III. Unfit

The defeated finalist was on the floor while Koh looked down on him derisively. Koh was only inches away from the finalist while the fighter stood up only to be struck down harder. Though the defeated fighter was persistent, Koh lost interest and turned his gaze towards the two bystanders.

"He's looking at us." Faim whispered.

The tawny skinned fighter looked up as Koh walked up to them and while the youngest fighter stood up and Faim stood erect while the third fighter persisted before his arm got twisted as the fighter released a shout from the pain. Faim charged in to attack Koh while the elderly dojo master countered.

As the defeated finalist winced from the pain and looked at the tawny skinned fighter. "What kind of fighter are you?" He gritted his teeth as he adjusted his sprain arm. "You haven't tried to land a punch on that old geezer. All you did was cower and use the blonde knucklehead as a meat shield while he is fighting in your place." The defeated finalist sneered at the tawny skinned fighter while Koh dodged Faim's attacks effortlessly.

"You're the one who used someone as a meat shield." The 149th fighter retorted.

"At least I made a move, what about you? What are you waiting for?" He stood up as he he avoid hurting his damaged arm further as he scrutinized him. "Why are you here?" The interrogation ended abruptly when Faim was thrown like a rag doll and hit his back against the wall, then his head landed on the wooden floor.

The tawny skinned fighter, looked at Faim for a second before he turned around to see Koh approach at breakneck speed. The defeated finalist smirked at the tawny skinned contender maliciously, expecting Koh to strike him down any second only for him to be the one to get knocked out unconscious with one hit.

"No one is fit to fight under my wing." Koh declared as he watched the bodies of the wounded contenders. The tawny skinned

fighter sweated from nervousness and took his fighting stance. Koh quickly knocked him off balance as the tawny youth fell to the ground. "As I expected."

Koh turned away and headed to the drawer in the next room to take out a bottle of gin while Faim and the tawny pupil stood up and headed to where the elderly dojo master was only to find him pour a cup for himself.

"You're still here?" Koh asked before he drank the cup of gin.

"I didn't come all this way for nothing, old man!" The tawny teen protested.

"That's right, we're not going anywhere until a disciple has been chosen." Faim replied until he took a fighting stance, ready to brawl.

After Koh finished drinking, he put down the cup on the table then put his hands on his back as he looked at the two. "Neither of you are here to become my disciple, you only want to master my One Strike technique for your own selfish desires. You're both ignorant, impatient and reckless. I didn't get this far by jumping the gun, roughhousing the first bloke that was in front of me. No, I had to work, mature, learn from my own mistakes, and some of the mistakes I've made cost the lives of those close to me. Are you truly capable of taking the consequences of mastering this technique?" Koh scrutinized them thoroughly.

They both nodded in affirmation, though the tawny teen was sweating.

"Very well," Koh stepped back and picked uo the bottle of gin, "the first to take away my bottle will become my disciple." He stated.

The two of them kept their eyes locked on the glass bottle until the dojo master signalled them to come forward. Faim charged while the other tripped him so that he could have a shot at taking the bottle only for Koh to kneed him in the gut as the tawny contender doubled over from the pain, then kicked him on the side of his face while he rolled by the Faim stood back up.

Faim took his turn to snatch the glass bottle while Koh dodged and blocked his advances in reaching the bottle. Faim was close to obtaining it as he stretched his arm to grab it, Koh elbowed the blonde by the throat as the tawny fighter recovered as he tiptoed his way to reach him, just as Koh sensed him appraoch he kicked him only for the tawny teen to dodge the swift kick.

Faim regained his breath as they both silently agreed to take the bottle from Koh.

Koh's eyes darted on both sides as his contenders teamed up. Faim performed a barrage of attacks on his left while the tawny contender dodged the attacks coming from Faim and Koh while the dojo master blocked with both arms as he kept a firm grip on the bottle. Koh tried to knee Faim on the stomach, but the blonde contender blocked the attack though it didn't stop the austere dojo master to feint in keeping the bottle at arms reach for the teens to reach only for him to toss the glass bottle in the air.

They made a leap to catch the bottle when Koh grabbed them by ankle and push them to the floor. The elderly dojo master caught the bottle of gin and took a swig.