There was silence for several seconds, for once not everyone having noticed the trick. Rei waited, hoping someone else would speak up, but when enough time had passed for the summoned drone to drop down onto the field with its blue-and-red lights flashing, he steeled himself for disapproval and lifted a hand.
“Ward,” Gross acknowledged him, perhaps a little more dryly than was necessary.
“That last overhead cut was a ploy,” Rei answered flatly, deciding he could meet the officer’s lack of enthusiasm just as easily with his own. “Grant brought the weapon down, but released one hand once the momentum was behind the attack already. I’m assuming he knew Yang would try to counter the strike once she deflected it, and if he could negate that counter he would be at advantage. He read her, and used his Strength spec to exactly that point.”
Gross didn’t look disappointed at the thorough deduction, per se, but his curt nod was certainly more rigid than any other approval he’d given so far. As he moved on, asking after what they thought could have changed the direction of the fight, Rei watched in astonishment as behind the officer Grant hauled a clean-faced Yang to her feet once the drone had zipped away and the neural interruption faded enough for her to stand.
“He’s still a dick,” Viv whispered sidelong, and Rei glanced to his left to see her watching the Mauler with narrowed eyes even as he silently helped his beaten opponent back to the edge of the field, where she thanked him before moving on her own—a little wobbly—to her chair at the end of the row.
Rei didn’t offer a word to the contrary. For one thing he wasn’t keen on giving Gross a reason to catch them talking and chew him out for it, but there was also the fact that—if anything—Grant’s apparent capability for some measure of compassion towards his fellow cadets only brought his treatment of Rei into sharper relief.
After 10 minutes and change had passed in conversation about the fight, Gross’ NOED lit up once more, marking the end of the recovery period.
“Third round. Selleck. Ward. You’re up.”
Rei was relieved, as he stood up with the blond boy whose name he hadn’t known, to find himself feeling more excitement than trepidation. Stepping into the Dueling ring, he made for the nearest of the two red circles, “Selleck” already having started for the other. When he was in position he turned to face his opponent, who was taking him in with a bored frown. All around them the field took form again, rising and falling away as the two were lifted a yard off the ground.
“Cadet Mateus Selleck versus Cadet Reidon Ward. Combatants… Call.”
“Call.” Rei echoed, seeing Selleck’s lips move in the same command. The boy turned out to be a Saber-Type, a curved, scimitar-like sword materializing in his hands in a shimmer of red-green steel with blue. His Device crawled up his forearms, too, and Rei could have sworn he saw azure, clawed tips at the end of each finger of Selleck’s free hand.
Bringing his fists up to his face, Shido’s black claws gleaming at the ready, he made a mental note to keep an eye on more than the sword.
“Combatants… Fight.”
If Selleck was anywhere around the D4 average for the class, he was almost a full tier higher than Rei, and he proved it out the gate. Sabers were broadly considered the most balanced Type, but the cadet demonstrated impressive Speed by closing the distance between them long before Rei made it to the halfway mark. The scimitar slashed, cutting horizontally at Rei’s upper body, and he blocked with the heavy plating along the back of his left arm. Steel met steel, and Selleck’s Offense and Strength spec proved themselves far superior when the Saber’s blade cut 2 inches into the metal. Pain bloomed from Rei’s fingers to elbow, but he ignored the sudden weakness of his fist and the flashing notifications in the corner of his neuro-optic informing him of the damage.
Instead, he swung at Selleck’s face, brought within reach by the Saber’s opening attack, Shido’s claws cleaving at his eyes.
Selleck, predictably, ducked under the blow, and had just enough time to start a gasp of surprise before Rei’s right knee took him in his descending face. He wheeled backwards from the hit, pulling his sword free of Rei’s left arm as he did, and Rei followed after him with a leaping punch that Selleck barely managed to dodge as he blinked away a watering vision, courtesy what had to have been a painful strike to the nose through his shielding.
Rei ducked and rolled, anticipating the cut at his back as his claws missed, coming up in time to jerk just out of reach of the Saber’s chasing slash, then another, then a third. Rei imitated his Commencement dance with Aria Laurent for a few seconds, keeping to the extent of Selleck’s range in order to give his NOED and improved Cognition the chance to stay ahead of his opponent’s superior Speed. He counted the pattern of hexagons beneath his feet as he retreated, careful to keep some margin of his focus on the rise and fall of the field under him.
