He approached a well dressed man and began conversing just out of ear shot. Nick however did notice how the cat ears peaking out of the platinum blonde hair atop his head swivel toward the two men. He also didn't miss the small twitch of the lips that bloomed into a huge smile that showed off his impressive feline teeth. But, before he could ask what he'd obviously overheard the answer presented itself.
“Well, well, well! What do we have here?!?” The well dressed man spoke with a surprisingly booming voice. “Are these the lads you were telling me about?” he asked Chen gesturing at the kids. “They don't look like much.”
“Not to worry Mr. Henon, I have full confidence in this group,” Chen said.
“Well then, let's take a look!” the man practically yelled. He soon stood before Jessika. “This little thing's nothing but skin and bones! Just look at this arm! It's practically a noodle!” He had a hold of Jessika's hand and was waving it up and down in a way that made it actually LOOK like a wet noodle.
“And this one. Why this has got to be the skinniest monk I've ever seen! He probably can't break wind let alone a board!” Nick almost stepped forward when he grabbed his son's arm and held it like he was making a muscle He'd even pulled his sleeve up to the shoulder and it was obvious that his martial art's training hadn't been focusing on strengthening.
“WELL! Now what pray tell are you?” He asked now in front of Tyden. Tyden wasn't overly tall 6'1” maybe even 6'2” but, the man had to crane his neck to see his face. And then the strangest thing happened. The man started darting here and there, always mumbling and always hanging from some part of Tyden's body. Who put up with it until the man grabbed his tail. Tyden's tail was pretty long, colored black like the rest of his fur, poked out of a small hole in the back of his pants. It was about as thick as a silver dollar and waved and curled as if it had a mind of it's own. But when Mr. Henon laid hands on it Tyden's arm streaked out grabbing the man by the scruff of his shirt and lifted him like a child to the surprise of all his friends. Without waver he swung the man back to his front before lowering him enough for him to put his feet on the ground.
“I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch the tail. Racial quirk, I'm sure you understand?”
“Quite...Quite,” He said dusting at his clothing as if nothing happened. “cough*”
“I think you can see that our original terms are extremely fair, am I right?”
“Yes yes, very fair! Very fair indeed! Now, everyone follow me, we don't have a lot of time left before it begins.”
“Begins? What's about to begin?” Jessika asked confused by what everything going on around her.
“The fight's of course! And with this big guy we can't loose!” Mr Henon said pumping a fist into the air in his excitement!
They entered through a side archway blocked by eight guards, down a long stone hallway and into a large room. The room was bustling with loud talking and hurried action. There were dozen of fighters of all classes and races. There was even an Orc over in the far corner. The man went to a table along the left side and after dropping a sack of coins started writing on a piece of paper. Nick and Chen at his sides. The kids however were focused on the hustle and bustle going on around them. Casden could see a monk off in the distance shadow boxing and Tyden could see a fighter sitting nearby sharpening his sword. Jessika could only watch in awe at all the powerful looking women! She wasn't into girls or anything but she'd secretly wanted to be one of those warrior women. And now she was gonna be in a FIGHT! A real FIGHT! She was so excited her blood was boiling and also TERRIFIED! I'm gonna DIE! She kept chanting in her mind. But before she could dwell on it for to long Mr. Chen was back.
“OK kids, here's the deal. You are being given a chance to fight in this month's Newcomer challenge. These are three on three contests. You three vs three monsters of appropriate strengths. First side to loose all fighters looses, it's as simple as that. You don't get any experience as you are still in the lock down but you'll get a bonus in the amount of Fame you gain, you'll also keep any gains in Skills you might gain. There is also a matter of the prize, 5 gold.” This was an unheard of amount for the group. There quests netted them very little experience and not much more coin. 60 coppers was the average with a single silver being the highest paid one yet. And they realized those were high numbers compared to most beginners and they had free lodging to boot! “Also, if you put on a good show the fans have been known to throw money down into the arena and you get to keep that as well.” That was just icing on the cake to most but, Casden had a concerned look on his face.
“Master Chen,” he began but was cut off.
“We'll talk in a moment Casden, but first. Jessika, could you please give Casden and Tyden their packages and go ahead and get yours equipped as well.” Jessika followed these orders and was surprised when they were equipped.
“Hey! These are the clothes I made!” She cried out drawing several stares from nearby players. Not a few whispered compliments were heard by her. Casden and Tyden could only smile at the exuberant look her face.
Casden took in his outfit and almost burst out laughing cause he recognized the design right off. “I'd have never pegged you for an anime fan Jess!” He was wearing green pants and long sleeve shirt with a red sash and Orange colored leggings over blue open-toed boots. He was dressed as the raging beast and he had to admit to himself that he looked impressive as he looked down to see their school's mascot engraved in the shiny metal plate at his waist.
While Casden's clothes were made of clothe Tyden's was made of thick leather that had been dyed black. The pants stopped just short of the knees making it difficult to tell where the pants ended and the legs began. He also wore a black leather vest over a white shirt that was also embroidered with the schools logo.
Jessika then stood before them in black leather boots with what appeared to be black stockings that stopped just below the knee. She also wore a pastel blue knee length accordion-pleated skirt with a tan sleeveless sweater over a short sleeve white shirt. Their schools mascot of a Valkyrie was also boldly stitched on her chest.
“Jess, these are amazing! I didn't realize you wee so good at this. If I emailed you some pictures could you make those styles in here?” Casden was feeling pretty good bouncing on his toes a little while wearing the new clothes. They were little better than beginner gear, but their was just something about wearing these clothes that was just getting to him.
