Shambala Sect

Though some had feared on the inside that he"d act his age when it came to finishing the test in the last few seconds, they were all glad he proved them wrong. Some, however, believed that Bruiser"s arrogance proved his own undoing. A very few, though, reckoned Bruiser lost his edge and conjectured they had a chance of beating him now.

However, when the test had finished, and Bruiser came clawing at them, they all lost their nerves and scrambled away for freedom from the ferocious feline who attacked some from behind and some from the front, left, and right. Each slash of the paw injected a virus known as dread into men"s veins and further debilitated their wills.

All this led to a heart-rending realization that Bruiser-phobia was still alive and flowing the blood of the most. With every pa.s.sing minute, the victim count of his claws skyrocketed.

"Run! Keep running!"

"Run where? He"s too fast!"

"He"s not gonna let us go unscathed. For him, rats are food, and humans are scratchboards," one man had b.u.t.terflies in his stomach, "but carving out a scar on either skin is like running a spoon through pudding. As I speak, he"s feeding spoonfuls of scare-sauce to all of us."

"Someone, please stop him!"

"It"s useless," another man crumpled to his knees. "We can"t shake him off our tails. Even if we did, it doesn"t really matter. No matter where we run to, as long as we"re on this deck, his claws can reach us!"

Terrified, many men howled their lungs out. The twelfth deck was quite a familiar place for some of the men present in the hall at the moment, but to Bruiser, it was as natural a habitat as a swamp was to a gator, and all the entries and hollows were merely pa.s.sing birds to prey upon.

When it seemed like none could escape from much less stand in the mighty cat"s way, the a.s.sistant referee intercepted the feline"s path and put before it a sizable mirror. After looking at the freaky feline in the mirror, Bruiser stopped in his tracks and screamed like never before. Moments later, he bolted away straight for an exit of the hall, not messing with men anymore.

All the men who witnessed what transpired were greatly mystified for a moment before coming to a slow realization that enlarged their eyes.

"Don"t tell us…" many of them looked at the a.s.sistant referee for an answer.

"Hehe," the a.s.sistant referee rubbed the back of his head. "We all know Lord Bruiser isn"t afraid of anybody, but a few nights ago, I discovered something that he"s afraid of—himself."

"Eh?" Everyone who heard the a.s.sistant referee"s words stumbled back a step and was left slack-jawed.

"No way!"

"What dumba.s.ses we are!"

The a.s.sistant referee just watched men curse their bad brains and luck with a pleased smile on his face. He wouldn"t have leaked out such information if not for Bruiser"s loss. Now that his streak had come to an end, he wasn"t as valuable of an a.s.set as he was prior to taking the test.

Meanwhile, on the backside of the betting counter, Lirzod and Sariyu had to wait until Jehez brought sacks of coins from the inventory—a small metal room embedded into the hall.

After counting all the bets, what Lirzod had earned became clear: seven gold, five silver, and fifteen copper coins. It was, for sure, an amount that most robbers would kill someone without a second thought.

Jehez handed Lirzod the money, mostly in silver.

"Mm, it"s not as heavy as I expected," Lirzod chortled. "Well, earning it wasn"t hard, but it wasn"t that easy either. It should be worth enough to not be sneezed at." He thought about Allda and wondered how he"d have reacted, and it made Lirzod chuckle a little. "He"ll probably force Tarqa to earn twice as much, twice as fast. It would have been fun to watch him fail."

Sariyu, meanwhile, crinkled the corners of her eyes and restrained herself from rubbing off the itching on her nose as she observed the smug look on Lirzod"s face, She sorely felt the urge to do something, and she suddenly started to tickle him from behind at various places.

"S-Sariyu, what are you doing! Stop!" Lirzod was startled, but he couldn"t do much because he was holding the sacks of coins.

Sariyu"s touches made him dance like a drunken horse. He let go of the coin sacks, fell to the ground, laughed and rolled to his left and right, begging her to stop. Sariyu"s face ticked pink before she decided to stop and let him breathe.

"Uh..." Jehez, who was watching all that, had a dumb look on his face. He felt like he was somewhere he shouldn"t be.

"What"s gotten into you all of a sudden?" Lirzod got back to his feet, his hands still clutching his stomach and gaze pressing for an answer from her.

"Nothing," Sariyu casually replied, "My fingers were getting stiff. That"s all."

"Oh, so you warmed them up on me," Lirzod pressed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes. (Just wait, I will get back at you soon with triple the tickling.)

"You shouldn"t keep money waiting on the floor," Jehez interfered.

