Henry eyed his little friend as he went on and pestered Arisia. As the stone began orbiting around him once more, he considered the possibility of them facing each other in the finals.

  The thought was exciting. Henry and Maurice had faced each other in a few little spars in the past, but they’d never really gone all out against each other. The risk of injuries was just too high, and to be honest, Henry was having trouble picturing himself using everything he’s got against his first real friend in this world.

  But now… they were stronger. Both him and Maurice could tank hits pretty damn well, and both had potent healing abilities. If those weren’t enough, there was an all-powerful ape watching over them.

  Of course, as much as Henry liked the sea king, he wasn’t putting all of his chips on the A-rank’s intervention. If he had to face Maurice, he would do his utmost to keep an eye on the crab’s wellbeing because, if he was true to himself, Henry didn’t see himself losing that bout.

  Henry continued working on his exercises and watched the crowd slowly trail out of the entrance while Maurice listened closely to Arisia’s feedback. There was a time where Maurice could have posed a threat to Henry, but ever since the kraken had stepped into D-rank, he felt the gap had only grown wider. But maybe he was wrong; maybe the crab could surprise him. After all, again, Henry had never really tried to get through that shell.

  ***

  “We’re back folks! I hope you’re ready for two amazing fights today. Have you got some snacks? Have you got your bets in? I hope you have, because these two fights will take place back to back so our winners can rest up and prepare for the big finals tomorrow, after which, we’ll get one more bout for third place. Are you ready? Let’s start! First we’ve got Henry whom you all know, the awakened being who’s yet to break a sweat in this tournament, even though he holds one of the lowest levels we’ve seen so far!. And against him, Lord Sev! One of our up-and-coming stars who recently had the misfortune of facing our favorite awakened crab, Maurice! But don’t let that fool you! Lord Sev is a very capable warrior, and an extremely sharp shot with those spears of his.”

  Henry tuned out the announcer as he floated himself forward and glanced at the pale-looking young man stepping into the ring to face him. The last time he’d seen him, the young man had been dismissive and mostly focused on Maurice, but now, Henry believed he could see a few beads of sweat trailing down his opponent’s forehead.

  I need a vacation, Henry thought while the announcer continued to hype up the match. Henry had spent all night and morning training, and frankly, even though he was growing tired, he wanted to get back to it. Love it or hate it, he was making progress, and he had better uses of his time than take too long in a dragged-out fight. Especially one where he wouldn’t be winning anything.

  Stupid savvy lords.

  No one wanted to put up anything as a wager anymore. Not since they’d seen Maurice fight, and quite a few of them made the educated guess that Henry would be just as good if not stronger, so no one wanted to risk their hard-earned treasures. Henry and Maurice still scored a couple of valuable knick-knacks, but it was nothing like the lord facing him had gambled days ago. Though that was supposed to be different in the B-rank tournament. In that one, every ‘win’ was supposed to come with a prize. But then again, the strongest warrior in the whole damn settlement might take part.

  Henry felt good about taking first place in this tournament, but the next one would certainly be a challenge. After all, he was still in the early levels of C-Rank. Even though he had managed to down a few B-rank monsters, humans were a whole other matter. He might not be able to trick his way to a win as easily as before.

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  The lord saluted, surprising Henry, and the kraken gave him a small head-tilt as his limbs floated under him. The skill’s nexus was right below him, and for a moment, he considered dispelling it so he could have easy access to Telekinesis, but this was a good opportunity to get some real-life practice. And in any case, the fight shouldn’t take long.

  “Fight!”

  Lord Sev surged, unwilling to let Henry get his bearings, but seeing the paleness of his features, it was clear the lord didn’t expect much of his onslaught, so the kraken got to work.

  Henry activated Telekinesis once more and strained under the weight of holding two instances of the skill at once. It wasn’t too difficult per se, but it was disorienting. He was tempted to pull his Octominds and have them help, but the teachings of Arisia echoed in his mind.

  “They’re only as good as you are,” she had said. Henry wanted his Octominds to be as good as they could be, so he held both spells by himself, and looked up to see a wide-eyed Sev floating a few inches off the ground. The young man’s eyes were darting around as he started to break through the skill, but Henry just needed to hold the boy for a second.

  In a fluid movement, Henry pulled an arm and began stacking abilities on top of it.

  [Evershifting Strike] with the [Whipping] and [Accelerated] effects. Not [Cavitational], because that might vaporize the boy, and not [Cutting]. I’m sure Zerathstra could save him but I’d rather not cut the kid in two. Heavy should be enough.

  It took him half of a second to layer the effects, and his arm was already whipping horizontally toward the lord. Henry could sense the terror and dread spike as his limb blurred just as he released Telekinesis.

  The lord didn’t even have time to raise a hand before the five-inch-thick limb caught him across the arm. Henry sensed the impact through his limb and through his heightened cognitive functions. He felt the surprisingly tough arm and bone resist for a second before the first bone broke. Then the shoulder dislocated, followed by the weight of his attack pushing into the ribs next and cracking a few of those as if they were mere twigs. After that, there was enough force to lift the lord off the ground and send him flying to slam against the magical panels bordering the ring.

  From his outside clones, Henry heard gasps and roars, then quiet as the lord fell off the panel in a heap, unmoving. There was a flash of green around his body, and Sev spasmed, face contorting with pain as he regained consciousness.

  “Umm… I guess that’s the fight? …Yup! Our judge tells me Lord Zerathstra intervened to save young Lord Sev’s life, so that disqualifies him! Folks, that was the fastest fight we’ve seen this year! Incredible, what a…”

  Henry tuned out the announcer once more, and floated closer to the crumpled Sev as the healers rushed in. The boy recoiled, but Henry wasn’t there to hurt him. Instead, he was willing to use a higher-level variant of Arcane Regeneration to quickly heal him. Usually, the healers took their sweet time to heal injuries. Minutes even, Henry had noticed. But before he could explain himself, a spear embedded itself between him and the boy, and a shadow moved from above.

  Lord Tevarius fell out of the sky and slammed into the ring floor with a mighty thud. In an instant, his spear was back in his arm and pointed at Henry. The man said nothing, and if looks could kill, Henry might have been tickled.

  So the kraken shrugged, and sent to all who could hear, “I was going to heal him faster than they could. But I guess my help is not needed.” Then he floated away toward the exit.

  “My son does not need your pity, beast,” said the lord, then spat at his own feet, in Henry’s direction right before he gave him a sneer.

  Henry paused and tilted his head. He hadn’t seen the gesture with his main body, but he had enough clones around to see a lot more than he needed. “Tevanious, right? Was that your name?” The lord began answering, but Henry raised his illusory voice higher. “Doesn’t matter. If you’ve got a problem with me and with beasts, how about you take part in the next tournament? Let’s see if your bones crack as easily as your son’s. Anyways. See ya.”

  He turned away and left, but continued watching from his clones. He was glad to see veins pulse in the thick man’s neck, and Henry felt a thrill of excitement. He might have not been sure of how well he could stack up against B-ranks, but now he had a strong incentive. Henry always did better under pressure anyway, and he had a month to get himself up to the level where he could wipe the floor with the lord and pick him clean.

  Nothing better than a little danger to push him forward.

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