Chương 109: 176 - Disciple

The swordswoman didn't visibly react to the thuggish man's accepting her request—no smirk nor squaring of her shoulders. She simply nodded. Vivi watched with growing interest, having a feeling about how this would play out and pleased that she hadn't needed to step in herself.

"This disciple thanks you for accommodating her whims. She asks that you wait for a moment longer as she finds a weapon suitable for her opponent." She bowed much more shallowly than in her previous gestures, though Vivi doubted the man deserved even that. The woman clearly placed a great deal of importance on respect and manners, and that extended to him as well, apparently.

Leaving the tattoo-faced man alone in the fighting ring, the woman smoothly vaulted the barricade walls and jogged to a sapling a few dozen yards away. There, she circled around and inspected the growth. After a brief deliberation, she selected a branch, withdrew her sword, and severed the length she wanted. She gave a few swishes as if testing the branch's flexibility. A nod showed she was satisfied. After bowing to the tree as though thanking it for the sacrifice, she hurried back to the ring.

The whole sequence redoubled Vivi's initial appraisal. This woman was skilled. Vivi spent her time around a lot of powerful individuals, and even some of them didn't move with the same fluidity this woman passively displayed. It was apparent in her most casual motions. The thug's expression soured, but he forced a transparent smirk.

"I can tell you're different from the rest of the trash, but a branch? Is that a joke?"

"It is an excellent tool for disciplining a child. And I would not sully my sword by drawing her against you." The bold insult drew startled laughs from the crowd. Not always respectful, then, Vivi thought. Even if the woman had somehow delivered the words politely. His lip curled, and oddly, it seemed like excitement as much as anger.

"Arrogant brat. I'll enjoy putting you in your place." Vivi wondered if it was confidence or cluelessness that had the thug looking so unbothered. Could he not tell how capable this woman was simply by how she moved? It seemed obvious to Vivi. But not everyone has my ridiculous stats and the perception that comes with them.

"Please take your positions on opposite ends of the arena," the evaluator said. The woman obeyed without delay, turning crisply on her heel and striding to one edge of the ring. The thug grunted and did the same, but slowly and indolently, making it clear he didn't care about wasting everyone's time. He hefted his club out of its sling. He wasn't so foolish as to fight barehanded, like he had with the obviously new bronze ranker. The evaluator cleared his throat and projected his voice.

"The match will last until one participant forfeits or is unable to continue. Killing is strictly prohibited, and all maiming will be reviewed and potentially lead to disqualification as well—or worse, if determined intentional." He paused, looking seriously between the two fighters to impress his words upon them, then nodded.

"On my left, Wade Marsh, four wins, zero losses. On my right, Suyin Vey, zero wins and zero losses. Do both participants understand the terms of the bout and agree?"

"I do," came Suyin's response.

"Get on with it," the thug growled.

"I will count you down." The evaluator did so, starting from five. When he hit zero, he announced, "Begin!" Neither fighter burst forward in a flash of speed. Wade advanced lazily, club swishing side to side in an easy grip, though his muscles were tense and his eyes keen—again, he wasn't completely unaware of the danger the woman represented. Not a total idiot, as much as I'd like to say that he is. Suyin walked with her sapling branch in hand. Her stride was sharp and serious, as most of her seemed to be.

"My master says that there is a particularly dangerous point in one's journey," she announced as she approached the man.

"It comes a year after the acorn has sprouted, when it has seen how it looms over the grass and shrubbery. It begins to think itself unequaled in all the world. Yet it has not so much as laid eyes on the oak it might become, far less the ancient redwood."

"Your master sounds like he's up his own ass."

"As his disciple, I will punish you for those words. As Suyin Vey, I am forced to agree." Wade lunged with surprising speed, club hurtling toward her in a vicious arc. Suyin slipped sideways and dodged by what must have been less than an inch, her billowy shirt fluttering with the gust of wind. Two loud cracks echoed through the ring as a flexible branch smacked into his forearm and then thigh.

"But arrogance is a small sin, all things considered," Suyin said, dipping backward as Wade cursed and tried to retaliate. She made his next attacks look clumsy too, though Vivi could read precision and intent in the brute's blows. They were not random, nor was he unskilled, and yet Suyin danced around him with ease.

"My master is guilty of it as well, is he not? And so is this disciple, who is less humble than she wishes to be, and certainly less than she claims. Thus, it would take far more than a lifted chin and a sneer to drive her to action." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Smack, smack.

"Cocky bitch," the thug snarled, rearing back as two more welts began growing on his arms.

"Did I not just admit to such?" Suyin asked. The next whip-like blow landed on his face, and he jerked away with a growl.

"No, cruelty is your blight, Wade Marsh. It is a simple thing to drive the arrogance from a person; watch as I demonstrate. But a black heart is less easily cleansed than water is coaxed from a stone. Should someday a saint attempt the endeavor with you, consider yourself blessed for the effort. Grace like that will not come from me."

Suyin launched her offensive in earnest, and even Vivi, despite the satisfaction of the first few smacks, began to wince as welts appeared by the dozen across the man's exposed skin and in the gaps in his armor. The crowd wasn't quite as empathetic as Vivi. At first, they'd been shocked into silence. Then they had remained quiet as Suyin delivered her condemnations.

