To Win Without Fighting

The coliseum was about the size of a quarter of the Martial Arts Classroom, and while that was still pretty big, it was nothing compared to how giant they got in my past world. Of course, this coliseum was probably made for learning and low-level fights, so it made sense that it wasn't that huge. The ones in my past life were big enough to hold hundreds of thousands of people after all; fighting raked in a large profit for those involved, so that's just how it was.

It only took a little while for Telferr to guide us to the main arena after we finished exercising. The inside was just as I thought it would be, a dusty white-stone floor, flat throughout the entire open area. The one big circular wall of the coliseum made it all the way to the roof, closing the inside off from the rest of the classroom. On the inside of the coliseum, the roof was gone allowing for harsh drops of rain to fall on us. And there was one difference between this coliseum and the one I was used to: the tiny moat-like gap extending over the edge of the arena floor, not big enough to fall in it, but it could still be used to trip someone.

Telferr opened her arms wide, accepting all the raindrops that landed on her as she said with her back to us, "This was always my favorite area as a student. The slight dust on the floor that gets kicked up whenever you move. The fresh breeze in the air. And most importantly the fights that followed entering... I have an idea!" She turned to us and pointed at me while smiling confidently, "I want to have a fight with you Quis! I heard you are pretty good at fighting, so let's see who's better at Martial Arts, without using any Genesis Essence of course. And let's see... if I win, then I want to become your master and teach you the way of the sword. And if you win... well, what do you want?"

That was a lot to process in one paragraph of words. My first thought was, 'Did Telferr really decide this, or did Convir ask her to do this to get an idea of how strong I was?' followed by, 'Should I accept? And if I did, what would I ask for.' There were many things to consider.

'If Convir did ask her to do this, which he probably did, then I'll be losing by showing him my full prowess, because then I would have no wiggle room in negotiations. But do I even have a choice?... No, I don't. That tricky bastard is trying to use the idea that I have a sense of pride to keep against me. And while he's wrong about the reason, he's still hitting me in a swore spot. If I were to suddenly not accept a request to fight, then operation "Become a Leader of the Sect" would take a big hit. Being both strategical and mighty was important for any leader. So I was forced to accept her duel if I wanted to remain powerful in the eyes of the students and the eyes of Telferr. But if I win, what do I want?"

I looked at Telferr and said, "I'll duel you, I can't think of anything right now, so is it alright if I wait until after the duel to decide?"

She moved her head to the side in thought before moving it up slightly and said, "That's fine with me, it's not like you'll win anyways. I hope you're ready for me to destroy you!"

The student retreated to the side, the excitement of watching two strong existences in their minds clashing obvious in their sparkling eyes. Though some of the students didn't look so excited, instead watching in order to gain something out of it. There were always those with more drive to learn than others.

After the students cleared the arena, Telferr clapped her hands twice and said, "Random switch!"

As she said those words, the arena shook wildly as it shrunk into the ground with us still on it. I couldn't see much due to the darkness, but with what I've called my Genesis Sight, I was able to see the arena change in scenery. Once the arena was brought back up to the surface and stabilized, the change became obvious. It was no longer the flat stone arena I was used to, but a large stone forest. I couldn't see much because of the greenery covering up a lot of my sight, but I could easily tell it was a stone forest with the giant stones I saw poking out of the school.

While I was trying to come up with a plan of action, a disembodied voice called out to me, "Alright Quis, this will be a duel of martial and mental strength. I hope you are ready! Three, two, one, begin!"

'So it was starting already? Alright then. My first order of business should be to climb one of those massive rocks to get a good view of the land. It might expose my location but there is a good chance Telferr knows this environment, so it'll be worth it.'

I ran to one of the tall skinny rocks that poked out of the open roof and began climbing it. Rock climbing was difficult on unfamiliar terrain, but I had a lot of experience in having to climb unfamiliar rocks. So I was able to get to the top in about 10 minutes. I didn't know what Telferr was doing at this time, but even if she was setting traps it would matter much. No traps could reach me from up here. And since she denied the use of Genesis Essence, there was no way for her to reach me without also climbing the rock. So I was safe to observe the area for now.

