Chương 123: [You Know What, F*ck It]

Leo watched Sam finish his fight with the knife throw he'd used before. It looked different this time, though. He knew Gomir would have planned for it, but Sam still managed to slip it in anyway. There was something about the way Gomir put himself in the right place for Sam to land the hit, but Leo wasn't sure. The fight had been interesting, Sam starting off slowly on purpose before he switched it up with his usual speed.

Then the back and forth, each of them scoring points in ways that used their opponent's previous moves against them. Leo hadn't caught all of it, but it was clear to him that this fight was more about the two trying to out-think each other just as much as it had been about their physical skill. His own fight had been about more than that as well. Just goes to show how much of fighting is about outside influences. The skill needed to compete well is kind of the minimum requirement.

"Looks like we have an all-Monkhaven final," said Leo, turning to look at Shai. She smiled, giving his hand a squeeze.

"You nervous? This will be the first time any of you have fought each other." Leo looked over at Phil.

"Nervous about fighting him? Nah, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun. Plus, I'll get to hold it over him for a while. He's going to be so annoyed whenever it comes up." Phil heard the comment.

"Just remember you said that when you lose. I'm going to end this faster than any fight so far. I hope you're ready." The two grinned. This felt like every time they'd done a one-on-one in games to prove a point. Leo usually lost. This time he was confident. It was a totally different playing field. A little further along the viewing platform at the edge of the group, Torren noticed Luka looking like he had something on his mind. He'd been that way since the end of Sam's fight.

Torren had seen it before—not from Luka specifically, but from fighters who'd lost and were still going over it in their heads.

"You doing alright?" he said, keeping his voice low enough that it stayed between them. Luka glanced at him.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About the fight?" He smiled.

"No, not about that. About whether I'd have beaten Sam if we could use magic." He watched the crowd move around below.

"Or Gomir, for that matter. It felt like fighting with one hand tied behind my back. I know that's the rules and it's the same for everyone, but—" he shrugged.

"I keep thinking about what it would have looked like." Torren considered that.

"A maul in a one-on-one is harder than most weapons. Especially if you don't have the sort of height I have. You have less reach than a spear or a glaive, and it's heavier than a sword or a knife. You were always going to have the hardest time this tournament without your magic. More so against someone with Gomir's experience. Sam had an easier task with the daggers, and from what I saw, he went in with a plan he built from watching your fight." He paused.

"Don't let it get you down. Making the quarter-finals with a month of training is no small thing." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Luka laughed quietly.

"I'm not sad about it. Honestly. I'm happy Sam won." He looked at Torren.

"I just think with the shield I'd have actually been able to show what I've got. Without it, I felt like I was only showing half of it."

"You're probably right," Torren said.

"With magic allowed, I think you'd have beaten Gomir fairly easily, even with his experience. You'd most likely beat both Leo and Phil as well. You already showed you can take their spells without the shield breaking, back in training." He smiled.

"But there's always next year. Take what today showed you and build from it." Luka grinned.

"Yeah. Gomir said as much. Thanks, Torren." Torren smiled back.

"Anytime, my friend." Kai caught Leo's eye and tilted his head slightly. Leo excused himself from the group and walked over.

"Do you want to talk through your approach for the semi-final?" Kai said.

"I've watched Phil all day. I've picked up on some of his weaknesses." Leo shook his head.

"Cheers, Kai, but nah. I want to do this one on my own effort. Can't have him using it as an excuse when he loses." Kai looked at him for a moment then shook his head, the corner of his mouth moving.

"Fair enough." Leo glanced back at the group. Shai had taken the gap he'd left and was standing with Phil now, saying something to him. Phil laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, I don't need it," Phil said, loud enough to carry.

"I'm good." Shai rolled her eyes. Sam came back up the steps to congratulations from the others. Phil clapped him on the shoulder hard enough that he had to take a step forward, Luka gave him a fist bump, while Leo grinned at him.

"Alright," Phil said, once the noise had died down slightly.

"Run us through it. How did you get him to move like that? You flung the knife in your earlier fight, surely he'd prepared for it?" Sam looked at him.

"He didn't walk into it. I put him there." The group waited for him to go on. Sam chuckled at their silence and continued. He explained the slow start, how he conditioned Gomir to react to the obvious tell, all of it. Leo knew he could keep it to himself, since he was going to be fighting one of them after this next match; that wasn't Sam's style, though. He was happier explaining what happened than trying to keep secrets to help his chances. Leo listened and looked at Phil. Phil looked back at him.

"Why does he have to be that smart?" Phil said.

"Dealing with him in the final is going to be a nightmare. For either of us." Leo nodded.

"I've got a plan for it, though."

"What plan?"

"Do my own thing. Ignore him completely. Anything that looks too easy, I'm not taking it." Phil laughed.

"Brute force it."

"Essentially." Sam laughed.

"I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Trust a green player to ignore all subtlety and instead choose 'big creature do big damage'." Leo grinned.

"Sounds about right. Does that make Phil a red player then? Comes in hot and runs out of steam by the third turn?

'Cause if so, then that's true for how this next fight is going to go."

"Oh, burn," said Luka with a laugh.

"Clever, too. What have you done with Leo?" Before Leo could finish his laugh and respond, the announcer's voice called him and Phil to the arena. Leo smirked.

"Best of luck, dude." He held out his fist for a bump. Phil laughed and returned it.

"Yeah, you too, man. Let's give them something to cheer about."

"Kick his arse," Luka said to Leo, which got a laugh from the group and a pointed finger from Phil. The others wished them both good luck, Phil saying he wouldn't be needing it and walking off first. Leo turned back to say something to Shai. She was right there. You know what? Fuck it. He pulled her close, one arm around her, and leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, right between her ears. It was more a peck than anything, but it surprised her and everyone else around them.

Shai froze, her face turning bright red. Her tail began swaying back and forth while she tried to look away from the others.

"Be right back," he said with a grin.

"Sorry in advance for having to knock your student out. No hard feelings." He let go and turned toward the stairs. Behind him, he heard Luka and Sam at the same moment.

"Ooooooh." He was already grinning when he hit the first step. He could hear Phil somewhere below him, halfway down, calling back up.

"What happened? What did I miss?" Leo laughed and kept walking.