B3 | Chapter 73 – Aftermath
Theodore was pretty sure that the barrier was designed to not be destroyed or break. Which meant whatever old geezer made it was gonna be pissed at him.
Then there was the whole thing about destroying the barrier that had protected countless people and kept the match safe for years. And of course, there were the people that had died. They were going to be really, really angry at him, or more probably the organizers.
Sure, they hadn't really "died" but regardless getting incinerate ought to be something not everyone could stomach. And if that wasn't enough, there were all the people who had come to watch.
He just hoped nothing bad would come of it.
Finishing the match, Theodore found himself materializing in a new room. Looking around, he found no one inside other than Julius. And Julius upon noticing him smiled lightly before walking up to him.
"That was a great match," he said.
Theodore nodded. "Yeah, it was. She was a good fighter."
"She was. I hope she is okay," Julius said.
"She will be alright. Probably pissed at me, but that's okay with me."
"I suppose so," Julius said. "I wish you luck in the finals."
Theodore tilted his head. "Good luck to you too."
And then the two of them went their separate ways. For their first interaction, that was rather... plain. Theodore had imagined Julius would be more of a prick.
Regardless, it didn't really matter. What mattered was the fact that the mysterious man—the organizer—whom he'd met earlier, was standing in the fucking room out of nowhere when he turned around.
Where did he come from? Probably teleported in here. This did confirm that he was indeed an organizer. Standing there looking at Theodore with those weird eyes of his that had a weird intensity this time around he said:
"Hello, Theodore Lockheart. My name is Jasper."
"Uh, hello," Theodore said. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, you can," he said. "I believe we started on the wrong foot last time around. I am an organizer in this tournament, and I was assigned to investigate you."
"Ah, I see. So, did you find anything?"
"No, not really," he said, shaking his head. "Your mana is clean, and you're not hiding anything. Your mana seems to be in sync with your body. There doesn't seem to be any signs of tampering with it either. You are indeed what Rank our systems flagged you as."
"Great," Theodore said dryly.
"However the fact of the matter is that you're far too strong for that Rank, which is rather peculiar." Jasper said. "You are not the only person that is like this. Your strength, the sheer magnitude of it is... quite scary. You're the scariest of them all."
"Well, thank you," Theodore said, not knowing what to say.
"You're welcome, but don't misunderstand, this is not a compliment," Jasper said. "I am here to understand how you managed to break my barrier."
"Your barrier?" Theodore asked.
"Yes, my barrier," Jasper said, his voice taking on an edge. "And it is something that is supposed to be indestructible. For someone of your Rank, anyway."
"Then why is it not indestructible?" Theodore asked, confused. "What happened? It shouldn't have broken, right?"
Jasper's eyes bore into him. "Correct."
"So what do you want with me?" Theodore asked, not understanding.
Jasper sighed, and then walked over to a chair and sat down, motioning for him to take a seat too.
Theodore sat down.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. You broke the barrier, and I want to know how."
Theodore shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I just did what I always do."
"And that is? Absorbing energies until you can't anymore? Or letting it all out?"
"Yes."
"Uh-huh." Jasper sighed, knowing full well he wasn't going to get any answers out of Theodore.
"Look, I genuinely do not know how it broke. I just fired away whatever I absorbed from Tessia's sword energy, or whatever that was. If you want to question someone, question her. If that is all, I will be leaving now." Theodore stood up, ready to leave.
"Wait, I'm not done with you," Jasper said.
"Do you have any other questions?" Theodore asked.
"Yes, I do," Jasper said. "How are you so strong? Why are you so strong? What is your secret?"
"I'm actually just three small mages in a trench coat. We're very coordinated."
"Wha—what?"
"Though to answer your question, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run. Every single day. You have no idea the kind of strength you can build that way." Theodore said with a straight face.
"Are you serious?" Jasper asked, incredulous.
"No," Theodore said, turning to walk away. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm sure you're busy as well, what with replacing your barrier."
***
Jasper POV
Jasper's exasperation had reached its peak by the time he returned to the old man's subspace. He'd been trying to understand how the barrier had been destroyed, but the boy was either too clueless or too much of a smartass to give him any actual answers.
And Jasper was too prideful a man to force an answer.
The old man was sitting there sipping on his tea. He was enjoying the aroma of it. It was a calming, soothing smell, even Jasper had to admit. The kind that could take the edge off of any stressful situation.
"So I take it things didn't go so well?" the old man asked.
"No, they didn't," Jasper admitted, grabbing a cup of tea. The cup was already filled, and Jasper sat down to join the old man. "I couldn't get any answers out of him."
"Of course, you couldn't," the old man said, chuckling. "He's not the kind of person that would give up answers easily. He's too smart for that."
"I know that," Jasper said, "but I had to try."
The old man shrugged, "Well, that's your problem, isn't it?"
"I suppose it is," Jasper said. He took a sip of his tea and sighed.
"Did you find anything out about the barrier's weak point?" the old man asked.
