Chương 116: [I hope That Wasn't A Joke About Shai, Brandon...]

..] Parmo watched as Leo clasped Locke's wrist, the crowd going wild around him. He smiled. His friend had just won his fight in the most commanding fashion, out of nowhere, and he wasn't sure how that had happened. He'd seen them all training, knew roughly what to expect coming into this, but whatever that last point had been was insane. Where had he been hiding that? Keeping a card up his sleeve was more something he thought Phil might have tried as a way to score a point against the others later on, but not Leo.

Then again, was that really something he'd been holding back? He wasn't so sure. He sat back down when the crowd did, aware that Rika beside him had grabbed his arm at some point during the final point and neither of them had noticed until now. She let go.

"What in the gods' names was that?"

"I know, right? He's never done that before, has he?" asked Parmo. She shook her head, eyes still wide.

"No. They're all good and around a similar level from what I've seen. That was new."

"It wasn't just that point. The two he dropped looked like they came from being caught out. The speed in the first and the trick he pulled in the fourth. Otherwise, Leo controlled the fight well. The pommel strike was clever. He looked like he baited Locke into stepping where he did," said Diane. Jeff nodded while Carl smiled and said, "Yeah, that was sick. It looked like he outplayed him completely." Parmo looked over at Ronan, who looked like he was both impressed and annoyed.

"What do you think, Ronan?" The half-orc looked over.

"I think Kai will be as shocked as everyone else. There's no way Leo was that far along in his training. He's good, don't misunderstand me; but that was like watching Kai fight. I've seen it enough times to know. For that last moment, it was like someone else was in control." He smiled.

"If he can tap into that again, he should take the rest of the tournament easily. There's a reason we split the trainee and guard tournaments. If this goes on, I owe Kai some money..." Parmo looked around then back over at Ronan.

"I've been meaning to ask. Where did Mike get off to? I haven't seen him since he left with you guys to see the elders."

"He stayed with them when we left to watch this. They were talking about whether or not to mention the town to the people from the other villages. With those four making a name for themselves and you probably doing the same in the archery, people are going to want to know where you came from. We could say you live in town, but then what happens if someone decides to visit the coast while they're here? If they see Monkhaven, they are going to start asking where it came from.

Best to get ahead of that before word spreads further than we'd like."

"That's a fair point. I guess they need to work out how to let everyone for the other border villages know without the risk of it spreading to the core. I don't envy them," said Parmo. Diane nodded.

"I nearly got roped into staying. I'm happy working out why things do and don't work, but I don't want to play politics. I don't think Mike does either, but he's kind of our leader, so. I think I can see him over there, actually." She pointed over to where she could see Mike and the three elders watching from the stands. They were seated in an area just above one of the entrances to the arena floor.

"Right, so who's winning the quarters then?" asked Jeff. Rika glanced over and grinned.

"Our lads, of course. They have tough quarter finals, but I think they're good enough to win." If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Ronan ran a hand through his hair, his eyes on the arena.

"I think Luka and Sam will struggle most. Ivaran's net is going to make most of what Sam does a real challenge. Luka is up against that dwarf with the axe. He was at the tournament two years ago. If I remember right, he made it to the semi finals. He's got more real combat experience than most people in this tournament." He looked over at the rest of the group.

"As for Leo, he has Klaus. If Leo can tap into whatever that was, then he should win easily. If not, it may be close. Klaus is a skilled fighter, but something seems to have him on edge. And last, Phil's fight could go either way. It depends on whether he can get into range without getting caught. His fight has the most potential for either of them to win three to nothing." Parmo nodded along. Ronan was right, of course; each of their opponents looked tough.

Phil's boasts about winning easily were looking more and more stupid as the tournament went on. Around him, he could hear the crowd discussing the fights, some more focused on the rumours he'd been hearing throughout the day. The main one being about Leo and Shai. The cat was out of the bag. Parmo grinned. He looked over at Rika.

"So, apparently the cat's out of the bag. You heard everyone talking about Shai and Leo?"

"I hope that wasn't a joke about Shai, Brandon..."

"No, I mean... never mind. You heard everyone talking about them?"

"Yeah. You can see how popular she is with how quickly it's spread. I hope no one says anything stupid to her about it." Parmo smiled.

"They'll both be fine. I don't think they really care about the rumors anyway. Leo was supposedly standing with his arm around her, just out in the open. If they were so bothered about it, they wouldn't have done that."

"That's true." Parmo was about to say something else when movement on the arena floor caught his eye. The announcer was making his way back to the centre, mutton chops and all, waiting for the noise to settle before he raised his voice.

"What an amazing round that was. Are you all enjoying the tournament so far?" He waited until the crowd's cheering had settled before he went on.

"Fantastic. Well, don't go anywhere; we're going to have a short break before the quarter finals. You've probably got enough time to get a bet in before we're right back to it. See you all shortly." Parmo looked up to the viewing platform where the fighters stood. Good luck dudes, bring it home.

Leo walked back up the ramp to where Shai and the others were standing. He'd had time to think about the end of the fight but was still drawing a blank. Some kind of flow state or maybe a weird feature of the UI was all he could think of, but he still couldn't say for certain. As he walked out onto the viewing platform, they turned and grinned at him.

"Nice fight, man. It looked close til that last round. What happened?" asked Luka.

"No idea, dude. I tried to think less about what he might do and just focused on my training. That was it, really."

"So you haven't been sneaking off in the middle of the night for extra training or something?" asked Phil. Leo gave him a blank stare.

"You're projecting, dude. Just cos that's the sort of thing you'd do, doesn't mean all of us are that sneaky."

"Fuck you, I don't need tricks to beat you idiots. You'll see soon enough. Still though. Nice fight, dude. GG." Leo laughed at the time honoured tradition of 'GG'.

"Thanks, man."

"You think you'll be able to do it in your fight with Klaus?" asked Sam.

"No idea. It was a little like when you do something sick in a game and then can't pull it off again when you try it. I'm worried it was a bit of a fluke," said Leo, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It wasn't luck, Leo. Maybe a glimpse of what you're capable of and not something you can easily do again so soon; but it was your own effort, not luck." Leo glanced over at Kai. He hadn't expected that. The big wolf nodded and turned back to look out at the arena floor.

"Thanks, Kai," he said with a smile. Leo walked back over to the edge of the platform where Shai stood waiting for him. As he reached her, she took his hand and squeezed.

"Well done, Leo. You fought well. It was a little like watching Kai at the end there. I bet all those people rushing out to place bets are because of you," she nodded in the direction of the stands where a noticeable amount of people were leaving their seats in a hurry.

"No pressure." He grinned, then squeezed her hand back before leaning against the edge.

"Any idea why Klaus has been so different this round compared to last?"

"No. He usually fights the same way he did in the first round. I didn't expect him to lose his cool. Something is clearly making him act this way. I'll ask him later." Leo nodded. It didn't matter to him what Klaus' problem was; he was still going to go out there and fight like his life depended on it. He just hoped whatever was causing the problem wouldn't get in the way of their match.

The fact that was even a thought Leo had struck him as weird, but it was something he was coming to realise was just part of this new him. A version of him that he liked way more than the him back on Earth.