Book Two – Chapter Eleven – Part Five – Tournament!

“Almost figured you were scared for a minute,” Arty taunted his foe as he leaned against his spear.  "It took you a while to get here."

“I’m not scared of anyone I can beat,” replied Servi.

Honestly, I barely won all those other matches. I need Soul Essence of Primal Combat, but I need to be able to fight without it.

“If what I saw was how much you improved by, then there’s no way I’ll lose,” Arty flourished his spear and took a stance. His movements, when compared to a month ago, were much sharper and defined.  It lacked that dilettante touch that was so prevalent before he had a mentor to train under.

Servi silently replied by drawing her sword and readying her shield.

“For our final match, it’s Servi, the red-eyed black-haired girl, and Arty, the spear-wielding armored guy. Creative nicknames, I know.  Both are undefeated so far, but that will change by the end of this match. Will Servi, with her sword and shield, come out on top, or will it be her opponent?! Can his spear pierce through her defense?! Let’s find out! FIGHT!!!!

The spear wielder immediately opened with a chant, and Servi held her shield up at the ready. Approaching cautiously, she took a Magic Missile head-on but blocked it. Increasing her speed, she falsely chanted her own Magic Missile in response.

Servi didn’t plan on using it. She just wanted Arty to dodge away when she held her hand out, but he called her bluff and rushed in. In response, Servi raised her sword and slashed down. It clanged against her opponent’s metal spear, producing yellow sparks, and Arty pushed back with more force than what Servi was expecting and tripped when he transitioned into a sweep.

“SHIT!” she shouted as she landed on her back. Instinctively, she brought her shield up. A sharp metallic sound reverberated through the glass arena as she barely blocked a powerful thrust. If she was tenth of a second slower, it would’ve crushed through her armor and tore her shoulder apart.

“That’s not fair!!” Momo shouted from the tent. “He was aiming directly for her shoulder! If she didn't block it, it--”

“I know,” said Dineria, cutting off Momo. “Fisher?”

“Not yet. Servi's fine. Even if it did hit, it wouldn't have been fatal. We have healers all around us," Fisher replied, "The chances of someone dying are slim to none," he was more worried about Arty.  If Servi lost herself and retained control of her godly powers... No, he didn't want to fathom the outcome.

Momo scowled, but Fisher ignored it. She went to charge into the arena, hellbent on stopping it, but Srassa stood in front, blocking her with her hands held out.

“Momo, you’ll be disqualified if you go out there.”

“I don’t care. Arty was trying to seriously hurt Servi! What if he tries to kill her again?!?!"

Dineria moved in front of Momo and gently hugged her. “If I believe he went too far, I’ll jump in there myself, but she blocked it, so they probably didn’t count it. Believe in her, okay? Like she believes in you.”

“I do believe in her...” whined Momo, who slumped back to her seat. She wasn’t happy about not being able to do anything, but she promised herself that she’d be the first to jump in.

Winning this tournament isn't worth it if she gets injured.

She sat there, powerlessly, as her best friend in the whole wide world desperately moved her shield to protect her vital areas.

I don’t know why she’s having trouble. She’s usually way better….. Momo thought. She beat Arty super easily the last time they fought...

Servi began to chant after she lowered her shield to her stomach, preventing a brutal thrust that would have punctured all the way through her.

Arty stepped back and began to chant as well, and Servi used that free moment to get to her feet. She quickly chanted and used Thunder Snap, but it seemed that Arty was ready for it. He covered a single ear to protect half of his hearing, then opened his hand and used Freeze Fingers, a Rank 10 water skill that produced pointy icicles at the end of his fingers. By giving the technique more energy, one could have multiple icicles on a single hand.

He chose to wield his spear with one hand while the other had five pointy strands of ice on the ends of his fingers. This was the first time Servi had experienced Freeze Fingers, and she didn’t know what secrets it held.

