The thunder of cheers and applause got my blood pumping the moment I entered the arena. The setup was far different than the Wooden Bracket. There was no actual ring here, the floor of the stadium itself became the ring, giving fighters plenty of room to maneuver across the hard clay floor. Above me, the brilliant Qi-infused lighting danced over the crowd of well over ten thousand people, their voices becoming a solid wall of noise and whistles as the announcer came over the loudspeaker.
“Competing in his first ever Iron Bracket match and winner of the Wooden Bracket, let us welcome, the Bull Man!”
The chorus shifted into a chanting of ‘Bull Man’ as Qi screens displayed my ranking and I hefted my axe in the air for show.
“Not surprisingly, the Bull Man has already been scouted due to his fighting prowess and is tonight representing the Furious Lightning Sect!”
On cue, I released the Faux Lightning technique I’d been charging in my Dantian and lit up the arena with a flash. The crowd stood on their feet chanting my name even louder as the clap of thunder reverberated through the air.
“Bull Man!”
“Bull Man!”
“Bull Man!”
I’d worn my mask as normal but added my new Sect robes as well. I hated them to be honest, but representation was representation. I hammed it up a bit more for the crowd with some axe forms, the way we’d been told to do by the dour-faced woman, Wu Hen, who had prepped us before a fight as usual.“Be sure to make a good show,” she’d said. “Play to the crowd. People pay money to be entertained, not just to see blood.”
But blood was what they were bound to see plenty of tonight.
The thought strengthened my resolve as I tapped into the energy of the crowd to begin channeling fresh Frenzy through my system.
“A very passionate welcome for the newcomer,” the announcer continued. “But the Bull Man is making his debut very high in the rankings tonight and his opponent is no rookie. Defending her position as 37th in the Iron Bracket Tournament, with four victories already under her belt and representing the Blue Lotus Sect, please let us welcome… the Blue Mantis!”
A wave of fanfare erupted as a petite figure in blue robes flipped into the arena with a burst of qinggong. She was almost too quick to see, her body a blue blur until she came to a sudden stop about thirty feet away from me.
With her small stature, she looked all of about 15, but being a Core Realm cultivator, she was likely much older than that. Her hair was pulled back into a long, braided ponytail that reached the floor, its color matching the deep blue of her robes. I wondered for a moment if she had dyed it that way, or if perhaps it was natural seeing as her eyes were blue as well.
Cultivation did tend to reproduce the characteristics of the element one cultivated, no different than the haughty bitch I’d meet in the skiff earlier, with her silver hair and chrome eyes. It was a pretty good bet this girl was no different.
She leapt into the air with a spin and from nowhere a sphere of water began formed about her body. She kept spinning, hanging in midair with the power of her Qi alone. Then once the sphere had formed to the size of a large beach ball, she fell through it and landed on her feet, dry as a bone. In her hands two weapons had appeared, long-bladed scythes on short metal shafts. The blades were not perpendicular to the shafts but rather angled downward a bit and able to protect her hands and forming the “claws” of her mantis persona, I figured.
The ball of water stayed hovering above her however, swirling with the momentum of her spin. The crowd erupted with applause at the spectacle, standing to their feet and clapping.
“I hope you are as good as they say,” the woman called to me across the distance, her voice indeed much deeper and more mature than her face let on. She then grinned in a leer. “I would hate to disappoint a crowd like this with a short fight.”
Cocky little bitch, I thought.
I returned the flex by cycling my Frenzy, toggling on the [Devil’s Shadow] technique to mask it and then dumping it all into [Fear the Flame]. I wasn’t certain how far my fear aura had grown, but since I could sense her fear—or lack of it—from this distance, I figured my range should at least be about the same.
My theory was proven right as an instant later the Blue Mantis flinched a little, jerking upright, a tremble of uncertainty running through her core. The sight made me smile and I drew the precious fear energy from her and cultivated it into my own.
“The odds are three to one in favor of the Blue Mantis,” the announcer said and above us, the numbers flashed onto the score board.
