Chapter 41 - The First Match

<p>"Ladies, gentlemen, and otherwise!" The female announcer calls out jovially. "I hope you're ready, because the most talked about first match of the Under Level 25 tournament is about to begin!!"<br/><br/> Loud cheers reverberate throughout the stadium, shaking the ground itself with the screams of the people. The event is so popular that races other than just humans fill the stands and the tournament's roster. Beastpeople, Dwarves, and even Elves make up the large groups of people crowding the seats around the arena as they wait anxiously for the competitors to appear.<br/><br/> "An earlier duel a few days ago has sparked much debate for this match, who was originally going to be Lillock Prospect against our highly seeded opponent, but due to his loss in the spar, a new face has taken his place," a sullen male continues. "Having defeated Lillock, do you think the new boy stands a chance, Steirmi?"<br/><br/> "Well, let's see… the Stats!" Steirmi calls, the last two words amplified by the chants of the crowd who yell along with her.<br/><br/> Standing next to Roderrick behind an invisible wall, so that the crowd couldn't see us yet, I crane my neck out to see a billboard, powered like a flatscreen by numerous Mana stones, pulling up my and Roderrick's faces with our Stats just below them.<br/><br/>[Name: Lewkeh] [Name: Roderrick Plaineti]<br/>[Age: 18] [Age: 20]<br/>[Lv: 12] [Lv: 24]<br/>[Health: 57/57] [Health: 77/77]<br/>[Mana: 76/76] [Mana: 66/66]<br/>[Stamina: ~57] [Stamina: ~77]<br/><br/>STR: 14 MAG: 10 STR: 50 MAG: 7<br/>AGI: 25 DEX: 17 AGI: 6 DEX: 13<br/>VIT: 10 INT: 21 VIT: 20 INT: 14<br/><br/>ACC: 21 ACC: 9<br/>DEF: 9 DEF: 35<br/>POW: 12 POW: 10<br/><br/> "As you can see, our prodigy Roderrick Plaineti has an extra 3 Stat points added to his great Strength! Wow!"<br/><br/> The crowd ooohs and claps for the man, who puffs out his bony chest in pride. I look at the paper-thin man, who stands a few inches above me, in disbelief, but he ignores me pointedly.<br/><br/> Suddenly, the depressed voice of the male commentator cuts through the clapping. "Well, would you look at our other competitor, Lew… Luu— the unknown. He's over 20 points higher than his Level's Stat total."<br/><br/> Roderrick glares at me as the crowd cheers louder than before, bewilderment filling their voices.<br/><br/> "He must be a prodigy!"<br/><br/> "How do you even say his name?!"<br/><br/> "Seriously, who would think someone with such a weird name would look so cool!"<br/><br/> I sigh. "Maybe it's not better than Klum," I murmur, but the booming voice of the woman's voice cuts me off quickly.<br/><br/> "L-let's meet these two geniuses then, shall we?" she calls out. "First up, we have our very own Roderrick Plaineti, from the esteemed Plaineti family!"<br/><br/> The thin man walks out from behind the wall, dispelling it as he waves with a small smile to the crowd. "Worry not!" He calls out loudly. "I will make this quick."<br/><br/> I scoff and roll my eyes at his exaggeration. "Yeah, right. Bozo."<br/><br/> Once the cheering settles down, the purple-blue sky is once again permeated by the woman's loud voice.<br/><br/> "And his opponent… Look? Uhhh… Li-whew-kay!"<br/><br/> 'Did she just call me Liwukay?'<br/><br/> "Li wu kay!"<br/> <br/> "Li wi kay!"<br/><br/> "Li wu kay!"<br/><br/> I sigh, stepping out of the opening in an attempt to silence the crowd's chanting. They stop, instead cheering and clapping loud enough to partially deafen me. <br/><br/> I look up to see a blonde woman hastily typing in the announcer's box, and the spelling of my name is now 'Liwuukay' on the board. "Fuuck," I say breathily, trying to take a deep breath. 'It's just for this tournament,' I try to reassure myself, taking my position across from Roderrick. The man hits his skinny fists together in an attempt at intimidation, and I try not to laugh. <br/><br/> As the fight prepares to begin, the small disks on our chest that were given to us by the administrators glow purple and dark blue respectively; our two colors opposing like the colors of the sky mixing around. As the thin film of our Mana surrounds our bodies, the woman named Steirmi cries out excitedly, ready to explain.<br/><br/> "For those new viewers who don't know, those are Battledisks! They allow competitors to fight to the max against another without fear of real injury, using a small fraction of the fighter's Mana!"<br/><br/> Sure enough, the billboards changed, condensing to show just our Health and Mana.<br/><br/>[Liwuukay Mana: 75/76]<br/>[Roderrick Mana: 65/66]<br/><br/> "The fight will continue until one fighter either runs out of Mana, or falls below 5 Health. The Battledisks take one Mana every other minute, so magical stamina matters, folks! Our unknown has the lead now, but will the tables turn?? Let's see in three!"<br/><br/> The crowd chimes in to count down as well. "THREE!"<br/><br/> "Two!"<br/><br/> "TWO!"<br/><br/> "One!"<br/><br/> "ONE!"<br/><br/> "BEGINNNN!"