Watching with a careful eye, she slowly approached her opponent. Once she crossed an invisible boundary, she unknowingly entered his attack range. Arty's face broke into a devilish grin.  In a swift, fluid motion, he lightly tossed his spear up and caught it in a way that allowed him to throw it with the utmost ease. Servi blocked it, thinking he was a fool who would give away his weapon, but because she wasn’t using Soul Essence of Primal Combat, she was lured into a false sense of security.

SHIT!!!!

Immediately, her opponent made a mad dash for her. She went to reply with a strike from her sword, but Arty knew that was coming. He leaned back while chanting, faking Thunder Snap while using Lucem for real.

Servi immediately jumped back, and where she was just standing was an outstretched hand with five very sharp icicles.  The very tips leaked cold water to the floor below. They were in such a spot that they would've punctured her left lung if she didn't trust her instinct.

Damn it! It’s so fucking hard to fight without that goddamn skill!!! I can’t defend, and I can barely attack. Hell, I only made it this far because—Servi's thoughts roared alive in her mind, and for just a single moment, she embraced that hatred.

Itarr cried out when a few of the metaphysical cages shattered, leaking out pure rage for a few precious moments.  It wasn't even long enough to be calculable, but the damage was done.

With her mouth curling into a sinister smile, Servi calmly stepped towards her opponent and sheathed her blade. He said not a single word as he ran over to his spear.  Picking it up, he canceled Freeze Fingers and thrusted his weapon forward.  Calmly, Servi intercepted its shaft, catching it, and pulled it towards her while cocking her right hand back.  Her full strength was on display, and Arty couldn't overpower the girl fueled by wrath.

But he had learned from the past.

He let go of the spear and made some distance while Servi jerked back and fell to the floor.  Following a page out of Momo's book, she converted the momentum into a roll and recovered to her feet.  That didn't go unnoticed by the girl herself, who was happy her best friend mimicked one of her moves.

"Here," Servi tossed the spear to her opponent, "Let's finish this," It was a move that was controversial, to say the least.  She had no reason to play by the rules and give him his weapon back.  Gasps of disbelief erupted from her friends.  They couldn't fathom why Servi decided to give up her advantage.

Arty kicked the spear up and caught it in one hand while chanting Freeze Fingers.  With six potential objects to skewer his opponent with, he cautiously walked forward.  Servi approached him at a slow speed, almost like a turtle.

Once they were within reach, Arty jabbed his spear forward.  Aimed at her chest, she rotated her body to dodge it, but Arty responded right after with a quick thrust with his Freeze Fingers.  Five deadly, incredibly sharp objects threatened to pierce her cracked armor.

But his strike wouldn't land true because Servi broke her self-imposed rule and activated Soul Essence of Primal Combat just before she tossed his spear back to him.

Servi grabbed his wrist with her left hand, just in time, and pulled back with her right.  After realizing what was going to happen, Arty screamed in fear as he did everything in his power to escape her grasp.  Perhaps it was his inexperience or cockiness that led to Servi shattering his jaw.  She let go of his wrist when the punch connected, and he stumbled backwards while blood and teeth dripped from his mouth.  His eyes were big and wide, like a deer about to be caught by a predator.  He was about to fall to the ground and tap out, but his foe acted first.

"Don't even think about wimping out.  You've been waiting for this rematch, right?" Servi growled her words through barred teeth, snarling like a diseased dog in a voice loud enough for only Arty to hear.

With precise, rapid movement, she practically rushed forward with her shield arm out. With a single bash, her hand moved faster than her foe could follow and connected with Arty's breastplate. With a brutal crack, he flew back a meter and slid across the hot floor, slamming into the glass wall as he screamed.

A violent cough interrupted his panic-filled screams, allowing more blood and a few teeth to flow out.  His top set of teeth were fine, but the same couldn't be said about the bottom row.

“Shit!” Fisher gripped the railing in front of him with almost enough force to crack it. If she loses control, I need to step in.

