219 – Containment

As agreed upon, early the next morning, Vivi [Blinked] herself to Suyin’s tavern. The door swung open before she finished knocking. Knowing Suyin’s dutiful nature, the disciple had roused herself well in advance to ensure her guest wouldn’t have to wait on her.

They made the typical greetings, but when it was time to head off, Vivi discovered one small point of surprise.

“Xun’s not coming?”

“I asked last night, and he said he’ll stop by later.” Suyin clicked her tongue. “Can’t believe he still isn’t bothering to warm up. I’d say even he needs to shave off some rust in preparation… but I won’t be so brazen as to question my master outright. He knows what he’s doing, far more than I ever will.”

A hum.

“Still, thought he’d be intrigued by the competition, if nothing else.” Suyin shook her head. “Never mind that, and him. I’m ready if you are, Lady Vianora.”

Vivi proffered her hand in the usual gesture. “I thought we’d check out the arena’s official training grounds. Is that acceptable?”

“Assumed that was where we were going to start with,” Suyin said with a hint of surprise. “Might as well scout the other fighters while getting our practice in. Plus, I want to see what it’s like.”

Vivi nodded in agreement. In previous rounds, she’d dragged the two of them to out-of-the-way locations. With the first matches of the open division beginning, though, there was a more interesting place to visit.

With several [Blinks], she pulled herself and Suyin to the towering stadium Vanguard had built a short trip from Meridian’s walls. Specifically, she brought them to the threshold separating the main structure from the open-space grounds behind it.

In preparation for hosting more than a hundred of the world’s strongest fighters, Vanguard had constructed a dedicated practice area to accommodate anyone who was itching to test themselves. Truthfully, though, rather than a ‘training facility,’ it was more of a ‘containment field,’ a place meant to minimize the number of headaches the city had to deal with. If dozens of Titled had been forced to idle in a spectator’s booth or some other cramped space while they waited for their official matches, all manner of ridiculous violence would break out.

There’s going to be plenty of that even so, she thought wryly.

Having popped into existence under a tall archway set into the arena, she gazed out across the training grounds. A ten-foot wall ran a perimeter around a space roughly the width of the stadium, though only half its length. Twelve elevated platforms were arrayed on the far side, each one boasting wards capable of containing whatever absurd brawls the high-ranking troublemakers got up to.

Despite the early hour, several of them were already in use.

“More active than I thought it would be, this early,” Suyin said, mirroring those thoughts. The disciple was staring at the nearest of the fighting platforms, atop which two demonic men were engaged in a vicious melee, one wielding daggers and the other a stave. Orichalcum, at a guess.

“Suppose that’s to be expected,” Vivi said, stepping past the shadow of the archway and into the morning sunlight. “We’re not the only ones wanting to check out the competition.”

“That, and there’s nothing like novelty when it comes to old monsters like these. When you’ve been around as long as some of them, something new is twice as interesting. It comes so rarely.” Suyin paused. “Though perhaps you’re in that category, Lady Vianora. I haven’t thought to ask how long you’ve been… kicking around.”

The question filtered past Vivi; she had grown distracted. As Suyin had pointed out earlier, there was indeed almost too much to take in, thanks to how many visitors had turned up. Dozens of figures peppered the open space—forty or fifty in total, an appreciable portion of the entire tournament. Many had started duels on the platforms, but there were clusters of people scattered about too, chatting with one another.

Probably not just ‘chatting.’ I wonder how much politicking is going on. That shiver-worthy idea had been why she’d fled the Royal Family’s welcoming party earlier. No, thank you. Though I guess it’s not something I have to worry about a tenth as much when I’m not walking around as the Sorceress.

Plenty of people stood alone as well, happy to lean against walls and observe the proceedings. Others still were contending with each other in ways different from direct combat. The platforms weren’t the only means of entertainment-slash-competition that Vanguard had installed. The city was trying to keep this famously troublesome echelon of society well-occupied, after all.

“I wonder if a gathering like this has ever existed in history,” Suyin murmured, tone contemplative. “Humans, beastkin, demons, elves, and dwarves, the very best of every society, all in one spot.”

Well, not every society, Vivi thought. She hadn’t banned immortals from joining, but they hadn’t gotten invitations either. Even here, there were a number of races not represented.

Suyin’s voice grew more pensive. “Reminds me of how little of the world I’ve seen. I’ve never been to the demonic lands, nor inside a dwarvish enclave. Barely visited an elvish forest, and that was once, for three short days.” The woman shook her head, and her volume returned. “Have you traveled much, Honored Sister?”

Vivi hesitated, for once not because she was avoiding revealing her true identity, but because the answer was complicated. She’d experienced most of the world through Seven Cataclysms the game.

“In a sense,” she replied eventually. “I’ve visited all of the major territories to varying degrees. I’m less worldly than that would suggest, though. I didn’t spend long, or learn their cultures.”

“Business trips?”

“In a sense,” she repeated.

Suyin turned that over. As always, she took the vagueness in stride. “Strange to think that in this company,” she mused, “I’m the inexperienced one. Reckon I’m one of the youngest here, if not the…”

Her words trailed off as her eyes landed on a bare-chested boy in the distance. Vivi had also noticed Fotios during her earlier survey of the grounds; he had collected several intrigued conversational partners, all of whom he was receiving with his over-the-top enthusiasm. He bounced up and down with that same huge smile.

