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Chapter 5: The Third Day
After giving his body a stretch, Anzel carried out his morning routine and got changed. He wouldn’t need his jacket today—it would just get in the way while he fought.
“And done.”
Anzel looked in the mirror as he finished checking his appearance, just as he always did, and then he left his room.
It was the morning of the third day of prelims. It hadn’t been very long since he’d arrived on the island, but he’d spent that limited time holed up in his room training. He hadn’t even gone to watch the previous matches; he didn’t have the time to waste. It didn’t matter who his opponent was; he was aiming for victory.
Kaffes Jacks’s order had been for Anzel to win the whole tournament. Whether he could or not wasn’t important, he just needed to put his all into trying. He’d be an absolute joke if he couldn’t even make it through preliminaries.
Е̌n̈ǔm̀à
After confirming what court his matches were at, Anzel went to the arena. The place was absolutely mobbed. Everyone in his area were competitors, and the ones in the audience seats were the regular spectators. They were spread out, but that didn’t change there were a lot of them. Coming to see prelims—and this early in the morning to boot? Anzel could never.
“Yo,” Fressa greeted as she walked up.
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“Hey. Your matches were yesterday, yeah? Why’re you here today, then?”
“Just here to observe my possible enemies. I’m gonna be in the qualifiers, by the way.”
So Fressa had made it through her matches. Anzel couldn’t say he was surprised.
“What about Gandolph and Lynette?”
W е̄b n o v̀ el̂ Е n̄ ū m a
“Obviously they made it too.”
Okay, so they were through as well. Anzel couldn’t say he was surprised about that either.
“Lynokis’s matches are today, yeah?”
“Uh-huh. Pretty sure.”
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The favorite winner of the tournament had her matches on the same day as Anzel. Apparently, she was on the last day so the production crews could schedule their recordings of her or something... Not that it mattered to Anzel. They were in different divisions, so he could take it easy.
Anzel wouldn’t deny that Lynokis was the scariest fighter here. She would’ve been his greatest obstacle had they been in the same division. He was thankful he could end this tournament without ever having to deal with her in battle.
W e̊ b̌ n о̇vel̃ Е̂ńum̄а̃
“What were you doing the past few days? I didn’t see you here.”
“Nothin’. Was just takin’ it easy.”
“Okay then... Say, Anzel.”
“What?”
“I may have accidentally leaked myself.”
“You what? That’s disgusting. Don’t stand so close to me.”
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“What? I don’t mean I wet myself, you ass. I mean my identity might’ve leaked on magivision. The production crews caught me and I ended up front and center.”
Apparently, she’d appeared on magivision yesterday.
“Did you not see?”
“Nah. I’ve been tryin’ to take in as little useless info as possible.”
“Oh, really now? I’m so jealous of you people getting to hide away. Not like me and the long biographical special they put together for me.”
Anzel didn’t even have to ask any questions before Fressa was spilling the beans. From what she’d said, she’d instantly beaten a tiger beastkin in her first match, and that had caught everyone’s attention due to their size difference. And then, in her last match, she’d ended up having a close call against a pretty terrifying opponent. That match had been unexpectedly intense for prelims and had naturally been broadcast as a result.
Е̂ñ ú ṁ а. і ď
Violent matches were always the most visually appealing. It was no wonder the production crews had picked it up.
“Jeez, endin’ up against a Qilong executive, huh? That must’ve been rough.”
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Fressa probably just wanted to complain. Every part of this girl was a part of the underworld. She knew full well what it meant to be so noticed by the public in her position, so it was no wonder she wanted to get out a complaint or two. She had likely entered expecting this would happen, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to grumble about it.
“It was so rough! I managed to win, but if that had been a real fight, it’d have been over for me. I never want to fight that guy again.”
It had been a close match even with her ability to use chi. The Qilong really were a frightening bunch.
“At least you’re not as swarmed as she is,” Anzel said, eyes on the crowd gathering in front of them.
Ēn̆um̌ а
“Ah, now that’s what you call having it rough.”
It was Lynokis—or from the public’s eye, Leeno—surrounded by cameras and production crews from each region. She was so surrounded that Anzel and Fressa couldn’t even see her properly.
“Though that’s what it was like for me.”
“You had it that bad?”
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“Like I said, I stood out way too much yesterday. It’s such a pain in the neck. Like, they even made a whole special about me.” Fressa’s shoulders drooped before she continued, “And yet, the moment Lynokis walked by, they all just left me behind. That kinda pisses me off too. They clearly want to record Lynokis more than me.”
