It was easy. All he had to do was say no, make up some bad excuse they had no choice but to accept.
Sure, Crisanto might suspect the truth. But what could he do? Jaden had the expert's confirmation that he was normal, that all he was was an innocent businessman from New York going on a vacation with a beautiful woman.
He could be on a plane going home tomorrow. Back to his comfortable apartment, back to his job. He had the monthly report due soon, the company was relying on him.
But Jaden couldn't say it. He couldn't refuse the fight.
Maybe it was the way Ethan looked at him, as if saying: "How dare someone from the ordinary world challenge me, a chosen one?"
Maybe it was the way Sofia stared directly at him, as if she was daring him to refuse.
And then there was Azi. The young boy looked at him as if he was an action star. It was like Jaden had transformed in his eyes into Jackie Chan. Jaden couldn't help himself, he was starting to like this enthusiastic young man. His endless optimism was something Jaden had left behind a long time ago, but Azi was still filled to the brim.
"A round in the circle? Not a bad idea. If you're up to it, that is, I'm not going to go easy just because we were co-workers."
[Universal Emperor Status: Progressing]
[Level Block Cleared]
[Experience points +1500]
[Level: 15]
Why had he said that!?
That was all it took to cause all that experience to come flooding in!?
Jaden had wondered why he had only gained Armageddon points after his fight against Viv. It appeared he now had the answer.
But level 15!? He had only been level 5 before! 10 whole levels…it made him feel sick.
He could hardly back out of it now.
Azi jumped up: "Wow, I didn't know you were a martial artist! That's seriously cool."
Seriously cool wasn't a word Jaden would have used to describe himself, but here he was.
Ethan smirked. "Go easy? I could beat you with one hand behind my back, you systemless."
Systemless? Jaden did have a system, but that was pretty rude. Azi was right here without a system, and Jaden had no doubt he was smarter and braver than Ethan could ever be.
"Say that again when a 'systemless' beats you to the ground."
It was a bit of a cheap shot. After all, Jaden did have a system. Still, he couldn't resist wiping the smug look off of Ethan's face.
It was a monstrous thing to do, but Jaden didn't really care.
Monstrous…he shouldn't have used that word.
Jaden and Ethan stood facing each other inside of the Skirmish Circle. Ethan wore a tight training jumpsuit, while Jaden wore a simple white shirt and black pants. He usually wore a suit, but that wasn't quite right for a fight.
The Skirmish Circle was a large concrete room with a circle in the middle made out of holographic lights. If you went outside the circle, you lost.
If you gave up, you lost.
Other than that, the fight could go on until one person had the other at the brink of death. Jaden assumed fights usually didn't go on that long.
The fight could start whenever they wanted.
Ethan raised one hand and a green knife materialized in it. "I only need one to take you down."
Now Jaden was in a bit of trouble. There was no way he was going to lose this fight. However, he was not about to breathe fire or go God Mode.
He really didn't need Crisanto jumping through the roof screaming that he had been right, as expected.
There must be some sort of physical attacks he could use. Something that would look enough like martial arts to pass.
[Activate God Mode?]
No way! This system really didn't have Jaden's best interests at heart, did it? It just wanted to make him look the coolest!
Cool be damned, Jaden just wanted to win.
[Searching…]
[Name: Ethan
[Level: 18]
[Skills:
The fighter system had unbelievably creative attack names.
Ethan also was higher level than Jaden. This might be a problem.
[Weakness: persistence]
As much as he hated having it, Jaden couldn't deny it was a pretty good system. He looked at Ethan, now confident. Ethan relied on speed, it looked like he couldn't keep up his quick attacks for long.
Jaden could win this.
"What are you waiting for? Let's get this finished."