The strong man

   "Ellie Porter here"

   "Live from the inside of the stadium and best seat in the house"

   "The starting buzzer for the match has been sounded but neither of the contenders have moved from their starting positions"

  "Cal is taking his time to charge up his power but we have no idea why Orie hasn't moved yet"

  "I still stand on my support for him but he has done what the rest of the world consider to be the greatest mistake in the history of this tournament"

   Ellie was right. Everyone that won against Cal in the previous tournament was powerful but that wasn't the only reason they won; they were able to win because they stopped him from charging up properly. The last person that let him charge up fully got knocked out in one hit and that was the expectation most of the crowd had for Orie.

   Soon, Cal had finished charging up. One could tell by the steam-like aura that could be seen emanating from his body. He got ready to move as the cheering of the crowd got louder; he was confident, the people were on his side and the road he could see ahead of him was that of victory.

   Cal was quick to put his legs to work and dash towards his opponent. Speed that eyes could hardly follow, a perfect positioning and good direction; he achieved all these in a single dash but still somehow failed to hit his target.

   For a moment, the crowd thought that the hit had connected and it wasn't until Cal missed a couple more that they noticed how wrong they were. Those with good eyes could see the moment Orie made the slight movements that made the punches miss.

   "ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!!" Ellie screamed with joy as she looked back at the camera.

   "For the first time in the history of this tournament"

   "The strongman is having a hard time in his first match"

   "He is fully charged"

   "Fully active"

   "Fully functional"

   "AND YET"

   "The new guy is playing with him"

   "The current situation makes the initial odds look like a technical glitch"

   "The realists are panicked about their bets and the risk takers seem hopeful" 

   

"The crowd is fully focused"

"All eyes look to the arena"

"There is a tension within the stalemate"

"And there is no one in the world that wants to miss the moment it all changes"

   It wasn't long till Cal gave up trying to hit and took a few leaps back. He needed time to stop and rethink his strategy.

   "He's quite nimble" Cal said to himself

   "But he hasn't attacked yet, I wonder why that is"

   "He isn't even coming at me now"

   "It like he wants me to do all the work"

   "He's planning something"

   "But it doesn't matter" he said as he readied himself

   "He can't win"

   Cal's dash was faster than before; not that people could see it with their naked eyes but the force that he used to tear through the air could be felt by everyone. He went with a kick that was so fast that Orie didn't have enough time to evade and ended up flying of to the side.

   The crowd grew wild. The faith that they had lost was instantly restored as it became apparent that Cal was holding back.

   There was no waste of time in his next attack. It was faster, stronger and even though it wasn't a direct hit, he was able to do noticable damage. He kept up the momentum with each strike having more power than the last. He was finally taking the lead in the fight.

   "Ellie Porter here"

   "Coming to you live from within the stadium"

   "I just want to clarify that I will not apologize for my team's support for the underdog"

   "I say this with full confidence that my prediction was not a mistake"

   "So sit back and watch"

   "The match is not yet over"

SHIN SEKAI SECRET: Yen was afraid of falling asleep. He could not willingly go to bed unless Mina talked him into it. He was afraid that he might cause destruction while he was unconscious.