The girls seem ecstatic that I won my group. "Now you get to compete in the gold tournament as well." Kira seem genuinely excited. Qualifying for the gold tournament was the goal all along. Winning the group puts me in the semi finals. "Let''s see if I can win this tournament first before we talk about the next one." I am feeling reasonably confident after my skill maxed out.


    His life force level is 16 and his spear skill is 8, similar to his cousin. My skill is 10 now. I should still have a good chance at beating him. I find the other two opponents are equally skilled. All look beatable on paper. While we wait the audience are gathering to see the finals. There will be two semi finals and two further finals to settle the order of the last four. Looks like I will be facing the cousin in my semi final.


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    As I step into the large ring designating the fighting area, I notice that the audience numbers have more than tripled. As the fight starts I realize that the challenge wasn''t bravado. He is probably a bit better than his cousin. I try to leverage my skill, but I keep faltering. Didn''t skill trump strength. I got two levels more than him. "You don''t seem as confident as earlier." My opponent is goading me or just commenting on my visible surprise.


    As the fight drags on I realize that I am totally outmatched. My overboost skill which raises my skill to max when I hit level 8 has a major flaw. It is a hollow boost without the experience to back it up. I am not able to fully leverage the higher skill level, and my lack of experience is starting to show. In time I am sure I would be able to beat him, but today I am totally outmatched. I was probably outmatched by his cousin as well. I just got lucky.