Blue Mantis vs Bull Man
Odds: 3:1
Time - 30:00
Blue Mantis
Bull Man
0
0
Holy shit, I thought with a laugh. The [Odds are Against Me] literally this time. I focused on that to try and generate even more Frenzy, but studying the diminutive-looking teenager before me, it was hard to take her as a threat.
But my mind knew all that would change in a few moments when the bell rang.
The scoreboard also had the time and scoring, just like when I’d fought Gui Zu, but something told me this battle would not come down to points. I flipped my axe in my palm, enjoying the weight of the fully iron weapon in my hand. I’d been honing my techniques with Gui Zu’s help every day and now it was time to put all that practice to the test.
I dropped into a low stance, my axe held high, as I waited for the match to start. I tapped into my Dantian and immediately channeled my compressed Frenzy into my reflexes and prepped my [Iron Skin] technique. As fast as she had entered the ring, I had to be ready for anything.
I was right.
As soon as the gong sounded, Blue Mantis sprang into action with a twirling leap towards me, closing the gap between us in a heartbeat. Instinct and weeks of weapons training kicked in next as I defended the attack with a series of Frenzy-fueled blocks and parries.
But nothing prepared me for the two tendrils of water which shot from out of the sphere like a pair of whips. The water cut through the fabric of my robes and into the skin beneath, drawing blood, anger, and pain.
Ow! You damn tricky bitch!
I immediately funneled that into more Frenzy, compressing it and applying it to my [Iron Skin] technique just before the whips of water lashed out at me again. My robes were still cut, but this time my skin remained intact, with just the sting of pain remaining.
Which only made me more angry.
I kept my composure as I focused on her weapons. I was already fighting two blades with one, but with the water whips I was having to defend myself from two more. Sparks flew as our iron weapons clashed multiple times a second, the intensity as much of a mental workout as physical.
But I was doing it. I was holding my ground against her with pure weapon technique and skill alone. She must have realized it after a while also, because she suddenly backflipped away from me and then leapt into the air and began slashing at her sphere instead.
The whips became arcs of water now, slicing through the air towards me at hypersonic speed. I maneuvered to duck under them, but one caught my leg before I could focus my [Iron Skin] technique. The pain was excruciating, blood springing as the Qi-infused water technique cut my thigh to nearly the bone.
Shit! I thought.
I fell to one knee, a sitting duck and the crowd erupted in anticipation of my demise. Blue Mantis must have sensed it too because she took the liberty of annunciating her next technique as she prepared to strike.
“[Water Spider’s Dance]!”
She jumped towards me again and I shifted my weight to my good leg to dodge to the side, but she didn’t strike where I thought she would. Instead, she hung in mid-air for a second, tendrils of water whipping around her as she flew into a spiral. Only when I had landed from my dodge did she move again, charging in exactly my direction.
No way!
The fake-out caught me flat-footed, and it was all I could do to brace my body with more [Iron Skin] as the blades of her Qi-charged technique ripped my clothes and skin apart. It was like being thrashed by a thousand papercuts, the world becoming a disorientating vortex of water, steel, and blood.
“As easy as I predicted,” Blue Mantis said with a laugh. “You won’t last long at all.”
The taunt fueled my fury and I surged back at her with a powerful series of strikes. She backflipped away still cackling and my blows landed ineffectually onto the hardpacked clay. It had forced her to retreat but nothing more. In the brief reprieve I redirected my Frenzy to my wounded leg, speeding my healing. I glanced at the scoreboard.
Blue Mantis vs Bull Man
Odds: 3:1
Time - 29:13
Blue Mantis
Bull Man
27
0
Shit.
I needed to get my head in the game. Ignoring my wounds with [Indifference] I went on the offensive, desperate to land at least one hit. I burst forward with Frenzy, closing the gap between us, but Blue Mantis kept her distance, peppering me with her water arcs.
I resisted them with [Iron Skin] but the constant attacks slowly drained my Frenzy. Thankfully my infuriation at not being able to catch her fueled me with more rage to fill it back up again, but it still amounted to an effort in futility.
