67.i Wake to Sagehood; Increase Sevenfold

Anari

Anari the spider informed the director of Next Dimension, Inc. on the details of the third trial of the Sevenfold Peach Championship.

It was an endurance round of sorts. Though the theme was last man standing, the rules were that four champions would be eliminated this round. Leaving only two to move on to the final stage in the tournament.

“The contestants will still be scored to add to the points that they’ve racked up so far. At the end of this round, if any of the contestants are tied, they will have to face off in a tiebreaker. Right now, Blueforce, the Earthbound Sage and the Barefoot Sun are all very close in rank.”

“So these are the three that have put themselves ahead of the pack,” Bai said.

Anari nodded. “It doesn’t seem like Sun Zhaoling and Sun Terra are going to use buffs. Doesn’t surprise me, seeing as how they’re both so proud.”

“They want to prove themselves,” Bai added, engaging the glare on his glasses. “Not just to the crowd, but to each other.”

Anari turned her head, assessing Bai for some proof on how he knew this for sure.

“To each other?”

Bai caught Anari’s look and quirked his lip in bemusement. “Is what I’m guessing. I have no way of knowing for sure.”

Oh, you have a way, Anari thought. But that wasn’t the kind of information that Bai would call on his esper abilities to learn.

The lights in the stadium were cut down by half. The rest of them shined on the field, illuminating a single patch of bright green lawn where the six remaining contestants were balancing on their upright quarterstaves. Some decided to forgo their shoes and dropped the glamour around their feet like Zhaoling in order to make better use of their prehensile muscles. Sun Chop was the only one who kept on his flashy boots and stood up straight. The rest chose a seated crouch, using their long tails to wrap around the length of the staff and anchor themselves.

“By using the paralysis juice,” Anari surmised, “Zheng Zheng probably had to give up the form that the others chose.”

From behind his lenses, Bai scanned the players. He noted, “Blueforce has a slightly different approach as well. As does the nameless Sun.”

“You mean the Fry Cook Hero,” Anari said before she could stop herself. Though she was familiar enough with her boss to correct him without offending him, she didn’t currently believe it to be in her best interest to be running to Ritsu’s defense. Even as lightly as this.

“Fry Cook Hero, that’s right.” Bai yawned. “What do you think about him making it this far? I don’t know if the judges were right to let him through when no one else in the stadium could tell what his wondrous and true demonstration actually tasted like.”

Anari’s shrug came out nonchalantly, but in truth, it took every effort in her system to make it appear so.

“Everyone loves a dark horse.”

Bai was quiet for a while before he grunted in agreement. “They do. People like to root for the impossible choice as long as it touches something in themselves that they recognize.”

Anari watched Bai closely as he watched the champion slumped over in a dozing crouch atop his jade green quarterstaff.

“He works the same hourly wage job as most of the spirits attending this event. He has no discernible ego, which, were I some kind of old geezer, I might call that quality blameless and true. It’s a good formula to spark belief among some.” Bai leaned back and took a sip of his drink. “The gullible at least.”

Anari made a thoughtful sound, indicating that she didn’t necessarily agree or disagree with his opinion. She waited a little before changing the subject, smoothly drawing attention to Blueforce’s method of sitting on the end of his quarterstaff like it was a chair.

“He looks so natural up there, but that has to be uncomfortable, don’t you think?”

Bai adjusted his glasses up his nose to get a better look. “Not if he’s drawing out some kind of buff from his staff.”

The sun clone had a point, Anari realized, since the end of the quarterstaff was glowing a steady blue at the point of contact.

“His staff is a bit of a mystery, isn’t it?” Anari pointed out.

Bai agreed. “According to the tabloids, Sun Tie Quan is very tight-lipped about it. But he can’t hide everything. If we pay attention closely, something about that staff will come out into the light.”

“Do you think it could be a candidate?” Anari said, thankful that there was an opportunity to further throw him off of Ritsu’s trail.

But Sun Bai looked doubtful. “My gut is telling me no. I think Nebula’s Parting is the more likely candidate, but we’ll see.”

After this, the both of them withdrew into themselves, watching the next half hour of the round in relative silence. The scene below wasn’t all stagnant. The trial increased the level of difficulty at different intervals by simulating rain, wind, and spells of scorching heat.

By the second heat wave, Sun Liu had passed out. Everyone else save for the Fry Cook Hero looked visibly uncomfortable at this time, but only Sun Chop was being dramatic about it. Though, it wasn’t long before he called it quits too.

That left Sun Terra, Sun Tie Quan, Sun Zhaoling, and of course, our undeserving hero, Sun Ritsu.

Anari was torn. She wanted Ritsu to lose so Bai would not have to pay attention to him anymore. But at the same time, some selfish, illogical part of her wanted to see what would happen should he survive.