The Minstrel, the Eldest Twin, Laura, and Kael stood just below the stage, waiting for the announcer to call out the names for the matches. There were only three matches left: two fights between the four of them, and the last fight between the remaining two. Then after that would be the bonus round, but it turned out that Kael’s grasp of the bonus round was wrong.

He wouldn’t have to fight every one of the last sixteen contestants. Instead, each contestant could only challenge one level above them. So, worst case scenario was that he would have to fight with second place again. For this bit of practicality, Kael was very thankful.

The tense feeling in the air seemed charged with muffled excitement. Even the crowd was infected with it to the point where they couldn’t quite keep still in their seats. Three fights left, and there would be a winner.

Kael stared ahead at the stage in front of him. Three fights left, and they could leave this dangerous place. Three fights left, and he would win. His heart thumped louder in anticipation.

The announcer finally appeared, glancing sternly down at the stage.

That brat isn’t finished yet? He has the luck of a millennial rabbit! The man muttered sourly in his heart. But these last few battles will not be so easy as he’ll expect them to be. Perhaps he’ll be defeated in this round.

The announcer ignored the growing sense that perhaps this lad that he had been despising all this time, may yet be the winner this time. He cleared his throat.

“The next match will be the Minstrel against Briar.” That meant that the following match would be Laura against the final twin. Kael nodded and stepped up onto the stage, along with his opponent, the Minstrel. This was yet another fight that was somewhat difficult.

How does one protect themselves from sound? Sure, Briar could just magic up a sound barrier, quick. But Kael was only able to use martial spirit. How could he defend himself from the distractive mental attacks that the Minstrel was so good at?

At this point, the Minstrel strummed his lyre, and spoke to Kael. “You should just give up while you have the chance. There isn’t anyone that can beat my sonic strings attack. You could even be seriously injured or killed with one attack.” As Kael had expected, the Minstrel was hiding his true power.

Kael simply stood there nonetheless, a polite smile on his face. “Indeed, it sounds very dangerous.” He agreed. “Thank you for the warning.”

“I’m not joking. You should retreat while you still can. Since I admire your strength, I encourage you to step down. It isn’t too late for you to keep your life.” The Minstrel urged again.

“Thank you. But I’m afraid I must disagree. Although you fear for my life, my life is not something easily taken.” Kael replied amiably.

The Minstrel’s face distorted. “I’m advising you not to throw your life away! How can you keep it, if you are so dogged determined to waste it!”

“Many thanks for your advice, but the life of a Martial Practitioner is not one for those who cower in the face of death.” Kael pointed out. “As a man, I know you understand what I’m saying.”

“Fine! Then let’s hope you are as strong as you think you are.” The Minstrel gave up trying to convince Kael otherwise, and positioned his hand over the strings as he waited for the announcer to start the match. I thought he was smart, but it turns out he’s just another fool stupid enough to stand in my way. He thought.

Kael, on the other hand, although he appeared quite relaxed, was actually on high alert. Sonic strings? What kind of an attack was that? Did it use compressed sound-waves to cut through the air? Or was the sound at such a frequency that it directly cut through the brain?

The former type seemed hard to pinpoint. The latter was unlikely, considering how close the man was to the origin of the sound. Either way, he had to be able to avoid the attack first, before he could take the Minstrel down. He had to stop the devil’s music.

“And so! The Third match before the Final with Briar against The Minstrel! BEGIN!” The Announcer waved his hand down with a flourish. But, both sides remained stationary, as if they were frozen in place.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be fighting me, right? Why do you not try to get near me?” The Minstrel asked.

Kael flashed a toothy grin. “I could say the same thing for you. Why are you not trying to kill me with your sonic strings? If it is as formidable as you say it is, then this little bit of distance shouldn’t stymie it in the least!”

“If I did that, then there wouldn’t be much of a fight. It’s too pitiful to rob the audience of a show simply for a quick victory.” The Minstrel replied.

From this, Kael had gathered several pieces of information.

Sonic Strings definitely had a distance limit-and was at its most powerful in short range. For something to be that powerful, it must use up a lot of Martial Spirit. The Minstrel was unwilling to use it unless he was certain that he had a 100% chance of hitting his mark. And, finally: To win the match, Kael must deal with the Minstrel from a distance.

A challenge, to be sure, but at least Kael now had a plan of action.

“The match has already begun! If no fighting ensues within one minute, the both of you shall be disqualified.” The Announcer said sternly, but inside, he was tickled with glee. Finally! An opportunity to throw this ruffian out of the competition! What luck!

But then Kael laughed. “Indeed, it seems I was overthinking things. Let us fight to our hearts content, today!” And with that, he concentrated his martial spirit into his legs, and used the martial technique: Meteor Charge.

Interestingly enough, even though Kael couldn’t use magic, everything seemed to slow down for him a lot, and become crystal clear. He could see every detail in slow motion. And so, he managed to catch upon precisely what the Minstrel’s Sonic Strings attack was.

