The group of 9 walked together to a grand colosseum. It was the national colosseum, for the biggest competitions. Today, and for the next two or three months, it was going to be incredibly busy. This was a competition encompassing all of Star Luo Empire. Karni and his companions walked in with their new Shrek Uniforms, for now still sponsored by the princess.
Inside the colosseum, it seemed even bigger. The stands were full. The under 20 National Competition of the empire was organised every four years. The fact people from Shrek competed as well made this an International Competition.
They lined up among the many schools, but they were toward the front. At the very forefront were eight people, including the princess. The Eight Heavenly Kings, dressed in a lively red. The very first in line was the Dragon King. Karni forgot his name, but he could feel his ferocity from here.
Karni himself was lined up third. The first was Tang Wulin, second was Gu Yue. They've had a few spars since they arrived to the continent. Karni beat everyone but Gu Yue. That being said, Wulin beat him a few times as well. When Wulin and Karni sparred, the first to gain a tiny advantage often won. That, however, also meant that their bouts would often last a while, since neither of them showed a weakness easily.
But despite everyone knowing Gu Yue was the strongest amongst them, she refused to ever lead. This led them to their current lineup. Karni especially impressed his new teammates, Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui, as well as Ye Xinglan, whom he had yet to battle. His greatest strength really was his ability to Shift. It made him nigh untouchable. His use of Shift was also why Gu Yue beat him ninety percent of the time. She had the means to counter his Shift with her own understanding of the Space Element.
But the spars were not fully accurate either. Neither of them went all out; it was more to get familiar with each other and the group competition. Karni tried combining his Drunken Ghost Dance with Shifting, but with everyone holding back, it didn't really make for efficient practice.
He was looking forward to the first match. He could finally grow his skills further against opponents that were not holding back.
The ceremony was decently long, but after it was over, the tournament was in full throttle. They had already signed up early on. 1v1s were the most prestigious category in Star Luo Empire. The Shrek Students also signed up for 2v2 competition. All except Karni that is. He had no one to partner with. Karni was honestly very sad that he couldn't compete in a 2v2 with Siduo. If anything, his preferred—and most familiar—method of fighting was in a 2v2 battle.
The group also signed up for the team competition. They had nine members, though only seven could compete at once. This enabled them to have a rotating formation and be less predictable.
The first three days of the tournament would be dedicated to 1v1s and would be the longest days of the competition. Today would be the random matchups. They would face a random opponent and whoever lost would be fully eliminated. This made luck a part of the competition as well, but it was necessary, otherwise the tournament would last too long. Since this was an under 20s competition, it meant that their little Shrek Group were some of the youngest competitors in here.
Karni looked at the schedule. His turn would come quick, in the 3rd shuffle today. Yue Zhengyu groaned from his left. "I'm up tomorrow. Damn. I was excited."
They stayed together in their designated spot. The resting area was quite luxurious for the competitors. It made a grand impression on everyone. It had to, especially on the first few days. The whole country was watching.
Gu Yue came close to Karni. An unusual move for her. Was this about the last time? When he figured out her power?
"Val Karni. That princess… do you think she'll be trouble for Wulin?"
Karni stared at her for a bit, slightly shocked. Oh, this was—he saw her blush—surprisingly cute.
"Well," he cleared his throat. "She's definitely interested in him."
She turned to him with wide eyes. Karni quickly continued. "In a more negative way, don't worry. At the moment, she dislikes him but is giving him a chance to prove himself due to the whole falling asleep incident. It's kind of my fault, because I praised him before you guys met properly."
Gu Yue sighed in relief secretly, though it didn't escape Karni's eyes.
"I made sure that she wouldn't cause too much trouble—or I suppose Sisi did—so no need to worry. I even warned her that he's already taken." He winked at her.
Gu Yue finally huffed and turned away. Karni waved her a merry goodbye, which she didn't return. He sighed with some satisfaction. He rooted for those two. If possible, he wanted to make their relationship… less rocky; at least compared to how it is supposed to be later. Though he had to admit, he felt like he did not have the power to truly change that. Gu Yue's reasons for her actions were simply too good. Her whole race was on the line. If he wanted to fix that, he would somehow have to find a way to offer her an acceptable alternative.
He stopped worrying about it for now. He turned to the first few matches of the tournament with interest. There were alreadey a few One-Word Battle Armour Masters appearing.
From the Shrek Team, the ones on the field right now were Xie Xie and Ye Xinglan. All but Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi signed up for the competition. That meant that, technically, they could encounter each other early on, but it was unlikely. Unless Karni's presence here changed things, they would not have to fight each other.
As the first round finished, the second started. Wulin went up, so did Yuanen Yehui.
