Feng-Lang had a long history of duelling rings and bets that went with them. Most of these bets, however, revolved around admitting one’s inferiority and other stupid things like that between the two duelists. Of course, for the audience, these duels also included the chances of making big money, which the bookies took a cut from. Gaius didn’t like the notion of gambling all that much, but there was nothing he could do about it, short of beating the bookies up.

These duels, however, were a good place to watch people fight for the heck of it. Entry to the Feng-Lang Revolutionary Stadium was free, and there were multiple arenas open for people with grudges or an intent to spar to use. Furthermore, they could indicate whether betting was allowed for their own matches, and since the winner could take part of the pot…

“Didn’t we just agree on a little spar a few minutes ago? Why are there so many people asking us to open betting on it?” Gaius asked, his expression purposely stiff to hide a smile. Every arena had their own spectator stand, and theirs happened to be full to the brim.

“You’re quite famous,” said Paragon Ying Xin. “And as part of the fun, I got Paragon Tsurugi to come down too.”

“Tsurugi?” Gaius repeated. “Isn’t that the…”

“Name of the family that got chased out of Seireiden, yes. Saito is the family patriarch.” Ying Xin paused. “Was the family patriarch, and then he ran off to have fun at Eo-Seu.”

It was somewhat unbelievable that such a small family had a Paragon as their largest backer, but when Gaius thought about it, that was probably the reason why the Tsurugi family was targeted by the now-missing Scorpio. To his side, his former instructors were whispering among themselves, and when Gaius pricked his ears to eavesdrop…

As it turned out, they were rather happy for Gaius, who had clearly formed his own network. The boy didn’t know what to think about the whole thing. Sure, they cared about him, as a former student, but Marie was apparently unconcerned about the prospect of defeating him.

Boy, she’s confident. Gaius shook his head. “Let’s go get this whole gig set up.”

“Already done, Gaius.” Paragon Ying Xin replied, with a smile on her face. “I just opened betting for you.”

Gaius wanted to ask how, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t reply, so the boy zipped his mouth and waited for a referee to come over. Duels where betting was opened had a ceremony of their own, something to add to the atmosphere to entice more fools to place their money down. He had a feeling that the referee should have been named a Master of Ceremony instead, from the description of his role, but that was that.

After a few minutes, a portly man in a suit walked onto the arena, which Gaius and Marie took as their cue to step up on stage too.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Today, we have an extra-special duel, with extra-special fighters and audience! But first, let us welcome the guests of honour for this fight — Paragon Tsurugi, the Stormbreaker, and Paragon Ying Xin, the Hand of Fate!” The man’s voice echoed around the arena, and into the stadium at large.

There was a moment of silence, before a deafening storm of applause and cheers rained down on the arena. Gaius could faintly make out screams like “I want your babies, Paragon Tsurugi!” and “Marry me, Paragon Ying Xin!”, and stifled an urge to burst out laughing.

Spotlights shone onto two seats, which were separated from the normal seating stands — no mean feat, considering that it was bright daylight. The two Paragons waved their hands, and the boy took a chance to examine Paragon Tsurugi Saito. The middle-aged man was dressed in a flowing robe of red and white, a small smile on his face, but beyond that, he looked rather ordinary.

“And now, presenting the duelists!” The referee’s voice rang out again, as the man spread his arms. “In the red corner, we have a visitor from the Republic of Francois, Marshal Marie, Commander of Thunderbolt Battalion! A round of applause for her and her troops, who are here to help us!”

Screams and shrieks filled the air once more. This time, the boy could hear sincere thanks from all around the place — the news of crack troops from another country arriving to help must have spread.

“And in the blue corner, is the hero of our battlefront, the Pint-Sized Railgun himself, Gaius! Do not underestimate his little size — he has the highest killcount of anyone in the warfront!” The referee clapped hands twice, and the overwhelming applause ended. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, place your bets before we start! And as a gentle reminder, the current odds for this battle are on the screen!”

Gaius and Marie turned to look at the black screen, and immediately, Gaius’ lips twitched with amusement. The odds of his victory were…very flattering. He spared a glance at the marshal, who was blinking rapidly in disbelief. In fact, Gaius could see some regret creep up on her face.

“You’ve seen the odds. You’ve made your bets.” The black screen started counting down from ten as the referee spoke. “And now, let the battle…begin!”

The two exchanged stares for a moment, before Marie vanished from sight. Gaius narrowed his eyes slightly — clearly, she either had an Art or an Engine that allowed invisibility — before twirling his Terminus merrily.

A blast of power barrelled towards his chest, only to shatter half a metre away from the boy’s body. At the same time, qi gathered around Gaius’ feet, and the surroundings warped as the boy closed the gap between him and Marie. A strip of metal soared into the air as Gaius cut out a broad stroke with his Terminus.

The marshal rippled back into view. Her face was full of shock, as she glanced down on the red-hot, jagged piece of metal that used to be her sword, and then tossed it aside immediately.

It seems that I should not use the Terminus in future spars like this. Gaius slapped his forehead mentally. While the audience was focused on Marie’s act of tossing aside her broken weapon, Gaius replaced the Terminus with a normal silver knife, making sure that it was still twirling so that the audience wouldn’t notice.

Gaius flashed a grin, before taking a step forward. Silver lights clashed as Marie blocked his strike with a knife of her own. A small grimace appeared on her face as Gaius registered a faint crack on her knife — he had lashed out at full force — and in this small moment of distraction, Gaius brought his right foot up and slammed it against her knife. Metal shrieked once more, as the silver blade snapped under the force of his kick.

The Apex Engine was designed to maximise close quarter combat ability — which included muscular strength and reflexes. It was, according to the manual, what a Paragon who focused on a body cultivation method would have at his or her peak. Against a little knife, it was decidedly overkill.

Marie, who had been sent sprawling the moment his foot landed on her knife, looked up, disbelief evident on her face. She was just in time to see Gaius point his knife at her, which was the cue for the referee to announce a winner.

“That’s…impossible.”

With the power of multiple Engines, it isn’t…I’m basically a Paragon in all but name now. Gaius smiled, and extended a hand, which she took. The sheer amount of effort he had used to get that many Engines had been worth it, it seemed. Maybe I wouldn’t need to kidnap a Lord or a Paragon to grow stronger after all.

He flashed a smile at Paragon Ying Xin, and stepped off the arena.