Chapter 28

  The Fix is In

  From the betting odds being offered, to the distinct size and skill matchups it was clear that Leah the Destroyer was not only the known quantity, but a proven commodity.

  While Mr. Yi just looked on with the practiced gaze of a seasoned warrior trying to learn new Skills or combinations, Markan by contrast seemed to be cheering excitedly.

  “YES! Leah! Leah!” Markan called out, his first time showing true favoritism since we arrived. His cheering of course cased me to turn my head and look at him, which elicited a quick embarrassed croak in his throat as his last cheers got caught in his throat.

  Seeing that Markan was embarrassed but clearly knew about her I just raised my left hand, the hand closest to him and waited for him to tell me more.

  “That’s Leah, a three-time champion, and ten-time winner of these tournaments,” he began reading off her accomplishments like he was reading off her stat line. “Rumor had it, she retired, the fact that she came out of retirement for this competition says something about the organizer.”

  Hearing that description, it explained why there was so much hype towards Leah the Destroyer, and why all the odds were pointing towards her clear victory. Yet, I wasn’t so certain.

  As the designated Healer for this event, I assumed I was unable to place bets. Well, that and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to talk also made the practical nature of trying to place bets nearly impossible. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that chicanery was afoot.

  Once the pair started exchanging blows and counters the reason for the chicanery became clear. While they both had similar starting stances, it wasn’t until they both started moving that the similarities became increasingly clear.

  Leah’s ripped and muscular legs would give a full flex for a faint, and a partial for a full movement. Similarly, the equally ripped leg muscles of her exotic opponent would do the same. It was clear from their two fighting stances and profiles that they both focused on having a solid base and core first, focusing on quick but powerful kicks. With arms and body movements as a secondary attack method.

  “Do you see it?” Mr. Yi asked, and while I was almost certain I hesitantly pointed to him first with two fingers, then back to me, and back to him. Not certain if he got my meaning, but the smile on his face spoke volumes. Especially as it was one of the few smiles I had seen on his face all night. “Very good. You are truly an expert apprentice.”

  Mr. Yi made sure to place special emphasis on the word apprentice, as if confirming my implied comment that Leah the Destroyer, and her exotic looking opponent were master and apprentice. Or at the very least they had trained together.

  While it was clear that both opponents utilized most of the same combos, same attack patterns, and feinting techniques, there were minor differences. Leah’s moves were more technical, less wasteful. It was clear that Leah was used to taking a long-measured approach to fights. Or at least she knew she had to do so against this particular opponent, an opponent who clearly knew all of her strengths and weaknesses.

  By comparison, her opponent while less technically proficient in the fighting patterns and Skills had boundless energy. At least compared to what had to be her Master, or at least the person who trained her. They looked almost like a mirror, like yin and yang fighting each other. Expanding and contracting in near perfect unison.

  At first, I thought the match might be fixed. That the master might blow the match on purpose to boost her Apprentice’s clout. But after watching this fight, it was clear that Leah was not giving in, in the slightest.

  “GRR-AHH!” Leah cried out as she was forced into a corner, but with a few quick moves managed to dance her way around her opponent. Then with a flurry of devastating kicks and punches, she managed to push her opponent into that exact corner that she had just maneuvered her way out of.

  “Here it comes, the Fury Fist!” Markan calls out excitedly next to me.

  With that, I see energy build up as fire almost coats Leah’s body for a moment, causing her body to speed up and react quickly. Unfortunately for Leah, her opponent seems all too prepared for this and coats her body in a dense blue sheen, as her body begins flowing and turning like a wave. Effortlessly allowing the exotic opponent to flow around and sidestep past this Fury Fist attack. Where she is then able to deliver a decisive elbow to the back of Leah’s head, followed quickly by a kick to the small of her back, forcing her body to fall forward into the post holding up the bouncing ropes.

  Thud.

  Silence.

  The crowd that had all been cheering wildly a moment ago are now stunned into silence, watching their hero fall lifelessly to the ground. Fortunately, the rising and falling of Leah’s chest still shows she is breathing, still alive, but her consciousness is elsewhere.

  I am already moving towards the ring, waiting for the official verdict to be declared before I get in and ruin anything. Still, I can see a faint trail of drool coming from the Amazonian beauty’s passed out face that all but declares she is down and out for the count.

  The referee goes over and does a quick ten count.

  “Ten!”

  That is all the permission I need for me to jump into the ring and immediately begin my role as a sanctioned healer for this event.

  Rejuvenation Healing comes out of me almost instantly. I can feel it activating from a distance away, but I still feign as if I need to touch my target, a misdirection that Madame Bloom insisted I also practice. This way, if I need to, I can heal a friend from a distance, and no one would expect such an event.

  More chicanery, but I had grown to expect such duplicitous thoughts and guidance by now. For everything was a weakness, once someone fully understood the extent of your strength.

  Despite her massive size, I found Leah’s body to be fairly easy to move. Yes it did push the extent of my forty plus points of Strength to the max, but I at least didn’t look stupid grabbing her head and lifting it off the rope. A rope that was clearly cutting into her airway.

