The ringmaster was already rolling with Bee’s request and pumping up the crowd for a repeat performance, asking if any other fighter was willing to sub in.

Buck looked over at Will with a hopeful smile. “Now, I know what you’re about to say, but I think—”

“I think she should do it,” Will said firmly. “You’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?”

Buck nodded.

It was a small detail, probably not noticeable to anyone who didn’t have substantial points in both Senses and Awareness, like both Will and Buck did. Little white sparks were shooting off of Bee’s fists like tiny firecrackers. She didn’t seem to be aware of it herself, let alone what it meant.

Freddie turned briefly to Bee’s corner for approval, and the two of them both gave their assent.

A replacement fighter was soon found—a Level 4 Entertainer named Smudge. An older man with a wiry frame, he leapt confidently into the pit.

The whole time while the ringmaster was introducing the newcomer, Bee just stared right through him.

Then the match started.

“Power Word—” the Entertainer began, but was cut off when Bee took three steps forward and caught him with a left hook.

In the moment of impact, Bee’s form alighted with a wild glow that condensed into a white halo extending from her back. Her fist arced with energy that shot off every which way, throwing up sand and scoring wood.

Smudge’s head exploded like an overripe pumpkin, spreading gore all over the far side of the pit. The corpse stood there for a moment before toppling backward and hitting the ground, spread-eagle.

An inspired hit.

The crowd was getting pumped up now, going from hating Bee to already demanding a third match. She seemed all-too-happy to oblige, but looked questioningly back at Will for permission.

She still pulsed with the light of inspiration. She was on a hot streak.

It would be stupid not to let her run wild at a time like this.

Will nodded, and Bee cracked a big smile, her face spattered with the blood of the man she had just killed.

The only problem was that it would probably not be an easy thing to find a willing opponent after those two back-to-back performances. It would take a highly confident or highly stupid individual. Will didn’t even know if there were any idle fighters around to pull from.

A man jumped down into the pit just as Smudge's remains were being hoisted out. He was a scruffy fellow with greasy hair and dirty clothes.

“I’m not a pit fighter, but I’ll give it a go,” he said. “I’m Level 8, though.”

“That’s all right,” Bee replied.

Will did not interfere, even though it was a risky proposition. If there was a moment to go hands-off, it was this one.

Freddie showed no hesitation in allowing an unrelated party to fight, no doubt seeing dollar signs.

The man turned out to be called Trashman, and he was a Farmer. Not the ideal class for combat, and certainly not when Will saw that he was a brute, lacking any AP crystals.

There was no way that his build was optimized, but even so it would be a tough matchup as long as Trashman had made his divine vow properly and gotten a decent amount of attribute points out of it.

Bee looked ready to go, bouncing on light feet as though she was completely fresh. White light still swirled around her body, coalescing at her hands and dancing around her fingers.

I never thought she’d hit a hot streak like this. Not this soon.

I knew she was a natural, but she’s gotta be some kind of savant.

*****

The man was disheveled and unshaven; eyes bloodshot, reeking of booze. He took off his jacket and threw it away, wearing a sweat-stained undershirt beneath it.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I’ve never done this before,” he said, “but seeing you got me all fired up. I hope we can have fun.”

Bee smiled at that. She was looking forward to fighting a brute like herself. He probably would have taken all his attributes at once, and he was quite a few levels up from her. Any way you sliced it, she was at a disadvantage.

And after two disappointing opponents, that excited her.

“What’s that stuff around you?” Trashman asked, squinting at her.

“I don’t care.”

They touched their fists together, and Freddie called the start of the match.

She immediately went on the offensive, hitting Trashman with a front kick. He got his hands up in time to guard, but the incredible force she was suddenly able to generate overwhelmed him, and he was sent flying with a flash of light.

Skidding to a stop in the sand just shy of the back wall, he slowly rose to his feet. He smiled as he held up his palms, bleeding and skinless.

“Nice,” he said. “That was really nice.”

Bee was taken aback.

I was sure that would do more damage. How much Toughness does he have? Stoneskin, too?

