“Battle Start!”
As soon as the referee vanished off stage, both teams charged each other rapaciously. The Drunken Brats made sure to quickly shorten the distance between their opponents due to their major disadvantage of being unable to assimilate with Powered Scripts.
“Here I come!” Dam Son rushed directly at Cinder Burn with his sapphire suitcase swooshing forwards.
“Not this time.” Cinder Burn quickly reacted by dodging Suit’s attack while unsheathing her vicious Whip of Numbers. “Zero Slash!” As she slid beneath Dam Son, she unleashed a zero variable which blasted him into mid-air. Cinder Burn didn’t stop there; she released a combo attack that besieged him from multiple angles.
“Numerical Assault!”
“WAAH!” Dam Son felt the agony of numerous zeroes, ones and twos hitting him from all angles. At the end of Cinder Burn’s combo assault, Dam Son found himself plastered in a crater off stage.
“Drunken Brats, One Out!” The referee made sure to highlight the eliminated opponent from the teams battling on stage.
“What the hell happened to the Dark-Human?” Realizing that the key member of their team had been disqualified early, Xuan Li lost his focus as he battled against Balloona. She took advantage of his distraction to capture him in a water bubble and tossed him off stage as well. “No!”
“Dam Son! Xuan Li!” Now that he was all alone, Sugar Bun felt extremely scared. Such trepidation encompassed him, he couldn’t even move an inch from his current position. He could only wait to be knocked off the stage.
“You’re mine fat turtle! Hurricane Beatles!” Trish utilized a Basic Mage Script that summoned innumerable yellow bugs to blast Sugar Bun off stage. He fell directly onto Dam Son who was just about to climb out of the crater.
The referee appeared back on stage to identify the winning team. “Team Drunken Brats have been eliminated by stage default. Thus, the winner is, team Leaf Windows!”
“Yes!” Cinder Burn was very happy to regain the winning streak that she had lost due to Dam Son’s underhanded assault during the admission matches.
“We did it. This is our third battle now.” Balloona and Trish came along to congratulate each other on their winning streak. They hopped up and down like elated babies.
“Both of you stop that and act more mature.” Cinder Burn ruined their moment. Before she exited the stage, she took one last glance at Dam Son and smirked. “You belong in the gutter.”
The crowd had lots to say about the Drunken Brats' despicable loss. “Ha-ha-ha! With a ridiculous name like that, they were destined to immerge the losers.”
“I agree. Those 3 lack all manner of skill and talent. A useless bunch. I wonder why they even participate in the Page Coliseum battles.”
“They should have cultivated some more before they took part on the big boys’ stage.”
“Don’t you mean the big girls’ stage?” Commented a fellow female companion. “We ladies are much more talented than you lot. Those 3 boys losing should attest to that. ”
“Bull shit! Don’t compare us with those losers over there. Us men are several times the Word Masters you chicks could ever be.”
“Want to bet?”
“Okay then. You ladies have a challenge. Who is going up next?”
As the crowd surrounding the Drunken Brats get on with their argument, Dam Son’s crew helped themselves to the recovery ward to mend their minor injuries.
“I can’t believe we got eliminated so quickly. We were a complete joke out there.” Stated Xuan Li with his head hanging low and his tongue tasting bitter.
“I don’t think I have the courage to go back out there.” Said Sugar Bun apathetically.
“But we have to try again.” Dam Son wasn’t as down as his teammates. “Sure, we suffered our first loss but that shouldn’t stop us from trying again. Remember our main goal for participating in these battles. It is to earn a sizable amount of Q-currency so that Master Jin can teach us more about Word Fu. It doesn’t matter how many times we lose here, as long as we go at it again and again, we will surely meet our quota.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Hmm…” Xuan Li thought deeply about what Dam Son said. “You’re right. We should muster the courage to get back out there. This time, I won’t get distracted.” Xuan Li looked more fierce and determined.
“Alright, we can do this.”
Strengthening their resolve, the Drunken Brats went back out there and signed up for another team battle. They weren’t completely out of the friendly tournament due to the terms of their contract which stipulated that first time participants would be given a second chance to participate without offering compensation if they lost. If the Drunken Brats managed to win their first team match, then they would be exempt from these terms and conditions.
Going at it again, the Drunken Brats boosted each other’s morale. They decided to dominate their opponents in the next battle no matter who they might be. After a few matches ended on Battle Arena 1, it was finally Dam Son’s team's turn to fight again.
The referee called them up on stage. “For our next battle, we have the Claw Slicers vs the Drunken Brats. They didn’t do so well in their previous match. Hopefully, they do better this time around. Contestants, please join me on stage.”