Looking down from the tall rock I could get a basic idea of how this area was spaced out. There were stones of all different sized among many thin trees and bushes. There was a clear area with some small interestingly shaped rocks in the middle top of the arena and a lake in the middle bottom of the arena with tall stones sticking out of it. The environment was a very important factor in any battle, so I had to make sure I figured out how I would fight with that in mind.

'But what should I do now? I was on top of a tall rock without an easy way down. But it was also true Telferr couldn't get to me without climbing the rock unless she started throwing stuff at me. But even if she could throw that far with no boosts, I could just dodge, there was enough room on the rock for that. So it's obvious what I must do. Telferr was a teacher, and she had a strict time limit. She had to be done with class in the next hour and a half, but even then she wouldn't want to spend her entire class time waiting for me to climb down the cliff, so she had to be the one to engage. And since I had that advantage, I'll use it. I'll wait up here until she is forced to make the first move.'

Time passed as I sat cross-legged on the rock. And soon enough an hour passed with nothing happening. That was until I saw a figure walk out of a tree into the open field, it was Telferr. It looked like my annoying strategy finally got to her, and now she was calling for a normal fight. My hypothesis was only confirmed by what came out of her mouth next, "Quis!! Come down here and fight me like a man!!! I'm sure you found out my weakness, but is that really the way to end a fight!?!"

'Hmm, let me think. Maybe the students are bored out of their minds, berating me with insults to go and fight her right now, but one good beating and my strength will be imprinted in their minds again. The question for me was if this was the best way to go about beating Telferr. I thought of this fight as an opportunity to smooth her loyalty along. If I showed that I was better at her in this type of fighting, then she might be more inclined to come under my servitude when the time came, so was this the way I should beat her?'

I considered her character before coming to a decision, "I'll wait here. There will always be more chances in the future to fight Telferr in a more one on one aspect, but this wasn't one of these moments. This is a moment where I had to show her my strategic side. Who would want to follow a leader who gave up such a huge advantage after a little provocation?'

So I waited. And after 15 more minutes passed, I heard Telferr call out to me again, "Fine!!! I admit defeat!! You really are cruel Quis!! Now come down before I switch back to the flat arena!!!"

'Does she think I would fall for something so obvious? I won't move a muscle until she changes the arena. I'm sure they have countermeasures for students in high places when switching arenas, otherwise, they would be putting students in danger just by having such a tall arena. I'll wait here until the arena switches.'

Another 5 minutes passed with no action from my side and then I felt the ground tremor as the arena fell into the earth. And then with a sudden woosh, the rock beneath me disappeared, sending me falling into the empty space below, "I guess I was wrong with that assumption of mine. Good thing I already came up with a way for dealing with high heights.'

I digested one of my Crossbow Bolt Fruits and just as the bolt left my right hand, I grabbed onto it with my left. The strength of the bolt was enough to carry me out of the hole in the ground and into a gap in the side of the coliseum. The bolt disappeared as soon after it hit the wall of the hippodrome, and I fell again. But this time the ground was much closer to me, so it only hurt a little as rolled off it to mitigate damage.

I looked around the hole in the side of the arena that I found myself in. It was the open room that connected to a gate that would release fighters inside of the barracks. I then turned my attention to the massive hole that was once the arena. I figured that this was how the arena changed the habitat so easily. It probably switched spots with one of the environments outside of the arena, an interesting trick.

Soon enough the flat stone arena rose with Telferr in the middle of it. As the ground stabilized I made my way into the arena and said to Telferr, "I'll redeem this request of mine later. I don't really have too much of an idea of what to ask right now, so that's fine right?"

She looked at me and clenched her teeth in anger, before calming herself down and answered me normally, "You did win according to the rules I set. And I guess it is as impressive to beat someone without lifting a finger against them as it is to beat them in a normal fight. So I can't refuse your victory. Ugh. I'll accept your request when you figure it out. It's such a pity too. I've really been looking forward to teaching someone the sword, but that'll have to wait for another day I suppose. We have about, what, 10 more minutes of class? I'll just let you guys out early... to make up for this I'll dedicate the entire class to Martial Arts tomorrow."

She got a bit more upset as she went on with her words, but still was able to keep her head high. I didn't have any reason to stay and left the classroom after the others who had ran out of the classroom awaiting the Magic Arts Class that would start soon.

Today I was able to leave an impression on Telferr with how I beat her, and I also side-stepped Convir's scheme.

This was a victory.