EG Monster Island Chapter 16

**AUTHORS NOTE ***

Fun chapter ahead! Also, I really need to nail down what I'm calling the tournament. Suggest a germanic name for the Volk character at the end!

*** AUTHORS NOTE ***

The next morning, we were back at the arena the older students had fought in. The ground had been fixed, the stands cleaned, and the Inscribed circles made smaller. Rather than the hundred meter wide fighting areas the Core-level gatherers got, we were down to roughly thirty meters. Sultah Aleahil was standing in the middle of the four arenas, waiting patiently as the crowds filed into the stadium.

“Welcome one and all to the next round of the All Champions (verify name) Tournament! This time, we will be testing their martial prowess! Over the course of the day, each team will face three other teams in combat, all from a different nation. The winner of each fight will be entitled to a boon from the loser of the fight!” he announced, hands in the air. His voice boomed over the crowd.

He looked down at us, “Contestants. The fights will continue until all members of one team have surrendered, been removed from the arena, or been rendered unable to continue. Your advisors will be watching to ensure your final safety, but do not deliberately try to kill an opponent. Remember, this is supposed to be a friendly competition, not a deathmatch. That is next week.” I sucked in a breath, but he laughed, “I am kidding. Now, let us see who will be fighting in this round.”

He reached into a bag and pulled out a small slate, then read off the first few fights. Unsurprisingly, all four Ashkhas teams were fighting first, with one of them fighting Ming, Xiao, Jamila, and Lea. We shuffled over to the third arena to watch our friends fight.

An Ashkhas waited for the two teams in the middle of the circle. Once they walked within five meters of her, she had them stop. She reiterated the rules of the fight, and bade them bow at each other. Our team bowed at the waist, while the Ashkhas clasped their clenched fists over their chests and bowed their heads. The referee backed out of the circle, then commanded, “Fight!”

Instantly, Ming had unsheathed his sword, sending a slash of twisting Air and Ice Aether across the field towards the other team. Lea and Xiao surged forward, making an V towards the opposing team while Jamila gestured and coated all four of them with Wood Aether. Her technique increased the stamina of every team member and gave them a small decrease to damage taken.

Their opponents stepped forward in unison, none of them holding weapons of any kind. They crossed their wrists in front of their bodies, making a T shape, and tattoos hidden under fur flared into light. A massive shield of Metal Aether formed in front of them, absorbing Ming’s attack. Their calm motion forward stuttered, though, and I saw the rightmost one get wide eyes from the force behind Ming’s attack.

Ming’s team rushed forward, Lea and Xiao flinging more ranged attacks as they approached, then stopped a meter from the shield. Ming stepped forward, reversing the V, and a shared technique connected him to Jamila. He stabbed forward and his sword seemed to become a Wooden stake with a core of Ice. It bore into and then through the shield before slamming into the leg of the centermost Ashkhas. He spinned around, another tattoo flaring to life and absorbing most of the damage, but the shield they were holding dropped.

Two of the Ashkhas punched forward, tattoos sending Fireballs towards my friends, but Lea flicked her weapons, intercepting each attack with a flicker of Water that caused the Fireballs to explode. Just like Akhmed, premature detonation, I thought, laughing.

Claws of Metal Aether grew out of the Ashkhas hands, and they sprinted forward. The move surprised the humans, and suddenly Xiao was being pressed back by two attackers. He stepped backwards twice, distancing himself from Ming. While moving, he turned so that his opponents backs were towards Ming, and let Jamila step up next to him to take the pressure off.

Xiao yelled something, muffled by distance and the other sounds. Ming suddenly pressed his opponent back a step, then rotated and slashed into the backs of the two Ashkhas Xiao and Jamila were fighting. He spun back immediately before the leader could respond. The attack wasn’t very strong, but it was enough to knock them a step forward.

Xiao and Jamila both pounced upon the staggered Ashkhas. Jamila’s staff flashed, knocking arms aside and pummeling her opponent's head. With a spin, she stepped past, slamming into the Askhas’ front leg. As he went sprawling, she crouched and wrapped him in vines.

Xiao took the opportunity to slash his opponent’s arms, cutting deeply into her biceps with a snicker snack. As her arms dropped from the cut tendons, he punched her in the face with the hilt of his sword, knocking her backwards and out. Xiao and Jamila both turned and rushed the others.

Lea took advantage of the distraction to slam a foot into her enemy’s knee, and then a knee into his face as he stumbled. Ming calmly stepped forward and knocked his opponent out with the flat of his blade and a technique. He sheathed his sword, nodded at the referee, then got his team together to all raise their arms in victory.

“Woo!” Aleks cried out, cheering on our friends.

They got looked at by the healers, and the minor scratches and bruises they’d taken in the quick fight were fixed before they walked back over to us.

“That was epic!” Jon exclaimed, pulling Xiao into a side hug.

“You did awesome,” I said, nodding to Ming and then pulling Jamila into a hug. I bowed to Lea, “and that knee was brutal.”