She rushed him down and went for a flying punch, catching his face and snapping his head sideways. But there was no white light this time, and Trashman recovered in an instant. He barely guarded as she continued to beat him, hitting his sides and midsection with a rapid combination of blows that aimed for the organs.

It was like hitting a brick wall. Completely ineffective.

“Sorry,” he said, a little sheepishly. “I guess this was a little unfair. If you want, I can—”

Bee delivered an uppercut that snapped his mouth shut. He spat out half a tooth, and gave a smile that now had a gap in it.

“All right, then. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Bee said. “Fight me.”

He had taken all her blows head-on, and her pride demanded that she do the same.

In an instant he had grasped a handful of her hair, yanking her down, and in the next instant she felt his knee collide with her face.

Then everything became a vague blur. The world dropped away, and she was fumbling around in smoke. Eventually she found some solid ground, feeling sand beneath her fingers, and her vision slowly came back into focus.

She’d only managed to get up on one knee when she took a boot to the ribs. Something broke inside of her, and she was pitched onto her back, wheezing for air.

The difference in power between them was immense.

But Bee refused to yield ground.

She saw a stomp coming just in time to heave herself out of the way, then heavily stagger to her feet. Knives went through her ribcage every time she moved, but she forced her body to keep going anyway.

Trashman went for a straight punch, and she rushed in to grasp his arm with both hands. Placing her back against him, she used all her strength and leverage to flip him in a shoulder throw, sending him to the ground. When he tried to get up, she clambered onto him in a tight grapple, wrapping his legs up with hers and catching his throat in a rear naked choke.

If she wasn’t strong enough to beat him by striking, she’d have to go for grappling instead.

He reached up to grab her by the hair again and simply yanked her forward over his head, applying such force that her grip completely came away. He tossed her forward onto her back, and when she tried to sit up he caught her with one, two, three hammer strikes, knocking the world out of whack again.

The sky spun overhead, and the hourglass multiplied into a dozen blurry fractals.

“You’re strong…” she groaned.

“I guess so,” Trashman replied.

When he came for her again, she fought into a heavy roll, rising on one knee, and shot an uppercut right into his nuts. He staggered back with a breathy groan, grasping at his crotch with both hands.

That did something.

She tried to stand but ended up falling back down again, her legs not moving how they should. Luckily, Trashman was a little too preoccupied nursing his family jewels to capitalize. She managed it on the second attempt, got on shaky feet, and put two fingers together to jab the Farmer in the eye.

Her aim was a little off, and she only caught a glancing hit, but she still felt her nail scrape against the softness of his eyeball. He let out a cry, and when he moved a hand to feel at his eye she went for his balls again, delivering a kick that dropped him to one knee.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 5!

Please sleep in order to allocate your rewards.

When she went for a head kick, he caught her leg and yanked hard so that she lost her unsteady footing and fell on her back. His pained groans turned into wheezing laughter as he climbed on top of her and started wildly throwing his fists. There was no technique to it at all, but each one of his punches hit hard enough to make her reel.

He beat her face so hard into the sand that she felt her skull creak. He hit her again and again and again, and each time everything went all soupy and indistinct. It was brutal. Her mind was so far fled that she couldn’t even feel any pain.

Then, suddenly, it ended, and he stood up from her.

She looked around in bewilderment, one eye feeling like it was about to push out of its socket, and it took her a long while before she realized that the round had ended.

By some miracle she got on her feet. She spat blood, and staggered around in a circle before she found the shape that, although blurry, she recognized as Will. Making it over there, she let herself tip forward to rest her head against the log-lined wall, letting red saliva trickle from her lower lip.

“Let’s stop this,” Will said. “You’ve got nothing left to prove. You did great out there.”

Bee pushed herself off the wall with her head, blinking up at Will and the other one, what’s-his-name. “I wanna… keep…” She trailed off as she was hit with a bout of vertigo that made it feel like gravity had increased tenfold.

“I get that, but you don’t have a plan here.”

“Don’t worry… I won’t die.” She smiled up at him, tasting copper. “Give me your craziest potion.”

The rest was one long blur.

Then she woke up in bed.

Everything hurt.