She sprung into the air and caught me with her stupid delayed [Water Spider’s Dance] attack again, me reacting too quickly to dodge it. She got in a slice to my side drawing more blood as she went into a flurry of attacks with her scythes.
Pain and blood fueled my Frenzy as I fought right back, matching her blow for blow with parries from my axe.
“Stay still dammit!” I yelled in frustration, releasing a [Three-Log Chop].
Blue Mantis must have sensed the power of the attack from my Qi-flavored Frenzy and backed away at the last second. My axe hit the ground like a bomb going off, sending debris thirty feet into the air and leaving a crater about half that size in the arena floor. The crowd oo’ed and awed at the powerful attack and then began chanting the bull man chorus again.
I checked the score.
Blue Mantis vs Bull Man
Odds: 4:1
Time - 27:38
Blue Mantis
Bull Man
43
0
The odds had just gotten worse.
I truly was the underdog now.
The cycle repeated itself and began to feel like I was back fighting Yin Chu again, the blue bitch oscillating between outdistancing me with her long-range Qi techniques and then charging in with a well-timed [Water Spider’s Dance] for a flurry of melee attacks to wear me down.
It was damn-well working too.
As the minutes wore on, I realized I was in a stalemate—a battle of attrition I had scant chance of winning. While my path gave me a near unlimited source of Frenzy so long as the conditions were right, I had no idea how much Qi she had left in her tank.
The fight became a marathon, me struggling to survive her attacks while failing at every chance I had to catch her. It was a stark reminder of why I’d be interested in the lightning technique in the first place. For all my power and strength, it was useless against anyone with a ranged technique. The timer chimed for the 10-minute mark and my stomach nearly dropped through the floor when I saw the scoreboard.
Blue Mantis vs Bull Man
Odds: 6:1
Time - 09:52
Blue Mantis
Bull Man
343
0
343 hits to nothing?
Screw this. I needed to do something different.
I needed that lightning.
My Frenzy surged as the [Odds turned further Against Me] but I couldn’t use a drop of it.
At least not for five minutes.
You’ve got to be crazy, I told myself and the Demon smiled in assent.
I waited for her next retreat, but instead of pursuing her, I dumped everything I had into [Fear the Flame] as I casually removed what was left of my robes. The technique and the extent of my scarred body had the effect I had hoped, a trickle of fear and uncertainty squeezing out of her as she stopped to stare in incomprehension at what I was doing.
I prayed it was enough to slow her down some as I began cycling my Frenzy with the [Faux Lightning] technique, tapping into the lightning core. I was nowhere near as fast without active Frenzy in my system, but I did my best as the next [Water Spider’s Dance] technique came flying at me.
I resisted the urge to react and just stayed put, and then dove towards her as she tried to land the attack. It worked just barely, me catching a few whips of water across my back that drew blood without my [Iron Skin] in place.
I defended with my skill alone as she pressed in with her scythes, her heightening Qi reflexes landing easy blows that I couldn’t heal. I’d be dead already were it not for my fifth stage of Body Reinforcement, but that alone wasn’t enough to resist her strikes.
The floor became a canvas for my spilled blood as the minutes wore on, the Blue Mantis peppering me with her water arcs. I grew sluggish from blood loss and pain, my axe heavy in my hand as I struggled to parry her rapid-fire blows.
Just a little bit more, I thought as I kept my focus on the lightning technique.
“Blue Mantis as always has finally gained the upper hand in the last few minutes of the round,” the announcer came over the loudspeakers as the world began to slow. “This does not look good for the Bull Man. The Blue Mantis looks poised to claim her 5th victory of the tournament tonight!”
“Keep coming,” I whispered as I looked at the time. Three minutes in.
It’d have to be enough.
I waited for her to hang in the air with the start of [Water Spider’s Dance] again and then thrusted my palm towards her, releasing my [Faux Lightning] technique.
The bolt of blue lightning split the air with a thunderclap.
And hit nothing.
Shit!
Whether she had dipped out of range or I had simply missed, I couldn’t tell, but either way the gamble had failed and my fate was sealed. Blue Mantis rushed in with her blades flashing while I lay completely open from my [Faux Lightning] attack, blood spilling in buckets as the scythes went to town. I barely managed to redirect my Frenzy to get my [Iron Skin] technique back up when a freight train suddenly slammed into my jaw.