Nearby, Momo visibly jumped at such a powerful hit. She thought the attack was enough to end the match.  In the stands, Mari and Meri thought the smash was something a bully would do. It took Marissa and Claire doing their best to explain that sometimes, fights happen like this. The two didn’t understand, but they nodded anyway.

STOP! PLEASE, STOP!!! Itarr shouted.

Servi couldn’t hear the voice of her friend, and she stomped closer and closer to her foe. All she saw was red. The girl in question was conscious, but she didn't have control of her body.  It was like it was on autopilot and followed the movements it had practiced hundreds and thousands of times.  And Servi herself was along for the ride. She knew full well what she was doing, but stopping it wasn't in the picture.

Itarr cried and cried.  I'm sorry!!!! Please, forgive me!!! It’s all my fault!!  I didn't want to do this, but I need to!!! No matter how loud she screamed, it was like Servi was unable to hear her.

Arty used all his strength to stand up.  His chin and chest, now stained with crimson, pulsed with horrible pain.

"I......give up......" reaching down to pick up his spear, Arty mouthed the words to Servi.  A part of her reason came back to her, and she walked away.  She thought the match was over.

But it wasn't.

Technically, while he did give up, Toni didn't announce the end of the fight because nobody heard Arty give up. Nor did he tap out by slapping the ground.  Servi was giving him the benefit of the doubt after reading his lips.

Rage and hatred surged through his eyes as Yerue's face flashed in his mind.  He had dreams to accomplish and goals to achieve, but his life was cut short by the woman in front of him.  Arty knew, deep down inside, that Yerue wasn't the nicest one around.  He had severe problems, but the thought of his life ending then and there when the girl in front of him had the chance to prevent it, but she didn't, was far too much for his psyche to handle.

Without saying anything, Arty braced himself for one final attack.  Even right now, he felt the light of consciousness fading away bit by bit and breath by breath.  Even if he was going to be disqualified, he was going to take revenge for Yerue.

Come hell or high water, he was going to kill Yerue's murderer.

With a battle cry that could've come from a demon, Arty gripped his spear with both hands charged forward. His target was the heart of the girl in front of him.  She turned around in response and frowned a moment before her face contorted into a grin powered by rage.  The weakened cages had splintered.  More anger flooded out, drowning out every other emotion.

With a nasty snarl covering her face, Servi had her shield at the ready while she rushed forward like a mag dog.

Spear versus shield: offense versus defense. Everyone was on the edge of their seats except Fisher. He closely watched Servi's movements and argued internally on when to step in.

Come on! Don't kill him!

"SERVI!!!!!!" cried Momo. Tears flooded her eyes, and she desperately wanted to cover them. In the end, she fought against it.  What kind of girl would she be if she hid her eyes away from her best friend?

The instant before Arty's weapon pierced through Servi's shield, it happened.  She curled her armored hand around the tip of the spear, gripping and stopping Arty in his tracks.  While doing that, she jerked the spear towards her and used her free hand to grab an exposed section of his armor.  Then, using all of her strength, she fell backwards and used the momentum to throw her opponent against the glass wall behind her. It held strong and stayed firm, not cracking at all from the impact. He landed on his arm with a sickening crack and coughed up blood.

"DID SHE JUST RUN UP, GRAB HIS SPEAR, AND THROW HIM?!" Toni yelled.

"You waited a whole fucking month, AND THIS IS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?! Don't fucking make me laugh! If I was serious, you'd be nothing but a fucking BLOOD STAIN ON THE GROUND!!!" Servi exclaimed as Toni yelled over her shrill voice. She stomped over to his groaning body.

At that moment, she was the hunter.  And the sniveling mess of a man, groaning and crying in pain, was her prey.

"Do you fear death? Do you want to join your friend in hell? THEN I'LL SEND YOU TO HELL!!" Servi grinned and lifted her leg.  It was right above his injured arm.  Moments before she stomped down with the intent to shatter it into dust, she stopped and suddenly coughed.

