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Book 2: Chapter 51: Blunt Damage

He also noticed a marked uptick in attention from the audience.

He could not hear them, of course. Only see their reactions.

The seated crowd was no longer craning their heads to look at other fights. More and more were gesturing to his and Penn’s quadrant.

He supposed he and Penn were putting on quite the odd show. One boy who had the clear advantage, punching down another one who occasionally dodged but more often took the hit, then kept getting up over and over.

I hope no one bet on me, he thought as he climbed to his feet once more.

Arthur wasn’t passively letting himself get beat up. This was training and he had a wealth of tools in his Personal Space. As he stood, he took out one of his butcher knives, concentrated on his Butchering skill and went at Penn again.

Penn disarmed him ridiculously easy and slugged him hard enough to knock him down again.

At this point, Penn’s knuckles were bloodied. Hitting someone over and over split the skin, apparently.

“You can end this at any time,” Penn reminded him.

Arthur sniffed back a trickle of blood. That last hit had clipped his nose. “I don’t have your stupid card,” he lied for the dozenth time.

By the time his Blunt Force Damage resistance had reached level fourteen, Penn was starting to look tired. And more than a little annoyed.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked. “Do you like the sort of thing or something?”

Arthur grinned at him through a broken front tooth. If his self-repair card didn’t fix dental issues, he hoped one of the healers would.

“I told you, I have a stamina card. This is like a walk in the park.”

“You think I’m an idiot? We’ve been at this for over an hour, Kane! No one can take this kind of a beating with a stupid stamina card. Just tell me where you got your Body Enhancement card.”

“Can’t tell you what I don’t know,” Arthur said, lightly, and completely at odds with how he was currently leaning to one side. The last hit had messed with his balance, but his Self Repair card should fix it soon. He put up his fists. “Now, you want to fight? Or do you want to give up?”

Penn’s face twisted. He threw a quick punch which Arthur phased through — he used that card sparingly to keep Penn off balance. Plus, if he wasn’t getting hit then he couldn’t build up his resistances.

Arthur punched back, and though he had no skill for it, he managed, for the first time, to strike Penn across the face.

He wasn’t sure who was more shocked — himself or Penn.

He should have immediately followed up with another strike, but landing a punch for once had made him hesitate. In that moment, Penn’s fist took on a slight metallic sheen: an indicator he was using his Steel Fists card. He hadn’t bothered to do that up until now. No, until now he’d been treating Arthur lightly.

He hit Arthur in the ribs, driving him back, and down.

On the ground, Arthur wheezed out a laugh, curling one arm around his middle. Ow. Probably cracked a rib there. He could already feel his self-repair card get to work.

“This isn’t funny!” Penn yelled. “I don’t want to do this, Arthur, but you have no idea what that card means to my family. Just tell me! I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

Painfully, Arthur stood and told him the truth. “I don’t care what that card means to your family.”

When Blunt Force Damage resistance hit level fifteen, he received another welcomed notice:

For reaching this threshold on a body-enhancing skill, you have gained an additional 7% quickened healing bonus from all blunt-force damage. In addition, your bones, organs and soft tissues are 15% more resistant to blunt force injuries.

Arthur, of course, celebrated this by getting punched in the head.

By the time his Blunt Force Damage resistance hit level seventeen, the punches hurt less, and it was taking two of them in quick succession or landing one in a bad spot to knock him down.

Penn heaved for breath, red-faced, angry, his eyes burning. He was still the much better fighter, however.

Arthur wiped away some blood off his face — though he suspected he only smeared it around.

That was for the best. His skin had stopped tearing unless it was a truly vicious hit. The blood covered that fact up.

When Arthur’s Blunt Force Damage resistance hit level eighteen, Penn’s steps had become heavy, and he grimaced when he threw a wide punch, as if he had pulled a muscle. Arthur was tiring, too. But for being the one on the wrong side of the fight… He wasn’t feeling too bad.

Now, he judged, was the time to strike back.

He came at Penn again, this time with a pair of scissors.

“Oh, come on,” Penn groaned, and made to disarm him. But Arthur had been watching closely all this time. Penn’s disarming moves, a grab at the wrist and a twist — was exactly the same every time. As if completed by a skill he had not bothered to level in a while.

Arthur phased his arm through the grab, still lunging forward.

Of course, he was up against someone with the Master of Combat card. Also, Penn wasn’t a dummy. He was ready for Arthur’s move, his other hand flashing up to jab at the crook of Arthur’s elbow the moment it phased back into existence. Arthur’s strike with the scissors went wild.

But Arthur wasn’t aiming to stab.

The edge of the scissors caught Penn’s sleeve. Arthur focused on his Perfect Snip card.

It was a sloppy cut — one that instantly duplicated again and again all over Penn’s shirt, including several thin gashes along his torso.