“He made some inappropriate comments,” she said with a feral grin. “So I punished him for it.”

“Remind me never to make you mad,” Xiao laughed.

“That is the fifth time you have asked to be reminded that. This week,” Jamila said cheekily.

“Hush and watch the other fights,” Knight Kaminski commanded sharply. The rest of the fights went on for only another few minutes. Invariably, one person on a side made a mistake, and the other team was able to outnumber their opponents. Finally, the last match was won by the primary Ashkhas team.

Sultah Aleahil came forward and announced the next set of teams. Dang, no Illyrians. We get to fight the dwarves, I mean the Weltreichi, instead. This should be fun.

“Of course, we get to fight the group most renowned for ranged attacks,” the leader of the Weltreichi complained when he saw us coming. He looked at his companions, then at the referee. Finally, he looked right at me. “You. You versus me. One on one. No weapons, no ranged attacks.”

“And why would I do that?” I asked.

“Double. If you win you get double what we would normally give.”

“And if I lose? I’m giving up all of my advantages,” I shook my head. Not worth the risk yet.

“Your nation would only owe half if you lose.”

“And you will personally give my team a lesson in how you fight, win or lose,” I said.

He looked pensive for a second. “I’ll teach you a lesson taught to all our new recruits, but nothing that is a state secret.”

“Then two and a half times as much when I win,” I smirked. I looked at my friends, and they all nodded.

Vaya looked worried, but when I gave her a questioning look she winked and smiled at me. She mouthed, “You can do it,” to me with the smile.

“Agreed!” He announced, then looked at the referee. “Is that allowed?”

“If you all agree, sure,” the Core-level Ashkhas shrugged. “The rest of you, surrender immediately upon the beginning of the fight and move to the edge of the arena. I will notify Sultah Aleahil about the change in rewards for this round after its conclusion. Rules, no weapons. No ranged techniques, anything beyond a half-meter from your skin.”

“Outside yourself at all,” the Weltreichi said.

“Three times,” I responded. He glared at me before nodding and gesturing at the referee. Who is this guy that he can make these deals, and the referee just takes it? This might go badly, but I think I can do it. I’ve got enough skill and techniques that I can use with my fists instead of my trisula. I doubt anyone else could do this, though. Either way, we get information on how they fight. This is only the first time we’ll encounter them.

“No techniques that go beyond your skin, then. No deliberate kill strikes, immediately stop upon surrender. A yellow flash in your eyes means cease all movement. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” I said, bowing to him slightly.

“Are you sure, Aiden?” Bridget asked.

“Yes,” I responded. “You’ll get to beat down on the next group. I’ll win, and we’ll get three times the rewards. I got this.”

Vaya nodded, “I believe in you. Mister announcer, sir, may I speak with you for a second?”

He rolled his eyes and walked over. They chatted for a second, then he looked incredulously at me. I shrugged, not sure what she was saying. He waved me over. “Can you use the Aether Blast technique with your bare fists into an object or person that you are hitting?” He asked point blank.

“Uh, yeah. I figured it out when someone tried to attack me when my weapons were not on my person. It hurt at first, but it toughened my hand and wrist bones so well that I trained how to do it with every part of my body.”

He gestured, and a dome surrounded us. “Show me,” he held out a hand.

I nodded, then punched his hand and blew out a weak Aether Blast at the same time.

He laughed, “Prince (name) is going to regret this. Now, go back to your position.”

The prince looked at the referee with a puzzled expression. The referee explained, “I had to check a technique he had, to determine if it was within bounds or not. Are you ready?” The prince nodded.

The referee looked at me, and I nodded, then handed my trisula to Jon. “Watch these for me,” I told him.

“Kick his butt,” Jon responded.

“You do know that they will probably have a single combat event at some point, right?” Vaya asked.

“Yeah, but three times the rewards,” I said.

“Ready?” The referee asked. We both nodded. “Begin.”

Immediately, all three of my friends and his teammates knelt and then walked off. Before they did so, while we were talking, I had already started to run Air and Wood Aether through the General Strengthening Technique in large quantities, vastly increasing my speed and flexibility with a more moderate increase to strength and toughness. Aether Sight revealed he was doing something similar.

After the GST, I layered the Iron Skin, Granite Bones technique over my chest, head, arms, and thighs, taking care not to put more than a single layer over my joints. His skin glimmered with Water Aether, though the color was slightly off from what it normally was. Water plus Earth, I think? I examined his technique while we waited for the others to leave the arena. But combined together. Mud Aether. I wonder why we don’t do that in our techniques?

He sprinted towards me, signaling the start of our actual fight. I let him come, focusing on finishing my techniques. He slowed to a walk slightly outside my reach, his stance changing from a charging rhino to a panther. I had the advantage of arm length, though, so I stepped forward and jabbed at his head. With a slight lean, he dodged my jab and rushed to hit my stomach. I dropped my elbow to deflect his strike. I settled onto my back leg then did a front snap kick at his forward knee. A raised leg knocked mine aside, but didn’t disrupt my balance.

