"Wha-" was all she had time to get out before the ogre answered.
"Ya got one-shot, girlie," he said coldly. "Ya should've never charged her like that; rookie mistake. She's got way more combat experience than all six of ya combined; there was no way ya were gonna take her out with such a sloppy charge. That, and yer anger majorly clouded yer judgement."
Bai just nodded numbly, watching as the infuriating American tore her team to pieces in less than thirty seconds. Oh, they tried to put up a fight, and a damn good one, but they were simply outclassed. She understood now what Beth had meant with that comment about not holding back; she had been fighting Bai and Ming with the kiddy gloves firmly on and, now that they were off, was demolishing the entire team. Even forgetting about her teleport, she was moving so fast that Bai was having trouble tracking what was happening.
"How is she so fast?" Bai gasped out, not really expecting an answer.
To her surprise, the big ogre seemed to love talking. "She's got a movement skill that's real good, and she's usin' it at almost max output. She's also got a skill that makes her stronger, really amps up her overall power, as well as makes her tougher, but I don't think that matters that much. She also has several skills that can do crazy damage or create powerful strikes, all of which she knows how to use extremely well. Like I said, yer team ain't got nearly as much experience combined as just she's got. Would be even worse if I'd've let ya add the wolf into the mix."
"That's still ridiculous," Bai replied with a little heat coming back into her voice, finding the life returning to her. "There's no way she can move that fast even with two skills helping her do it, and she hits way too hard for it to make sense."
"Yer fightin' a girlie with a lot of skills in Silver, and strong skills, to boot," the ogre replied with a shake of his massive head.
"Silver? Silver?!" Bai cried, shocked. "How does she even have one skill in Silver?! Isn't that supposed to be super difficult, even after one rebirth?"
"It's hard, girlie, not impossible. Ya put yerself in enough life-and-death situations, battle for days on end without takin' enough time for so much as a piss, and ya can get there eventually. Ya just ain't done enough or pushed hard enough. Course, most young knuckleheads like her and the wolf that push that hard end up in the morgue, or some monster's stomach, so I'd be careful 'bout that," he said with a light scoff at the end.
The rest of Bai's team had appeared at some point, likely all of them before the big ogre's last remarks, as they all seemed to be thinking on it. The infuriating cause of Bai's ire herself walked over to them then, standing off to the side and waiting. She didn't seem particularly bothered by any of it, though it was hard to tell based on her body language.
"How 'bout ya do a Double versus her Limit?" the massive man asked.
"What do you mean?" Bai asked.
"All of ya have yer stats doubled, she's still limited to one hundred," the ogre replied.
"I don't know…" Bai was hesitant now, having just chalked up a bunch of losses on her official record.
"It would actually be a bit of a challenge," the ogre shrugged.
"Fine. What say you?" she asked, turning to Beth.
"Sure," the girl also just shrugged.
They re-entered the ring, her entire team against the lone girl, feeling the boost kick in shortly before Tana started her procedures. The amount of STR she had now was monstrous, and she had to pace around for a moment, flexing her arms and moving her body to get used to it. She was finally learning some caution, even though it was all six of them with doubled stats against a single opponent, and she wasn't very sure of their victory even still.
They all indicated they were ready as Tana moved through the starting forms of the duel, Bai readying her heavy saber. When the match started, Tana dropping her arms with a command to fight, and Bai and her team moved forward, quickly but cautiously. She was made nervous, not made overconfident, by the fact that the foreign girl was simply standing there, tip of her sword against the ground, right hand on the hilt while her left was on her hip. She watched them close the distance impassively, not a single muscle twitching unnecessarily, waiting for them to approach her.
That approach didn't take very long, as all of her team's stats were boosted, meaning their movement speed was also quite high. The six of them got within twenty meters, and nothing happened. Fifteen meters, and still no response. Ten meters, and Bai was getting very unnerved, the opponent maintaining her lax pose and simply…watching. Five meters, and no change. They were within just a handful of steps and Bai made the decision, activating Hero's Rush and charging forward, her saber sweeping up towards the girl's neck.
Just as she was coming in contact, time seemed to stop and space seemed to freeze, her last half step to complete the charge just not happening. Bai wasn't entirely caught flat-footed, but she was still greatly surprised, and didn't know what to do. This was something she had never encountered before, and it didn't help that the main thing that had interrupted her was the fact it felt like a mountain was pushing on her shoulders and back right that moment. She was frozen for not even a second, but that second was all that was needed, as she felt a horrible pain in her chest and then everything went dark.
