<hr>


    Touching the pillar, Peter was once again required to tell his name. "Impulse the Bounty Hunter. Competitor."


    He was sent directly to the locker room and walked out into a ring set in the middle of the Arena. Peter’s disposition was much happier. Since the last match, he had taken time off, shutting communications with the System and Fafnir. Two days of blissful relaxation with Regina improved his mood dramatically.


    Li was there as an arbiter, but only this time, he floated above the Arena. There was no cage or ring; all the terrain was open, and that was a lot of space. Using his qi-voice, the Grandmaster bellowed: “The rules for the match between Impulse, the Bounty Hunter, and Grandmaster Vin Ke. No range attacks whatsoever. Mandatory weapon: sword. All melee martial attacks are allowed. Only AOE magical attacks are allowed. There is only one round, with no time limit. The match ends with one of the competitors incapacitated or forfeiting.”


    <Your adversary has fire magic.> Fafnir’s voice appeared.


    A cultivator dressed in red robes—indicating fire as his element of choice—waited with his arms crossed at the other end of the oval of the arena. He looked young, barely a teenager.


    <Looks are deceiving. Breakthroughs from rank eight up are very hard. He must be somewhere between forty and sixty years old.> Fafnir said, reading Peter’s thoughts.


    For the moment, neither Peter nor the other moved. Then, the cultivator unsheathed a Jian sword. Peter summoned his spear, changing it into a cleaver-shaped saber that was thirty inches in length, making the handle as long. He took a defensive position, with the point forward and the handle kept near his body laterally.


    Rain started to fall. Looking up, Peter noticed the open sky above. Either the ceiling had been removed, or this was a different place than where he had fought before. It started pouring. Then, his adversary started to sine, enveloping himself in fire.


    <He’ll fly at you. Be ready.>


    Fafnir proved right. The human fireball shot forward, leading with the sword. In his path, the rain transformed into steam. Soon, the incoming cultivator was surrounded by a sizeable cloud.


    <Now. Warp. Thrust.>


    Peter Warped forward. He reappeared next to the cultivator, smashing into the man’s shoulder. The Jian sword had passed its target, the cultivator’s arm caught under Peter’s. Peter’s cleaver was stuck into Vin Ke’s chest on the right side.


    The cultivator’s strategy was now obvious. The heat of the fire combined with the water was a double attack, obliging Peter to inhale the steam. The temperature wasn’t as hot as Wu’s plasma, but the burning was more annoying. However, his True Aura held.


    They danced in place. Vin Ke tried, despite his injury, to overwhelm Peter by heating the rain and the air even more while trying to free his sword arm. Peter followed the movement undeterred. His Intelligence was anticipating everything, from the smallest pressure in the cultivator’s toes, his panting, or how the corners of his eyes shifted.


    Spells were pouring an immense quantity of healing into Vin Ke. Not only wards—they didn’t expect his move—but at least three healers floating above. If he wanted, Peter could have ended the cultivator’s life on the spot, no matter the wards.


    Question. Are you an asshole? Do you hurt innocents? I could move my sword an inch to the right and kill you.


    The question remained in Peter’s mind. He hated cultivators, but not enough to murder them preemptively. He Warped backward, extracting his sword from the wound. Vin Ke collapsed on the ground, face down. The fires around his body were snuffed out by the rain, still pouring, soaking the cultivator’s robes and the ground.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The healers rushed to the cultivator. Ten seconds later, one raised his head and nodded. Vin Ke would live. They extracted a stretcher from a spatial inventory and took flight, carrying the unconscious man.


    “The winner of the match is Impulse, the Bounty Hunter!” Li announced, then flew down, landing near Peter. He spoke in a low voice: “Thank you for sparing him. He’s my pupil. Obsessed with training, a true prodigy… my top student, up to now.”


    “You want to train me?” Peter asked in his normal voice. The rain was drowning the noises anyway.


    Li nodded. “And I’m sure I could learn a trick or two in the process. Teaching goes both ways.”


    “I guess,” Peter shrugged.


    “The finals are tomorrow at nine. The demonstrative match will follow an hour later. Win, and you’ll have your chance at meeting me in combat.”


