Chapter 108: Chapter 103
I walked back into the 'locker room', the waiting room that the contestants were staying. Was it a smart idea to have all of them staying so close together? I couldn't say, but the security only had to watch a single area, so there's that I suppose.
"Oh man, what a difficult fight, I'm exhausted." I loudly declared as all eyes were immediately on me as I walked in.
"Do you have any idea what you did?" The organizer from before looked at me with thinly veiled fury in his eyes.
"Won the match." I grinned.
"Not that, you moron." He growled, rubbing his temples. "But that was also infuriating to watch." He calmed himself down. "Do you have any idea who 'Lil'Miss Malachite' is?"
"Yup."
He paused, looking at me in surprise. "And you still went through with that little stunt? You won't make it past today. The only reason her people haven't gotten you yet is because the tournament."
"I'm quaking in my boots." I rolled my eyes.
There were some murmurs around me, some agreeing with the guy, others looking confused at what he was saying.
Yeah, some really sheltered kids here just looked utterly confused.
He just snorted. "Guess we know who got you through the preliminaries now."
Ah, he was referring to me dropping Roman's name.
"Your ass." The guy mumbled, turning to the scroll in his hands. "Alright, we go the next match set up." All eyes turned back to the organizer; people eager to get started. "Second match of the finals will be – Rufus Hedge vs Rajah Sun."
Gods, the names here are just odd.....I know why they did it, just doesn't really make it any less strange in my mind.
Something about a dictator in a previous era that sought to eliminate any kind of expression or individuality, so parents started to name their kids after colors in protest. After the regime faded the naming convention had stuck, practically as a reminder.
Don't remember if that was the exact reason, but I think that's about the gist of it.
I watched the two of them exist through the doors I just came in from. I was a bit excited to see this, but I realized something. "Is there a way to watch in person?" I turned towards the organizer.
He didn't deem it necessary to speak to me, merely pointing towards another door in the corner.
I just shrugged walking through. I saw a little encove under the stadium where the fighters could peek out to watch those on the stage. It was empty, except for one person at the far end, watching the match with no small amount of interest.
That was some red Hair, could match mine in intensity
She turned to me as I walked into this area. "Hey there, red." I greeted the so-called invincible girl.
She looked at me in surprise, registering my nickname for her. "Oh, hello." She immediately replied. "You're...um..."
"Wilhelm." I finished for her.
"Right, Wilhelm." She smiled forcibly, seemingly unsure of how to proceed.
I just shook my head with an amused smile, taking a notebook and pen out of my pocket as I looked towards the arena.
The announcer was doing his antics again, the fighters giving a few words. Much more tame than what me and my opponent did, and I could see the hesitance when he put his mic infront of their mouths.
Looking up at the big monitors, I couldn't help but notice something I didn't before. There were 'Aura Gauges' marked for each fighter. I suppose it slipped my mind regarding the 'rules' since I wasn't really paying attention.
Once someone's Aura hits a critical state, the match is over, not too surprising in of itself, it was a good way to gauge fights without resulting to possible injury or death.
No. What caught my attention was that they had machines able to measure someone's Aura.
The light of the soul, it was quantified up there for everyone to see, and this was apparently the norm.
Really....Remnant's technology just continues to impress.
I focused on the fight as both Rufus and Rajah took their stances, they were of similar builds and similar styles Rufus of course using his spear, and this Rajah was using a glaive with a design that reminded me of China.
"Interesting." I muttered.
"What is?" I forgot I was with company as I turned towards Pyrrha.
"Similar builds, similar weapons, similar stances. Judging by the way they're standing, they both realize this themselves and are reacting accordingly. It'll come down to personal skill with a bit of luck." I vocalized my thoughts.
She tilt her head at me, seemingly taken back by my narration. "But the one with the spear appears to be younger."
"That's true." I gave that to her. Rufus was the younger of the two, probably by about a year. "But that doesn't necessarily mean less trained. He already took a stance to accommodate his opponent's longer reach, but Rajah is still keeping his weapon high, while good against a spear, it isn't taking into account Rufus's lower center of gravity. I'm guessing Rajah has less actual fighting experience, but more or less equal training."
"That is....a well thought out explanation." She looked at my incredulously. "I had not thought..."
"That I would actually know what I'm doing and not just making a fool of myself on stage?" I offered.
Her lips curled up slightly, amused by my statement. "I would not have put it like that."
"Doesn't make it any less true." I pointed out as the match began.
Rufus was the one to seize initiative, rushing his opponent, forcing Rajah on the defensive. Though the latter was quick to regain some semblance of a defense, not allowing Rufus to push him back too far.
