Chapter 10- The foul maiden

I couldn't get the smell of alcohol out of my hair no matter how hard I rubbed. Of course , I have water and rags yet the only thing I don't have on me is soap. 

That fucking office bitch, is degrading the only entertainment for her? You have an entire tournament to watch yet I'm the main attraction?

I rose from my bag like a vampire and saw Raya return to her seat next to mine. 

"You look like you used your space to secretly drink and tried to cover up the smell."

 She's not wrong, I didn't plan to drink just yet, but the perfect excuse to get a glass of Jäger in my system found me. 

"We both know that being a luggage carrier comes with degrading shit, but this is just silly."

"At least you got a free drink."

"Very funny, you shouldn't waste your talents here at the academy and become a bard or some shit."

I looked down at the pit and saw the unfair fight. 

Malebria was supposed to take down Mustafa on the first round and stop him from dominating the whole tournament, but since she decided to do her own thing and forfeit, which means there's nothing stopping the big bad wolf. 

"Out! Mustafa of the first year wins!"

And he already beat Lawrence, planting the main characters face into the ground like it's no big deal. This is just another victory for Mustafa. He will win this tournament and there's nothing I can do about it. 

Except, fight like hell. 

"My turn again, probably the last I will win."

"You better not lose this either, I will bet on you."

"No pressure."

I made my way down to the arena a third time. This time I tugged my legs in my backpack Before jumping off, I disappeared into the storage space on impact.

I rose from my bag like a vengeful spirit, I look so dam cool doing this.

So Macus won, eh? It was a even fight so no surprise.

I'll give him the same treatment as Tiechie, maybe with a bit of rope mixed in. 

I reached into my bag but stopped when he called me out. 

"Is that the only way you can win? Using outside tools that make up for your lack of personal strength? A warrior shouldn't hide behind anything, a warrior faces every challenge face on! You cowardly mule!"

I'm a future white mage, but ok....

"Come and face me like a true warrior! Both of us but nothing except the clothes on our backs!"

"... fine."

I took off my belt and wrapped it around my right hand, making sure the metal part is in my palm.

"... what are you doing?"

"What your father obviously didn't."

Wrapping it around my hand allows me to control how much of the belt to release between each strike, effectively allowing me to control the distance between me and him. It would have been more effective to have the metal at the tip, but rules won't let me.

A belt isn't a dangerous weapon compared to anything else, really. 

But it hurts like shit. 

I whipped Macus in the face when he tried to get closer and took a step back. 

I kept hitting him from the absolute edge of my belts range until I saw the golden opportunity, which came in the form of a wild swing. 

You're not Kaan buddy, you can't brute force it.

I whipped his back as a distraction, dropped the belt after the hit connected, grabbed his wrist and tripped him whilst pulling said wrist. 

The moment you get thrown on the ground, you have already lost. 

This wasn't even a fight anymore, I was just kicking him while he was on the ground.

Maybe he would have forfeited by now if I wasn't kicking his head in, maybe he shouldn't let some run up the hill asshole kick his head in. 

I stopped bullying the guy once my legs started to shake from the adrenaline... shit, he isn't moving. 

Come on come on come on, have a pulse have a pulse have a pulse. 

I lightly pushed my index and middle finger into the side of his neck... there it is, a small pulsing resistance. 

"Great, I win."

I picked my belt back up and put it on while walking back to my backpack with my legs shaking under me. I stepped into my bag, a ladder appeared under my foot and I rose out of the pit with style. 

Just like after the fight with Kaan I lifted my bag out of the pit with the help of the ladder, but this time I didn't hide in it. 

I caught my bag while continuing my walk back to my seat, doing my best to hide that me timbers have been shivered. 

"You beat him with a belt?"

I took a moment or two before responding, I'm still jittery from the adrenaline. 

"He asked for it, besides, it will help him grow some long due chest hair."

"I at least won back the coin I lost in your first fight."

"I'm hurt Raya, you bet against your dear friend?" 

"Yeah."

"I have  been betting that you will win this whole time and you couldn't do the same? That being said, I don't think there's a chance of you winning the next fight. So don't mind if I bet on your adversary."

"We'll see about that."

"We sure will."

I feel a ungodly itch in my right shoulder, it took genuine effort not to scratch the dam bite wound. But I caved, it hurt, but it's just so itching, it feels like someone poured nettle juice under my skin under my skin, burning and scratching. 

I sighed in relief as I looked down at my bloodied hand, the pain in my shoulder overshadowed by the relief of the itch being gone. The relief was short lived and the burning pain in my shoulder became my next problem. 

I pulled out a rag drenched in alcohol and let it fall on my shoulder. I hit my leg as the pain stung like a bitch. It's always better to be hit by the full load at once, but it doesn't make it less painful. 

Apply pressure while stuffing the wound... no, wait, that's for stab wounds. 

I just covered the wound in the alcohol rag and covered that with a cloth bandage before tying it tight. It burned, but I know it should, doesn't make it less painful. After treating my wound to a somewhat acceptable degree I looked back down into the pit. 

Yep, Raya is losing pretty badly. Gas can't help much against a guy who can hold his breath for ten minutes. 

I got up from my seat and walked down to the pit, getting ready to pick up the war criminal I call friend. 

... wait, shouldn't there be a gas concentration down there by now? But how much gas could a few vials hold? Aaaaaaand she's out. 

I put the ladder at an angle so that it functions as a flight of stairs in and out of the pit. Just to be safe I took a deep breathe and hold it before entering the pit myself. 

Raya is like an inch taller than me, I would have blamed it at our shoes but we wear the same boots. They're good boots, durable, waterproof, keep warm, thick enough to protect from thorns and bites from small creatures. Anyone who works outdoors has such boots. 

One arm under her shoulders and one arm under her knees. Now just lift carefully- dam she's heavy. This whole thing would have gone south for me if the real Liam wouldn't have been training his body to fight with spear and shield. 

I could have just put her in my bag, my ability does allow me to store living creatures without any risks. 

But carrying her out of the pit like she is a fallen maiden just looks a lot cooler.