Army Surplus?
A confident grin grew on Cane's face as he ascended the stairs into the arena.
I've yet to meet a soldier who can hurt Apprentice Masters. Even though I'm not an Apprentice Master, my defence is even greater than one - by a little bit. Not to mention my speed.
Hehe.
The two faced each other in the arena. This time, instead of Isaac, Cane began laughing. Isaac frowned.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing much. It's just... last time, you were talking about how physical fighters get countered by you, right?"
"... Yeah?"
Cane smiled and opened his mouth, but before he could speak - the bell cut him off.
Instantly, Isaac activated Army Surplus. Around him formed powered armour, strong enough to withstand most warriors. In his hands, an energy rifle appeared.
Isaac immediately crouched and frowned, aiming the barrel of his rifle at Cane. What was he about to say? Nevermind, he's just a physical fighter anyway. Unless he's somehow as fast and durable as an Apprentice Master, there's nothing he can do to me.
Physical fighters are inherently weaker compared to people like me, right? If this was a novel, that guy Cane would definitely be an extra - no doubt about it.
Zzsst!
A fast moving beam of light sped toward Cane! And yet, as the audience shifted their gaze from Isaac over to where Cane was, they noticed he wasn't there anymore.
Cane's speed was barely higher the Apprentice Master rank, which meant he was moving at a shocking 600 kilometres per hour!
This also meant he could move at over 166 metres every second. Slower than an energy beam, but most certainly faster than the tip of a gun's barrel could move.
Even if he couldn't dodge the energy beams, he could definitely outpace Isaac's aiming speeds!
Meanwhile, Isaac's pupils narrowed in shock. He immediately pressed his palm to the ground, and a circle of slightly raised earth appeared around him. Following that, he lifted his palm into the air, forming military barricades to surround himself.
Cane - who had just been about to charge in - stopped when he saw this sight. That raised earth... what are the chances that it's a ring of landmines?
Steal!
One of the landmines appeared in his hands. Cane first looked down at the landmine, then looked up at Isaac, who had turtled himself up.
I see how it is...
Cane suddenly shifted to a throwing position.
"Batter up!"
Fwoosh!!
The landmine sped through the air at high speeds, propelled by Cane's Apprentice Master strength. The moment it touched the military barricades, it exploded in a blinding flash of light!
Dust went up, filling the arena.
The other barricades went flying, as did Isaac! However, he was unharmed - staying behind one of the barricades and constantly reforming it to prevent the damage on it.
The once-arrogant Isaac shouted from behind his barrier.
"Hey man, don't make me do this! You don't wanna know what my second ability is, or else!"
But Cane merely sneered. "I don't care."
Steal!
The barricade Isaac had been hiding behind suddenly disappeared, leaving him exposed once more. Cane, who was now holding it in on hand, lifted his Plasma Pistol...
And fired.
ZZST!
A high-calibre energy bolt erupted from the barrel of Cane's Plasma Pistol, hurtling toward Isaac. Seeing his death approaching, Isaac shut his eyes and shouted.
"AARRGGGGHHRROOOOARR!!!"
The shout started off as human as any, but as it went on it quickly transitioned into the vicious roar of a beast. Isaac's figure began morphing and transforming into...
A huge red dragon.
Cane's eyes widened at the sight. Holy shit... A dragon???
Even the weakest dragons were rank 3, including other draconian variants. Only at rank 5 would a dragon be considered as "at it's peak" in strength.
Typically before rank 5, they wouldn't be fully evolved and would be missing some of the main features of a dragon, perhaps the wings or arms or even more. This included the Sky Serpent which Cane had fought all those months ago.
At such a stage, either their elemental powers or their physical strength would be weak for their rank.
But this dragon... it had leathery skin, 2 wings, 2 arms, 2 legs, a tail and a head. As far as Cane could tell, it looked exactly like a fully evolved dragon?? That meant the strength would be rank 5...
SH*T!!
RROAR!!
In an instant, a jet of flames smashed into Cane!
BOOM!! Crraackk!
The military barricade in Cane's hand swept up and blocked the fire at the last moment! And yet, he was still flung backward from the sheer force of the attack.
Cane quickly regained his footing, looking warily at Isaac in alarm. The red dragon curled one corner of his mouth, almost mimicking a human smile.
Well, of course. Isaac wasn't actually a dragon, he'd only transformed into one. Isaac began talking again, sounding arrogant once more.
"Surprised? Shocked?! Didn't you ever wonder why I never used my second ability, even during the Monster Gauntlet? Hah! It was all an elaborate trap - with Dragon Transformation, I will win the Tournament. Forget about Nick, forget about you..."
BOOMM!
