Chương 112: [Runes And Roast Hog]

Luka's name was called not long after Sam's match, Gomir's finishing moments before his name was called. Leo watched him walk out of the tunnel. The staff fighter waiting at the centre took one look and adjusted his starting position.

"That staff's going to be a problem. Sam was mobile enough to get out of range with the spear, it's going to be harder to do that carrying a maul around.," Leo said.

"He's not going to swing it. Not yet," Shai said, her eyes fixed on Luka's hands.

"He'll use the haft." The staff fighter opened with a flurry of testing blows—snapping strikes aimed at Luka's head, then his ribs, then his lead knee. Luka didn't try to parry each one with the head of the maul. Instead, he held the maul vertically, hands spaced wide on the long wooden handle. He used the haft to catch the flurry, the staff clacking rapidly against the reinforced wood. Luka wasn't moving fast; he was just turning his body, letting the staff bounce off his guard while he kept walking forward.

"He's closing the gap," Leo realized.

"If he can keep this up and pin him against the wall...."

"Exactly. And look at the head of the maul," Shai pointed out. The heavy wooden block was just drifting in the air, always seemingly an inch away from where the staff fighter wanted to step. The fighter grew frustrated; his flurry wasn't landing, and he was being backed toward the edge of the circle. He tried one last high-speed jab, intending to 'snake' the staff over Luka's guard to tap his shoulder. Luka didn't parry. He stepped diagonal-in, deep into the fighter's space.

The staff hissed past Luka's ear, missing by a hair because the fighter had been forced to overextend to reach around the maul's head. Before the man could retract the long weapon, Luka let go of the base of the haft and drove the head of the maul, one handed straight into the man's chest. It was a short, piston-like strike. The fighter gasped, his feet skidding in the dirt as he was shoved back. One.

"Damn," Phil muttered.

"He didn't even swing. He more or less just punched him in the gut."

"Quickest way to land a strike while the guys off balance," Sam said.

"That looked like it hurt," Leo said.

"It did, doesn't matter that it's made of wood," Shai said. The staff fighter reset with more distance and more caution, the loose confidence gone. He started working longer exchanges—the staff flickering in and out at range, keeping Luka at the very end of it. It went on long enough that a pattern emerged: same distance, same angle, the staff coming in at the same height each time. The fighter lunged for a quick snap-turn, aiming for Luka's lead hand. Instead of a standard parry, Luka timed the movement perfectly.

He tilted the head of the maul, catching the staff in the crook where the heavy block met the handle. With a sudden, violent twist of his torso, Luka yanked the maul downward and out. The leverage was impossible to fight. There was a sharp clack of wood on wood, and the staff was ripped clean out of the fighter's hands, spinning across the dirt floor. The man froze, his hands still shaped as if holding his weapon, his eyes wide with shock. He'd expected the wall; he hadn't expected the trap.

Before he could even think about diving for his weapon, Luka stepped through the opening. He didn't deliver a slow, heavy swing; he just rotated the maul in a short, controlled arc that thumped against the man's shoulder. Two. Leo winced.

"That guy's going to be bruised all over at the dance tomorrow." Shai nodded. The fighter was twitchy. He kept his eyes glued to the maul's head, waiting for the hook that never came. Desperate to reset the distance, he stepped into a wide, horizontal sweep. Luka didn't parry. He didn't even lift his weapon. He just stepped forward. The staff slapped against Luka's ribs with a dull thwack. The fighter froze, the middle of his staff pressed against Luka's side, the tip poking uselessly out behind Luka's back.

He was too close. Luka didn't hesitate. He kept both hands on the haft and shoved his lead shoulder forward, driving the flat of the maul's head into the man's chest. The air left the fighter in a loud oomph as he was sent skidding back into the dirt. Three. The referee stepped in, hands raised. A confused murmur rippled through parts of the gallery.

"Wait, what?" Phil stood up, looking at the arena floor.

"He hit him! I saw wood hit skin!"

"No red mark," Shai said, nodding toward Luka's ribs.

"The hell there isn't," Phil argued.

"Luka took a shot to the ribs. I heard the crack from here!"

"He jammed it, Phil," Sam said, watching the staff fighter struggle to catch his breath.

"The enchantment only tracks 'true' hits. All the momentum was in the end of that staff, but the part that hit Luka's side was moving at half the speed."

"Exactly," Shai added.

"It was a collision, not a strike. Marcus's magic didn't register it because there was nothing behind it. By the time the staff touched him, Luka had already killed the power." Leo watched Luka offer a hand to help the winded fighter up.

