Chapter 292: One More Bout [Bonus]

Jin woke before his alarm and lay listening to the stall below.

Glitch was asleep. That seemed unfair, although Jin was glad one of them had managed it.

At breakfast, he ate slowly and kept checking the time. Dray read beside her plate. Renn sat farther down the table, turning a cup between his hands until an instructor reminded him that he needed food too.

Jin finished his toast and went to the stall.

Glitch’s foreleg showed no renewed tenderness after yesterday’s assessment. His turns were even, his feet sound, and his appetite had survived the terrible strain of being allowed to rest overnight. Jin checked the stopping movement once, at walking speed, then left it alone.

"You’re ready," he told him.

Glitch leaned against his shoulder. Jin stayed there a moment before fetching the care folder.

Flicker objected to returning to the carrier after a day of supervised freedom. He waited for her to stop picking at the fastening before securing it.

"You can watch from the team area. Same place as before."

She turned her back on him. He carried her downstairs anyway.

Arena 3 lay farther along the east wing than the floor they’d used against Cassel Ridge. Through the entrance, Jin saw attendants smoothing a deep bed of packed grit over the base. The surface specification in the match notice allowed for earth-aspected skills.

At check-in, Glitch underwent contract verification, weighing, and a profile check. The official compared Jin’s declared combat skills with the attached care restrictions: Harden, Tremor Sense, Draconic Dread, Rending Dragon Claw, and Faultline Rush.

"Claw restriction still applies?" she asked.

"One use," Jin said. "The advancement hasn’t changed that."

She marked the sheet and directed him toward the veterinary station. He was relieved to have ordinary questions to answer.

Yusra Deane waited in the corridor beyond it, one hand on Bulwark’s shell. The tortoise was larger than Jin had expected from the recordings. Her feet spread broadly against the floor, and the front edge of her shell bore pale scratches.

Deane noticed his academy patch.

"Astor?"

Jin nodded. "Deane."

"I saw the update last night. Congratulations." She looked toward Glitch. "Nine-Star already."

"Thanks."

"My coach made me watch your defenses again." Deane smiled slightly. "Including the one where you went after the tamer."

Jin felt himself straighten. "I’ve watched yours too."

"I assumed." She stroked Bulwark’s neck. "We’ll see whether the others leave us anything to settle."

He wished her luck before realizing they could hardly both have it. Deane only nodded and led her beast toward Verdance’s entrance.

Back in Meridian’s team area, Jin secured Flicker’s carrier on the approved shelf and asked the quartermaster to watch her if he was called. The man checked the fastening himself. Jin thanked him; that was one thing he could stop worrying about.

She seems all right. Great. Now I have to worry about being beaten by someone polite.

Dray fought first.

Her opponent’s narrow-bodied beast moved quickly around Argent, looking for a flank. Dray kept the spinehound’s turns short and refused to follow it all the way around.

Jin watched her yield a little ground, then another step. The Verdance student called for a faster approach, trying to reach Argent before he could reset.

Dray moved first.

Argent caught the attacker shoulder to shoulder, drove it across its own approach, and followed before it recovered. Its hind feet crossed the boundary; the rest of it slid after them.

"Ring-out!"

[Meridian 1 — Verdance Hall 0]

Jin stood with the others to cheer. Dray came back breathing hard, smiling when an instructor met her and Argent at the gate.

Corin passed them on his way down. He tapped the rail twice with his fingers before stepping onto the floor.

His crested lizard faced a long-limbed beast whose reach kept it outside his opening strikes. Corin tried the measured retreat that had worked against Cassel Ridge, drawing it forward.

This opponent followed cautiously. When the lizard planted to counter, the reaching beast stopped short, then struck while Corin was trying to reset.

He changed direction and escaped the first trap. The second pushed him close to the boundary. His beast turned inward, but the opponent caught its shoulder and pinned it before it could regain its feet.

Corin yielded.

[Meridian 1 — Verdance Hall 1]

He returned with his jaw tight. Jin moved his bag so Corin could sit, but the instructor took him straight to the care station.

They watched him too.

Jin looked toward Verdance’s corner. Deane had her tablet open.

Nessa’s bout lasted longer.

Both beasts were nine-Star. Her grasslands runner had the speed to get around its heavier opponent, but every return to the center required another wide turn. The Verdance beast stayed compact, making her spend distance to create each opening.

For a while, Nessa made it work. Two clean attacks landed along the shoulder, and Meridian’s corner grew louder.

Then her runner began arriving a fraction later.

Jin saw Nessa shorten the route. It saved ground but brought her closer to the opponent’s reach. She feinted out, cut back, and nearly made the center before a braced shoulder caught her beast across the chest.

The runner stumbled beyond the boundary.

[Meridian 1 — Verdance Hall 2]

Nessa returned and sat with her hands over her face. An instructor crouched beside her. Jin wanted to say something useful, but everything he thought of sounded like advice she hadn’t asked for.

He handed her the water she’d left on the bench. She took it and murmured thanks.

Renn stood at the gate with both hands resting on Sledge’s shoulders.

Jin could see the instructor speaking to him. This time Renn nodded, looked at the arena, and repeated something back before going down the steps.

One loss would end the contest.

Jin wanted him to win for all the obvious reasons. Beneath those was another, smaller and more embarrassing one: he wanted his turn. He’d spent the night imagining it and didn’t know what to do with himself if it vanished now.

Across the floor, Sledge met a heavy ursine that kept trying to pull him into long, reaching exchanges.

Renn wouldn’t allow it. He shortened the ape’s attacks and made the bear come closer. Once, Sledge reached too far anyway, and Renn called him back before the follow-up could catch him.

The next time the ursine surged forward, Sledge held his position. Its strike passed across his guard, leaving the bear leaning over its front feet.

Sledge hit from his planted stance and drove it down. Before it could rise, he secured it beneath his weight.

The Verdance tamer raised a hand and yielded.

[Meridian 2 — Verdance Hall 2]

Jin was on his feet before Renn reached the gate. The older student glanced at him, still catching his breath, and held out a hand.

Jin clasped it carefully with his good one.

"Your turn," Renn said.

Marris checked Glitch once more, then looked at Jin.

"Make her respond to an approach you can leave. Don’t stay in a route because you planned to use it."

He nodded, trying to keep every word.

Dray leaned over the rail. "And breathe, Astor."

Jin let out a breath and nearly laughed at himself.

Then his name came over the speakers, and he walked toward the floor with Glitch beside him.

[Author: I mistakenly posted my other novel Chapter here, and I can’t really delete it as it’s not possible to, so I’ll post tomorrow’s Chapter in advance. This is the second time I have made this mistake...

It was fate, but a frustrating one this time, making the same mistake twice. Aura Loss.]