Penn shouted in surprise and reeled back. His shirt was in ribbons and blood seeped out in a half dozen places.

“You cut me!” Penn said, sounding outraged as if he had not been beating Arthur down for the last few hours.

Arthur grinned at him. “Told you I got a crafting card, didn’t I?”

He thought he saw a flash of true doubt in Penn’s eyes. It was swallowed a moment later by sheer frustrated rage.

Penn came at him, and this time Arthur knew he wasn’t just going to knock him down and let him get back up.

Arthur phased through the initial charge, but Penn spun on his heel and was ready when Arthur solidified.

He hit Arthur again and again, driving him back step-by-step until Arthur’s back hit the translucent shield. He was pinned. Every move Arthur made was countered by an expert block, a slap across the face for his insolence that split his lip anew, and another hit against his body.

New Body Enhancement Level: Toughened Skin resistance (Body)

Level 9

“Who stole the card?” Penn screamed, right in his face. “Who was in on it? Give me a name! Tedrah? Calvan? Ceeseal? Tell me!”

Hearing his father’s name shocked Arthur into a rash reaction. He grabbed a simple nail from his Personal Space and jabbed it at Penn’s eye.

Penn, of course, caught the motion. This time he didn’t simply disarm Arthur.

With a vicious snap, he broke his wrist.

Arthur screamed and on instinct, retreated to his Personal Space.

He sunk to the floor, breathing hard and cradling his broken wrist. He wasn’t physically here in his own storage space. This was a mental visit. Also, as time didn’t pass in here, Self Repair wouldn’t heal him.

But he needed a few seconds to collect himself and reassess.

He could end this at any time. Simply remove the nullify effect off his Return to Start card.

The keyed in point was still linked to the Wolf hive. He had not changed it in case he needed a true escape.

As tempting as it was, this duel didn’t count.

His second option was to lie. Confess that he had the Master of Body Enhancement card and invent a story — perhaps something about a black market where he had found the card for cheap. He could include one of the names Penn had just thrown out.

But not his father. He would never implicate Calvan.

How did Penn know that name, anyway? Why did he suspect Arthur’s father?

The answer came to him, and he groaned, rubbing his face with his good hand.

The card casing had a blood lock. Arthur had been able to bypass it because he and Penn were cousins. He was a Rowantree.

But it also meant anybody who had access to the card was part of the family.

The other two names, Tedrah and Ceeseal, meant nothing to Arthur… Could they be other cousins?

He almost wanted to go down that route just to find out more about Penn’s – and his own — family tree.

But Arthur wasn’t going to open that door. His made-up story was sure to have holes, and if Penn launched an official investigation… The entire truth might come out.

Besides, he wasn’t going to risk his standing as a Legendary recruit if he admitted having a stolen card, much less a pair of Legendaries.

He couldn’t escape and he couldn’t lie his way out of this. That left one option: Arthur had to win.

Still holding his broken wrist, he stood and looked around. What could he use?

His searching gaze fell on the Subconscious Injection card. The one he had taken from the mind scourgeling.

He had seen that flash of true doubt in Penn’s eyes. Perhaps he could play on that. Insert a thought into Penn subconscious — not to let Arthur win, but to insinuate that he was beating up a lesser opponent for no reason.

Arthur was tempted. So tempted.

But he had just promised himself that he wouldn’t use this card. He wasn’t going to break that promise within half a day of making it.

So, what else did he have?

Tearing his gaze from the card, he looked around the room and realized it was starting to look a lot like what Freyja had called the junk drawer back in the orphanage.

Arthur had made a wide range of purchases using Marion’s money back at the Wolf hive. In addition, he had decided he wasn’t going to get caught without an outfit on hand again. After the hive leaders left, and before Arthur stepped out to join the duels, he had gone through the room and cleaned it out of anything useful.

He had utensils, every item of clothing that had been in his closet, a letter opener, nice sheets of paper, supplies of all sorts for camping and general use. He even had extra vegetables and fruit stacked in crates in one corner.

And he had level nineteen in Blunt Force Damage resistance.

His Toughened Skin resistance was at level 9 as not every one of Penn’s punches broke skin. But that wasn’t nothing.

A plan formed in Arthur’s mind. Nodding to himself, he stepped to the crates.

It had been too long since he had used his Cooking skills.

When Arthur reemerged from his Personal Space, He immediately received a punch to the side of the head.

Gritting his teeth, he put both arms up to protect his face, and just tried to endure the onslaught.

Penn was clearly at the end of his rope, screaming at Arthur to tell him — just tell him what he needed to know!

It wasn’t enough. Arthur needed him to truly tire himself out. He needed Penn’s reactions to be slowed as much as possible.

“Okay! Okay!” Arthur yelped. “I’ll tell you how I got my card.”

