Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai]
Chapter 50: The first fight

Over the course of the next hour or so, Chance watched the crowd grow in the stands across from them. He couldn’t see the entire thing since about half of them were probably somewhere above him, but a little over a quarter of the seats looked to be full.

That didn’t sound like much, but with the size of the colosseum, that was probably several thousand people. He wasn’t particularly surprised that the turnout wasn’t higher – people probably found more entertainment attending the tournaments for higher level Shikari.

Still, even with only a fourth of the arena full, Chance could feel the buzz of adrenaline pumping in his veins. He’d never really gotten much of a chance to compete with anyone in a meaningful way before – the first, preliminary tournament notwithstanding. This time, he wasn’t going to get disqualified.

“Ready?” Yeo asked, rubbing his hands together. “I can’t wait. This is my debut.”

“Why are you treating this like it’s a popularity contest?” Bella asked. “It’s a competition. You’re about to do your best to beat the life out of somebody. You might be a little too excited for it.”

“Bah. This is all a performance,” Yeo replied. “If you win every fight but nobody likes you, it doesn’t matter. In the end, the coolest fighter is the true winner. Getting first place sure helps, though.”

A small metal disk ringed by a flowing fence lowered from the sky, suspended in a golden cloud. Within it, Chance could just barely make out a woman with long, white hair. She was too far away to make out any details on her face or appearance beyond that.

“Welcome to the quarterly tournament for Squire ranked Shikari!” the woman called, her voice echoing through the entire arena – clearly empowered by some sort of magic. “I’m sure all the contestants are absolutely thrilled to have you here. As always, we’ve got a lot of promising talent looking to prove themselves. Make sure to keep a keen eye out.”

The platform raised, moving her in a slow circle around the crowd as she continued to address them. Shadows passed over the arena, but the angle of the window prevented Chance from seeing what had happened.

It was evidently intentional, as a large spotlight shimmered to life, highlighting the woman as she flew back to the middle of the ring.

“My name is Analise, and I’ll be your announcer today. We’ll be getting started very shortly – but first, a word from our sponsor. Dayed’s Raid Shop has kindly provided funding for all the healing pills and emergency devices that may be used during this tournament to ensure that none of our talented trainees are injured seriously. If you like raiding outside of Gleam, make sure to check out his shop. He’s got some great deals. Just use our promotional code, Gleam-Official. That’s one word, ladies and gents.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Chance gave Yeo a side eye. “Seriously? They’ve got ads?”

“After every fight, according to my dad,” Yeo replied, not taking his eyes off Analise. “He said they were supposed to be a bit of a problem back on Earth.”

“That’s an understatement. Wait, did you say every fight?”

“Now, it looks like the doors to the colosseum have been shut,” Analise continued. “That means it’s time to get started.”

The golden lights flicked off her and lit up the arena, illuminating the painted stone ground with a gentle glow that wouldn’t blind the fighters but would enable the crowd to see what was happening.

“Number One and Eighteen, please come out onto the stage! The window at the front of your room will slide open and a pathway will form for you. Make sure to watch your step. We don’t want any premature injuries, after all. Those should be saved for the actual fight.”

Analise tittered as if she’d just said an incredibly witty joke. Chance’s nose wrinkled slightly in distaste.

Just as she had said, two golden paths appeared at the base of the arena, building themselves up to rooms that were out of Chance’s field of view. Two competitors descended the pathways to the arena below.

A gold line traced through the air above the arena, drawing out an enormous cube. Colors bloomed through it like a paintbrush dipped into water, and the scene in the arena came into view on all the sides of the cube.

Magnified, Chance could now see the competitors. They were both girls, and looked a little younger than he was. There wasn’t anything particularly eye-catching about either of them. Both carried a sword and looked nervous, their eyes shifting about the arena.

“That’s a little closer up than I thought this would be,” Bella said. “We can basically see everything they’re thinking.”

“I still can’t believe you’ve been in Gleam this long and still haven’t gone to a tournament. I would have gone to the first one I could,” Yeo said, shaking his head.

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Don’t forget that I technically wasn’t even ranked as a Squire yet. My only power came from the water Vex gave me.” Bella crossed her arms and looked down at the arena.

In the sky above it, Analise raised her hands into the air. The screens shifted to show her face, which was far younger than Chance had thought. She was probably in her early thirties, but that really didn’t mean much in a world like Centurion. She could have been hundreds of hears old.

“Alright. Let’s get this started! Eighteen, One, I wish you an enjoyable fight! This battle is until your opponent either surrenders or is unable to continue fighting. Remember, feel free to go all out – just avoid any killing blows. Your opponent needs to be alive to get healed, and any attacks that are made on an opponent unable to defend themselves will result in an immediate disqualification. Now, let’s get to it!”

