Chapter 44 - A New Type of Dream

<p>I scroll on my phone, holding half a bottle of a Mana potion with my mouth. With a twist of my jaw, the small drink tilts up, pouring another sip of the clear liquid down my throat. The spicy flavor pierces my tongue, but the sweet aftertaste immediately soothes it.<br/><br/> "Already 110 matches in 4 hours," I wonder to myself, looking at the setting sun. "These last 15 should fly by pretty fast."<br/><br/> I hadn't had a chance to check the brackets yet, only my and Eniyala's first matches. I took this recovery period to look it over, checking out my potential future matchups.<br/><br/> My next match was a guaranteed bye, giving me an extra day to rest. This was probably because it was meant as a small gift to Roderrick or Lillock, but since I had beaten them both, it was mine instead. <br/><br/> No complaints here.<br/><br/> I scroll through several green and red lines to reach my potential candidates for my next match. They would go against each other tomorrow, and whoever won would face me the day after that.<br/><br/> "Ezio Murf or Lanten Batracios," I mused. Ezio had a long brown ponytail that fell to his lower back, with a sharp face like mine, only longer. His emerald green eyes looked so fierce that it seemed like he was planning to cut the cameraman who had taken his picture. He was what seemed to be a classic samurai, having won his first match with a single overhead blow the moment his opponent came within range. He had even helped the lady up, saying he finished it quickly because he could see her strength and respected it.<br/><br/> I couldn't tell if he was overly obsessed with honor or with women. Either a truly dedicated samurai, or a simp.<br/><br/> On the other hand, Lanten was the definition of a overly confident over compensator. His smile was overly large, showing each and every one of his teeth were plated with gold. Similarly, his shoulders had extravagant, round gold plating on them, plastered with numerous jewels. 'I would love it if he won, just so I could beat him in the pettiest way possible.'<br/><br/> I stare at the short silver-haired man's picture for another hateful second before moving on. Lanten had spent the first five minutes of his match easily avoiding his opponent's attacks, talking about himself the whole time. The next five minutes were him disarming and sending his opponent flying, then instructing him to pick the poor man's weapon back until he simply forfeited, causing Lanten to throw a fit because "his toy had broken on him."<br/><br/> Rather than the arrogance I had faced up until now, this man was a pure narcissist with a heavy case of main-character syndrome.*<br/><br/>(* A/N: Main-Character Syndrome is a real mindset where a person believes they are above everyone else and/or thinks of everyone else as an NPC or below human. I'm sure you've met or experienced at least one person in your lifetime with this syndrome. You may even have it yourself. Note: If you responded mentally or verbally to that last sentence with something like "how dare this NPC accuse me of having it," you have it.)<br/><br/> His only weapon was a gold wand, similarly encrusted in jewels. "Wonder if those are fake," I murmur, rolling over to lay on my other side as I move on. <br/><br/> I absentmindedly keep looking, before my eyelids begin to grow heavy. "I guess I should probably rest soon… "I have two matches to watch tomorrow, after all…"<br/><br/> The door bursts open, as do my eyes. "The fu—"<br/><br/> Lynsel barrels into the room, the large mass of the man tumbling over onto the floor before he lands on his back, face flushed. He hurriedly gets to his knees and scoots up to the bed, acting as if nothing had happened. "I heard what happened! Are ya okay? Does it hurt anywhere??"<br/><br/> I gently pry his large fingers off of me. "Relax, Mom. I'm just fine. I was ABOUT to rest, but uh…"<br/><br/> He looks up suddenly. "Oh! Oh yeah, sorry.." He looks away bashfully. "I was watchin' Eniyala's match. She said it was guaranteed that ya won, so there was no point in goin', but Mana Rebound sounds pretty bad!"<br/><br/> I wave him off. 'Just let me sleep,' I think, but different words leave my mouth. "It's nothing, it's nothing. One good night of rest and I'll be right as rain."<br/><br/> He stares at me for a second. "Rain only falls diagonally," he says after a long while.<br/><br/> I stare back. 'There has to be something missing in this man's brain.' <br/><br/> "Anyways, I'll probably get some sleep now."<br/><br/> "Ah! Yes. When would ya like to meet tomorrow?"