“Weren’t you just complainin’ about havin’ to be on magivision?”
Ẁе b n о v̄ѐl̆ Е́n ù ṁа
“Yeah, but that’s different. It feels bad being treated so noticeably differently.”
Was this the heart of a woman? Well, it wasn’t like Anzel didn’t get it.
And then it was time for the matches to begin.
Lynokis let out a sigh. Finally, she had been freed. The royal, Silver, and Liston production crews had separated to go record whichever matches interested them.
She really hadn’t expected that she would be surrounded the minute she entered the arena. Honestly, she wished they’d read the room and left her alone when she was about to have something as important as her own matches. This was the time that she wanted to use to raise her spirits, to get her mind into the right place. All that preparation she’d been doing to get herself in the right headspace for battle had been for nothing.
Since Lynokis wasn’t used to being in front of the camera, every question she was asked made her nervous. It made her appreciate even more how calm Nia and the other girls looked whenever they were being recorded. Lynokis’s mind and body would never survive if she was forced to go through that every day.
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“Everyone wants to talk to you, huh? Miss Popular.”
While she was sitting at the side of the court waiting for her first match, a tiger beastkin began speaking to her. He was one of those...Something Brothers.
Lynokis silently looked at him. She’d run out of energy to speak. It was still early in the morning and yet she already felt utterly exhausted. Recordings really were stressful. Her body was one thing, but her mind was spent. She fully understood why Nia hated Bendelio now. Even she was beginning to want to punch that distinctive face. Actually, she wanted to line everyone up and punch them one by one. She was sure it would make her feel so much better.
“I’m your first match today. I heard you chose this division because you thought it would be too easy with a weapon. Well, I’m gonna take that arrogance of yours and smash it to pieces.”
“Sure... Looking forward to it.” That was all Lynokis could think to say in her exhaustion. Honestly, those rumors of her apparent arrogance were another thing that was tiring her out. Even the interview had touched on it.
“The weapons division would’ve been too easy for you, right?” they’d asked. Even though Lynokis had never said anything like that. Who had started such an irresponsible rumor? Who was responsible for it? She’d beat their ass, whoever it was.
Wêb nov е̊l̈ Е n û m̀а̊
And that was when it suddenly occurred to Lynokis that there actually was a way to deal with this fog in her mind. It was right in front of her too.
“Ohhh... Right. Of course. I get it now.”
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“Huh?”
“Let’s have a good match!”
Lynokis suddenly understood Nia’s feelings. Yes, she understood them far better now. She understood them almost too well. These heavy feelings lodged deep in her heart would clear up in a flash if she just got the chance to beat someone up with all her power.
And the perfect target for that was right in front of her: someone that she was allowed to beat up. He was so big and tough too. Such a bulky beastkin should be able to withstand a ton of hits. Naturally, she’d make sure not to go too far. She wouldn’t hurt him any more than was necessary, so she really did want him to let her hit him.
Ě ň ům а̀ . і d
That thought alone made the prospect of the match far more exciting.
Both Lynokis and Anzel were progressing through their matches without a hitch. The match that caught the attention of onlookers was the one in which Headsplitter Geeg—the large half-titan bounty hunter who stood out wherever he went—lost. His opponent had been a fighter from Wu Haitong wearing metal greaves. As his weapons implied, he was a strong kicker, and he had completely destroyed Gigzaras with his speed. The half-titan was known to hunt monsters by making use of his large body, which easily matched the strength of many of his hunts. But by that same token, it meant that a fast opponent was much more difficult for him to fight against.
No, it hadn’t been quite that. Rather, the stipulation that he couldn’t kill his opponents had limited all of his attacks. With such a gigantic body and monstrous strength, a single swing from his club would have been enough to kill almost anyone. Throwing it around aimlessly was dangerous.
To put it simply, Gigzaras was just too kind. He’d shown clear reluctance to be violent toward other people. He likely hadn’t had to fight non-monsters much over the course of his career.
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The one who had managed to take that softie down was now standing on the court in front of Anzel.
It was the third match of the sixth court. Each winning competitor would have four matches in the prelims, which meant Anzel just had this match and then one more left before he’d move on to tomorrow’s qualifiers.
Е̊n û ṁa
“So you’re Anzel.”
“Yeah. And you’re...Rimo, right?” The man’s face was familiar. He was one of the guys who had been standing with that dangerous old man. Anzel had seen him from afar. That meant he was likely also an assassin.
“I won’t hold back.”
“Well, that sucks. Won’t you consider showin’ some kindness to little ol’ me?”