The screen redrew itself into the arena, and the two girls dashed at each other. Chance watched them fight for a few moments, but his heart wasn’t in it, and he quickly found himself distracted and lost in thought.

It probably would have been wise to study his potential opponents abilities, but his nerves were so taut that he could barely focus on what the smart move was. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, using one of the calming techniques his father had taught him back on Earth.

Chance enveloped himself in an imaginary golden circle, taking solace in the fact that, within his domain, everything was as he wanted it to be. He relaxed in his chair, slipping into a state that was between meditation and simply sitting. Even if it was just a trick in the mind, it immediately helped some of the stress leave his body.

He didn’t know how much time passed, but he snapped out of it as Yeo put a hand on his shoulder. Chance blinked and glanced around.

“You’re up!” Yeo said, pulling Chance to his feet. “Get moving!”

“What? Seriously?” Chance glanced at the window, where a golden path was already forming down to the arena below.

“I think you fell asleep,” Bella said with a laugh. “You’ve got this, Chance. Good luck!”

Chance cursed under his breath and hopped onto the golden bridge. He headed down, still half expecting it to squish or give beneath his feet. Luckily, it remained solid the whole way. He hopped to the stone, rolling his shoulders to warm them up.

Tingles of anticipation arced through his legs and arms. He shook his head, extending a hand. His bracelet leapt into it, transforming into an urumi along the way. On the other side of the arena, a large boy stepped down from his own path.

He wore a metal breastplate and bore lighter armor on his arms and legs. The boy grabbed a large axe that was slung over his shoulder and brought it to bear before him. He inclined his head slightly to Chance, who returned the gesture.

“Let’s get this on with!” Analise called. “Number Ninety-three versus One Hundred and Fifty Two! We all know the rules. Get to fighting!”

The larger boy pitched into a charge, and the head of his axe glimmered with Essence. Chance shifted his weight to the balls of his feet and swayed, waiting for the charge instead of rushing to meet it.

He wasn’t sure what kind of Essence his opponent was using, but it wasn’t hard to deduce that getting hit by his axe would be bad news. Chance staggered forward just as the other boy reached him, twisting his body.

The axe whistled past him and slammed into the sand, missing Chance as he shoved his shoulder into the other boy’s chest, then stuck his leg between his feet. Even though his opponent was significantly larger than him, Chance didn’t need strength to push him over. He just needed leverage.

As the boy shoved Chance back, he transferred the weight to his other leg and swept his opponent’s legs out from under him. The boy crashed to the ground with a grunt, but quickly rolled to the side.

He grabbed his axe and lunged for Chance, who swayed out of the way and brought the hilt of his urumi down on his head as he passed. The boy grunted, hitting the ground and coming up in a roll instead of dropping like Chance had expected.

He’s sturdier than he should be. It must be something to do with his Essence, or maybe his aura is just really strong.

Chance narrowed his eyes and flicked his urumi, shifting the offensive. It whipped out, screeching as it scraped across his opponent’s armor but failed to bite through it. As Chance drew the blade back, the boy charged him again.

He met the dash headlong, leaning out of the way of a slash and using all of his bodyweight to slam into the other boy’s shoulder. The metal of his breastplate stung to hit, but the sudden redirection of motion threw him to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

As he fell, Chance’s knee caught him in the head. The boy hit the ground with a crash, but the axe didn’t leave his hands. Chance flicked his urumi and the blade coiled around his opponent’s armored arm, constricting with a loud screech.

“Surrender,” Chance said, driving a foot down into his opponent’s chest and slamming him back into the ground as he tried to rise. He pulled on the urumi, tightening the razor-sharp links around the creaking armor.

“I give,” the boy spat, letting the axe fall from his hand. Chance flicked his wrist and the urumi unraveled, snapping back to its blade form before reforming into a wristband. Chance offered his fallen opponent a hand, but the boy pushed himself upright on his own.

“Number Ninety-three takes the win!” Analise called. “And now, a quick word from our sponsors before the next two fighters join us on stage.”

Chance mentally tuned her out. Golden pathways arched down, arriving on either side of the arena. Once they’d formed, Chance headed back up to where Yeo and Bella were waiting.

“That was fantastic!” Yeo exclaimed. “You made that other guy look like a complete klutz.”

“It was impressive,” Bella agreed. “He didn’t even land a single blow on you.”

“Well, this was just the first round,” Chance said, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m sure future opponents are going to be a lot stronger. Thank you, though.”

The golden bridge disappeared behind him, and the window slid back shut. Chance flopped down into his chair, his heart still beating fast, and repressed a grin. Now that the fight was over, he realized that it had actually been fairly fun. He was actually looking forward to the next one.

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