The second match, Daiki and Qiuye versus Lumian and Della, started with a ding of the bell.

Daiki and Lumian started the match. They were known friends. They were even part of the same dojo; thus, they knew each other well.

At the start of the match, Lumian's kicks landed. Daiki staggered. An opening presented itself, and Lumian wrapped his arms around Daiki and slammed him into the ground.

Ok Family Style was a mix of kickboxing and wrestling with throws, locks, and grappling.

It turned into a ground battle.

It started with a chaotic scramble of knees, elbows, and ragged breathing.

In that moment, Lumian pressed on, shoved his forearm against Daiki's throat, and took the advantageous mounted position.

Daiki tried to do a hip shift, snaking his legs around Lumian's torso, trying to drag him down with him, but Lumian overpowered him with his strength and experience in grappling.

In the grappling, it was obvious that Lumian was superior, and Daiki's teammate, Qiuye, screamed for a change of fighters.

However, Daiki couldn't leave the ring. It was because he was trapped to the ground by Lumian. It was a perfect counter.

This was what Lumian wanted to do. Stop Daiki from possibly leaving the ring, so he wanted to take the match to the ground immediately.

While struggling to get out of the grappling position, Daiki overexerted himself, gassing himself out, and Lumian coiled around him like a spring.

A tight chokehold was applied. Lumian's forearms pressed into Daiki's neck, cutting off his air supply.

Daiki gasped, hearing the scream of his teammate, but he had no other choice and tapped the ground three times.

"The match is over!"

The physical education teacher shouted, and the crowd at the bleachers clapped their hands in applause.

"Whew."

Lumian stood up, helped Daiki up, and bowed in respect. Daiki, with a wry smile, responded to the bow with his own.

"Good job!"

Della said excitedly.

Lumian smiled at her, then looked around the bleachers and tried to find any familiar faces but couldn't see anything.

'They didn't make it, I guess. I don't blame them. They are very busy.'

With a sigh, Lumian hopped off the ring, high-fived with Della, and headed back to their locker room.

"…Lumian is a really talented grappler. If we manage to reach Lumian in the Block A finals, we need to ensure that you don't fight Lumian.

"I am sure they will try to match him with you and will try to make us waste our changes."

Cleo said.

"…Yeah. I don't think I can stop him from taking me to the ground, and I have zero experience in ground fighting.

"It is guaranteed to be a loss for me."

Jock said with a serious look.

Cleo smiled at his analysis. It was nice that he knew his own limits. It showed that he was self-aware and realistic about his abilities.

A short while later, the third match started.

It was between Ethan and Kitty versus Ash and Callidora.

…

At the back of the bleachers, Kiernan eyed Lumian and watched him leave for the locker room.

'What a bothersome fellow.

'In striking, an amateur can hit a professional accidentally, but in grappling, there are no accidents. I think he is the worst possible opponent for Jock.

'I thought about teaching Jock grappling instead of striking the whole week, but Jock would just get overpowered because of the strength difference.

'And if there were any students who knew grappling, I wouldn't be able to make Jock better than them in just a week.'

Kiernan thought to himself.

However, he thought it was rather lucky that Jock didn't need to go against Lumian early on. If he made it to the Block A finals, it would already be an amazing accomplishment.

It was something that Jock could be proud of.

"Ah…"

At that moment, a man sat beside Kiernan. He was wearing a short top hat and a long coat with tails, giving off a mysterious and whimsical vibe.

A little bit of red hair peeked out from under the brim of the hat, and he was holding on to a walking cane with each of his fingers having rings on them.

Kiernan glanced at him briefly, then returned his gaze back to the match in hand, and saw Ethan beating up Ash.

The arc punches smacked across Ash. In the end, Ash jumped out of the ring to switch with Callidora.

"…Who do you think will win this fight, young one?"

The man asked.

There were people sitting around them, but Kiernan knew that question was aimed at him, and his eyebrow rose.

His face was shadowed under the hood, but for some reason, the man could tell his age perfectly, thus calling him "young one."

"Ethan and Kitty. It looks like Ash was surprised by Ethan's strength. He must've kept his strength a secret until now.

"He might've ranked up lately."

Kiernan said.

"Hmm~"

The man chuckled.

Even though Ash's team changed fighters, Callidora was struggling against Ethan. She had fresh legs, and Ethan had been fighting for a couple of minutes longer, but she still couldn't do anything against him.

Callidora became pretty exhausted quickly, glanced over at her teammate, and saw that Ash hadn't recovered at all.

She lost her concentration for a moment, and Ethan brought her down with a thunderous strike. The match ended.

"It went as you said. As expected from Karma's son."

The man said with a chuckle, stood up, and walked away, twirling the walking cane, and he looked to have a limp as he walked.

'Karma's son? Why did he mention my father? He knows my father?'

Kiernan watched as he left with a suspicious gaze, feeling a strange kind of shudder about the man.

'Who is he?'

…

"It is our turn!"

Cleo said, stood up, and took off her jacket. She stood in a tight tank top and shorts. Her abs were perfectly toned, a stark contrast to her delicate face.

"Huff… Huff…"

Jock took a deep breath, opened his backpack, and looked at the white headband in there. With a gulp, he took it out and wrapped it around his forehead.

The first fight of the student of Martial Redemption Dojo was about to begin.

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