Karni couldn't help but laugh as he saw Wulin. Xie Xie and Karni said it at the same time. "Captain is really unlucky."
The two looked at each other and both laughed. Wulin pulled a Battle Armour Master for his first round.
Xie Xie wondered. "Say, Karni, do you know the future of this match?"
Karni smirked. "Something, something, beat em' up with hammers."
Xie Xie looked at him, not sure if Karni was serious or not. He sat down next to him. "I'll admit. You're the person I least want to face."
"Not the Captain?"
"There I lose immediately," Xie Xie mocked himself. "Facing you is just frustrating because of that future sight."
"Why, thank you." Karni smiled.
The match between Tang Wulin and the Star Luo Battle Armour Master started and the match was basically what Karni described. Wulin took out those giant hammers he got when the mechas attacked them on the train and—to put it simply—beat the shit out of them. It didn't matter if they had Battle Armour if they couldn't even move.
Xie Xie looked at Karni. "Do you really know the future of everything."
"What I used before, Xie Xie, is called an observation. Wulin got those hammers when those Mechas attacked us. There was no way he wouldn't use them. C'mon man, you know the Captain's strength."
Xie Xie was slapped from on the head from behind. Karni and Xie Xie both turned. It was Gu Yue. "You really think Wulin would be beaten by something like this? Disgraceful."
"What's her problem."
"You doubted her future husband. Of course she's annoyed."
Xie Xie laughed, but Karni also got slapped. Well, almost. He saw it coming. He dodged.
Gu Yue huffed—she really liked to huff. "That damn future sight of yours."
"That's what I've been saying!" Xie Xie complained.
"Oh shut up." Yuanen Yehui yelled at Xie Xie. "You of all people should be able to somewhat evade Val Karni."
Xie Xie started sulking. Karni patted him on the back. "Hey man, don't feel too down. From someone who's dating a prideful girl? It helps if you can banter with her." Karni chuckled, but it wasn't a full chuckle.
Xie Xie sighed. "You don't understand. We had a… rough first meeting."
Karni paused, then thought. What was that again? … … "Oh, right. That time you peeked." He whispered it so only Xie Xie could hear.
Xie Xie looked at him, bewildered. "How do you know that?"
The second round was finished. Karni stood up. "Well, that's my que to leave. Wish me luck."
"Karni? Karni! Wait, how do you know that?" Xie Xie yelled while Karni went onto the arena.
"How does he know what?" Xie Xie watched as Wulin returned from the arena looking utterly satisfied with his result.
"He knows about my incident with Yehui. Did you tell him?" Xie Xie questioned his captain.
"He does?" Wulin looked at Karni, who was already in the arena. "Oh well. Best not to question it." He'd learned not to question things Karni knew. Karni knew things he shouldn't and the best way to cope with it was to just not think about it.
Karni heard that conversation and felt somewhat glad he had earned Wulin's trust. At least Xie Xie wouldn't ask too many questions. Though the guy still went and asked everyone else if they told Karni… until Yuanen Yehui tried to beat him up for asking everyone. That guy… was he that unaware?
Karni turned to look at his opponent. A few years older than him, a decently pretty lady. Slender. Agility type, most likely.
The match started, and she shot at him like lightning. Karni didn't Shift. It was a key aspect of his arsenal, but if the opponent didn't know about it, it was most effective as a surprise attack. He bent to the side with his Drunken Ghost Movement, his first Soul Ring activated with Purple Demon Eyes. A Lightning Jaguar. Interesting. He hadn't faced this Martial Soul since his early days of Star Luo City Academy.
The opponent was surprised that Karni could dodge that, but she was more surprised at his Soul Ring configuration. There was already a murmur with Wulin's Golden Soul Rings. Now Karni came in with a Black Soul Ring on the fourth position. Actually, Wulin should've had one too by now. Karni remembered him using it during the Battle with the Sea Beasts. He just didn't show his Martial Soul in the first match.
The opponent's fourth soul ring shined, already on the other side of the field after missing Karni. She had five Soul Rings in total, a Soul King. She rushed toward him, Battle Armour equipping. Karni's heart skipped a beat, but he calmed down. It wasn't a full set. Her body lit up in white lighting, before she vanished, as if burned into oblivion.
Ho? Interesting Soul Skill. Karni closed his eyes and listened. He listened to the future of the Sound. The worst thing about those visions of Shrek Academy ruined was the screams surrounding it. However, it had given him a keen sense of the sounds accompanying his skills.
She was coming in from the right. At exactly four metres, Karni made a move. Drunken Ghost Dance together with pulling out his own Battle Armour pieces. Head, chest, whole right arm and left armguard.
