Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1090: Fate, on his side

Rain also made a bunch of seats around the arena. It seemed pretty similar to the battle arena that the demi-humans had. He ripped them off, and they ripped off the beast people who ripped off the Colosseum.

"Who is going to rip me off?" Rain wondered. "This is a weird question to ask."

On the day of the tournament, Rain, Terra, and Seara headed to the arena together, their expressions a mix of anticipation and determination. The atmosphere was charged with the energy of thousands of participants ready to showcase their abilities.

Terra, who had expressed doubts about the time spent on the tournament preparations, seemed to have undergone a transformation overnight. Her uncertainty had given way to a resolute demeanor, and she appeared eager to demonstrate her skills in the upcoming matches. The previous day's hesitations were replaced by a newfound confidence, and Rain couldn't help but notice the change.

Rain, Terra, and Seara walked together towards the tournament venue, discussing the upcoming matches and the potential challenges they might face. Terra, in particular, seemed more focused than ever, determined to make the most of the tournament platform.

Despite their ongoing search for the next destination and targets, the lack of results thus far had temporarily shifted their attention away from that concern. Rain, Terra, and Seara understood that for now at least, the tournament demanded their focus. The relics and others were diligently working on the task at hand, and until concrete results surfaced, there was little point in dwelling on it.

Besides, that was also one way to increase their strength.

When Rain and those two reached the arena, they found his other friends and relatives close to the place where Esmeralda and Branden were. In case of trouble, they would be the judges of the matches, so it made sense for them to be close to the arena… Esmeralda was too excited, though. To make any unbiased calls. At the same time, Jori also looked excited.

"Hehehe, it is finally time to decide who is the better man, Rain," Jori said.

"If we fight, it will only happen in four days, and you will probably pass out of anticipation until then," Rain shrugged. "Anyway, punching each other senselessly sure is an awesome way to decide who is the better man."

"I see, I see… you aren't looking forward to this… well, you will be surprised when the time comes," Jori said. "Hihihi."

"I guess space travel isn't doing you any favors…" Rain frowned.

Regardless, Rain looked around and found the others across the arena. The ones who would participate were waiting for their turns and would watch the first few battles as well, so it was fine. Still, Rain didn't find Regis, Isis, Orcis, and Lorene… they were probably working on the next mission. Even though they didn't know when it would happen, that was possible.

Without any ceremony, since everyone wanted to see people punching each other, Esmeralda called for the first few fights. As one would expect, they ended rather fast… people like the sea folk and the demi-humans had the upper hand against most humans, so the matches ended after just a few hits.

Some people fell unconscious, others were tossed from the arena… when they woke up, they looked a bit disappointed for losing so fast, but at least they stayed behind to watch the other matches and learn a bit.

Eventually, people like Rain's kids started their matches, but they easily won. His friends also won without any issues… when Rain's turn came, he saw a tall and muscular guy heading to the other side of the arena. He looked really happy for some reason.

"I don't know him, but I guess he is truly looking forward to punching me," Rain thought.

When he stopped in the arena, Rain wondered how he could deal with that… the other guy assumed his fighting stance while still grinning from ear to ear… maybe just breaking his legs and kicking him outside the arena would do the trick. That grin was starting to creep Rain out, after all.

In the end, while that grin was a bit disconcerting, Rain decided to face that guy seriously… when he assumed his fighting stance. Esmeralda declared the start of the match. That guy disappeared from Rain's sight… leaving only a part of the area damaged behind…

In the next moment, he appeared in front of Rain, hitting the side of his head with an elbow strike… that hurt… Rain was caught off guard when someone suddenly copied the technique that he was still training… but in the end, that guy fell backward in the next moment.

He was fast, but his attack didn't break Rain's stance… thanks to that, all the power of his charge collided against Rain's fist and hit his solar plexus…, and the guy fell unconscious automatically… just like that, Rain won.

"What was that?" Terra asked when Rain returned. "Getting rusty? Are you sleepy? That was a fight for the ages."

"I am concerned… I am concerned because you said something that makes sense, for once," Rain said. "The jokester path belongs to me alone, so you don't try to use it. Maybe I should try to level it up here since everyone will hear my jokes."

"You can't use tricks, only barehanded techniques, remember?" Seara asked. "That is one of the rules you came up with. Now that I think about it, you are one of those who benefit the most from that rule. Weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah… let's fight with swords instead," Rain said. "En garde."

While that match was a bit surprising… things returned to normal after that. Not one of Rain's friends and family lost, so soon, the day of Rain's duel with Jori arrived. He didn't think much of it, and he didn't mind losing it either… until he learned who he was going to fight if he were to win… it was Van.

"This is a message from fate itself… it is telling me to kick the ass of my future son-in-law," Rain smirked.