Captain Zhi and Captain Zhu were two good friends who made a pact; one of their sons would marry one of their daughters. The result was the Zhizhu family.
The Zhizhu family's eight children grew up terrorizing Widon Town. Every man was in awe or in fear of their grandparent captains. One captain led the cavalry which patrolled the plains to the north, the Red Fang Cavalry Squadron. One captain led the infantry, the Widon Company of the Tarn Legion. Between the two of them, every soldier stationed at Widon Military Camp on Red Fang Hill next to the Magistrate Hill was under their command.
The Zhizhu family had a proud heritage and that pride was very visible on Zhizhu Aulonia. Her haughty look made her somewhat popular with the guys, Shui said, and the admiring look he gave her suggested he was included, Tu's tragedy notwithstanding. Then again, with or without haughtiness, Aulonia's looks deserved a fair share of admiration. She was easily the prettiest girl around, hands down. Riku didn't quite blame Shui for appreciating her looks. She was an upper-class girl fair and square.
"Aulonia." Shui greeted her politely.
On the other side of Riku, Jin scowled at her. "What are you doing here?"
"I am here to join the tournament and challenge myself." She said, her nose slightly raised in the air.
"As if you are the only one here worth your challenge." Jin muttered darkly.
Shui cleared his throat. "Jin, she is a guest. Some politeness is warranted."
"Why exactly is she a guest? She should be a prisoner!" Jin grouched. "Her brothers killed Tu!"
"What?" Aulonia stared at him blankly. "Which brothers? Who or what was Tu?"
"Tarantula and Bristol! Lycosid was there too! I saw them!" Jin snapped.
"Three of them?" Aulonia gaped. "What did they do? There must be some mistake…"
"Whatever her brothers might have done, you have no right to condemn Aulonia for it!" Orchid cut in. "What fairness! What justice! Wantonly accusing innocents of deeds they know were done by others! You said you saw it yourself! Aulonia wasn't there! Yet here you stand accusing her!"
"Still playing innocent?" Jin growled. "You Spider Siblings have always been causing us trouble! You even dare to come here and…"
"Registration done!" Mu arrived, completely ignoring Jin, and handed number plates to Orchid, Aulonia, Thyme, Basil and Iris, in that order. "Please wait for qualifiers!"
"Mu!" Jin was aghast. "How could you register them just like that?"
"Policy." Mu pawed Jin on the head and went on distributing tournament number plates. Shui, Riku, and Jin each received one.
"What are these for?" Riku asked Shui.
"Drug tester." Shui grimaced. "You're not supposed to use performance-enhancing pills or potions. Supposedly, the plates will change color if you're using some weird substances. The upside is, the plate also changes color for poison."
"And the numbers on them?"
"That's to prevent you from switching plates with someone else."
"They're starting." Riku observed. Duels were taking place all over the drill yard, with class monitors for witness. Each class had two monitors, thus the five classes of Regular Disciples had ten duels taking place simultaneously. "Which one do I watch? Shui! Which ones are the strongest?"
Shui took one look around and immediately pointed. "There. Altan son of Arban, from the Metal class. He has mastered the Bell Defense technique all the way to Golden Bell."
"Altan is the oldest of the Metal class. In terms of defense, he is unmatched." Jin added. "It's just that…"
"What?" Riku frowned.
"See for yourself." Jin invited.
Giving Aulonia a last look, Riku decided to leave questioning her for after the tournament. Right now, there were techniques to be Observed.
Altan's Golden Bell Defense was definitely thicker, tougher, and stronger than Jin's Bronze Bell. It even had a counter-attack effect, though Riku wasn't quite sure what it did. He only saw Altan's opponent staggering back with yelps of pain. [Golden Bell Defense Technique Observation: 12%]
From there, Riku went from duel to duel to watch the strongest fighters as Shui pointed out. Oddly enough, Aulonia and the Ji cousins followed them around too. Observation notices rang out non-stop.
There was Wu Ardent, of the Fire Class, who was especially good with the Burning Palm.
There was Zhong Bounty, of the Wood Class, an expert of the Bamboo Breaker Fist.
Heck, they even watched Herman. According to Shui, Herman's special technique was the Stone Heart Transmutation method, by which he hardened other stuff, not just himself, to stone. Most people couldn't do that. Unfortunately, the combat applications of such a technique seemed rather limited to enhancing whatever his hands found nearby and whacking someone with those things. Shui shook his head watching Herman. "He'd do better with a proper weapon."
