Depthless Hunger

No one actually explained the rules of the tournament clearly, which struck Kai as a terrible idea. There were currently a group of men and women flailing in the ring: all of them had at least G-1 Physique, but otherwise they weren't very impressive. Judging from context, he thought that this was an elimination round, sorting out who would actually get into the tournament brackets.

Otherwise, just about everything seemed to be legal. Lots of people got whacked in the crotch or poked in the eyes, and there were no serious injuries only because the fighters weren't very good at violence. Some had weapons, but no blades. Breaking bones didn't seem to matter, but in the second melee, he saw someone get disqualified for a blow to the head that left a man unconscious. The limits seemed poorly defined.

Fhazi pushed his way into the next round, and though his blows were a bit rough, his Grandfist Class sent everyone flying. He ordered the Tonjin brothers to take the next entry rounds one at a time, making sure that all three of them got into the final brackets. No doubt he thought that improved his chances, since he would be taking their rewards.

Since there weren't many qualifying rounds left, Kai considered his strategy. A bow had been a good idea when he was fighting monsters, but now there was no way of using it without seriously injuring someone, if not killing them. He'd have to fight with his fists.

When the bell was rung for the next round, to great shouting from the crowd, Kai stepped into the ring. Only one of the others struck him as a possible threat: a woman with an Irregular Class that put her above the others. She would be his first target.

She seemed to be aiming for him too, swinging a club wildly. Kai grabbed her wrists and her arm, then used his leverage to hurl her into the rest of the crowd. Fully a third of them tumbled out of the ring, disqualified. Some of the others didn't notice, still struggling with one another, so Kai picked up a heavier man and tossed him out as well.

It worked as well as he'd hoped: the fact that he was casually lifting and chucking adults intimidated the others without hurting anyone. Soon everyone else had either retreated or been tossed out, so Kai made it into one of the tournament slots.

"Alright, wait for us to make the bracket!" A grubby man who seemed to be in charge called to everyone, which set off a rush of food vendors, gamblers, and more.

The bracket looked like a single elimination tournament with thirty-two contestants, drawn in cheap chalk on the city wall. Instead of bothering with names, they just used colored circles stuck to the wall. One of the tournament workers slapped a circle onto Kai's chest, where it stuck to his clothes with some sort of glue.

Before all the positions were taken, however, Fhazi slipped beside the man in charge. It looked like money exchanged hands, then the shuffling of the circles changed. There was no proof, of course, but when the bracket was finally placed on the wall, Kai strongly suspected that it wasn't a purely random one.

While the first sloppy fights began, Kai examined the chalk lines and tried to predict Fhazi's plan. It actually wasn't a bad scheme. It looked like Kai would be up against people he didn't know for the first two rounds, then Lofgan Tonjin would be his third opponent, assuming they both won their matches. The cleverer part was, if the rounds were fought in order, Kai would immediately have to fight Fhazi afterward. Despite his arrogance, Fhazi was smart enough to soften him up with his bodyguard first.

Raghi Tonjin was on the opposite side of the bracket, either randomly or to try to win more awards. Presuming they both won all their matches, they would meet in the final round of the tournament. Kai wasn't sure how likely that was, given this kind of informal street brawl.

Though the crowds seemed excited to see people beating on each other, Kai found the first rounds disappointing. Nearly every fight had a clear winner, the Tonjin brothers finishing with particular ease. Fhazi used his Class freely, breaking a man's leg. He was probably just a local tough who couldn't afford the healing, and the broken leg might ruin his life.

For his part, Kai had no trouble. His first fight was effortless, then for his second he was pleasantly surprised to go up against a Novice Icecaster. He waited to let the man hit him, but the shards of ice splintered off his skin harmlessly. Kai had been braced for a minor injury, but the blow felt shockingly weak compared to Inafay.

All of that meant that the remainder of the tournament would be against Fhazi and his scheme. While the remaining fights concluded, Kai looked over at the young noble and tried to keep his expression neutral.

When it came time for his third fight against Lofgan, Kai set aside thoughts and focused fully on the match. He ignored the smooth stone beneath his feet and tuned out the screaming crowds. Lofgan entered the ring slowly, cracking his knuckles on both hands. To anyone without spiritual sight in the crowd, it would certainly look like a one-sided match.

The bell rang, and Lofgan charged at him immediately.

