----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Max had managed to find his family up above in the virtual stands. He had accessed the stadium and cast his avatar up into the stands to say hello before the sparring matches started. They all had wished him luck. Bo said to not try anything fancy with his skills evolving.
Stick to what you know works, he had said. The announcer interrupted the chaos asking everyone to take their seats. Max excused himself and soon found his designated ring. He was in the first round.
A sprint later, Max stood in the ring facing his first opponent. His [Privacy] skill had leveled twice more as the crowds tried to pry into his levels using [Identify]. Notifications jumped into his view. The privacy skill couldn’t stop all the attempts to learn about him. Max assumed that high-level identification skills managed to bull through his screening skills.
Max was uncomfortable with his opponent for two opposing reasons. Firstly, he was just a kid. He couldn’t have been more than 14 years old and had yet to get his full growth. The boy was so tiny!
Secondly, the kid’s augmented body had given him four arms. Max had thought that such a body change would have been a much later-stage achievement. Max had seen both his father and Fung using multiple arms and he wasn’t sure how to deal with it. He mentally added it to his list of needed training exercises. The kid resembled a Thark, a creature from the John Carter Mars movie and books. He had the same multiple arms, greenish skin, and descending tusks. Even though the kid was small, his arms were quite long. Max triggered his [Analyze] skill and quickly read the results.
[Xavier Bermatti Novice 7]
[Energy 220/226 Regen: 166/min]
[Strength: 18 Intelligence: 77 Will: 89]
[Identify/Analyze: 10/8]
What the heck? Only level 7 and an 18 in strength? This kid does not have a fighter build. His only chance is to pull some tricks. Shit! Max thought, as he remembered to access his Gi before the fight command came. His newly purchased Gi, with improved access restrictions might help, but this kid was probably bringing a host of mind skill with that augmentation build. If he occupied the Gi’s access port, it was less likely the kid could use it against him as Leah had done in previous spars. Max wasn’t taking any chances.
They bowed to each other as the referee set them up. When the fight command finally came, it was in slow motion. Max had activated his [Fast Cog], [Reflex], [Leap], [Strike], and [Shock] skills as the command was first shouted. By the time the ref had finished yelling, Max was in the air and quickly landed a front kick into the kid's chest. The boy was knocked flying and stunned out of the ring.
[FastCog +1, FastCog reaches level 8]
[Reflex Skill +1, Reflex reaches level 4]
[
[
[Shock Skill +1, Shock skill reaches level 4]
[Agility +2, Vitality +2]
Max was bemused. He knew he had a couple levels on the kid and his physical build was likely much better but that was too easy. As the kid staggered back to the start position, Max mirrored him. He firmed his stance ready to see what the kid could do.
His new [Empath] skill triggered as the kid advanced. No deceptions, this was a straightforward attack and not a feint, a double roundhouse punch. It was painfully slow in Max’s amped frame of mind. Trusting his new skill, Max reacted.
[Mind Skill: Empath +1, Empath skill reaches level 2]
[Perception +2]
Max, guided by Miyamoto and his newer Kempo learnings from his [Skillz] ability had him spin while he ducked under the swing. He extended a sweeping leg in his low turn. The kid's advance was off balanced when his strike missed unexpectedly. Max’s leg sweep dropped him to the mat and the ref called it as another point for Max.
Max shook his head. This kid was probably a super genius with the way he had pumped up his mental skills, but he wasn’t ready for the sparring ring. His DigiSense-enhanced hearing could hear the kid mumbling. It sounded like he was arguing, with his daemons, maybe?
Max would end this quickly. With the command to start, Max stunned the kid with a Sonic Kia and front-punched him out of the ring again. With the ref calling the point for Max and the match complete, Max jumped out of the ring to help the kid to his feet.
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 3/20 complete - Defeat 20 opponents, 100 XP awarded]
“Xavier, right? Need a hand?” Max said, extending a hand.
“Hey, thanks, man. Cool cosplay by the way. I can’t believe how fast your first attack was. You just gave me three different skills with that takedown. Thank you!” Xavier said breathlessly.
“Sorry about that. My name’s Max. The first strike often determines the winner, so I came with everything I had. No hard feelings?” Max asked.
“All good, Max. Thanks for going light on the last point. My town doesn’t have a big school and nobody to spar. I’m going to be staying with my uncle here for a bit. I’m hoping to get into the waiting list for the Mystery Labyrinth. Maybe I’ll see you around.” Xavier said.
“Good luck on the rest of your matches, kid. And by the way, this isn’t cosplay.” Max walked away from the kid's confused expression but didn’t explain further.
His Sensei had explained that the championship was single elimination, but more matches would be offered so everyone would get at least three to help their augmentation training. The dojo camps would parlay today's victories with smaller awards and grants for the players and the dojo. So, even if a player lost a match, winning was still important for their team.