The referee arrived at the court. Rimo raised one leg to ready his stance, and Anzel called out his metal pipe.
Rimo’s greaves were his own weapons. They were fairly unique, so it wasn’t something that the organizers had thought to prepare a dulled version of. They’d determined its lethality to be low, and so approved its usage in the tournament. Anzel’s pipe was also acknowledged and accepted as a regular blunt weapon. They’d viewed it as barely different from a club or a mace.
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“Let the match...begin!”
Rimo lunged forward the second the signal was given, doing all sorts of turns and cartwheels to generate enough power and then—
“Haaaah!”
With his greaves cutting through the ground, he let out a sweep at a terrifying speed—no, it was a feint. Moments before he was about to hit Anzel’s leg, Rimo leaped into the air.
It was a spin kick. That heel equipped with a lump of metal was flying right toward Anzel’s face.
A sharp clang rang out.
Ẇе̂ bn̈ о̌ v ël̃ Е ń ǔmа́
“Huh?!”
Rimo’s leg was caught. Despite having taken one of his powerful kicks, Anzel was standing there like nothing had happened.
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“Shit, that stings,” Anzel muttered, holding the leg in place so Rimo couldn’t pull back, and then, he raised his metal pipe.
It had hurt, but Anzel was willing to consider that a success.
Anzel hadn’t just taken that kick unprotected—he’d made sure to create a defensive barrier using external chi. That was what Rimo had actually hit. By the time the kick met Anzel’s face, most of its momentum had been killed. If it hadn’t, Anzel’s skull would’ve been shattered right about now.
Right now, Anzel could only keep up external chi for a short moment. That alone had taken all his focus.
Еnüm̊ a . і̆ ḋ
But if he couldn’t do that much, he’d never be able to defeat his fellow disciples. His greatest obstacle was in a different division, as was Gandolph, which meant he’d only potentially need to fight Lynette and Fressa, but both of them used blades. They were blunted ones prepared by the tournament organizers, but they were still dangerous.
After Nia had taught him about external chi, Anzel decided the best way for him to use it was to protect against potentially lethal attacks. If the situation arose that an attack was incoming that he couldn’t dodge, he would block it with chi. If he could master that, he could launch a desperate counter. It might result in him suffering a heavy wound, but since his opponent would be rendered practically defenseless, it would mean Anzel could get in a direct attack in return.
What was important was that he won the match. Close matches would likely be kept to a minimum. Anzel had also made sure to confirm that there were medics that could heal him after.
If toeing the line of death a few times was what he had to do to win, he could withstand it.
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But he’d definitely prefer if he didn’t have to...
“And we’re done. Take care.”
W̌ е̇b̊ n о̊ v̂ е̇l Е n.um ӓ
Anzel had gone to the infirmary and had his face checked out by Shine, a familiar underground doctor. They both pretended to not know the other through the interaction. They’d met someone unexpected in a place that they’d least expected to. According to Fressa, there were quite a lot of Umbral Arena regulars taking part in the tournament.
Not that it was Anzel’s place to judge any of them.
“Hmm?”
Anzel still had one match left. As he was walking down the corridor back to the main stages, he ran into some faces he’d seen not long ago: it was Rimo and his friends. Anzel was decently sure they were all executives of the main house of the Qilong. They just didn’t stand out anywhere near as much as those two old men with them.
The three of them had been discussing something when Anzel walked past. Rimo must have just received medical treatment himself.
“Yo. I’ll see you around.” There wasn’t much Anzel felt he had to say. He held no personal grudge or hatred for Rimo—he was just an opponent in the tournament. Honestly, he couldn’t think of anything to talk about with him even if he tried. Since their eyes had met, Anzel had greeted him.
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“Hey.”
But when Anzel tried to go on his way, he was stopped.
“What?” He turned around, and all three of them were silently glaring at him. Rimo probably felt the need to call out to him, but couldn’t figure out what to say either. They were acquainted enough that it felt wrong to pass by without saying anything, and it wouldn’t be right to just ignore them, but the relationship they had was a little strange. Maybe they felt the urge to stop him since Anzel had also deigned to give them a greeting.
“If you’ve got nothin’ to say, I’m headin’ off,” Anzel said, turning to keep walking when the men continued staring at him without saying a word.
“Hey, what the hell are you?”
What are you? That was some way to say hello. That was all Rimo could think to say after stopping him like that? Actually, given who he was, Anzel felt like he understood what his opponent was getting at.
