Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 73: Something you deserve

“Who are you?” Bella asked, stepping between them. “I didn’t see you taking the trials.”

“Does it matter? I’m challenging him. And I did take the trial, thank you very much. You just missed it because you weren’t paying attention.”

Bella shot a look at Chance, who shook his head. “I didn’t see her taking it either.”

“She is indeed one of the participants that have been approved to make it to the next stage,” Jerrin said, but there was a small frown on his face. “This is a sanctioned challenge. You may refuse it if you wish, but that comes with the forfeiture of any supplies you would have earned.”

“I’ll fight. I’m not giving my stuff up that easily, but I could have sworn I didn’t see her doing the test. Did anyone else?”

The other cultivators shuffled their feet and cast their glances to the side. Nobody answered the question. Chance shrugged and handed his case of pills to Bella.

“Could you hold onto that for a little? I don’t want it to get damaged while I’m fighting.”

“If you’re sure. Something feels off to me, though,” Bella said. She shot Jerrin a sharp glance. “Not the most above-board way to do things that I’ve seen.”

“I’m afraid it all falls within the rules of what is legal,” Jerrin said apologetically. “The cultivator hasn’t done anything that would give us cause to intercede. Would everyone please back up to give these two some room? If you get injured while they fight, you’ll have only yourself to blame.”

The other cultivators all retreated to their chairs, leaving Chance and the cloaked girl alone in the center of the square. Jerrin moved off to the side, remaining close enough to officiate the match but keeping enough distance to avoid getting hit by stray attacks.

“This match will go until one party either admits defeat or is unable to continue,” Jerrin said. “Are you both prepared?”

Chance drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. With it went the stress of all the eyes on him and the imminent fight. A small grin pulled the corners of his lips up. The only emotions remaining in him were excitement and joy.

“Let’s do this. I’ll be treating you like a cultivator this time, miss.”

The girl narrowed her eyes in response. She shifted her weight, lowering into a fighting stance and raising her hands like a brawler without breaking eye contact with Chance.

“Begin!” Jerrin called.

Chance’s bracelet snapped outward, forming into an urumi and expanding before the last notes of Jerrin’s voice had faded away. The girl threw herself to the side, but she wasn’t fast enough to avoid the sudden attack. The blades carved through her cloak and scraped along something metal on her back with a loud screech.

She stumbled, and Chance was upon her. His knee flashed up, driving into her nose with a loud crunch. To Chance’s surprise, the strike didn’t faze her in the slightest. She lunged for him and he spun, redirecting and sending the girl stumbling to the side.

His urumi whistled back into its sword form and he swayed, watching her movements carefully. Showing no signs of any strategy, she charged him again, holding her arms wide in an attempt to grab him in a bear hug.

Chance threw himself into a roll, going straight between her legs and slashing his urumi as he rose up behind her. Another loud screech rang out. He bobbed, dodging another reckless attack, then wove a leg between hers and hooked one of her legs while thrusting his shoulder into her stomach.

She slammed into the ground with a heavy thud. Chance’s instincts made him roll with her instead of following the attack up. He tumbled across the muddy ground and spun, raising his urumi just before a throwing knife clanged into it. The weapon spun off to the side and landed in the mud beside him.

“It’s like she doesn’t feel pain at all,” one of the cultivators behind Chance muttered. “Scary girl.”

“I’m more impressed with the kid,” another one said. “He moves like a master. He’s got to have some pretty strong backing, I tell you. Not a good move to mess with him.”

Chance ignored them. Golden mist poured out around him as he cycled his Gate. It pooled on the ground around him and flowed toward the girl as she rose to her feet, her face expressionless.

“You’ve got an interesting fighting style,” Chance said, spinning out of the way as she leaped at him. He slammed the hilt of his urumi into the back of her head as she flew past. She didn’t even grunt in pain. The girl just hit the ground and spun, charging him again.

Golden mist slipped into her cloak and wound up her legs as she passed through it. Her foot caught on a rock and she went crashing down again. She hit the mud with a slap, but managed to turn the awkward fall into a vault, launching herself feet-first toward Chance.

He leaped into the air, thrusting his urumi downward as she passed directly beneath him. She managed to twist, avoiding taking the strike square in the center of the chest. Instead, it scraped along her side as if it had connected with a breastplate.

She thudded to the ground and rolled to her feet. Chance cocked his head to the side.

“No blood. How much armor do you have? Actually, don’t answer that. It’s way more fun to find out on my own.”

He laughed, dashing toward her. He spun, releasing his urumi and transforming into a tornado of jagged metal. She raised her hands defensively in front of her face, and the blades scored across her forearms – once more, earning nothing but the screech of metal on metal.

Chance vaulted out of the way as she threw several hidden throwing knives, narrowly missing him with each one, then sent the urumi whistling for her. She dodged to the side and it whistled under her arm.