"Pretty smart." He looked over at Phil with a grin.

"Obviously you wouldn't have thought of it. Does that mean Luka's more cunning than you, dude?"

"He does one thing and suddenly he's fucking Einstein," Phil grumbled.

"I thought he might try it. If you listened to the bloke at the start, that sort of thing is obvious. Does it happen much in these tournaments?" asked Sam.

"It does from time to time in the guard's tournament, but rarely in the trainee one. Pretty impressive," said Nessa. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Leo watched as the two fighters made their way back down their tunnels. He noticed Gomir watching, arms folded and a satisfied smile on his face. The dwarf turned and walked back down the ramp to the waiting area.

Luka was almost back to the viewing step entrance when Gomir stepped into his path. Not blocking it, just there, grinning.

"Well fought, friend," he said.

"You controlled the fight from start to finish."

"Thanks. Name's Luka".

"Gomir, of the Ashen-Crag Clan." The dwarf's eyes dropped to the maul, and a faint, amber-red flicker pulsed beneath the skin of his forearms.

"I was hoping I'd find a good fight today. Most here use toothpicks. Ye' use that thing well." Luka glanced at the dwarf's arms. The light wasn't a glow on the skin, but under it, shifting as Gomir moved.

"Nice tattoos," Luka said, nodding toward the light. Gomir's scoff was loud enough to turn heads.

"Tattoos? I'm no Orc, lad!" He held up an arm, the red runes flaring.

"These are me runes. Me blood and me role written in light. Don't tell me ye' never heard of dwarven runes? What are they teaching ye' in the core?"

"I'm not from the Core," Luka said and held up a hand as a peace offering.

"And I'm new to... well, most of this. Sorry if I offended you." Gomir's bristling beard settled, and he let out a short, barking laugh.

"New, eh? Aye, that explains the blank look. Most humans are as blind as cave-crabs to the spark anyway." He tapped his own red-glowing forearm.

"We're born cold, but the spark catches early. If ye' see a dwarf with green, he's a worker—the spine of the mountain. Blue is for the crafters who speak to magic metals. Gold?" He made a face.

"That's for the ones with more coin than sense, lad. But red... red is for the fight." Luka looked at the pulsing red light.

"And if you stop fighting?"

"Then the fire changes. The runes shift as ye' do," Gomir said, his grin widening.

"But mine aren't changing today. I look forward to facing ye' next." He clapped Luka on the arm—his hand was startlingly hot, like he'd just stepped away from a furnace—and marched back up to the viewing platform.

The Round of 32 wrapped up with two more fights. One stood out more than the other to Leo as it featured Ivaran, the elven net fighter. That net was going to be a real pain for whichever of the four lads came up against it. The break was called from the arena floor, an hour before the Round of 16. The arena began to empty out as people went to try the different food people had spent the morning preparing. They found Rika coming down from the galleries, Parmo behind her, Ronan and Diane alongside him.

Carl and Jeff were with them.

"Hey guys," said Luka as they joined the rest of the group.

"How was the view?"

"Yeah man, it was good. Felt a little like watching football, the atmosphere in the crowd was pretty similar. You guys did awesome by the way, grats."

"Cheers man. Kind of intimidating walking out at first but it didn't take long to get used to." said Leo.

"Yeah I was wondering about that. I know you hate standing up and speaking in front of people as much as me, so I thought it might have got to you. Good on you for getting past it and getting the win. You made it look easy man," The group walked through the southern gate, back into the village. The number of foreign smells had grown, some more powerful than others, the lads' mouths beginning to water.

"That vine hog thing still smells lush. Lets go give it a try," said Phil. Sam nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"I'll grab something else if that's cool," said Luka. Torren nodded.

"I can take you to get something more vegetarian friendly if you like?"

"Thanks Torren." Luka looked over at the others.

"I guess we'll meet you back here in a minute. Any idea where we can sit?"

"My garden isn't far from here actually, I've got some tables and chairs I can bring out, there should be enough room." said Torren. Shai nodded.

"Good idea. We'll meet you there." The two walked off as Rika led them over to the stall. They waited in line for a few minutes before it was their turn to order.

"Hey Gen. Can we get the Vine roasted pig please?" A few moments later they had their meals, which Leo and the others from town stored in their UI. Jeff spotted someone he knew across the street and waved.

"Carl, come on, I'll introduce you to a few people I met yesterday." Carl looked at the food in his hand.