He stepped back, “Hmm, you have a lot more skill than I would have expected.”

“My weapons aren’t that long, and use many of the same punching moves you’d use,” I said, keeping my eyes on him.

He gave me a feral grin, “That just means I get to take this seriously!” He blurred, moving faster than I could match, and stuck at my chest again. I kept my arms tucked in, protecting my torso. I twisted with his strikes, reinforcing the Aether on my forearms to reduce the impact of his punches, but each hit made pain spike through me. His punches are ridiculous!

I could tell he was using Aether faster than I was, but I didn’t know how deep his reserves were. He was at least one level above me, maybe two. The aura he gave off was different enough from my own that I wasn’t sure how to read it. Can’t only defend, gotta attack. At least he isn’t kicking. I took a quick shuffle-step backwards to get some space, then snap kicked again. This time, I rotated it into a quasi-roundhouse, aiming for his block. He lifted his leg again, accepting the hit, only to stagger when my Aether Blast blew with a puff of Fire.

“No ranged attacks,” he growled at me.

“That wasn’t,” I said. “Learned to use the Aether Blast technique through my skin in response to an assasination attempt. You know, just in case I couldn’t get my weapons in time.”

He got a sheepish look on his face for a second, “Sky above me, I stepped in it this time, did I not?”

“Yeah, I’m probably the worst one in our group to do this with. Polearm users would have been a better target,” I laughed, then pursued him. He now focused on dodging my attacks rather than blocking, making him use his Aether even faster. I couldn’t get a solid hit in, though, and he was still able to get jabs in. A few hit my chest, each one feeling more like a solid punch from Jon than the light jab it was.

Then a jab flashed out as he knocked my punch aside on my bicep, and he connected with a cross. A flare of Aether pushed into me, and I was knocked two meters backwards. I rolled as I hit the ground, coming back onto my feet to meet his charge. I dropped to a knee, dodging his punch by ducking my head, then slammed my fist onto his thigh with a Lightning Aether Blast. The Lightning flowed around, neatly deflected by his defensive technique.

He still stumbled, slamming an elbow into my side as he rolled past me. I stepped sideways to take the hit, coming back to my feet. I rushed him as he got back up, but his shorter height let him get set before I could reach him. I kicked low, hitting the ground and sending a plume of dirt into his face. As he sputtered, I stepped in to punch his blocking arms, blasting with Air this time. The swirl and expansion of the Air Aether Blast knocked his blocking arm out of the way, and I got my first good punch in. This was an Earth Aether Blast, focused on increasing the kinetic impact of the hit to knock him back.

He didn’t go as far as I did, and he maintained his stance. “That was a good hit,” he ground out, and I noticed he was breathing faster than I was.

“You can give up now, if you want,” I panted, working to control my breath.

“Hah, I like you,” he said, then charged back in. Three exchanges later, he got in a good shot to my head. I barely kept my feet under me, frantically blocking while I pushed Aether into my brain and life meridians to calm the concussion he’d just given me down.

An idea popped into my head, and I deliberately let my next block get knocked farther aside than it needed to. His attack came in towards my chest, and I used an Aether Blast to deflect the power of the hit. The crack of breaking fingers was barely audible alongside the block and the sound of my ribs snapping. I struck down, nailing his shoulder with a chop enhanced by a Fire Aether Blast to pop it out of the socket. He jumped back, getting space, but couldn’t bring his arm up higher than his stomach.

I didn’t give him time to recover, not knowing if he had any self healing techniques. He struggled to dodge, losing out on the ability to guide my arms successfully. I quickly added a bunch of additional damage, though I still took some. Finally, I saw something in his eyes and posture that made me push as much Earth and Metal Aether as I had left into my defensive techniques. He accepted my hit, taking a solid punch to the gut to get in one last attack that caused his fist to practically glow with Aether.

Our punches landed at the same time. He was lifted up off the ground and sent flying, his defense down, while I was smashed into the ground. My Iron Skin, Granite Bones technique shattered and my ribs splintered. Blood vessels throughout my torso burst. Aether flowed into them, restoring the veins, arteries, and capillaries that were damaged. The internal bleeding stopped shortly, but there was still a bunch of blood in my gut where it didn’t belong. The healing Aether moved it all into my stomach, and I vomited it back up as I rolled to my knees. Heh, I just coughed up blood! Xianxia novels for the win! Or loss, ow!

I looked over to see Prince (name) still laying on the ground. He attempted to get back up, but seemed to be unable to. I stumbled towards him, barely able to stand. When I got close, he looked up at me and nodded. “Good fight. You win,” he coughed.

“I win. Good fight,” I nodded. The nod was a mistake, and I followed my chin down to the ground. Healers rushed over to us while the world shrank to a dot in a black chasm.