Then Selleck lunged at him with every ounce of power the Saber looked to be able to bring to bear, empty hand reaching, clawed fingers extending towards Rei’s face.
Not expecting the sudden change in pattern, Rei only managed to get his left arm up in time to keep from being blinded. Selleck was blocked from clawing at Rei’s eyes with the blue tips of his gauntlet, but traded that loss for a firm grip of the arm. Rei’s mostly limp left hand flopped uselessly as he was suddenly being wrenched sideways with impressive force. He lost his footing, but managed a panicked slash at his opponent that caught the Saber in the chest. Without proper power behind the strike Selleck’s shielding absorbed most of the impact, but the claws still cut shallowly along the muscles of the cadet’s chest. Landing on his side, Rei felt the hand about his left arm weaken, and he hauled at it, pulling the limb free and starting to roll away, intent on getting clear of his opponent.
Selleck, unfortunately, was too quick by half even injured.
Schlunk!
Rei felt agony erupt through his abdomen, and he took in a hot, hissing breath that only intensified the pain. He flailed, trying desperately to get clear of the Saber, but when his attempts to shove himself further away along the uneven field resulted in only greater torment, he understood.
He had been pinned, the scimitar nailing him to the ground through the torso.
“Fatal Damage Accrued: 74%. Winner: Mateus Selleck.”
Mercifully, Rei felt Selleck’s sword retract as soon as the Arena announced the victory. Suddenly able to breathe again, he rolled onto his back, coughing and gasping. When the simulated pain had faded enough, he lifted his head to his chest to look up.
Unsurprisingly, Selleck was already walking away, his back to Rei, clearly having no interest in sportsmanship.
Grunting out a dry laugh, Rei pushed himself up to sit, then stand, recalling Shido as he moved unsteadily to rejoin the group himself.
“Break it down for me,” Gross was saying as Rei reached his chair again and slumped down into it with a little considerate help from Viv. “What did Ward do wrong?”
“Showed up for class,” Grant muttered from the left end of the row.
The sergeant major didn’t do more than shoot the Mauler a disapproving glance, taking advantage of Biyu Yang’s raised hand to not engage the cadet.
“He allowed Selleck to keep him at distance,” the Phalanx stated once Gross had motioned for her to answer. “Ward is a Brawler-Type. Any sort of space his opponents can place and hold between him and them means he became essentially harmless.”
“True, though it’s important to recall that Ward is an A-Type merely currently presenting as a Brawler. If he achieves greater evolution, he may find his abilities more versatile in the future.” The officer looked around again. “What else did he do wrong?”
Choosing to believe the if and may implications of their superior’s previous statement hadn’t been deliberate jabs, Rei put his arm up. He could name a dozen things he would do differently having faced a Saber, now, but Gross looked instead to Selleck’s lifted hand.
“Grant’s
joking aside—and I mean no disrespect—” the Cadet stated with the apathetic expression of someone who very much meant disrespect “—but stepping onto that field was Ward’s first mistake.”
“Huh?” Viv snarled, tensing and turning on the boy beside her, but Gross shut her up with a look.
“It’s just a fact,” Selleck maintained with a shrug, meeting Viv’s venomous gaze unblinking. “Ward is an E. I’m a D4, and his CAD is at a lower evolution. In a competitive setting—or live combat—going up against an opponent that much stronger than you would be idiotic.” He paused, hesitating before adding. “Like an E-Ranker publicly challenging a C0.”
Viv was on her feet in a heartbeat to tower over the seated Saber, but before Rei could pull her back the sergeant major cut across the tension.
“Arada! Sit!”
Viv didn’t look around at Gross, still glaring at Selleck. After a few seconds, though, she eased herself down again, only looking forward again when she’d shoved herself angrily to sit ram-rod-straight in the very back of the chair.