Now that she'd finished speaking and was slipping here and there, humiliating the huge man with rapid lashes of her branch, they voiced their approval in the way a person might expect from an audience on the sidelines—cheering, laughing, and jeering, growing in volume by the moment. The embarrassment seemed to affect the thug more than the sting of Suyin's switch, though the repeated smacks no doubt bit deep, even for a man accustomed to pain.

He grew warier of closing the gap, not that Suyin allowed him a reprieve. She advanced when he didn't. That continued for a few minutes. Eventually, Suyin pulled away, leaving a panting and flushed man glaring with fury. She appraised him, then sighed and shook her head.

"My apologies." She bowed shallowly.

"I misjudged you. I clearly overprepared for this encounter." Straightening again, she pulled out a band of white cloth and wrapped it around her eyes.

"Perhaps this will put us on more even footing." The crowd once more went quiet with disbelief, then a fresh wave of cheers and hoots had Wade's red face turning purple. With a roar, he rushed forward, the insult of the blindfold revitalizing him. Suyin didn't bother attacking. She kept close, dipping and weaving and not letting the man's huge club do more than flutter her shirt.

Every swing had wind gusting all around them, some of the more forceful blows making nearby viewers stagger back, and yet she didn't look pressed by his assault in the slightest. Some of the cheers faded to stunned amazement as people started to realize how large the gap between the two opponents truly was. Several audience members jogged away and returned with others in tow. With a commotion developing, the crowd grew almost comically fast.

Only a few dozen had been initially present, but soon Ring Seven was packed shoulder to shoulder, spectators jostling for a view. A lot of them probably came to these proving grounds hoping for exactly this. To see a Titled working their way up the bracket, Vivi thought. Not that she knew Suyin was Titled, or even suspected it, but she was at least orichalcum, and a very skilled one at that.

The gathering crowd had the thug glancing around, growing even more flustered and angry, but no amount of rage could close the chasm in their skill. The more he tried to vent his fury, the more Suyin embarrassed him by dodging without effort. The cracks of her branch against his skin were salt ground into the wound.

"This ends only in forfeit, Wade Marsh," she chided.

"I will not offer you a decisive defeat. One who does not give will not receive. We will dance for three days and three nights if we must, if that is how long it takes for your shame to overcome your pride, and you run from me with your tail between your legs." She shrugged.

"Or you will collapse from exhaustion. You are not lasting as I hoped."

"Shut your mouth, whore." The next six whips of the sapling branch landed squarely on the man's lips, so fast that nobody besides Vivi perceived them. The blows had been delivered to injure for once, and the way he staggered backward and clutched at his mouth, red springing up between his fingers, proved it. The blindfold hadn't reduced Suyin's accuracy by a fraction.

"Is claiming a man's tongue considered maiming?" Suyin casually asked the evaluator.

"My opponent was not taught manners by his mother, and he is in need of correction." The referee gawked.

"I'm afraid it would be, Lady Suyin."

"A pity. And I am no lady. Disciple Suyin, if you must." At Vivi's side, Saffra began snickering. She hadn't joined in on the cheering or jeering of the surrounding crowd, but she was clearly enjoying the man being put in his place. Disciple Suyin resumed her barrage. She hounded the thug across the arena. Although she couldn't display her true skill as a swordswoman—lacking a blade or a proper opponent—her footwork and the way she moved left Vivi transfixed. I wonder how the branch isn't breaking.

A skill that reinforces her weapon? Eventually, the thug's shame overcame his pride, as Suyin had been aiming for. With the crowd growing by the minute and the laughter rising in volume, he had no choice but to cut his losses and retreat, purple-faced. He didn't bow and concede defeat, obviously. Instead, with a growl, he turned and hopped over the barricade—an exit that failed to salvage an ounce of dignity, seeing how Suyin pursued and repeatedly smacked him on the backside with her branch.

"As I expected. Fleeing without apology for your behavior. A child indeed." Suyin didn't follow him past the barricade. Wade shoved his way through the gathered crowd and disappeared. It wasn't a violent enough departure that Vivi could justify having the guard bring him in, though she did intend to have Rafael look into the man now that she knew his name. She doubted people who acted like him had clean records.

"Winner, Suyin Vey." The swordswoman removed her blindfold, bowed to the audience, and exited the arena. She neither encouraged nor discouraged the cheering. It almost looked like she didn't notice it at all, like the whole event had been a tedious errand she'd felt forced into.

"The idiot forgot his card," Saffra said, entertained, eyes lingering on where Suyin had vanished.

"He'll have to come back and get it later. Bet that'll be embarrassing." Vivi considered, then huffed in amusement.

"Speaking of, we're supposed to hand the evaluator ours."

"Yep. We're in the same ring as her, though. That's gonna be interesting. We might get matched up." She raised an eyebrow at Vivi, which Vivi of course ignored. No, she didn't plan to blow her cover on the first day. Especially since delivering a loss to Suyin would feel awful after the woman had stepped in to do what Vivi had wanted to. If they were somehow paired up, she would throw the fight. She had two free losses, anyway, where she could advance without issue.

Wiggling through the crowd, which was roaring with excitement—though most of them hadn't even seen the thug initially make a villain of himself—she and Saffra headed for the referee.