Savage Awakening 475. Quarterfinals (II)

Kira, Jun, and Ryu made their way through the hallways of the grand stadium, fresh off yet another Jack victory. This one had gone surprisingly fast.

“Guess it just played to his strengths,” said Jun cheerfully.

None of them were still in the running, so it was a pretty relaxed time, Ryu thought. They were just here spectating a friend.

Just then, a shoulder bumped into Jun hard. A flash of tiger fur.

“Excuse me,” said Jun.

“Watch it!”

The man turned around, scowling. He had a necklace of tiger teeth to go with his scarf. “No way…” He leaned closer. “It can’t be… It is! It’s little Junnie!”

The men with him—eight or nine burly Ascendants—stopped too. They were all wearing the same tiger fur scarf.

Jun went pale. The man slung an arm around his shoulder, and he flinched.

“You didn’t tell me you were here! We could’ve gone for a drink! Wait… wait.”

He grinned, like he had a hilarious thought. “Don’t tell me… you’re here to make the Summit, aren’t you?”

He laughed at the awkward look on Jun’s face.
“What—did you think you’d redeem yourself or something? Crawl back with your little Summit participation, and we’d just let you in? Maybe even get your girl back—Lisa, right?”

Jun looked crestfallen.

“Didn’t you hear?” said the man—who Ryu guessed was Young Master Tiger Claw. “She doesn’t want you anymore. She found someone better.”

The Young Master was enjoying himself.

“You—you rogue!” said Jun, reddening. It was the first time Ryu had seen him angry.

“I’m kidding!” said the Young Master. “Just kidding. This is why she left you, you know? You take everything so seriously. Yeesh.”

Kira snatched Jun’s arm and glared. “Hey. Who the hells are you?”

The Young Master blinked. Did a double-take.

“Well, hello,” he purred. “Jun! You didn’t tell me you had such a sexy friend!”

He grinned in a way that he no doubt thought was very dashing.

“I'm his girlfriend, you weird little prick,” she snapped. It seemed like news to Jun—but pleasant news.

Young Master Tiger Claw considered her words—and promptly ignored them. He started grinning at Jun again. “Hey, I just had a thought. I took your first girl. Imagine if I took your second too!”

“That’s enough!” snapped Jun.

“Go on,” said the Young Master. He lifted his chin. “Hit me. Do it! You won’t.”

Jun’s jaw worked.

“That’s what I thought. That Lisa, by the way… she was your childhood sweetheart and all, wasn’t she?” Tiger Claw smirked. “She meant nothing to me—just thought you should know that. I tossed her aside as soon as I was through with her, if you know what I mean. That’s right—”

Jun raised his fist—but one of the burly guys grabbed his arm.

Ryu’s hand strayed to his sword. Two more were coming up behind them… this could get messy.

“Hey there, gorgeous.” It was the first time the Young Master acknowledged Kira directly. Even as his goons fanned out around them, he stepped in close, putting a hand on her chin. 

“What do you say you go home with me? I’m living up in the Centennial—that’s the big, shiny, silver tower. Way better than what this little worm can get you. I can show you sights you’d never get to see.”

“Really?” gasped Kira.

“You know it.” He smirked. Then looked over his shoulder at his boys and winked.

CRUNCH.

His face changed. Reddened—it was the sound of Kira giving him a swift kick between the legs.

He gasped as he fell over, gagging—“You hit me!”

He sounded like he couldn’t quite process it.

But she wasn’t done.

Even as his goons moved in, she stomped on his nuts.

Young Master Tiger Claw shrieked.

Then she glared at his goons, resting the sharp end of her boot against their Young Master’s family line. They wisely backed off.

She dug it in a little deeper.

The Young Master whimpered.

“Listening?” she growled.

“Okay, okay—!” he cried.

“Don’t you talk to my boyfriend that way, you little freak,” she said. “And you sure as hells don’t talk to me that way! This is what we’re going to do. The moment I lift my boot, you scurry the hells out of here. Got it?”

She applied some stern foot pressure, and Tiger Claw squeaked. He nodded quickly.

“Good.”

She stepped off—Young Master Tiger Claw scrambled away, stumbling over himself.

“Hmph.”

She crossed her arms, glaring daggers as he went.

Jun, meanwhile, was dumbstruck.

Ryu could guess why. Jun was an earnest, big-hearted young man—he never got out much. He just saw his new girlfriend in tight leather fabrics stomping on a whimpering young master.

It seemed to have broken something in his brain.

“Jun?” said Ryu. “…Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah!” said Jun. “Mhm!”

“Great,” said Kira, beaming.

She grabbed him by the arm, and they headed off.

Zane finally found the last rune. It was hidden under a massive boulder; he had to pry it off to get to it. But there it was. Pretty sneaky.

He was just in time too. He’d gotten a glimpse of who was coming up in the brackets. It’d come in handy soon.

In any case—he was pretty sure he had all he needed now.

As he made his rounds, he munched on some more dreamsteel.

Friend of the System, Tier III: 22 -> 26%…

***

Meanwhile, in the grand arena—

“It’s looking like it’s coming down to just three contenders!” roared the announcer.