"Yeah alright." He looked back at the group.

"Good luck in the next round lads."

"I'll find you at the square after," Diane said to Carl without looking up.

"Aye." Jeff clapped Carl on the shoulder and steered him off down the street.

Rika led the group down one of the streets they had passed earlier. They came to a house that looked a little like a cottage, with all sorts of plants growing in the garden. Some seemed familiar while others looked totally alien. Torren and Luka arrived just after them.

"Woah. Nice place man." said Phil.

"Thank you Phil, some of these are for decoration but many of them are actually plants I grow for other people in the village. You see that one over there?" he pointed to a plant with a yellow vine that reminded Leo a little of a slinky toy, with a wide blue head sprouting out the top. In the centre, a brown bulb could be seen.

"That one I grow for Merin. He's fond of smoking it as it helps relax him. There are also those ones over there that I grow for our healers." Leo stared at the first plant then smiled.

"Sounds like the sort of thing Chris would like." The other four laughed, the mention of their friend reminding them of the stupid things he would say when smoking.

"Yeah, Chris would be blown away by fantasy weed." said Sam with a chuckle. The tables and chairs came out, the group sitting down and passing food from their UI. The portions were generous — slow-cooked, the herb-y scent of the vine underneath the char, served on a flat wooden board. The vendor also had a blue fruit juice they'd picked up. Shai had told them it was a forest fruit gathered from the woodland west of the village.

It tasted of orange and something similar to passion fruit, cold enough that the cup fogged slightly in the air.

"Leo," Rika said.

"That strike you did to end your match. It looked exactly like Kai when he does it." She looked over at the big wolf.

"I bet you're proud of him, aren't you, Kai?"

"We're eating, Rika. Can't it wait 5 minutes," Leo said.

"No. We had to sit and watch from the stands and couldn't talk to you guys about it. It's so unfair." Rika spent the next ten minutes telling the four how well they did, asking about if they were enjoying themselves, if Phil still thought he would win.

"Of course I'm going to win. There's a few people who look pretty tough but I'll figure out a strategy for each of them when I see more of their fights."

"Get a look at Sun Tzu over here. Go on then, tell us what you have that's going to beat each of us." chuckled Sam.

"Fine. For Luka, I'll beat him with speed. Good luck trying to block both my swords the way you did that guy with the pole. For Sam, same thing I did earlier. We have a similar style, but I'm better though. And for Leo, I'll make it impossible for him to do that twirly shit he was doing in his fight." The group stared at Phil before shaking their heads and rolling their eyes.

"I'm so glad I get to face you on this side of the bracket. Kicking you out of the tournament is going to feel better than that time I beat you one on one in CS. You talked so much shit."

"Anyway... Shai, I heard a rumour going round the crowd earlier. Something about you and Leo looking very close while you watched the fights." said Rika, eyebrows wiggling.

"Can you tell us what that's all about?" Kai looked off down the street, while the rest of the table leaned in with obvious interest. Shai sighed.

"That didn't take long." Leo laughed and put his arm around her shoulder.

"They probably saw us standing like this." The group smiled at the pair, Shai's face going a little red. Rika chose to leave it there, she knew Kai was looking away and didn't know what that meant.

"Are you going to say it or not?" Ronan said, looking at Diane. She rolled her eyes before looking at Sam.

"Fine. You fought well Sam, can't say I expected a nerd like you to move like that. Consider me shocked." Sam looked at her, drink frozen mid way to his mouth.

"Holy shit, was that a compliment?" asked Luka, with a grin.

"Oh, Piss off Frodo." said Diane. The lads laughed.

"Holy shit dude, that came out of nowhere." said Parmo. Luka stuck his finger up at her.

"I'm not even that short anymore. I'm taller than you are, You friggin gnome." Parmo was just getting his laughter under control. It started again.

"And he hits back."

"You see what it's like? Shes evil man." said Sam.

"I hope you both lose next round." said Diane.

"You know what? I hope Leo wins because Phil winning is going to be insufferable, and I hope you both lose and get made to look like idiots while doing it."

"Jesus. Shes an actual Harpy," said Phil with a grin. The group finished and cleaned everything away before they made their way back to the arena.

"You worried about your next rounds?" asked Parmo.

"Nah, looking forward to it actually. I have Locke next, he's the guy with the tonfas, sorry, the Kolven. Should be fun." said Leo, smiling at the thought. Kai smiled at Leo's comment. Shai's tail swayed behind her as she walked, excited for the next round to begin.