Tanin did a little wave at Jayden. "Friend of yours?" he asked me.

I managed a smile. "We've seen each other around the neighborhood."

"You wanted to talk?" Jayden asked me. I shot him a glare. No, not now around dozens of onlookers!

"Maybe tonight," I suggested. But I stared at him so hard, it was basically a command. He seemed to realize as much.

"Cool," he replied flatly.

"Let's focus on the tournament," I said, then I continued to look around for Hei.

The tournament was held in the format of a single-elimination bracket. Each match was just a single round, one-versus-one. To win, you needed to get your opponent below 200 HP. At first it sounded way too scary to me, considering 200 was just a few hits away from death. But, as it turned out, it was impossible to drop an opponent below 30 HP without actual killing intent. Hei had assured me it was failproof, that it really was impossible to accidentally kill anyone without really, really meaning to. He hypothesized it was some sort of special safety net, baked into the fundamental workings of this world by whoever designed it.

Nonetheless, they had a healer on the sidelines, to take care of the wounded after each match, and to handle emergencies during the match.

Though going for the kill was strictly forbidden, knockouts were fair game. The exact HP threshold for a knockout varied from person to person, and from occasion to occasion. According to the Combat Division, knockouts were known to occur as high as 100HP. On the other end, people could still be standing even when they were down to 30.

Back when I had first learned about knockouts, a few weeks ago, I had gone to ask Saber what HP she was at when she passed out during our fight against the Stone Giant, that first serious fight we fought together. Our team scarcely talked about that battle nowadays; none of us remembered it fondly. But Saber confirmed she only had 20 HP when she had fallen unconscious.

The ring of a bell snapped my attention back to the present. The first match had started. The contestant with the assault rifle blasted away on full-auto, but the martial artist deflected all the bullets with a flurry of fists, then closed in for a multi-hit combo that quickly ended the match.

"That wasn't fair!" the gunner complained. He looked down bitterly at the rifle in his hands. "This thing is literally useless!"

The referee, a middle-aged woman wearing plate armor and holding a spellbook, shrugged. "Yeah, she's got projectile deflection. Unfortunate matchup, better luck next time."

Huh. Projectile deflection? That could really screw over Hei's trump card, his Schwarzschild Trident. In normal challenges, where everyone started at level 1, it was partially balanced by being his third unlocked ability. But in duels, he'd often use it as his opening move, to weaken his opponents right off the bat. I wondered how well he'd fare without it.

The tournament bracket was sketched out on a blackboard on wheels, which stood right beside the referee. She recorded the martial artist's victory and advanced her to the next round. Thankfully, Hei wouldn't have a chance to run into her until the grand finals. But first place got $500, and second place got nothing, so Hei losing to her at the very end of the tournament would still be a shame.

But really, what were the chances of the two of them, out of everyone else, meeting in the finals?

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

After numerous rounds, Hei and the martial artist met in the finals.

"Dang it!!" I shouted out loud.

"Geez-Louise," Tanin whispered. "Calm down, girl."

"I refuse," I replied with a huff. "Hei, you hecking got this!"

…I honestly wasn't sure if he hecking got this. The martial artist had 3 abilities. First, a supercharged punch that stunned targets on contact. Second, a leap kick that traveled up to a whole 40 meters, then caused an AoE shockwave explosion when it hit. She didn't even need to hit the opponent for the shockwave to happen; kicking the ground worked just as well. Her third ability was a defensive guard-stance that negated all projectiles for 2 seconds. She could still move and attack as usual during this time window, and the projectile negation was omnidirectional. Her health was 880, and she had a blazing fast attack speed. Based on her performance thus far, Hei likely couldn't compete without his Schwarzschild Trident.

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The bell rang. The match between those two had begun.

Hei started by conjuring his Schwarzschild Trident. Right off the bat. Not hiding his intent at all.

Over the past months, we had learned a couple things about the Trident. No, Hei couldn't use it as a melee weapon to stab people. The skill's description said it had to be thrown. And no, Hei's Ring of Weapon Recall didn't work on it. So he couldn't throw it to bait out the projectile-deflection stance, teleport it back into his hand, then throw it again once the stance wore off after 2 seconds. And, when we tested, even if he Voidstepped forward to try and catch the Trident after throwing it, the Trident would just slip intangibly out of his grasp. He literally had a single throw, one per Trident, and that was it.