W̃ e b.ñ о_vе̊ l Е̃ núm̀a_
“Right now, I’m the bartender of my own place, but in the past, I mainly worked as a bodyguard. A weak bodyguard ain’t gettin’ nothing done, is he?”
That was the only way Anzel could think to respond, though he imagined it wouldn’t be enough to satisfy them. How was a simple bodyguard, a bartender, able to fight against a professional assassin and win?
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The Qilong were an exceptional assassin’s organization known to assassinate even foreign dignitaries with no qualms. History was littered with the marks of their work. There were many incidents where there was no definitive proof, but it was obvious from what was—or wasn’t—left behind that the Qilong were behind it.
No matter who the target was, they would see their job through to the end. They were a terrifying group. Even among the underworld, there were many who didn’t even believe they were real, enough that they had become like a local legend. After all, an assassin’s organization that managed to perfectly carry out every job given to them sounded completely unrealistic.
But as someone who had gotten involved with them through his work, Anzel knew them well. Or, perhaps it was more the case that he knew they were real, and not much more than that. He was completely clueless on their inner workings.
Altoire had their own Qilong, but that was more like a branch. The guys here were from the original main house. It was a lot like a main martial arts style, a head house of a clan, or even what one might consider as the real deal.
Ĕn̊_um̊ а
“Who is your master? Don’t tell me it’s one of us?”
“One of who? What’re you talkin’ about?”
Anzel couldn’t utter the Qilong name. When someone learned their identity, that spelled either the death of the assassin or the death of the one who had discovered the truth. Really, Anzel wanted to berate them for so casually hinting at their identity like that. The only choice left to him now that he was put in that situation was to play dumb.
“You don’t need to pretend. We already know who you are.”
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“Huh? Sorry, guys, but I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.” Obviously, he did, but again, the only choice was to play dumb. Acknowledging it here would likely cause him hassle later. He was already about to get kicked out of Altoire; he didn’t need the Qilong after him too. He didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks.
“Hmph. Fine. But regardless, you’ll...”
W ebnоv̈é l̊ Ѐ n̄_um̀a
“What was that?”
Rimo pursed his lips for a moment, and then continued, “No, never mind. Go.”
Anzel was curious what the man had been about to say, but the longer they spoke, the more of a risk to his life it would become, so he chose to take that opportunity to dash away.
It would only take one more day before Anzel learned what Rimo had been about to say to him.
“How’s it going?”
One match left. While Lynokis was lounging around in the spectator seats waiting for her next match, Lynette sat beside her.
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“Not too bad, but everything about this is tiring me out.”
Lynokis was really here to escape the crowds. She was attracting as much attention as usual, but at least the production crews wouldn’t come all this way. At worst, some of the spectators would try to talk to her, but for the most part, they surprisingly left her alone. That was what made it pretty comfortable here. It was much better than being beside the court, at least.
“You looked like you were having fun with your matches,” Lynette said.
“Not sure if I would call them matches more than I was just beating them up.”
“True. You were having fun beating up your opponents then. It looked like a regular fistfight without even an ounce of martial arts, almost as if you were playing with them. Honestly, you reminded me of the young mistress a little.”
The idea of that left Lynokis feeling conflicted. She definitely couldn’t let Nia do whatever she wanted, but now, Lynokis knew exactly why the girl always wanted to go wild. Getting to beat someone up really helped blow off steam.
Еn ũmа
There was no logic there, and it wasn’t something commendable either, but there was no denying that it was just that fun to do. She could forget all her worries while punching away at her opponent. Sometimes, she’d even feel refreshed after the fight. It didn’t fix the fundamental issues, but it stopped her being bogged down by her thoughts. Wasn’t that incredible?
The moment Lynokis had those thoughts, she began wondering if she’d awoken to a very twisted desire...
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“Your next match is your last, right? Who’s your opponent?” Lynette asked.
“Avan. You know him, right?”
“The bounty hunter? The adventurer?”
“Yeah. The one who used to be part of the Alphon school.”
Wе̌b̌ nо̇ v е̇ l̃ Еn̆ û mа
Avan was an adventurer who specialized in hunting monsters. He’d appeared on the scene shortly after Lynokis had begun her middle school classes in the Department of Adventuring, and she’d ended up looking up to him as a result.
Back then, Lynokis had wanted to become an adventurer. Any time she and her classmates, including Lynette, heard of some new famous adventurer, they would all get excited talking about them, saying they’d one day become a famous adventurer just like them. Just what wrong path had Lynokis taken to end up here?
Well, that wasn’t to say Lynokis wasn’t content with where she was. It was just she’d come to realize that this felt more like an adventure than adventuring did.