His circumstances were incredible even among the incredible. Of course people had flocked to him. He was poised to be one of the greatest fighters of his era—someone worth keeping tabs on. Doubly true since he’d come out of nowhere.

“No, not the youngest,” Suyin remarked, a frown appearing. “A twelve-year-old boy, qualifying for the main tournament. Who would have imagined that?”

From the sound of it, she knew of Fotios. “You saw him fight?”

“Only the finals, so just the one match. Didn’t want to watch children spar all day long, better uses of my time.” She shrugged, then seemed to realize something. “Ah, speaking of, how did your apprentice do?”

Vivi and Suyin were only slightly more than acquaintances, and the swordswoman and Saffra had interacted far less—it stood to reason that the woman hadn’t felt obligated to follow each of the girl’s bouts in person.

“She lost right before the quarterfinals, to Fotios himself, actually,” she replied.

A sympathetic noise. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. Also… not to change the topic, but what’s happening over there?”

Suyin furrowed her brow in the direction of a group of three—a demon, a human, and a dwarf. They were taking turns heaving up a small, steel-colored ball, then throwing it at a target a distance away. Despite the object’s size and the implied strength of anyone present in this training yard, it visibly took effort. When the sphere crashed to the earth, a resounding clack rang out—the tile only not shattering for a thousand paces because Vivi had reinforced the area.

“Are they… playing some kind of game?” Suyin finished.

Vivi perked up. “It seems so,” she said with forced casualness, as if she weren’t perfectly aware of what was happening. She’d been the one to design the enchantments for the various minigames, an endeavor prompted by her encounter with Xun a bit ago. After all, simply scattering fighting platforms around would do little but encourage violent conflict.

Which was the norm in this world, and it was better to have adventurers sate their battle addictions in reinforced spaces with no civilians around, but nevertheless, it seemed wise to include other venues in which people could vent their competitive urges.

Besides, who didn’t like games?

There were many, ranging from as simple as a stone that grew heavier the longer its challenger held it, to trickier, accuracy-focused ones for dexterity-based classes.

Naturally, each one had an accompanying leaderboard.

“Seems juvenile,” Suyin observed, and it felt like a sword had been thrust into Vivi’s back. She was surprised she didn’t stagger in place.

A sudden, immense embarrassment fell over her. “I-I’ve seen similar constructs in other training facilities, no?”

The stammer must’ve been in her head, because Suyin didn’t respond to it. “Suppose that’s true.” The disciple scratched her cheek, not having thought much of her comment. It had been delivered with innocence. “Those are silly as well, in my opinion. Not practical enough.” She swept her eyes out across the assorted stations. Her gaze paused on one, brow furrowing. “Is that…?”

Feeling defensive of her creations, Vivi said, “It appears it’s designed for swordsmen. Or rather, bladed weapons in general. A cutting test.”

The Silver Squire was there, alone, holding his sword with both hands and slashing through a pillar of marble-like material that regenerated each time he carved it into halves. The number above read ‘6.’ He wore an expression of deep focus, sweat dripping down his forehead, the plate-wearing half-elf already struggling to clear the current stage. It was built to hold up against the Sword Saint of the Waxing Crescent and his equals. She’d enchanted all of the games to become very difficult, very fast.

“Or that’s my guess,” Vivi said. “I’d have to take a closer look to be certain.”

Suyin watched the knight for a few moments, and her cheeks began to color. “Juvenile might have been a judgmental way to phrase it. I might be somewhat interested in—”

Vivi had grown distracted by the conversation, mostly thanks to her own embarrassment, then her rising amusement at Suyin’s backpedaling. So, she didn’t react as fast as normal. In fact, she sensed the incoming projectile so late she almost didn’t have time to respond at all.

Worse, when she did realize the ambush was coming, she started to reply in the way that was most ingrained: with a spell. [Greater Telekinesis] formed halfway inside her head, and she forcibly cancelled it. She was masquerading as a swordswoman, not a mage. Then she remembered she was masquerading as a magic swordswoman, so [Telekinesis] wouldn’t have been all that suspicious.

But these considerations happened at the speed of thought, and she confused herself in the process.

All of that to say: she reacted last second in an atypical way.

Her hand snapped out, and she grabbed the flying blade, fingers wrapping around a sharp edge. The sword came to a halt inches from Suyin’s face, throwing up a gust of wind that buffeted them both.

The disciple’s own sword had risen too, Suyin spinning and defending herself just in time, steel squared against the assaulting weapon. She would’ve been fine. Vivi had suppressed her first instinct—a spell—because she’d recognized the attack wasn’t intended as a killing blow.

“That’s an idiotic way to stop a thrown sword,” a woman with a familiar voice said. “It also wasn’t meant for you, Vianora Enren. Tch. I’m interested in you too, but you ruined my test.”

Vivi finished turning.

Standing there, with a hand on her hip and a bored expression that seemed put-on, was a Titled Vivi had interacted with once before. One who was known for being troublesome even by the standards that most Titled set. Not a villain—in fact, an undeniable hero—but rough around the edges.

Thirteen chromatic swords glittered in an arc around her, like a peacock’s plumage, or the rays of a rising sun.

The Gale of Blades.