“Gotcha.” A wide grin stretched across Chance’s face and he yanked the blade to the side. It snaked around her, winding twice before grating against itself and binding tightly around her body. Metal groaned and screeched in protest. If she’d been a normal human, the move would have bisected her into a dozen chunks. “Good thing you’ve got that armor. It’s pretty cool, you know. Would be cooler if you weren’t so rude, though.”

“Thanks,” James said from behind him.

Chance’s instincts screamed at him and he lunged to the side, dropping the hilt of his urumi in the process. A massive broadsword split through the air, passing so close to him that Chance felt the wind cut across his skin.

James pulled the blade free of the ground, cursing. He’d somehow stepped into a small patch of mud, causing his swing to go awry by just enough for Chance to avoid it. He ripped his foot free of the muck with a squelch.

“Lucky bastard,” James growled.

“What are you doing?” Bella darted forward, but Jerrin grabbed her by the shoulder before she could attack.

“Stop,” Jerrin said. “He’s part of the fight.”

“What are you talking about?” Bella demanded, knocking Jerrin’s hand away. A flash of pain washed over the proctor’s face and he yanked his wrist back, wincing.

“It’s fine, Bella,” Chance said, not taking his eyes off James. “That’s a neat trick.”

“Don’t you think?” James asked. The girl trudged up beside him, her eyes dead. James flicked the hilt of the urumi binding her, and it fell into the mud. “You can’t be trying to tell me you saw through it.”

“Nope. No idea what’s going on,” Chance admitted.

“Little shit,” James said. He cracked his neck and raised his sword. The girl stepped up beside him. Her arms whirred as her hands split apart and two long blades emerged from her wrists. “This is my construct, Tamara. Usually, people don’t get to see the puppetmaster fight. You should be honored.”

Chance’s gaze flicked down to his urumi. “Cheap trick. I know a puppetmaster, and you aren’t him. It’s a shame. You seemed like a decent enough guy.”

“We’ll see about that. And it’s not my fault you’re gullible. I’ll be taking those pills of yours while we’re at this. I can put them to better use than you can.”

Chance opened his third eye. Strands of karma erupted all around James, but not a single one was connected to Tamara. Evidently, she wasn’t even a monster. She was just a very humanoid looking weapon.

James grunted. “We’ll see about that. I’ve given you enough time to surrender. Your blood is on your hands.”

He and Tamara charged forward as one. Golden mist swelled around Chance and his grin widened as Essence thumped through his body, invigorating every single cell. He threw himself forward, sliding straight between the two, hooking his finger onto a strand of Karma as he passed by.

Chance landed in a hand stand, then vaulted to his feet with a laugh. A golden fist materialized in the air beside James and slammed into his cheek, sending the man reeling. James hit the ground hard as the fist slammed into his stomach again. A heavily armored man materialized from the mist, rearing back to strike him again.

Tamara slammed into it, her blades tearing through the Essence and shredding it to pieces. James staggered to his feet and wiped a trickle of blood from his nose, glaring furiously at Chance.

“What do you cultivate?”

Chance laughed again. He pulled his urumi from the ground and flicked it, sending mud splattering everywhere as it whistled back into its resting position. “Something you deserve.”

James snarled. Tamara blurred toward Chance, moving faster than she had before. But things were different this time – she wasn’t a human. Chance hadn’t been going easy, but he had no desires to kill another cultivator that really didn’t deserve it. A robot, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

Essence poured into Chances urumi, empowering it. Golden mist whirled around him, forming into a rough cloak behind his back as he lunged, thrusting the blade straight at her neck. His body contorted and he leaned back, allowing Tamara’s arm blades to whistle harmlessly above his nose.

His urumi carved through her neck and bit deep into her metallic chest, slicing along her body effortlessly with the aid of the Essence coursing through it. Chance spun, slamming his knee into Tamara’s chest and sending the construct rolling across the ground.

It creaked, starting to rise, and his urumi whistled through the air once more, even as James charged at him. The urumi split Tamara clean in two. Her arms fell to the sides as the top half of her body pitched backward, crashing into the mud.

Chance lowered his center of mass and staggered forward, driving his shoulder into James’s stomach. The air burst from the man’s lungs in a grunt and he staggered back, only to find Chance’s elbow slamming into the back of his head.

Blows rained down on James and he dropped his sword, desperately trying to defend himself. Every time he went to block, Chance’s fists were somewhere else. And, when he did manage to stop the flailing hands, a knee slammed straight into his solar plexus.

James choked on blood pouring into his throat from his nose. His eyes shot over to his fallen sword and he lunged for it – and straight into a kick. His head snapped back and he skidded across the mud, sliding up to his sword.

His fingers twitched as he reached out for it. Then his hand flopped to the mud and he moved no more beyond the instinctual faint, ragged gasps for air. Chance swayed in place, watching James for any signs of another trick.

“One participant is no longer able to continue the fight,” Jerrin said, unable to mask the awe in his voice. “This challenge is over.”