The martial artist hopped left and right, keeping her eyes on Hei. In response, Hei charged forward in a straight line. Mid-stride, he teleported behind the martial artist with Voidstep. Right where she couldn't see. He wound back his arm and took aim to throw his Trident at point-blank range. A dark sheen engulfed the martial artist's brass knuckles – the tell for her activating her projectile-deflection ability. Not only did she react to Hei's sudden teleport, she also anticipated that he'd throw the Trid–

But Hei did not throw the Trident. A feint! Instead, he went for a jab with his spear, which the martial artist scarcely dodged.

Yes! I pumped my fist. Hei actually managed to bait out the one move I was worried about.

But it was too early to celebrate. The martial artist drove a left-hook into Hei's flank, crumpling him instantly. Hei fell to his knees, only to be met with a kick to the face, then rapid jabs. I winced in vicarious pain.

He couldn't even dodge or defend himself. That initial hook fist was her signature stunning blow.

By the time the stun wore off, Hei was down a couple hundred HP. He repelled the martial artist away with a spear thrust empowered by Graviton Joust. A wave of power burst as the spear rammed into her, launching her back through the air.

That was when Hei finally threw his immaterial Trident. It skewered the martial artist in midair. Right before she landed, right before she could touch the ground and dodge.

Hei closed in, spear-strikes fierce and swift. The martial artist, despite her being slowed and weakened and imbalanced by the Trident's gravitational distortion, took her stand. She weaved about, and bobbed, and traded blows with her fists and kicks. But alas, the brass knuckles vs. spear matchup wasn't a winning one, and Hei quickly gained the upper hand. Not that I expected the brass knuckles vs. assault rifle matchup to be favorable either. But that assault rifle did feel nerfed compared to real life. It only did, what, 30-40 damage per bullet I think?

With a last few shaft-whips, Hei knocked the martial artist down, bringing her to 170 HP. I hopped and clapped until my palms hurt, and the rest of the audience applauded also. Hei had won the tournament.

"How is that trident remotely fair?!" the assault-rifle guy groaned. "I swear, this game is 100% not balanced properly…"

The martial artist, though wounded and cut, was still conscious. She staggered over to the sideline to be healed. Meanwhile, the referee handed out the cash prize to Hei, erased the blackboard, and drew a new bracket for the tournament of 5th level players. Hei counted the money, then gave me one big thumbs-up. I one-upped him by returning two.

"Let this guy fight with the level 5's," the martial artist asked the referee, pointing at Hei. The referee stroked her chin.

"I want to see his upper limit," the martial artist added.

The referee pursed her lips, then scanned around the crowd pensively.

"Sure," she finally said. "I'll allow it." She looked to Hei. "How are you feeling, young man?"

"I'll try," he said.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

…Well, long story short, Hei ended up winning the 5th level tournament as well. When he defeated his last opponent with only 230 HP left himself, there was silence. Applause came after a short delay, but I could tell the crowd was more shocked than hyped.

I pinched myself to make sure this was all still real.

Ow, that hurt.

I knew Hei was strong. I knew dueling was his niche, and he'd been practicing day and night to get better. But still. He was now among the best duelists known to the Institute. Everyone better than him had either gone up to Gold, or they never showed up to compete today.

Since Hei already won $500, the referee decided to award the prize money of the 5th level tournament to the runners-up. And that officially concluded the day's tournaments. In the unofficial meet-and-greet that followed, the small crowd, me included, recovered from the initial disbelief at Hei's victory. Discussions and idle talk began all around, and many people had things to say about Hei and his abilities, and they debated about his strengths and weaknesses. A small group of new fans had gathered around Hei, chatting him up.

"Heck yeah!" I cheered at him. "That's my overpowered-anime-protagonist childhood friend!" I ran past Hei and gave him a congratulatory slap on the back. As I did that, a faint gleam pulsed over his body.

Wait a minute. Did…did he just level up to 5?