Penn grabbed a hank of Arthur’s hair, pinning him against the wall. “Finally! Well?”

Arthur looked into his cousin’s eyes. “I was having dinner with your mother the other day…”

That’s as far as he got. Penn roared and all Arthur could do was endure the next vicious round of strikes.

New Body Enhancement Level: Blunt Force Damage Resistance (Body)

Level 20

For reaching this threshold on a body-enhancing skill, you have gained an additional 10% quickened healing bonus from all blunt-force damage. In addition, your bones, organs and soft tissues are 20% more resistant to blunt force injuries.

For hitting level twenty in a bodily enhancement skill, you have earned 3 attribute points.

Arthur again threw one point into strength, bringing the base up to 20. The other two, he tossed into stamina bringing that to a healthy 20 as well.

More importantly, adding those points refreshed those attributes.

Arthur was invigorated. New vitality returned to his limbs — even his broken wrist didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had before.

Penn hesitated for a moment as if he sensed a change.

Arthur didn’t give him time to react. He reached into his Personal Space, grabbed the cup of lemon juice, vinegar, and salt he had prepared, and splashed it right in Penn’s face.

Penn screamed in surprise and backed up a few steps, clawing at his own face. He didn’t know what Arthur had done. For all he knew it could have been acid instead of a harmless marinade.

“Sorry, Penn,” Arthur said as he grabbed a letter opener from his Personal Space. He whipped the sharp edge at Penn’s throat.

Even half blinded, exhausted, and in pain, Penn raised his elbow, stopping the blade an inch from his skin.

His expression was of pure murder.

Grabbing the letter opener from Arthur, Penn reversed the grip, and shoved it into Arthur’s stomach.

It felt like the world had stopped.

Penn backed away, his reddened eyes wide with horror. “Healer!” he yelled over his shoulder.

All Arthur could do was stare down at his stomach.

He felt the pain, though it was distant. Mostly he felt frustration.

He had been so close to winning, but at the end of the day, all his little tricks couldn’t defeat Penn’s combat focused card. Brother to the cards in his own heart.

“Healer!” Penn yelled again, frantic, turning to the healers who stood on the wrong side of the barrier. “He’s bleeding out. He’s—why are you all just standing there?”

There was a lot of blood. Not, Arthur thought, as much as there should be. He had butchered the meat off plenty of animals. Some were so freshly killed that the blood hadn’t fully drained. This was nowhere near that much.

And now that he was truly looking, the letter opener had only sunk in about an inch. Penn had put the full force of his stab into it, but Arthur now had Toughened Skin and more resistance to Blunt Force Damage. The letter opener’s blade was sharp and there was a tiny hook just short of the top made to catch the edge of a piece of paper. Otherwise, the point was quite blunt.

That’s why the fight hadn’t officially been called. Someone probably had a card to monitor the health of the combatants.

Arthur wasn’t mortally wounded. He could rip the letter opener out right now and keep going.

Penn, who’d lived a sheltered life despite his combat card, didn’t know that.

“For the sake of the first card!” Penn’s voice was high in panic. “Why are you standing there?! You want him to bleed to death?”

Penn turned back to Arthur, apology and shame etched on his face.

His Acting skill kicked in. Arthur slumped as if he were dizzy from the blood loss, looked up at his cousin and said in a weakened voice, “I don’t have your card, Penn… I really don’t.”

Penn’s face crumpled. It looked like he was about to cry. Nodding once, he turned back to the waiting healers. “I concede!”

With those words the translucent shield fell, and the healers rushed in. As did the sound of the roaring crowd.

Green energy washed over Arthur, pushing the letter opener out as the wound sealed in an instant. He drew in a full breath without pain and tried to straighten. One of the healers pushed him back.

“Hm, better condition than I thought,” she said, eyeing Arthur.

“Stamina card,” Arthur croaked, loud enough for Penn to hear.

The healer nodded and reached into her pocket to draw out a vial. “Well, it seems to be doing the trick, but you best take this in case.”

“What is it?”

“It will restore your blood and it has some vitamins that couldn’t hurt.”

Arthur tipped it back.

As he did, he saw the list of names projected in light above them.

As he watched, his name moved up the list.

It was back to number three.

Penn’s name had sunk to number eight.

He… wasn’t sure how to feel about that. This had been a victory, though a hollow one borne of trickery.

Then again… He had lasted quite a long time against someone with a pure combat card. Him. The guy with the set of skills and a body card he had only scratched the surface of learning how to use.

He allowed himself the tiniest of smiles as he handed back the vile.

“No fighting for the next fifteen minutes,” the healer ordered, giving him a hand up.

Penn had already turned his back and walked away.

“Fifteen minutes?” Arthur asked, then looked out where he saw a few Legendary recruits standing by the edge of the translucent wall. He didn’t think they were there to congratulate him.

This was going to be a long, long night.