“This is our second chance guys. We better not mess it up.” Dam Son walked ahead of his crew members. “We will stick together and protect each other’s back.”
“We will do our best to guard you until you get that secret technique of yours ready.” Sugar Bun wasn’t feeling all that apathetic anymore. He earned great courage as he went onto the stage despite the troubled crowd screaming insults at them.
“You losers are going to try again? Just give up already.”
“The Drunken Brats is a team of losers!”
“Yeah! The Page Coliseum isn’t for losers like you. Go back to your teacher to cultivate your worthless Word Fu!”
“The crowd is so scary.” Said Sugar Bun while shivering slightly.
“Just ignore them. The moment we dominate this stage, then they will know who is worthless.” As they settled on stage, the Drunken Brats took a defensive posture and observed their opponents.
The Claw Slicers were comprised of 3 Word Augmenters, all 3 of which were feline Demi-Humans. Lonely Pussycat was at the centre of this crew, prancing about her dual gauntlets. Her other 2 teammates were Lioon Belt and Zukin Bird. Lioon Belt was a muscularly built lion man with bristled furs all over and short wings at his back. He had a flaming sword in his right hand along with a stone shield in his left hand. As for Zukin Bird, she had the properties of a cunning hyena. Both her arms were equipped with retractable vambraces.
“Those 3 look scary.” Sugar Bun admitted. “Who do you think is the strongest among them?”
Xuan Li answered, “That big one to the side looks menacing, however, they all seem to show great respect for that one in the middle. I believe she was called…”
“Lonely Pussycat.” Dam Son finished Xuan Li’s sentence. “It doesn’t matter who is the strongest among them, let’s treat all of them as equal opponents. Our mistake last time was overestimating our opponents. Now we must keep it balanced, do you understand?”
“We get it.”
The referee thought it was time to commence the battle. “Are you ready?” After glancing at both teams, the referee started the match. “Begin!”
The team that made the first move this time around was the Claw Slicers. The Drunken Brats stood their ground, maintaining their defensive stance. They were buying time for Dam Son to unleash his secret technique.
“Die, you Drunken Brats!”
[Basic Word Augmented Script: Phantasmal Ruin] (Activated) -30(APL)
“Dual Tigress Assault!” Lonely Pussycat made use of a powerful Augmented Script to shoot out enlarged beast phantoms from her empowered gauntlets.
“I’ll take care of it.” Dam Son reacted quickly by taking a step forwards with his foot sweeping backwards. “Smashing Blue Mantis!” He executed a deadly roundhouse kick that shattered Lonely Pussycat’s phantom beasts; though it didn’t have enough power as he once saw it in his golden memories.
Lonely Pussycat was displeased with Dam Son’s swift reaction. “You bastard! How dare you destroy my babies? Zukin Bird, get him!”
“Already on it.” Zukin Bird tossed forwards long petal-like chains from her dual vambraces. “Electric Script activate!” As the chains lashed toward Dam Son, they produced a vibrant wave of electricity.
“I got this one!” Xuan Li made a subtle move ahead. “Guiding Water Stance, 4th form, 360 Degrees Deflect!”
‘Bonk!’ Zukin Bird’s electric chains collided with Xuan Li’s swift leg twirl which bashed them away from their previous trajectory. Due to the velocity that the chains came at him, Xuan Li suffered harsh leg injuries that had him hopping slightly.
“Let's see how you handle me!” Lioon Belt rushed directly at Sugar Bun who he thought could barely compete with his muscular size. Unlike his teammates, he didn’t utilize any Powered Scripts to boost his capabilities. “Get ready to squeal you damn pig!”
“I’m not a pig.” Sugar Bun felt veritably insulted. As Lioon Belt thrust his flaming sword at him, he reiterated, “I am a… angry turtle!”
Sugar Bun punched the ground beneath him with every strength that he had. To his surprise, as well as his teammates, the area that he punched created a great upheaval that caused Lioon Belt to lose his equilibrium.
“What the hell? How can this turtle produces such raw strength?” Feeling threatened, Lioon Belt had to retreat for now.
Looking at his arm, Sugar Bun couldn’t believe he had so much raw power in him. “Looks like all that mountain climbing training wasn’t for nothing.” He began to feel grateful for Jin Hennessy’s harsh training methods.
“Sugar Bun, you okay?” Dam Son and Xuan Li regrouped at Sugar Bun’s coordinate. Together, they formed a protective barrier to fend off their opponents' attack.
“We can do this.”