Chapter 187 - 188: The Grand Bracket — Part 1

Chapter 187: Chapter 188: The Grand Bracket — Part 1

The Grand Bracket narrowed the way a river narrows before a waterfall.

Fifty-seven participants had become thirty-two, then sixteen, over three days of fighting, and the Sky Dome had never once been empty. Brick Head had been eliminated in the second round by walking out of the ring while hugging his opponent. He had cried. His opponent had cried. They had exchanged addresses and promised to write.

"He is the happiest loser in the history of the exam," Paul told the others, with great respect.

Now only eight remained, and the draws for the quarterfinals floated across the cloud-screen in letters of gold.

DANIEL BLACK vs. HENG BAO.

PAUL vs. KAELEN VANCE III.

LYRA vs. GORRAN "BRICKBACK" TULL.

SU WAN LIN vs. LONG FENG.

"Heng Bao," said Daniel, staring at the first line. "Again."

"He asked for it," said Lyra.

"He begged for it," said Fluffy.

"He has been telling the entire dock that he is going to flatten you," said Cheeky, with deep pleasure. "He swallowed a Mountain-Heart Pill this morning. He is stage four now."

"Is that bad?"

"For him."

---

POV Switch: Daniel

Heng Bao had gotten bigger.

It was not an optical illusion. The huge, scowling man standing in the middle of the Sky Dome was a head taller than he had been in the gorge, and his iron-grey armor had been replaced with a new set, thick and black and bolted directly to his shoulders. His skin had a faint metallic gleam. The pill had done something to his eyes, and they burned a dull orange.

"Napper," he rumbled.

"Heng Bao. You look well."

"I am stage four."

"Congratulations. Are you feeling more confident?"

"I will break every bone in your body."

"That’s quite a list. We’ll be here all day."

Heng Bao’s talent flashed on the cloud-screen above them in cold white letters.

[HENG BAO. TALENT: IRON COLOSSUS. RANK: A.]

"My skin is iron," Heng Bao growled. "No blade can cut it. No bullet can pierce it. No fist can bend it. You cannot hurt me. I am a mountain."

"A mountain," said Daniel thoughtfully. "That’s what the last colossus said."

"The what?"

"Never mind." Daniel cracked his neck. "Do you want to know something? I’ve been thinking about you all week."

"I do not care."

"I’ve been thinking about the iron door. The rope bridge. The ambush in the ravine. The fact that you’ve been following my team around like a stray dog with a grudge." He smiled. "And I decided it was time to be fair about it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Fair is fair, Heng Bao. You owe us a lot of slaps."

Heng Bao stared at him.

"Awakening," said Daniel, lazily. "Shadow Scout."

---

The shadows rose.

The crowd was on its feet before the first clone finished standing. Three hundred Daniels poured up out of the black sand, a dark, rippling, smiling wave, each with a faint outline of silver around its edges. The Sky Dome shook with the roar.

"I knew it!" screamed the first commentator drone. "He’s doing it again!"

"Is it legal?" shrieked the second.

"THE GATE DOES NOT CARE!"

Heng Bao laughed. It was a deep, ugly, confident laugh. "Illusions," he said. "Shadows. I will smash every one of them."

He lunged. His fist, the size of a barrel, smashed down on the nearest clone, and it burst into smoke with a soft poof.

"One!" shouted a voice from the third row.

"Two!" cried another, as he swung again.

"Three!"

The crowd had caught on. Heng Bao spun, bellowing, smashing clone after clone, but there were always more. They closed in from every side, grinning, patient, shoulder to shoulder, until he stood in the middle of a ring of Daniels like a bull in an arena.

"Here is how it works," said the real Daniel, from somewhere in the back. "There are three hundred of us. You get one slap from each."

"WHAT?"

"One slap each. That’s fair. It’s a very reasonable number."

"I will... I will..."

The first clone stepped forward and slapped him.

CRACK.

The sound echoed off the cloud-screen like a gong. Heng Bao’s head jerked. His iron skin rang under the blow, and a pale handprint appeared on his cheek, dented right into the metal.

"One," said the crowd, delightedly.

The second clone stepped forward.

CRACK.

"Two!"

The third. The fourth. The fifth. They moved in a smooth, endless line, each one stepping up, delivering a single clean slap, and melting back into the ring while the next one took his place. Each had a different flourish. One slapped with a little bow. One used his left hand. One spun first, and one apologized beforehand, very politely.

"That’s for the iron door!" said Clone Eleven.

CRACK.

"That’s for the rope bridge!" said Clone Twelve.

CRACK.

"That’s for Clerk Wu!" said Clone Thirteen.

"I am not Clerk Wu!" cried Heng Bao.

"He wasn’t available."

CRACK.

Heng Bao swung wildly. He roared. He tried to punch, kick, tackle. Clones dissolved into smoke and others appeared out of the shadows, grinning. He could not catch one. He could not keep count. He was caught in a spinning storm of gentle, tireless, impeccably timed palms.

"Fifty!" roared the crowd.

"A hundred!"

"A hundred and fifty!"

Somewhere around two hundred, Heng Bao stopped swinging. His breath was coming in ragged gasps. His whole face had swollen, a lumpy, shining, metallic red, and his huge hands hung at his sides.

At two hundred and seventeen, he dropped to his knees.

"I yield," he croaked. "I yield, I yield..."

"That’s the thing," said Daniel, apologetically, from the back. "I already paid for the rest."

"What?"

"There are eighty-three left. They’re nonrefundable."

"I YIELDED!"

"I know. I’ve noted it." Daniel waved at the line. "Complimentary service, gentlemen. Carry on."

"Daniel," said Elder Jian, in a deeply tired voice, "the match is over."

"I’m very aware."

"The participant has yielded."

"Eighty-three more, Elder. It’s the principle."

CRACK.

"Two hundred and eighteen!"

CRACK.

"Two hundred and nineteen!"

=======

["Did you know that in the ancient kingdom of ’NovelPhoenix’, a Power Stone is worth more than a brick of gold? It’s true. I just made it up, but it feels true. My greed is infinite. Please feed the author. ????"]