Chapter 101: Fists and Roses, Part Fourteen

{Saturday}

"Hey, Rin," Elisa called out. "Wanna go downtown for a bit? I've been in the mood to have some moonshrimp."

"Sorry," Rin replied, as she finished putting her boots on and took Xhez's bag in her hands. "I... have something I need to do."

"Are we heading there now?" Xhez asked, from inside the bag.

"Yeah, come on out."

"Right!"

Xhez jumped out of the bag then and quickly went through her illusion spell. Elisa, who was at her bed, looked like she'd finally grown desensitized to it as she didn't have any sort of special reaction.

"Oh. Maybe some other time, then?" Elisa asked.

"Yeah," Rin gave her a smile. "Maybe I'll take you up on that when I come back?"

"... Eh..." It was Elisa's turn to make a regretful expression. "I might have to do something at night. I'll see if I can get back here early, though."

"Sounds good," Rin nodded.

"So, where are you taking Xhez to today?"

"Heh," Rin smirked at her and gave the woman a little wink. "It's a secret."

At that, Elisa raised a brow, but she quickly added:

"Alright. See you later."

"Bye!" Rin waved at her before jogging out of the room.

[Okay, let's do this!]

The day of her debut bout had finally arrived, and the butterflies in Rin's stomach were a testament to how nervous, but eager, she felt.  As she walked out of the Academy, she disregarded the few weird glances she received from some of the other students on the way, though she didn't see any first-years.

"You seem to be smiling a lot today," Xhez noted with one of her own. "Your spirit feels warmer than normal."

"I'm just kinda excited," she shrugged, taking a deep breath. "I've been training up for a while. I'm gonna put those skills to the test today."

"Who are you fighting?" Xhez asked.

"I... don't know. All they said was that it would be a beginner," she shrugged. "Whoever they are, though, they weren't trained by Maria, so I'd definitely be surprised if they beat me."

"I see," Xhez nodded. "And, if you win, do you get any of that 'money' you had told me about?"

"Exactly!" Rin said, with varols practically shining in front of her eyes. "As easy as could be, too!"

[Before I get it, though, I have to win,] she reminded herself. [But, well, that'll probably happen.]

Sometime later, Rin and Xhez arrived at the arena, and as they did, the adventurer saw a large line formed up outside the Arena, full of different people who were all eager to watch some fights today. She went up to the man at the front, the same guard who had seen her walk in before, and, as soon as he saw her, he stood aside, knowing she'd registered.

Ignoring the confused onlookers, she made a beeline for the back.

Trodon was at the front, speaking to some random fighter. There were actually quite a few of them here, and Rin wondered if she was going to fight any of them. However, for now, she had one question on her mind.

"Hey!" She jogged over to Trodon. The man pulled back, as though surprised to see someone call out to him so energetically. "Where's the nearest bathroom?"

"Uh, over there," he gestured in its direction.

"Awesome, thanks!"

As soon as the word came out of her mouth, she was pulling Xhez with her as she sprinted over to it. Once they walked in, she locked it behind her and the sprite and turned toward her friend.

"Okay," Rin said. "Do the thing I told you about."

"Why are we doing this, again?" Xhez asked, tilting her head.

"I'm gonna fight under an alias," Rin clarified. "I need to look different."

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"Ah, right," Xhez smiled before then casting the same illusion spell she'd used before.

Only, this time, she'd used it to turn Rin's hair a fiery orange color that mirrored Elisa's own. At the same time, she made Rin's body appear just a bit thinner and more defined than it was. Looking down at herself, Rin grinned.

"Thank you," she told the sprite.

"No problem," Xhez replied. "I am just glad to see you so happy."

Rin giggled a little at that. Her heart warmed up in a strange way at those words, but she put that aside for now. Now, she needed to know when she was going to fight.

She then headed out of the bathroom with Xhez behind her and went back to Trodon. The older man had an equally surprised expression on his face as she walked up, but this time it was because of her hair.

"You took that alias advice I gave you to heart," he said.

"Mhm. So," Rin said, taking a deep breath. "When am I fighting?"

"One hour," he quickly replied. "You can sit outside and watch the fights that go on before yours if you want, just to get a feel for them. Before your fight, come back here and I'll give you everything you have to wear."

"What? I can't fight in this?" She asked, gesturing at her clothes.

"No. Anyway," he quickly said, waving the matter away, "take a walk or something if you need to. And, by the way, if you want to cancel, it's never too late. Just saying," he quickly added as he saw the offended look on Rin's face. "I'm just saying."

"... Okay," she nodded. "Well, I guess I'll be back in a while."

And, with that, she walked back out to the stage. Almost exactly as she had, she heard that voice on the microphone start speaking.

[Who's talking?] She wondered. [He's around here somewhere, isn't he?] She wondered before she went to sit down by the western corner, out of most of the regular audience's sight. Xhez sat down with her, and Rin curled her knees up to her chest as she waited for the fight to happen.

"This place still smells terrible," Xhez muttered.

"I'm probably gonna smell just as bad by the time I'm done," Rin chuckled. Her laugh grew even louder when she saw the disgusted look that appeared on Xhez's face. "Well, if the fight goes on for too long, anyway," Rin added with a smile.

The voice then started to introduce the next fighters.

"... and gentlemen, this upcoming match is to be a bout between two up-and-coming warriors! Fighting on the left side," he stated, as both fighters stood at opposite ends of the stage. "He is a white-ranked contender hailing from Libera, coming in with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. His name is Jaime Knifehands!"

A thin man with striking blonde hair and some bandages wrapped around his knees walked out then. He wore shorts and spread his arms out widely at the audience, taking the adoration in.

"Fighting on the right side," the voice continued, "he is a white-ranked contender also hailing from Libera, a man who has quickly built up a record of 4 wins all by way of knockout, his name, Deathtouch!"

As that was said, a man of a far larger stature emerged. He was, to put it simply, an absolute monster of an individual, larger than anyone Rin had ever seen. With a full beard on his face, a shaved head, and a long scar running over his right eye, she was impressed at how the guy standing opposite from him didn't look too scared.

[Hm... Well, yeah,] Rin thought, [if I had to bet, I'd probably put my money on him. The other guy might surprise me though. Let's see what happens.]

Then, the much smaller guy between both fighters gestured at them and each one said they were ready, before letting them know they could begin.

And, the fight started.

Rin made sure to pay as much attention as she could, keeping an eye out for the strategies that Maria had taught her, as she'd soon have to employ them herself. Sure enough, she saw Jaime putting them on display immediately. The blonde-haired man stood a couple of meters away from the bigger guy, but would periodically close the gap to land a straight punch onto the guy's face that he was too slow to dodge out of the way of. He seemed mostly unaffected by it though.

Then, Jaime swung again and this time, the man moved pre-emptively, avoiding a hit.

[That's the whole measuring thing,] Rin thought with a smile, as she caught that. [Big Guy knew the extent of where the guy's fist would come to, and managed to dodge it. This is actually kinda cool.]

Then, something happened that took that smile right out of Rin's face.

Jaime went for another punch, but the man grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him in, and landed an elbow at his mouth so hard that Rin saw at least four teeth fly out.

Needless to say, Jaime went straight down to the ground, and blood poured out from his mouth as the smaller guy from earlier quickly went to heal him.

The crowd went crazy. The microphone guy announced Deathtouch's win. Rin's eyes though, couldn't move away from the fighter who'd just been decimated.

[... Oh shit.]

And, suddenly, it all felt a lot more real.

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