“[Mantis Seals the Heavens]!
I could more hear her technique than see it, my brain in concussion as I flipped end over end and landed painfully on my back. I lay there for a few precious seconds, trying to gather myself. I had just risked it all to cast that stupid lightning bolt and now my body was beyond spent. Frenzy still surged from my Flame from all the pain, but my healing could only do so much.
I was at [Death’s Door], I realized.
As the technique took hold, I regained some clarity and struggled to sit upright.
“This looks to be it for the Bull Man,” the announcer shouted. “The Blue Mantis, as predicted, is formulating her signature technique.”
What the hell…?
It took all my concentration to find my opponent now just a few dozen feet from me. Had I had the strength my body possessed ten minutes ago, I could maybe use it to finally reach her. But I’d lost too much blood for that.
I dug deep within the core of my Flame and used pure Frenzy alone to supply my body with strength. The Blue Mantis sheathed her blades as the crowd rallied in anticipation of whatever the hell she was about to do.
She folded her arms in a series of complex forms and two thick tendrils of water descended from the sphere. Grabbing hold of them, she whipped them forward, sending the sphere flying towards me like a medicine ball. I braced for the impact with [Iron Skin] but when the sphere hit me, I barely felt anything at all except wet.
Until I couldn’t breathe anymore.
“There you have it, folks!” the announcer cried. “The dreaded head bubble technique!”
I swallowed water as my vision blurred, drowning on dry land. My mind panicked with the primal fear of asphyxiation as I clawed vainly at the bubble, trying to get it off my head. Vaguely I could hear the girl cackling and made out her blurry form as she pulled on the tendril like a pair of ropes, keeping the bubble over my head no matter how I tried to get away from it.
“Yield now, Bull Man, and I will consider sparing your life,” she shouted, loud enough for the crowd to hear. “Or just keep resisting and die. I’m fine either way.”
She ended her fanfare with another cackle and the crowd went wild.
I was seconds from death, my mind screaming, barely able to focus.
“She’s given him the ultimatum!” the announcer continued. “Yield or die! This is the death technique that has forced all of her opponents to yield thus far. Let us see whether the Bull Man will yield also, but more importantly, if the Blue Mantis will still offer him mercy if he does!”
The words resounded in my mind like a death knell.
She’d done this to four other people before.
Made them suffer the fear of one of the worst deaths possible.
Forced them to yield.
And then killed them anyway.
The damn bitch.
Indignation sparked within me.
“I ask you again, Bull Man,” she said, taunting me once more. “Do you yield?”
She cackled again and the sound of her cruel laughter fueled the Flame deep within my soul. I focused on it, calming myself and slowly I reopened my eyes. I cycled my Frenzy using [Death’s Door], fueling my brain with the energy my lungs could no longer provide. Through the blur of the water, I could see her standing there haughtily, confident in her victory. But she was still attached to me through the bubble and the tendrils of water in her hands.
That gave me an idea.
I didn’t know if it would work, but it was the only idea I had the strength left to perform. I was in torpor…a state between life and death, my body barely able to move, but it wouldn’t have to move much for this. I cycled a huge slug of Frenzy through my body using the [Death’s Door] technique, flushing my system with energy like taking a last deep breath before diving underwater.
I redirected all my Frenzy into the [Faux Lightning] technique, tapping into the solid Qi of my Lightning Core. The world started to dim after just a few seconds, my supply of residual Frenzy already being absorbed by my slowly dying brain.
I counted to thirty and then shoved my palm inside the bubble before releasing the [Faux Lightning] technique. I blacked out for a second as the burst of electricity caused the bubble to explode around my head. I hit the ground in a spasm, vomiting water as my body convulsed involuntarily by the sharp pulse of electricity.
The current traveled through the tendrils of water as well and right into the hands of my opponent. The Blue Mantis let out a sharp cry as the electricity hit her, paralyzing her with convulsions as she fell prone to the ground, shuddering.
