the match was his unmatched experience and well-thought-out strategy. Hu Yangxuan then conceded that even if Apache didn't notice his obvious downfall, he would have won the match nonetheless thanks to his unparalleled experience.
Hu Yangxuan quickly regained his usual perspective; failure was easy for him to swallow. When he was a fledgling at the Templar's court, he had to face humiliation inflicted by his elder Templar's brothers on a daily basis, so he had gotten used to it.
Apache didn't take any joy in defeating Hu Yangxuan. He knew from the get-go that victory was in the bag since the gap between him and his opponent's overall strength was enormous.
Samantha had never anticipated such power from Apache. She had heard stories about him making troubles at Yalen years ago, and after that, he seemed to have slipped under the radar. His sudden appearance and the show of incredible strength had caught Samantha off-guard as she realized that even S-Class Academies might have difficulties in dealing with him in a fight.
Martyrus had sensed fears rose among the students of Ayrlarng. Although Apache was still a student registered in Bernabeu, he had been working as an intern at the Confederation's Anti-smuggle special unit for a while. The special units carried out high-risk operations such as intercepting smugglers, hunting down space pirates, and warding off attacks of the Zergs. Due to its dangerous nature, students were usually not allowed to join the special units, so Martyrus had to use his connections to bend a few rules to send Apache there. Martyrus knew that with high risk also came high rewards, and the special unit had always been the perfect place to gain both combat and political experiences.