And then there was this girl during the last round of qualifiers. Shui pointed out a skinny, graceful figure covered entirely in black, all the way to a hood and mask. "That is Watanabe Kagura, of the Fire Class. Rumor has it she has some control over shadows."
"Watanabe…" Riku froze, eyes completely fastened on that slender, slippery figure that dodged, spun, and suddenly split into three shadows attacking her opponent from both sides and above.
[Shadow Illusion Technique Observed: 1%]
After Kagura won her bout, Shui brought the others to watch another duel elsewhere, another of the last round that went on longer than Kagura's had. Riku didn't follow them. His eyes were stuck on Kagura, taking in every minute detail of her face that he could.
"Riku? Hello? Are you coming?" Jin called.
"Leave him alone. Riku is busy looking at girls!" Shui dragged him away.
Riku didn't care. Those eyes. That shape. There was no mistaking it. The Watanabe name was not well known to people of the Widon Fief, but Riku knew it. His entire family knew it. They had to.
Watanabe was his Grandmother's maiden name. It was she who brought the steel-folding method to the Xi clan. Hers was supposedly ten thousand folds. The Xi Clan simplified it to just 100, since the hardness and sharpness was not as important to Spirit Swords as the conductivity and control of Life Force and martial techniques.
He couldn't see much more of her face than her eyes, but those eyes were a match for his. They were like his father's, his sister's…
Kagura might not be a member of the Xi Clan, but it was extremely likely that she was related to them somehow. A cousin, of sorts…?
More importantly, there might be others. The Xi Clan was wiped out, but maybe, just maybe… Riku might have relatives nearby from the Watanabe side of the family.
He had to find out. Riku went over to talk to her…
"It is over! It has only begun! All participants, gather round! The qualifiers are completed, and the Ranking Tournament begins NOW!" Master Huang roared. "Huo, Mu, Shui, Riku, Jin, Ruyi, to the stages! All guests to the stages! Let they who seek glory contend with them! Glory, and a week's pay with each advance in ranking!"
"For the money!" Altan surged straight for the stages.
"For a new dress!" Ji Orchid leapt for Stage Number 1.
"For the Deluxe Barbecue Pork Set!" Jin bellowed, and took Stage Number 6.
Orchid was almost at Stage Number 1 when Huo suddenly burst out of the crowd from nowhere, his feet on fire. He landed squarely on the stage, and stood there calmly, arms folded.
Orchid froze. "Uh… never mind." She turned toward Stage Number 2.
Mu had already stepped up on it and waved at her, grinning.
"Ugh…" Orchid went on to Stage 3.
Shui hopped on to it and waited for her, taking on a combat stance. Orchid eyed him for a moment, hesitated, looked up at the sky, sighed, then finally went to Stage 4.
By that time, Wu Ardent was on top of it. As she climbed up, he took on a heavy step stance, and his palms lit up.
Orchid lunged. She struck high; he blocked…
No, wait! She ducked just as he blocked, the high strike was a feint, and her fist already punched out toward his tummy.
"Oof!" Wu Ardent stumbled back. He rallied himself…
Only to stumble again, eyes wide, then his hands started shaking and his knees buckled. He fell forward, landing on all fours on the stage, then flopped down flat on his face, twitching.
"Wu Ardent, no longer able to fight. Ji Orchid wins!" Master Huang announced.
"What happened?" Riku had to ask.
He saw the notification from System then. [Orchid Punch Technique Observed: 0.5%]
Goodness that was one difficult technique. Only 0.5%? What kind of difficulty did it have? Was it an original that Orchid came up with, that she just happened to use a technique named 'Orchid Punch'?
"Poison!?" Jin shouted.
"Relax. He's only paralyzed for a bit. He'll be fine in a few seconds." Orchid snorted.
It was true. Wu Ardent was already starting to crawl about. In a moment, he could sit up, and he slowly made his way off the stage.
Meanwhile, Ji Thyme took Stage 5.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Zhong Bounty leapt up to challenge him.
Altan son of Arban took Stage 6.
Watanabe Kagura hopped up to challenge him.
Herman Santiago took Stage 10. Instantly, six people jumped up to challenge him all at once. They had to form a queue in the end.
The Ranking Tournament of the Magistrate's Disciples (and guests) went into full swing.