She awoke a second later outside the ring, not concerned with her own frustrations but immediately turning to watch the ring attentively. She saw the infuriating girl, now wearing a…crown?...demolishing the rest of her team. Despite the fact that they had twice their normal stats, something that should be able to fairly closely compete with the girl's, they were getting tossed around like rag dolls. Ming had already joined her on the sidelines, and she watched as the other four were all taken out with that brutal combination of sword swings, punches, and kicks that seemed to be the girl's own fighting style. They weren't entirely crushed as thoroughly as last time, a few of her team getting in a minor hit or two before they were standing next to her outside the field, but they still didn't seriously threaten her.
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When the last of her team joined her, she turned to the ogre and asked, "What was that?"
"Sorry, we were dupin' ya a bit," the ogre said with a rumbling laugh like multiple heavy engines all revving together.
"I don't get it," Bai replied, a little cross, but mostly puzzled. She glanced at her team, all of them having removed their helmets and head protection, seeing the same pinched brows and narrowed eyes.
"She's hit level one hundred," the ogre explained. Seeing their puzzled looks, he continued, "If'n ya don't know yet, I'll explain real quick. When ya hit level one hundred the first time, ya get a power we call a Presence. It's a force multiplier, and it makes ya stronger, faster, tougher, and so on. It always has a representation; in this case, ya can see that ostentatious crown on 'er head. That's the physical representation of her Presence."
"So, we were doomed from the start," Bai said peevishly, more a statement than a question.
"Nah, not as such. Ya could've done it, if she hadn't run her Presence out. But it was a bit of a sly thing on Tana and I's part. The limited ruleset, as it's normally used, only limits or changes stats, it doesn't do anythin' to Presences. Why knowin’ exactly what rules yer fightin' under is super important in the arena," the massive man said.
"Thank you for the lesson," Bai replied with a slight bow, understanding that it had been them, likely mostly Tana, trying to take down her team, which had been growing just a mite overconfident, a peg or two.
"What about her?" Bai asked, pointing at the other girl, Blood.
"What about her?" answered Beth, who had walked up behind Bai's team, repeating her question back to her with a slight lilt to her voice to request clarification.
"She doesn't want to fight?" Bai tried to clarify.
"She doesn't want to do much of anything," Beth replied. "Unless those things are laying around and sleeping."
"But, she also has a Presence?" Bai questioned.
"Nope," Beth replied. At Bai's puzzled look, she continued, "She's a wolf."
As if that explained anything.
"That explains nothing," Bai complained a little hotly, watching as the other woman stood up and walked over next to the ogre. There was a brief flash of light and a slight feeling of twisting around the extremely tall girl and suddenly, in her place, was now standing a massive wolf with blood-red fur.
"I see," Bai murmured, turning her head a little to see her companions' mouths were hanging just as far open as her own. The wolf walked over and sniffed her, which Bai didn't know what to do with, before the other girl grabbed the massive animal's head and shoved it away with a chuckle. There was another flash of light, and the tall woman was now standing where the wolf had been, stepping forward and grabbing Beth, though only to flop against her and seemingly demand to be petted. This devolved into a wrestling match after a moment, which was only stopped when the ogre flicked both of them on the side of the head with a finger, a loud bang produced by the action. The wolf-girl winced slightly, while the other girl just swatted the ogre's arm away in a lazy fashion.
"Enough," he grumbled, seemingly ignored by both girls, though they stopped messing around and turned to look at Bai's team.
"How?!" Bai was the first to recover, trying to understand what was happening.
"There are sapient beasts out there, girlie," the ogre explained. "They have the form of a beast until they hit a hundred, at which point they get somethin' we call 'humanization.' They can then switch between either form, and a lot of 'em prefer to stick to their mostly human form most of the time afterwards. Gotta say, having opposable thumbs is pretty damn handy."
"And she won't fight us?" Bai asked.
Before anyone else could answer, the wolf woman actually answered for herself, saying, "I'll do a round."
"You don't have to, Blood," Beth said.
"It's fine, sister," the wolf replied, surprising Bai that she called the fully human woman sister, the other woman seemingly entirely unbothered by the appellation.
"Again?" Bai asked her team, looking at each of them in turn. Ming had her psycho-smile on, Li and Wei looked determined, while Fang and Mei Mei looked more cautious but still ready. Bai led them all onto the dueling field, positioning in their larger starting circle while looking at the wolf across from them, the woman slouching in place with her…claws at her side? Where did those come from?