“He was one of the people who got drawn on the posters, did you not see?” Lynokis asked.
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“Oh, I didn’t bother checking the bare-handed division posters since I don’t need to worry about fighting them. But wasn’t Avan a sword wielder? And yet he entered the bare-handed division. What are your thoughts? Does he seem strong?”
“I’m...not sure.”
W ė b̃nǒv̄ ë l̃ Е numа
Avan was an adventurer Lynokis used to look up to a little. His achievements weren’t anything to scoff at, and his bounty hunting records were pristine. People always said he was a little rude, but Lynokis had thought that adventurers who embraced that outlaw vibe were pretty cool.
An adventurer’s work wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Behind those brilliant achievements was a whole lot of blood and gore—Lynokis knew that. That was why she thought a little bad behavior wasn’t a big deal. She’d thought that it made sense for adventurers to turn out like that.
She really had thought that.
“Oh, I think it’s almost time for my match,” Lynokis said when she noticed the referee waving her down. It was time for her to take the stage again. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Good luck. I’ll be watching.”
If Lynette was watching, then that was all the more reason that Lynokis couldn’t lose. Not that she had any reason to lose to begin with.
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The match before hers ended, and the fighters stepped off the court. Once they passed her and exited, Lynokis stood alone on the court.
The surrounding gazes all stabbed into her. Eyes were all on Leeno the adventurer. The production crews had gathered, cameras at the ready to record the match. The title of most favored to win was heavy.
It all reminded Lynokis that having time to think wasn’t good for her. Saying that she was good or bad with pressure felt like oversimplifying it—it was all on an entirely different level. The weight she had been given was just too much to bear. Given her strength didn’t match up to the expectations being placed on her, it was only natural they would feel heavy.
But when she was fighting, when she was beating someone up, she could forget everything. She’d accepted that reality.
“Yo, you’re already here. Sorry to keep ya waitin’, Miss Winner.” A middle-aged man with stubble stood in front of her.
This was Avan. He was nice, large and bulky. It wasn’t rare to see muscled contestants at a tournament like this one, but the amount of work Avan had put into his body was especially apparent. First impressions would make one think he was quite the rude man. And so would any future impressions, because a rude man was exactly what he was.
Ẃ ẽ bn о.v̊ él Еň u m а
“I’m sorry.”
“Come again?”
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“I despise you. I don’t even want to talk to you, so can you stop?”
“Wh-Whoa, c’mon now, what kinda greeting is that? Did I offend you or somethin’?”
“I saw your matches. You took them all way too far.”
The thought that for a time, for even a single moment, she had looked up to this man wasn’t just embarrassing, it absolutely infuriated her. It had been incredibly clear that Avan simply loved hurting people. In both his first and second matches, he would be exceedingly aggressive toward his opponent before they had the chance to surrender. Even if the referee tried to end the match, he wouldn’t stop his assault. Not even when his opponent fell unconscious.
Еn̄ u m̄ а . і_d
Avan was definitely strong; Lynokis was certain of this. He was at least one or two leagues stronger than your average fighter.
“Huh? What’re ya on about? Ain’t this tournament literally made for us to be celebrated and earn prize money for beatin’ folks up?”
It was. Lynokis couldn’t refute that. The tournament was exactly as Avan had described. She could come up with all manner of explanations that sounded good, but at the end of the day, that was all this event was.
“Besides, ain’t you goin’ too far yourself? Ya keep draggin’ out matches that you could easily finish in one blow. You just want to beat folks up too, don’tcha? Get off your high horse.”
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Avan wasn’t wrong here either. Lynokis wouldn’t even try to deny it. The reality was that she really did want to beat people up, and right now, that was probably all that she was feeling. She might have awoken to a deep, twisted desire to beat people up all the time.
But she’d never accept being equated to this man.
W е̃ bnо v̄ еľ E n̊ um̌ a.
“I have my limits,” she replied. “I know when to stop. And I actually have manners on top of that. Don’t act like I’m the same as your violence.”
If what she and Nia wielded was violence, just what did this man wield? It was hard to put it into words, but what she could say for certain was that it was completely different. There was no way their violence was the same. Lynokis might not know exactly what it was, but it was undeniably different.
Equating it to Lynokis’s violence was one thing, but she wouldn’t let it be equated to Nia’s. She hated the thought. It was truly unpleasant. She didn’t particularly care to find a deeper answer either. Different things were different, and those she didn’t want to be associated with were those she didn’t want to be associated with. That was all.
