It was time.
Six months have passed. Six months of hell. Six months of breaking in this new body.
And now, with Shel's approval, I was ready.
"Before I fight Rico, can you tell me what the bet is?" I asked Shel who led us to the designated meeting place.
In the last six months, I kept on asking Maria and Shel about the bet, but neither wanted to answer. Chakob would definitely tell me, but Shel banned me from even coming close to them. So, I made it my personal goal to finish the training so I could find out what this couple dragged me into.
"Ask Chakob yourself, son-in-law," she replied.
Her English has gotten so much better. The annoying translator went out of commission when I accidentally hit it with an icicle. Thankfully, Maria taught her whenever she wasn't busy kicking my ass. Her vocabulary only became way more colorful then.
"Fine," I sighed.
Before long, we arrived at the meadow where Chakob told us to meet them. And there, a giant elevated arena made of dirt and wood greeted us.
And people.
A LOT of people.
Some of them I knew like mom, dad, Gustave, and Christina.
Some of them I recognized to be SPD officers.
But the people with cameras and mics were strangers to me. Strangers who had no business being here.
"What the fuck..." I muttered under my breath.
"Hijo! Good to see that you're doing well!" Chakob greeted us and gave me a tight hug.
"Chakob, what the fuck's all this?" I asked while my lungs were being squeezed. "Who are these people? Are they reporters? And... vloggers?"
"Hell yeah they are!" Mr. Han interjected as he approached us. "This event's being televised, streamed, and recorded by all sorts of broadcasters and influencers! How cool is that?"
A migraine crept up behind me. My old friend.
"Why?" I exclaimed.
"It's promotional material for Mount Olive," it was Gustave this time who joined in. "We want to advertise this place as a 'healing mountain' where even the most crippling diseases can be cured."
"But that's not all," Mr. Han jumped in again. "The underworld's stopped being scared of you after you've disappeared for a long time. So the higher-ups decided to refresh your image."
My ears couldn't believe what they were hearing. The mysterious image of Mount Olive has been completely shattered. The SPD has turned into a circus. And worst of all, I actually didn't hate this heavily unorthodox plan.
"Fine, let's get this over with," I sighed, and using my cane, I limped onto the stage.
At the same time, Rico strutted onto his side of the arena. He was grim, dark. Every ounce of passion that he showed before was now honed like a blade. Focused. Relentless.
His eyes met with mine but it felt like he was looking past me. Like he was seeing something beyond.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Magic TV. Your daily source of magic sports. This is your host, Throdin Fieryarmour, or Mark if you're too lazy."
The announcer, a bald, stout, muscular dwarf took the mic with confident professionalism.
"Joining us today are two very special guests. On my left is the gold medalist for the women's division of Magic Archery. She's also a Dungeon Crawler who cleared many profitable dungeons. Please welcome, Selena Morningstar."
Selena, a majestic and beautiful Celestial, waved her hand and blessed the audience with her bright smile. She wore a simple yet stylish turtleneck that accentuated her wholesome demeanor and her folded wings glittered like stars in the sky which made me wonder how she could sit with those behind her.
"And on my right is the reigning champion of the Archmage Division in the Arcane Colosseum. Archmage Lunora Mackintosh."
While Selena gave off a welcoming atmosphere, Lunora, the female Drow, looked unimpressed and even pissed off. She wore what I assumed to be her dueling wizard robes and hat. With her feet up on the table, she gave the audience a half-hearted wave.
The audience, however, still shouted her name. I guess being a celebrity could make up for being rude.
"Uhhh... Ok," Mark cleared his throat to transition from Lunora's unexpected behavior. "As advertised, this duel is between Officer Andrew Roberts of the SPD's Narcotics Division and Chakob Rodriguez's right hand man and general, Rico Delgado. Now, being two competitive magical practitioners, can you give us your thoughts on this duel?"
"I've actually been following the story very closely," Selena started.
"Is that so?" said Mark, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, it's like a real life drama. A cop and a cartel heiress? So good!" she replied. "And have you seen their daughter? Oh she's so cute with that blue hair and little horns! Here, I'll show you," she then pulled out her phone and leaned uncomfortably close to Mark.
"Who the hell's been posting pictures of Christina online?" I asked Maria.
Her eyes instinctively gave away the culprit. Rosemary... Who was fighting with Mateo as usual.
"O-ok. Nothing to do with the duel, but thanks for your input," Mark stammered but his professionalism remained strong. "How about you, Ms. Mackintosh? Do you have any thoughts on this?"
Lunora sighed and hid her face with her hat. "I'm not interested in two amateurs fighting," she replied. "Wake me up when it's over."
Mark was ever so slightly showing a bit of annoyance, but his experience and patience allowed him to keep his composure.