“Selleck, leave your childish sniping out of your explanations next time, or I’ll make sure Lieutenant de Soto finds out her Sabers need lessons in manners.” This time the sergeant major couldn’t ignore the slight, deliberate as it had been made, but he still moved on as soon as Selleck gave him nothing more than a stiff nod. “More importantly, Ward may be at a disadvantage against all of you, but claiming he ‘shouldn’t have been on the field’ is incorrect. Why?”
“Because I had no choice.”
Rei, finally getting a little tired of the atmosphere, didn’t bother raising his hand again, nor wait for Gross to call on him to continue.
“Selleck used the example of SCTs, which is bull. If your bracket matches you with a higher ranked User, you don’t get to put your name back in the hat and pull for a better opponent. As for live combat, I can’t imagine you often get the choice of when and where you want to engage the enemy, or even what enemy it is you’re taking on.” He gave a rough laugh. “Then again, maybe Selleck is suggesting he would prefer to forfeit his matches or abandon his duty every time he’s faced off with a stronger opponent. That’s his prerogative.”
“I’m suggesting you don’t go looking for a fight you can’t win, asshole,” the Saber snarled in answer, seeming about ready to lunge to his feet. “Only an idiot asks to get their face kicked in by—”
“Selleck. Last warning. Keep it civil, or you can go explain to de Soto why I kicked you out of class.” Still, Gross’ eyes were narrowed on Rei even as he berated the Saber. “The same goes for you, Ward. You might have made Bretz a fan of yours, but don’t think you get to pull that kind of shit in my group without consequence.”
With some difficulty, Rei sat himself up straighter, placing his eyes somewhere over the sergeant major’s left shoulder. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
Gross glared at him a moment more, then grunted in annoyance, moving on to ask another question without addressing Rei’s answer, which told him he’d probably been right on the mark.
Not too long after, the fourth matchup was announced, and Adam Jax was pitched up against Grant, who made short work of the fight by overpowering the Lancer within 10 seconds, cleaving straight through Jax’s overhead guard to basically split the cadet in half. After that it was Yang against Selleck, and the group had their first lengthy bout of the day, the Phalanx keeping the Saber well at bay, but unable to manage any clean offense without opening herself up to attack. For almost the full 5 minutes the pair went back and forth, until Selleck finally grew impatient. After knocking aside a testing thrust from Yang, he lunged in for a two-handed overhead cut, yelling as he did. Yang, instead of blocking, took the opportunity to power forward, inside her opponent’s reach. Selleck slammed into her shield, and with a thrill of déjà vu Rei watched the Phalanx execute the very same dip and press that Laurent had pulled on him. The Saber flipped over Yang, landing hard on his back, and before he could so much as move his opponent had brought her blade arcing around in a downward thrust that speared the boy through the chest, pinning him to the ground.
Rei was pretty sure neither he nor Viv bothered hiding their grins of satisfaction as Selleck walked off the field, red in the face and avoiding both their eyes.
Then, though, it was their turn.
“Arada. Ward.”
Their paired names sent a thrill up Rei’s spine that he didn’t immediately know what to make of. They stood up with nothing more than a quick exchange of looks, and only after splitting without a word to either side of the ring and the red circles waiting for them did Rei realize what he was feeling. When they had faced off, Rei met Viv’s eye again, and her unfeigned grin solidified the anticipation. This was the first time the two of them had had the chance to face off inside a sanctioned field.
He might be about to get his teeth kicked in, but Rei was so excited his hands shook as he brought them up in preparation.
“Cadet Viviana Arada versus Cadet Reidon Ward. Combatants… Call.”
Gemela and Shido manifested as mirrored blurs of color 20 yards apart from each other. Viv’s blades rippled with silver light as she set them at the ready, and Rei had to force himself to steady his breathing.
This was going to be fun.
“Combatants… Fight.”
CHAPTER 21
Viv pulled no punches, making the fight about as brief as any they’d seen thus far that day.
