Chapter 44: The Tournament Begins
The black badge sat on the kitchen table between two plates of toast.
Maeve stared at it like it might bite her. The badge was small and made of polished obsidian with a silver crest carved into the surface.
"What is this?" she asked.
"VIP Family Pass," Holden said. "Vespera gave it to me. It gets one person into the elite sections of any academy event. Front row. Best view in the house."
Maeve picked it up carefully, turning it over in her fingers.
"Holden, this is the kind of pass that noble families bid thousands of credits for at auction."
"Yeah. Which is why you’re not staying locked inside today."
She looked up at him.
"You want me at the tournament?"
"I need you at the tournament. You know more about beast anatomy and energy flow patterns than half the instructors. If something weird happens in my matches, I want you watching and taking notes. You’re my tactical advisor now."
Maeve held the badge against her chest. Her eyes got a little shiny, but she blinked it away fast.
"Okay," she said quietly. "Okay. I’ll be there."
"Good. Eat your toast. We leave in twenty."
The Grand Arena was the largest structure on campus.
It was an outdoor stadium built into a natural hollow in the ground, with stone seating that circled down toward a gray granite stage. The stage itself was about thirty meters wide. Glowing symbols were etched into the floor to catch any extra energy from the battles, making sure the spectators stayed safe and the building stayed in one piece.
Above the arena, massive holographic screens floated in the air, displaying the tournament brackets in real time.
Thousands of upperclassmen filled the stands. They wore colored jackets denoting their year and faction, cheering and chatting and placing bets. Wealthy noble families occupied the private boxes at the top, served by attendants with refreshment trays. The noise was enormous.
Holden found his team in the player lobby, a wide corridor beneath the arena where competing students waited for their names to be called.
Renna spotted Maeve first.
"Oh my gosh, is that your sister? That’s your sister! She’s so small! And her glasses are adorable! Hi! I’m Renna! I’m the one who shoots arrows at things!"
Maeve blinked at the speed of the introduction.
"Hello, Renna. It’s nice to meet you."
"She’s so polite! Holden, why didn’t you bring her around sooner? I would have adopted her immediately."
"You can’t adopt my sister."
"Watch me."
Emric stepped forward and offered a formal nod.
" Nice to meet you, I’m Emric. Your brother has been an invaluable asset to our team’s defensive coordination. I was curious about something, actually. In our post-ruins debrief, you mentioned that Ashen Hounds possess a concentrated nerve cluster at the base of the skull. I looked through the standard beast guides at the academy and couldn’t find anything about it. I was just wondering how you knew that?"
Maeve pushed her glasses up.
"The academy’s database is actually missing some pieces. It relies on research done after the Awakening, which was built from broken records dating back to before the Collapse. The real expert on Ashen Hounds was a researcher named Aldric Vane. His work was never uploaded to the system because the original book was hidden away in the Ruins of the Ashen King. My brother happened to find it while he was there."
Emric stared at her for a moment.
"That is... remarkably specific."
"I read a lot."
"I can see that."
Lyra stepped forward with a friendly smile.
"It’s good to finally meet you, Maeve. Holden speaks highly of you, in his own way. Which mostly means he doesn’t say anything, but the silence says a lot."
"That’s accurate," Maeve said, smiling back.
"Come on. I’ll get you to the VIP player box. Front row, just like Holden wanted."
Lyra guided Maeve up the private stairs toward the arena floor. Renna waved frantically until they disappeared from view.
"That girl is a genius," Emric said quietly.
"Yep," Holden agreed.
"I’m a bit intimidated."
"Join the club."
Bzzt.
The intercom crackled to life above the lobby.
"Attention competitors. Round One of the Annual Freshman Combat Tournament will begin in two minutes. All Block A participants, please proceed to the staging area."
Holden checked the holographic screen mounted on the lobby wall. His name sat at the top of Block A, paired with an opponent.
Cassian Vale. Rank 1, 5-Star. Twin Spear Style.
He walked to the staging area.
The stage was bright under the arena lights. As soon as he appeared, the noise from the crowd became overwhelming. Thousands of eyes turned toward him. Whispers rippled through the stands. He could hear his name mixed in with words like "Vespera" and "disciple" and "slum-rat."
Across the stage, his opponent was already waiting.
Cassian Vale was tall with sharp features and perfectly styled blonde hair. He held two spears, one in each hand, spinning them in lazy circles. His uniform was custom-tailored.
He looked like he’d spent more time on his appearance than his training.
"Holden Voss," Cassian announced, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "The famous slum-rat who somehow conned Instructor Vespera into giving him a disciple badge. I’ve been looking forward to this."
Holden stopped in the center of the stage and looked at him.
"Have you?"
"Don’t mistake luck for skill, Voss. Everyone knows you only survived the ruins because you hid behind real fighters. That badge on your collar? Dumb luck. Nothing more."
"Is that your opening speech? Because it needs work."
Cassian’s eyes narrowed.
The referee, an older instructor with a bored expression, raised his hand.
"Match begins on my signal. No lethal strikes. No intentional maiming. Ring-out or knockout determines the winner. Ready?"
Cassian spun his spears and dropped into a wide stance.
Holden stood with his hands at his sides. Empty. No sword drawn.
The instructor’s hand dropped.
"Begin!"
Cassian lunged immediately. Both spears thrust forward in a cross-pattern attack designed to catch the opponent between the shafts. It was fast for a 5-Star. Precise. Well-rehearsed.
Holden stepped to the side and slapped the left spear away with his palm.
The impact stung. Not because Cassian was strong, but because Holden’s body was a pressure cooker of unstable energy. The kinetic shock of the block sent a ripple through his meridians, forcing the wild aether to compress inward.
It felt good.
Cassian recovered and spun into a horizontal sweep. Holden ducked under it and took a glancing hit on his forearm from the second spear.
Thwack.
The impact sent another vibration through him, deeper than the last. The raw energy in his channels moved, settling into a slightly more stable state after the hit.
"Not bad," Holden said, rolling his shoulder. "Your footwork is terrible though. You’re overcommitting on every swing. Anyone with eyes can see where you’re going three moves ahead.
"Shut up!" Cassian snarled.
He launched a flurry of stabs. Left, right, overhead, low. The spears blurred through the air with impressive speed.
Holden didn’t dodge all of them.
He blocked some of the strikes with his arms, took one on the shoulder, and let another graze his ribs. Every impact sent a shockwave through his body, and each shockwave hammered his unstable foundation one step closer to solid.
[Foundation stabilization: 15%... 18%... 22%...]
"Is that your special move," Holden said, sidestepping a thrust, "or did you just trip?"
The crowd laughed.
Cassian’s face went red. He put everything into a double-handed overhead strike, both spears coming down like a guillotine.
Holden caught them both on his crossed forearms.
Thud.
The force drove his boots into the stone for a half-inch. His meridians screamed. The energy inside him compressed violently.
[Foundation stabilization: 24%... 25%.]
He looked Cassian in the eye from point-blank range.
"Thanks for the workout."
His right palm shot forward.
It hit Cassian’s chest so hard it made a booming sound.
Wham.
Cassian flew backward off the stage and landed in a heap on the arena floor. His spears clattered away across the stone. His eyes were rolled back. Completely unconscious.
The crowd roared.
"Winner: Holden Voss. Round One, complete."
[Ding!]
[Victory registered.]
[+100 KP]
[Balance: 3,190 KP]
[Rank 1 (9-Star) - Foundation: 25% Stabilized]
Holden walked off the stage. In the front row of the VIP player box, Maeve was already writing in her notebook, a small smile on her face.