[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/212166395868217344/418215315994968074/Cool20Text20-20Vereth20277018600141146.png[/img] [/center] Somewhere in China Alex would wave at the group who was seeing him off including Nicky. He was going to be gone for about a week in a special tournament for martial arts masters. He would hop in the cab at the bottom of the stairs and be off. His first thought was about Nicky, how was she going to react now that he was gone. He was worried, he knew his master would be harsh on any punishments but if she got into a fight she might wind up having to rebuild parts of the temple just do to the sheer fact of her condition. He would shake the thought from his head as he grinned while looking out the window at the mountain like area around them. [i][b]"She will be fine."[/b][/i] he said to himself as the cab driver looked back and raised an eyebrow at him. ----- In Beijing Not too long after that he would find himself back in Beijing and in a hotel. Throwing his stuff down he would sigh. From the moment he had gotten to the hotel he had been bombarded with reporters, most of which thinking that he did not understand Chinese, so most would try to give him some half-assed attempt at English. But that was to be expected; after all, this hotel was where he was going to be having the tournament.[i]All fighters welcome, 3183600.13 Chinese Yuan for the winner of the whole thing.[/i] Roughly about 500,000 dollars if converted. Alex sighed as he thought about the tournament, this wouldn't be like the tournament in his dojo where people with close to no skill came in and got destroyed or people who had some type of power would come in. These were mostly masters of a martial arts. A few up and comers who thought themselves strong enough to try, but they would be weeded out in the first round. A few names were familiar to him but ultimately, Alex had been to tournaments like this. Everyone knew Chi; everyone was a master of it. This wasn't going to be a cakewalk at all. Not to mention he would be put on TV, something about that always made him nervous but he shook the image from his head as he checked his phone and saw the text [i]I'm rooting for you, baby. Do well.[/i] smiling at that he chuckled, how she was willing to just let him go to China with a random teenage girl to train her was beyond him. ------------ (Flashback time!) [i]"Go ahead and take her darling. I think it would be good for you and from the sounds of it, it would be good for her.'[/i] Alyssa stood at about 5 foot 8 inches. She had long blonde hair and toned muscle at 24 she was definitely younger than Alex, but she was working on her Doctorate already to get into the medical field. She wore a long black dress that seemed just slightly too tight and showed off every inch of her curves. Alex sighed as he sat down on the couch. [i][b]"What if I'm not the right person though? What if she literally gets nothing out of it."[/b][/i] Alyssa walked over to him, [i]"Listen, you are a great young man. You have a good head on your shoulders, and you are the calmest person I know in the worst situations. She will get attached to you, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Besides, what teenager doesn't want to learn how to blast a hole in a wall?"[/i] Alex grinned at the comment, [b][i]"True enough, most people want to be able to do that even after they are a teenager. Well, I will need to go to a tournament since I won't be able to charge my students full price while I'm gone. Shit. That means I have to win.. for us."[/i][/b] Alyssa shook her head, [i]'Hush, you do your best. Just don't kill anyone.'[/i] Alyssa said before giving him a wink and then leaning down to grab at his hand. [i]"Now come on, or we will be late for our reservation."[/i] ------------ Alex grinned and shook his head at how lucky he was. A knock on the door as a man spoke in broken English. Alex couldn't even hear what the guy was saying. But he knew what was being said, he was getting a 10 minute warning to his first round. Getting up he jumped up and down a couple times yelling at the door. [i][b]"I'll be down in a moment."[/b][/i] he would say before heading to the bathroom to wash his face. [b][i]"First round is always easy."[/i][/b] he said to himself. -------------- (1 hour later) The TV cameras were circling around the ring as Alexander looked across at his opponent. A smaller Chinese man who would charge at Alexander fists flying high in an open palm one coming for his face another coming for his ribs. Alex would throw one hand up to smack at the man's wrist, and the other down to hit at his other arm's forearm. Deflecting both away from him. Alex would follow up with a kick to the stomach, then to the hip , following it up once more with a kick to his chest. The man stumbled backwards he looked like he had been getting beaten up for awhile with bruises over his face and body. He would try to make a move but Alex leaping forward would plant a punch into the man's chest once more, causing him to stumble backwards. Grabbing at the man's hair Alex pulled him down and kneed him in the face. When the knee hit a few on lookers could see the little bit of chi release that Alex had allowed. The knee would send the small man off of his feet and hitting the ground hard on his back. The crowd roared as the ref blew a whistle and the cameras zoomed in on Alex who looked completely unscathed. The announcers were yelling something in Chinese, but to Alex it didn't matter he was just wanting to move on to an actual challenge.