This was it.
My chance!
Every bit of life-threatening terror of the last few seconds returned to me like liquid oxygen hitting my inner Flame. Frenzy surged in a tumult, and I used it to quickly regain my senses as I shoved it through [Death’s Door].
Blue Mantis was still on the ground, but she’d recover soon as well.
What I was about to do next was risky, but screw it, I just didn’t care anymore.
This bitch had to die!
I funneled my Frenzy into [Mark of the Giant] as I leapt from off the floor.
Just like before, the technique instantly healed my wounds as the mass of Frenzy inside me increased my height by an extra inch or two. But flying through the air as fast as I was, I was hoping no one could tell.
New strength pulsed through my veins as my pulmonary system was restored and I used the strength of my giant lungs to annunciate my final blow.
“[Three-Log Chop]!”
I fell toward the ground like a meteor, my axe leading the way.
Blue Mantis’s eyes suddenly regained focus and flashed towards me in panic a second before the axe hit her face. She screamed and miraculously managed to raise a barrier of water to block my attack. My axe hit it like a grenade going off and the force of my Frenzy-fueled technique sent a shockwave across the arena as Blue Mantis’s body sunk two feet into the floor.
But impressively, her technique held, my axe buried halfway through her thin barrier technique. I didn’t let up, pressing with all my Frenzy-driven fury and might.
“What a turn of events!” the announcer cried as the crowd stood to their feet. “The Bull Man proves yet again that he is not the one to be counted out, even at the last second!”
The Blue Mantis was breathing like she was trying to hold up a building and for as hard as I was pushing my axe down upon her, she probably was. Her eyes began to dash back and forth as the reality of her predicament took hold. She was trapped beneath her thin barrier of water, only the strength of her Qi versus mine keeping her alive. Terror gushed from her like a waterfall and I absorbed every bit of it to add only more strength as I pressed my axe down upon her.
“P-please!” she said frantically, hyperventilating now, tears flowing from her crystal blue eyes. “I-I don’t want to die! I yield! I yield!”
I could almost laugh.
Was she for real? The damn nerve of this bitch!
“So you can dish it out but can’t take it?” I fueled my peaking Frenzy into [Struggler’s Resolve] and looked her dead in the eye through the thin veil of water. “Mercy is for those who show mercy,” I said. “Not for an evil bitch like you. Let this serve as retribution for those four people you killed…just because you wanted to.”
The certainty of her demise seemed to finally register in her mind and she began screaming and crying uncontrollably. With a final push, I broke through her barrier, the water exploding in a resounding boom! as my axe cleaved her cleanly in two.
The final gong sounded and a riot of cheers and cries rang out from the crowd, celebrating my victory. The Frenzy from my [Bloodlust] kicked in, renewing my strength as I stood over what was left of the Blue Mantis.
I looked at the score board and couldn’t believe the final tally.
Blue Mantis vs Bull Man
Odds 20:1
Time - 01:17
Blue Mantis
Bull Man
536
1
Winner:
Bull Man
“A phenomenal match as the Bull Man eliminates Blue Mantis from the Iron Bracket tournament with just a single blow! A tournament first! This win not only cements him as 37th in the Iron Bracket but as a force to be feared in the arena itself! 536 hits and still he stands. I believe this calls for an ascension of sorts. No longer just the Bull Man, clearly he has demonstrated himself to be an ‘Iron Bull’ indeed!”
The crowd went wild at the new name, my moniker changing instantly on the screen.
Damn, so much for staying low key, I thought. I hope I didn’t just set a new record or some shit.
Clearly, they’d never seen anything like this before though, judging by the hype, the amount of lemonade flowing freely through the crowd proving it. I reluctantly hammed it up by thrusting my axe into the air, playing along while I cultivated the spoils of my victory turning the lemonade to Frenzy as I expanded my Dantian.
Then to my chagrin the announcer continued.
“An Iron Bracket match won in a single hit,” he said. “Clearly a victory that will go down in history as one of the greatest battles this fine province has ever seen. Tonight the name ‘Iron Bull’ becomes legend.”
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