I waved to the crowd one last time as I stepped through the archway and let the arena doors seal behind me.

  The waiting room was a welcome sight. The arena chanting my name was cool and all, but seeing my friend’s smiles was what really hit home for me that I had advanced another round.

  I felt my adrenaline start to subside as I walked toward my seat.

  Jase was the first to reach me.

  “Great match,” he said, patting me on the shoulder.

  Chu gave me a curt nod, arms folded, expression unreadable as always. “Efficient,” he said.

  Tucker didn’t bother with words. He barreled into me like a furry missile, tail wagging so hard his whole back half wiggled. I caught him with a grunt as he licked my chin, then my cheek, then tried for my ear.

  “Alright, alright,” I laughed, pushing him back before he drowned me in affection. “I’m still alive, see?”

  Balt hung back a few steps, but the relief on his face was obvious. He exhaled hard, shoulders dropping. “Good fight, man. Real good.”

  We bumped knuckles as I passed him. “Thanks. You’re up next, you know.”

  That wiped the smile right off him. His eyes widened a fraction, and he swallowed. “Yeah. I know.”

  The screen started the countdown to bring home my statement.

  Before I could tease him, the door on the far side of the room slid open with a soft hiss. A healer stepped in, wearing robes of soft green and white, stitched with the emblem of the guild’s medical corps. He carried a faint scent of mint and something sharper, like crushed herbs.

  He approached me with a professional smile. “Riven, correct? I’m here to check your condition before the next match begins.”

  “Sure,” I said, lifting my arms slightly as he began his inspection. “I feel fine though, Doc.”

  His hands glowed faintly as he passed them over my ribs, shoulders, and neck. Warmth seeped into my skin, soothing the lingering ache from where Hung had burned me.

  “You’re in excellent shape,” he said after a moment. “No fractures, no internal bruising, no mana backlash. You’ll be fully recovered in a few minutes.”

  “I told you I was fine,” I said, then added, “How are the others doing? The ones I fought.”

  The healer’s smile softened. “They’ll make a full recovery. Nothing permanent. After a few days of rest and they’ll all be back on their feet soon. That talent that Hung Woo used taxed his soul tree greatly, but beside that, all is well.”

  I nodded gratefully. “Good, glad they’re all okay.”

  He dipped his head and left as quietly as he’d come, the door sliding shut behind him.

  As soon as he was gone, Balt started pacing. Not fast, but enough to make me realize the nerves were getting to him again. Tucker watched him with his head tilted, ears flicking with every turn.

  “You good?” Jase asked him.

  “Yeah,” Balt said automatically, then immediately shook his head. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s my turn next.”

  “You’ve fought in front of crowds before,” Chu said.

  “I know, every time I can’t help but get in my own head about all the people watching,” Balt muttered.

  I leaned back in my seat, crossing my arms. “Well, if it helps, I’m pretty sure I heard several ladies in the stands saying they wished my match would hurry up so they could see yours.”

  Balt froze mid?pace. Slowly, he turned to look at me. “You’re messing with me.”

  I raised my eyebrows innocently. “Am I?”

  He squinted. “Yes. Probably. Definitely.”

  I looked to Jase and Tucker for backup.

  Tucker sat up straighter, puffing out his chest. “I have excellent hearing,” he declared. “And I heard several over the speakers.”

  Balt blinked. “Seriously?”

  Tucker nodded with absolute confidence.

  Jase shrugged. “I admit I didn’t hear anything. But look at you.” He gestured at Balt. “How could they not be looking forward to you putting on a show?”

  Balt stared at him, then at Tucker, then at me. His expression wavered between suspicion and reluctant amusement.

  Finally, he snorted. “Well, I know that’s a bunch of bullshit… but I’ll put on a show, anyway.”

  I grinned, seeing my friend’s mindset change. When it was his time to compete, he walked confidently to the doors. Determination in his steps.

  The arena doors opened for the next match. Balt’s cue. He turned one last time back to us.

  I watched him inhale deeply, then exhale through his nose. “Alright. Guess that’s me.” He said.

  Tucker trotted over and nudged his leg, tail wagging. Balt reached down and scratched behind his ears. “Thanks, buddy.”

  Jase stepped forward and bumped fists with him. “Go make them regret signing up.”

  Chu gave a single nod. “Do not hesitate.”

  Balt looked at me last.

  “You’ve got this,” I told him. “And hey, if you hear screaming, it might actually be for you.”

  He barked a laugh, shaking his head. “You’re impossible.”

  “Accurate,” I said.

  The doors finished opening with a heavy clank, revealing the bright light of the arena beyond. Balt squared his shoulders, rolled his neck, and strode forward.

  For a moment, he paused at the threshold, glancing back at us. At me.

  I gave him a nod.

  He returned it. Then he stepped into the light.