  I found it easiest to just give her body a half roll, so that she was on her back, and her face was resting in the air. I did all this, while continuing to pump healing energy into her body. This new Skill seemingly becoming second nature to me, a sort of sixth appendage that both moved and sent back immediate feedback to my brain.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Thanks to the Skill, I learned that Leah was having a hard time breathing. Which prompted the my immediate response and her movement. Behind me, I could see the shadows of people standing over me. I could almost tell instantly that they were the shadow of the exotic female warrior that Leah had trained, and that of the referee who was hunched over closely, watching me work.

  I didn’t mind, as they didn’t seem to be crowding me, but rather just nervous about my work. Which I couldn’t really blame them as she was apparently a celebrity of some kind.

  Using my energy to feel around her body, I noticed that she had long term stress and strain on her joints. While I was at it, I began trying to repair much of that damage as well. Along with a few back and spinal issues. The most recent damage was surprisingly easy to deal with, that of the blow to the back of the head, the small of her back, and numerous strikes to the shins and forearms. Yet it was deeper pains that I worked on and tried to work through.

  It wasn’t until I was nearing my limits for what I could do with a one time pass over that I realized Leah’s eyes were open. Not only were they open, but they were staring intently at my own eyes.

  Startle.

  Yeah, like a moron in front of so many thousands of people, I jumped out of fright of seeing her just staring at me so intently.

  Only after my sleight jump did the referee and exotic opponent both see what I saw, Leah’s intense eyes staring directly at me. Then with effortless grace she sat up, no flexing or bending the knees, just straight rock-solid core muscles working to perfection, causing her to sit straight up and stare directly into my eyes.

  “She’s back! The former Champion is back!” The referee declared to the Announcer, who then began repeating it out to the crowd.

  CHEERS!

  Hearing and seeing that she was back up, and moving, the crowd went wild. Happy that a famed warrior could live another day. Even with the apparent suppression field, I almost missed Leah’s comments to me.

  “By the Goddess, they were right!” Leah called out, her words not to me, but apparently to the exotic challenger behind me.

  “What’s that Master?” The exotic lady asked, her large frame towering over my still hunched over form.

  “Her eyes, are truly a sight to behold,” Leah declared, getting up to her feet and waving and interacting with the crowd. As she stood up, I did so as well, going with her, and somehow thinking that my smaller body could catch her should she begin to fall again. Yet, my care for Leah was short lived.

  Spin.

  The world quickly twirled around me, as I was turned to lock gazes with the exotic beauty that had been Leah’s opponent. Instantly I was staring into the hunched over body of a dark skinned, silver eyed, and gray-haired goddess.

  Looking into her eyes, I can see the moment her gaze turns from quizzical to impressed.

  “They are,” she called out.

  I don’t really know what they are exactly talking about but I just reach up and grab one of the long fingered muscular hands on my shoulder and begin healing her as well with my Rejuvenation Healing Skill.

  The process is both easy and just as complex as Leah’s. While the damage sustained in this battle itself were relatively easy to fix, the long-term strain on her body from apparently learning the fighting techniques of her Master’s Class were deep, and potentially debilitating if left for too long. I remembered young people who had once been professional body builders left to rot as their bodies were no longer able to move thanks to pinched nerves and extreme damage occurred. While neither fighter was at the point of complete disability at the moment, it was clear that they were going down a long and painful path if they weren’t careful.

  “Oh, your eyes even glow enchantingly when you use your Skills,” The exotic woman coos, as her words pull me from my past thoughts that I called upon, while trying to safely heal this person as much as possible. If I had time, or multiple days or better still months, I might be able to work out a rehab program and get these warriors back to full health. But as it is, I can only do what I consider to be the bare minimum, patch them up and ship them out.

  Blush.

  Seeing her this close, and feeling her intense stare on me, I am again glad that most of my face is covered by the hood, mask, and veil making it so only straight on looks like this warrior is using can actually see me.

  That said, I must be doing something right, as once I’m done, I try to take a step back, but I am caught by the same long fingers that gently but firmly wrap around my hand. Then before I know what happens, she is forward, giving me a hug as her voice coos into my ear, her voice easily heard despite having to travel through my hood.

  “Thank you,” her voice like exotic honey gently pouring into my ears, “if you ever need a friend…”

  “That’s enough, you are clearly embarrassing the poor girl,” Leah’s sharp rebuke cutting through, and she was right. As the exotic warrior finally let’s go and backs up, I can smell exotic jasmine and jasper lingering in the air. It must be her oils she is covered in, as I refuse to think someone that beautiful can smell that good after sweating, otherwise it would just be too cruel of a world.

  “Will you two fight on?” The Announcer calls out, shifting the vocal projection of the speakers so that we, the members on the ring, can hear his words clearly. Having just won, the exotic beauty had to give her answer first.

  “I will continue on!”

  “Cheers!”

  Having heard the response from their new champion, the crowd went wild.

