cp12

When we first received the order to head to Re-Estize to kidnap a couple of kids, I was somewhat taken aback.

One of humanity's six scriptures, assigned to capture a princess and her companion? It was laughable the first I heard of it.

After the debriefing at headquarters, I began to doubt the sanity of our leaders. They claimed that these two could be cultivated to become humanity's saviours, and we were to deliver them to the Slane Theocracy with "nought a scratch on their bodies".

At the time, I failed to see the value of these targets.

Now I understood.

"Climb moves onto the next bracket!" I hear the announcer declare from the podium.

I had just witnessed another superb victory by this kid.

He was by no means weak. He was light on his feet, aware of his surroundings, and had a good head on his shoulders. He easily outclassed many grown men that tried their luck against him. I was impressed by what I saw.

I could beat him in single combat, though it would be by no means an easy feat. I can see why the higher-ups wanted this boy to serve the Slane Theocracy; he was young and was full of potential.

With the conclusion of the Two-Minute War, the king decided to host a tournament. One of our targets, Climb, chose to participate. We would spring into action as soon as a window of opportunity presented itself.

I looked over to the other side of the stands where my colleagues sat. Nothing out of the ordinary; It seems we will go ahead as planned. A small group will have already infiltrated the castle. The princess was most likely already in our custody.

Once the tournament ends, we make our proposition. If he doesn't comply with our terms, we'll have to force him into our carriage. Our orders were to execute the plan with the utmost discretion. He was already becoming the talk of the crowd; if he won the tournament, the attention drawn would make things troublesome for us.

Though, compared to other operations, this is nothing that the Windflower Scripture couldn't handle.

The good news is that I was stronger than the average adult,

The bad news is that to Nazarick, it meant I was nothing more than a particularly strong ant.

I wasn't completely overpowering my opponents like I would've wanted to. I sometimes had to resort to petty tricks to get the upper hand. I wasn't proud of my performance thus far.

I had to remind myself that the main objective of entering this tournament was to acquire Gazef's ring. I liked my chances of reaching the semi-finals where I would face him.

…

It was strange.

Ever since I woke up today, there's been a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, like an ominous premonition of something going to happen. I couldn't tell if it was good, bad, or even what the hell it was.

I made sure to tell Renner about this weird feeling. She chalked it up to my subconscious being unable to decipher knowledge that I had just been granted. Whenever I recall something that I can't explain, I tell Renner that it was due to new knowledge being 'bestowed' upon me. She obviously assumed it was the same now.

This was one of the rare occasions where she was wrong.

A higher power doesn't send me details of the future or scientific facts like I was some oracle. It was all thanks to my previous memories in that regard.

I couldn't ignore the feeling. If it was significant enough to disturb me now, I couldn't run the risk of it distracting me in combat. I still had time until my next fight.

What was the issue? Why did I feel this way?

I closed my eyes and searched for an answer. Deeper. Focus.

…

The more I searched for it, the more subdued it became. Anytime I felt as if I could reach the source, it slinked further away from my grasp.

Isolate the feeling. My emotions were only confusing things; discard them. I slow my breathing, and the outside world becomes muted. The slight breeze I felt on my cheeks died down.

Gradually, I tamed my chaotic mind into obedience. No extraneous thoughts. No outside interference.

Now in a meditative state, I zeroed in on the root cause of my recent unease.

…

There it was.

It was paradoxical, like a point of light illuminating an endlessly dark room.

I knew instinctively what I had to do, like the words had been engraved into my soul. I seize the feeling, attempting to unravel this strange phenomenon.

[Providence]

...

When my eyes opened, I found myself in an alleyway. Before me were three darkly outfitted figures.

"This kingdom is rotten, I'm sure you have seen. They will exploit your talents and discard you as soon as you exhaust your usefulness. The Slane Theocracy is seeking brilliance, and you have shown us just that in today's tournament. We are offering to you the opportunity of a lifetime, Climb."

What? The Slane Theocracy was here?

"Sorry, but I have prior arrangements with princess Renner. I'd like to stay here. I will have to turn down your proposal," my mouth moved on its own.

I couldn't control my body.

"Is that so?" The man scratched his chin. "The princess will be coming to the Slane Theocracy as well."

"Is she?" I question, "That doesn't make any sense. I will have to discuss this with her first. I'm heading back to the castle." I turn and start walking down the alleyway.

They brought out some bottles, a murky green substance inside. I was oblivious to it. 

Why can't I move?!

It was like watching something through a TV.

They hurled the bottles at me, and they shattered against the ground. The liquid within evaporates, and gas quickly begins to flood the alleyway.