Regardless, Rufus held the advantage, his spear favored over Rajah's glaive with its stabbing attacks at such quick succession.
I saw little bits of Aura clipped away, the screen on top mirroring the sight as Rajah's gauge began to slowly move down.
It should have continued like this for a bit, until Rajah made a mistake and Rufus was about to capitalize on it, a straight pierce to the chest, except, when it would have struck, Rajah moved unnaturally quickly to counter the blow, knocking Rufus back and charging him.
"What?" I voiced quietly.
"His semblance." Pyrrha commented. "I remember him from last year, he made it to the top 8. He could retaliate against any blow using his Semblance. But I if I remember correctly, if he uses it too much too quickly, he gets fatigued."
"Fascinating." I mumbled, writing down some notes. "I wonder how – "
My eyes widened as Rufus erupted in a torrent of water, a clone of him taking his place as Rajah tried to slash through him. The glaive entered the clones 'body' made entirely of water as the true body of Rufus stepped back and thrust through the fake body at Rajah's chest.
When Rajah tried to step away, the spear burst out in a snow-white color.
Dust.
Ice dust to be specific. It combined with the apparent Semblance usage on Rufus's part, turning the clone into solid ice, locking Rajah in place as a good hit knocked Rajah's Aura down enough for the announcer to declare a winner.
A semblance that generates water and allows him to make temporary clones of himself? That was an amusing discovery. The possibilities there were endless, and I couldn't help but contemplate how such an ability came about.
And then there was how dust interacted with it. Like his semblance accepted the crystallized mana wholeheartedly and both were greater for it.
And Rajah's semblance as well. I only saw it for a moment, but was that some kind of fate manipulation?
I hesitated to give that theory credence.
Pyrrha said it 'automatically counter attacks', how else would that be achieved? Unless it was more so a focused defense technique, overloading his bodies' basic functions on a sole action. Which perhaps might explain why he supposedly got 'fatigued' easily afterwards.
"A-are you taking notes?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly.
"Huh?" I looked up, lost in my own thoughts for a moment. "Oh. I suppose I am."
"I didn't expect you to take the competition this seriously after..." She trailed off but I caught her meaning.
Hah, she's trying to be polite and not call me out on my bullshit.
"Actually, I'm doing it more for my own research." I admitted. "The nature of Aura, Semblances, and dust. I thought the tournament would be a good opportunity to see all three up close and interacting, so here I am."
"You mean you joined the tournament just to research?"
"Well, among other things." But that was indeed my main reason. "What about you, red? Why're you competing?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, seemingly surprised by my question, like she had never put thought in it before.
"Why fight? Do you think its fun, or maybe you want the prize money?"
She paused, looking rather hesitant. "I want to be a huntress." She said after a moment.
"So? Plenty of people do but they don't fight here." I shrugged. "You're famous enough to get into any school on remnant, why keep going?"
"Well, I'm only one win away from breaking the record."
"Glory is it then? Want your name up in spotlights?"
"I....don't care for the publicity, admittedly." She said quietly.
"Ah, that can be a bummer sometimes. It makes forming relationships difficult. Are people after you for your fame or fortune, or do they genuinely like you? Makes finding friends really hard." I said idily, but the look on her face says that I hit a very sore spot for her. One which I could barely hold back on wincing from. "Sorry, I didn't mean to –"
"N-no...." She kept her expression neutral, but I could tell she was a little depressed by my statement hitting a bit too close to home for her. "It's fine."
I felt a twinge of guilt in my chest. Perhaps even a bit of sympathy as I remembered where I was a few years ago.
"Alright, red." I turned towards her. "You got a scroll?"
"Huh?" She blinked in confusion. "Y-yes, I have one?" She took it out confused by my request.
I plucked it out of her hands, fiddling with it for a moment, much to her confusion, tossing it back to her which she almost fumbled. "There you go."
"What did you do?"
"Added my number." I replied. "Call me, send my messages if you're bored. I got a lot of free time usually."
"You mean like –"
"Yes, like a friend." I chuckled, heading for the exits. I didn't look at her gob smacked expression, but as soon as I walked back, I felt my scroll buzz with a message, a small smile rising on my face.
'Hello.'
Then it buzzed again.
'This is Pyrrha, but I guess you know that.'
And again.
'I wanted to make sure you had my number as well.'
And again.
'If you ever wanted to contact me, that is.'
And again.
'Not that you have to or anything.'
It continued buzzing several more times.
And suddenly, I questioned my choice.
***
Pyrrha makes an appearance, and she is a cinnamon roll.
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