After defeating the two opponents, Nikumbha was also cheered by people just like Sandhya. The next and last opponent standing in his arena was also another spear wielder. They both collided with each other like two rams colliding head-to-head. Neither was weaker in terms of raw strength. A fight which was unimaginable for people without proper weapon training started between two untrained fighters. All the attacks Nikumbha made were blocked by his opponent, and all the attacks of his opponent were rendered useless by Nikumbha. Nikumbha attacked his opponent's legs, who did a backflip to get out of his range. Nikumbha also moved forward to attack again. The opponent thrust his spear without wasting a second after landing, straight towards Nikumbha, who was coming towards him.
Nikumbha moved aside and dashed behind his opponent. He then swiped his spear to cut his opponent's neck, who ducked under it and countered by hitting him in the abdomen with the blunt end of the spear. Nikumbha replied by directly bringing his spear down, which left a shallow wound on his opponent's back.
Slowly but surely, his opponent was getting slow. Seeing the opportunity, Nikumbha feigned an attack towards the left shoulder of the opponent and then immediately moved towards the opponent's right, changing the grip of his spear from right-handed to left-handed. The opponent had reacted to the feint, so to make a correction, he sliced his spear from left to right towards Nikumbha's head. Nikumbha ducked under it and dashed towards his own right and his opponent's left while slicing a wound under his opponent's right ribcage and then came back to a safe distance. The opponent cried out in agony and anger. He dashed forward in an attempt to stab Nikumbha, but in his anger, he did not calculate what Nikumbha's next moves could be, and he could be countered. Nikumbha deflected the spear to the left with a very subtle maneuver and then immediately changed the direction of his own spear towards his opponent's chest with incredible swiftness. The opponent couldn't move anywhere and got stabbed in his chest.
This was how the 8th round ended. People were standing and watching in awe on their respective screens. They could not believe what they had witnessed. Two guys who were there for an entrance test and were not supposed to have any advanced weapon training showcased a proper disciplined fight with incredible speed and improvisation. They were cheering and shouting on every attack, whether it landed or not didn't matter to them.
Honestly, they were there to listen to what the authorities would say about the summoning that devastated the Eastern zone. This was the first gathering or event after the summoning where people from the administration were present publicly. So it was impossible for them not to address such a topic. The public wanted to know what had happened in reality. But all the extra fighting and fun had made their day.
After the healers finished their work, the next round of candidates was called to fight. It was just another normal round. Nothing big happened, and the fight ended. Now it was time for the last round, and it was now Shambhu's turn to fight. He had practiced the last three days and refined whatever knowledge he had about fighting. He stood up and draped his dhoti in a warrior style. And then tied the second dhoti, which he had put on his shoulder like a shawl, like a sash around his waist tightly. He was now ready to fight.
The announcer announced the candidates fighting in the next round. Shambhu was called too. He was to fight in the 1st arena. While moving towards the arena, Raktaa asked him, "What weapon will you choose?"
"You already know I don't know how to wield any weapon properly," Shambhu stated.
"Yes, I do. But I know how to wield a weapon," Raktaa offered. "Just choose one and wield it in your left hand and give slight control to me."
"Our coordination was not good even after three days of practice. I can't take a risk," Shambhu spoke his mind. "I do want to be unpredictable in a fight, but the weapon you use is too unpredictable. I am not able to adjust to its maneuvers this fast. And I do not want to kill someone accidentally. So just let me fight and help me if it is needed."
"Basically, you are saying I am useless for the time being," Raktaa accepted.
Shambhu didn't say anything else and went towards the 1st arena.
The opponents also took their position, as did Shambhu. He had taken a corner to have a clear vision of all of them. Mind you, these arenas are big squares of almost 300 meters in length. These were used for annual tests of the academy in certain cases but never as an entrance test ground before.
One opponent wielding a staff had already chosen Shambhu as his opponent after seeing him unarmed. He came directly towards Shambhu and launched a flurry of blows towards Shambhu's head, shoulder, and chest. Shambhu dodged each blow by moving his body side to side while inching closer and closer. When his opponent moved the staff in a horizontal swing, he ducked or jumped under or over the staff. When his opponent moved the staff in a vertical or thrusting motion, he just moved aside. And using these two movements as cover, sometimes he skipped sideways closer to the opponent. The past three days might not have made him a weapon master, but they had definitely refined his already athletic movements and unarmed combat skills to a higher level.
The moment came; Shambhu was at his desirable distance. The opponent again tried to hit his head with a thrust. Shambhu slipped to the left and skipped forward. He threw a left hook towards the staff-wielding hand of the opponent, and a cracking sound came. It was the metacarpal bones (bones between the wrist and fingers) of the lead right hand of the opponent. Now he couldn't grip his staff properly. He tried to hit Shambhu by moving his staff rightwards with speed, but Shambhu ducked and skipped to the right (opponent's left) and delivered another hook to his left obliques, just below the rib cage. Now the pain from both these punches was clearly visible on the opponent's distorted face. He was both shocked and in agony. He tried to move backward because he could not use the staff in close range. He did move the staff towards the left to stop Shambhu from advancing, but Shambhu used the same tactic: he ducked and skipped forward, this time to the right side of his opponent. He now threw a hook straight towards the liver, but the opponent tried to block it using the right broken hand, which was unusable with the staff, but he was slow due to the pain. Shambhu's hand hit its target after grazing the right hand. It was already over, but the right uppercut to the jaw sealed the deal. The opponent fell backward, stiff and straight like the staff he was wielding, with shock clearly visible on his face. He could not believe he lost to an unarmed boy who didn't even use strength to overwhelm him.