As Shi continued to practice his healing magic, the old man was called out along with a tall man with short black hair. The tall man grabbed two daggers off the wall before going out to the arena. The men stood across from each other as the announcer did his thing.
As the announcer finished, the tall man charged the old man, bringing his dagger down in a diagonal slash towards the old man's chest. The old man turned to the side and leaned back, letting the dagger miss him by inches.
The tall man ducked into his momentum, turning into a spin that brought his other knife around towards the old man's throat. The old man stepped forwards, getting behind the tall man. The tall man dived forwards, bringing up a wall of darkness behind him that blocked the burst of fire the old man shot out.
The old man charged through the wall of darkness, jumping over the tall man's slash. The old man turned into a frontflip, bringing his heel down on the back of the tall man's head, slamming his face into the ground with a loud crack. The old man walked away as a pool of blood formed under the tall man.
Shi and the middle-aged woman were called out next, the middle-aged woman grabbing her staff and Shi not grabbing any weapon. As they got into the arena and went to their positions, Shi rolled his shoulders back before twisting his back sharply, cracking it.
Once the announcer finished, Shi sprung into action, launching himself toward the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman swung her staff diagonally upwards towards Shi's jaw. Shi dropped into a slide, taking him under her staff. The woman raised a wall of earth under Shi but it caught only air as Shi leaped to the side.
Shi turned into a flip, launching a barrage of wind blades at the woman before he landed. The woman raised a wall of earth to defend herself before launching the wall at Shi in chunks. Shi shot out a wave of force, stalling the chunks of earth in midair. As the chunks slowed, Shi weaved through them, grabbing a chunk that was about half his size. Shi continued forwards, then spun in a circle to gain momentum before slamming the chunk of earth into the woman's side.
The woman rocketed to the side, slamming into the base of the stands with a boom that sent a cloud of dust billowing out. Shi started walking away, then paused, realizing that the woman's mana hadn't winked out. Before anyone could notice his hesitation, Shi continued walking away, suppressing a smile.
Shi entered the room and sat down, practicing his healing magic as the medical staff took the woman out of the arena into a separate area in order to heal her. After she had been removed and the debris was cleared from the arena, a man came in to call Shi and the old man out.
As they left, both Shi and the old man neglected to take a weapon so they stood across from each other with empty hands as the announcer did his thing. Once the announcer finished, Shi cracked his knuckles and started casually walking toward the old man.
When he got somewhat close, the old man rushed in and shot a blast of fire up at Shi's face. Shi bobbed to the side, dodging the fire before going into a spin, dodging the old man's follow-up strike aimed at his body. Shi turned his spin into a roundhouse aimed at the old man's head. The old man ducked under and shot a blast of ice toward Shi.
Shi shielded his chest with mana to block the ice and front kicked the old man, sending him flying backward. The old man landed on his feet, sliding to a stop before springing forward at Shi, launching a barrage of ice needles at him. Shi launched a barrage of wind blades, taking out all of the ice needles.
The old man jumped into the air, rotating into a kick aimed at Shi's head. Shi reached up with his right hand and caught the old man's leg. As the old man's eyes widened in shock, Shi slammed the old man into the ground.
After the dust cloud settled, the old man stood up shakily, his bones creaking. When he looked up at Shi, a smile was plastered across his face. "So it is you" the old man said, "I had my suspicions but I wasn't sure until now. You must be Shi."
Shi sighed heavily, dispelling the disguise he had been using. The old man rolled his shoulders, smile still contorting his face. "I always knew I was lucky," He said mana flowing into him as he grew to twice his size. "That contract payout will set me up for life."
Shi shook his head, chuckling to himself. "You actually think that you can complete it?"
He asked. "Figure I gotta try, seeing as the contract's gonna be closed soon." The old man said. "Oh?" Shi asked, looking up sharply. "Hikaru got tired of looking for you, so he decided to find your family instead."
Rage flooded through Shi, mana blasting out in an indiscriminate wave that smashed into the stands. The audience members at the front were forcefully thrown into the people behind them, causing a domino effect throughout the stands that reached all the way to the people at the back.
"Move" Shi said, his voice rumbling out in a growl. The old man laughed, his hands grasping at the air in anticipation. "Make me." He said, his hands clenching into fists. Shi rocketed towards the man, ducking under his thrown punch before hooking an arm under the man's armpit as he took his back.
As the old man reached back to try and grab Shi, Shi kicked the back of his knee and wrenched him to the side. This caused the old man to fall to one knee, making his free arm flail past Shi. Shi took the opportunity to hook his other arm under the old man's flailing arm, locking his hands together in front of the man's chest.
Shi limbed his arms in fire, searing into the man's chest as he squeezed. The man screamed as Shi's arms dug into his flesh. With a grunt of exertion, Shi brought his arms to his chest, rocketing out of the arena as both halves of the old man's body fell to the ground, shrinking back down to his normal size after they hit the floor.
As Shi left the town, he turned towards the direction of his family's hiding place, rage still burning. It was time to settle things with Hikaru.