In any case, the only language spoken on this stage was violence. Words and logic had no place here. All Lynokis had to do was use violence to shut him up, to show this man that their violence was different. Violence itself would be her proof.
Honestly, her thoughts were beginning to sound like gobbledygook, but that was fine. There was no point thinking too hard about people she disliked.
“Say, Leeno. Are those rumors about you true? Personally, you don’t look nothin’ like someone who could take down those snow tigers or those fire sea serpents, ’specially not alone. And that big ol’ crab in Vanderouge? Definitely not. That ain’t somethin’ people take down solo. You ain’t no big shot, are ya? What trick did you use? Tell me, and maybe I’ll go easy on ya.”
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His personality might’ve been trash, but underneath it all, he was still an adventurer. Avan had already partially seen through to Lynokis’s true strength. But that wasn’t a big deal.
Realizing Lynokis wasn’t going to respond, Avan clicked his tongue in annoyance.
After they waited around for a while, the referee approached.
The eyes on them were numerous, from competitors, to spectators, to the production crews, to the cameras. All those eyes were focused on this one match.
This was the third day of preliminaries. It was the match that would determine who would move on to the qualifiers. One could even call it the most important match of the day.
“Let the match...”
E n̈_ú ṁ а
“Wait a moment.”
Just as the referee went to signal the start of the match, Lynokis interrupted.
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So many people had gathered. So many people were surrounding the court, watching them silently, eyes fixed on this one match. And that was why...
“I declare here,” Lynokis began, pointing at Avan, “that I will end this in one blow. I’m going to punch you head-on, so prepare yourself.”
It was a declaration of war and of victory. Lynokis would give Avan a little punishment on behalf of the competitors who had already been injured by him.
Her master had told her to just beat up anyone she didn’t like. As her student, it was only right that Lynokis follow that teaching.
W̄еb̌ n̈оv е̄ l̃_ Е́ nu̇mä
“Hah hah! What an interesting little lady you are. Keep in mind that if you don’t manage this, you’re gonna make a complete fool of yourself. This whole thing’s gonna be broadcast on that magivision malarkey for everyone to see, ain’t it? What’ll you do if you lose on top of that? You’d never be able to show your face in Altoire again.”
“Aren’t we both in the same boat? If you lose, you might have to give up being an adventurer. After all, what do you think people will say about a big tough adventurer getting knocked on his ass with a single punch from a girl?”
“Ah, I see. I’m startin’ to get your angle now. You’re right, that ain’t no joke.” Avan’s eyes narrowed. Lynokis could feel the hostility he was starting to emit.
“I-In that case...” the referee stuttered.
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Lynokis nodded, and the referee raised his hand again.
“Let the match...begin!”
Е̂ n ům̆ ӑ. і d
No one could follow what happened. It was an incredibly fast step forward. By the time the referee had finished lowering his arm, Lynokis was already right in front of Avan, arm pulled backward.
“Tch!”
This man really was no joke. Avan’s reaction speed was fast. He’d already leaned his body forward slightly, decreasing the distance between him and Lynokis’s fist, and was guarding his face with his arms. Those arms were thick with muscles and sturdy bones. In comparison, Lynokis’s arms were like sticks.
Avan was clearly guarding with the assumption he would have to take the hit—he was choosing a spot where it was safe to take a blow. It was likely an instinctive reaction upon realizing that Lynokis was too fast for him to dodge.
Being able to take up a defensive stance in that situation alone was already incredible. Lynokis was positive that Avan was strong.
But she charged at that head-on, and punched as hard as she possibly could.
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Striking that stringy, tough flesh with something so much harder made the feel of it being crushed run right through her arm, but she followed through without lingering on it. Without even having the chance to make a noise, Avan was sent flying. He violently rolled along the ground of the court until he finally landed outside of it.
“Hmph...”
Honestly, Lynokis couldn’t help but think that the man was lucky. A single bone being broken was the best he was going to get. If his guard had been too loose, she’d have broken right through and slammed her fist right into his face.
“Wh-Whooaaaaaaa!”
The audience exploded into uproar. Lynokis had taken the man out in one punch, just as she’d declared she would. What was more, her opponent had been Avan, one of the featured fighters on the posters. Up until this point, Lynokis’s fights had been fairly reserved, almost as if she had been playing with her opponents. Even those clueless about fighting could tell that Lynokis had been careful with her punches and kicks, but it resulted in the only one really having fun being Lynokis and Lynokis alone. To those watching, the matches had been pretty boring.
This time was different. This match showed the version of Leeno they had been waiting for. Now, no one could question her—she had proven that she truly did have the overwhelming strength that her reputation suggested.