Isaac's monologue was cut short as Cane stomped his foot on the ground, causing dust to fly into the air. This was the same move James had done when he'd faced Isaac, although Cane could use it even more effectively as his strength was higher.
Isaac only scoffed, and with a flap of his wings the dust went flying.
"You don't really expect the same trick to wo-"
Huh?
Not only was Isaac stunned, the audience was too. Because as the dust settled...
All that remained was a Plasma Pistol, laying on the ground.
Cane was gone.
...
Wait, wait, wait. All I need to do is wait.
Inside a different dimension, Cane observed Isaac through transparent crystal walls. While Isaac and the audience searched all over the arena for him, even checking under the ground here and there, he'd in fact never left his spot.
There must be a reason that he never used Dragon Transformation. It CAN'T just be because he was saving it up as a trump card, or else he wouldn't have said "don't make me do this!" earlier...
Cane knew that such a powerful ability that supposedly allowed a Combatant to become as strong as a World-Warrior would be incredibly taxing. Either he couldn't control such a form for too long, or there were some incredible consequences for using it.
Meanwhile, Isaac was deeply panicking inside. Seeing no sign of Cane anywhere in the arena, he could only pace around and periodically pierce the ground with his tail.
Sh*t. I can't hold this type of transformation up for too long, otherwise...
Cane had been correct. Actually, Dragon Transformation didn't allow for Isaac to reach World-Warrior strength, only Master rank. The full evolution of dragons included scaled skin, but Isaac's ability only left him with leathery skin.
it wasn't obvious, and Cane had in fact missed such a detail. Regardless of the strength Isaac currently wielded, as long as Cane waited out the time properly, the consequences of Dragon Transformation would begin taking effect.
And he waited…
And waited…
And waited.
In the next moment, Isaac's form began shrinking! With a lord RROAR!! Isaac's body shape once again became human. At that moment, the full consequences of Isaac's transformation could be seen.
Well, he...
Was now squatting on the floor, looking around wildly and grunting. He had turned extremely idiotic!
His intelligence had in fact been lowered so much that he was only operating at base, primal instincts. One could see that it was a 100% accurate reenactment of a caveman.
Huh. So this is what Isaac means when he says I'm forcing his hand?
Cane smirked from within Hiding Spot.
Perhaps someone as arrogant as him can't stand the embarrassment, or maybe there's some lingering effect from becoming idiotic?
Thinking about it, Cane decided the second option was more correct. After all, Isaac had indeed been arrogant, but wasn't opposed to turtling up and hiding like a coward. Thus, is could be said that he didn't mind embarrassing himself, as long as he could win.
Furthermore...
To be honest, Isaac had displayed the symptoms of being a simpleton ever since their first meeting. Not to mention in the past fight with James, where he didn't rely on skill at all and only used military-grade weaponry to suppress him.
Alright then. Looks like it's time for me to make my entrance once more.
Cane first used Steal on his cloak, duplicating it. Then he tore a strip of cloth off from it, and tied it around the trigger of his Plasma Pistol.
Instantly, the Plasma Pistol began firing, though the energy bolts dissipated when it touched the walls. Cane took a deep breath.
Then, he swapped the Plasma Pistol inside Hiding Spot with the one that was still laying in the arena!
The Plasma Pistol was still firing, even at such a moment. The energy bolts flew... and struck a landmine!
BOOMM!!
Dust once more filled the entire arena, and at this moment, Cane exited his Hiding Spot.
Meanwhile, Isaac's head snapped up at the sound, he began firing in the direction of the explosion while hollering like a monkey. Cane was pleasantly shocked.
Holy sh*t. What kind of caveman is this who knows how to wield a gun? Oh well... I wasn't planning on showing myself either.
Stealth!
Cane silently prowled through the dust, keeping his eyes on Isaac's location using a Hidden Strength marker. Furthermore, he could even use it to tell when Isaac was looking in his direction.
Due to the dust and Cane's higher rank, even though it couldn't cover his body entirely, Isaac would ignore Cane's presence all the same.
Cane drew closer...
Steadily entering attack range like a hunter.
Crrackk!!
Cane's leg whipped through the air as he performed a spinning kick. With a vicious cracking sound, it made contact with Isaac's skull and sent the caveman hurtling through the air.
As the dust settled, the audience finally saw the end result. Standing in front of Isaac's unconscious body was Cane.
Off to the side, a Plasma Pistol on full-auto was randomly firing. However, the next moment it dissipated - it had only been a clone.
Cane had won.
As expected. This whole Tournament has been a baby cup so far. But as for Nick...
Cane's eyes narrowed as he left the arena.
Ahh, whatever. Nick would probably just be a child then.