<br/><br/> As soon as the battle starts, I summon UnHoly Raze, pulling it down to hover the tip near the ground. Roderrick equips a full suit of armor from his own Inventory — one that is five sizes too large, including gauntlets that swallow his arms up past his elbows.<br/><br/> "The fuck…" I wonder quietly, but I disregard it and dash forwards anyways, quickly closing the distance as the edge of my sword hovers so close to the ground that clouds of dirt run up on either side of the sword. I pull my blade up as if I'm planning to thrust, ready to unleash my tried and true move.<br/><br/> "Reverse Crescent Slash."<br/><br/> "Supreme Plaineti Enhancement!"<br/><br/> With a flash of blue, I feel my curving blade stop harshly, sending a metallic shudder through my bones. A numbness spreads through my arms from the shock, and I blink to see what blocked me.<br/><br/> The nerdy skeleton is gone, replaced by a brute with even more muscular of a build than Lynsel. His glasses are gone, replaced by a faceplate that covers everything except the sneer of his mouth, revealing two wide buck teeth. <br/><br/> "Night night, bitch."<br/><br/> "Nuh-uh, I know you didn't jus— uoof!" <br/><br/> Before I can finish my sentence, one of the oversized gauntlets slams into my body faster than a sports car, sending me flying several feet with a loud crunch. A collective groan resonates from the crowd as several of them feel a phantom pain in their stomachs. <br/><br/> "Ooh, that one HAD to hurt!" Steirmi calls out, clearly enjoying the show. "Roderrick shows off his superior Strength!"<br/><br/> I skid on the ground for a while before stopping, clutching my stomach. 'He probably broke some ribs,' I think to myself as I shakily bring my leg under me. "That was what you call a bedtime story? Weak!"<br/><br/> He growls angrily. "Shut the fuck up… It was supposed to be Lillock, not some no-name loser."<br/><br/> I lift my nose up to look down at him in disdain. Although nobility seemed frowned upon, there were clearly still many families that held high positions of influence, and used that to put others down.<br/><br/> It was just the same thing without the title.<br/><br/> The notion caused me to grit my teeth, and I point my sword at Roderrick. "Hey, nerd. You're talking all this shit about 'night night,' but it's way past your fucking bedtime."<br/><br/> Our amplified voices were reaching up to the high ends of the stadium for everyone to hear, with the help of the invisible dome around the arena. It was the same dome that afforded Lillock and me some privacy post-duel, and served to protect the spectators when blows became too heavy as well as what it was doing now, which was acting as a speaker.<br/><br/> That meant my words were heard by everyone there, and it sent them into a frenzy as they cheer crazily, moving about in near-mosh pits from excitement.<br/><br/> I block them out of my head, focusing only on my breathing. I couldn't keep some of the raggedness out of my throat. 'Probably because of my ribs.'<br/><br/> I pull UnHoly Raze into a low, ready position. "Whew," I exhale slowly, feeling myself settling into a peaceful, empty state. It was a method I used when my clumsiness sometimes felt overwhelming. I still remember how Christy taught me how to do it, when I began hyperventilating after breaking my phone and (somehow) snapping my credit card in half while falling down a flight of stairs.<br/><br/> All the thoughts fade from my head slowly like wisps of smoke as my mind returns to neutral.<br/><br/> "Is that some way of giving up?" the oversized man taunts, but I pay him no mind. Slowly, I open my eyes to lock onto my target.<br/><br/>[Critical Sight was activated.]<br/>['Right Arm' was selected.]<br/>[Fury Slash was activated.]<br/>[10% Dark chance was activated.]<br/>[Your Sixth Sense is tingling due to enhanced senses.<br/> This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.<br/> +1 INT]<br/>[New Stats taking effect in 3…]<br/><br/> I push the messages away, clearing my head again. My focus is pinpoint, lasered onto my opponent. The dark purple tendrils of my Mana creep up the blade, dancing lightly on its edges. Seeing this, Roderrick huffs in annoyed fashion. "Fine… if we're doing that. Flowing Fists of Plaineti!"<br/><br/> He slams the knuckles of his gauntlets together, his Mana condensing fluidly and coalescing together until it flows like…<br/><br/> "Water," I whisper, seeing the liquid take shape and swirl slowly around the large man's fists, which now sit at the ready.<br/><br/> "Both fighters seem to be pulling out their Elemental cards! And is that a Dark Element?? That's super rare!" The woman calls from her announcer's box, screaming over the voices of the people watching and cheering intently.<br/><br/> "It can be very strong, but also consume the user," the depressed voice notes quietly.<br/><br/> "Can Liwuukay handle it? What do you think, Ghilo?"<br/><br/> "We'll have to see."<br/><br/> "Enough of this!" Roderrick shouts, slamming his feet into the ground to leap up, bringing both fists together. The water forms into a ball around them, spinning dangerously.<br/><br/> But, it's incredibly slow. I can see through all of it.<br/><br/> "Man, is that the best you've got?"</p>