Unfortunately, a simple verbal rejection didn"t seem to be the deciding factor in this exchange, as Jhan, pulled out a purple card from his jacket"s pocket and held it up before Atid. Looking at the purple card which contained the Chinese character for "Battle," Atid spoke as if he was breathless as he said, "Are you really going to waste a card for this purpose? How will you "end my days" or whatever, if you use the card her… Don"t tell me you have two cards?!""Che! While you"ve enjoyed your life here as an instructor, I, on the other hand, haven"t been playing around! I"ve got much more than just two cards, and for my goals, no amount of work exceeds my ability! Now pick the conditions and let"s get this over with."
"..." With the purple card involved, Atid couldn"t reject Jhan. The purple card being a mandate of the highest order from the Martial Society, its appearance made it clear that today wouldn"t end without a fight. But, as he was the one being challenged, Atid could choose certain conditions from the established battle formats of the Martial Society. So at the moment, he was considering what kind of battle he was least likely to lose.
It was certainly out of the question for him to put himself up against Jhan as they were neither in a contained enough locale to secure the safety of the people around them should they truly enter a full-blown fight to the death, nor was this the best time to challenge Jhan as Atid was at the brink of breaking through to beyond the King Stage. But looking at the people Jhan brought to sub in for him, as it was without a doubt their purpose in being here, Atid couldn"t help but frown as every and every one of them were at the prime of their levels.
Along Jhan"s lineup, there was a la.s.s at the peak of the Mortal Stage, a man wearing a black belt who stood at the peak of the p.a.w.n Stage, and a final man wearing a red belt boasting cultivation at the Peak of the Soldier Stage. Unbeknownst to all but Elizabeth and Sun, these three were people that partook in Elizabeth"s would-be kidnapping. The la.s.s was the girl with the rare lightning physique, the man donning a black belt was previously Level 8 when Elizabeth met him, and the man wearing the red belt was the man who had spoken to Elizabeth at that time; somehow he had crossed a whole stage and now stood at Level 15, the peak of the Soldier Stage!
Only Elizabeth knew something fishy was going on under the scenes, as her medically trained eyes picked up on some subtle clues that the two men"s apparent jumps in strength were unnaturally produced. Even from a distance, she could imbue her eyes with Inner Strength and tell that there was a ma.s.sive amount of damage still in the midst of progressing within their bodies and especially in the man who now stood at the Soldier Stage. She couldn"t tell their ranks as they hadn"t activated their Qi, thus leaving her status functions unable to return a value for their strength, but it couldn"t be more obvious that those two had done something ridiculous to gain strength at the expense of their future potential and longevity…
"...I"ll chose the option of best out of three." Atid didn"t feel comfortable leaving it all down to Elizabeth even if it was the best option; pragmatically speaking. Though he trusted her strength, she had seen her spar against Jane and Sophie in the past and firmly believed her lack of experience might lead to moments of hesitation and inevitable defeat. Thus instead, he chose what looked to be the best option and chose three people from the dojo, who matched the cultivation ranks of Jhan"s people to fight.
Atid said, "As for the losing condition, what do you even have that"s comparable to Elizabeth in objective value?"
Jhan turned to the la.s.s representing the Mortal Stage fighter from his side and said, "Go ahead and give them a formal introduction."
The violet-eyed girl gave him a bow before standing a bit closer to his side and saying, "My name is Irene Gilavante and I come from the Gilavante family. Born with a rare Active Lightning Physique and possessing extensive mastery in formations, I swear upon my very will and integrity as a Martial Pract.i.tioner to uphold the promise of faithfully serving you should my master be unfortunate enough to lose this duel."
"..." Unless Atid spoke up about Elizabeth"s near-G.o.dlike ability as a Acupoint Master, it would seem that the girl Jhan offered was every bit as good as Elizabeth had thus far shown herself to be. Reluctantly, Atid had to make his way over to Elizabeth and explain the kind of predicament they were in.
He said, "I truly am a worthless dojo master… So far, I"ve done nothing but take and before I can even do my part and teach you, I"m being forced to turn you into a game piece..."
Elizabeth smirked internally after hearing that she"d become a game piece as the irony in that statement was twofold. Though she was starting to get fed up with Atid, after all, he was most definitely correct in stating he had done nothing but take. How many miraculous things had Elizabeth done for the good of the dojo? She had saved and restored Sun, healed him personally, saved Jane from self-destruction, and had given both of them — prime members of the dojo and fellow co-disciples alongside Elizabeth"s side — methods to follow the path of perfection by her side. All Atid had done in return was to allow her to borrow the dojo equipment and stay at the residence for free. Naturally, Elizabeth"s goodwill towards Atid was depreciating as he wasn"t reciprocating enough, and though that might sound twisted, this was Elizabeth personality after all.
Elizabeth quietly sat back and listened in to Atid"s speech about the rules of the Martial Society; more specifically, the significance of the purple card. As per usual, these threats to her well being were ill received and that now familiar smile of schadenfreude once more found its place on Elizabeth"s face. Apparently, this was the way she liked to express displeasure for her grievances and the greater her grin the worst off her troubles…
Elizabeth agreed and voiced a declaration similar to that Irene girl; not like she had a choice in the first place. This being a matter of the Martial Society, Elizabeth could only accept, lest she wished to become an enemy of the world itself. She said, "My name is Elizabeth and I come from… uh, humble origins; no crazy family to speak of, unfortunately. I don"t have to mention s.h.i.t about my abilities as you"re the ones looking for me, so I guess I"ll go over to your side if we lose." That last part of her introduction was directed towards Jhan and his minions as Elizabeth didn"t have any respect for people like them; those that were being needlessly excessive. She still had no clue why they wanted her in the first place, though because of her fallout with them, she didn"t care to be understanding.
"Splendid~ When I win, we"ll have to do something about that tone of yours, young lady! But for now, just enjoy the show while it lasts and say goodbye to your friends or whatever." Jhan didn"t appear to mind Elizabeth"s cra.s.s words, but by the clearly restrained half angry smile on his face, it was clear that he was fighting the urge to strike back and disciple Elizabeth for her blatant disrespect.
"Alright everyone, the dojo is closing due to a sudden event. I apologize to all the non-residents, but please take your leave at this time. Those that were forced to leave this evening will be compensated with today"s cla.s.ses and gym hours deducted from your monthly pay. Additionally, a fifty dollar credit allowance will also be given for next month"s pay or cla.s.ses of your choosing. That is all..." One by one, the civilians — or non-pract.i.tioners — present left the gym as formations and other types of equipment were being prepared for the ensuing battles.
"With that out of the way… Hou Xin, you"re up first!" At Jhan"s beck and call, the Peak Soldier Stage man wearing the red belt stepped up and entered the ring after Atid"s people had finished their preparations.
Atid responded by calling for his own contender, "Carlos, are you up for the challenge?"
This Carlos guy was someone Elizabeth had seen many times in the past. She had seen him once or twice at least every single instance she had come to the dojo to train and was rather humored when she heard the man say, "Sure thing boss! No way our dojo"s going to lose a cute girl to those jack offs!" Even though this was her first time listening to Carlos, his pattern of speech was already to Elizabeth"s liking…
"Jack off? Hmph! Let see... you have the ability… speak twice!" Though his power had grown, his accent didn"t seem to improve at all these past couple days…
"Enough talk, lets fight!"