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Mission Completed (1):
Register for the Lake of Towering Greens’ Arena and participate.
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Julius had to accept that the admitting process was easier and straightforward compared to the guy with the black headband back at Longyue. It was like a doctor’s appointment where they did their physicals and recorded the following measurements. He hated it because of being time-consuming, leaving the moment of today and the time with Lin as the exception. After completing the admission process, he met with Solomon in a large room, which appeared similar to a team locker room. Since it was a large open space, the vibe contrasted with the one back at the Underground tournament. The lockers at one end of the space were mentally startling and uncomfortable.
What kept him from staring at it in turmoil was a wall-sized chart. It’s handwritten all over in an organized fashion. But it can’t be altered. Not even a board marker would interfere. Another original engineering design, as the handwriting would change every minute. Julius quickly understood how it works as when the update happens, a whiff of qi overwhelms a space, filling it up with ink. Pretty convenient in practice without having to waste pens, pencils, or erasers.
Noting the other contestants that participated, there was a chart on full display, listing all the individuals in the game. Solomon also shared the same interest in other people, joining Julius to review the list. While Celeste, Victoria, and Sally are probably doing last-minute corrections or some personal business.
He looked at the names, along with their nationalities and physical descriptions. A few more empty rows and the total number of contestants will be a hundred. The rules were not announced yet until all contestants had convened.
“I'll be honest; everyone is pretty tall. You don't see that on Earth all the time,” Julius commented.
Solomon’s eyes remain focused on the list. He then pointed at one of the contestants’ rows. “That’s the average,” he muttered, directing Julius's attention to the one being around 5’11”. “If you go down a bit by the length of a forehead, you are now in a below-average range. And I'm talking about both men and women.”
“Wow, that's literally impressive. There's always a gap on Earth between the two.”
Solomon shook his head. “That's a shame. Well, for us, being tall is essential for qi control as there is more surface area around our spine. I’m sure you noticed in the fights and battles you went through that there was a layer covering the entire spine.”
Julius scratched his head as if he should have noticed it. Other than decapitating enemies, he doesn't recall. “I think you lost me there. I never paid attention to that. Especially, the types of attacks I don't involve me being like a scientist observing an enemy’s back.”
“That's not what I meant, but a fair point. What I meant was how our bodies are technically structured differently. You are from Earth, so I don't know if your body has adapted to fit like ours. However, here, in Raal; the taller height tends to be rewarded. We went through a couple of centuries of rapid evolution to sustain and contain such power in our bodies.”
Julius’s arm crossed. “If that's true, then why do people react like I'm a monster back at Underground Kriegshan? At that hotel.”
“I'll be frank with you. Lu Yi and Ritter. To meet them in person, they are the nicest people I've seen from Kriegshan in many years. And it is rare, which says a lot for someone like me, Celeste, Sally, and Victoria, who were born there.”
“Hmm, that's interesting. I’ll take you up on that. Back to that spine statement. Do you think I've one?”
Solomon then leaned backward, viewing Julius's rear upper torso and neck. “I could find out now.”
Julius felt something hit his neck, prompting him to swirl away from his spot. “I thought you were trying to figure out if I had one, not punching it,” he yelled. He then saw Solomon with his two fingers up, appearing confused.
“I mean yes, you do. But it was not fully developed, so you felt that is understandable. Still impressive though, because that is a weak point, and you don’t have a fully developed layer yet as I could still feel the tip of your bone.”
“No marks, right?”
Solomon shook his head. “Nope. You’re good. Celeste will check on all of us once she is done to get us ready.”
“Yeah, that would be great,” Julius answered, rubbing his neck with his palm. He felt the heat on the surface of his skin. It was hot that mimicked the pain reliever gels that were sold in the over-the-counter drugs section. He got a brief understanding of Solomon’s strength. That was only a gentle tap that felt like a thrusting punch from the ends of the knucklebone. He then realized he might have gotten his weakness exposed to Solomon. Which would mean the rest of the Skolritters would know in the next couple of minutes. A part of his mind went wild, figuring out a plan to not get his neck in a vulnerable situation. Solomon went out to check on the others, leaving him alone.
Turning back to the wall-sized chart with his palm covering his neck and a bit of his head, Julius continued to analyze it. A spill of qi flickered from the chart, dropping to the floor. “Ah, Yinhai.”
The final few rows of the chart are now filled with the last contestants participating, totaling one hundred. He then heard Celeste’s footsteps coming in, notable with the echoing thump per step. That was when he let his hand go, and the palm of her hand touched right on his neck. It made it cold as ice. It took five seconds, and she let go. He turned right to her, finding the Skolritters had all convened. Julius flash stepped toward the lockers, blocking the view from others. Lu Yi and Ritter also arrived. It’s been a while since he last saw them up close and eye-to-eye. He sensed their qi had developed. They haven’t grown taller yet, but noticeably broader.
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“You gained in size?” He asked Ritter. “I haven't seen you two in a while. But you both looked well.”
Ritter nodded, scratching his new thin beard. “Things happened fast in the two weeks you were gone. All of us learned the language as fast as we could and trained. Then the war began and conflict in the swamp. It was a hell of a ride,” he said, greeting Julius back with a tap on his arm. “Yinhai, you are swole.”
