A groan escaped from behind Alric’s palm as he slowly lowered his palm from his face. “Sure. We can go take a look at the hardest crafting skill we currently know about. Runes and engraving are super easy. Pay no attention to my sarcasm.”

Kai grinned. “If it’s any help I’m really good with languages. So I should learn the runes really quickly.”

Alric paused and didn’t say a word; his thoughts moved at a ridiculous speed. “Yes, that should be helpful.” He pulled a pad of paper from his pocket and scribbled a note. He signalled the waiter over, “I need this to be taken to Sam immediately.”

“I’m not really a messenger sir.” The waiter had a frown on his face.

“I don’t give a damn. I need this note to get to Sam right now. So either run it yourself or find someone who can. I am certain it is more important that putting food on a few tables.” The waiter grumbled something under his breath that Kai couldn’t make out but he snatched the piece of paper and took off out the door. Alric had a smile on his face that Kai had never seen.

“For some reason I think my life just got more difficult.” Was all that Kai could think to say. Alric simply nodded in agreement with that statement.

“We’ll go see Sam tomorrow afternoon or evening some time. For now it’s more sparring for you. Ready?” Alric didn’t wait for Kai’s response but simply stood and began to move toward the door. Kai had no choice but to follow.

They left the restaurant and headed directly to the sparring fields. The circle they stopped at had about seven people standing around it. Emily wasn’t there.

“Excellent. You’ve all made it.” Alric began. “Most of you know each other and me. This here is Kai. A new recruit to Donnyton. He’ll be the eighth for this quick tournament. Now you all know the standard rules. Fight to half health. No finishing moves.” A young man ran up to Alric with a long package that was wrapped in canvas. Alric nodded to the young boy who ran back the way he came. “We’ll be starting in just a few minutes. Go ahead and get warmed up and stretched if you haven’t already.”

Alric walked to Kai. He unwrapped the canvas and revealed a new wooden bokken that he extended towards Kai.

Practice Bokken Lvl. 10: A well crafted bokken with near perfect balance and a high durability. Reaction +2, Control +1

“Holy shit. This is better than that sword you gave me.” Kai took and began to examine the bokken. He spun it through a few arcs and various positions. “The balance on this thing is ridiculous. If I could get a wakizashi like this I’d be set.”

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Alric nodded. “We’ll talk with Sam tomorrow about that. Today you are focusing on this tournament. There is one spot left open in the next patrol. The winner of this tournament gets that spot. Now-”

“I’d get to fight monsters?” Kai cut Alric off. “Like go out and fight monsters? That’d be awesome. So I win I fight monsters.”

“Kid just slow down. I think it’s a bit soon for you to go out, but Daniel thinks a controlled scout mission will do you good. The team leaves in four days. If you win you’ll get more details. Remember, if you get to half health you need to surrender we don’t want anyone dying. Also, don’t try to kill anyone with a finishing move. I don’t think you have anything yet. Just be careful, a little harder than you fought against Emily but not much.”

Kai nodded. “I can handle that. And using the bokken will help reduce the chance of killing these people.” Kai looked at the other people around the sparring ring. He examined them as opponents for the first time. There were three people who sat in deep meditation. Ok, those are mostly magic users, I need to evade their initial attacks and then move close range as quickly as possible. There was a guy that was doing some moves with a spear. He seemed hesitant with each strike and uncertain that he was holding the spear properly as he shook his head with each move he made. A girl that had two daggers. She stood with her head looking at the ground and nodding to herself. She made small little jumps and twirled the two daggers around her hand then between her hands. She reminded Kai of a boxer before a match, not a good sign. There was a guy with an axe and shield combination. Based on the practice moves Kai guessed the shield was a recent addition.

The last fighter had him the most worried. The man just sat to the side with a quiver at his hip and a bow on his lap. He also watched all the other fighters warm up. When Kai met the man’s eyes the man smiled and waved. The confidence the man had told Kai this was the only opponent that mattered.

“Yes, Vin is a very impressive hunter. I’m surprised he hasn’t found a squad to join yet. He’s only had his class about three weeks though so maybe that’s why.” Alric told Kai.

“Wait. These people have classes and you expect me to fight them?”

“As I mentioned before. I think it’s a bit early to send you out. Even though you have not examined your notifications you have been gaining skill levels and improving. You were also a talented martial artist before the System and in good physical health. You may not win, but you winning at least one round would not surprise me.”

Alric began to walk toward the sparring circle. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Unless of course you get paired with Vin, in which case you’ll lose very quickly in the first round.”

Alric reached the center of the circle. “Excellent. Everyone seems to be ready. Please gather round. Opponents will be chosen in the standard fashion. There are eight stones in this basket. They are labeled one through four. The one and two stones are blue in color to indicate the winners of those two matches fight. The three and four stones are yellow in color to indicate the winners of those matches fight. Of course the final round then becomes obvious. Good luck to all participants.”

Alric held up a basket. The fights approached one at a time and withdrew a stone. Kai was the last to draw and noticed various fighters pairing up. He reached into the basket and pulled out the final stone. It was yellow and had a three on it. Kai looked around and noticed the woman with two daggers was staring at him. She held up a yellow rock and walked toward Kai. The rock of course had a three on it. This was his first opponent.