Based on the few times I heard him, the interviewer, who also sounded like the ringside announcer, looked eager as he waited for me to answer. As I formulated my response, I took in his presence. He was of average height for a man. At least what I had seen around Colony City. This made him only slightly shorter than me.

I knew my father was a large man. While I had many features of my mother, I had my father’s height. I was still growing, too.

The interviewer had a bald head that gleamed in the arena lights. His bearded face had a short stubble that was peppered with gray. He was a fit man with a well-tailored suit to fit the occasion. I placed his age at around his mid-fifties, but I thought he could pull off a younger look if it wasn’t for his grey beard.

“I just followed my instincts,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say about it. My spear was useless, and I figured it was worth a try. I wasn’t going to say that to the crowd, though.

“You seem to have some excellent instincts and some incredible spear-throwing skills. Will this be a move you incorporate in your other fights?”

“I don’t have any plans to do that. As I said, it was just instinct, and it wasn’t really planned.”

“Do you have any plans for your next fight, or will you rely on instinct again.”

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

“Okay, I get it. You don’t want to give away all your secrets.” The interviewer smiled, and his abnormally white teeth shone on the screen above us. “Congratulations again, Mr. Gearwon. We all look forward to seeing you next round.” He held his hand for me to shake, and I took it awkwardly.

As soon as we were done, another person waved at me to head off the stage. I briskly responded in the direction indicated. While moving, I looked over at my opponent, who was sitting up. He looked to be in good shape. I was worried about it even though I saw the man was fine in the previous match.

The announcer who interviewed me on stage was heading in the sitting man’s direction for another interview. I didn’t know about my opponent, but I wouldn’t be in the mood to talk about it if I lost. I was glad to see he was okay, though.

I stepped off the stage toward the locker rooms. As I left the stage, my goggles informed me of a message.

- Attention

- Leaving second Augmented Reality System umbrella

-Saving requested parameters

I wondered what that meant but knew I couldn’t do anything about it in Symbiotic Mode. The crowd was cheering and waving as I walked to the lockers. It was quite overwhelming. I did manage to give a wave to those who were waiting in the stands above the exit.

I silently hoped to see the girl again from the day prior, but I was out of luck. I didn’t dwell too much since it would be a fleeting experience anyway. I didn’t plan on being in the city for much longer. I had to find my mother.

A cool breeze met me as I walked into the bowels of the arena. I hadn’t even realized how hot it was outside, nor how much I had been sweating. It made me instantly desire to feel the air on my face.

“Companion Mode.”

Air rushed into my mask to instantly cool my face. As the additional panels started to retract to wherever they went, I could tell that there was still a light sheen of sweat covering my skin. I wiped my brow and wondered how the sweat never fell into my eyes if the goggles were porous enough to let in air.

I continued to follow the attendant to my locker room. When I turned the corner into a shockingly long hallway, I noticed another contestant heading in the other direction. He didn’t have an attendant with him, and I wondered where he might be going unaccompanied. My attendant didn’t seem to wonder or even care. He walked by without a word.

The contestant was the large man with the robot hammer. As tall as I was, he was taller. I estimated that he was as tall as my father was, just not quite as broad. His already-clad armor and dual hammers strapped to his back made his width look close, though.

He stared at me with unblinking eyes as we approached the crossing point. Feeling his gaze, I clenched my fist around my spear. I remembered to grab it when coming back in from the arena. As we passed, a maniacal grin spread on his face, and I prepared for a fight. Thank the Orbs that he continued walking without incident.

I held my breath in anticipation when we crossed paths but afterward, I sighed in relief. The attendant I was following didn’t seem to even notice the exchange. I followed him as we made a few more turns down the hallway and into the locker room.

“Someone will be along to escort you when it is time for your next match,” the attendant said while holding the door open. I thanked him and went right to the oversized black couch sitting against one of the walls. The other locker rooms didn’t have that, but I wasn’t going to complain about not having one then.

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To my delight, there was a DV on a ceiling-hung stand. It was small like the modern ones but thick and wasn’t as fancy as the giant screen in the arena. It was so old that the colors all had a shaded green tint.

Additionally, the picture was grainy but was good enough to see what was playing. It was the next fight going on in the arena. I got comfortable on the couch and watched the fight play out. I didn’t give it too much thought since it was with people from the lower bracket. I was looking forward to seeing the next fight, which would produce my next opponent.

I would get some good insight into their fighting ability. If the winner ended up being Ethel, the fighter I faced in the preliminary, I would need the advantage. That made me realize that my fight must have also been displayed for others to see. That really nullified the usefulness of my spear-throwing attack.

At least no one saw how I really fought. But was my attack the reason that hammer-wielding fighter was staring at me?

I was leaning back on the couch while watching the fight when the next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulder.

“Mr. Gearwon, Sir,” said the person pushing on my arm. “Your fight is next, and it is time to head to the staging area.”

