"Oh, thank god, at least this one looked packed!" The dojo master sighed as he saw the number of participants outside the arena.

"They could be for the other belt tournaments too, you know?" Thankappan replied.

"Nah, as long as there's at least one guy participating in it, I'm fine! That would still be considered as a tournament match." The master spoke with a smile.

"You sure are optimistic! Well, Taro did say about that one guy's pupil. I guess that's the reason?" Thankappan asked.

"Yup!" He nodded.

"Well, that's good." Thankappan replied, before noticing something peculiar about the people passing by. "Hey, Sadanandan?"

"Yea?" Taro looked at him with sparkling eyes. Even though he knew he had to restrain, the prospect of having a fight was always exciting in his eyes.

"Ah, it's nothing." Seeing the sparkle in the alien's eyes, he decided not to speak anything of it. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

#

After registering into the tournament without much fuzz, Taro and the crew learned that the black belt category was an eight man elimination tournament and conveniently enough, if he reached the finals, Taro would face Anil's pupil. Even though the tournament bracket was revealed, Taro and the other two couldn't find Anil or his pupil, although Thankappan was blindly around not knowing who Anil was.

Finally, when the tournament was about to begin, Anil made a grand entrance with his pupils. Around him were about twenty or so of his students and among them were two people wearing black belts. One looked slightly older than the other. With that, the guys could guess which one was the prodigy that Anil talked about.

Upon seeing Taro's master, Anil's face lit up. "Hey! I didn't think you would actually come to this tournament with your pupil! Don't blame me though, since you always chickened out the last moment, I thought you'd do that this time too." He spoke in a tone filled with mockery.

The master scoffed. "Huh, really? I wouldn't miss it for anything though! Your face when your so-called prodigy loses to my pupil would be so priceless. I hope it'd be like the face you dawned when I destroyed you!" He gave out a laugh.

Although Anil was pissed off about this, he held in his anger. "Let's see how long you'll laugh like this. I'll intently watch your pupil's fights. So don't disappoint me." He replied.

"Well, before getting concerned about mine, you better watch out for yours. I sure hope your prodigy will last till the finals so that Sadanandan here could kick his ass!" The master spoke, giving out a sinister smile.

"Ah, don't worry about my pupil. Even if your pupil wins the first match, this guy right here will be his opponent. So, don't keep your hopes up!" Anil said, as he showed off his second black belt pupil.

"Let's see." The master spoke calmly.

[The participants of the first match of the black belt category, please head towards mat number one.]

"Oh, seems like they're calling for us. Let's go!" Anil said to his 'prodigy', who nodded his head. "Hey, watch this carefully, okay?" He turned back to the dojo master and asked.

It all ended in a matter of a few seconds. A swift punch to the abdomen was all it took to end the hopes of the opponent's advancement. The 'prodigy' didn't even bow at the end, which pissed off most of the martial arts enthusiasts. However, they couldn't deny the absolute power they saw from the guy.

"See? You got something to say now?" Anil whispered as he walked past Taro's master.

However the master decided to remain silent towards this obvious taunt. Instead he turned his attention towards taro. "Sadanandan, your match is up next. Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, master!" Taro replied without a delay.

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Harish TP, age twenty-four. I've been practicing martial arts for nine years now. I was never the bright kid. Never good in studies, never good in athletics; hell, I wasn't even good at martial arts too. I was about to give up on it, on everything. My parents weren't so fond of me, so that sucked too. Life felt like a burden. I wanted to end it.

That's when my master came for the save. Unlike my parents who didn't see any value in raising me, my master said that he saw potential in me. At that time, I thought that he said so because he wanted to swindle some money off me. However, when my parents shunned me off, saying that I was no use and that they preferred my younger brother more than me, my master was the only one who stood by my side. When I learned that I was the adopted one and that was the actual reason behind my parents deserting me, the master was the only one who consoled me and took me in. When I started hating on this world and its darkness, he shone as a bright light before me. That was why I intended to prove my master's words right, even though it seemed like I wasn't some talented martial artist.

However, that didn't work out so well. Even after two years of intense training, I couldn't get past the first belt. This made me sad, because I felt like the faith that my master placed in me and the potential that he talked about was wasted on me. However, no matter how much I badmouthed myself before him, he always talked about how I had immense potential.

Finally, I couldn't handle any longer. No matter how much I tried, I still couldn't improve. I was still stuck in mediocrity. While many of the master's pupils strayed farther away from me, I was still weak. I felt like my master misplaced his faith in me. So, I talked to him about it. About how I was weak and how I don't have any potential that he talked about.

However, my master denied this. He revealed what the potential he saw in me was—it was tenacity. Tenacity to not give up even in the worst conditions. And he said that was what made me a martial artist. Hearing this from him made a huge change in my life. Sure, I was still shit in martial arts, however I didn't give up and started striving to get better. Little by little, it worked. I lost multiple matches against people but won quite a few as well. Finally, after seven years of harsh training, my master finally handed me the black belt and with that he also promised me that I will be the dojo master once he retires. I didn't ask for it however since he decided it, I wanted to make him proud. I wanted to get into the nationals under his tutelage.

Therefore, I entered into the Kollam municipality tournament. Luckily, I was the only one out there in the black belt category, so I got into the state tournament. I wanted to win it too and head to the nationals. I was confident of winning it. However, contrary to my expectations, I was utterly destroyed in the very first round by Master Anil's pupil. He went on to the nationals though, so I could say that I was beaten by the champion.

I wasn't particularly sad since there was always the next year. So, I trained diligently for the tournament hoping that this would be the year I win it all. Similar to last year, I was lucky enough to get a bye in the municipality tournament. It was at this moment when my master revealed that he was about to retire and hand the dojo over to me.

I was complacent. I imagined my master would be by my side all the time and was too lax about it. I never considered his retirement and that was my fault. And now, if I didn't win the tournament, I would be breaking the promise I made to my younger self. So, I have to win this time around.

There wasn't much of a time lapse between the municipality and state tournaments, so I tried my best to get all my basics straight. Once I reached the arena, I realized that there were a few new faces in the mix. Even Master Anil had a new pupil alongside the one that beat me last year.

This time however, I wasn't facing him in the first round. I was facing someone named Sadanandan. I have never heard of him, so I believe that he's a newbie. Newbie or not, I have just one goal in my mind. And that was to beat the guy in the first round, face my enemy from last year in the second and beat him too and beat whoever enters the finals. From the looks of it, it seemed like Master Anil's new pupil would be the finalist. Nevertheless, I have to win no matter what and I'm going to begin my win streak with Sadanandan.

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