Chapter 163: Reactions
The footage left The Garden Arena within minutes.
Clips of the ice shard dropping on Levian Ashcroft, the earlier erasure of Marcus Hale’s arm, and the golden crown of light from the opening match hit every major combat network before the semi-final medical teams had finished clearing the field.
By the time it was evening in the United Kingdom, the same videos were playing in certain rooms across five continents.
In New York, the boardroom of the North American Vanguard Society sat in silence while the final slow-motion replay ended.
The Society controlled most regulated professional circuits across the United States and Canada. Their chairwoman, a grey-haired woman with a metal affinity, tapped one finger against the table.
"Five affinities in a Year One student," she said. "Fire, earth, light, dark, ice."
One of the directors exhaled.
"We don’t have anyone on the continent under twenty-five with three affinites, let alone five. I think it’s safe to say that there’s something special about this kid."
"Start an investigation," the chairwoman said. "Don’t make contact with him yet. If the British organisations move to lock him down, then we will consider it. If he reaches the final and beats the Greatest siblings, we will also make our move."
The investigation was opened before the meeting ended. A few members of that organisation were already on planes heading to London.
...
In São Paulo, the reaction inside the Southern Cross Guild was less restrained.
The Guild ran the largest independent fighter network in South America and had built its reputation on aggressive talent capture.
Their commander watched the ice shard impact twice, then the darkness erasure once more.
"I want someone reliable on a plane," he said. "Not a junior scout. Someone who can speak for us directly. If this Manchester reaches the final, I want an offer in front of him before he accepts an offer from some British scum."
One of his colleagues hesitated.
"Atlas Greatest already made a public offer to him. Win the finals, and he earns a spot in his cooperation."
"Then we make a better offer," the commander replied. "Or a faster one. Multi-affinity users do not stay uncontracted for long. If we wait politely, we watch him sign somewhere else and spend the next decade regretting it."
Orders went out the same hour. A senior negotiator with an offer to give to the young prospect.
In Lagos Nigeria, the High Circle of the African Continental Authority reviewed the same footage under different lighting and different priorities.
Their concern was not immediate recruitment. It was something else.
"Light and dark in one body is already a classified rarity," said the Circle’s speaker. "Adding fire, earth, and ice in a single body is concerning. I believe this child presents security issues."
A second member folded her hands.
"You want him watched for security reasons?"
"I want his skills and affinities watched, closely." the speaker said. "If this is safe, and someone figures out the secrets behind his power, they will attempt to repeat it on others. If that is successful, then the power dynamic of the world will shift completely. Watch and analyse him. If there is a secret to this, I want us to be the ones to discover it."
That same night, they sent scouts and surveillance teams to London. They would watch him as frequently as thet possibly could.
...
In Seoul, the East Asian Unified Combat Board ran the footage through three separate verification teams before their senior council came together to speak.
The mood in the room was tight.
"This breaks our current talent models," one analyst said. "Our projections for affinity emergence do not account for this density of elements in one combatant. Something here is... Wrong."
"Then update the models," the presiding director answered.
"And open a secondary question. Can he be invited into a multi-national exhibition framework before a single corporation owns the narrative? If Atlas contracts him, the boy becomes Western property. If any other British organisation contracts him, it’s the same problem. We should decide whether East Asia wants a seat at the table early."
In simple terms, the Asian organisations sent an official request to Britain to analyse him publicly, rather than secretly like everyone else.
They wanted to let the world know that this boy was an interest to them.
...
In Zurich, the reaction inside the European Balance Committee was the coldest of the five.
The Committee did not run tournaments. Their job was different. They handled fighter laws between countries, the rules for registering affinities, and the agreements that stopped big organisations from fighting each other over talent.
Their chamber watched Kalon’s ice affinity reveal without any noise or visible shock.
"This young man has multiple strong affinities," the senior arbiter said. "It was all shown on a public broadcast. And now groups from different continents are already paying attention."
A legal officer slid a thin folder across the table.
"Our current rules were written for normal cases. A fighter shows one affinity, then maybe another later, and registers them properly in their own country. They were not written for a student revealing five elements in a single tournament. If big companies start competing over him with no clear rules in place, the problem will land on us."
"Then we write the rules before that happens," the arbiter said. "Prepare a quiet draft for multi-affinity registration. If Manchester keeps showing more, we will already have something ready. If foreign groups try to lock him down for themselves, we will have a legal reason to step in."
The draft order was logged. The paperwork looked boring on the surface, but it set up future arguments over rules, treaties, and who had the right to control a fighter like Kalon.
By the time the Garden Arena lights fully dimmed, five separate power centres had already moved.
One opened a quiet American file and waited for the final.
One dispatched South American negotiators to make a move.
One began African strategic monitoring.
One prepared East Asian diplomatic and exhibition claims.
One started writing and changing laws.
None of them had spoken to Kalon Manchester yet, but all of them had already begun planning around him.