<br/><br/> I ponder for a second, looking out the big window to my left. "I'm going to watch a fight before Eni's, so let's meet up 20 minutes before?"<br/><br/> He nods. "Sounds good ta me!" Grinning, the man walks out as if he had just earned the date of a lifetime.<br/><br/> I sigh, a small headache returning along with the new aching pain in my hands. "I guess it's good he can't fight, and that we only got two entries. I can't imagine going against him. Well, unless the fight was just him running away screaming."<br/><br/> I laugh lightly at the image in my head. Settling comfortably into my sheets, I gaze sleepily at the night sky, marveling at the large moon. "Maybe you were my inspiration for my style," I said softly. "You have this certain feeling of strength, somehow."<br/><br/> I fell asleep like that, face still turnt at the moon.<br/><br/><br/> In my dream that night, a gray Holy Rend appeared in my hands. I used it to sweep two erratic horizontal cuts, cutting down every cubicle in the area. The whole room sits empty, except for a girl without a face. <br/><br/> "What is my name?"<br/><br/> I can't answer. I don't know, I don't even know where I am.<br/><br/> "What is. My name?"<br/><br/> I swing the blade again, three sudden vertical slashes, but the blade swings straight through her body. "Shi—"<br/><br/> The black void closes in, sucking away my life. <br/><br/> It's going to swallow me.<br/><br/> "I said. What. Is. My. Name?"<br/> <br/><br/> "Christy," I reply as my eyes flutter open. "The day I stop having that dream for good, is the day I reach godhood," I mutter, swinging my legs out of bed. <br/><br/> I do various stretches, even testing my Dexterity, which goes surprisingly well until my hand slips mid-hand stand and I fall onto my face.<br/><br/> Holding my nose to staunch the bleeding, I look in the mirror, inspecting myself. I was feeling much better than before.<br/><br/> Once my nose stops bleeding, I check my phone to find a message from Eniyala.<br/><br/>{If you aren't cheering for me, I'll chop off your—<br/><br/> "Oh yeah! Lenten and Ezio's match," I say, ignoring the glaring threat in my phone as I pocket it, walking out of the inn and making my way to stadium two.<br/><br/> "This match, then meet up with Lynsel, and we'll head to stadium 1 for Eni's match," I confirm mentally, approaching the large building with the number "2" plastered in each direction, entering for free while everyone else stops to pay a few Gold. As I pass people, several of them begin whispering, and I hear a mix of "Lillock," "Roderrick," and "Liwuukay," the last of which makes me cringe.<br/><br/> "Whatever, I'm just here to see the match," I remind myself before a small hand tugging at the fabric behind my knee halts me. An elven kid who looks no older than 8 or 9 holds up a piece of paper and an older style pen. "Will you sign this, please?"<br/><br/> I stare for a second before responding. "Me?"<br/><br/> She giggles, bright golden hair flowing down to her knees wiggling slightly. "You're Mister Liwuukay, aren't you?" <br/><br/> I take a knee to reach the same level as the girl, taking the pen and paper. I can't exactly get Klum to stick anymore, but I can probably…<br/><br/> In basic cursive, I draw out my name, then turn it to show her. "It's Luke."<br/><br/> "Leww…kah?"<br/><br/> "Close. Lewww… keh," I pronunciate, nodding to tell her it's alright.<br/><br/> She giggles again. "You have such a strange name, Mister Luke."<br/><br/> I smile. "Yeah, well, what's your name, little lady?"<br/><br/> She puffs out her cheeks. "I'm not a little lady! I'm 17 and a half!"<br/><br/> I blinked. I knew Elves aged really slowly, but if she's almost my age, what the hell was the age of consent? 40?<br/><br/> Not picking up on my surprise, she continues. "And my name is Taisha! Nice to meet you, Mister Luke!"<br/><br/> I laugh softly, shaking her little hand. "Nice to meet you, Taisha. Now, I need to go watch this match, but can I count on you to cheer for me tomorrow?"<br/><br/> Her eyes twinkle like stars and she nods fiercely with determination. "Mhm!"<br/><br/> "Good, good," I say with a smile, patting her adorable little head. "Now, you should go find your parents before you get lost, okay?"<br/><br/> "'Kay!" She replies, skipping off with the piece of paper clutched in her hands.<br/><br/> I smile after the small girl for a moment before standing and entering the seating area, heading near the front row to watch the upcoming match.<br/><br/> "Alright, who's going to be my next opponent?" I wonder quietly to myself, taking an empty seat. "Golden Boy, or Wannabe Samurai?"</p>