He bent with ease, his body freer than ever, and sent one of his Drumsticks flying. The lighting cracked and whipped, and Karni used all of its Sound and absorbed it into his own power. As he retrieved the Drumstick, it immediately jumped to the power of 9 hits in Disordered Drumstick Resonance.
But it did practically nothing to the opponent. Of course. Lighting, in its nature, had some resistance to Sound.
The woman circled around, cautious of him. Her second and third Soul Rings lit up. Her speed increased, while the lighting started to casually explode around her.
She got close again, but Karni maneuvered between those attacks and explosions with a dance. All the while he sent his Drumstick into the fray. The drumstick bounced from one explosion to another, absorbing its Sound. Karni had to retrieve it, otherwise the eighteenth hit of sound would come from an explosion, and he would be unable to continue the Disordered Drumstick Resonance. He turned the frequency with the eighteenth hit, growing stronger.
The woman charged at him again, but this time the explosions, along with her, disappeared. Karni abused his flexibility, Drunken Ghost Dance and Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon enabling him to dodge the invisible, but not fully silent attack. He threw the Drumstick again. The thundering lightning explosions returned to protect the Lightning Jaguar from the attack.
But the Drumstick was efficient, and bounced between the new explosions. The 27th hit was achieved.
… … …
"See, Yehui? And you're saying I'm supposed to be able to escape him?"
Yuanen Yehui observed the battle. She gave Xie Xie a stern eye and moved away, but at the very least, she didn't counter his words this time.
Xie Xie took this as a sort of a win.
… … …
Karni moved between the attacks yet again, though with more difficulty this time. There were some special techniques of movement involved there, trying to trick him. The movement had been combined with those invisible attacks, but his future sight pulled through. He was on 36 hits now.
The opponent stopped for a second, opposite to him. Four Soul Rings lit up. First, second, third and fifth. The fifth was an incredibly dark Purple, almost Black colour.
Karni saw a golden shape of the jaguar turn into a spear; a spear too fast for him to dodge. He clasped his Drumstick together, just as the Spear shot out, and used the Resonant Spiral Force in staff form just as it was about to hit. Not only that, but his Vision Bestowal was also activated.
It slowed her down, before she suddenly got pulled to the side by some force, and golden versions of Karni appeared all around her, charging in various ways. Even more, she was filled with a feeling of not wanting to fight.
Karni pulled back of Resonant Spiral Force before it used up the Sound, or at least tried to. His Relaxing Aura was also activated. That combined with Vision Bestowal should give him a big enough opening. He gathered the Sound of Resonant Spiral Force and turned it back toward Disordered Drumstick Resonance. He couldn't help but smile. He moved in close. The Sound stayed. The 36 hits stayed! This was a fantastic result of an on the fly experiment.
He pushed the Drumstick into the almost defenceless Spear of Lightning that still hadn't stopped, hitting the barely exposed head. That small opening was all he needed.
The Spear of Lightning faded, the girl almost slid on the floor with her face down, but Karni caught her, stopping her from accidentally grinding her face on the floor.
He won. He won, and he managed to keep his fourth Soul Ring a secret! He didn't even reveal his other abilities he activated. They were the kind that were hard to figure out by just looking at him. Relaxing Aura had to be felt up close, while Vision Bestowal and Golden Insight affected the people he wanted to, without much visual cues other than the Soul Rings shining.
If that were not enough, right now there were tens of people in various small arenas across the stadium. The people weren't really paying attention to him in particular when so many matches were going on at the same time.
He returned to the rest of the team merrily. He got an opponent that perfectly allowed him to test himself but wasn't a challenge where he'd have to go all out, like Wulin's almost was. Karni would've had more trouble with that opponent, he wasn't as domineering, and Battle Armour was annoying to deal with, considering his Sound didn't work well against it.
And that Resonant Spiral Force. He went from one Resonance technique to another, then back to the first, without losing the power. That was special. It showed compatibility between the two techniques. That was a first step to something greater—to that idea of fusing them together. He would start with going from one to another. Next, he would train the speed of the transition.
Xie Xie approached him. "Now, will you explain?"
Karni sighed and looked around. He saw Yue Zhengyu not paying attention. "Yue Zhengyu told me on the ship because we had nothing to talk about."
Yue Zhengyu heard Karni despite not paying attention. "I did?" He went silent. "That's actually possible. I was quite drunk."
Karni inwardly sighed in relief. Thank gods. That was one problem solved.
Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes. "Please don't mention that again. I'm more curious about your Battle Armour. Did I count five pieces correctly?"
Xie Xie turned to Karni, as if he just realised. Then the others looked at him as well.
"Siduo and I were busy."
"Why not create a full one then?" Ye Xinglan asked in between.