Еn u ṁ а̌
Situated in the royal capital of Altoire was an apartment building close to the main street, likely intended for the elites who worked in the area. The apartments were neither high-class nor run-down, perfect for someone with a nice income to live alone.
Kaffes Jacks, leader of the Altoire underworld, was sitting in one of those apartments. This was one of his many safe houses scattered across the city. He would never stay in one place for more than half a month, so he was always migrating between them. It just happened that this was the one he chose to go to next.
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This kind of minimalist room containing little to call his own within it was much more preferable for Kaffes than a luxuriously furnished space, so it was much easier for him to relax. It was also quite open since it was made to have few blind spots.
“And done.”
After finishing his work, Kaffes had taken a bath, wrapped himself in a loose-fitting bathrobe, eaten a light meal, and then brought some alcohol and nuts to the table. With those ready, he sat himself down in the one sofa he had an attachment to.
He wouldn’t be moving anywhere else tonight. When it was time for bed, he would just fall asleep there on the sofa. Knowing that, he turned on the MagiPad.
Е ṅu_m̆ а̇ .í d̈
This had become Kaffes’s routine ever since the martial arts tournament had started a couple days ago. It turned out the tournament was much more exciting than he had expected it to be, and he’d been unable to take his eyes off of the events as they unfolded before him. He’d found himself wishing he’d been able to go see it in person—not that that was possible, for a variety of reasons.
Naturally, part of his fixed attention was for his work. He needed to assess the strength of as many fighters as possible before the main matches started, before all the rich foreign elites made their way to Altoire, before the real gambling began.
Even with his work in mind, however, there had been surprising upsets from the very first day, and those unexpected results made it fascinating to watch. It was impossible to predict the outcomes. Since he was yet to make his bets, it was much easier to celebrate and bemoan the wins and losses. This might be the most fun Kaffes would get to have over the course of this tournament.
Today was the day that one of his men, Anzel, had his matches. Kaffes wasn’t particularly worried—Anzel wasn’t the kind to lose easily—but he wanted to at least confirm the results. He was sure Anzel’s matches would be broadcast.
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At least, that was what he had thought.
“Ah... Yeah, this was crazy.”
Е̌ n ùm̄ ǎ
The moment he turned the MagiPad on, Leeno the adventurer was being featured. They weren’t only showing the same moments, but perhaps because it was a special coverage, she was permanently on-screen—to an annoying degree.
But Kaffes could understand exactly why, and in truth, he still found himself glued to the MagiPad. Altoire must have been going crazy for this right about now. That woman had shown incredible strength that lived up to the expectations of the one most expected to win. With just one punch, she had managed to send a fighter much bigger than her flying. It wasn’t faked or set up; the images were there as proof. She’d even declared that she would end the match in one punch.
What made the situation more incredible was that her opponent had been Avan. For both good and bad reasons, the man was a famous adventurer. He was a problem child whose misdeeds and improper behavior had been overlooked due to his strength and skill. Kaffes had met him once before, and he’d left with the impression that Avan was quite strong.
Yet, Leeno had faced an opponent like that and ended the match with one punch. There was no way in hell that wasn’t going to become the talk of the town. It was enough to instill fear in Kaffes.
From the outside, he’d looked as calm as always—even though he was alone in his room with no one around to take advantage of any moments of weakness, his poker face had at some point become his resting face. It was very rare for him to show his emotions outwardly these days.
Inside, though, all he could think to himself was Holy shit. The sight had shocked him enough he couldn’t think of any other words.
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And “holy shit” was right. The moment being looped showed it was even crazier than he’d ever thought it would be. Leeno was this strong?
There had been doubts surrounding the rumors—was Leeno really as strong as they said? Had she really earned all those hundreds of millions of krams by herself? Even Kaffes had had his doubts. It was unthinkable that her achievements could’ve been carried out solo.
But, no, this woman was strong. She really was strong. He instinctively realized that she was stronger than any of the strong fighters he had seen up to this point. He realized that if Anzel were to be pitted against Leeno, Anzel would be the one to lose.
“Well, at least we all know who’s definitely winning the bare-handed division...”
You couldn’t even call it a gamble anymore. Leeno was going to win, and by a wide margin. No one participating in this tournament could defeat her. It was starting to become apparent that if he wanted to make a profit, he would have no choice but to bet on Anzel.
“Oooh.”
Е̊ ṅ u m а̀
But all of that aside, once he changed the channel, he ended up finding a new fun match to watch.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Nia.”
