Aby held up her mana-notepad, [I can see that. We recruit? Or see? She is newcomer.]
Richard studied Mary Grant as she stood in the ring, glaring at the large human across from her. Her skin was much more tanned than in the picture, her muscles seemed to be made of much sterner stuff than in the picture, and her eyes seemed to have seen more than they did in the picture. While studying her, he noticed that she was mumbling to herself. It was almost as if she was talking to someone, but he disregarded that theory; if she was able to sneak a communication device into The Ring, he would hire her on the spot to be a smuggler. “We should let her do her thing for now; I want to see the capabilities of someone capable of completely eradicating the Sect,” he replied to Aby. Her lips shot into a beaming smile that almost tested his fidelity with Gina as she watched in rapt attention of the arena.
Richard, too, returned his attention to the arena just as the large islander man spoke, “If I were home on Xu-Get, I would be called scum for fighting a woman of your size, you know. I’ll make this easier on you: just give up and you can go home in one piece,” he threatened, an uncaring smile showing on his face.
Mary seemed unimpress for a moment, but her slight frown creeped into an entertained grin, “Oh,” she asked, her voice showing just how entertained she was, “I was about to offer the same to you. Funny how that works, huh?”
Richard shivered as she spoke. He knew what she was capable of and she knew that she was not bluffing when she implied she could break the man. The only thing to wonder was whether or not she would play nice, and Richard was becoming more and more uncertain, “That guy’s going to get himself killed at this rate. No-one else knows that she just came off of a murder-spree,” he muttered.
Aby shrugged, [Makes it more interesting. Might be a bloodbath. Gonna be fun,] her pad read as she gave a vicious smile. Richard sighed at his assistant’s obsession with fighting and went back to observing the match.
The man scoffed at Mary’s rebuke and began to walk forward menacingly, displaying his stature. Mary gave a soft smile as she casually walked forward as well. She may have been over a foot shorter than the 7 foot tall man, her seeming disinterest was menacing enough to match the large man’s gait. As the opponents approached each other, the crowd fell deeper into silent tension. Before long, the two were within striking distance and the man made the first move. Kicking a foot out, he tried to shake her balance but was confused when a foot met his with a thud and matched its strength. He scoffed at her attempts and increased his pressure in an attempt to topple her, but his strength was matched in full. He eventually backed off and shook his leg, “Hm, looks like there’s more than meets the eye. I take back my offer now; you’re not getting out of this without a broken bone or two, little miss,” he said with a leering grin, “After that… Well, we’ll get to know each other very well.”
In spite of the man’s and even Richard’s expectations she laughed at him, “If you’re so confident, then come and get me.” With that, she broke out into a sprint and closed the short distance between them in less than a second. The shock from her unexpected rebuke stunned the man so badly that she was able to land an elbow strike on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Regaining his bearings, the man made an attempt to grab her in a grapple but was unable to touch her. She backed off and as he was recoiling from the failed grapple she stepped behind him and pulled an arm around his neck. Losing the ability to breathe, the man gripped onto her constricting arms in a desperate attempt to shake her off and was thrown to the ground for his trouble. The man struggled on the ground for a bit longer, but soon fell into unconsciousness. The audience was deathly silent for the entire fight, in contrast to their normal shouts and jeers, but erupted into cheering when Mary raised a victorious fist.
The unconscious man was carried off by Vic’s medics, though they lacked a medical license, and a new opponent entered the arena. It was a demi-human this time and one that Richard was vaguely familiar with: Fu. Fu was a goblin-gremlin mix, from which he inherited a pathetically short stature of 3 feet and 5 inches, and had light red skin. Without a mind for banter, the tiny demi-human charged Mary but ducked out of the way of a kick aimed for his face. In response to the kick, he tried to bash her remaining foot to topple her. Despite his best efforts, however, he was unable to even shake her balance. Mary, seeing what the goblin-gremlin mix was trying to do, quickly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him out of the ring. Fu landed with a soft thud but sat up not a moment later, unharmed. Hanging his head, he left the ring as the crowd cheered and laughed. Interestingly enough, Richard could have sworn he could see her smile twitching with his enhanced eyes as they laughed.
As contestants were allowed to stay in the ring for, at most, 3 rounds, Mary’s last opponent was a middle aged man just a bit taller than her, with tanned skin, calloused hands, and a bushy grey mustache. The man’s body was well muscled, but nothing like the first man. Richard grimaced as he saw the man as he knew that he was how the house made its money. The man, James Tallis, was the person that the organizers brought out when too much money was on the line to let someone win their third round. He was meant to lull his opponents into a false sense of security with his short stature and, relatively, thin musclciature. By doing so, his opponents would underestimate him and be caught off guard by both his skill and cybernetics. Unknown to most, the man had advanced cybernetics that rested within his muscle tissue and next to his brain stem; the first meant to make his punches and kicks a bit stronger and the second meant to make his reaction time much faster. James was infamous among the gamblers of The RIng, as it usually meant that the people betting on a 3-round total victory would lose their money. In spite of that, Richard could see the glee in Aby’s eyes at the prospect of seeing the two battle.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
As if unaware of his reputation, and the bitter looks many of the betters in the stands, James gave a heartwarming smile to Mary and took a fighting position, “I won’t insult you with a bogus offer of surrender, so best of luck to you,” he said respectfully.