"Not much," Jasper said, "It was a little strange. There was no sign of tampering, but at the same time, it was as if the barrier had been weakened somehow. It was like it had been eroded away from the inside. Like something had eaten at it. And it wasn't a clean one, either. It was jagged and rough, like it had been torn open."
"Hmm," the old man said, "interesting."
The barrier was strong enough to take a hit from most Rank 5s. Though the difference between Rank 5 and 6 was so big that it wasn't even worth considering if a Rank 6 could break it. Even the weakest Rank 5s could shatter it effortlessly.
There was just a qualitative change from Rank 5 to 6.
"Maybe that Tessia girl has some sort of power that can erode the barrier, or that sword of hers." the old man mumbled, deep in thought.
"That's possible, but it seems unlikely," Jasper said. "I would've sensed something like that, and there were no signs of anything like that in the sword. It was just one of the primordial elements, though a peculiar one even I do not understand. So, perhaps, it could be the culprit, I do not know. Hmm. I should go observe the girl and her sword."
"Maybe," the old man said lightly. "Or maybe it's the boy. He did absorb it, after all. Maybe it was his power that did it."
Jasper sighed, back to square one.
***
Tessia POV
Her whole body felt like a squashed tomato and getting blasted by her own attack hurt like hell. She was absolutely furious. Theodore had zero right to push her that far and force her hand in front of all those people. He made her look like a complete idiot.
The sword felt massive and stupid sitting right next to her on the cold bench where she sat after leaving the area she materialized outside the virtual space.
Earning it by actual merit was the only way she ever planned to use it. Getting it just handed to her by the master felt like a massive insult to her pride. It was a heavy reminder for her, daily she felt it on her person, the reminder that it was: of her own weakness.
Keeping it hidden away in the dark was her only plan but that annoying jerk just had to keep pushing and hitting her until her control completely snapped.
And now everyone saw the stupid thing.
The mask she wore in public was completely shattered and her chest felt incredibly tight with pure anger.
Humiliating.
"Are you here to mock me?" Tessia asked the shadow stepping into her peripheral vision. Shoving her messy emotions down into a dark box she put her blank face back on as a woman walked out of the shadows. Knowing who she was made her muscles tense up.
She wore a plain tunic but her casual stance screamed master swordsman.
"Quite the contrary," she said with a soft smile. "I came to tell you how well you did against him."
Tessia scoffed loudly at that. "He is a Rank 2 and I should have wiped the floor with him." Although she knew how strong he was given how much he defied his own Rank when they were teammates, losing to someone with that low of a Rank was still not something she could stomach.
Her pride was basically bleeding out on the cold floor.
"His Rank is highly debatable," the woman replied casually. Leaning against the ugly stone wall she crossed her arms and stared at Tessia. Her eyes tracked the heavy blade resting near Tessia's knee.
"Are the others here?" Tessia asked bluntly. Having one former disciple hanging around meant the rest of the freaks might be watching too.
The thought of them seeing her humiliating defeat made her stomach churn even more.
"Cain was in the stands earlier," the woman said and shrugged her shoulders. "I am unsure if anyone else bothered to show up." Pushing off the wall she walked much closer to Tessia.
"Master gave you that blade for a very specific reason," she said while pointing a slender finger at the weapon. "Keeping it hidden away in the dark is a waste of good sword and he wants you to swing it. You need to learn from it and grow stronger."
"I feel completely unworthy of it," Tessia muttered while glaring at the shiny metal. It was a legendary weapon and she was just a failure sitting in the dirt. It belonged in the hands of a real master.
"Unworthy or not it is yours now," the woman said. "I am actually incredibly grateful to that Theodore boy. He forced you to finally draw it and face reality."
Tessia wanted to punch her right in the mouth for saying that but she kept her hands firmly glued to her sides and glared at the floor.
The older woman just gave her a knowing smile and it was incredibly annoying. She was acting all superior and wise while standing there but deep down Tessia knew the woman had a solid point. Theodore was a massive jerk but he completely demolished her walls.
She was being childish, and her emotions were all over the place right now.
But she could recognize he forced her to stop pretending and actually fight for her life. Thinking about his weird magic made her head throb with a dull ache.
He literally ate her strongest attack and spat it right back at her. That was just completely absurd and totally unnatural.
It felt like fighting a monster pretending to be a normal man.
"The master always said the best opponents strip away our lies. Theodore stripped away yours today and showed you the ugly truth."
"He totally humiliated me in front of everyone," Tessia grumbled and rubbed her extremely sore shoulder.
The phantom pain from that giant blast was still burning her skin. She grabbed the heavy handle of the sword and pulled it into her lap. The metal felt freezing cold against her fingers and weighed a ton.
"Humiliation is an excellent teacher for a swordsman. You can sit in this depressing room crying over your bruised ego or you can actually learn to use that sword. The boy did you a massive favor by pushing you over the edge. Now you have a giant mountain to climb."
Gripping the stupid sword tightly she let out a long heavy breath. The next time they fought she was going to be the one walking away victorious.