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As I sat drinking tea with Carme in the lobby of the dorm, the person I had been waiting for finally arrived.
Reliared walked up to us with her tall attendant behind her.
“All good to go?” I asked.
“Yup, should be fine.”
Ё nū m̀ӓ_
“Then let’s be on our way,” I said, standing up. “Good day, Carme.”
We said goodbye to our head resident and took our leave. It was so early in the morning that the sky was still dark, and most children were still in the land of dreams. The air felt much more like fall than before; these days such early mornings were quite chilly.
Normally, this would have been a school day, given it was still the middle of the week and all, but we would be carrying out recordings today as off campus activities. Rather than requesting special permission, it had been an order directly from the king himself. In other words, we were carrying out our duties as citizens of Altoire. I could call it a royal decree if I wanted to sound dramatic.
Today was the fourth day of preliminaries—in other words, the qualifiers for the main matches. The king wanted us to support the production crews as much as possible in order to show off the practicality of magivision technology to our foreign visitors.
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“Nia, Relia,” Hildetaura called as we arrived at the port. We joined her as she boarded the royal airship docked nearby, and held a meeting about the upcoming recordings as we ate breakfast.
The matches to be recorded and the locations of the cameras had already been decided. Apparently, the organizers themselves had requested specific matches be recorded to avoid further cases of important moments being missed. There were talks of the production crews sharing recordings between each other as well, but those details were for them to decide.
E n̊ŭ mа̄
Us three girls would be conducting interviews of the fighters before their matches. And, if possible, after as well, with both winners and losers.
It was quite lacking in tact, but it was something you could only record at that precise moment. We wanted to record every facet of the tournament, to truly show the journey of the fighters, and that meant capturing their expressions at the moments they won and lost, to immortalize them while frustration still lingered on their faces.
The royal production crew had two cameras, while the Liston and Silver crews only had one each. It had been like that all through preliminaries. Personally, they should have had far more cameras in there, but there were apparently reasons that made that difficult.
Incidentally, the junior production crew were unsurprisingly refused permission to record. The reasons were perfectly valid: They were students and the prelims were happening over the course of the week. But above that, the organizers were likely being considerate of the fact that the air in the arena had been fraught with tension ever since the tournament had started. Such an atmosphere could be too much for children.
Though that then left me with the question of what that meant for us. But apparently, production didn’t question it. They didn’t question it at all.
There were talks that we might be able to record for the main matches as well, but I couldn’t predict the outcome of that. I wasn’t exactly someone in the position to give such permission, so I couldn’t say.
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“Okay, but, how amazing was Leeno yesterday?” With much of the important discussions out of the way, giving us room to relax, Reliared immediately brought up the matches.
She’d said the same thing when we were watching them in my room last night. The excitement must have still been lingering.
“She was incredible, yes. Everyone in the castle was talking about her too, even early in the morning.”
Hildetaura felt the same way, it seemed. It was apparently quite exciting for the children.
I could admit that the match wasn’t half bad. Everyone was raving about how Lynokis took out her opponent in one punch, but what really caught my eye was the declaration of victory she’d made right when everyone’s eyes were on her. That was immensely satisfying. Seeing her act like an arrogant martial artist gave me the chills.
That was exactly how one needed to be if they were going to act cocky. That was the type of arrogance I admired. I wished to do the same one day.
Én̈ ũm̌а.і d
That was perfect. That was how a martial artist should be. Modesty was important, but when a strong fighter was too humble, it could cause its own sort of offense. As the one expected to win the whole tournament, that was the correct attitude to take. That alone likely gave a lot of hype to the tournament. I felt bad for her opponent, but if Lynokis went as far as to make a declaration that she would beat them, she probably didn’t like them anyway.
And that was just as perfect. Martial artists should just beat up anyone they didn’t like. Nothing felt better than being able to punch someone without guilt!
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Regular life was different, but when it came to a match in which martial arts was the method of competition, the one who was weak was at fault. If they felt wronged by that, then they should have just won. If they had a complaint about that, then they shouldn’t compete to begin with. Simple as that.
“I’ve watched it so many times and I still can’t see it! It’s like one second she was standing there, the next she was punching him!”
Right? That there is my disciple.
“I could not see her either. I did not even know human beings could move so quickly.”
W̄ е b̀ nо̊v ê l̂ Е n u m a
Right? That’s my disciple, that is.
“What’s wrong with you, Nia? You’ve got this huge grin on your face. It’s kinda creepy.”
Well, that isn’t a nice way to describe a smile. I won’t try to defend your wording for you.
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