"Thank you guest commentators," he continued. "Now for some insight on our two fighters. Rico Delgado is Chakob's Rodriguez's personal apprentice. His school of martial arts, [Mind Over Body], was designed to convert the practitioner's will and desires into martial prowess."
"It sounds powerful," Selena added. "But from the description, it seems that this fighting style heavily relies on the fighter's mental state."
"It's a double edged sword for sure," Mark said. "But I think Rico won't have trouble showing us its full potential." He then flipped through his notes before continuing, "Now moving onto Andrew Roberts. Little is known about her since she was a new arrival on Earth, but Shel Rodriguez, Chakob's wife, revealed that the style she taught is called, [Law of Compounding Interest]. It's a technique designed to make someone stronger over time."
At that, Lunora audibly scoffed. "Fucking ridiculous," she said. "Time's your main enemy when it comes to the fight. If your opponent knows what they're doing, they should end the fight before you could get that technique going."
"Yes, but if you could hold your own until the technique adds more strength, then it'll only mean defeat for your opponent," Selena rebutted.
"Well, there you have it folks," Mark said. "Two very different opinions on this fight. Well, as we wait for the referee to appear, let's take some time to thank our sponsor: Normsworth Pharmaceuticals."
What a spectacle. Did they really have to invite two professional mages? And the cameras! My skin crawled everytime I was reminded that millions of people were currently watching.
"Hey, Mr. Han!" I called out to my circus clown of a superior. "Is telling the world about how our techniques work part of the plan?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a power move," he replied. "It's telling everyone that even if they knew a lot about you, they'd still lose."
I groaned internally. I was glad that the higher-ups had high expectations of me. But at the same time, I knew nothing about the elites of the underworld. So winning against them would prove to be difficult even if I did get stronger.
"We got word that the referee has arrived," Mark announced. "As customary in Arcane Duels, a disciple of a god within the domain of judgement is appointed as a referee. This time, it's a disciple of Anubis."
The referee that Mark mentioned stepped up into the arena in a composed and quiet manner. He wore a dog headpiece and the usual vertical black and white striped shirt that boxing referees wore.
As he took his place in the center of the arena, he motioned for us to come closer.
"Here we go ladies and gentlemen," Mark said. "Live from Mount Olive, we're here to see a fight between rivals. The lawman versus the outlaw. The Sylph versus the Orc. Who will win in the end?"
As Rico and I stood in the middle of arena, with only a few feet of distance separated us, my heart raced in my chest. My body, ready to fight to the death.
The referee said something, but it was all muffled to me.
I breathed. Just as Shel taught me.
The entirety of my senses, every fiber of my being, was focused on Rico with pinpoint accuracy. And soon, I heard everything. His steady and strong heartbeat, the blood that rushed through his veins, and his calm breathing.
And when the referee dropped his hand like a hammer, Rico's entire body sprung to motion.
"And that's the start of the fight!" Mark exclaimed. "Rico's the one to make the first move. Wow he looks like a truck!"
That was an understatement, Mark. With me directly in front of his path, he looked like mountain, ready to crush me at a moment's notice.
However, I was ready.
I struck the ground with my staff and immediately, the ground along his path exploded one by one, disrupting his momentum.
"Woah! I can't believe what I'm seeing. Are those explosions? Aren't Sylphs only able to use wind magic?" Mark asked in disbelief.
"Well, if you think about it, it's not the fire that damages everything in an explosion," Selena chimed in. "It's the air that expanded quickly. I believe that Andrew's control has reached the point where he can do that."
She was right. Thanks to Shel's relentless training with the hammers and mom's practical lessons, I can finally do things like this.
However, it wasn't enough to stop Rico in his tracks. In fact, after the initial surprise, he recomposed himself quickly and barreled towards me, ignoring everything that was happening around him.
But again, I was ready.
I snapped my fingers and in an instant, an explosion of mist suddenly filled the arena.
And when it has cleared, Rico was a good ten feet away from me. His axe, raised to a defensive position.
"What the hell happened there?" Mark exclaimed. "Rico was charging towards Andrew but now he's even further than before!"
"Get your eyes checked gramps," Lunora finally decided to join in. "Andrew shot a huge-ass icicle at Rico using heavily compressed air."
"Like a rivet gun?" Selena asked.
"Exactly like a rivet gun but a thousand times more powerful," Lunora scoffed. "Forgive me for being cynical earlier, Mark. This shit's actually high level."
With Lunora's shift to a positive review, the crowd went wild.
Meanwhile, Rico just stretched his muscles, obviously unbothered by that attack.
"You're stronger than last time eh, ladrón?" he chuckled. "Make sure to keep that up. Don't want to cut your head by accident."
I smirked.
"Do your worst, la mierda."