Chapter 47: Contract

The Hand-to-hand Championship was almost at its end, the masses roared like mad cheering and exclaiming their opinion about the combatants.

The semi-finals were as impressive as they were supposed to be. A gigantic dark green mantis with hundreds of photoreceptor compound eyes in form of two huge globes. It possessed two sharp blades in its arms giving him an advantage over many contestants. Mantis went against B'hemah the "Behemoth" and for being much faster than the red bull, was able to cut through its thick skin. Which led to an instant give up by the Behemoth. The fearsome bull came out to be intolerant to pain.

The second fight was between Yon Ace and Kardon Gar. By the poll that took place after the event, people called the match legendary. Two skillful combatants fought for a long and none of them held back. The result was unpredictable, but soon Kardon started to gain an upper hand and won the match in the end.

Finals were announced like an epic event of the century. More and more people tuned their devices to the show, psiora all across the universe were watching it live. Fierce mantis versus the candidate for a king's title.

Mantis had some time to get rest while Kardon started the right after his previous. Yet, he carried on dodging slicing attacks of the mantis. Sudden moves and fast assaults drained Kardon making him slow. Mantis utilized the perfect moment to impale the body of the Kardon when finally he used the wings and went airborne.

No opponent, in the current event, before Mantis made Kardon employ his wings. The flying opponent didn't surprise the mantis however, his strong legs provided him enough force for a jump. But it was his mistake while in the air he had no way to maneuver his body which was opposite for Kardon.

Kardon swiftly evaded the attack, by moving himself behind the mantis then threw a powerful blow between his eyes. Match didn't end with that of course but it was the turning point. Kardon's nimble wings created an opportunity to make better moves both on the land and in the air. Mantis was no longer a threat for Kardon and very soon the referee had to stop the fight due to mantis's heavy injuries.

Kardon earned the title of Fistfight Champion. Mantis was in second place and Yon won third place by default because B'hemah withdrew from the competition.

With two more contests left, the host announced a break during which several singers and a whole theater performance should take place.

Most people went to get some lunch and refreshments to cool down their boiling blood.

In the medical room, Safo Nur sat on his bed looking at a see-through message from BloodSpot. A rap-like song was playing in the background from the stadium.

Safo was a little surprised at first but he thought that it was for the best. He needed some distraction from his current worries and self-reproach.

He quickly texted "Yes" in response and received a video call.

On the screen that appeared in front of his eyes, he saw a dark room and a dark bust. On the corner of the screen, he saw another small screen with his own dumbfounded, almost silly face.

'Where is the camera? How does it work? How is my face on the screen?' Safo couldn't comprehend the alien technologies yet.

"You do not look like a WorldDestroyer in real life." A dark person smirked at his joke.

"If I was, I wouldn't need your lesson, would I?" Safo was not in a mood.

"Why are you in the medical room? Are you dying?"

"How did you know? My camera shows only the ceiling." Safo was amazed by BloodSpot's watchfulness. 'This guy is sharp with details.'

"About that, I decided to teach you but you have to sign a contract." BloodSpot sent and explained the subject of the contract.

According to him, he didn't want to take away the hidden items from Safo Nur, he suspected that the items could or should help to find the rest and finish the quest. Instead, the contract stated that Safo had to give him all information that he had about the Secret Quest and hand over the items at the final stage of completing the quest.

Obviously, Safo had no right to sell, share, rent, give, or gift the items to anyone. He also was prohibited from making other contracts concerning hidden items or secret quests.

On his part, BloodSpot guaranteed martial arts lessons throughout the journey until the quest's end. He mentioned that he couldn't guarantee the results though. It depended solely on Safo's ability to learn and apply skills.

BloodSpot also would take the role of a bodyguard in the game during the whole process, to be sure that no one will kill Safo's character so the items will not drop. In case that happens they both should find and loot back the item.

"Is there anything you wish to add? BloodSpot was done with his terms and conditions.

"Actually, yes. First of all, I have a companion that will be with me always. And her father is always with her. Second, I want to join my friend's guild. Third, there will be times when I can't be in the game. Let's talk about that." Safo brought up every detail that he could remember to make a fair contract.

They spoke for over an hour about those matters.

Finally when it was time to sign the contract BloodSpot asked Safo's name. "To make a contract a legal document I need your real name. And I will provide mine, of course. My name is Miloud Ennmar What is your name?"

"Miloud Ennmar? It is not polite but I need to ask, which one is your name? Sorry, I'm new to these things." Safo shrugged his shoulders.

"Miloud, the name is Miloud."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Safo Nur, Safo is the name. Can you show your face n…"

"Why was there no data on you before yesterday I searched everywhere online?" Miloud Ennmar interrupted him.

"Oh… You are psiora?! And you want to be a King? There is a video of you in some tourna...ment… Ah, I see why you are in the medical room now. What is your resource?"

"Hey! Do not look at my videos, I feel ashamed." Safo somewhy covered his chest with his arms and tilted his body a bit to resemble a lady caught naked in the shower. "But yeah, I lost the fight in a split second. Now you understand why I need to learn from you. There is another tournament in three months, I have to win the title." Safo went quiet, he remembered his goal, he left all of his friends, parents, and a pregnant girlfriend behind. He needed to go back to his wild planet.

Miloud saw that Safo dived in his thoughts and coughed to remind his question. "Your resource."

"Oh, yeah. It is fire, why?"

"There will be a slight problem with it..." Miloud explained that originally he wished to send to Safo a bracelet that could be connected to a VD device. Bracelet had a tracker and a reminder about missed calls or text messages. Safo quickly stopped him saying that the previous 3comms received heat damage and were unable to be used.

Miloud followed with a question about the highest temperature that Safo could produce.

"My personal record was 7209 degrees." Safo bragged.

"That's… actually impressive." Miloud sounded surprised. "I will try to find a solution for the tracker. For now, please sign the contract and resume your rest. You have two more events to attend. Good luck, I'll be watching."

"Thank you, I guess. I'll text you whenever I go to play."

Despite Safo's taunts, Miloud didn't show his face. Safo couldn't care less however, he needed his skills and knowledge regardless of his identity.

{"Do you believe him?"} Soft, almost melodic voice in Safo's mind echoed.

"I don't have a choice. I need him so much. You saw me fighting, I suck." Safo went to his cabin, the day nearing its end along with the concert. Soon the Soul Gauging and the matches with resources will start. Meaning that Safo had to face potential failures again. But still, somewhere deep in his heart, the words of Kutch shone like one small spark in the darkness. Kutch's remark about his fire being powerful gave Safo energy to hold his head up.

People in the private cabin looked with sympathy towards Safo. Understanding his struggles, they've been worried and rooting for him too. With good wishes, they sent him to his room to get his clothes changed and prepare himself morally for the upcoming battle.

Safo's new uniform, a gift from Halazar, could withstand heat up to ten thousand degrees. It was hard to call it clothing though, due to Safo's unique skills that were supposed to come from his skin pores his uniform couldn't cover the body entirely. Instead, the top part was a fishnet t-shirt while the bottom was tight shorts.

'I look ridiculous in these.'

{"Why do you say that? You look..."} And then Luna exploded in laughter.

'Anyway, time to shine.'

Safo put his regular clothes on and sat down taking his meditation position.

"I'm going Luna, please prepare the bucket.

Outside, the emcee was about to announce the start of a Soul Gauging contest for candidates.