After several more rounds, with a few of the fights being actually rather interesting to watch, lunchtime approached.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will now take a ninety-minute intermission. Please head in an orderly line when visiting the concession stands. We would like to remind you to please try the berry blast sundae from Glace Industries. Use code C01D on your communicator…” The announcer continued to prattle on about several various sponsorships as people began to leave their seats.

Up in the view box Duke Coldwater rose from his seat, “Let’s depart for lunch. We will be with Gilles.”

As the others began to leave the room and head into the elevator, Bryson waited.

“Are you not coming dear?” Duchess Coldwater asked.

“I’ll wait for the next one. I want to see some of the intermission performances.” Bryson said.

“Ah yes, the cheerleading team can be quite captivating I suppose.” Duchess Coldwater teased.

“That’s not what I- mmm.” Bryson grumbled as Viola gave him an evil grin from behind their mother.

“Take care now.” Duchess Coldwater said as the elevator doors shut.

As Bryson and Lila Frost were now alone, they waited for the next elevator to arrive. Lila looked over to Bryson and asked, “So are you going your stop your brother now?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Your body language. There’s a minor change. But you droop your head a bit when you hear bad news.”

“Since when did you notice this?”

“Not sure, just picked it up after all these years.”

“Hmm.” Bryson grunted as he headed to the elevator, “To answer your question, yes.”

“Why?” Lila asked as she followed him once more.

“Well, you know how Gilles hit the guy so hard he’s injured for who knows however long?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks to that I now have an idea of what that shield does.” Bryson said as the elevator door opened and the two headed in.

“What would that be?” She asked as she pressed a button and the doors shut.

“It paralyzes their entire bodies. Including shutting down the natural defence they have protecting their bodies during combat.”

“Complete shutdown?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Or at least partially. If it was complete, I think the guy would be dead. If it’s someone else, they might have been dead.”

“That’s reassuring.” Lila said with an unpleasant look, “Are you sure?”

“I think so. Not sure, I didn’t see any change in the mana on either of them. But it being all ‘natural’, I couldn’t really tell.” Bryson said as the door opened with Sable waiting for them, arms folded.

“Oh, Sable.” Bryson said blinking in surprise.

“Bryson. What are you up to?” Sable accused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t lie to me.” Sable said, narrowing her eyes, “You’re clearly plotting.”

“I don’t plot.” Bryson said as Sable continued to stare at them, “I may be scheming something however.” He admitted.

“Like what.”

“Gilles might be cheating.”

Sable somehow narrowed her eyes even more, “Come again?”

“Gilles I think might be using some sort of enchanted shield to help him win his fights.” Bryson said. It would be useful to get someone else on side. Plus, I don’t really want to bother Viola too much. Feels like I’ve been relying on her too much.

“Why would you think that.”

“Because I saw him talking to someone to enhance the magic.” Bryson lied. He thought that it would be best not to mention his weird talent for detecting magic. Lila gave a quick and curious glance over to him.

Fortunately for the two of them, Sable was too preoccupied looking at Bryson to notice Lila’s face. Sable clearly did not like what she was hearing.

“There’s no way Gille would cheat. This tournament is way too important. If he gets caught-”

“It’s so important that he needs to win.” Bryson countered.

“It’s hard to get away with cheating.” Sable tapping her fingers in frustration.

“Which is why if anyone could, it would be someone in Gilles position.”

“I don’t believe you.” Sable said.

“Why would I lie?”

“You might be wrong.”

“And what if I’m not?”

Sable looked around the place, the hallway that led to the VIP elevator was empty save for the three of them. Turning back around she had an unsure look on her face.

“Even if you are right, if Gilles is cheating, you make it sound like he isn’t going to get caught. So why bother with it?” Sable asked.

“Sable, he nearly killed someone and that was with an Academy kid. They’re very tough. What do you think would happen when Gilles uses the shield against someone else?” Bryson argued.

“Like you said, Academy student. Tough to beat, he won’t need to use it if they're not that tough.” Sable argued back.

“They don’t need to be that tough, just tough enough. You think Gilles won’t rely on the easy way out the further he goes in this tournament? Or that he’ll fight better?” Bryson asked. He could tell that Sable was getting swayed.

“Still… even if he injures people or worse, as long as he gets away with cheating it should be fine right? They signed papers and accidents happen.”

“You think that would be good for family reputation? Killing an up-and-coming commoner?”

“Most people outside the continent already don’t like us.”

“So we’re giving more reasons why?”

“Well…”

“Come on Sable, you want to let someone die?”

Sable gave an exasperated sigh, “Of course not. But if we expose Gilles for cheating then that would also damage the reputation.”

“We don’t need to expose him, just replace the shield. That way he fights on even pegging with everyone, and he can’t get angry at us. Even Gilles isn’t dumb enough to expose that he cheated if he catches us for meddling.” Bryson explained before realizing something, “Did you just say we?”

“I need to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” Sable said with a huff.

“Why would you think I would do something stupid?” Bryson asked.

Sable only looked at him in response. Bryson rolled his eyes.

“I appreciate the help.”

“Alright, let’s go before mother and father begin to ask questions.” Sable said turning around and heading to the dining area.

At least she’s on my side now. Bryson thought as he and Lila followed behind.

“I’m guessing since you’re planning on stealing an item from your brother discreetly that-” Lila began before Bryson cut her off.

“Yes.” Bryson grumbled, “We’ll need your sister.”