Silas didn't know what spell to start with, but he also couldn't afford to have Jered cast first.
He had a lot of experience under his belt. But he had always, and exclusively, gone against Magicians of the same tier as him. This fight was unfair, exceedingly so. Silas cut short his indecision, and cast a turbine of wind around him. The gusts compressed into invisible blades, and lashed out at Jered.
The spell seemed to be the same, or a variant, of Santiago's. Which meant that it was rather flashy, but obviously lacked firepower. Jered was not interested in prolonging the fight for showmanship's sake. Therefore, he cast 'Shadowport'. His body dissolved into wisps of black smoke. The wind blades flew through the smog and crashed on the wall on the far end of the arena. Deep gashes were left behind in the concrete as the dust fell down.
Silas was shell-shocked, and so was Del.
Evelyn could swear she had never seen him use that spell before. And it looked hella advanced too—definitely not something you could learn in a short time. Jered reappeared behind Silas. The ripples of smoke gave way to his walking silhouette, "Stay down quietly, and you just might survive," he said, firing off a 'Giza's Gaze' at him. The scorching, crimson ray stabbed through Silas' back, blasting on the ground in a shower of concrete chips and dirt.
Del was quick to cast a wind spell to clear the arena of the dust.
The result was as he had expected.
Silas didn't stand a chance. He was squirming on the ground, his face pale, sweaty, twisted in pain. His hand clutched the hole on his chest, blood pouring down the gaps between his fingers, "Ugh..." he wheezed, struggling to say something, but couldn't find the strength, or the breath, to speak, "Ughr..."
Del focused the camera on Jered's attractive, emotionless face, and then lowered it down to the dying Silas, "We have a winner, guys!"
The residue of Jered's denser, more potent mana was hindering Silas' self-healing. The man was going to die if not promptly taken to a specialized healer. However, from the looks of it, that was exactly what Del wanted. In fact, "Come on now, Jered. Finish him."
"Does he really have to?" Evelyn felt a pang of pity for Silas, "It's obvious that he lost. But does he have to die?"
Del was also quite ambivalent about carrying out such a senseless act of murder. Unfortunately, he didn't call the shots there. The upper echelons of Arcane Underground Combat wanted to see blood, wanted Silas to become a stepping stone for Jered, and turn that little monster into the next big thing. Of course, he had to win first, which he did effortlessly. Silas was a good man. But he had to die.
"Do it..."
Jered walked over to Silas. The man couldn't bring himself to look into his eyes. He was half-dead, blood gurgling out of his mouth. He couldn't even surrender—he wasn't allowed to. Then he saw the youngster point a finger at him. He was not indicating. He was casting. A crimson light twinkled at the tip of his finger, and suddenly it covered Silas' vision. A sizzling pain spread through his head, but it was very brief, it didn't last even a second.
And then it was gone. And so was he.
"So, where is my money?" Jered asked as he stepped over Silas' corpse, and walked up to a celebrating Del, "Also, can you turn that off?"
"Of course, of course!"
With another click, the stream was over.
"Splendid performance!" Del exclaimed, but it was clearly flattery. It was a one-sided fight. There was no 'performance' to speak of. Still, Jered did show he was powerful enough to fight head-on against those at the top.
"Yes, yes, whatever. Who's my next opponent?"
Frankly, he just needed another win, but he could use the extra money that would come with it.
Evelyn was quiet as usual, so he assumed she didn't mind.
"Oh, I'm sure they're choosing it right now," Del smiled, "Those skills you used... they were simply amazing! I'm sure they've left a big impression on the viewers. Your next match will be harder, but nothing you won't be able to easily handle. I'm already your fan, haha!"
"Can't I get someone of a higher tier right away?" Jered wondered.
"I'm afraid you have to be patient. But if you keep winning, you will meet them soon."
"Patient? Ha, I can't do that. I have no time to dilly-dally, Del."
"W-What do you mean? Why?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. But this is something personal."
