It was the quarter-finals in the purple belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament at Barbosa's and Ben was one of the remaining contenders. For those onlookers, it was shocking to see that the remaining warriors included seven advanced purple belts and one white belt that looked as if he was there as a mascot.

Even so, they'd watched this whole way as Ben defeated one opponent after the other, never winning by points, making them tap every time, either by submission, or some sort of verbal voodoo

By now, word had gotten around of course about Ben's "abilities." At one point, someone had asked Fariq about it and the Indian boy said two words that were spreading across the gym like a virus that spread to people from the mouths of television reporters

Those words were: "Poison Dragon"

Ben's reputation was spreading, and he'd reached a new level of infamy. Yet, he wasn't done yet.

Despite seeing the results so far, his next opponent didn't believe he'd lose to a few put-downs or your mommas jokes. It didn't matter how vicious or nasty they were. He had strong self-confidence that wouldn't break to vile cursing. That was until Ben told him he looked like he tucked his ears into his hats

Sometimes it's a light touch that breaks you.

That was enough to disadvantage the man, who lost concentration, leading to Ben securing a better position and then submitting him, sending him away to think over his choices of caps

Next up was Nick, whose opponent frowned when he saw he was up against this freight train. A few minutes later, Nick's opponents also hobbled away, his knee tweaked by the giant in a way that he'd need to take some time off for to recover.

Soon, there were only four men remaining. Now, Nick no longer waited in the lobby but sat alone against the wall of the MMA gym, looking intimidating. To everyone who looked at him, Nick seemed to be in mean-dogging mode

In reality though, he was brooding, because a few things were bothering him. First, why did that white belt make it so far in this tournament? Though he doubted Ben could do anything to him, they'd grappled together before, and Ben didn't understand how he could get to this point.

A more pressing issue than that though, was that although Nick had won every match, it wasn't as easy as it looked! For some unknown reason, at certain points, he even felt it was a struggle! Against some of the stronger opponents, he needed to attack 3 or even 4 times whereas in the prior weeks against those same people, he'd been able to secure victory the first time.

His technique was sloppy today! The only reason he was able to push through now was he still possessed a significant size and strength advantage. So even though he was winning, Nick's scowl showed he didn't at all feel good about it.

Of course, the real reason would remain unknown to him, which was that Ben stole a stat point in personal talent from him, leading to his technique level dropping, forcing him to make up for that with raw physicality. In any case, Nick still held supreme confidence in his advantages and believed that like before, he'd be the final victor in this tournament.

Next up, was the semifinals, and he'd soon get a chance to test that assertion. First up was Nick, against a veteran purple belt opponent who also had four stripes. Nick knew the man, he was one of the strongest purple belts in the gym, so unconsciously, he frowned when he saw this man. Yet, he still didn't think he would lose. So when they started grappling, he carried himself with the same self-confidence as always.

Five minutes later, Nick rose up off the mats breathing heavily. He won this match. Yet, it was only a victory by points, and it wasn't a one-sided one. The opponent got up and sighed. He'd put up a good fight against the much larger Nick today, but in the end, it wasn't enough. Still, the result showed that Nick wasn't invincible, a sight that caused some in the audience to widen their eyes a bit.

"Tch" Although he was in the finals, Nick's face continued to be gloomy, as he took heavy steps back to the wall, where he sat down and decided to pay attention to this final match for once.

Now, it was Ben's turn. Whether he'd reach the finals and get the opportunity for revenge against Nick, would first depend on whether he could defeat his next opponent. Like Nick's, this one was also a four-stripe purple belt, and seemed as if he would be a challenge to Ben.

When they started grappling, technique-wise, the opponent was indeed skilled, not any worse than Ben as the two exchanged moves. However, for everyone watching, this was the issue

How the hell does a white belt have such advanced techniques?

Fariq grinned as he observed Ben, who'd become even better than when they rolled last time.

Valentina sighed. She didn't know what to make of this kid. She didn't understand him at all and could only admit he was some sort of monster.

Standing against the entranceway, was Ricardo Barbosa, who showed an intrigued grin, his eyes glinting as if he spotted a piece of gold floating through the river, even if in Ben's case, it was the river people defecated in

Meanwhile, the one who showed the most extreme reaction was Nick. His brows were furrowed. Although he didn't believe such a little guy could be a threat to him, it annoyed him to see Ben overperforming so much, in particular when he compared it to how he was struggling. The contrast infuriated him, causing him to show a wicked grin, as a certain idea cemented itself into his mind. 'I'm want to hurt this kid bad.'

------

*Author's Note: Voting schedule same as last week. Sorry for missing a couple of days, will do my best to write daily but it's impossible sometimes.