Shay wasn’t sure if she heard Tyvan right. He said he wanted Rook to be... humbled?

Well, he was... a little arrogant. And she was sure at least one of her senior brothers would volunteer to teach him some humility.

Grandpa Wei’s big bushy eyebrows furrowed together.

“Humbled?” he said, “I... guess that can be arranged.”

Grandpa sent out a second disciple. Rook had a more difficult time, even suffering a bloody nose. Shay expected the girls to get scared or look uncomfortable, but none of them seemed to be paying attention. They were all still looking over at Bishop and sighing dreamily.

That was fine, though-- they weren’t looking at Tyvan. (Shay glared at the one that did until they looked away.)

Rook took on a third bout. He got roughed up. Then he got roughed up even more. At the end, the other person took a step back and bowed, saying ‘Thank you for the match!’

Grandpa Wei nodded in satisfaction. Sportsmanship! Everyone liked that.

“Is that enough, Master Valorum?” he asked quietly in an aside.

“I’d like to see Pingping fight,” Tyvan replied.

Wait, what?! Martial Uncle Pingping was their best fighter outside of Grandpa Wei.

Back in the arena, Rook took off his shirt-- for... some reason.

He was pretty built, which was a little surprising. But, ultimately, Shay wasn’t interested. That did, however, make her look at Tyvan and imagine him with his shirt off.

Oh, and Rook was wearing two black armbands on his biceps. What were those about?

He reached for them, maybe to take them off--

“Callum,” Tyvan said.

Rook clicked his tongue as he resumed his fighting stance. “Who else wants ta skin their smoke wagon? Huh?”

Martial Uncle Pingping answered the challenge, stepping into the center square.

Annnd... he beat the ever-loving crap out of Rook.

It was kinda sad.

It wasn’t completely Uncle Pingping’s fault, though. Every time Rook got knocked down, he got back up!

--’till the fourth time.

“Is he dead?” Shay asked-- about 70% serious.

“I didn’t hear no bell!” CaL shouted-- gargled, almost. He was squirming around on the floor, holding his side. If he was trying to stand, he might’ve forgotten how.

Grandpa leaned his body toward Tyvan. “Should we prepare a medicinal bath for him?”

“Not with the prices you’ve quoted,” Tyvan replied. “He’ll heal. It’s just internal bruising.”

The medicinal baths... That was a sect secret. Those two got awfully close~

After Bishop dragged Rook off the mat, Tyvan sent in Monty. (Shay had honestly forgotten he was there.)

Unlike Rook, who fought like a traditional boxer, Monty stood arrogant and stupid. Arms at his sides, knees locked... slouching?

“Let’s go,” he said. “I don’t have all day.”

That was a good provocation. And there were a lot of volunteers, especially in the 17-19 age range. Once Monty got his butt kicked, he wouldn’t be able to complain about an age gap.

Grandpa sent out Junior Brother Cai, one of the inner sect disciples. He got injured right before the tournament. And... he felt so guilty about it that after he got out of the hospital, he found Shay and thanked her profusely for ‘saving’ the sect.

That wasn’t exactly true, but that was really nice! Cai was really cool. And he was modest and kind to everyone! Also, he had a partially spiky haircut, kinda like one you’d see on an anime hero.

Shay looked up at Tyvan. “Can I cheer for my junior brother?”

“Of course,” Tyvan nodded. “You may cheer for whomever you wish.”

Mmm. He was so nice. Shay held onto his every word, gathering them all in a bunch and tucking them away in her heart. Then, she added her voice to the already-loud excitement made by her martial brothers and sisters.

The match began!

Despite Monty not practicing any apparent martial art, he... dodged every punch and kick that came at him-- like he was a mind-reader.

After a few exchanges, Monty drove a hand-chop into the side of Cai’s neck. And Cai just... dropped. The match was over in a single strike.

The martial hall was in an uproar. Everyone was mad-- really mad.

But... it wasn’t like Monty cheated? Or maybe he did? Shay looked over at Tyvan, but he wasn’t even paying attention. He was looking at a random calligraphy painting.

“That boy does have potential-- as you said,” Grandpa said to Tyvan. “You’ll be teaching him martial arts, then?”

“I will not,” Tyvan replied. “Those movements, he developed on his own. He’s a natural-born fighter.”

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Shay felt her heart sink.

Monty had potential.

Natural potential.

No way...... that guy?

Why were two of the three most important guys in her life talking about that guy like he wa so great? Was he really? And that wasn’t even fair! Wasn’t Monty supposed to be a useless, arrogant young master whose fate was getting wrecked by the actual protagonist character?

