Haze walked into my spell training room a few hours later and said, “All right! Time to go!”
I was in the middle of casting a level six spell with thirty-two circles. And all the circles had the rune for air in the center. When Haze yelled in the quiet training room, I jumped with surprise, turned toward her, and unintentionally activated the spell. Haze quickly closed the door before the spell went off, and the massive force of air hit the wall’s protective runes, dispersing the spell harmlessly.
Yuki was directly under me, and when I yelped, I accidentally stepped on her tail. It also didn’t help that when I shot off massive spells like that, she got scared, and it’s why she was under me in the first place, so when I stepped on her tail and shot off the spell, she freaked out and scratched the hell out of my legs. I then fell a second after the commotion and bruised my butt.
Haze opened the door again and asked, “Is it okay to enter the firing range?”
“Yeah!” I answered and examined my wounds. My pants had several holes and tears around the calves but no blood loss or skin damage. Yuki sniffed my legs where she attacked and licked them apologetically. “It’s okay, Yuki. You didn’t hurt me.”
Haze soon stood over me and asked, “You all right?”
“Yeah, just a bruised butt. Is it time to go?”
“Yep. Get up, refill your cores while we walk.”
“Fengbao is already on it,” I said as I felt him cycling my Storm chakra. I decided only to use that one when training to save the rest for the fights. Haze extended a hand to pull me up, and I took it gratefully before picking up Yuki and putting her on my shoulders.
Following Haze out of the building, where the rest of my team and Ruby waited for us, we all got into the hovercraft and took off to the Colosseum. On the way there, I pulled the tournament coins from my pocket and sent chakra through them to see when I fight.
Zeana Si’enn
Singles: bracket 30, position 3
Doubles: bracket 4, position 7
Teams: bracket 9, position 1
“Looks like we are in bracket four,” I told Ruby.
“Okay, at least we get to see the other teams fight,” Ruby responded next to me.
“When is everyone else fighting?” I asked
Jax and Xiao, who sat across from us, pulled their coins out. “Bracket one,” Jax answered.
“Position eight,” Xiao finished.
“We’re bracket two, position two,” Cami answered as well, exclaiming, “Nice, we’re up first!”
Jax and Cami high-fived each other, and Cami nearly fell out of the hovercraft, trying to reach Jax’s hand. Scarlet caught her with a chuckle.
The twins leaned against Shiro, napping. While Shiro was also trying to nap. It looked so cute. I almost wanted to ruin it, but I restrained myself and let them sleep. I felt a slight tug on my sleeve and turned to see Ruby looking a little hesitant. I leaned closer to her and said in as quiet a voice as I could make with all the background noise, “Yeah, what’s up?”
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“Um, thanks for this morning. I needed to hear that,” Ruby finally managed to say after a moment.
I waved her off, “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m always here to help.” Ruby chuckled at that and nodded, turning forward to watch the approaching colosseum. Following her lead, I turned and watched the orange glow of morning backlit Yggdrasil painting the world in beautiful colors before the fights began.
***
Before the fights began, I walked around the food stalls until I spotted a tall skinny man with a black shirt and a crown tattoo on his neck. I approached him as he set up the stall and said, “Hello! What’s your name?”
The man turned around and said, “I’m Jeff Shaefer. And who are ye, li’le lady?”
“Huh, that’s weird,” I commented, “You have the same name as Geoff.”
“Oh, no, no,” Jeff countered, “We have completely different names. Just sound dem out. Jeff and Geoff. Completely different,” he said, gesticulating with his hands.
I squinted in confusion, “Rrrrrrright. Sure thing Geoff.”
“No, see, ye said it wrong. I’m not Geoff. I’m Jeff.”
Shaking my head said, “Yeah, okay, I believe you. Anyways, can I pick up the coins I won yesterday?”
“Oh, ye placed a bet?” Jeff said and waved me closer, looking to see if anybody was watching.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“What’s yer name then?” he asked.
“Zeana Si’enn.”
Jeff opened a compartment under his stall, pulled out a tablet, and looked through the names at the bottom of the list. “Ahahh,” he exclaimed silently, “Zeana, Fiery Heart, Rezurrection, and Haze.”
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“Masters doubles and teams completed, so I can only give ye de money fer dat, all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Did ye fight yesterday?” Jeff asked.
“Yes.”
“Ah, okay. Did Geoff explain de cut we get when fighters gamble?”
“No,” I said, deflating a little.
“Ah, well, it’s a ten percent cut per bet. So It’s not much out of yer pocket.”
“Okay, can I get my money now?”
“Oh, right,” Jeff said and pulled out two bags of coins. He then poured them into two metal bowls and counted them out. He then pulled one coin from the first bowl and took a gold coin from a drawer, placing it in one of the bags. Then he counted out the second bowl, pulled out one coin, and put three gold coins in the bag with the first one. Pouring all the coins into one bag, he handed them to me and said, “Lucky winner, I see. One-thousand eighty coins. Well, done, las.”
I took the bag gratefully and said, “Great, can I see the secret menu?”
Jeff smiled and said, “Of course! Here ye are, las. Just give me a minute to get set up before I make yer order.”
I took the tablet from him and scrolled down to doubles. Now that I know which position everyone is in, I can make bets on my friends.
Bracket one, position eight: Jinx, 7:1
Bracket two, position two: Scarlet/Cami, 7:1
Seven-to-one odds for both of them. I opened my new bag of coins, pulled the golden coins out, and placed them into my pocket. I looked over the other competitors and saw five ten-to-one odds on the screen. But I generally don’t know what that means. It probably means I get more back. So if that’s the case, how much is a bet on me worth?
Bracket four, position seven: Rezurrection, 9:1
I blinked at the number, turned to Jeff, and said, “Um, I have a question.”
Jeff kept cutting veggies with a knife and said, “I have an answer.”
“What does the 7:1 and 9:1 mean?”
Jeff stopped cutting his veggies momentarily as he thought of the answer, “It’s de odds of dat team winning. So, say ye bet one platinum on a team with seven-to-one odds. Ye will get seven platinum back. Ye follow?”
I nodded, “Yes, I do, thanks.” I then returned to the tablet and decided on my bets. “Are you ready for my order?” I asked.
Jeff put his knife down, looked over everything, and said, “I think I am. What will it be, kiddo?”
“One Jinx, Scarlet/Cami, and Rezurrection for Zeana.”
Getting to work making some food, Jeff asked, “Just doubles and one single, huh?”
“Yep, I’m putting more money on me.”
“I will add it to yer previous bet,” Jeff confirmed, and I took one platinum from the bag and gave Jeff the bag. Jeff took it and the tablet and placed three drinks on the counter for me. A light blue fizzy drink, a red fizzy drink, and water.
I took them and said, “Thank you!”
“Oh, one last thing, li’le las,” Jeff called after me, and I turned to see him holding a small hand full of cold meat, “Fer yer fox.” I downed the cup of water and held it out for him. Jeff chuckled and placed the meat in the cup. I then had to keep Yuki from getting too close to the cup and taking the food while I got to my seat to watch the show.
***