Entering it, though, Rei had no expectations otherwise, and so he met her as near the middle of the projected field as he could, managing to block a single testing cut of her sword before taking her dagger to the thigh. He grimaced as the pain had his leg almost giving under him, but didn’t lose his focus on the highlighted red of his NOED. Seeing the briefest of chances with both her weapons committed, he punched straight for the body, hoping to catch her in the gut and at least place her under restrictions. Viv, though—too nimble by half—disengaged and bent backwards under the strike before planting her dagger hand behind her to snap her legs up and around in a spinning kick. Rei got a foot to the side of the head, staggering sideways, and this time his injured leg did give, bringing him to the ground. Viv was on her feet again in a heartbeat, lunging at him with both blades leading the way. Rei managed to knock them aside with a heavy swipe of his claws, and was about to bring Shido back to slash at her thighs when Viv used the lateral momentum of the deflection to twist into another kick.
This time her shin took him full in the other temple.
Stars erupted in his vision, and Rei felt himself tumbling sideways head over heels to slam in a heap against a raised pillar 15 feet away. He struggled to push himself up onto his hands and knees, practically hearing his neuroline whining in his head as it worked at max to clear his thoughts and vision. Both came back to him just in time to see a shape lancing in from the right, and putting all his Speed and Strength into his legs he threw himself into a forward roll, hearing Viv’s sword catch the ground exactly where he’d been a heartbeat before. Spinning on the spot, he reversed course, the steel claws of his right fist leading the way, hoping to catch his friend in a moment of vulnerability.
All he got instead was an elbow to the stomach as Viv ducked under and into his punch, doubling him over straight onto the dagger waiting to cleave through his reactive shielding and slip between his ribs.
“Fatal Damage Accrued: 81%. Winner: Viviana Arada.”
“Owwwwe!” Rei hissed after the pain had subsided enough for him to breathe again, pushing himself up onto his knees. “I feel like you cut my lungs out of my chest.”
“Quit whining,” Viv answered with a chuckle, offering him a hand up, Gemela having already been recalled. Rei accepted the help, watching her carefully avoid his claws as she hauled him to his feet.
“I’ve been impaled twice in an hour,” he muttered with a feigned pout as Gross ordered them back to their seats from the edge of the ring. “I think I’m allowed to whine a
little, don’t you?”
Viv didn’t answer, grinning and shoving him lightly towards their chairs. Recalling Shido, Rei let himself to be led off, and partially tuned out the criticism the sergeant major and the others had for him. Nothing they could say was anything he wasn’t already aware of, and for once he let himself enjoy the simple fact that the fight had been fun.
The recovery period passed, and Jax and Yang were paired for first match of their final round. The Lancer used his superior reach to great advantage, this time, keeping Yang well at bay with relative ease when she proved herself too slow to out-maneuver him. Within 2 minutes Jax had worn the Phalanx down, ending the fight with a keen-eyed stab at an exposed ankle that brought his opponent to the ground with a scream, allowing him to take Yang through the side of the chest as her shield dropped away. Jax looked rather pleased with himself when he stepped off the field, and even accepted Rei’s whispered “Nice job” with a grateful nod as he sat down again. This time Rei tried to pay attention when the discussion began, but a thrill of realization struck him as Gross had Yang review where she could have made improvements on her fight.
There were only four of them left. Viv, Selleck, Logan Grant, and himself.
And since he’d already faced both Viv and the Saber…
Rei’s escaped groan was fortunately lost to all but Viv, who only glanced at him nervously while the others kept talking around them, likely having deduced the same thing.
It was confirmed not long after, when Gross announced the next pair.
“Arada. Selleck. Second to last match. On the field.”
Despite it being one of Viv’s fights, Rei found himself having an enormous amount of trouble concentrating. He tried to, tried to focus on the pair’s fast-paced exchange of blows, the three blades and a clawed hand flashing around and against each other in arching strips of silver and blue light. He just couldn’t manage it, though, a weight building in his gut that felt like it was redoubling every second. He was almost disappointed when Viv managed a clean disarming of Selleck’s sword when she cleaved through his wrist, then twisted to plant a dagger through his eye. Similarly, he was grateful when it took the Saber a minute or so to recover from the neural scrambling that always followed a Device in the brain, right up until Rei remembered the fights were on a set timer, and nothing could delay the inevitable. He did his best to participate in the discussion, did his best not to let the group—much less the black-haired boy sitting at the end of the row to his left—read his nerves.
Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1) Page 32