"Yeah," Lirzod picked up the sacks and gave Sariyu hundred silvers, surprising her momentarily, but she soon understood the reason. She a.s.sured him she would take care of Viktor"s trouble and walked away, leaving only Lirzod and Jehez together.

"Oh boy, Lord Bruiser was extra aggressive today," Jehez said, placing his hands on hips. A calculated smile cooked his face into that of a crocodile"s. "Possibly, your face must have unsettled him."

"What do you mean?" Lirzod asked, not grasping where the referee was taking the conversation.

"Well, he didn"t like your face. It"s that simple," Jehez shrugged his shoulders and exposed his palms toward the ceiling, "With that scar and all running down your face, he must"ve felt the itching to exercise his claws on you, but I must say, Lord Bruiser didn"t quite get going today, or else, he would"ve put you in some really uncomfortable situations."

Silence slipped into the s.p.a.ce between them as their eyes fought off each other"s intent.

"So, in a very different vein, can I," replied Lirzod, shutting Jehez"s mouth at least temporarily.

"Ahem, I almost forgot telling you," Jehez continued with a held-back smile, "that you will be facing a review."

"Review?" Lirzod drew in a breath. "Why?"

"Because you physically beat the cat when inside the ring."

"What..." Lirzod was at a loss for words."But the cat attacked me as well, physically."

"Well, it"s just an obligatory review," Jehez replied in a nonchalant att.i.tude, "I don"t think you"ll be fined or anything considering whom you won against."

"Oh…"

"I still have many more lost bets to cover," Jehez said, looking at the growing line of men. All those who had been running away from Bruiser were coming back to the betting counter in haste, "or, the next test will be greatly delayed."

As Jehez was entering the betting counter from the backdoor, Lirzod said, "Wait."

"What?" Jehez glanced over his shoulders, his stare perceptibly cold.

"I want to talk to this deck"s commander."

Jehez paused a moment to examine Lirzod. "For what?"

"To give this money to him."

Jehez turned back fully to face him. "What do you mean?"

"Some cats in that cat room are in a really good state, but some are not, right? I don"t care about cats, but those dumb beings..." Lirzod sighed and shook his head a bit, "I was thinking... maybe, these coins can fill their bellies for at least a few weeks. And if things go well, I think I will have another thing to ask of the commander."

Jehez"s eyes expanded as an unfamiliar grandeur flashed across his consciousness, and he briefly went wordless.

"You are the referee, so you should know where the commander is right now," Lirzod continued, "am I correct?"

"W-Wait... What?" Jehez tone turned sharp, and he stepped closer, shoving aside some troubling impressions. "Who do you think you are?" he grabbed Lirzod"s collar, and his stare weighted down on the lad. "Do I look like I need a helping hand from a boy with unbaked b.a.l.l.s?" He growled. " You are but a frog in a well. Don"t act like you"re any different from the many entries that step foot on this deck every day and go to a higher deck soon if fate and luck have it for them. You are just seeking stardom on this ship, so don"t pretend like you give a s.h.i.t about the cats." He pulled Lirzod"s face closer. "Stop playing a hero, and begone from my hall." He pushed Lirzod away.

Lirzod, though stunned for a moment, slowly raised his brows. "Your hall huh."

"Yeah," Planting his legs wide, Jehez made a sweeping arm gesture, "Go play a hero elsewhere, but now, scram out of my sight before you get yourselves slapped out of your senses."

Lirzod"s features somewhat hardened. "Aren"t we all heroes of our own stories?" he smiled a bit, albeit with some effort. "I"m not sure if I"m playing a hero or not by trying to help the cats, but you do seem to be playing a victim in your—own—hall."

"Mind your mouth, kid," Jehez coldly blurted out.

"Ask anyone, and they"ll probably say cats are the real victims, you know," Lirzod continued, "not you."

Jehez clenched his fists and ground his teeth. "Talk like that till my goodwill wears off, and you can bet on losing at least a tooth or two."

"You must be grinding those teeth so hard," Lirzod said, softening his expression, "but what good is it if I can"t hear the sound of it?"

Jehez greatly gnashed his teeth and raised his fist. "This is your last chance. Leave, or I"ll make you lick this hall"s floor clean!"

Lirzod lifted his gaze to look at Jehez"s tightened hand before steadying his gaze on the referee"s face, "Fists of fools are not among those I fear." Saying that he turned back to leave, "You can undo that fist. I guess I"ll have to find the commander myself."

"Then so be it," Jehez thrust his fist at Lirzod"s spine, "I"ll undo my fist on your insolence!"