  “And what about you, Leah the Destroyer? Will you also fight on and attempt to redeem yourself through the losers’ bracket and attempt to challenge champion?” The Announcer called out.

  Leah looked like she was going to give an answer almost immediately. Her body posture and quick release of her tension, it was clear that she was going to say no. I gathered that this was a passing of the torch, an introductory fight of her protégé that showed how impressive her new protégé is. But then she paused, her body stiffened as she turned back to face me. Then she turned to the announcer and gave possibly the most shocking ultimatum.

  “Depends, are you going to bring back our little healer here?” Leah cried out.

  Shock.

  I was shocked by the comment, while the rest of the crowd erupted with cheers.

  YEAH!

  “Bring her back! Bring her back!” Members of the crowd cried out.

  The announcer paused, looking at me. I of course had no clue, as I was only here thanks to Mr. Yi. Turning to Mr. Yi, I held up both my hands in an up to you gesture.

  Mr. Yi for his part just smiled slightly, before nodding his head.

  More cheers.

  With Mr. Yi apparently approving to come back, I shifted slightly to see Markan.

  “I get front row viewing to see Leah the Destroyer, heck yeah I’ll come back!” Markan called out.

  CHEERING!

  The crowd went wild, and with that I just turned to face Leah, whose intense eyes were just staring deeply into me.

  Shiver.

  Just seeing her intensity, I felt a slight chill, but ultimately nodded my agreement.

  “Well then, I will come back any day that she is the Healer!” Leah cried out.

  “Me too!” Leah’s protégé called out, and the crowd continued to cheer and go wild.

  Finally, after a long moment, the Announcer cried out, “well you know what that means right?”

  Silence.

  “It means we will have to do this all again tomorrow, so we can get through all of the recompetes and matches!” The Announcer called out.

  Wait? This is now a two day thing? Had I only been given a trial round of one day?

  I was so lost, that I almost missed the moment when it was time for us to go back down and leave the stage. Though before I left, I made sure to run over to the referee who was seeming slightly tired at the moment and made sure to flush his body of lactic acid and other impurities that might have built up over the course of the night.

  “Oh, thank you!” The referee called out, his words sincere as he shook my hand before letting me leave.

  To my surprise both Leah and her protégé were waiting for me at the bottom of the steps, both holding out their hands. Realizing I did not want to fall in this clumsy robe, I easily accepted the hands and walked over to Mr. Yi and Markan. At which point the two went over and greeted my protectors. The protégé went over to hug and whisper into Mr. Yi’s ear, while Leah went over to hug and do the same for Markan. They looked almost like exact opposites of each other; complete with the way they went to the opposite ear to talk to the person they were hugging.

  After their hug, they looked like they were about to leave, but then both ran over to me and hugged me.

  “Come back any time,” Leah whispered.

  “Yes, and let me know if you would like a more intimate—” the protégé’s intoxicating voice began her voice thick like smoke, but she was quickly stopped by a hard slap.

  Smack.

  “Don’t scare her off,” was all Leah hissed, now I did not see where the hand landed, but my Musical Resonance Skill told me that there were only a few places where a hand can legitimately smack to make a crisp sound like that. And most of those places were not one you would casually strike.

  Then with the authority of an apparent Master scolding her Apprentice, the exotic warrior backed up two paces, bowed to me, and then left.

  As those two left, I once again fell into my place between Markan and Mr. Yi. All while the two ring girls flashed their cards letting everyone know how long of an intermission there was between matches. I did find it odd that both made a point to pass in front of all three of us, despite the crowd clearly being behind me.

  “Good job kid,” Markan was the first to speak up. I just stared up at him, wanting him to go on, but Mr. Yi was the next to speak.

  “It’s not often that they go through such an elaborate display to try to recruit a healer. Let alone a first time Healer, showing that you are doing a good job.” Mr. Yi stated, his eyes forward, as if something important was happening in the empty ring.

  I want to speak and hold up my hands as if in a really gesture.

  “Yes, I even have a date thanks to agreeing to escort you,” Markan preened happily. At that, I guess what I saw earlier was Leah providing a date in exchange for his support? Judging by the utterly content look on his face, Markan must have been exceedingly excited about his apparent date with Leah. Though realistically this was likely just a poor fighter using a schmuck to pay for a free meal, in exchange for a favor, but if he was happy for such an event, then more power to him.

  Markan’s preening seemed to pause, when Mr. Yi responded without ever looking away from the stage, or unclasping his hands from behind his back.

  “Me too,” was all Mr. Yi had to say, to illicit a half challenge, half excited reply from Markan.

  “You too?”

  Mr. Yi nodded.

  “You mean, with Jade the Floral Assassin?” Markan asked, his voice now loud enough to gather the attention of audience members who were close by. That said, I was glad to finally know who that other warrior was, and floral assassin seemed to fit both the lingering smell and her technique.

  Mr. Yi for his part just widened his knowing smile as he nodded in agreement.

  200 Followers, almost there!

  per day, until our reign on the top 50 stops.