Chapter 26: Prank and Consequences 2
Three days.
Three days of missions that smelled like wet rock and other people's problems, of hauling stones until her arms stopped working and then kept going anyway, and of caravans through fog where nobody wanted conversation; Tharia, for possibly the first time in her life, did not provide it.
She didn't prank anyone.
Renji had checked on her twice. Both times she'd said "training" and closed the cave entrance; another first. He'd stopped checking after that.
Her feet developed new blisters on top of old ones. The tin ointment ran low, yet she wore the heels anyway.
'Three days,' she thought, dabbing ointment on the worst spots on the third morning. 'Three days and then I get to hit him.'
Why three days and not two? She wasn’t sure herself. Maybe she was scared. ‘I am NOT scared.’ Her ears twitched with in irritation.
It was close enough though.
On the third morning, Renji stuck his head into her cave. “Rankings! They’re posting the new outer disciple board!”
"What rankings?"
"For outer disciples! Come on!"
Tharia followed the growing crowd to the Hall of Records courtyard.
A new tablet had been erected. Smaller than the main rankings, specifically for outer disciples. The system was simple: missions completed earned one point, duels won earned two. The top five would be allowed to choose how they supported the sect during the upcoming tournament.
It wasn't glory, but it was opportunity.
Tharia scanned the list.
Her name appeared in the middle ranks. As she'd completed more missions than most, but zero duels. She never bothered dueling, partially because she was still not even a Foundation vein stage yet, unlike every other outer disciple.
‘Need duel points.’
Her tail flicked.
‘Which means I finally get to fight Joren.’
The thought settled in her chest with grim satisfaction.
System:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Observation: You have zero duel points.
Note: "I wasn't trying" is not a ranking strategy. You were going to challenge him anyway. The System is not surprised.
[collapse]
‘Mhm, for once you are nice.’
[...]
"When's the next sparring session?" she asked the disciple next to her.
"Today at noon."
"Perfect."
…
The sparring yard filled quickly. Stone floor marked with circles for duels, benches packed with spectators, attendants standing ready with slates to record victories.
Disciples paired off fast. Some sought easy wins, others settled grudges.
Tharia scanned the crowd. Only two fighters left unpaired: Renji and Joren. Renji lingered at the edge, dagger loose in his hand. Kind. Safe. Easy points. Joren on the other hand, stood tall, staff planted, that same rigid smirk on his face.
Tharia stepped forward.
"I'll duel Joren."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"She's challenging HIM?"
"Is she into some—"
"The naked fox has a death wish."
Joren’s smirk widened. “So the fox wants another lesson.”
Her heart hammered. ‘This is stupid. ‘He had beaten her before. Or at least her control had. ‘What if it happens again? What if I freeze?’
Her tail curled tight.
‘No. Not this time.’
She had trained. Three days of holding illusions while exhausted. Kaela’s stances drilled into her muscles.
System:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Chaos Essence: +1 (Challenging Someone Significantly More Experienced for Emotional Reasons)
Note: This is either very brave or very stupid.
Secondary Note: Possibly both. The System will update you.
Chaos Essence: 79→ 80
[collapse]
Tharia ignored the system, and met Joren’s smirk with her own, tail lashing once. "Let's see if you can strip me twice, Asshole."
The crowd went dead silent, then erupted.
Attendants marked their names, as the duel circle cleared and disciples pressed closer to watch.
Tharia and Joren bowed, then stepped back.
"Begin!"
Joren lunged first.
Tharia moved, and immediately got it wrong. His staff caught her shoulder before she'd finished stepping, spinning her sideways. She hit the stone floor with her knee, and pain cracked up her leg.
"That's one," someone in the crowd said.
She scrambled upright, tail lashing. 'Okay. Okay. That happened. Moving on.'
She wove illusions at the edges of his vision; faint doubles, shadows bending wrong. Small and sharp. The kind Kaela had made her hold for hours until her hands shook.
Joren tracked them with his eyes, but didn't flinch.
Her stomach dropped. 'He's seen MY illusions before. He knows what they look like.'
She pivoted, and tried a full double in the center of his vision. He swatted it before it finished forming. ‘No!’
The crowd murmured. She heard "naked fox" from somewhere on her left and chose not to process it.
Strike. Counter. She got her dagger on his staff, the impact rattling her arms to the elbow. He was stronger than her and not by a little.
He pressed her back, step by step.
Her heel caught a crack in the stone, making her go down again. Harder this time.
'This is going great,' she thought, spitting dust.
She got up.
Her knee throbbed, shoulder ached, and sweat stung her eyes. She was running out of illusions that worked on him — he'd catalogued them, the bastard.
'What does he NOT know?'
Then she felt his qi coiling. That familiar clumsy burst building at the edge of his stance.
