Chapter 45 - 65% Foundation
Holden sat down beside Maeve in the VIP player box.
The view was incredible. They were in the front row, close enough to see the sweat on the fighters’ faces. The rest of the arena stretched out above and behind them in a massive bowl of noise and color.
Maeve had her Ashen Bestiary open on her lap, but she was watching the arena with sharp focus, pen ready.
Emric’s match came first.
His opponent was a broad-shouldered 6-Star brawler with heavy gauntlets. The kid charged forward swinging wild hooks, clearly expecting to overpower the shield user through brute force.
Emric didn’t move back. He angled his shield at a precise angle and stepped into the charge.
Clang.
The punch landed on the shield, but Emric’s angle made it slip past effortlessly. The brawler’s own speed carried him forward, and since his punch didn’t hit anything solid, he lost his balance and spun past Emric.
Emric turned quickly, put his shield against the fighter’s back, and gave him a hard push.
Thud.
The brawler tripped over the arena edge and landed in a heap on the floor below.
"Geometric deflection," Emric said calmly, walking off the stage. "Basic physics."
"He didn’t even throw a punch," Holden said, grinning. "Just used the other guy’s weight against him."
Maeve wrote something in her notebook.
Renna’s match was next.
Her opponent was a sword user, a 5-Star girl with a quick draw style. The girl rushed forward with a blindingly fast slash.
Twang. Twang. Twang.
Renna fired three arrows before the girl could even get close. The first arrow clipped her sword hand. The second pinned the girl’s sleeve to the ground. The third buried itself in the arena floor an inch from her foot.
The girl tried to pull free and stumbled. Renna fired two more arrows that pinned the girl’s other sleeve and her belt to the stone. She was stuck in a half-crouched position, arms splayed, completely immobilized.
"I didn’t even have to hurt her!" Renna cheered, doing a little spin.
The crowd laughed and clapped.
"She pinned her clothes to the ground," Maeve murmured, writing fast. "Most archers don’t do that. That takes incredible aim."
"That’s Renna," Holden said proudly.
Bzzt.
"Block A, Round Two. Holden Voss versus Vance Thorne. Competitors to the stage."
Holden stood up.
"That’s me."
Maeve looked up at him. "Be careful."
"Always."
He jogged down the stairs and into the staging corridor. When he stepped onto the stage, the noise from the crowd hit him all at once. Louder than before. Word had spread about his first match.
His opponent was already waiting.
Vance Thorne was huge. He wasn’t just tall; he was very wide and muscular. He looked like he had the strength of two men put together. His arms were as big as Holden’s torso, and he gripped two massive war hammers that looked way too heavy for any normal person to actually swing in a fight.
The hammer heads were the size of dinner plates and covered in dents from previous impacts.
Vance sneered across the stage. His voice was a deep rumble.
"I’ll flatten you."
Holden looked at the hammers.
"Those are bigger than your head. Impressive."
Vance’s sneer twisted into a snarl.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Vance charged. Both hammers raised over his head like he was trying to split the earth in two. The stone stage vibrated with each footstep.
Holden planted his feet.
He didn’t draw his sword or use his Gale-Step. He just stood and activated his Iron-Body technique. His skin tightened. His bones density maxed out. Every muscle fiber locked into reinforced formation.
Vance brought both hammers down in a thundering overhead strike.
BOOM.
The impact was staggering.
The shockwave rippled outward across the stage, and the floor cracked in every direction around Holden. The audience gasped in shock. Even the experienced upperclassmen in the front rows leaned in, clearly impressed by the display of power.
Holden’s arms had caught both hammer heads on his forearms.
The force drove him down half an inch. His boots carved grooves into the floor. But he didn’t move. His Iron-Body held. The kinetic energy from the hammers slammed into his body, and his unstable 9-Star meridians drank it in.
[Foundation stabilization: 30%... 35%...]
"Is that all?" Holden said.
Vance’s eyes went wide. He yanked the hammers back and swung again. Horizontal this time, aimed at Holden’s ribs.
Holden crossed his arms and took the hit.
BOOM.
The shockwave rippled out, shattering the stone under his feet. He could feel the energy in his chest compressing even further, becoming solid under the intense pressure.
[Foundation stabilization: 42%...]
"You hit hard," Holden admitted. "Too bad your aim is worse than your personality."
Vance roared as he unleashed a barrage of attacks. He came from every direction at once, aiming for the head, the ribs, and the legs. Each punch landed with incredible power, smashing into Holden with enough weight to break bone.
Holden blocked them all with his forearms, his shoulders, his palms. Each blow was like a hammer hit, helping to shape his power. The force of the attacks pushed his chaotic energy deeper into his body, sorting it out and packing it tight until it felt completely solid and controlled.
In the VIP box, Maeve watched without flinching.
Renna grabbed her arm. "Is he okay? Those hits look brutal!"
Maeve pushed her glasses up.
"He’s fine. In fact, this is exactly what he wants. Watch his stance. He’s not trying to win. He’s trying to get hit."
"What? That’s insane!"
"His internal energy is unstable right now. Think of it like wet concrete. You can’t build on wet concrete. You need pressure to compact it and force the water out. Every time Vance’s hammers connect, that kinetic force travels through Holden’s body and compresses his energy pathways. He’s using Vance as a tool to forge his own foundation."
Renna stared at her.
"That’s... that’s the smartest and most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard."
On stage, Vance was panting. His swings were getting slower. His face was red and twisted with confusion. He was hitting this kid with everything he had and the kid wasn’t even bleeding.
"Why won’t you fall?" Vance growled.
"Because you swing like you’re underwater and think like you’re under anesthesia."
[Foundation stabilization: 58%... 63%...]
One more. He needed one more good hit.
Vance raised both hammers for a final desperate overhead smash. He put everything into it. Every ounce of his 7-Star strength. The hammers came down like meteorites.
Holden didn’t block this one.
He stepped forward into the swing, twisted his body, and let the hammer heads graze past his shoulders on either side. Close enough to feel the wind. Close enough for the shockwave to ripple through him one last time.
[Foundation stabilization: 65%.]
"Thanks for the workout," Holden said.
His fist met Vance’s stomach.
Crack.
The sound wasn’t from Vance’s body. It was from both war hammers. The counter-shock traveled up Vance’s arms and the sheer force of the impact shattered both hammer shafts simultaneously. The heavy heads clattered to the stone in pieces.
Vance flew off the stage like a discarded ragdoll and crashed into the arena floor below. He didn’t get up.
"Winner: Holden Voss."
[Ding!]
[Victory registered.]
[+150 KP]
[Balance: 3,340 KP]
[Rank 1 (9-Star) - Foundation: 65% Stabilized]
Holden walked back toward the player box. His arms ached in a good way. His energy channels felt tighter, more organized.
Maeve looked up from her notebook as he sat down.
"Sixty-five percent," she said. Not a question.
"Sixty-five percent."
"Two or three more matches at that intensity should get you close to full stabilization."
Holden leaned back and stretched his arms over his head.
"Then I’d better keep winning."