Chapter 16 - Pit fight (2)

Most of the fighters held still. They were waiting for the betting period to be over.

To a fighter in Mosar’s Shadow Arena, the less that someone bets on them, the more they’d win. The Arena itself made money mostly off of people losing their bets, so fighters were paid out based on how much they made people lose. As a result, participants would deliberately act in a way that wouldn’t have anyone believe that they could win early on.

There was one in particular, however, who made a move right away, and he was walking straight towards Quin, no less. He was a Veetan that had a scar running over his missing eye.

“Oh? What’s this?” said the announcer, “It seems like Hosal, a former champion of this arena, is already making a move!”

Hosal, a longtime veteran of Mosar’s Shadow Arena, was a lot stronger than an average Veetan male. It was often quite difficult for men to physically compete with women on Talis given the average differences in strength, but Hosan made do with both excellent technique and the strength that he had been blessed with.

Most in the arena competed for the sake of money, but not Hosan. He was in it for glory, and nothing else. 

He picked up a mace from the middle of the field on his way to Quin. He simply had to teach whatever newcomer caught his eye a lesson.

Quin had an expression of panic on his face as he looked towards Ashur, who only gave him a subtle nod.

Every other participant remained completely still, holding back their excitement.

“Sorry about this, newbie,” said Hosal as he got within reach of Quin.

He held his mace above his head, ready to swing down.

It seemed like an instant. Quin’s fist was firmly planted in Hosal’s face. Hosal was out cold, and his body was launched directly into the ground below with a boom. Dust kicked up where he landed.

Thunderous applause and incoherent chants erupted from the crowd.

“Incredible!” the announcer yelled into her mic, “Hosal, a long time veteran of this establishment,has been knocked out in a single blow from Q! Who is this mysterious newcomer?”

“Clear the area!” a voice from above yelled at Quin.

There were two people in uniforms that had [STAFF] printed on their backs. They were riding another floating circular platform. Quin made room for them, and the platform approached the ground. 

The two staff members jumped off of the platform, hoisted Hosal up, stepped back onto the platform and set him down. The platform flew off to what Quin assumed was an infirmary. 

“Oops,” Quin said as he looked at his own fist. Quin understood in that moment why it was taboo for Savants to get into fights with ordinary people. 

Quin and Lasia both made their way over to Ashur, and stood still near him.

A fair number of participants couldn’t contain their excitement any longer and left their corners of the arena, picking up weapons and starting a fight with whomever was in their paths.

As the fighting ensued, Patipay the Wall started to move. He walked directly towards Ashur, ignoring the action in the center.

As he got within a few meters, he spoke with a deep voice, his shadow looming over Ashur, “What’s the matter? Aren’t you gonna make a move yet?”

“Whatever do you mean?” asked Ashur, sarcastically, “It seems to me like you’re here to pick a fight.”

“Don’t play dumb, Ass,” said Patipay, “You came here looking for me, didn’t you? You and the rest of your silly group,” he glanced at Lasia.

Ashur cringed at hearing what was on his nametag spoken out loud, but quickly regained his composure, “You weren’t exactly discrete, using your full name and all.”

“What are you after, exactly?”

“We have a feeling that you know something.”

“What could I possibly know?” laughed Patipay.

“Are you a member of the Partition?” asked Ashur

“Proudly.”

The sound of clashing metal and the groans of combat carried on as they spoke. Every time someone fell, a team would swoop down on a floating platform to take them out of the ring.

“Well that didn’t take much asking,” said Ashur, surprised, “Do you think you could just as easily tell me where you guys get your funding?”

“Ah. So you’re a Ranger?”

“Nope.”

“Really?” Patipay was surprised, “Either way, I’m not really sure how to answer your question, to be honest. I have a couple ideas though.”

“Care to share them with me?”

“Maybe… I’ll think about it if you can take me down.”

“Quin, Lasia, keep on the lookout for Savants in the audience.”

“I’ve been trying,” said Lasia, “It’s hard to tell from this distance. If there are any, they’re hiding themselves well.”

“I’m probably even worse off,” said Quin, “Properly spotting Arima radiation is a chore for me even up close.”

“Keep at it, then,” said Ashur, “This guy’s pissing me off.”

“Are you gonna need help?” asked Quin.