Lirzod, though surprised a bit, didn"t even look back but readied himself to dodge the attack at the last moment.

"Jehez!" A loud voice came from the side, stopping Jehez"s fist before it reached the target.

Jehez looked to his right, and there was a tall man in bluish silk clothes coming straight toward them, and a gray cat sat royally on one of his shoulders. It had a long mustache and a beard just like the tall man. It kept licking itself all over and also the man"s cheek now and then.

"Most mortal animals in the world, especially cats, are cheerfully cruel creatures," the tall man with a long face said, a bayonet rifle coated with poison fixed on his back, "and they know not what they"re doing. So you can"t really call them evil beings, but what do you call a referee who doesn"t let an entry meet his commander even for a good cause?"

"C-Commander Sean," Jehez immediately undid his fists, cupped his hands and bowed a little. "This entry is not worthy of your attention. That"s why..."

"That referee will be a cheerful crook, I suppose," Lirzod voiced his mind.

Sean looked at Lirzod, and after a long pause, he said, "Right, considering he doesn"t know what he"s doing as well." He glanced at Jehez, "What else do you have to say?"

"U-Uh…" Regret washed over Jehez like the largest wave of a full moon night on a shallow beach, choked the air out of him and worked to pull him to deeper depths. Every pa.s.sing second uneased him further and warped his face into weirdness.

"So…" Sean fully turned to Lirzod, "what"s your name, son?"

"Lirzod. But I"m not your son."

"Okay, Lirzod, son of a man… Let me ask you this. Everyone likes to have means in their hands," Sean said, flicking a tiny meatball into the feline"s mouth, "but not everyone likes to let their means slip out of those hands for the sake of others, especially the ones your age. So, what made you want to donate this money back to us?"

"Let"s say, it"s because of a cat," Lirzod"s lips stretched into a smile.

"Oh…" Sean rested his gaze on Lirzod for a moment. "All right, I"ll accept your money."

"Commander!" Jehez interrupted. "If we accept it, we"ll look desperate in other"s eyes. I don"t like this."

"Maybe, but we can"t deny that we"re not treating all cats the same," Sean said, tossing the tiny meatball into Jehez"s mouth, "Cat Ring is the best place on the twelfth deck when both the contestant and the cat are fit and competing at their highest levels. We can"t do anything about the entries, but it"s in our hands to keep the cats at their best possible health. When someone wants to give us a chance to do our duties better, I see no reason to refuse his request."

"But it won"t be taken well by others," Jehez said in an urging tone, "please give this more thought."

"There"s no need for that," Sean straightforwardly said, "Let foul mouths howl as they fancy, for this Sean heeds not those hearts that know not to honor a graceful gesture." He put his hands forward, and Lirzod gave him the sacks of coins. "You have my humble thanks, Lirzod, son of a man."

"You can just call me Lirzod."

"As you wish, son of a man, Lirzod." Sean laughed and patted on Lirzod"s shoulder twice.

Lirzod didn"t know what to say. He just put it before my name.

"What you"re doing for the cats is something I appreciate more than my eyes show." Recognition dawned on Sean"s face, "G.o.d spede for your grace. If you need any help, feel free to knock my door at any hour."

"I should be the one thanking you," Lirzod said in a humbled tone, "I took the trouble of making a deal with everyone for helping the cats. If you hadn"t taken the money, I"m not even sure what I would have done with it."

"Hmm, on this ship, most people would have a hard time spending this much wealth alone," Sean handed the wealth to Jehez, "In our hands, though, this will be safe, and I a.s.sure you every coin will be spent for the cats and cats only."

"That"s all I needed to hear," Lirzod said, and relief suffused his features, "but hey," he glanced at Jehez, "this guy"s been ogling after the coins all greedily. The money will be safe in your hands, right?"

"W-W-What?" Jehez blurted out in haste, malice flashing in his eyes. "Such rubbish! It seems I shall mend this frog"s mouth with my fists!" he stepped forward, ready to hurl a fist.

"Stand back," Sean blocked Jehez with his arm.

Jehez stepped back, frowning while he still made eye contact with Lirzod. After all, he didn"t ogle at the money, yet Lirzod accused him of that for whatever reason.

"I"ll safeguard these coins as much as I do my cat," Sean said, stroking the cat a bit with one hand while he flicked a tiny meatball with the other.

"Okay." Lirzod caught the meatball right before it entered his mouth and smiled a bit. "I"ll be off then."

As Lirzod was turning away, Sean said, "Oh, I thought you said you have something else to request if I"m correct."

"Dang," Lirzod swiveled back on heels in surprise, "I almost forgot."