D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

The group was distracted by a wave of cheers that went through the stadium. Turning, they found that at some point during their chats, the free-for-all rounds had ended. Now, Bodeir stood ready to fight across from his opponent. It was a male human wearing a short set of robes that stopped at their knees and knee-high boots with metal welded on to protect the feet and legs. Their arms had plates of metal wrapped around them and their fists were covered by gloves with two metal plates sewn on. One above the knuckles and one over the back of the palm.

"BEGIN" shouted the announcer. Apparently, the girls had missed the introductory speech. Bodeir instantly took a horse-riding stance, both hands raised slightly in front of him with palms up. His opponent started to bounce on their feet, but didn't move from their spot. Left, right, left, right, the rise and fall of Bodeir's opponents feet started to speed up. Bodeir just watched him.

Kat decided to call him 'Plates' in her head for now. Plates started to shift more, instead of just stamping their feet in sequence they started to bounce left and right as well, going slightly further each time up until they were using the whole width of the arena as their playground. Bodeir stood his ground.

The bouncing continued, the speed increased, and suddenly they were stepping to the back of the arena. With the third direction added Plates had doubled their speed and to a normal human they'd be nothing more than a blur. Despite that… they didn't move a single centimetre forward past their starting position. Bodeir might've been waiting patiently in place, but Plates was waiting for something as well.

The wind in the air started to whip and whistle around plates, becoming visible streams of green that trailed off his limbs. That was the signal. Plates dashed forward… and Bodeir didn't move. Plates wasn't aiming for him anyway. Plates started to bounce around Bodeir like a grasshopper on crack. Each time Plates landed, a little bit more of the arena cracked under his power. Plates' speed increased again, for normal humans, nothing more than a serious of explosions every time he landed.

Until he went in for the kill. Plates charged at Bodeir and Kat got ready. Plates was fast, maybe too fast for her to get down in time to stop him… but perhaps not. She was Rank 3 and she was ready. Kat watched as Bodeir still refused to move, and only the fact she could see the elf's eyes tracking Plates kept her in place. Finally, plates came in for the kick, his powerful legs aiming straight for Bodeir's head. A boom echoed across the arena at the sound of an impact… then a crash.

Kat could hardly believe it. Bodeir simply took the attack on the side of his face, and the moment Plates was stuck in place, dealing with the recoil of his attack… Bodeir swatted him out of the arena like an annoying fly. Plates crashed into the arena wall, unconscious.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT" screamed Bing at the same time as…

"What just happened?" … Kat questioned what she'd just watched.

Kat and Bing shared a look, "You first?" asked Kat.

Bing shook her head, "You don't know who that was right?" Kat shook her head, "No, ok, then I really want to rant but we need to build up to that. I'm sure you have your own complaints but I KNOW him and that was fucking disgraceful. So… yeah you go first,"

"Well… I mean… not to say I don't have faith in Bodeir…" started Kat,

"Which you don't, not really," quipped Sue.

"… but I was surprised he could simply take such a hit without flinching," continued Kat, "and that he was able to knock his opponent out in only one strike. I know some of the free-for-all people were disappointing but their was at least one good person in the crowds I saw… so how… how was he so bad?"

Bing groaned, "Well… I can explain. I think. See, that was Lightning Fast Larry. He's a bit of an enigma, and a wandering cultivator that somehow manages to show up to important tournaments and has consistently performed well in every single one he's entered. Now I'm wondering if they were all just him being lucky. That technique is somewhat new… but it's just a refinement of wind attributed qi really.

"What Larry was doing… was lowering the friction between himself and the air… and I think he also figured out how to reduce his weight so that he could get even more speed. However, in this case he seems to have forgotten that you need some weight behind your attacks to do any damage. I'm pretty sure I could've also taken that hit without flinching, and I'm no Bodeir.

"I think that's the other thing that really disappoints me. Bodeir is THE heir of the Mountain Shaker Sect. His affinity and cultivation style are exceptionally well known. He was always going to use earth based qi to defend from attacks and then hit back with extra power at the right moment. Sure Larry went for one 'large'…" Kat could here the quotations marks around the 'large' in this case, "…attack to take him out instead of a number of smaller attacks. Which… I'm not sure it would've worked exactly…

"But Bodeir is KNOWN for taking low Rank 3 hits if necessary. Not without damage sure… but why in the world Larry thought Bodeir would be taken out by an attack with no weight behind it… I just can't fathom what was going through his head. Bodeir didn't even need to make his own hit all that hard. Bodeir ate all of Larry's built up momentum and then used the fact he was light and had no wind resistance to just throw him out of the arena. Sure Bodeir hit Larry pretty hard… but that was all overkill,"

"Well, what you're saying makes sense," said Sue "But as you said, Bodeir is the sect heir, is him winning really that big of a surprise?"

Bing shook her head, "No, not at all. Bing was definitely favoured to win this match… but Larry was one of the tournament favourites. He was unlucky to face Bodeir who is a good counter to him… but one attack? That's absolutely disgraceful. How do I explain this… it's like ordering a plate of mild spicy food, expecting at least a bit of a kick, taking a bite, and then wondering if there's any chili in the food at all. Even if it wasn't meant to be all that spicy, the fact that there's just nothing?"

Bing waved her hand out at the arena where Bodeir had already left and the medics were picking Larry carefully out of the wall, "Larry's just lost, in the first round, to a single attack that Bodeir didn't put much qi behind, even if he was using it to strengthen himself. Not sure how much damage Larry took… but honestly his reputations not recovering from this for a long time…"

A round of nods answered that statement. Even though the other girls weren't native to this dimension they could see how embarrassing it was to unleash your ultimate attack… after being allowed to charge it up. All for it to do no damage and result in your loss. It was… a devastating set of affairs if Larry cared at all for his reputation. At least he'd have a bit of time blissfully ignorant.

"Is there anything else we want to watch here?" asked Lily, "Actually, how many more matches are there going to be today?"

Bing shrugged and said, "They'll probably want to get through all of the first round, so… three more matches per arena? As for if there's anything else we want to watch… maybe? I don't really know when or where my match is, nor Lian's so I can't exactly comment on that,"

"Oh right! You're in this tournament!" said Sue with a  bit of surprise, "It… sort of slipped my mind. Do you need to leave for that?"

"Eh…" mumbled Bing. "I probably should? I mean… at the very least I should make my way to the competitor's area… but as we already established I'm bad at directions and I don't trust myself to get there without issue. Probably faster to let someone find me here,"

"I'm a little surprised they haven't sent anyone yet," said Lily. "I mean, now that you aren't moving around wouldn't you be easy to find?"

Bing shrugged, "Perhaps? I don't really know how it's decided by my parents or whoever is actually calling the shots. I just go where I'm told if I recognise the servant and it isn't too silly of a request. I mean, I'm not just going to head to town when I should be fighting… but at the same time… if they just lead me away… might take me a while to notice we're heading in the wrong direction. Probably when the scenery changes,"

Sue gave Bing a pat on the head, "Good luck,"