Itarr had waited long enough to see if Servi would come back to her senses on her own, but it seemed she couldn't.  She didn't tell Servi that she secretly absorbed some of the green mist that knocked her out when she fought Fisher, and it was child's play to release highly concentrated sleepinwillo inside her lungs.  As her blood transported oxygen, even though she didn't need it, it carried the tiny sleepinwillo spores as well. After turning down True Immortality, it didn't take long for Servi to start showing symptoms.

Servi... Please...please forgive me...

After stumbling backwards and falling to her knees, she felt a cold fire in her stomach and vomited a nasty green mess that resembled the chicken salad she had for breakfast.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what’s this?! Servi, who was about to deal the finishing blow to end the match, suddenly fell to her knees!!! Is this some kind of skill?! Or did Arty get a lucky break?!?! I don’t mean to be biased, but I believe he was about to have a broken arm to go along with those broken ribs. Wait, I do believe that toss broke his arm... Folks, I see him struggling, but that’s all. Oh, he’s tapping out!!!!! And the winner of group 1 and going undefeated is Servi!!!!!!! As we see folks, Servi herself is absolutely brutal. I do not want to be Arty right now. But wait…..she’s not getting back up… And she fell over?!?!?!  Medics!!!! Arena 1 right now!!” Toni shouted with his mouth so close to his voice loudner that it came out muffled.

Since the match was over, Momo rushed into the arena quicker than the medics and immediately went to Servi’s side.  Fisher wanted to follow behind the speeding Singi, but he was stopped by Dineria, who rushed past him and into the arena.

“Servi?!” cried the Singi as she held the girl’s hand. Her best friend was breathing, but that was it. A nauseating smell of blood and vomit wafted up, but the stench was the last thing on Momo’s mind. From behind, Dineria was the second to arrive. Since the tournament had its own contracted medics and healer, she decided to let them handle it. After all, they had more equipment than she did at that very moment.

The medics came through next, and Dineria had to force Momo away. “I know, Momo. But let the medics do their job,” the Elf hugged her pupil. It was the second time in the same number of days that the strong Servi had passed out. The first time was by sleepinwillo, and the lie Fisher made up wasn’t that far from the truth. He did, in fact, use sleepinwillo, but it was a highly concentrated form that could knock out a dragon for days.

I don’t understand why… The pink Singi began to think as she saw her best friend get put on a stretcher. She was doing so fine yesterday. She said she was nervous but was she hiding it? Was that why she was acting off?

She looked back at Arty and saw one of the medics tending to him. Pulling out a small red vial, he gently poured it down Arty’s mouth. With a click of her tongue, she turned her attention to the other medics, who had just left the arena.

Momo followed them to a set of beds on the second white tent. It seemed both had adequate room to function as make-shift medical wards. From here, she was unable to see Claire and Marissa and the others, and she could barely see Dineria, who walked backed to talk with Fisher, Srassa, and the others.

Momo took a seat on a tiny chair as a female medic took a black rag and dipped it into water. She was a Human girl, of around 15 or 16, with honey blond hair. With a swift and practiced hand, she cleaned the vomit off of her patient’s armor and chanted at the same time. It was for Remedium Lux, a Rank 6 healing skill.

A few seconds later, Dineria and Fisher rushed over. Silverado, Srassa, and others wanted to come, but the Kobold tournament was about to start.

Toni had made an announcement, but Momo didn’t even hear it.

“How is she?” Fisher was the first one who broke the uncomfortable silence.

“There’s nothing wrong with her, physically. I used Remedium Lux, and there was no reaction. I thought she was unconscious, but she’s not. Somehow, it was like her body was forced to fall asleep. The vomit is probably a reaction to whatever did that. Whether or not it was a skill from someone intruding on the fight, I cannot say.”

“But it can’t be that, right? Didn’t Toni say that people were watching close by?" Momo fought back a few tears.

