Chương 126: [Passive And Active Abilities]

The laughter hadn't fully died down when Sam turned to Nessa with the straightest face he could manage.

"Well, if you want that dance, you know where to find me. I wouldn't wait too long, though." He glanced out at the crowd below.

"Plenty of beautiful women here. I'm sure I'll find one who doesn't mind dancing with a finalist." Nessa stared at him.

"You're starting to sound like Phil."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I wouldn't." Phil caught Shai's eye before she could say anything and pre-empted her.

"Before you say it, yes, I know. The throw was stupid. But I didn't do it this time."

"The fake was smart," she said.

"I'll give you that. Actually throwing it in the earlier fight was a different matter."

"I knew he'd fall for it." Phil nodded toward Leo.

"Because you bit my head off over it and he thinks I'm an arse who'd do it again." Leo nodded.

"He's not wrong." Shai looked at both of them and rolled her eyes. Kai glanced over briefly.

"You both represented your town well today." He paused.

"Congratulations on reaching the final, Leo."

"Thanks, Kai." He turned back to watching the arena. Leo thought about what Shai had told him about her parents, about the promise Kai had kept for years. Impressing him was something Leo had wanted since he began training. He wasn't sure why getting his approval had mattered before, but now he had another reason. The conversation moved on. Phil was already offering Sam tips on how to beat Leo. Sam was refusing them, saying he wasn't going to take advice from a loser.

Luka decided he was going to carry on with Leo's dig about dancing, even though he himself didn't have anyone yet. Leo half-listened while he checked his UI stats screen, wanting to know if there had been an increase with everything he'd done today. The stats screen opened. He scanned it. His strength and wisdom had gone up by a point. He was about to close it when something caught his eye: a new sub-tab with a dropdown arrow tucked beneath the header. The words Passive and Active Skills were above it.

He didn't look up.

"Any of you guys have a new tab in the stats screen? I have something here saying Passive and Active Skills." The conversation stopped. He heard the others checking.

"No," said Phil.

"Nothing," said Luka. Sam took a second longer.

"No. What does it show?" Leo willed it open. The screen expanded beneath the stats. There was a single line of text and empty space below it suggesting room for more. Flow State: 34: 17 As he looked at it, the 17 ticked down to 16.

"There's a timer," he said.

"Flow State, then a countdown. It's going down while I'm looking at it." He hovered over it. FLOW STATE Enter a state of complete immersion, sharpened instinct, and effortless momentum. Duration: 1 minute. Cooldown reduces and duration increases with repeated activation. Unlock parameters met: Training hours under qualified instruction met threshold. Sustained performance under continuous high-intensity duress without reduction in demand exceeded required parameters. He read it twice.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What does it say?" Shai asked, leaning slightly as though she could see it. Leo read it out. When he got to the unlock parameters, the group looked at Kai, who had turned from the crowd.

"So you got that flow state thing you used in the last fight and the one against Locke because you had harder training from Kai?" Sam said.

"Sounds like the intensity and the one-on-one focus was what made the difference."

"Explains why I could use it against Phil during the fourth point but not in the last one," said Leo.

"Also means you won't have it ready for the final. There's one less thing to worry about," said Sam with a smirk.

"Yeah, fair. Honestly, I don't even really know how I was activating it. Just turned my brain off, if I'm honest. I did feel like it wouldn't work in the final round, though. Felt like I just knew if I tried it, it would fail."

"That sounds like the UI nudging you subconsciously or something," said Luka. Kai was quiet for a moment.

"If the conditions that unlocked it are replicable, the other training groups back in Monkhaven are in for a change when we return." Shai nodded.

"Phil could do with learning some discipline while he's at it. He might also try actually listening to his trainer occasionally."

"Oi," said Phil. The others laughed. Nessa waited for it to settle before looking at Sam with a pleasant smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I already have you to myself, Sam. I hope you're looking forward to more undivided attention when we get back." She paused.

"I have a few ideas that might help you reach that threshold." Sam looked at her.

"This is because of the Mars comment, isn't it?" Nessa tilted her head.

"No idea what you're talking about." Luka looked at Torren. Torren shrugged.

"You'll be fine." Below, Mutton Chops had moved back to the centre of the arena. He looked up toward the viewing area and raised both arms, his voice carrying easily over the crowd noise.

"Would the two finalists please make their way to the arena." Leo looked at Sam, who looked back.

"Ready?" said Leo.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Let's go." They fist-bumped. The group sent them off with good lucks and a shove from Phil that Leo ignored, and they headed for the tunnel together before splitting off toward opposite ends. Leo walked down the tunnel, listening to the sound of the crowd above him. As he reached the entrance to the arena floor, he noticed a young wolf-kin boy standing just before the archway. The boy smiled and held out a hand.

"Sorry, they want you to wait here until he calls you out." He gestured toward the announcer.

"He'll do the intro first."

"No worries, cheers," said Leo. The lad didn't move straight away. He looked at Leo the way he'd seen people look at celebrities when they bumped into one while out and about.

"My name's Grey. It's been amazing watching you fight today. You fight exactly like Kai. He's my favourite fighter." He said it quickly.

"I hope you win." Leo blinked.

"Oh. Thank you, I appreciate that. Kai's actually the person who trained me. I'll let him know you're a fan." He grinned at the boy, who looked over the moon. Leo turned back toward the light and let out a quiet breath. He had a fan. An actual fan. Someone who'd watched him all day and wanted him to win and had been excited enough about it to say so to his face. He chuckled to himself. What was that all about? He wondered briefly if autographs were a thing here before his brain caught up with itself.

Course they weren't. And even if they were, nobody would be able to read it. He stood at the edge of the tunnel and looked out. The arena was full, the stands packed in a way that hadn't quite registered when he'd been out there fighting. He'd not really taken the time to look beyond a brief glance here and there, his focus squarely on the fight ahead.

He noticed it all now: the dirt floor marked from all the fights that had led up to this one, Mutton Chops in the centre straightening his jacket, the crowd filling every row back to the walls. He looked across to the opposite tunnel. Sam was there, standing at the same point, looking back at him. He gave him a nod. Sam returned it, a smile on his face. Leo looked back out at the crowd. He still couldn't fully believe he was here. Not long ago, he'd been nobody. Less than that, really.

A depressed mess just trying to make it to the next day. He had the kids and did his best for them, but life had been hard. He'd never been anything remarkable. Now, though, he was standing in a tunnel waiting to be announced as a finalist in a knockout tournament in which he'd used a sword to get here. He was in a world that wasn't his, and the crowd out there was the biggest he'd ever performed anything in front of in his life. Jake and Olly wouldn't believe him.

He'd message them tonight, as soon as he had a minute, and tell them what happened. His mana pool was big enough now to send longer messages, but this would take a few of them. He'd send as many as he needed to. They'd be over the moon. He smiled at the dirt floor. For a group of lads who'd never done much beyond work and games and the occasional night out, this was the kind of thing you saw in films. If someone had told him this would be where he stood six months ago, he'd have laughed them out of the room.

Mutton Chops' voice rose above the crowd, and Leo straightened up.

"Your first finalist: fast, precise, and with a natural talent that suggests he learned from the very best. A chip off the old block. Trained under our very own Nessa of the Stonehall guard. Make some noise for Sam!" The crowd responded well. Leo listened and watched Sam step out, taking it in. Mutton Chops let it settle before drawing breath again.

"And your second finalist: a man whose skill with the Sarren has been something to behold today. His strikes too much for every opponent he has faced. A student of our very own hero, Kai. Let's hear it for Leo!" Leo took one last deep breath and grinned at Grey. Let's go win a final.