Julius grinned, turning to Lu Yi. She appeared to have lost the smiling expression, only for it to return when he switched attention to her. “You've changed more than I thought.”
“Oh, I did. I guess what Ritter said was true,” Lu Yi muttered, glaring one eye at Ritter.
“Anyway, it is good to see you two. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for this tournament.” He then refocused on the entire group. “Have we got anything since the whole chart on the wall is filled?”
“I’m actually here with an update,” Celeste said. “Let us sit down and talk about it before they call everyone out to the arena.”
42.2
The tournament regulators lacked the time to state its rules because of the large amounts of participants. That's what Celeste and Victoria were told while they were still getting last-minute checks. Additionally, this is the largest tournament ever held in history, so the contestants could get a little feisty and demanding. There were a couple of reasonable rules that supposedly kept things in order, but the whole Skolritters knew each other that might not last.
“Have there been any deaths reported in the prior years?” Julius asked in a grave tone.
“The longer we go back, the counts are much higher. Only the last two tournaments were at its lowest ever reported.”
“That's what I'm worried about. I'm here with you all, along with the House of Kang, to represent the government team. We are only here to claim the entire stage. Not to be a sports player.”
“Actually, this is not a team game. It's a free-for-all sole match of everybody right on stage.”
“What?” Julius and Solomon both simultaneously asked.
“One match, a hundred and twenty minutes. However, we can have our own declared teams, and we don't have to tell anyone,” Victoria said, sending a communication to everyone's systems.
The House of Kang is not in this room but across from us. I hope they figured stuff out of their own accord. Julius thought, reflecting on the potential consequences. He will make sure at least a couple “survives” this match. House of Kang and maybe potential allies were included. As well as his recently discovered family. Tang Cheng and Tang Li Mei are the bridges that lead Julius to the other side. His mind was being an architect, pacing to find new possibilities to add to the constructed scenario. Then, Julius felt burning like a rash coming from within his head.
“You alright?” Victoria asked.
What the heck? Julius didn’t realize his head was down. “Whoops, my mind got carried away. Did I miss anything?”
“You missed the final rewards. Also, you were a little startled. I saw it through your dilated eyes.” Victoria then summoned a water bottle from her virtual inventory and poured a gulp, waterfalling all over Julius’s head. “You okay now?”
Julius washed his face before slicking his hair back. “Yeah, thanks. I feel better now…I got carried away thinking about whom to not kill. If everybody dies except us, it’ll be all done for,” he said in a stressed tone that he felt his neck muscles tightened.
Celeste reached out and held his knee as she noticed his legs tremored. “Relax. You need to relax. Don’t put so much crap all in your mind or you will lose it.”
It was one of those moments Julius had hidden from the public for most of his life. A continued bad habit of holding stress rather than venting it out in the open. For many, that was considered dangerous and heart-threatening. He had never had that problem until now, sensing a throbbing in his chest.
“I sensed something bad was happening in your body. Are you alright?” Hu asked.
“Can Skoltor or you check if something is up?”
“Give me a moment.”
Julius looked directly at Celeste while physically lethargic on a whim. “Skoltor is in a crisis mode, after possibly detecting some health problems. I might need some—”
“Skoltor and I have detected the same result. You are definitely experiencing a significant anxiety attack.”
“How?”
“I’m not a hundred percent certain, but have you ever gone through a traumatic experience before?”
“—yes.” Julius doesn’t want to emphasize much further. He ignored any Skoltor warnings, redirecting back to Celeste. “—can you ease stress?” He asked her.
She eyed everyone else, telling them to scatter. They stood from their seats and left her and Julius with a decent amount of space. Julius followed her directions by lying on her lap, receiving no reactions from others watching. Feeling more lethargic, Celeste moved and nudged Julius with both of her hands until his face was directly perpendicular to her torso.
“I want you to lie still, and don’t move,” Celeste directed.
“Alright…I’m too tired to move, anyway.”
“I will warn you that it might sting,” she said while hovering her hands right to both sides of his head with around an inch of space in between.
“Sting? You mean GRAHHHHH!” Julius’s jolting scream roared out from his mouth. The vocals were loud like stereo speakers, vibrating the cubic shield. It was like getting pinned right up to the skull as the earlier rash spread down to all the pressure points on his face. His nose tendered with a sensation of a violent squeeze of a pinch. He felt his lungs slowly surrender because of the consistent yells of pain. As pain reached around his eyes and nose, Julius saw his surroundings getting darker.
“Ease yourself, Julius…Don’t try to fight it…You are bringing more than your body could contain. Make your body relax…Try, try,” Celeste whispered, a breath of cold and purifying scent of lavender that countered Julius’s tendered nose.
Julius couldn’t think because of the overload of pain all around his body. However, he paid attention to Celeste’s dewy skin, and she returned his attention with a vibrant smile. She continued to whisper repeatedly: “Ease yourself.”
The floral aroma that soothed his nasal pain was followed by a spicy scent that was sharp but counteractive to his inner headaches. Celeste’s continuous repeated phrase by her breath generated a load of positives almost to a waterfall of mist. Julius can’t help it. Her smile was nearly contagious, which was enough to sabotage his perception of pain. As a result, his view became dimmer. With a reduction of sensing pain, he regained some of his thoughts and realized his eyelids were fatigued. He then drifted to sleep, removing himself from any more pain.