The rules were the same as the last time, with Bai's team having their stats doubled, while Blood's were all set to one hundred. Tana still officiated, checking both sides' readiness before commanding them to begin. Bai got ready to move out but let out a shocked gasp, finding the wolf already slashing at her. Supposedly, she didn't have a power like the other girl, but this tall woman appeared among them in just a split second, slashing with her claws. Bai was confused what she was trying, as the weapons weren't going to hit either her or Ming, but then had to scrabble as five beams of energy lacerated out from the claws during the swing. She mostly blocked the attack but was much worse for wear.
Bai tried to get them to regroup and pin the wolf down, but even though her team followed her barked commands quickly and efficiently, the wolf was like a bloody shadow. She darted among the six of them, very much a wolf among sheep, slashing and slicing and tearing, ripping the six apart with gusto. Bai had a brief thought, as a clawed hand snuck around her blade to find her throat, that at least her team would be earning a few levels in Pain Tolerance today. She was then outside the arena with Mei Mei, watching as the wolf finished eviscerating the rest of the team. Ming lasted the longest, though that only seemed to be because the wolf wanted a quick one-on-one with her at the end. Ming, despite her strength and skills, was ripped to shreds, though she appeared next to Bai a moment later with an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
"I guess…we have a long way to go," Bai muttered, finally admitting that they were outclassed.
"Nothin' to get bent outta shape over," the massive man grumbled. "Now, before we finish up, let's have one last one."
"Yes!" Ming cried, ready to run into the ring before the big man stopped her.
"Not yer team," he rumbled. "The two o' them."
The two foreign girls proceeded to enter the ring at his suggestion, Bai's team taking seats to watch, though Bai practically had to sit on Ming to get her to sit and watch. She also noticed that quite a number of other people had either entirely stopped what they were doing and come over to watch, or were pretending to train while obviously having their eyes glued to this field. The last few bouts had drawn definite interest from the rest of the enormous room, but what was about to happen was clearly a headliner, Bai shaking her head at the absurdity of them being so worked up for two foreign girls to fight.
Those thoughts were driven straight from her head, however, as Tana started the match, which was not limited in any way. The two quite tall girls seemed to vanish, though neither of them used a teleport, merely moving so fast they blurred across the field. They met more on Beth's side, it becoming very clear that the wolf-woman was the faster of the two, though seemingly not the stronger. She got an early advantage, including several decent hits in, backed by her strange power to fire out energy claws, but it barely made the greatsword-wielding girl stagger back half a step. Markedly different than her lighter blows, when Beth managed to land a solid hit to Blood's torso, the tall woman was sent flying, literally lifted off the ground and hurled a dozen meters across the field before landing on all fours and rushing forward.
The two clashed over and over, the amount of power they were bringing to bear rather frightening. Bai was trying her best to gauge their differences, though it was rather tough, and she estimated that even without using skills, their stats were still a bit above hers when hers had been doubled. And not just one stat, it seemed that both of them had stats significant enough that just about every single one of them was more than twice hers, with perhaps only one stat not quite being double Bai's current amount. If that were true, it spoke to the use of elixirs and other secondary aids, something Bai and her team knew about but hadn't had the chance to get access to at this point.
Their massive stat pools were then coupled with multiple Silver-level skills, making for a very impressive display. Despite having watched matches on the systems at the CRA, seeing something like this live and in person, not more than ten meters from where she was currently sitting, was a vastly different experience. Bai's heart was racing while she tried to keep track of the two blurs the girls had become, and she had to hold Ming down to keep the girl from launching from her seat and trying to leap into the arena (though the barrier would've prevented that). She was certain that the wolf would win, as her speed and maneuverability was that much superior, but she was again surprised as, even without that bullshit crown power, the shorter of the two giant girls pushed the taller back. Beth, as she went by, was not only frighteningly strong when her stats weren't limited, she was very durable, taking several powerful hits that would've shattered Bai to pieces without even flinching.
The combination of her power and toughness won out, even without the weird power making another appearance, as Beth was eventually announced the winner of the duel. It had taken several minutes, had been a rousing display of both power and skill, and had given Bai quite a few ideas for new things to train and new ways to fight. When the two girls walked over after accepting applause from essentially the entire arena, Bai was the first to bow to them, followed by the rest of her team. The two returned the gesture with rather embarrassed-looking nods, exchanging a few words of thanks and gratitude with them for the fights before disappearing with the ogre into the depths of the facility.
"I want to fight them again," Ming declared strongly, a bright fire burning in her eyes.
"I'm sure you'll get the chance," Bai returned calmly. "But before that, we need to train. And to fight."
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