Karni sat down looking relaxed, but inwardly a bit annoyed at having to explain it. He had to gather his thoughts for a second. Things were getting on his nerves with greater and greater ease. That wasn't good.
He cleared his throat. "At the time, I had to finish designing both mine and Siduo's Battle Armours. It didn't leave for much time to create them, as both of ours are quite complicated."
Tang Wulin nodded at the last comment. "They really are. Just the has certain requirements."
Karni continued. "I am also not physically powerful enough to hold a full set. Ye Xinglan, you're an assault type, as is Yue Zhengyu. Even Xie Xie is better in that regard as an agility type."
Xu Xiaoyan nodded at that. "Yeah, yeah. Lizhi and I will need to wait to reach five rings.
Tang Wulin on the other hand looked at Karni with slight confusion. Karni coughed. "Right. I kind of forgot about that. I'd probably be able to endure it as I am now." He preferred to forget about that training in the ocean.
"Hey now," Xu Xiaoyan pouted. "I was just starting to feel some kinship!"
Karni chuckled. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that my body was—not too long ago—put through painful stretches and tempering, and my second Martial Soul got awakened, despite not having any Soul Rings. It did strengthen my physique. I just don't rely on it, so I'm not used to it yet."
"In that case," Ye Xinglan interrupted. "I need a favour."
… … …
"Alright." Tang Wulin nodded. "We'll wait until Ye Xinglan completes her Battle Armour."
"Should take 2 months," Ye Xinglan added. "Toward the end of the tournament."
Wulin nodded. "And then we'll start with the rest of us. It's the most efficient way."
"And if anyone has a problem with my designs," Karni added. "They should come to me before then. As soon as possible." Though he really, really didn't want them to have a problem. That would be more annoying work. Right now, he already had a new project in the making and wanted to complete some new skills. He didn't want to work on Battle Armour too much right now.
"And you're sure you're okay with us not creating your other pieces?" Ye Xinglan asked him.
"If everyone has their sixth piece, I'll give in and let you create one of mine."
Ye Xinglan nodded seriously, though everyone knew that was unlikely to happen.
"Good." Wulin clasped his hands. "With that, we have the plan cut out. Everyone, dismissed."
Karni was about to go but was stopped by Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan. Lizhi was the one to ask. "Are you really okay with replacing us for these two months in the team matches?"
Karni turned around his face was neutral. He wanted to go work on his new project already. "Like I told Ye Xinglan. I'm perfectly fine with it."
"But with you and Siduo being apart…"
Karni took Xu Lizhi's shoulder. "Dude. Don't worry. That has nothing to do with my relationship with her. It's a bigger team battle. I'd be bothered if it was a 2v2. This will give me a chance to get familiar with the rest of the team. I look forward to combining my powers with you two afterwards as well."
He let go of Xu Lizhi's shoulder and started walking toward the door.
Xu Lizhi finally seemed convinced. He looked back at Ye Xinglan. She smiled. "I told you he was okay with it. If we're fast, we can finish everything even sooner. Maybe in a month and a half?" Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan manufactured together, though unlike Wulin's first two pieces of Battle Armour, Ye Xinglan only needed one bun from Xu Lizhi to complete a piece now, and did not need Karni's help anymore. She'd been a Soul Ancestor for a while.
Xu Lizhi turned back to Karni, who was decently far away already. "If you ever need company, just say. We're all thankful for your armour designs. Even Gu Yue. I think."
Karni turned around. He laughed a bit at that last comment. "I'll invite you to a good cocoa place sometime. I'm thinking of making you all addicted to the taste to give me solace. Anyway, goodbye now, I have some plans of my own."
He left them somewhat baffled with that cocoa comment and went for Tang Sect. He had Greatsword designs to study.
… … …
Karni sent the Drumstick with 25 hits at the four ringed Soul Master with a Giant Mace. It hit his head. The man fell.
Karni stopped abruptly. He wanted to continue… that was it? But he hadn't even had the chance to test his 'Disordered Drumstick Resonance into Resonant Spiral Force into Disordered Drumstick Resonance' yet! ... He really needed to make an acronym for that. He also wanted to test the Resonant Spiral Force in Drumsticks form as well! He used that technique far less, but he felt like it was a key to all this too!
His mood was soured by the easy match. He left the arena, and as soon as they were let out of the stadium, he went to research Soul Arrays for his future Greatsword.
His studies were disrupted, however. His AR Glasses were beeping intensely. He groaned out loud at the interruption.
Then he paused. Tang Sect emergency signal. What was happening?
He looked at emergency notice. They were to meet in the lobby. Terrorists?
Karni felt his blood boil, the frustration vanished for a second. He got a bit excited at first, then became worried. He shouldn't get excited by terrorists! He had to go! People's lives were in danger!