Immediately, the Minstrel quickly struck his strings with a swift arm, the vibration of the strings with Martial Spirit cast a sort of vaccuum blade out into the air. It cut through the air, slicing towards Kael, who was barreling towards the blade at a similar sonic speed.

The vacuum blade reached Kael and cut him in two.

In only a moment, it was all over.

The outcome was clear. Kael stood there, then looked at his chest, where the blade had cut through, then looked up at the Minstrel. The Minstrel just sighed.

“I told you it was dangerous, you idiot! Why did you run right into it!?” He asked, puzzled, but then froze as a knife blade was placed against his neck.

“I heard you. That is why I’m still alive.” Kael said from behind him.

“But, how-?” The Minstrel asked, looking back to the Kael in front of him, which vanished like a ghost.

“You must be pretty thick not to see through a simple ghost evasion.” Kael laughed. “You can stop trying to sabotage me. Those strings were severed a moment ago.”

The Minstrel glanced down at his lyre only to discover the absence of strings of any sort. They had been severed completely, leaving the arches filled with nothing but air. Then he sighed.

“I suppose this is a somewhat better end than the one which I had orchestrated.” He said. “All right. I give up. You win.” He dropped his broken lyre and raised his arms in defeat.

“Briar is the winner!” The Announcer affirmed as the crowd cheered.

“Defeat, huh? Well, even if you had won, I’d doubt you could win your next match.” Kael noted in a muted tone, so that others couldn’t hear.

“Ahahah. It looks like I’ve been seen through completely! You’re right. With that last attack, I’ve completely exhausted my martial spirit, otherwise, I might have played a bit longer with you.” The Minstrel admitted in a similar tone, reaching to Kael for a handshake.

“What ‘longer’? You were always intending to finish this in one move.” Kael snorted as he shook the Minstrel’s hand.

“As were you, it seems.” The Minstrel replied.

“You’re pretty impressive, though.” Kael said, as he began to move towards the stairs behind the Minstrel. When their shoulders drew level, the Minstrel heard Kael’s last words. “To force me, a red class, to use two moves to defeat you. If we were equally in the same class, I’m not sure if I would be able to defeat you.”

The Minstrel’s eyes widened as he turned around to look towards Kael. Defeated by a red class? Huh. I suppose that’s not a dishonorable defeat. He smiled helplessly. But, still…a fifteen-year old red class? I’m looking forward to hearing about him in the future! That day, the Minstrel resolved never to get on Briar’s bad side.

---------------

“Good Job! You’ve been so lucky with your opponents! Always able to finish so quickly.” Laura teased, as Kael stepped down from the stage.

“Luck is a part of strength, too.” Kael replied. “And yours seems to be particularly bad. Keep your guard up. I’m afraid your opponent is playing the pig to eat the tiger.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Laura asked. Then Kael remembered that the expression was from her previous life.

“I mean he’s hiding his true strength.” Kael said as he glanced over towards the opposite side of the stage. “If you're not careful, you’ll be beaten without even knowing how it was done.”

“Hmmph! Who are you to tell me that I’ll be beaten? Just watch me! I’ll beat him so quickly, you’ll have no time to recover even a bit of Martial Spirit!” Laura argued as she jumped up on stage. “”Then I’ll definitely defeat you!”

“I’m looking forward to it. But first, you have to finish your fight against your opponent.” Briar pointed towards the eldest of the dragon twins, who had stepped onto the stage. Laura looked at her opponent disdainfully for a moment, but when she turned back, Kael was already walking away from the stage.

“Good luck! I’d be careful not to take my eyes off him, though.” He said.

“What do you mean?” Laura turned back and blinked. Since when had that boy gotten to the middle of the stage?

-----------------------

Kael jumped up into Madam Rothema’s booth, directly, again. But, once he was out of the sight of public eye, he collapsed on a nearby chair.

“Remind me never to do two martial techniques simultaneously!” He said with a bitter face, as his legs twinged with pain. Doubling up on leg techniques had definitely torn several muscles in his legs. But that final jump had been the icing on the cake. Kael was unsure if he’d be recovered before Laura was finished.

“Heck, I could’ve told you the same thing beforehand, if only you’d asked.” Briar said.

Kael made a face. "That was a rhetorical question."

"I know." Briar replied. “I’m sure you tore a lot of muscle to do something stupid like that. Let’s fix that up.” As Briar concentrated on the spell, a magic circle appeared underneath Kael, with healing light glowing from it.

“Huh?” Briar was confused. Usually, unless it was physically drawn, a magic circle would not appear. “That’s definitely new…” She pondered. Kael grit his teeth as the feeling of muscle and tendon being knit back together was not actually that pleasant. It felt like an army of red ants had decided to crawl up his legs.

Rothema was also interested in the unusual phenomenon.

“Perhaps, is it because he is your double?” She asked. “Using a magic circle to create him might have induced some sort of restriction that any magic used on him be visible to him.”

“Really?” Briar asked Rothema. “Then, would it be different if you placed a spell on him? Or is it just me?”

Rothema snapped a finger and a second magic circle appeared, floating just above the first magic circle. “It appears that it’s the same for other spells. How odd! Well, I can definitely say that it may yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.”