Mage And Wolf
Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Chapter 181

On our way downstairs we find Betty with Elder Ye and the Fox Spirit Alice.

"Are you all coming to cheer our disciples on? There’s Karl plus one more in Group A fighting today. I think we’ve got some Alchemists in Group A too, but I’m in Group B."

"We thought we’d go watch the fights. Alice was interested to see Uncle Karl fight, and she says she’s got some ideas for him." Betty informs me in a proud voice. I can see that Karl and Alice are both very into whatever topic they are talking about. It’s a mental communication, but they’re both using large, expressive gestures to get their points across and smiling. That can’t bode well for whoever Karl is fighting.

It is decided that we will grab breakfast from one of the many food carts set up near the fighting rings, so we all head out early, escorted by one of the local girls. she’s got a nasty scar across her neck and chest that prevents her from speaking, but her sign language is in the American fashion, which fortunately enough, the Lycan Packs use for silent communications when working with multiple packs, so I’m reasonably fluent. Having more than one pack present during an operation is a pain, in that they can’t all mind link, but sign language gets the point across from a distance without alerting the targets.

She’s rather startled at first that I understand, but she is more than happy to accompany us for the day, and she has a sweet tooth just as strong as Betty’s, which leads us to a stall serving French toast and egg sandwiches dripping with syrup, then dusted with icing sugar. Every pre teens ideal breakfast.

"You’re still going to be able to fight right? Not going to go into a sugar coma?" I tease Karl as he takes a large bite of his third sandwich.

"Fighting is hungry work, I’m just getting a head start on the recharging." He logic makes the girls laugh, and soon enough we’re at the entrance for competitors and Elders.

"Alright, good luck. I’ll be watching from the stands, since they prohibited cheerleaders after the incident with the Forbidden Treasure Sect." I assure Karl, pointing towards the spot where Elder Song had saved us seats.

"How are the Shadowed Blade’s chances looking this year? We’ve got five of the disciples in Condensation posing as Inner Disciples this time, right?" I ask as we get seated.

The Shadowed Blade usually sends outer disciples for the Inner Disciple competition, and nobody for the Outer, it helps mask our strength, and with the End of Fortification being the Outer Disciple cutoff, we really don’t have anyone to send who is a full disciple. Sometimes they’ll send promising recruits from the courtyard, as they call the outermost area where the uninducted live.

Maybe now that we’re officially becoming a Grey Sect that will change and we won’t have a third rank, other than the cultivators being trained as staff for the nobles. I voice my thoughts to Elders Song and Ye, making them both fall into deep contemplation. Calling the Acolytes Outer Disciples isn’t really a big thing, it’s how the light Sects do it. But moving Outer to being called the Inner Sect leaves us with a nameless force of powerful specialists who used to be the Inner Sect. Which isn’t entirely a bad thing for assassins.

"We could call the Inner Sect the Core Disciples, just a rebranding in a way that would slip past casual scrutiny should anyone question it." I suggest in a whisper that I’m certain only the two immortals and a few of our fellow Shadowed Blade disciples who are next to us can hear.

The idea seems to be accepted well, and Elder Ye signals me that she wants to talk about it more later, before turning her attention to the first set of contestants getting ready for their fights.

None of these is ours, but there’s one from the Sacred Thunder, and one from the Divine Fist that I recognize from last year. The crowd is all worked up, usually the Inner Sect competes at the end of the week, but this year they’re opening the tournament with their qualifying rounds. Hopefully the rest of the week doesn’t feel like too much of a letdown after watching all these great fighters go first.

Their final rounds will be at the end of the week as usual, but the qualifiers run over the first three days.

"Eyes forward everyone, we’ve got a competitor up." Elder Ye says, bringing all the scattered attention back to the rings. Betty climbs up into her lap with a bag full of salted nuts to get a higher viewing position, which makes a lot of the disciples laugh quietly. The usually hard eyed and intense Elder Ye, with a kid in her lap eating snacks and calling her Auntie totally changed their impression of her.

"Kat, Auntie Ye, look! Uncle Karl is going to fight, do you think he can win?" Betty cheers.

"Don’t worry, he’s got this. My own personal Disciple certainly won’t lose the first fight." Elder Song assures her, Patting her head and stealing a handful of snacks.

Karl is facing a similarly large man from the Blade Wind Sect. Rules for the Inner Disciples don’t allow sharp or ranged weapons, so most fight empty handed. This one has opted for a pair of rattan sticks. They won’t hurt any more than an energy infused fist at this level, but they’ll give him extra reach and let him use techniques designed for swords.

He seems quite confident, even being in the latter stages of Condensation to Karl’s Early Core Formation, and twirls his rattan sticks in a complex attack pattern, showing off for the crowd the instant the fight starts.

Karl backs off from his planned early attack and lets the man do his thing, before extending two fingers and curling the others to make a finger gun.

"Bang!" he calls out and a dozen Arcane Arrows fly from his fingertips at once like a shotgun shell. The twirling sticks block about half of the projectiles, but the rest slam into the Blade Wind cultivators chest, knocking him from his feet and throwing him across the ring.

He recovers quickly, rolling to his feet before his body even stops, only to be met with a continual barrage of magic missiles that keep him running and dodging. The sight is a bit comical, Karl in the middle, firing Arcane arrows at the man who is incapable of anything more than full defense.

Karl is slowly closing the distance, driving him into the barrier before he switches things up and a volley of Arrows explodes instead of simply hitting their target, leaving the man battered, bruised and unconscious.

"Winner of the Fight, Black Dragon of the Shadowed Blade Sect." The referee calls quickly and motions for a Healer.

The crowd is going insane, the spinning of the sticks is a blur to those at low levels or non cultivators, and the losing fighter parried hundreds of Arrows before losing the fight. It was an incredible spectacle, if not much of a show of actual ability on Karl’s part.