He read the paper once more, making sure he’d arrived at the right location. He had heard of the Great Baska Rock during his time in Oak, but never actually made his way here before. From what he had been told it was a popular location for the locals to hold tournaments. The tournament’s contenders were about as diverse a group as you could ask for. An ex-Rune Knight could be found here just as easily as an ignorant child, in way over their head.

Death was a frequent result of these fights from what he had heard. Though not the goal of this tournament, killing was often the easiest path to victory. Mikajia wasn’t concerned with ethics, he just needed to know how seriously he would need to take his upcoming fights in the ring. Underestimating your opponent, and especially the lengths to which they were willing to go was the fastest way to ensuring your defeat at best, or dying at worst.

He had been approached fairly recently with a rather peculiar request. The man he’d spoken to informed him that his client was seeking a capable mage to employ for the upcoming tournament in Baska. Long story short, the client’s son had taken part in this tournament and died. The boy was a mere teenager; deluded by his own illusions of grandeur and arrogance and as such, fell quickly to the tournament’s current reigning champion: The Mad Angel.

When searching around about this man, he had found that the guy was a lunatic. He took perverse pleasure in killing his opponents, but only after completely incapacitating them. And any referee that tried to get in the way ended up a victim as well. The Mad Angel was currently undefeated as of yet. However, that really wasn’t saying much. After doing a little research ahead of time, Mikajia discovered that the vast majority of participants were amateurs when it came to fighting, or possessed very little actual understanding of their magic. Any time someone half decent at fighting or magic came along, they quickly became the reigning champion. Until the next decent fighter would challenge them.

Right now, as far as he could tell, he was the only contestant that had any chance of beating the current champion. He was fairly confident in his skills, but was no fool. He understood perfectly well that his skills and abilities were far from truly impressive at the moment. There were countless other mages that could make him look like nothing more than a toddler fighting a grown adult if they wanted. That was simply how life was. However, that didn’t mean that that was how things always would be. He was getting stronger each day, each quest and job bringing him one step closer to his goal.

This tournament was just another stepping stone, like any other job or client. He wouldn’t stop here of course. He wouldn’t stop for anyone. Not even The Mad Angel would get in his way, he would make sure of that. His conviction burning bright in his now glowing red eyes as he handed his entrance papers to the lady at the booth, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of her face as she looked back into his eyes while informing him of his number in the roster of current fighters. He nodded then blinked, his eyes turning back to their normal brown as he did before he turned and walked away, the lady slightly stuttering as she called the next contestant forward.

Mikajia simply waited for his number to be called, finding a seat on one of the many benches situated all around the wide ring, elevated to give both the contestants and audience members a better view, with each consecutive row being elevated slightly higher than the previous. From what the chart said, he would have a total of three fights before he encountered the tournament’s current champion. And there were still two fights to go before he would get to see who his next opponent was.

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long, as most of the contestants were still amateurs, and as such, made simple mistakes that caused them to lose much faster than if they would have if they actually knew what they were doing, like dodging an overexaggerated punch for example. It really shouldn’t be that difficult. When it came time for him to participate, his opponent would find himself faceplanting less than ten seconds after their fight began. Mikajia simply stepped aside at the last second as the man charged at him, then landed a heavy hit on the back of the man’s neck. He made sure to hold back enough strength so as to only knock the man out, rather than kill him. Killing was allowed of course, but it was looked down upon in this tournament, and could even result in someone placing a target on your head. He was here to defeat the current champion, not be placed on the run. He would kill if necessary, but only then.

His next opponent was hardly any better than his first. He at least had decent form, and after a couple more years of training, Mikajia had no doubt the boy would be formidable in the ring, but as it was now, he was still far too easy. From what he could tell his opponent was just about under twenty. He most certainly wouldn’t be known for killing someone so young without a damn good reason. So when his opponent charged at him Mikajia first blocked the punch before stepping forward and immediately landing a heavy blow in the boy’s gut. The hit was heavy enough that he lifted the boy off his feet a few inches before removing his hand and letting his opponent slump on the ground. With the boy unable to even stand Mikajia was awarded the win.

He didn’t have to wait too much longer till it was his time to fight the champion. There were only a couple of fights after his last that held some interest; a handful of hopeful prospects for future tournaments to come, but they would have to wait till another tournament for their time to shine. When the main attraction finally came, there was massive buildup for the current champion. A man who apparently also held a flair for the dramatic, even going so far as to adorn himself with some fake wings. He was beginning to think it was almost his duty now to defeat this fool, not just his job.

Any attempt of the man to try and intimidate Mikajia went in one ear and out the other as he stepped in to the ring. Instead, he simply took his stance and waited for the man to make the first move. He didn’t have to wait long, his apparent blank and apathetic demeanor seemed to grate on the man’s nerves until he finally charged at Mikajia.

The first punch he dodged easily enough, countering with a couple good blows to the man’s side before darting out of the way from his opponent’s own counter. He continued the same process for the next several attacks from the champion, darting around the ring, dodging attacks and countering, then dodging the attempted counter. The man was practically spitting with rage at this point, and panting like crazy. He figured now would be a good time to finish it.

When the next attack came he didn’t dodge. Instead he blocked the attack, gripped the man’s wrist tight, stepped forward and landed a heavy blow in his ribcage. The resulting scream from the man told him that he had to have broken at least one rib. He kept a hold on the man’s wrist as he fell to one knee, stepping back from the man before slamming his fist in the back of the guy’s elbow, shattering it and inverting the bend. As the man screamed, he released his hold, stepped back then spun around before swinging his leg out, connecting the back of his heel with the man’s face. His kick sent him sprawling flat on his back as well as knocked him out.

With the current champion cleanly defeated, Mikajia was named the new champion. But he honestly didn’t care. He simply walked out of the ring, took his winnings and left.

WC = 1,397/1,000