“Brother Mah-Jung has emerged victorious! Commiserations to good Brother Mal’Thorl of the Eternal Dragon!”
XJ-V sat in the seclusion of the Dragon Quarters of Spearclaw. He had been trying his best to meditate before his own duel came up, and the mention of Mah-Jung’s name startled him out of his reverie.
The Top-level Temperer. He had bested his opponent in barely one hour. And Brother Mal-Thorl was a Seventh-Ranked himself.
“Just as expected from the Dragon-ace,” XJ-V murmured. “He barely gives me enough time to ready myself for the first step on the path that could lead me back into the wastes…the path I must walk…”
“NEXT!” The bombastic voice of Ori’un shouted. “XJ-V of the Eternal Dragon faces Fai-Deng of the Tigers! This shall be one to watch, Brothers! Steel on Flesh, Fire on Lightning! The official rematch of the century!”
The Cog smirked as he checked his systems, hearing the screams of the crowd outside – spirit and human both.
“Oh, by the Dao!” an impish voice suddenly screeched nearby. “Arha does wish that man would be quiet once in a while!”
XJ-V looked down at his feet to see the Huli staring up at him, batting her eyelashes at her steel man in anticipation of a petting.
“I’ve been wondering where you ran off to,” XJ-V told her as he gave her fluffy cheek a stroke. “I thought perhaps you would have been sequestered with your sisters in the quiet of the Glade.”
The Huli gasped in shock. “XJ-V! You think Arha would not be here to cheer on her metal man?”
He chuckled as he stood and straightened his back, stretching his arms and legs to make sure he was well-oiled and ready.
The Huli watched him with curiosity, her eyes following the movements of his limbs and the small chittering of the cogs and pistons that propelled them.
“Arha thinks this is all so silly,” she said as she brushed a stray auburn hair out of her face. “Why must you boys all fight in your silly contests for the chance to leave this place. Why does the big one not simply take you away with him.”
“It is a matter of honor, Arha,” XJ-V explained. “Planeswalker Ori’un would not disrespect Master Longhua by stealing one of his pupils out from under him.”
“Let’s welcome our challengers to the arena! Let the walls of this great construct shake as we witness a bout that shall go down in Ramor-Tai’s history!”
No pressure then, XJ-V thought. Ori’un, you are enjoying this just a little too much, don’t you think?
“Arha is rooting for you, XJ!” Arha said with an affirmative nuzzle against his shin. “Show that mean tiger boy who’s boss!”
Before he walked through the narrow gateway that opened out at the end of the Disciples’ quarters, he sudden felt himself taken by a question.
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“Arha,” he said. “Why did you find me in that Glade?”
The tiny spirit cocked her head at his question.
“I mean – you left your sisters to follow me here, and here you have remained. In a plane altogether unlike your own. A place of war. A place of death. A place that most people – Cultivators more than any – would long to simply escape from. Surely you did not wish to give up on the peace offered by the realm of spirits you dwelled within willingly? Many people of this earth would die for such peace.”
The Huli shook her head at her questioner, eyeing him as though the answer was so painstakingly obvious.
“Arha may look young,” she replied. “But she is an old Huli who has been around for a long, loooong time. Arha has seen many humans come and go, and swiped at them with her tail and claws. They were not interesting. But you, XJ-V, you are the first mortal Arha has seen who makes Arha feel excited. The world of spirits might be peaceful, but it is so, sooooo dreadfully boring.”
He nodded at her honesty, knowing that he could expect nothing less from a spirit so carefree as a Huli. As he turned to watch the metal gate open and bathe his form in blinding light, he thought then about the light at his own core, and the way it was so dormant right now, even as the thrill of combat was about to come upon its owner.
“A wandering spirit of the Dao excited by a dull piece of living metal,” XJ-V said. “Bearing the soul of a God who loved only humanity…somehow, that is just perfect, isn’t it, Yuwa? In a way, such a tiny creature has defeated you without even trying.”
As he emerged into the dazzling world of the Spearclaw arena, his sensors adjusted to the brilliant white lights of its expanse. It seemed the Regulators had been hard at work again – where once the gilded stone masonry common to Ramor-Tai had stood firm as the foundation of the arena pit, now there was a wide swath of sand that covered the entire platform. Having never fought in such conditions before, XJ-V paused monetarily to get his footing, wondering at the alteration that had taken place here before he suddenly felt compelled to look up into the highest platform within the crowd – a squared balcony that gave spectators a full view of the entire Colosseum.
Within that balcony, the Masters and Ori’un stared down at him.
Is this a test, too? he thought as he bowed low, the crowd cheering his name as they saw him emerge. Does the Planeswalker wish to see how I fight in a new environment? Or does Master Longhua wish to trip me up?
Whatever the motivation for this change in arena, he put it aside when he saw his opponent stride out from the opposite gateway to meet him.
He no longer wore the Gi of his Sect. Now, he stalked forward, eyes totally focused. He wore only the simple training garments of the novices, who cheered with enthusiasm as they saw their teacher emerge, proud and valiant against the shifting sands of what would be his battleground.
Both combatants bowed to the other, keeping their eyes trained on their opponents.
I had expected at least some bravado, XJ-V thought. But this is not the tiger that fought me before. Right now, he is totally present. Completely in the moment.
He smiled as he saw the lips of his ever-rival Brother do the same. They both knew this rematch had been coming for a long, long time.
And against the exhortations of the crowd, Fai-Deng spoke clearly so that all could hear:
“May the Dao be with you, Brother.”
XJ-V’s smile only grew. “May the Dao be with you, Brother Fai.”
A silence descended on the crowd like a blanket as both Cultivators assumed their battle stances. Then, when the tension in the air was thick enough to strangle even the betting Canjie above, Ori’un’s voice exploded with glee:
“BEGIN!”
***
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