  The doors slowly closed behind him, sealing him into the arena and leaving the rest of us in the dim quiet of the waiting room once more.

  Tucker sat beside me, ears perked, tail thumping lightly against the floor.

  Jase crossed his arms, eyes fixed on the closed doors. “Think he’ll win?”

  With a smile on my face, I nodded in the affirmative.

  From my seat, I watched the screen as my friend faced down his competition. The four Zhenxia fighters fanned out around him. But Balt didn’t flinch. The moment the horn sounded, his shields snapped into place with a crackle of blue light, layered and rotating like a storm?forged fortress. Every strike they threw at him, spears, talismans, wind?blades, splashed harmlessly against his barrier.

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  Then he went on the offensive.

  Lightning surged from his palms in branching arcs, blasting outward in a perfect ring. All four Zhenxia fighters seized up mid?charge, bodies locking as paralysis took hold. Balt didn’t waste a heartbeat; he followed up with a barrage of lightning strikes so fast the arena floor glowed white where they hit. One by one, the Zhenxia fighters collapsed, twitching and smoking.

  And to my absolute chagrin, I really did hear several women in the stands shouting his name. With wild enthusiasm.

  When Balt came back through the doors, he was grinning like a madman. Before I could congratulate him, he grabbed Tucker excitedly in a headlock and gave him a noogie so aggressive the big wolf?bear lifted his head, lifting Balt clean off the ground. Tucker bark?laughed, the mage yelped, and the rest of us cracked up and congratulated him.

  He had earned it.

  Jase’s fight was next, and it was no less spectacular. The moment the match began, his body split into three shadow?clones, perfect silhouettes that darted forward to engage. While the real Jase darted in to take on the last of the four.

  His opponents tried to regroup, but the shadows hit them from every angle, forcing them to defend against attacks they couldn’t fully track. Any blows that landed on the shadow men would make the shadows temporarily dissipate for them, only to reform a second later and start attacking again.

  After Jase dealt with the first opponent, he was able to gang up on the next guy two to one, then so on and so on until all three of his clones and himself faced down the last combatant. The last fighter dropped to one knee and surrendered.

  When Jase returned, he pulled down his half mask, breathing deeply, and looked exhausted. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, and his breathing was ragged.

  “Great job, man,” I told him. “That is a hell of a talent you’ve got there.”

  He managed a tired smile. “I can’t maintain it for long… but for this type of fight, it was perfect.”

  We all clapped him on the back as he sank onto a bench, gulping down water like it was life itself.

  We all looked to Chu. It was his turn now. And I won’t lie; I was worried about him. I’d gotten to know him and his family over the last half?year. He wasn’t just an acquaintance anymore; he was someone I respected deeply. An elite in his own right.

  But unlike the rest of us, he didn’t have a hidden master helping him improve every night. Chu fought with grit, discipline, and raw determination and I hoped that would be enough.

  We all bumped fists as he made Chu made his way to the doors.

  Soon we all were watching the screen as Chu faced off against the four men from Shenmu.

  Chu moved first. His opponents summoned stone armor that covered their bodies, leaving only their face exposed. Two of them had light grey armor and two had a blacker tinge to it. I was not sure what that signified yet, but I knew I was about to find out.

  Chu went after the closest grey clad one first. He slipped inside the reach of the nearest fighter and drove a kick into the back of the man’s knee. Stone cracked. The giant stumbled. Chu followed with a heel strike to the side of the downed man's head that dropped him hard.

  The second moved in, and Chu's aura flared green, "Rising Tiger!" A powerful uppercut landed flush on the man's solar plexus, crushing the stone armor and reducing the guy to holding his stomach as he rolled on the ground in agony.

  Two down in seconds. I started to feel hope well up in my chest that Chu had this.

  As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I cursed myself. Sure enough, the remaining two were on a completely different level, rushing him in tandem. Their stone armor moved like liquid, nothing like the stiff grey?clad ones before. Their gauntlets rippled into spikes, and no matter where Chu struck, a sharpened point was already waiting to meet him.

  But he never wavered. He powered through, smashing aside the spikes with aura?laden blows, each strike ringing with stubborn defiance.

  Chu fought like a man possessed. Every movement was economical. No wasted breath. No wasted motion. He took hits to land hits, blood darkening his green robes sleeve as his fist collided with the stone mages spiked fist knocking him backwards in a powerful exchange of strikes.

  The other one took advantage of Chu's stumble and grabbed his arm.

  The slam Chu received rattled the arena.

  Chu tried to rise. The kick landed before he could get his feet under him. The sound of ribs breaking echoed in the speakers and I winced. Chu coughed, red blood spraying the stone.

  Chu was still trying to rise so Aaron had not called the match. My hands were sweating as I started in horror as they pummeled him. Finally, I saw Chu stop trying to rise. He started to just raise his arm. I let out a sigh of relief as the stone mage stopped kicking him, thinking they were realizing as well that Chu was trying to surrender.

