“What happened to your voice?” Norbert asked, still not believing the sounds coming out of Finekus's mouth.
Finekus just shook his head. “Nothing, and now you're back.”
“What happened to everyone?”
“All eliminated while you had your vacation.”
“I had a busy schedule, which I am now in trouble for. But what happened to everyone else?”
Finekus shook his head. “You're really out of the loop. The match is rigged, only one way about it.”
“Guess all of this,” Norbert says, waving his hands around at the empty room. “Is this the result of this rigging?”
Finekus just nodded his head. “After you left, they matched the rest of the groups against the worst combination for us, elimination after elimination.”
“Then how come you’re here alone?”
“Split the teams up into individuals, and once again, the same results. Even had some Morenas fighting each other,” Finekus shaking his head.
“And so the one that was undefeated has remained, number one hundred and one.”
Finekus nods, and Norbert sees the orb starting to form again. Norbert reaches out, “Why did you finally talk?”
The darkness around Finekus dropped, the man shrugging. “You’re a weird one.”
“I’m not that weird?”
Finekus turned to Norbert, cracking his fingers above his head and rolling his shoulders before finally opening his mouth. “Launch a spell at me, any spell, your pick.”
Norbert turned around on his bed, looking at Finekus. Sending his energy into his finger, Norbert flicked it against the air. A crack happened, and the wind whipped the covers and the man’s clothes around. “How was that?” Norbert asked.
“Something that supports my point. Weird stuff is what that was.” Finekus replied, shivering slightly at the sight of what he had witnessed.
“I did exactly as you asked for; magic.”
“But not normal, something like this,” Finekus said, opening his hand. A black little man appeared, giving a wave to Norbert before disappearing again. “Something like this is normal, not what you did.”
“Then what did I do?”
“That was purely physical; I'm guessing you enhanced your body to produce that amount of wind with a single flick, which is magical that a body can do it, but not magic like what I demonstrated.”
Norbert nodded his head in thought. Standing up, he grabbed the pillow on the bed, holding it out in front of him, and released it. As it started to fall, Norbert struck out, punching the pillow with all his might, making sure not to release any of his energy. The pillow flew several meters before sliding across the stone floor.
Norbert turns to Finekus, “What do you think of that?”
“Just a normal punch.”
Norbert nodded, walking towards the pillow and picking it up before returning to his position again. The energy coursing through his body, Norbert let it spin up within himself for a moment. Holding the pillow up in the air, Norbert let go as he punched it, sending more energy and focusing on the pillow to go further.
With his fist connecting, the pillow shot outwards, like coming out of a rail gun, flying across the empty room. Norbert watched it slowly arc, losing several feathers from a tear he created from the force.
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Turning to Finekus, “What do you think of that?”
“Just a normal punch, with great force behind it.”
Norbert moved back to the bed, not wanting to demonstrate anymore. “You did see the distance that they went?” Norbert asked again, wondering what the man was talking about.
Changing his vision to magic, Norbert looked down at his hand. Taking a coin out of his pouch, he sent it into the coin as he flicked it into the air. Watching as Norbert saw a tiny spark of purple moving into the coin, flicking into the air, he leaned upwards, hearing a ding as it came back down, landing in his hand.
“No little purple spark?” Norbert asked in confirmation, turning to
“You really are weird, even weirder than I thought.”
Norbert looked at Finekus, saw the blackness sticking to the man like a second shadow, and watched as it pooled off the man, becoming something physical, dropping to the floor and making a puddle. “Can you make the little man again?”
Norbert watched as the blackness flowed from the floor, sticking to the man as it became the figure Norbert had seen before. “Sure you aren’t the weird one?” Norbert asked again, seeing the blackness slip before thrusting towards him.
Dropping the magic vision, Norbert was pushed back as the darkness wrapped around his wrists and ankles, stopping him from moving at all, pinning him to the bed.
Forcing his arms up, only moving an inch before the force on him increased, causing them to drop into the mattress.
“What’s up with you?” Norbert asked.
“Never, do that again, weirdo.”
Norbert gazed up at Finekus, who was standing over him. The dark user's hands outstretched as black tentacles came out, securing themselves to Norbert’s limbs. “You're got to come up with a new insult other than weirdo. It's not hitting as hard anymore.”
Finekus stared at Norbert for several moments, the veins starting to bubble inside his head so that Norbert could see. Norbert stared up at Finekus, waiting for the next thing to happen.
The man buckled internally, and the pressure on Norbert’s hands released. Finekus jumped over to his bed, and Norbert stared at the ceiling.
“Is this another thing that makes me weird?” Norbert asked
“Most definitely; how are you able to see magic with what I assume is no magic?”
Norbert sat crossing his legs as he answered Finekus’s question, “Had an elixir that allows me to see magic.”
“That would have cost a pretty gold.”
Norbert nodded his head in response, thinking back to the amount
“Wait, how can you even pay for something like that if you're a scout? Not even I can afford to buy an elixir.”
“Well, how about buying ten?” Norbert asked, watching as Finekus’s eyes went wide with the amount . “For my secret, just gamble.”
Finekus looked at Norbert as if he was an imbecile. “But you always lose more.”
“Not if you follow the goddess Lady Luck!” Norbert shouted out, flicking his hand into the air as several golden motes of light came down, showering Norbert in their glow.
Finekus shook his head. “You’re a real fool, you know that.”
Norbert just nodded his head. “Yep, but if I’m a fool, what does it make everyone else who couldn’t even scratch me?” Norbert asked, waving to the empty room around him.
Finekus nodded his head as he, too, looked around the empty room. Staring up at the board, Norbert saw that his name appeared there. Stretching himself, Norbert went to his feet, sending the energy around his body.
“Your up now, go and make Morenas proud.”
Norbert walked over to Finekus, clasping the man on the shoulder. “But, of course, and do you know anything about it?” Norbert looked up at the board, reading the origin of his opponent. “Atlantians?”
“Fish people hate everyone on land. Must be some natural stream over here in this sandy wasteland.” Finekus quickly shot out, the black orb starting to form around him.
“Any tips against them?”
“Hold your breath and swim.” The black orb closed around the man, and Norbert could not see him at all, with the non-reflective blackness staring back at him.
He moved his shoulder to limber himself up for the fight ahead of him. “Thanks for the advice!” Norbert shouted out, letting his voice echo around the empty room.
Stopping on the platform, Norbert felt it shudder momentarily before lifting into the air. Norbert was surprised if they needed water, seeing it much easier to fill than dealing with the lack of a top in the upper stadium.
Light came down over Norbert, squinting slightly as his eyes adjusted. He looked over at the other side of the arena and saw what they would look like. The platform finally came to a rest as Norbert looked across, the usual compact dirt that made up the platform gone.
The entire arena was flooded with water, and the only piece was a lip around the platform, which stopped the water from falling down the chute and into the rooms below.
The other platforms around them dotted the arena, the only dry places that Norbert could see. He looked down at the water, his reflection rippling up at him. He saw the bottom, about a quarter of a meter deep.
“What is all of this!” Norbert shouted out, staring at the crowd around him and seeing a mix of everyone he would expect there. He gave a slight wave until he locked in on the box above, turning to the announcer.
“What seems to be the problem?”
Norbert waved around him again. “How come they have a different arena? What’s with all this water they can use when I can’t even get a drop of a mana potion!”
“To accommodate and allow them to fight properly. The same reason the Grimm fight below.” The announcer told Norbert. When the words Grimm uttered, the crowd around became silent. Thousands of eyes bearing into Norbert for making that word be uttered.