image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/751c932d-7137-416f-ba99-7427ea3001b9/0_1.png]

----------------------------------------

On Friday morning, Melinda gathered the students together and announced: "Listen up. We'll leave in the early afternoon, at six o'clock. Prepare accordingly. There are some changes in our schedule. The next round of the 'Capture the Flag' challenge has been replaced with an Arena Combat Championship. Students from all schools can compete against each other. Effective immediately, access is allowed to those who want to hone their combat skills. The official matches will begin on Monday. Public attendance is free and encouraged. Go support your friends.

"The Arena has wards ensuring no attack is lethal. There is no limit on how many matches per day are fought, there are enough rings for everyone. To enter the Arena, come to the pillar," she pointed to a new structure that had appeared in the middle of the camp, "and touch it. You will be presented with choices, it’s very user-friendly. There is a similar pillar on campus. Mind students are forbidden to compete against Spirit or Body students unless they are in the third stage. That's all."

Looks so. "I was thinking of going after those Trade faction cultivators," Peter said to Regina and Marius. "Wanna come?"

"Sorry, I want to test some new ideas," she said. "Take papa."

"I'm on duty all day," Marius said. "Take Daniel."

"He has to cook lunch, I checked his schedule yesterday… It's OK, I'll do it myself."

Regina fondled his cheek and kissed him. "Take care."

"Good idea. Care's the only available partner anyway…"

Regina giggled and each one went on separate ways. Regina toward the fields, to collect straws, Mariu took over from the guards he was supposed to shift with, and he went to the tent to pick up his backpack. When he got out, he bumped into Jack.

"I challenge you," Jack said abruptly.

"Sorry?"

"I know you got wild magic powers. We'll use the Arena. Choose your weapon, whatever you want."

Looks so. Very well. I'm done being bullied, let's kick his ass.

"I accept if we stick to our hands and feet. No weapons," Peter said. "And only one round, until one yields or is incapacitated."

"I won’t need more than one round, wimp," Jack sneered, turned on his heels and led the way. They touched the obelisk at the same time. A text appeared, asking them to choose if they wanted to duel or be spectators, and a second text asked them to choose the rules.

"One round, only hands, and feet, until one yields or is incapacitated," Jack said.

The teleportation went smoothly, better than anything that Peter had experienced so far. No blinding light, no dizziness. They just appeared in a boxing ring inside a hybrid arena, a hundred feet wide and sixty large, with an architecture mixing Art Nouveau with Roman antiquity. A few students were chomping on sandwiches in the stalls. Spectators.

"The first Student match in the Arena is between Jack Browers, Body Cultivator rank three, and Peter Hillden, Wild Magic user. Both are students of Dartmouth Cultivator College. One round of unarmed combat," a qi-message resounded. The spectators applauded and leaned forward, eager to watch the spar.

Peter threw his backpack aside and rotated his shoulders. He had his leather jacket on, but he didn't care much. With or without, he intended to win fast and decisively. Nevertheless, he activated his Physical Restraint ability.

"Start," the qi-voice said.

Hearing the call, Peter's heart skipped a heartbeat, and his resolve to give Jack a thrashing vanished. It was meaningless. People had lost their lives, others were in danger, and he was there playing a stupid game instead of doing what mattered.

Jack was on him in no time, throwing a flurry of fists and kicks. Without Warping, it was harder to parry or avoid them all. Peter might have succeeded if his heart had been in the game, however, it wasn’t. One fist kicked his stomach through the gap between the unzipped parts of the jacket. It hurt...

Peter kept his guard up, soaking or moving around most hits, just by footwork or rotating his shoulders. Nevertheless, even those simple moves were throwing Jack off balance, his fists missing their target more often than not. The Dexterity perk.

Peter saw an opening and threw a jab in Jack's jaw. The Cultivator was thrown ten feet back, landing on his back, despite Peter hitting as softly as possible. He hoped it was over, but shaking his head, Jack jumped to his feet. "You're stronger than I thought."

I'm still slow and I lack training… I depend on active skills too much… Peter knew it was the truth. He had less than a month of practice, and he was overthinking, the instincts yet to be built. Jack had those moves ingrained in him by a full year of training. Maybe that perk for getting to full cap in INT was not as useless as he thought.

Jack threw himself at Peter, his arm twisted back for a haymaker. Peter raised his elbows to protect his head, but instead of hitting him, Jack grabbed Peter's waist and threw him on the floor. On the way down, Peter saw in slow motion what he could have done to prevent that. An elbow to the head, or a knee to the groin… His instincts also were shouting at him to Warp. But it didn't matter, he wanted the match to be over and mind his business.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jack hit the floor near Peter's head with his fist, intentionally missing, to prove a point. "I yield!" Peter yelled.

"The match concludes with Jack Browers's victory."

Rising from the ground, Peter went to get back his backpack. His body was feeling weak… his shoulders limp, from how he felt inside. Sad. "I hope you're satisfied," he said to Jack.

"No, I’m not... I thought you were my friend," Jack said.

"What?" Peter blurted. "Your friend?"

"The least you could do was to come to me and say: look, man, I'm dating Regina. I hope you're not mad at me, but since you broke up… A friend would have done that."

"You're mad?" Peter screamed. "We're no friends. You bullied me all the time! Always making fun of me, or making me vomit with your Cultivator aura."

