Bab 50: Chapter 50 - Reaching to the Semifinals

"And that's the second match that we've seen Liwuukay easily clear out his opponent! Our unknown is truly making a name for himself, isn't he?" Stadium three's announcer is much more tolerable than the woman in stadium four, but he still has that stereotypical voice. Fortunately, the spectators quickly drown him out in their loud cheers. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I peer up in the stands. "Are there more people watching now? Eh, It's probably because this guy was from another big family, even though he was pretty weak." Underdog hadn't been activating the whole tournament, even against people stronger than me. The last time it had was against Lillock, and that was probably because even if I hadn't known it, it had been a duel that could have gone to the death. Even then, I clearly wouldn't have needed it for these fight, regardless of the fact he was a Level higher than me. Checking my Stats, I see I've now reached Level 15. [Free Stats: 16] "Nice," I mutter as the dome turns black. I turn to look at the boy I had just decimated. He sits completely knocked out, his arms and legs splayed at all angles due to his broken bones. As the Healers rush in and see him, they turn to me in bewilderment. "Why??" One of them forcefully asks. I shrug, a blank look on my face. "Isn't it better than cutting them off?" They stare at me, and I stare at them. Finally they spring back into action, all of them focusing on healing him. That was fine with me; all I had received was a scrape or two from his magic attacks. After the round with Ezio, I fought against a girl with a dagger, which was a relatively close fight, and I only ended up winning due to conserving more of my Stamina. The boy I had fought had been Level 15, like I had just become, but as a newbie mage, his Elementalist Class didn't save him from a big loss in front of everyone. He sure had liked screeching about it, though. Until I broke his arm. He had continued fighting, which were how his other limbs were broken, one by one until he stopped firing Fire, Water, Land and Sky magic at me. "At least he was tenacious." I walk out the exit, making my way to the backdoor. To my surprise, I had my own group of people waiting for me, and a loud cheer reverberated through them as I came out. Unlike a certain blue-headed Spellsmith, mine was a mixed group of unidentifiable Beastpeople, men, and women of mixed races. Several of them seemed weak and frail, but they all cheer with all their might. I stand stunned for a long moment before an adorable familiar face pops out from the crowd, dragging the hand of an old wrinkled man behind her. "Taisha!" I call out happily, waving. "Hi, Mister Luke!" She responds in a similar manner, pulling forward the man she was with. "This is my grandpa!" "Old man?" I say, a hint of shock on my face. He chuckles, stroking his beard. "I thought you were a Dwarf?" "I am," he states, looking me up and down before leaning closer. "Adoptive," he whispers, only loud enough for me to hear, and I nod firmly. "Ohhh! I see!" Kneeling down, I pinch Taisha's cheeks, and she squeals. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be taller than your dear old gramps someday." She puffs her chest out proudly, nodding. I laugh, and she giggles too. "You have lots of fans now, Mister! I'm glad you don't let it get to your head!" "Heh… Actually, I have no idea where these guys came from," I admit, looking at everyone closing around us. Several people hold out pieces of paper or other random objects with pens, pleading for me to sign. One of them is even holding out a baby, and I halfway question whether it's even their child, but I begin signing. Not the baby, of course. That's just weird. Nope, totally did not sign a baby's belly. The old man raises his eyebrow at me as I hand back the bab- I mean the baby-shaped piece of paper. "What? Have you ever seen an angry mob? Trust me, it's better to do as they say." In an attempt to simply move past the subject, the old man speaks up over the cheers around us. "They believe that you are an icon for the weak, considering all but one of your opponents has been a higher Level than you. They are here to show you support and wish you the best, so that you may continue to represent them." For once, I can't find a snarky comment or something smart to say, and I simply stare at the crowd. I remembered being Luke. Actually Luke, not Liwuukay. I had an average build, and I lived a decent life, but… No matter how strong I could have become then, I wouldn't have the mental fortitude to back it up. It was like I had become a completely different person when I woke up as Klum. From fighting for my survival to… Well, fighting to survive from Eniyala's constant verbal and physical assault, I had grown both in my state of mind and with my new body. It was the second chance of a lifetime, and worth more than hundreds of millions of red sports cars to me. It was this thought that made me chuckle slightly, earning a look of confusion from Taisha. Her grandfather clearly understood, as a small twinkle in his eye shines brightly and he pulls Taisha back a bit from me. I nod as thanks, filling my lungs up with air before I shout at my max volume. It wasn't very loud, but it did the trick. "EVERYONE!!" All the people gathered around fell silent, looking at me patiently as I found the words I wanted to speak. After a long moment, I decided on the simplest route, as I couldn't think of anything more fitting. Bowing my head, I continue. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I'LL DO MY BEST TO LIVE UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS!!" It's still silent for a long minute after I speak, and I keep my head down as anxiety fills my body, causing slight tremors. 'Shitshitshitshitshi—' In a sudden burst of energy, everyone explodes into loud screams and cheers, dancing about wildly. "Li wuu kay!" "Li wuu kay!" "Li wuu kay!" It isn't long before a chant starts again, all of them shouting at the top of their lungs. I'm pretty sure I see someone tossing a baby-shaped piece of paper around— No, okay, maybe that's a bit much. [AGI: 25 -> 30] [Free Stats: 11] [New Stats taking effect in 3…] As soon as the five Agility activates, I dash forwards, the wind and force knocking people on their ass as I catch the crying baby out of the air. I rock him slowly until he calms down, wiping his tears away. "Don't cry, little man. If you cry a river, you'll ruin my signature on your cute little belly." The crowd's shock fades a bit as most of them make their way up onto their feet, and I turn to face them. "Go on your way now! I hope to see you for tomorrow's match! Also… Uh, who's baby is this?" They give one last cheer before dispersing, and a small timid woman runs up, claiming her baby. Finally, the only people remaining are Eniyala, Lynsel, Taisha and her grandfather. The latter two walk up to me to say goodbye and wish me well on tomorrow's match before heading on their way as well. I walk over to my party. Lynsel is clapping his hands quietly, and Eniyala looks smug. "Drunk off popularity already, are we?" I roll my eyes at her, swiping to smack her shoulder, which she ducks under. "Let's go, Thing One and Thing Two." "What, so you're Thing Three? Fitting." "I swear to any one of the Gods, Eni…" "Oh? Quite a bold statement there. What are you swearing?" We continue bickering as we head to the next stadium for Eniyala's match. We've finally begun to have matches at different times, allowing us to watch each other's matches. This had made her unexpectedly happy, although her face doesn't really show it. Eh, she probably just wanted to be able to gloat later. "It doesn't matter," I sigh, looking up at the sky, in its swirl of blue and purple. Eniyala takes it as winning our bickering war, and leaves it at that. I knew she would win, and I had been keeping track of the brackets. After the next match, the two of us would be going against each other, so I needed as much information as I could get. * * * The heavy, maniacal laughter booms through the forest, causing the trees themselves to shiver. It stops suddenly when a loud CRACK! snaps through the surroundings. It all falls silent for a moment, then an angry yell sounds out. The minotaur quickly went from enjoying playing with his toys, a.k.a the Strong-Magic Boars, to filled with rage at the breaking stick he was using to conjure his axe. He held his hand out, and purple Mana poured from his large hand, forming the head of an axe that on its bladed side was about 10 feet long. With a heavy swing, he cuts through the rest of the Boars in one blow. He huffs, a large cloud of steam puffing out of his nostrils. "Stupid piggies," he mutters, stomping his hoof on a deceased Boar's head and putting a hole through it. "Even humans are more fun than you idiots." He stalks about for half an hour, before he comes across an upended tree on its side. Summoning the top part of his axe once again, he chops the ends off of the tree and picks up the remaining trunk, that's barely smaller than his upper arm, and gives it a few tentative swings. Nodding affirmatively, he faces the city. "Me guess it's time," he says with a nasty grin, but loud grunts behind him cause him to turn around. "Or, me can handle one more challenge, get some practice before the humans. You look fun. Are you?" Two Elder Fanged Ogres screech, glaring at the invader to their territory. They had been busy cleaning up the rest of the Boars, who had attacked them in large groups, but this was the biggest threat of all. The minotaur sighs, conjuring the axe onto the end of the trunk he holds. "More EXP is more EXP, me guess."