“Nah. I’ve got this.”

Patipay grinned maliciously as Ashur got into a loose stance.

In the next instant, Ashur was out of sight.

Patipay's eyes widened as Ashur vanished before his eyes, but before he could even feel surprised, a heavy kick had connected with his jaw. 

The force caused Patipay to slide in the dirt. He barely managed to stay standing. Blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth.

He wiped the blood off of his face and smirked, “I knew you wouldn’t let this be boring.”

“Incredible!” the announcer yelled, “Two more barehanded fighters are going at it with unbelievable speed! It looks like Patipay the Wall might be taking a beating from Ass!”

Ashur’s ears twitched upon hearing his name called once more. He yelled to the announcer, “Just call me Ashur!”

Ashur turned his head back to his opponent, only to find him charging and winding up a punch.

Patipay swung, and Ashur got his hands up just in time to absorb the impact. He grabbed onto Patipay’s fist and used it to lift himself off the ground. He threw himself into the air, and on the way back down, he landed another kick on Patipay’s head.

“Ouch,” Patipay rubbed the top of his head.

“Your punch was pretty heavy, but is that all you’ve got?” mocked Ashur.

“Oh, don’t you worry,” Patipay collected himself, “I’m just getting started.”

The two continued to go at it. Patipay aggressively attacked Ashur, hardly ever coming even close to landing a hit.

Quin watched in awe as Ashur completely overwhelmed his opponent. 

“You know,” said Quin, “I knew Ashur was strong, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“Right?” Lasia giggled, “Our vice-president is quite dependable, isn’t he?”

Ashur adjusted his glasses. His shadow loomed over the Sogarian who was several times larger than him. Patipay was kneeling, covered in bruises and cuts. 

The announcer yelled into her microphone once more, “Okay guys! The betting period is now over!”

“You had enough yet?” Ashur looked down on the battered Sogarian.

“I told you,” Patipay was short of breath, “I’m just getting started!”

Ashur’s eyes widened as he felt a strange hostility.

The dirt beneath his feet began to move, shaping itself into long, sharp spikes, surrounding Ashur completely.

The spikes flew at Ashur from all directions. He weaved between as many as he could, punching away most of the ones that were impossible for him to dodge. There were simply too many of them. A few grazed him, making shallow cuts on both of his arms and his left leg.

“Woah! What was that?” the announcer said nothing else, “No, seriously, what was that? Can anyone tell me how that happened? Was that martial arts or something?”

The crowd was cheering, if only for the fact that someone had finally drawn blood on Ashur.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Ashur glared at Patipay, “Could it be that you’ve reached stage five?”

Patipay said nothing, only grinning in response.

“No,” Ashur calmed himself, “You were spreading your aura into the ground as I beat you up. No wonder why it seemed like you weren’t even trying to fight back.”

“It took you this long to figure it out?” Patipay chuckled, “I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Whatever. What do you even call a Study like that?”

“You’ll never guess.”

“Sculpting?”

“Damn,” Patipay spit some blood on the ground, “You’re good.”

“Well, it’s not like this changes anything,” Ashur shrugged, “I doubt you can keep throwing those things at me forever. At this rate, all I have to do is keep pounding into you.”

“True enough. I’m not giving in, though.”

“Even knowing that, you’re still fine with telling me what you know if I win?”

“I don’t see why not. If the two of you can beat me, I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Huh? Two of us? First of all, I’m more than fine with keeping this as a one-on-one. Secondly, it’s not just me and Lasia. Quin’s here, too. Is that really okay?”

“Oops,” a malicious grimace overcame Patipay’s face, “A slip of the tongue, yeah.”

Ashur felt more hostility, but this time, it wasn’t from in front of him. An ominous, cold air brushed against his back. 

“Huh? What are you doing?” asked Quin from behind Ashur. Ashur wasn’t quite sure who the question was directed at.

Ashur started to turn around, but before he could finish, solid and sharp pieces of ice launched towards him and lodged themselves in his back. He screamed out in pain as he dropped to the ground, catching himself with his arms.

He struggled to turn and get a good look at his attacker, although he already had a good idea who it was. He made eye contact with her.

Lasia shakily held her hand fan, glaring down on the injured Ashur with uncertainty. 

Her hair billowed solemnly in the cold air that she produced.