The Blood Demon Sage walked away, yet another drained master behind him—this time an Earth master, his hammer lolling on the ground.

“The Blood Demon, Salazar, and Jack—not one of them has been stopped or even slowed! They’re just dispatching their enemies with ease! And it looks like two are on a collision course in the semifinals… if they manage to win their next duel, that is. There are some tough outs ahead. Especially for Jack! He’ll have to get through the Big Game Huntress, Virya Deadeye—there’s a much fiercer challenge than any he’s fought so far… and if we know one thing about Virya, she’ll be ready. She stalks her prey.”

***

“That Jack really made it through to the semis,” said the Cloud Emperor.

“He might just win it all,” said Patriarch Black Dragon, smiling a little. He didn’t care anymore, really. Shen was gone—everything after was just bonus. Needling the Cloud Emperor was idle entertainment.

“Now, now,” said the Cloud Emperor, scowling. “You might just be letting your imagination get ahead of yourself.”

“I seem to recall you saying that the last time Jack fought.”

“Alright, I'll admit it! I did underestimate the brat, just a little… still! That rock thing’s reliant on brute strength. It’s clumsy. With how precise that Virya girl is—she’s all wrong for him. I’ve got a feeling poor Jack’s about to get exposed.”

“Maybe,” said Patriarch Black Dragon. He took a sip of spirit. “Will you put your money where your mouth is?”

“…Tch!” The Cloud Emperor had already lost a king’s ransom, betting against Jack.

“I must say I agree with the Cloud Emperor,” said the Art Saint. She had a soft, breezy voice.

“That Jack may not be the joke we all thought. But he’s still… hmm. Limited. What do you think, Moke?”

Moke was the Patriarch of the War Phoenix Sect, the strongest in all the realm, boasting such talents as Salazar the Sword Saint and Jin among its top recruits.

“The only one Salazar’s interested in is the guy with the rock,” sighed the Patriarch. “Then again... who knows what’s going through his head?”

***

Back home, Zane found some time to level with Reina some more.

Level up!

Level up!

Essence Level 558 -> 560

Not much changed on her end—she was still working steadily to finish up her translations.

Meanwhile, he told her how his last few rounds went. She always seemed to find it quite entertaining.

He did tell her about a little altercation he’d seen earlier with some friends he’d made in Astra—Kira and Jun. Reina quite approved of the girl’s handling.

“You haven’t had any girl trouble in Astra, have you?”

Zane dutifully shook his head.

“Really?” she looked at him, pursed her lips. “I don’t believe no one came onto you.”

That had happened. But—

“I’ve made it very clear, very quickly that I had a girlfriend,” he said truthfully.

“…Good.”

She settled back into him.

Really, it was for the girls’ sake, more than his. If they thought Kira was domineering…

***

“He claims his power’s all rock—that’s where he gets his strength from, that connection,” said Saint Earthshatter. His eyes were bloodshot. He was gesticulating rather wildly, jabbing at a wild web of essence images; Tutor Li was slightly worried, if he was honest.

“Here’s the crux of it,” said Earthshatter. “Jack might derive his strength from his so-called rock. But that is no rock! Have you ever seen a rock do that? It’s got none of the properties! No. It’s a treasure, made in the shape, and texture, and likeness of a rock—and that is the mad genius of it! Such a design naturally invites the opponent to underestimate it. It also makes it easier to knock them out!”

“That… actually does make sense,” said Tutor Li.

“There’s the problem. All his enemies aim for his head,” said Saint Earthshatter. “Foolish! I will grant you—he does have a face which seems to invite one to punch it. But it’s yet another ruse! You must break through it. You must break the source of his power.”

Saint Earthshatter grinned. “What is Jack… without his rock?”

“Can you do it?” said Tutor Li.

Virya just grinned.

***

“It's quarterfinals time—and hells—I can't even hear myself, it's so loud in here!” cried the announcer.

The stands were shaking with chants of “Jack! Jack! Jack!” Pictures of his head floated about. Zane was a little surprised giant head pictures were a thing here too—he supposed it was just universal.

“To the left—it’s Virya Deadeye, the Big Game Huntress herself! Long revered as the #3 talent in all of the Divine Realm; ranked just behind the Blood Demon Sage, and the Sword Saint himself! She was neck-and-neck with the Blood Demon Sage to win this side of the bracket… before Jack came along, that is! Now they’re all at even odds. But some experts still think she should be the favorite! Her specialty’s extreme power. These aren’t pitter-patter shots, folks. Virya needs just one arrow. She goes straight for the kill!"

There was a fair share of Virya fans too by the sounds of it.

“And then—on the right—it’s everyone's favorite miner-turned-clubber… Jack! Still wielding his Way of Rock!”

Jack waved his rock.

The crowd loved it.

In Virya’s corner, he saw a very top-heavy old man pop a blood vessel. Not sure what that was about. “Best of luck,” said Virya. She grinned at him, more toothily than most—more like an animal than a person.

Still—he could tell she meant no harm by it. He appreciated the sportsmanship.

“You too,” he said, nodding.

“…Begin!” roared the announcer.

Instantly, Virya drew her bow all the way.