  Altus's voice came over the arena. "Chu fought like a lion but it appears he is trying to make the sign for surrender!"

  The feed zoomed in on him as his fingers began to come together.

  A kick crushed his hand before he could form any signal, and I could tell his throat was crushed. Laughter erupted from the two as they went back to kicking him.

  I was on my feet before I realized I’d moved.

  Tucker growled. Low. Dangerous following me.

  “He surrendered,” I said, and my voice didn’t sound like mine.

  The boot came down again.

  I heard the sound of the crowd turn on the stone mages, a roar of fury, but the Shenmu fighters only laughed harder. Until a flash of light hurled them backward.

  Aaron stood between them and Chu, mana burning white-hot.

  But it no longer mattered to me. It was too late.

  I was already walking toward the doors. I heard Aaron's voice yell out. “He was surrendering, and you dishonor yourselves!”

  I kicked the arena doors open with a single strike and chained Flash Step until I was at Chu’s side.

  Chu lay there half?dead, blood pooling beneath him. The image of his kids flashed through my mind, laughing, tugging on his sleeves, proud of their father. I couldn’t stand it.

  “I’m here, my friend. Drink this.” I summoned a full healing potion and tilted it to his lips. He swallowed weakly, and after a few seconds his breathing eased as he slipped into unconsciousness.

  The healer soon arrived, and I stepped back, turning Chu’s care over to him. Aaron's voice came into my head. "Riven calm down, I got this."

  I hardly registered the Guildmasters words. I watched the two stone mages smirk at me. They would not be smirking for long.

  Regalia activated. Limit Breaker surged through me. My aura poured out like a storm breaking open. The men who’d been smirking seconds ago froze as the weight of it hit them.

  “I could’ve let slide everything up to the point he surrendered,” I said, pointing Ember at the closest one. “But you kept beating him. So, defend yourself, if you can, and let's see how you like getting beat on for a while.”

  I took a step forward.

  They took a step back, fear finally replacing their smugness.

  Before I could take another step, Aaron barred my path, one arm outstretched. “Cease this, Riven. Chu would not want you throwing away your entire tournament run like this. He will survive. Calm yourself.”

  I was already past listening. I felt another powerful presence quickly approaching.

  A man in dark brown robes, easily over seven feet tall, appeared in front of the two cowards. His voice was deep, dripping with condescension. “Cease this, Outlier, or I will be forced to put you down for your insolence.”

  I looked him up and down. This asshole was probably their master. Had to be. The way he shielded them told me everything.

  I stared him down. Finding myself uncaring of who the man was. I pointed Ember at him. “You can get it too, motherfucker.”

  My helm snapped into place. Limit Break surged as times two activated, my boosting skill burning through my veins. I was a heartbeat away from unleashing a Limit Breaker Slash that would carve all these fuckers in half.

  All I could think about was how unfair it was, how someone like Chu, someone who fought with nothing but heart and discipline, deserved better than cruelty dressed up as competition. How the Earl had stacked the deck against me and Chu had suffered for it. I was sick of this shit.

  The man’s eyes widened as he felt my aura, taking a step back. Stone armor erupted around him as he took a stance, no longer treating me like some upstart.

  Aaron was still in front of me, but I could tell he knew that his words were not reaching me. I was ready to bypass him and bury all three of them.

  A strong hand clamped down on my shoulder. I had not sensed whoever had my shoulder and I turned to see... Lawson.

  “Calm yourself, Riven,” he said quietly, but with steel behind every word. “You cannot afford to leave this System Tournament this early. I can’t explain, but you will be disqualified if you continue this path and that will absolutely count as a loss for you.”

  He held my gaze, unblinking. "I do not care Lawson, release me."

  He gripped my shoulder tighter. “You need to trust me on this.”

  I looked him in the eyes, he stared calmly back in mine. "Trust me Outlier, I would not steer you wrong." I exhaled slowly. Forced my aura to recede and let my buffs fade.

  I turned back and Identified the man who had positioned himself between me and the two bastards that had been putting the boots to Chu.

  “You better hope and pray I don’t get matched against your disciples in the next round, Natan. there will be no quarter given.” I said. With that, I turned and walked back toward my waiting room.

  I noticed that all my friends were about fifteen feet away, grim?faced and tense. They’d followed me out, ready to jump in if things went sideways.

  I had lost sight of the whole reason I was in this tournament in my rage. I needed the upgrades if I was going to save Alice. If Lawson hadn’t stopped me, I would have killed them and been disqualified. Me and my guys would make them pay and we would do it without getting disqualified.

  Chu was gone. The bracket was broken. And I knew without a doubt this close to the championship match that the Earl was about to make his move.