Del didn't press on, but he was visibly disappointed, "Does that mean you won't be here to fight again?"
"After today?" Jered hummed thoughtfully, "Who knows..."
"Well... I sincerely hope you consider participating in our matches as an official fighter. It's not every day I get to see someone as talented as you. I can't help but admire you..."
His words were heartfelt. At least, Jered didn't find any smidgen of deceit in them. Therefore, he smiled, "I'm sure you'll get to see more of me soon. Don't worry, Del."
It was at that moment that a notification popped up on his phone.
His next opponent had been chosen.
----
"Fuuuuu—uuugghh!"
A man dropped to his knees, struggling to put out the mantle of fire licking his skin. He squeezed his mana pool dry, but the flames raged through his futile attempts at overpowering it.
It had taken one spell. And several dozen globes of fire had come sailing at him.
He didn't know who he was facing, or why he was facing him.
It just didn't make sense. The gap between them was ridiculous. Was the match-making rigged? It would explain why there were several corpses piled on top of each other. And he was going to become one of them soon.
He mana-drained himself, yet the fire was still alive.
He fell down.
His burnt eyelids fluttered one more time.
And then the fire was out.
"We have a winner! It's him! He did it again!"
Del screamed his lungs out in excitement. It was the 4th match in a row that Jered breezed through. The viewers began skyrocketing after the second one, and now everyone was finally seeing, no, witnessing the rise of a giant. A titan that would hold humankind on his shoulders. And it happened there, in front of Del's eyes. It was such an extremely rare event that it left him trembling. He shook himself free of his thoughts and ended the stream, "Jered... you're wonderful!" he said with dripping reverence.
If he could, he would kneel down and lick Jered's shoes, but that would probably be creepy.
Yeah, he wasn't going to do that.
Not yet.
"How much did I make in total?" Jered asked off-handedly, not even deigning Del with a look.
"3132 dollars in total. The man you just faced was quite powerful for an Adept-Tier. But you dismantled him as if he was a block of legos! That was legendary, oh my God, I'm shivering, haha!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! Umh, I don't have that amount of money in cash, so take this."
Del handed him what looked like a credit card.
"It's an arcane mastercard. We made it, and you can use it everywhere you want. There are no monthly or yearly fees. Your money is being processed right now, so you can expect it to be transferred into the card by tomorrow morning."
"That's fancy," Jered said, twirling the card around. It was smooth to the touch, black, with a purple, complex pentagram as the logo, "Well, then. I'll leave the clean-up to you," he began to walk towards the exit, Evelyn in tow. Considering that it was getting late, and that they had yet to book their flight back home, they decided to stay at a hotel for the night. They did need some proper rest anyway.
"Haha, that's no problem. I'll take care of it!" Del gushed enthusiastically. The abrupt 180 turn in his personality didn't go unnoticed. It was weird, but it was the kind of weird that Jered didn't mind. The man was trying hard to lick his ass, and he could turn out to be useful in many instances, "P-Please, don't forget about me!"
"..."
"..."
Nevermind. He was going to stay as far from Del as he could.
----
There was a quite well-maintained hotel a few kilometers from the arena. 'Hotel LaVida'. Owned by a Spanish couple, the hotel wasn't opulent, but it certainly was homey enough for them. After they checked in, they flopped on the bed. It was big enough for two—after what they've been through, and done, there was simply no need to be prude and get separate ones. In fact, Evelyn was quite comfortable with changing clothes in front of him. When it came to underwear, though, she'd excuse herself and head to the bathroom.
Jered didn't know what kind of relationship they had. Evelyn didn't want to take the next step, and honestly, it was probably for the best. She didn't deserve to have her life turned upside down because of him. Still, she was good companionship.
The running water in the bathroom tapered off.
He stared at the bathroom door expectantly, hoping to see her walking out with a loose towel around her.
