Snap.The larger man’s neck suffered a clean break.Thonk!His heavy body smashed onto the arena floor with a resounding thud.The audience was stunned into silence at this turn of events—this included me, of course.The shriveled old man had gone for the kill in a single, swift motion. His lethality had been too fast for anyone to predict.If I were in his opponent’s place, I would probably have fallen victim in the same way.How am I supposed to be on guard for that kind of move?Without a doubt, there was more to this tournament than met the eye.“He’s a martial arts master! No doubt about it!”A sudden yelp cut through the lull.As if on cue, the whole crowd erupted into a heated conversation.“Martial arts… master?”This was my first time hearing these words used together in this kind of context.Seeing my quizzical expression, Gordon took the time to exp

"I surrender! Let go of me—I surrender!"The instant Flametail indicated her defeat, a white towel from her faction was thrown into the ring."What, already? I would've liked to watch some more of that.""Ah, come on! I was ready to do some spanking of my own!""What a shame. Guess we'll hafta wait 'til next year for a potential rematch!"Flametail's surrender meant that the hostilities were over, so I shrugged and stood up, coughing in the process at some of the lurid commentary from the audience."Just you wait. I'll be sure to get my revenge!""You're welcome anytime." I raised my palms with a casual twirl. "Though I do feel compelled to remind you that you should sharpen up before then. If it's just going to be a repeat of today, that would be no fun.""You…"The fire user's face remained as sanguine as her hair. She tried to force a few more words out, but nothing came out. Finally, she chose to simply get off the stage.

"Ho! What an interesting boy you are. I'll make an exception just for you."The wrinkled old man cracked a pernicious sneer. "If you surrender now, you can walk away with your life. If you continue, consider it forfeit!""You wanna kill me? Give it all you've got, then!"I gripped my fists more tightly than ever before. A few bounding steps led to a charge, and soon enough, I was hurtling at my opponent.The old man saw no reason to switch up his tactics from before. He went for a reprise of the fast and flurry-ious.Pop!My knuckles exploded with power! The punch I threw flew through the air with audibly more momentum than before."Hmm?"The martial arts master raised a rattled eyebrow. A bewildered look appeared on his face as he eluded my attack. "You were holding back before?""Maybe, maybe not."My face twitched. All of my full attention was on the fight right now."Even if you were holding back, so what?" the old man snort

"How are you feeling, Mr. Floyd? Would you like me to call an ambulance?"Iris rushed to my side and knelt by my side in concern.Before I could answer, the host's sugary voice made an announcement. "Our dashing challenger is down for the count! He doesn't look like he'll be able to get back up for a while. Would you like to surrender on his behalf, Lady Lindell?""What's the point of even asking that? That kid has no chance against Mr. Halliday. The fight is already over!""Even if the kid survives, he'll probably be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I doubt he'd be able to crawl back even if he tried to!""Go on and announce the results of the finals already, lady! No reason to keep us waiting here for him!"The audience waxed impatient at the lack of a real spectacle.I was not down and out yet, though!"Who says I can't get back up?" I shouted as I got to my feet."The fuck? How can he still stand? He's a tough nut to cr

"Ha! You better explain yourself, William Floyd!"Iris was practically glowering at this point. "What are you still keeping that for?" She pointed an accusatory finger at the slip of paper in my hands. "You're really planning on going to her room later, aren't you?""Uh, no! No, ma'am!"I tore up the paper immediately and tossed the fragments into the wind."If you want a late-night tryst so badly, it's… not… out of the question."This follow-up comment from her was delivered with an intense blush.I did a bit of a double-take. Had I heard her correctly? "Um, sorry… what did you just say?""You know what I said!" Iris rolled her eyes, the rosiness in her cheeks remaining in place.Gordon's interruption broke open our somewhat awkward stalemate."Ma'am," he said to Iris, "they're all waiting for you at the meeting—to discuss how to divvy up resources for the coming year.""I'll be over there right away!" Thi