Mary returned his smile and nodded, taking her fighting position, “Likewise,” she replied with matching respect. In spite of their earlier bravado, both opponents stood there for a tense moment. They studied each other, scrutinizing every detail, without so much as a twitch of movement. Suddenly, they both shot forward and closed the distance in seconds. With a roar James swung a punch at Mary, the air swirling under the force. Instead of attempting to catch the punch like her predecessors Mary dodged to the side, barely missing the punch, and slid past her opponent, into his blindspot.
James, prepared for the maneuver, shot a curled fist behind him, barely missing Mary as she danced backward to the edge of the ring. She smiled as the breath was caught in the throats of the onlookers and James raised a quizzical eyebrow. He advanced slowly and deliberately, shuffling closer and closer. As he was about to reach her, she gave a savage grin and leaped into the air, soaring over him, and landing behind him. Unprepared for the move, James was unprepared to receive a hard kick in the back that sent him flying out of the circular arena in spite of his cybernetics. The air seemed to freeze as the onlookers took in the scene, but soon exploded into the loudest cheering Richard guessed was ever made within the walls of The Ring. Eventually, the flustered announcer declared Mary the victor and announced the wait time until the next mana weapon battle. Mary was escorted out of the arena and into the innards of The Ring.
Richard quickly stood and moved to leave the VIP seating booth and Aby followed with a huff. Moving through the winding hallways of The Ring, he eventually came upon the accounting offices and walked into the payment office. Beyond the door, four thugs were aiming guns ranging from pistols to a rifle at Mary as she stared down the accountant. Everyone except for Mary was terrified, showing plain fear on their faces. Mary, on the other hand, was scarily calm at the prospect of multiple guns being aimed at her. Richard held up his hands in, what he hoped, was a calming gesture, “Hey, hey, what’s going on in here?” he asked. He noticed Aby slowly creeping up behind him, ready to protect him at any cost.
The thugs and accountant were all too terrified to answer, so Mary answered in their stead, “Nothing important. I was simply underpaid for my work. I am meant to receive 5% of the profits won by those who bet for me, for whatever reason, and I overheard that the betters won $5,654.57. I was only given $100 for my labor. I am missing $182.73 of my winnings, and these thugs here pulled their guns on me when I made my position clear,” she explained, “May I presume you are someone who can… make things right?”
He resisted the urge to swallow his spit as he watched her predatory eyes study his every move and every detail. He expected her to be dangerous, but he never thought she would be crazy enough to act like that while four separate guns were pointed at her and all of her mana-tools were taken away. He cleared his throat as she began staring into his eyes, “I believe that the accountant under Vic has… miscounted. Is that correct, my friend?”
Luckily, the young man was sharp enough to get the hint and smart enough to use it, “Y-Yes… I believe I-I did miscount. I will g-get you the rest of your w-winnings ma’am,” he stammered out as he opened the register to retrieve the remaining money.
Richard sighed quietly in relief and looked at Mary up and down once more. He could tell that, despite her appearing unconcerned with the armed men around her, her muscles were tense and ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Her eyes not only observed him, but soaked in every detail around her and committed it to memory. He finally decided to make his offer, “Miss Grant,” he began, “From what I have seen and what I know about you, I believe that I have a job for you.”
He knew that she understood every implication from the statement, as her eyes focused on him as if he were prey. As a werewolf, he knew what it was like to look at someone like that, so he could feel a shiver worming its way down his spine. After a long moment of silence, the accountant placed all of Mary’s remaining earnings on the table in exact change, “Here you go ma’am. $182.73 in exact change. Now, may I ask you to leave? I have other matters to attend to,” he said with confidence. She gave a smile to him, collected her money, and walked out the door.
After closing the door behind her, she turned back to Richard, “And what might compel you to seek my help with it? I assume you know something about me then?” she asked.
“Yes, I do,” he affirmed with as much courage as he could muster, “You have already ended the Sect of the Divine Mechanism, killed an elite enforcer squadron, and you have ties to demis before the Day of Purity. All of that makes you the perfect fit for the job I have in mind.”
She smiled a dangerous smile, metaphorically baring her fangs, “And what might the job entail?”
“You see, in 3 days, a shipment of water-attuned steel will be arriving on the military island. My… group needs people to-”
She held up her hand and began to laugh. He was unsettled by her change in demeanor, but his jaw dropped when she said, “Hijack it for the Spice and Gold Company after the demon Huk received the mission, correct? Sorry to burst your bubble, bud, but I’m already on the team. I was looking for a way to fight against the Union when Huk found me. After… well, fighting, he agreed to bring me along for it. I am, however, interested in whatever you were going to offer in exchange for helping,” she said with an amused smile.
Richard worked his jaw as he tried to process what she just revealed to him. After a few moments, he regained his bearings and nodded, “I see. Well… I was going to offer a pick of a heavy weapon or two to help you. Do you want them?”
She nodded furiously, “Yes I do! I only have what I could scavenge off of the enforcers from the Sect’s place, and I didn’t have time to grab anything else. I came here to earn money so I could make a weapon for myself, but anything you have helps,” she affirmed.
He smiled and nodded, gesturing to a part of the warehouse, “Alright then. Come with me, we have plenty to spare.”