And when she did, he let out a groan of disappointment. She was fully clothed. They had spent whatever money they left on some cheap, spare clothes. He should have talked her out of it. A black blouse—he could see the straps of her bra through the almost see-through fabric—and beige shorts. Now, only her bare, milky white thighs reminded him of what they had done together. He vividly remembered running his hands down that smooth, pliable flesh and hear her husky moans right into his ear.
He really wanted another giant ass leg to plow down the clouds and stomp the city into a graveyard of corpses and rubble. Maybe then, she would cuddle up to him and feel how much she needed to touch him.
Seemingly knowing what was going in his mind, Evelyn smirked slightly, "It's your turn."
Jered begrudgingly stood up and walked into the bathroom.
She heard the click of the door closing, the rustle of clothes dropping to the floor, and then the rush of water.
The smirk on her lips faded.
She stared at herself in the mirror, and brushed her hair. The pins easily skimmed through her silky threads.
The fights from earlier managed to get her mind off of her pregnancy, but now that she was alone with him, it was all she could think about.
It was baffling.
Evelyn was sure she had a contraceptive charm on her. So how the fuck did it happen?
Was it a punishment from God or some other omniscient entity up there? Hell, it might even have been the World Spirit herself. An excruciating, yet sweet, punishment for taking a bite of the forbidden fruit when it was still immature. Now she struggled on whether she should tell him or not. She didn't think he would throw a fit if he knew. He was too calm to get worked up because his sperm was more powerful than her spell.
It was ironic.
She had been trying to avoid him, no, more like, to maintain a certain distance from him. In a way, Jered was addicting. Everything about him drew her in. And the more she tried to repel that feeling, the stronger the craving would get. How long could she keep it a secret? With a baby in her womb, up to nine months if she didn't see him, or her grandfather, again. But would she be able to not see, talk, or touch Jered for almost an entire year?
So far, she felt like she could barely go an hour.
It was due to sheer will, logic, and impressive control over her emotions that she didn't succumb to the taboo.
Alternatively, she could abort.
It was a thought that left a bad taste in her mouth.
She lost her baby girl once.
And she was not going to get rid of another.
Eventually, the bathroom door opened again. From the reflection on the mirror, Evelyn caught Jered's probing look. They held the stare for a few seconds before he gave up and sat on the bed.
Silence.
He could feel a strained tension between, and for the love of God, he couldn't understand why.
Likewise, Evelyn was aware of it. She was the sole reason her relationship with Jered was being held at gunpoint by her indecisiveness.
"So..." he started, waiting for her to say something meaningful.
She pursed her lips inward, "So..."
"..."
"..."
Jered sighed, "I know for a fact that you don't hate me. Some of the looks you send my way can't be faked. Which begs the question... what's going on, Evelyn? I'm confused. Are you playing mind games with me? Because if you are, it's only going to backfire if you keep that up."
She gasped, "I... no! I'm not! It's just that... that..." she bit her bottom lip.
"Alright," he lay down, staring at the ceiling, "Whatever it is, it is eating you away. And I'm sure it has something to do with me."
"..."
"I'm being too pushy, aren't I? It just bothers me that we used to get along so well, and now you're being... cryptic."
Evelyn sucked a deep breath in, her eyes watering up, but refusing to let the tears fall.
She was trying to be strong.
"Jered..."
He looked up at her, past the glistening drops, and straight into her soul.
"You know... this is hard for me, and I hope you can help me bear some of the burdens," it was her honeyed way to break a piece of important news to him, so he gave her his full attention, "I loved it, Jered. The way you held me that day. It was a mistake, but one that I can't help but keep thinking about, every goddamn day. It's stressful. Still, I could deal with it. Because no one knows, and you're mature enough that it lessens the guilt, if just a bit."
"..."
"Then..." she placed a hand on her belly, "I found out that the outcome of that mistake... is..." she chuckled bitterly, though he noticed a hint of fondness, "... a life growing inside me. Jered. I-I'm pregnant. And you're the father."