As the air in the waiting room hitched, causing every voice and stare to dull, Leon locked his eyes on Tiger.
He watched him until he saw Tiger walk toward the washroom and enter. 'If he's a Tier 2, why then did he join this program?' Leon said low in his head as he watched the door slam shut.
A few minutes after Leon shifted his gaze to the window and watched the sky, the proctors mentioned the next match bracket.
[Next Match]
[Storm, L vs Lucas]
Murmurs rose from the crowd when Leon exited the waiting room and began walking toward the arena.
"This guy again?"
"What's he even looking for?"
"Can't someone just tear him apart so he doesn't rise again?"
Leon continued walking as if the voices were just like mosquito noise while the name of his opponent rang in his head: Lucas, the swordsman's grandson.
When he stepped on the first stairs of the arena, all the details he read on the datapad flashed in his head and gave him some bit of courage, since no ability was stated, only strength.
Then slowly, Leon climbed the stage, leaned on one leg, and waited.
He stayed there staring at the torn pieces of human flesh that had scattered across the platform like feathers.
'Did Tiger really tear his opponent apart?' Leon said low in his head as he squeezed his nose, holding his breath in order not to inhale the stench rising from the ground.
Just as Leon lifted his gaze and saw a four-foot skinny boy appearing from the other side, he laughed. He blinked countless times as he couldn't control himself, not just laughing at the boy's face, but the height and the slightly bony legs.
The moment of joy vanished from Leon when Lucas smiled back rather than countering back.
Leon's chest tightened while his legs moved a step back before his mind could even catch up. Yet something within him wasn't really moved.
'Is Lucas really the swordsman's grandson?' Leon thought as he covered his mouth, keeping his smirk buried.
Lucas clapped once and stiffened his face when the arena's barrier closed behind him.
"Do you have an ability like the other?" he asked in a thin voice that didn't match his stature. "Or do we go hand-to-hand?"
Leon swallowed his laughter and lowered his hands from his face, then watched as Lucas moved forward in unhurried steps.
"I will go by your ways. But I prefer hand-to-hand." Leon said, slightly raising his shoulders, then cracked his knuckles.
Lucas frowned and nodded continuously, but when the starting signal echoed, his expression shifted and the warmth he carried earlier all died. "Wow. No one has ever asked for hand-to-hand before. Let's see how you handle my strikes."
Lucas dashed forward like a bullet shot from its magazine and neared Leon before Leon could see him moving.
The only thing Leon could see was the glowing punch which was already pushing air on his face. He managed to pull back just enough, but couldn't save his cheeks from getting scratched.
Lucas's second punch came right away and slammed into Leon's chest.
Blood gushed out of Leon's mouth before he could even feel the pain rattling through his bones. He dropped to the ground and clutched his face as more of Lucas's punches got hurled on him like rain.
Leon's left palm kept on pushing Lucas away from him while he tried to throw a punch at Lucas.
Immediately Leon saw an opportunity after Lucas slammed the forty-ninth punch and paused gasping heavily, he slammed his right fist into Lucas's chest, but regretted it.
Lucas landed a heavy punch on Leon which caused his teeth to loosen as blood dripped from his area of impact and his mouth.
Leon's body went numb for a second like a branch left hanging to just die after the fiftieth punch left doubled the pain.
Lucas watched Leon's blood turn watery and breathed when he loosened his knuckles.
"Get up and face me the way you said you would. Fight me with the same strength you used to laugh at me!" Lucas screamed in a voice that pulsed in Leon's skin and made his blood boil in his veins.
"You thought I was just like any normal person?" Lucas shook his head once and brushed his hands on his face. "Don't judge me by looking at my size or face. Judge the name I carry."
When Lucas moved from Leon's side, his footsteps echoed like vibrations in Leon's ear. And when all the sound stopped entering Leon, another version of pain rattled through his chest starting from his stomach and caused his eyes to bulge.
"This is a reminder of who you should fear." Lucas said in a loud voice while raising his right foot from Leon's stomach.
Leon lay on the ground like a corpse when the match-ending signal echoed. Cheers rose as Lucas was pronounced the winner.
Men dressed in blue gowns rushed and carried Leon, but Leon only saw shapes dancing before him as he got carried from the arena and was left in one of the waiting room's bathing tubs.
Behind the waiting room's closed door, murmurs of confusion rose in the crowd.
"Why are they helping this rat? Is he good or better than those that were left to die?"
"Why don't they just feed him to the dungeon monsters the same way they did with the others?"
"Wait, I think they are preserving him to fight one of the unstoppable members taking part in this program."
"Who are you actually referring to as the unstoppable members? The demon prince and his colleagues who pretend to be calm?"
"Not Malphas. I'm talking about the maniac and his people."
"Oh. Kang T, I guess?"
"Yeah."
"I bet that Storm boy wouldn't last a second with Kang T. That will give the officials a clean excuse to use him as a meal to the monsters. Hahaha."
Inside the waiting room, Leon felt his body carried away by another person after harsh water had poured on him like acid.
When he forcefully cracked his eyes open, he saw the face of someone he wasn't ready or ever wanted to meet.
"Oh, Leon, Leon." Vera said in a sarcastic tone as she brushed the tip of her right index finger on Leon's forehead. "I can't wait to watch you get destroyed by my boyfriend."
She traced a thin line on Leon's face, made it linger a little longer on Leon's lips, then removed it and placed it at the center of Leon's chest.
Leon coughed heavily when Vera's fingernail pierced through his skin as if wanting to carve a path in his chest to enable her to see his crazy heart.
Leon tried raising his hand to push the finger away but his bones didn't allow him.
"After the fight," Vera paused pressing and squeezed Leon's cheeks. "Tell your father my father sent his greetings."
Vera's laughter and the door banging were the last things Leon heard before his eyes closed.