“Yeah, I copy designs from magazines all the time! People don't know, but I make most of my own clothes!”
“Really! That is surprising.” Casden was impressed. She wasn't into the whole in crowd so he knew her pretty well. Well if you consider how well any NERD could know a GIRL. “At least your clothes don't look stupid on you Tyden.”
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Tyden laughed before replying. “Don't need more than shorts and a vest when you're a were-cat! Long pants and sleeves just get caught in the claws.” he said as if he'd repeated that phrase a thousand times.
“I've been meaning to ask you but what's with the look? I've been all over Royal Road and I've never seen a were-cat that looks like you.”
“Well that's cause I'm not LIKE any were-cat from this game.”
“You'll have to explain that,” Casden said with a squint.
“The short of it is I convinced the lady at the character creation part to let me do mine based on my favorite fiction character.”
“Oh man! I can't believe I didn't think of that!” Casden exclaimed with a look of utter disbelief.
The trio were talking together quietly when the adults rejoined them. “OK guys you're up next!” Mr. Henon bellowed causing the children to jump slightly at the outburst.
“We're going over to that entry way to wait for our turn. When the doors open just step on through and follow the directions on the other side.” Chen said motioning the group in that direction. At seeing Casden's look of concern he motioned him away from the others also calling Nick to join them.
“What's wrong son?” Nick asked also noticing his son's expression.
“Your son is concerned that his actions in this game will reflect in the real world.” Chen answered instead. “I've spoken to your teacher Casden,” this drew a surprised look the boy. “He gave me a message I was to give to you if this situation came up.”
“What did he say?” Casden asked with a gulp.
“He said, and I quote, 'The rules of the dojo do not exist in a world that doesn't exist. And you are an idiot for even considering it. And as punishment for your lack of intelligence, you will show the entire dojo a video of your first battle. And you will be rewarded for a good show.” at the last Casden visibly flinched. “Do you have any more worries?”
“No sir,” Casden said still frowning at the mention of show and reward. “You'll be telling him about this fight then?” it was a long shot but he had to try.
With a chuckle Chen replied simply, “I think things will go much smoother for you if it doesn't have to.”
'Meaning, it'd probably be safer if I told him,' Casden thought to himself.
“Let's wait with the others your turn should be coming up soon.” No sooner than he said that a loud gong was heard followed by the roar of the crowd. Much louder than what had been drifting through the thick stone walls, floor and ceiling. It went on for a few seconds, the the doors opened and they hurried through.
“Let's go up to the owner's booth and watch the action!” Mr. Henon called over his shoulder as he approached a set of stone steps. Nick and Chen simply followed. They entered into a stone room that overlooked the Colosseum floor. It was a large room with a balcony to watch the fights from. Two hundred people could easily fit here yet there were no more than thirty currently in attendance. The two men ordered dwarven beer for themselves before heading out to the balcony to watch the up coming fight.
“You think they'll be OK?”
Chen heard a twinge of concern in Nick's voice and decided not to let the man go on with any more illusions “Have you ever been to one of your sons classes?”
surprised by the question caused Nick to pause a moment before replying, “I did at the beginning but he asked me not to come after maybe the third or fourth class. He told me he felt embarrassed having his dad watch him take karate and I couldn't really fault him for that so I just found something to do while he was in class, but after the first couple of months he started walking to class so I never went near the place unless I drove him cause the weather was bad.” After saying it aloud he realized how long it'd been since he'd seen his son actually practice. What belt was he? Did they even have belts? It kinda stung a little at his fatherly pride. He'd make a point for spending some more time with his son both in game and out. Maybe he'd give that board game another try. Feeling the headache returning just from thinking about it he decided THAT wasn't going to happen.
“Your son is an advanced user of multiple forms of martial arts. You don't need to worry about your sons safety. He is quite capable of protecting himself.”
“But,” Nick was outright confused. “He comes home with bruises and busted lips. If he's good at fighting then why is he still being bullied?”
“Bullied!” Chen exclaimed. “I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to bully him now, He probably got those bruises from his training.”
“If that's so, why hasn't he said anything to me?”
“Do you know anything about the history between Tyden and your son?” Chen asked taking a drink of his beer as he leaned over the rail at the action bellow. There were two people alone in the center of the open field of hard pact dirt. At Nick's negative he explained. “About a year ago, Tyden was one of those boys that picked on your son.”
Chen didn't miss the way his back stiffened. “One day, your son over hears Tyden talking about another student in their class. What was said bothered your son so much that he confronted him right then in front of several other boys. Of course Tyden couldn't back down after being challenged so they started fighting. It didn't exactly go the way he figured it would go,” he said with a chuckle taking another drag from his beer. “Casden literally destroyed him that day. You should have seen him 5 days later when he came storming into the dojo demanding someone teach him how to fight. Poor kid was covered in bruises from head to toe. Your son backed Tyden into a wall and then systematically beat him down.”
Nick was simply flabbergasted Never could he imagine his son doing anything like what he'd just heard.
“Your son doesn't get bullied in school anymore Nick. There were at least 3 other boys watching the whole thing. Your son was worried because after that his teacher forbid him from using martial arts outside of the dojo unless it was in defense of life. Otherwise he wouldn't be allowed back and no other school would take him.”
Nick was surprised at the seriousness in which he spoke. He completely agreed with how it was handled but was a little upset he didn't know anything about it. Then something else flash through his thoughts. “What did you mean when you said show?”
Chen chuckled at the sudden question. Remembering asking the same thing to Master Yim. “I don't want to ruin the surprise! Believe me, any preconceptions you may still have about your son will be gone after this.” and with that they announced the next match.