"C'mon," Jack snorted. "I protected you from the real bullies, taking you under my wing. And who made sure you had pocket money? Do you think I didn't know the price of a beer? For the record, I made everyone puke… Regina too, once. I was testing stuff… for f—"

"Fun?" Peter retorted. "Maybe we have different standards, Young Master Jack, but where I come from, one doesn't make his friends puke."

"Whatever. I get it now. You're a stuck-up snob. How does one exit this place?" Jack yelled.

And they were back to camp, and no one was near the pillar. Peter was furious. He grabbed Jack by the arm and teleported up in the sky then a long way Eastward. He paused on a meadow.

"What are you doing?" Jack screamed.

"We go hunting," Peter said. "You thought I was your friend… I didn't feel the same. Let’s start again. I'll be honest with you and show you my skills."

"T-this is what you can do as a Wild Mage?" Jack looked around. "T-teleport?"

“It’s called Warp. I can’t go through walls, but if I see a place with my eyes, I can go there.”

"B-but h-how?" Jack stuttered on. "Movement skills are obtained at the fifth rank…"

"I found an alien... book about how to unlock some very special abilities. Without those, though, I kinda suck."

"Ready to move on?" Peter asked. Grabbing Jack's arm again, he Warped thrice, stopping at the outskirts of the town on the lake. "Have you eaten breakfast?"

"A sandwich."

"Let's grab a coffee. We need to talk.”

Peter led the way to the inn. Leaving Jack on the terrace, he went inside, ordered the drinks, paid for a room for a month, and then hid the rezz bead in the closet. Five minutes later, he returned, finding Jack staring at the catfolks people with big widened eyes.

"Are they… friendly?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, they're friendly… mostly… Thanks," Peter said to the waitress, who was just bringing a mug of filter coffee, milk, and some pastries.

"I'm listening," Jack said, munching on a croissant.

Unbelievable! You snitch!

"Is that… a werewolf?" Jack gasped.

"Hi, Will!" Peter waved. William waved back and disappeared on the street, turning the corner. "A friend, he's harmless, unless you eat his geese… Never mind. Listen to me," he leaned forward. "What do you think your job as a cultivator will be? Why is the school training you?"

"I dunno… Protecting the weak, stuff?"

"With the first challenge a battle between camps, and the second an Arena championship?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"You're meant to be a soldier, bro. But there is worse... and I want you to swear you’ll keep the secret."

“Cross my heart!” Jack made the gesture.

"There’s a secret cultivator faction," Peter continued, seeing Jack was following his words in silence, "let's call it Trade, that controls most of the colleges."

"Is ours one of—"

"No. Ours was a gift to Melinda, by her father. Trade plans to train students as assassins, expendable ones, to murder their rivals. For instance, Alchemy’s a target. They aim to get her father through her..."

Jack's eyes were staring into nothingness. "How do you know this? You're… Resistance?" he asked slowly.

"Not really... maybe just a bit... To be frank, I found this by happenstance... One thing led to another, and another one, and so on...”

“Why don’t you tell—”

“Li? Because he will go after them, qi blazing, and there will be an all-open war between the factions, with the students in the middle. No. The plan is to weaken the secret faction bit by bit while protecting Melinda in secret. There's a student in a camp nearby, codename Cobra, who's on top of the list of would-be assassins… A rank-five Body. I'm after her. Are you in?"

"But… if she's stage five… " Jack said. "It's impossible, we'll die, man… I think we should tell Melinda or her father."

"I give you my word I can deal with a level five, but I need your help. Are. You. In?"

Jack nodded.

"Good." Peter slapped his hands on the table. "Let's go."

They walked out of town at a brisk pace, stopping in a copse. After Peter equipped his full battle gear, adding his pants, and ballistic helmet, they went on, Warping again.

This time the College Camp was set on a hilltop, with intricate earthworks and trench fortifications around. The ridge Peter set themselves on was over a mile away, and the only vantage point.

Taking his binoculars, Peter examined the base. It had an Arena obelisk in the middle and four taller pillars at regular intervals, whose purpose he didn't know. A weird flag floated on the mast.

"What do you make of this?" he gave the binoculars to Jack.

"Good defense… No idea what those pillars are for… The flag is the sickest thing I ever saw…" Jack said.

"Why?"

"Quebec's flag with a svastika instead of the white cross?"

“Pff... I thought it was some Celtic stuff... again...”

"So, how do you plan to get her?" Jack asked.

"There are foraging parties outside," Peter pointed. "If she's in one of those, it's easy. If not, I'll use Stealth and sneak inside, grab her, and Warp back to you. Worst case scenario, we wait until they leave for the teleportation area, in the evening, and ambush her on the way. I'll give you a gun and you'll make a diversion."

"O-OK," Jack said, looking all but confident.

"I'll go scouting," Peter said. He Warped up and Glided, entering Stealth.

You told me you could scan around for a few miles. What do you see?

Luck was with Peter though. The teams foraging were displayed in a fan pattern, and in a center, on a small mound, a girl was watching them, shouting orders from time to time. It was the target. Slim, almost anorexic, but with wiry muscles, so well defined by the lack of body fat that one could make an anatomic demonstration on her. Short black hair, and a snake tatoo on the back of her neck.

Still in Stealth, Peter appeared behind her back and grabbed her shoulder, releasing an Electric Impulse. She went limp on the spot, he took her in her arms and Warped above Jack, floating down.