Kai easily dodged aside from the wide sweep, but then Lofgan stopped playing the fool. He didn't draw back for another blow, just charged straight into him. His momentum forced Kai a couple steps back, dangerously close to the edge of the ring. Smart. Lofgan knew that Kai's Physique would give him an advantage, so he wanted to end the match quickly.

In theory, the smart thing to do would be to use his old wrestling training to throw Lofgan past him and out of the ring. But finishing the match that way would just humiliate the man, and Kai couldn't bring himself to do that. Instead, he set his feet and began pushing back.

Lofgan roared in his face, exerting all his muscles, but he could only hold Kai back temporarily. Step by step, they struggled back across the ring. Kai's muscles burned, yet the mana kept flowing in. Even if Lofgan could punch above his Physique's weight, Kai had been training his strength for just as long, and the end was inevitable.

"Good match." Kai didn't push further when he finally forced Lofgan over the edge. The larger man smiled briefly, but then winced. Kai understood a moment later when he returned to Fhazi for berating.

Another bell, even faster than the usual rounds. The tournament runner had definitely been bribed, as he announced the next match swiftly and Fhazi leapt into the ring. He was already drawing on his Class, holding nothing back. That much mana would kill the average fighter in this tournament.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Name: Fhazi Lantrian

Total Power: 26

Grandfist Class: 2 (12)

Physique Level: G-3 (8)

Soul Level: 1 (1)

Advanced Armor (5)

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Once again, Kai considered the smart path and decided against it. More than any rewards, he wanted the chance to test himself against real opponents. Since this street tournament didn't include very many, he needed to take the chances he could get. Instead of striking Fhazi quickly, while he was off guard, Kai held his ground and let him attack first.

Several punches flew at him, shockwaves rippling through the air. Kai managed to dodge around each, holding back from retaliating to get a better sense for Fhazi's style. Though the young Lantrian was pompous, he wasn't incompetent. He'd had some combat training and had progressed in his Physique since the Trials. Unless Kai-

The next punch came much too close and Kai tried to deflect it with a forearm. Instantly a shockwave of pain raced up his arm. He'd underestimated just how heavily the mana would hit: Fhazi might be a fool, but all his clan's resources had managed to evolve his Class. As far as he'd come, Kai couldn't be careless with Class-bearing opponents.

"Look, your arm is already half-broken!" Fhazi pointed at the hanging limb and sneered. "How much will it cost you to heal that? Do you make that much in a year?"

Kai grabbed Fhazi's pointing arm, pulled him off balance, and then kicked him in the chest hard enough to throw him out of the ring.

The crowds clapped and cheered as Fhazi flopped over the stone several times. No doubt he had earned no friends with that kind of boasting, since the majority of them were poor themselves. For several seconds Fhazi looked shocked, staring down at the massive dent in his armor. Without it, the kick might well have caved in his chest.

"You..." Fhazi lurched back to his feet and pushed through the shock. "That's a cheap move! Because you're afraid, aren't you? No matter how hard you work, just one hit from a real Class will finish you!"

Before Kai could think of a suitable response, someone threw a piece of fruit at Fhazi's head. He flinched back and retreated to the Tonjin brothers, whose immense size kept anyone from troubling him further. Instead of saying anything else, he sulked by the side of the ring, presumably hoping that Raghi could win the tournament for him.

Until then, Kai had a while to rest. He massaged his forearm and saw that a surprising amount of skin had been torn open, plus the rest had turned an ugly purple. Part of Kai wanted to keep fighting with that handicap, but he changed his mind when he saw Raghi staring at him. No, he'd take this seriously, so he drank his new potion and let it do its work so he'd be prepared for the second Tonjin brother.

But Raghi lost his semifinal round.

His opponent was a grim middle-aged woman with short-cropped hair. She hadn't particularly attracted Kai's attention in previous rounds, since she'd won in ordinary ways. Against Raghi, she revealed a quarterstaff that looked to be made from Irunian metal. Her Class was just a low Warrior, but each blow seemed to send a shock through Raghi's system, and in the end she battered him out of the ring.

As much as he wanted to test her and give the crowd a good final fight, Kai decided that the risk was too high. Her ability might be able to pierce his Physique, and her skill with the quarterstaff was nothing to sneer at. Bringing anything other than his best would be a mistake.