Max trotted back to the Wuxia table. Charlie was up next. Max’s experience was not unique. The trio found all their early matches too easy. Their unique and aggressive training drove their rank close to the very peak of the Novice stage. Either due to timing or opportunity, most of the participants at the event were not as prepared as they were. Unfortunately, Tyler was advancing easily as well.
As the team climbed the brackets, they were able to hold most of their extra capabilities and tricks in reserve. They beat the competition based on the pure strength of their skills and stats. Max’s review his notifications from the last couple of matches.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
[Body Skill: Strike +1. Strike reaches level 10 – cap award +100 XP, new skill unlocked - Disable 1]
[Body Skill: Leap +1, Leap reaches level 10 – cap award +100 XP, +5 Strength awarded]
[Tireless +1, Tireless reaches level 5]
[Reflex +1, Reflex reaches level 5]
[Armor +1, Armor reaches level 2]
[Empath +1, Empath reaches level 3]
[Strength +1, Agility +2, Endurance +2, Intelligence +1, Perception +1, Wisdom +2]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 4/20 complete - Defeat 20 opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 5/20 complete - Defeat 20 opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 6/20 complete - Defeat 20 opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Max +1 level, Max reaches Adept level 12 - +10 Free Stat points]
Max’s furry brow raised in surprise at the pace of advancement. He pulled his status up to review.
[Name: Max E. Mitchell Level: Adept 12 (6000/7000 XP)]
[Body Design Model: Custom – Canis Familiarus Uplift Free Stats: 10]
[Strength: 97 Agility: 43 Endurance: 60 Vitality: 56 Energy: 203/203]
[Perception: 42 Intelligence: 43 Will: 41 Regen: 100/min]
[Body Skills – Claws: 8 Strike/Disable: 10/1 Stamina/Tireless: 10/5 Hulk: 1]
[Body Skills - Stun: 7 Poision:1 Shock: 4 EMP Blast: 3]
[Body Skills - Leap: 10 Balance: 8 Gymnast: 10 Ballistics: 4 Armor: 2]
[Body Skills - Speed/Reflex: 10/5 Unbreakable: 8 Oxygen: 4]
[Body Skills – Skin: 9 Gland: 5 Painless: 8 Healing/Regeneration: 10/7]
[Resist Skills – Shock: 10 Sonic: 9 Light: 9 Heat: 4 Cold: 3]
[Resist Skills - Poison: 10 ANDD: 1 EMP: 10 Neural Scaffold: 6]
[Sense Skills – Scent: 10 ExaVision: 5 EM Fields: 6 Echo-Locate: 2]
[Mind Skills – AI Assist/Companion: 10/1 Identify/Analyze: 10/6 OverLayer: 9]
[Mind Skills - DigiSense: 10 Access/Hack: 10/6 Privacy: 5 Bastion: 8 Empath: 3]
[Mind Skills - Dream-Learn: 9 Language: 3 Memory: 9 Pattern/Decode: 10/1]
[Mind Skills - Fast Cog: 8 Daemon: 4 (Musashi, Boone, Sherlock, Open)]
[Mind Skills - SkillZ: 2.0/0.93/0.85 (*Swim, NanoCraft*)(Katana 0.93)/(Kempo 0.85)
Max liked round numbers, brought his Agility up to a full 50 points and his Strength to 100. He expected the next notification that popped up.
[Strength stat cap reached, +250 XP]
After the many preliminary round, now the last matches were up on the big displays and the friends were collectively upset. Leah had to fight Tyler while Max and Charlie were fighting against each other.
“Damn, I don’t know about this you guys,” Leah said.
“Leah, don’t sell yourself short. You kicked my ass during your grudge match and if Tyler hadn’t used that poison, I was going to pop that little pimple. You can do this.” Charlie said with exasperation.
“I know. But this is unarmed, I don’t have any of my ranged weapons.” Leah complained.
“True, but you’ve got heavy resistances to all Tyler’s old attacks, and you’ve been training up new ones. You can do this.” Max said. Sensei Kostecki came over and interrupted them.
“Ok, Leah. You’re up next. I know you are not part of my dojo, but I wish you luck. I’ve seen Tyler fight and I think you can win this. The refs here are exceptionally sharp and fair. They’ll be on the lookout for any of his cheating.” He said knowingly.
Before any more words could be said, Leah was hustled to the stage. Tyler and Leah bowed, although both sides were lacking in any depth. Tyler’s cold contempt was visible to everyone. At the command to fight, both surged forward. Strikes and blocks blurred. Both had their thoughts and reflexes amped. Only some aspect of his martial style enabled Tyler to slip a kick past Leah’s defense and land a solid strike, his instep landing across Leah’s head in a roundhouse kick that knocked her backward.