“Yeah, he did,” Dineria lovingly rubbed Momo’s pink hair. “The chance of someone interfering is close to none.  But remember, she inhaled sleepinwillo.”

"Ah, then that explains it.  How long ago?" asked the medic.

"Two days ago," Momo said.  She focused on Dineria's gentle touch to keep herself together.

"Since she was fighting, her heart needed to pump fast to push oxygen through her body, and what little sleepinwillo that remained traveled with it.  If she's allergic to it, then that would explain the vomiting.  I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I, nor any of the other members of my team, can do. She’s simply asleep.  I don't know when she'll wake up, but it shouldn't be that long.  Let me clarify: she's in no danger of dying.  Give her the rest she needs, and she'll wake up. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” The Human medic walked over to a group of people who were supporting Arty. He stared daggers at Servi with a foul and hateful look upon his face and cursed the sleeping girl.  With his shattered jaw, his words came out in a slurring mess.

“Next time, I will win! I’ll make you pay! I have to do it for Yerue!”

Those words weren’t said aloud, but Arty mouthed them towards the sleeping girl while ignoring the pain that shot through his body.

“Servi..." Momo reached out and took hold of her best friend’s hand.

“Momo?”

“I think I’m gonna stay here with her,” Momo answered Dineria. “I… I wanna be here when she wakes up.”

Fisher went to speak, but Dineria, coughing, stopped him. He got the hint.

“Momo, the Kobold tournament is about to start. Wouldn’t you like to watch it?” asked Dineria.

“I do, but….”

“How about this? Stand up for a second.”

She was confused, but Momo did as Dineria said and stood up. She picked up the chair she was sitting on, and Fisher pulled the bed out just a little bit. Once enough room was made, Dineria went to the other side of the bed and sat the chair down.

“There! Now you can watch and be with her.”

Momo smiled gently and walked over, sitting down in the chair. The fragile expression reflected her innermost thoughts.

You stupid, stupid cat! All you had to do was move the chair to the side of the bed, and you couldn’t even do that!  And why are you acting like this?! She's just asleep, and it's not like she's dying!! She'll be fine!!! She'll be fine....but still.....it's scary...

“We’re going back over there, okay?”

Momo nodded at Dineria, who left with Fisher.

“You know, there’s something you’re not telling me,” said Dineria to the man in black armor walking beside her.

“I’ve told you the truth. There was a little red horned monster with a sleepinwillo flower," Fisher lied. He turned back while walking and waved to his children. They looked afraid at what happened to Servi, and Claire looked like she was about to cry, but they took Fisher's smile to signify she was okay. The red-headed Elf had never felt such relief before.

“Hmmm. Even if Servi did have sleepinwillo remaining in her system, it wouldn't be enough to make her sleep after a day of rest.  Especially if it was just a single flower.  But let's not tell Momo or the others that.  They need to focus on the fights ahead of them.  But I’ll get the truth one day.  Even if I have to force it out of you,” Dineria said, ending her words with a thinly-veiled threat. They reached their group and told them what happened to Servi.

“I hope she’s okay,” said Srassa. She held a hand to her heart, closed her eyes, and prayed to the Gods above.

“She will be,” Fisher replied so fast that Dineria rolled her eyes.  She did it in a way that didn't draw attention to their strained relationship.

Feral stood up, picking up his giant shield in the process. “They just called my name to go to the center arena.”

I didn’t even hear the announcement. Srassa thought. She realized she was so focused on what happened to Servi that she didn’t hear Toni’s loud and obnoxious voice.

“They did. I have faith in you, Feral,” Fisher smiled. After getting similar statements from his friends, the big Kobold made it to the center stage. Unlike the four arenas surrounding it, the middle one was a bit bigger. It also had no glass around it.

With that, Toni began to introduce the eight Kobolds who would take part in the Kobold Tournament.  At the very end of the introductions, he made sure to give the parents in the audience a warning, citing that this side tournament could bloodier than the previous matches.  Some took him up on that warning and left while others stayed and watched.