My eyes burst open at the sentence. I had fallen asleep on the couch and hadn’t even realized it. I didn’t even understand how I could be that tired. I jumped up from the couch, startling the attendant who had been trying to wake me.

“Let’s get going,” I blurted. I was still kind of delirious from waking suddenly.

He led me through the same twisting tunnels as before until we reached the place where I had my weapon scanned. I handed it over, and the process to digitally render my spear in the augmented reality system started.

“Scanning complete,” The operator said a few seconds later. “You can place your weapon in the receptacle for safeguarding.”

The attendant was standing by the door to the arena. One arm was holding the door handle, and the other was motioning to the weapon rack by the door. I was sure that was in the packet by the look on the attendant’s face as he waited for me to rack my weapon.

I ignored his look. I changed into Symbiotic Mode as I put my weapon away, then turned to follow the attendant out. When he opened the door to the arena, I was once again blasted with sound. It sounded even louder than it was earlier. Although, the light was as bright as it spilled in.

I found the reason for that when we went outside. It was already midday and getting close to the evening. I had slept for quite a while. I sat down in the seat I was in before, but just as I did, I was forced to get up. The previous match was over, and it was my turn to go up on stage again.

As I got up, the lights on the large screen flashed. I could see scenes of my last fight displayed for all to see. The announcer was introducing me while going over my previous win. I walked up the stairs and was greeted with an announcement on the screen of my mask.

-Warning

-Second Augmented Reality system detected.

-Keeping previously assigned parameters.

“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled. I walked to the center of the stage, where my weapon would be manifested. I had forgotten to change the parameters. I had meant to do it after I was in the locker room, but I passed out. I didn’t even know who I would face or how they fought.

Without any other choice, I held out my hand as my Augmented Reality spear was manifested. Just as before, it was immediately deleted. I couldn’t even feel it any longer.

I stepped to the side and patiently waited to find out who my next opponent would be. I was excited and nervous when I saw the fighter. Ethel stepped up to the stage. I was excited since I wanted a rematch with her to prove that I was superior. I was nervous because she was an excellent fighter. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to use my weapon correctly.

I watched as she walked up to the podium and held out her hands. Two long daggers appeared in her hands for a moment before my robot deleted them from my interface. I needed to find a way to get the daggers away from her.

I considered throwing my blade at her, but she undoubtedly saw my previous fight. If she was prepared for the move, she could easily dodge. It did give me an idea of how to take the daggers out of the fight.

When the countdown finished, and the fight started, I quickly raised my spear in the air as if to throw. As I thought, Ethel tensed up, preparing to dodge. I put the spear down and raised my other hand for her to hold on.

“How about we finish our earlier match and get rid of these weapons?” I yelled over the screaming crowd.

Her blades were held in front of her in a defensive posture, and she didn’t relax her stance. She did seem to be contemplating the question.

“I don’t know what trick you’re playing at, but it won’t work,” she replied. Her face was twisted in fury that I didn’t understand. It wasn’t a look I thought I warranted. “Come on, let’s go!”

I hoped that would work and I wouldn’t have to worry about either of the weapons. I would just have to use my superior reach advantage to win. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem with the spear, even if I couldn’t feel it. It was still in my hand, which I confirmed on the screen.

I used caution moving forward. I still had the advantage, but my opponent wasn’t one to take lightly. I had a difficult time in the weaponless fight.

As Ethel moved around the ring in response to my cautious advance, she was actually slightly faster than I was. She also moved with a skill and grace that I didn’t possess. It was evident that she had a well-defined martial ability that I desperately needed to gain.

As fast as she was, I was able to keep up. I managed to close the distance slowly. As I got closer, I waited for an opening. With her shorter weapons, I only had to keep trying exploratory attacks to open her guard. It only took a few moments before I had my chance.

I thrust my spear forward. Ethel couldn’t dodge, so she used her daggers to block and parry. Her arms zipped upward to meet my spear. When her blade was at the point where it would meet my spear, she suddenly stopped and looked off to her left.

I took advantage of the situation and quickly thrust forward at her again. Nothing happened when I did. Ethel didn’t notice my thrust.

Even in the rush of battle, I heard the collective gasp of the crowd. I didn’t know what was going on, so I risked a glance at the screen. The first thing I noticed was that I was no longer holding onto the spear. The screen suddenly flashed in what was a replay of events.

It showed Ethel’s blade meeting my spear and then my spear literally flying from my grasp and flipping through the air. That must have been what she was looking at. Thank goodness no one noticed my thrust without a blade. If the recording device wasn’t on my disarmed spear, my stabbing without it would surely be playing on the screen.

There were only a couple of moments between my spear flying and my opponent emerging from her stupor. When she did, she turned with a vindictive smile. I braced for whatever move she had planned.

Then she began to laugh.