Failed protagonist Cai got to his knees, coughing and choking. Then he stood up-- despite literally being unconscious a few seconds ago.

As miserable as he looked, he still gave Monty a proper martial salute.

“Thank you for going easy on me,” he said in a strained voice.

Monty raised his chin. “Come at me again if you want.”

Cai frowned helplessly, then looked back to Grandpa Wei.

Grandpa cleared his throat. “This is still a friendly match. If you’d like to keep going, your opponent has already permitted it.”

So... they fought again.

Cai... did try being more careful. He kept up his defenses and managed to block a few hits. Then, he took a big kick to the side and a right straight to the chin.

OH! Cai hit back! Thigh kick, yeah! But... that didn’t even make Monty flinch.

After another, equally meaningless exchange, Cai took a step back, admitted defeat, and offered a few empty words of politeness.

The rest of Shay’s martial brothers and sisters looked just as disappointed as she was. Still, they patted Cai sympathetically as he sat back down among them.

“That guy’s crazy fast,” he said.

Was he? The guy Shay fought at the end of the Song-Zhang tournament was faster. If Junior Brother Cai had seen--

“Xue Yan.”

Shay glanced up, hearing her name.

Monty?

He was staring right at her.

“Fight me.”

“Mister Jiang, that’s enough,” Tyvan said, his voice strangely cold.

“Hold on, Valorum,” Grandpa waved. “Jiang just won a match-- and this is still a friendly exhibition. He can challenge my granddaughter if he wants to.”

He turned to her. “She can, of course, also refuse.”

Shay turned to her grandfather, her eyes wide.

What? Junior Brother Cai just got beat up in front of everyone?? What was the point? Did Grandpa think she needed to be humbled, face down, butt up on the floor of his martial hall?

No-- Grandpa wouldn’t do that to her.

But then... did that mean... he believed she could win?

Shay looked over to Tyvan.

“It’s your decision,” he said. “I know you didn’t come here to fight.”

Did he? Did he really?

Then wHy did he say it like tHatT???

Shay clenched her eyes shut. She didn’t want to fight.

But... how satisfying would it be if someone beat up Montgomery Jiang in front of her entire sect? He wasn’t so fast that she couldn’t score at least a hit. And maybe if she grabbed onto his uniform, she could kick him in the junk!

It was a legitimate strategy!

Shay stood up. “I’ll fight!”

A slow, creepy smile crossed Monty’s lips. “I didn’t think you had the balls.”

“I don’t have any balls!” Shay said, “Nor do I want any!”

The martial hall fell into awkward silence.

Ah... haha...

Shay glanced over to her junior sisters for support-- and thankfully, they banded together.

--”You can do it, Shay!”

--”Kick his ass, Senior Sister!”

--”fUck hiM up!!”

They were angels and goddesses-- every single one of them.

Shay checked her uniform and stepped into the center of everyone. Then, she did the martial salute.

“Please go easy on me,” she grinned. Despite saying that, she wasn’t planning on doing the same.

“Yeah, whatever,” Monty scoffed.

Shay was looking forward to punching that dumb smile right off his face-- however many punches it took.

She went in and gave him two.

Monty dodged them-- and he even blocked the follow-up kick. He shook his hand out and clicked his tongue. Then, he stepped back and took an actual fighting stance.

Shiiiit.

Shay regretted not giving it her all from the start.

“Go get ‘em, Youngest!” Rook cheered.

“Is she winning?” Bishop asked.

Everyone else started cheering too.

Ahhhh... the pressure~

But despite that, she glanced back at Tyvan, eternally in a picturesque state of calm. That made her calm down... a little.

--but then her stupid brain remembered his and Grandpa’s opinion on Monty.

Shay jumped up in the air, yelling as she launched a classic Tae Kwon Do spinning kick.

Monty dodged that. Of course, he would. Shay took a punch to the stomach and almost a kick to the head.

She hopped back and went back to gong fu, trying to ignore the pain.

Punch, punch. Kick, kick. Everything she tried got dodged or slapped away.

Monty tried to do his knockout neck chop, but Shay curled up, taking the hit to the shoulder.

At the same time, she got in a really nice push kick. That got some excited cheers... but really, that didn’t hurt Monty at all.

Shay felt a little dizzy... but that was dumb! She only got hit in the shoulder!

Suddenly, her body... seized up? --not in a painful way, though. She stood up straighter and... her arm shot back, behind her, palm open.

She almost turned to look at what her body was doing... but her brain screamed at her to keep her eyes on her opponent. And, as she had a vested interest in not getting knocked unconscious in front of all her friends, she did just that.