    Li zapped up, and Peter walked through the rain. There were cheers, but the sound melted among the heavy raindrops. In the locker room was a package of two hundred ounces of gold. Money that would have made him happy not long before but now was only a part of a bigger game.


    On Floor Three, the weather was splendid. Sun, warm air smelling of flowers and forest. One could not guess a nuclear explosion had happened a few miles away. He was about to store the totem when Fafnir spoke.


    <Take a seat. Time for feedback.>


    “Give me a second to change.” After dismissing his armor for casual clothes, Peter opted to lie on the grass, hands under his head. “OK. Go for it.”


    <This is not about me; it’s about you. Why do you think you won the match so easily>


    “I could use Warp?”


    <Yes, but you could have used lightning, too, using the rain to zap your opponent. You won because you listened to me. A fighter cannot concentrate in battle; there are too many variants. The best teams are those in which the captain decides the actions.>


    “And you’re the captain, right?”


    <Have you noticed he had two Elemental affinities?>


    “Two?” Peter raised his head, curious, albeit the dialogue was in his hea, and he had no one to look in the eyes.


    <Water and Fire. A restricted combination, like yours. The rain was his doing. Not a bad strategy. Two AOE’s, one weak but widespread and the other strong, concentrated on him. Interacting to produce a combined attack. What would you have done in his place?>


    “I dunno, man… Forget the water, maybe? It was weak… Spread the fire AOE all over the terrain, or use a light sword or something… I dunno… I mean, how should I know? I’m—”


    <New at this. Indeed. Your competitors had years to refine their techniques. It will take months or years before you can spread an AOE field as wide as Vin Ke or regenerate Mana fast enough to stay in combat permanently. There is only one solution to win the finals. Trust the one who had witnessed millions of fights.>


    “You?”


    <Yes, me. Trust in my plan, and in the backup of that plan, and in the—>


    “Backup of that backup?”


    <Yes. Win the finals, gain Li’s trust, and when the ring is attuned, steal it or dispose of Li and take it. Li is probably orders of magnitude above everyone you’ve fought, but that doesn’t mean he cannot be taken down.>


    Peter felt the tiredness of the days before regaining terrain. “Fine, I’ll listen to you for the next match… Any idea who I’ll meet?”


    <Affirmative. The other semi-final has been fought before ours. Your next opponent is a rank ten cultivator named Boo, who’s specialized in sword fighting and debuffs. I watched the recordings of his matches. He weakens the competition before they engage, then disable them. I don’t know the nature of his debuffs yet, but they seem powerful.>


    “Any tips?” There was only silence. “I get it, listen to you… And for Li?”


    <It will depend on the type of challenge he chose. We’ll try not to lose too badly. Fafnir out.>


    Closing his eyes, Peter allowed himself a moment of respite. Regina was out for the day, going on Floor Four with Melinda, Naomi, and Ariana. He hadn’t asked, but it looked like Alchemy and Ari were mending their ties. He could indulge in sunbathing since he had spare time. The word spare, however, gave him an idea.


    “System, are you around?”


    <Affirmative. Hi, Peter.>


    “Do you have any means to contact Redroar and any idea where she lives now?”


    <This OS does not know the barbarian’s location, but considering she traveled to the mining town, she is in one of the large towns southeast, approximately a hundred and two hundred miles from here. As for the first question, the answer is affirmative. This unit watched Fafnir contacting her. She has a pager linked to the Bounty Boards. The Boards are connected to the Internet on all floors but come online for a minute every half an hour. The window to send a message is just now.>


    “Tell her I want a one-on-one sparring session. I’ll pay.”


    <Message sent. There is no answer for now. This unit guesses we have to wait for another hald an hour.>


    “We’ll wait,” Peter said. “It’s nice enough out here. I’ll Relax.”


    <Question: Peter doesn’t trust Fafnir to help him win?>


    “I don’t trust myself. As Fafnir said, training my abilities to match my opponents will take years. Any bit of exercise helps.”


    <This unit thinks that Peter will advance his skills faster in a matter of months. Peter proved he was capable of fast progress.>


    “Thanks. However, maybe we got things wrong. I was trying to forget my reenactment training… Yet, it’s what I was best at and trained for a long time. I think I should revisit my old training in a new light.”


    <Question: What does Peter mean?>


    “You’ll see, little buddy. You’ll see.>