'He's going to do the thing. He always does the thing.'
System:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Observation: He is going to do the thing.
Note: You know what happens when he does the thing.
Secondary Note: The System suggests a different approach this time.
Unhelpful Note: Good luck.
[collapse]
‘Fuk!' she screamed in her head. ‘What approach?'
She stopped weaving illusions. Just her. Just Kaela’s stances. She let him think he was winning.
His qi burst hit, the kimono flickered then vanished. ‘Oh SHIT!’
The crowd erupted. Cold air hit bare skin.
She kept moving.
"NOT TODAY," she shouted, voice cracking. She raised her dagger. The minimal covering she wove flickered but held — barely, uselessly, just enough that she was technically covered. "COME ON."
Joren's eyes went wide. He lunged; certain this was over.
She wasn't there.
Kaela's footwork. Weight forward, core tight.
Strike. Block. Pivot.
His staff arm was extended — she saw it before he did. Her dagger slammed his guard at the wrist, not the weapon. He flinched.
She hit it again. And again.
Her arms burned like she'd been holding them in fire.
Joren’s breathing went ragged first.
One final strike. Everything she had left, every muscle she’d rebuilt over three days. His staff spun across the stone and hit the wall.
Joren staggered, chest heaving.
The crowd fell silent.
She didn't have illusions. She had a dagger and three days of Kaela's drills and the specific, focused anger of someone who had been called "naked fox" one too many times.
That was apparently enough.
Attendants marked the slate: Tharia - Victory. Two points.
Kaela stood at the edge of the crowd, arms folded, rabbit ears forward. A tiny, almost invisible nod.
"Instinct carried you," she said. "Instinct fails. Train harder." Then walked away. Tharia stared at her retreating back, tail flickering.
'I'm counting that as a compliment.'
The yard buzzed.
“She fought naked and still won—”
"Tsk. Once naked, always the naked fox—"
“But that last strike though…”
Renji appeared beside her, standing there for a moment. "You went down twice," he said finally.
"I know."
"And got back up twice."
"I know."
He nodded like that settled something. Walked away without further comment.
Tharia watched him go.
'...Yeah,' she thought. 'I know.'
As the crowd dispersed, she glanced at the slate. Her name had risen, not top five yet, but rising.
She pulled up her status.
System:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Vein Resonance Threshold: 32% → 34% (+2%)
Chaos Essence: +10 (Nude Public Combat Victory)
Achievement Unlocked: 'Fought in Public Naked and Won Anyway'
Note: The System is... actually impressed.
Your illusion control still needs work.
Recommendation: Pay Kaela for more training before someone exploits this weakness lethally.
Chaos Essence: 80 → 90
[collapse]
Tharia dismissed the interface.
Her feet were screaming as the heels had rubbed new raw spots during the duel. She sat on a training dummy base and pulled them off.
Blisters were everywhere.
"This is okay," she told her feet. "This is the price of fashion and victory."
She pulled out the nearly-empty tin of ointment and dabbed it on the worst spots.
The frost-scent hit her nose.
For a moment, she thought of Serenya. Wondered where she was, and if she'd made it to her sect safely. If she ever thought about the chaotic fox she'd saved from a wolf.
'Why am I still thinking about her?'
Her tail curled around her legs.
'I'll see her again though. Eventually. When I'm stronger. When I'm not the disaster fox.'
She pulled the heels back on with a wince. Stood and walked toward her cave.
Each step hurt, but she didn't care.
'Tomorrow was going to hurt even more’. She pulled the heels back on anyway.
'Worth it,' she decided, her feet did not agree.
Her ears twitched.
'And figure out Lyra's crate mystery. And the naked thing. Which is apparently becoming a pattern I need to address.'
She groaned.
"Why is my life like this."
Outside her cave, the evening air carried the scent of rain. Inside, she collapsed onto her mat. Pulled the wooden comb from the shelf and ran it through her tangled hair once. Twice.
Set it down gently.
'Thank you, Serenya. For the comb. For the ointment. For... not laughing at me.'
Her eyes closed.
System Status:
Host: Tharia | Age: 18
Status: Healthy
[TECHNIQUE ANALYSIS]
Illusion Proficiency: 39%
Chaos Stability: Fragile (Improving).
Qi Circulation: Vein resonance threshold - 34%.
Achievement: 'Style Over Substance'. 'Fought in Public Naked and Won Anyway'
Traits: 'The Reluctant Royal' (Passive). ‘Willing Exposure’ (Passive)
Passive Techniques: 'Shame-Guard' (Passive)
Module: 'Path of the Unseen'
Active Techniques: Illusory Raiment (Rank: D)
Chaos Essence: 90.
Status: Duskwind Sect - Outer Disciple.
Active Quests: Exceed Vein resonance threshold 50%.
SHOP.
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