Serene’s POV

We saw a completely different terrain behind that door. Everything was white, from trees to the ground, the soil was soft and white and it wasn’t very cold. We entered and began to search for another door. " Be careful, everyone. This appeared to have been enchanted and we could encounter something unexpected. " Ralph warned us as he took the lead, treading carefully. "What kind of place is this?" Ayrden asked in a confused voice.

"Aren’t we supposed to fight other teams only? What’s with this different terrain?" Darius asked.

"I think it’s like a test to see how well we do on unfamiliar terrain." I presented my insight.

"Yes, that could be the reason," Darius answered. Suddenly, a door opened on our left and Xin Li’s team entered looking as bewildered as we were when we first entered.

"Let’s go," Ralph announced and we followed him.

We came face to face with them.

"Heya, Xin Li you old man. I, challenge you," Ralph teased him.

Xin Li laughed and replied: "I accept your challenge."

Zeph quickly spoke up to Ralph: " Let me fight him, he is a beast when it comes to fighting. It’s our first fight."

"Have some faith in your best friend. I got this." Ralph patted him on his shoulder.

"Good luck, Ralph. You can do this." I smiled encouragingly at him and he took a slight bow.

All of us moved back to give them space. Sarim Sensei’s voice echoed: "Let the fight begin, whoever will launch five hits first will be declared the winner and will take the key from his opponent. Good luck."

Both of them took their respective positions. Xin Li took the front stance while Ralph chose the eagle pose. They charged at each other simultaneously, Xin Li tried to punch him with his right arm, and Ralph dodged by ducking under his arm but Xin Li was ready for him and at the same moment brought his left fist forward, punching him on his temple. Ralph lost his footing and fell and one point was awarded to Xin Li. We gritted our teeth.

They moved back to begin again, this time Xin Li went with a front kick which Ralph blocked with his both arms, Xin Li tried to land another punch from his right side but Ralph caught his fist in mid-air with his left hand and without wasting a fraction of a second landed a full-blown punch on Xin Li’s face with his right hand.

"Yes," Zeph shouted, it was in a long time that I had seen him get excited.

In the next move, Ralph dodged Xin Li’s frontal attacks by sliding down and upper-cutting him to the chin, winning another point. "Go, Ralph," shouted Ayrden excitedly, we just needed one more point to win.

For the next confrontation, Xin Li tried to land a kick on Ralph’s temple, Ralph dodged by ducking and got behind Xin Li, standing up before Xin Li could turn towards him Ralph landed an elbow strike on his back, scoring the last point and winning his match comprehensively.

We all gathered and there were high-fives all around. Ralph was grinning from ear to ear, he had outclassed Xin Li who was considered one of the best fighters among us. Xin Li shook his hand and handed him his key. " Well done, Ralph. You have got moves. " He patted him on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, a door opened on our right, Ralph used the key and opened the door. As we stepped through it, we found ourselves in rocky terrain. There we encountered Paul’s team. His team had Benton (another Folkel), Cainos and one other guy and a girl. This time Cainos challenged Darius from our team. Both were good friends so they wanted to fight it out.

Turned out Cainos was miles ahead of Darius in combat and it hardly took two minutes for him to get all three points. " Damn, Cainos is so cool but I feel bad for Darius since he is our teammate," Ayrden whispered to me. Darius looked dejected. "I am sorry, I let the team down. " He told us apologetically. " It’s alright Darius, it’s part of the tournament. We have more fights left." Ralph comforted him and we agreed. Zeph, on the other hand, was glaring at him, typical Zeph.

In the next setting, we found ourselves amidst a giant forest. Frela and Ayrden fought it out among them. Ayrden held her ground against Frela; who really got her ass handed to her by Ayrden. I hugged her tightly, she was so amazing. She was so soft when it came to her friends but when the situation required her to step up, she never disappointed us.

We were back to six keys. Our next terrain was very dark with a few dim lights flickering here and there. The ground seemed damp and we kept on losing our footing while walking on it. Next, it was my turn to fight, and Benton challenged me. Ralph had told me about him, he was a Folkel and was good in combat.

"If you don’t wanna fight, it’s alright. I will fight him and you can fight someone else." Ralph told me putting his hand on my shoulder.

"No, I need to do this," I told him.

"Good luck," Ayrden whispered cheerfully to me as I stepped up. Zeph was in deep conversation with Ralph, something told me he wasn’t happy with this decision. His face reflected disgust and anger as he glanced at me. I gulped hard and looked away. As I, walked toward my opponent, there was only one thought in my mind. I needed to win this.

Benton was tall and lean. He had sandy brown hair and huge light brown eyes. Knowing Folkels and considering how hard the test is for them, I knew only the best could pass it and it won’t be easy to defeat him. But, my team was depending on me and I couldn’t let them down.