My walking slows, and I hear my breath become erratic.

A "Wha-" escapes my mouth as I watch the world around me twisting.

I watch in horror as my eyelids flutter closed, buildings tilting around me. I was falling over.

As my arms flail in front of me, I catch a glimpse of my hands. On it... was Gazef's ring.

What?

My head hits the ground.

...

My eyes reopened.

I was sitting in the stands again.

What?

I had moved onto the semi-finals.

Listed on the board, the tournament bracket showed my next opponent. The princess' champion, I'd heard people call him. In between matches, I watched a few of this boy's fights; he was impressive for his age.

I can't say I was a fan of his swordsmanship. He aimed for the gaps between armour, swinging fast and hard. He constantly feigned strikes to wear his opponents out.

This competition had a strict no-kill policy. Though, if permitted, no doubt he would be a deadly foe to face. 

Brain Unglaus had just won his match and moved onto the finals. We were up next.

I saw Climb prepping on his side of the arena. He looked to be slightly inattentive; his mind was wandering.

"Climb, let's have a fair fight and may the best man win!" I raise my hand, drawing his attention. He looked at me quizzically for a moment, before brandishing his blade.

"I've been looking forward to this all day, Gazef!"

A guard walks to the centre of the arena.

"The match between Gazef Stronoff and Climb shall commence... now!"

This confirmed it. What I saw was a vision of some sort. When Gazef called out to me, I could clearly see the ring on his finger.

As soon as I get the ring and the match is over, I need to talk to Renner.

"…now!"

Gazef shoots towards me.

Shit!

I narrowly dodge the downwards swipe, diving to the side. I pivot on my right knee and send Kilineiram towards him.

"One should never be distracted in a fight!" Gazef shouts, parrying the blade away. This will not be easy. I had to get all close and personal if I wanted to steal his ring.

"I don't need your lecturing." I send a barrage of weak slashes aimed at his chest. He makes distance before counterattacking again.

I didn't have many advantages in this fight.

I had to weave in between his strikes, countering the stray blows he sent my way. I leapt forwards and backwards, trying to gauge his reach, seeing if stealing the ring was possible.

It definitely was.

I'd need to time it perfectly, but he often left his rear side undefended. As he was a fighter of conviction and assuredness, he faced me head-on.

It was almost like virtue-signalling, wasn't it? An honourable duel.

Not for me. This was no place for silly concepts like pride or dignity. If I was resorting to stealing, I was damn sure I wasn't going to hinder myself with fair play.

We made some space between each other and began circling around the arena.

"Boy, where'd you learn to fight like that?" He was complimenting my fighting style? No. My fighting style had no rhyme nor reason other than trying to get close to him.

He wiped the glistening of sweat from his forehead. Was he tiring out? Maybe. Most of his opponents would have been defeated by now, he wasn't used to facing such a small and agile competitor.

"It's my own style," I humour him.

"Your own style? Tell me, whe-" I lunge forward, leaving him not a moment of respite. I swing Kilineiram with a large arc and feign using all my strength. From his perspective, he must block this or he'd be knocked out.

As he moves his sword in front of his chest, I let go of Kilineiram and deftly slip behind him.

I hear and clank and watch my blade speed off into the crowd. He expected me to continue holding onto it, and he used too much force to parry.

Well, crowd casualties are not my issue right now.

I was the closest I'd ever been to the ring. He followed through with his parry, his outstretched arm now wide open, angled just towards me.

Perfect.

I concentrate with all my might.

[Wave Function Collapse]

My mind fills with a stream of endless possibilities. Glowing lines spread like a tree, starting from my hand, and ending at his ring. In the middle, the lines branched out into uncountable trajectories.

I watch as some of them slip and fade away while others merged. A collage of bright and dimmed lines before me, routes with different chances of success.

The refinement of the paths continued.

Eventually, only one glowing line was left. There it was.

The optimal route.

I let my hand follow it.

"Rrrraaagh!"

My focus was broken by Gazef as he swung around and kicked me.

Hard.

I shot off the arena faster than a bullet and landed in the stands. 

Oh shit.

The world was spinning for the second time today.

Did I get it?

Slowly and painfully, I raised my hand in front of me.

What I saw sparkling in the sunlight did nothing to alleviate my headache, but it was damn near close to doing so.

I slipped it onto my finger and hid it beneath my gloves. A tired sigh of relief escapes my lips.

"I got it…"

Everything went dark.

AN: This was my first time writing a fight scene. Hopefully, it was alright. Thanks for reading!