"And now we have the final round!" The organizer of the tournament waved his hands gleefully. "Brute strength against experience and skill! Who will win everything our benefactors have assembled? Need I remind you of these treasures? A wondrous healing potion, a suit of beautiful Irunian armor, and no fewer than three scrolls of enhancement!"

Kai and his opponent walked into the ring from opposite sides through the cheers. Kai tried to ignore the fact that he was being called a brute and instead hopped back and forth, shifting his weight. He wasn't fighting an unknown opponent, he imagined he was up against Inafay. She was summoning her full power and she would blow him away, unless he managed to strike first.

The bell rang and he lunged with a snarl.

His fist hit the woman's throat and he felt something crunch. In an instant, Kai went from ferocious to horrified.

The woman clutched at her throat, struggling to breathe as she sank to the ground. Her quarterstaff fell slowly, its ringing against the stone loud in the silence. Then there came a violent chorus of cheers, jeers, and profanity, but Kai barely heard any of it.

"Give me the potion!" He thrust his hand at the tournament organizer, who stared at him in shock. "That's one of the prizes I just won, right? Give it to me!"

With trembling fingers, the man handed him an elaborate spiral glass. Kai practically tore off the top as he bent down beside his fallen opponent and poured the liquid down her throat. She coughed and struggled at first, then grabbed the glass with both hands. He pulled back as she began drinking from it, glad to see that her injury seemed to be healing.

The injury he caused.

That feeling when he'd crushed her throat was still burned into his mind, the sensation fresh against his knuckles. It had felt horrible. Fighting against other competitors or smugglers had been one thing, but Kai had nearly just killed a woman who had done nothing but fight to improve her life.

Instantly, he knew that this path wasn't for him. Yes, he might be able to win future tournaments if they were all this easy, but it wasn't worth it. His strength had always been meant to fight monsters, not harm other humans. Not that he wasn't going to accept the rewards he'd just earned.

As he rose, he saw Fhazi approaching him, flanked by the Tonjin brothers.

"Are you happy now, Kai?" Fhazi started to jab a finger at his chest, then quickly withdrew his arm. "You've won a few weak scrolls that you can't even use. Or are you going to sell them in the hope that you can buy yourself some miserable little shack?"

"Go away," Kai said. In that moment, Fhazi seemed so unbelievably petty that he had no strength for it. The Lantrian scion glared at him as he departed, and one day that might come back to bite him, but for now Kai was done with all of it.

"Alright, you've earned it." The grubby man running the tournament shoved the armor and the box of scrolls at him, none too gently. "You're not welcome here again, and you'd best not try anything I run. Don't you have enough treasures in the upper city?"

Kai only shook his head and turned away. Before he left, there was one more detail he couldn't leave alone. His last opponent appeared to have mostly recovered, but she leaned on her quarterstaff and rubbed her throat. When she saw his approach, she tried to evade him and he had to step into her path.

"I didn't mean to hit you that hard," Kai started, only for her to jab her staff at his face.

"I don't want your pity." Her voice rasped out and he winced, but he had to push on.

"Look at my Class. I'm serious, do it. The clans have given me nothing, and I only wanted to win what advantage I could. But this is my last tournament here, I swear it. I don't want to fight humans like this."

She stared at him, and though he couldn't feel her spiritual sight, he saw her expression shift. After rubbing her throat for a while longer, she spoke more quietly. "Then why are you bothering me?"

"Because these prizes are worthless to me. I need a better contest, and you look like a woman who might know one." He lifted the box of scrolls in her direction. "I'd be happy to give you some of the rewards in exchange for information about-"

"Don't patronize me." She jabbed the box away with the tip of her staff. "What do you want?"

"I heard there are fights against rare monsters? I don't care if they're illegal, I want to participate."

"Hmph, fine." She leaned in closer and rasped several phrases into his ear. It was a mix of names he didn't know and locations he wasn't sure about, so he could only do his best to memorize the sounds. Once that was done, she pulled back and began walking away as quickly as possible.

"Thank you," Kai said, keeping pace. "I'm Kai Granfian, by the way. What's your name?"

"No." With one last glare, she pushed into the crowd and left him behind.

That left him standing with his rewards, the winner of the tournament. Everyone around him gave him a wide berth, and he saw more than a few fearful glances. Even though he'd accomplished his next goal by learning about the monster fights, Kai didn't feel like he'd learned anything at all.