Max gasped thinking Leah would be demoralized, but seeing her expression as she came back to the ring, knew the opposite was true. She smiled and wiped her bloodied lip. Her guard pose was very different this time, no longer the traditional Wing Chun position but something else. It seemed familiar to Max. With the command, Leah bounced and weaved, dancing swiftly across the mat in an erratic and unpredictable pace.
That looks like Bruce Lee’s style from one of my favorite movies “Enter the Dragon”. Max thought. Sure enough. The flouncing footwork quickly grounded as Tyler surged in for a strike. Leah struck like a cobra with a lightning front punch and kick combination. Tyler had deflected the kick, but the punch snapped his head back. Max cheered with the rest of his camp wondering whether she had a skill for Jeet Kun Do or had the daemon who created the unorthodox style.
If Tyler’s red face was any indication, Tyler was livid. His easy train of victories was done, and Leah had proven that she could stand up to him. At the shout to begin again both erupted with a distance attack. Tyler tried to stun Leah with a sonic attack while Leah’s [Intrusion] skill locked up his augs.
How is she able to mirror those attacks so well, another skill that I need? Max wondered.
Leah leaped across the distance in a flying kick, catching Tyler as he was still recovering and pushing him from the ring. Leah was feeling confident as they both reset to start positions. Tyler’s face was stony and blank.
When the command came, both triggered their distance blasts again. This time Tyler’s was a strobe attack. Leah’s eyes were closed. She was using her thermal vision when she followed with a leaping kick. Like before, she needed to close the distance before Tyler could recover. Unfortunately, her thermal sight didn’t show Tyler’s grin at the last second.
Tyler’s recovery this round had been much faster, but he had played it as if he was still stunned. He had focused hard on developing his striking power, much to the chagrin of his friends and dojo partners. He had long ago capped his [Strike] skill and had evolved it into [Disable] which he had also capped recently. He used it now.
By waiting until Leah was in the air, his lightning grab and the following strike was unavoidable. He locked one iron grip onto Leah’s striking leg, at the ankle, and struck with a crippling elbow into the side of her knee. The power of the strike dislocated her knee and sent her flying leap off to the side, spinning out of the ring.
Leah limped back to the ring, unwilling to stay down. Her [Healing] skill was actively helping but it wouldn’t fix her before the match was done.
Fine, she thought, but I won’t give up. Max wouldn’t give up. I won’t either.
Leah revealed a skill that she hadn’t wanted to use. The system had displayed its strange humor, perhaps taking her compliments of Max’s clawed takedown of the swarm bots as a desire or need.
Leah stood on guard. She had to put all her weight on her left leg. Her right knee wouldn’t support any weight. She held her fists up and ready and activated her [Claw] skill. Unlike Max, her claws resembled a certain superhero’s. Two pairs of foot-long blades extended from the spaces between her striking knuckles. Tyler wanted to fight dirty; Leah would oblige.
The crowd went silent, but the referee was not impressed. Such skills weren’t uncommon in the Novice leagues, although the blades were flashier than most. Claw skills usually sharpened and lengthened existing nails. Sometimes it gave another retractable set under the existing nails. Very rarely did they give a full Wolverine, like Leah’s.
He issued the command to fight. As Leah charged, Tyler held up his hands in a stopping motion. Leah wondered why he was still smiling. Ports appeared in his palms and opened. Kinetic shots erupted from within, striking her in the chest.
----------------------------------------
The matches were paused while the organizers of the event had a quick conference. Tyler's skill was unexpected, a third-tier skill set was quite rare at the Novice level. Special walls of the smart foglets would surround the ring for the semifinals and finals to avoid any advance skills from leaving the ring. The crowds circulated to the food and the dojos prepped for the next matches when the intermission ended.
Wuxia’s camp was agitated. Leah was recovering but out of the champion brackets now. Max had expected Leah to be upset, but when she woke, she was ecstatic. Her [Healing] skill had capped and evolved to [Regeneration] and she had picked up the [Armor] skill as a bonus.
Max and Charlie had agreed to not pull their punches for their upcoming match. Whoever won, would take Tyler down. Soon enough, the pair were called to the ring. They faced each other and bowed deeply with mutual respect. Max’s daemons whispered encouragement and advice in his mind.
“[Max, Charlie's Aikido favors defense. If you let him come to you, it may upset his normal tactics,]” Musashi said softly.
“[That’s good if we have all day. Think like a trapper, Max. Fake a slip. Yur friend, Charlie, is a predator. He’ll pounce on any weakness, but you can be ready for it,]” Boone suggested with a lazy drawl.
“[Max, regardless of your opening tactics, maintain a keen focus on the minutiae of Charlie's movements. A fractional rise of his right elbow foreshadows the impending deployment of his devastating roundhouse kick. Details matter, my boy!]” Sherlock’s voice quivered with excitement.
The pair of friends surged forward with the command to fight. Both were smiling as they charged each other.
----------------------------------------