The silence that filled the arena bewildered everyone present. Rachel's heart was in her throat in that final instant. For the first time, Jean did not know how to read the boy who to her had only been a mannequin, someone who should not be, yet for the first time her heart trembled because of someone like him.At the base, the eruption on the silver floor did not take long, even greater than in gold. The pirates shouted in jubilation and Bonaparte, in his excitement, embraced Díaz like a lifelong friend, who returned the hug with discomfort.Meanwhile Roberts… well, he was reconsidering his bets.At the platinum summit, the atmosphere was not much different. Herc and Sal exchanged complicit smiles; as rivals of the same "That One," they could understand their little brother."The little one is starting to walk on his own."—What was that?Gil asked indignantly, rising at once and throwing his drink to the floor. Everyone turned at his outburst, excessive for a mere spectator, but Chu would be the first to speak.—I see you made the mistake of underestimating him and betting against him. How lacking in honor the most arrogant king is.—Repeat that, little dog —he replied without restraint, but Chu only made a gesture, shrugging and ignoring the king.—Impressive… he seems like another person —Moc commented, turning toward Sal and Herc—. You knew about this.—Not at all, I haven't seen him in quite a while —Herc commented, leaning back in his seat.—I only had faith —Sal replied, lifting his crescent moon necklace.—I see… I'll bet in his favor in the next round.—Me too —said Chu.—That boy, where is he from? Do we have information on his whereabouts? —Atila asked, bewildered, to Arturo, whose stoic face deceived no one.—Nothing… the axolotl system does not want to reveal anything about him —the king of Camelot replied.—And the "That One" you have a contract with?—He told me that…—Another "That One" is protecting him —Chu answered without waiting for a response, to which Arturo only nodded—. What a brilliant fish you caught, he certainly looks tasty.—So… he has a "That One" on his side… —Gil clenched his fists tighter and tighter—. Sons of bitches, that kind of information is supposed to be shared.—Forgive me, First King, but even among us we do not share which "That One" we answer to —Sal replied calmly.—Imprudent Kurd, I will not forgive any more insolence.Without further discussion, the king returned to his seat. Snapping his fingers, a lady whose clothes barely covered her pelvis and chest entered the circle of the seven only to serve him more wine, withdrawing shortly after.The king sipped until emptying the cup and letting it fall to the floor once again.—Your toy had better reach at least the third round, or I'll have to take my losses from you.—You can try whenever you like —Herc replied without much discussion.Thus ended the first round and, without delay, the second began......................................
My breathing was ragged. I carried Frostmagmar's claw with ease, which shone, granting me its consent. Its cold, instead of being painful, was comforting. I did not let go; I tightened my grip further, until I felt as if our flesh were joining. The three corpses of rabid hares vanished and the first payment arrived.[Total collected: 115K][You may take these credits or enter the next round]The answer became obvious. I pressed the button that dazzled with "Bet" and watched as 70K of what I had just earned were taken from my incipient wallet, which held 65K.The timer settled above my head: two minutes before the next combat was revealed. I decided to check my status. It seemed there were no changes, but I had not noticed that a new row of neurons had activated. The new diagram revealed two new abilities I could unlock, but there was a strange symbol, a sum between them.—One minute until the new round, place your bets, dear spectators.Proclaimed the great voice in the sky.After a long sigh, I did not hesitate. Whatever the meaning of the "plus" was, I had to buy the first sphere, the active node:[Fast-??? I / Requirement: Level 4 / Cost: 30K CN][For five seconds the user's speed will exceed up to five times the current one. After its use, the user will lose mobility for the remainder of the event. Number of uses: once per round. Level increase will allow access to the Plus option, as well as access to a higher number of seconds of action, with two per level.]"Truly, that 'That One' who is watching over me knows how to tempt me."It was almost unfair. I felt like a novel or anime protagonist with broken abilities but difficult to control. That section about "losing mobility" unsettled me a little. Perhaps, like Pause, it had to be saved for the most crucial moments. Not to mention "access to the Plus option"…Just below that, directly connected to Pause, were two interconnected nodes, still locked and bearing a legend:[Requirements: Pause III and Fast-??? II]—Not yet.With a movement of my neck I managed to make it crack twice. Releasing the stress, I lifted my gaze to see drawn across the sky my next opponent, a new enemy from the second circle of constellations.[Round Two: Camelopardalis]Then, from the sky was drawn a great… no, a gigantic giraffe that, little by little, without lifting its four legs from the firmament, let its enormous neck drop into the duel, like a whip of molten iron. Its legs looked like magnetic stones stapled to the dome, while its neck seemed like a cluster of stones, chains, and flesh that led to a barely animal snout, resembling more a great wrecking ball without eyes or teeth, but with a prominent bat-like nose.—Do you see that, Frost…? —my axe responded with a golden reflection along its edge—. How long will it take…? [Search V]!The gong sounded and my attack began.The great stone rolled across the field, with the corpses of the hares still on the ground. The impacts against the walls made the place resound. But I felt no fear, not even confusion.By now I had already seen stranger things than this. I could instantly decipher how the creature's neck twisted toward me like a great pendulum, while its tiny body, like a wagon, moved generating inertia with its massive head. The most dangerous part was the neck itself, which was even harder than the head, which without much concern crashed again and again against the ground or the walls in pursuit of me.I ran with everything the system allowed me. I still had my trump cards, like Pause or the recent Fast, but I did not know whether using them now would allow them to recharge for the final round. I refused to spend them impulsively. For that reason I relied solely on using Search. Null, although useful in games, in a real battle I could not afford to stand still.Especially when a great wrecking ball did not hesitate to crash into me again and again.—We should do something… analyze the enemy.I touched the giraffe's token in Search, starting the analysis at 10%.For some reason, this seemed to alert the giraffe, which began to move even faster.—It won't be so…It split.The wrecking ball split in two, and along with it the chains separated to reveal two necks. With all the momentum my level allowed, I made a great leap between the two. Risky, but it was my only move. It did not hesitate: as they closed behind me, the two chains intertwined until they collided like a pair of marbles, recovering their original form. Barely saved by a hair, the ball lunged at me again.Now… there were three pieces.—This is…Search, for the first time since I leveled up, was confused. Its calculations were ambiguous while the three strikes lunged and the analysis reached 50%.—Use my breeze… —from my ear I managed to hear Frostmagmar's powerful and calm voice.—But how?—Just think of the word "Nex."—And how do you know it will work?—Are you really going to argue about this, boy?The dragon had a point. I closed my eyes and before me, like a rune, a word appeared. I had seen it before within the statistics, but not within mine. Nex, the power that activates the stars in the Nexus. For some reason it did not reflect in me. I thought it was something of "That One," but for the first time my statistics drew that rune with a 10…—Ísandráttur…I felt something draining inside me. That number of 10 descended until it fell to a 2. When I moved my axe, it fired—yes, that would be the best way to describe it—a frozen storm.Between frost and barely perceptible ice spread a gust that made the chains recoil, which powerfully collided with each other. The sound of metal clashing was thunderous. For some reason my head felt cloudy when Search released the result: the weakest link in the chain.With force I propelled myself again. Taking advantage of the chaos of the chains, I grabbed onto them and, with a strength and precision that clearly were not mine, I propelled myself at the speed of an ape along them. The small body of the animal tried to move, but the frost did its work, freezing its little wheels against the ceiling.With one final push I leaped into the air and it only took a single strike to break the weakest link, paradoxically the first.With a shrill noise of metal snapping loose like whips against the ground, foolishly I found myself dragged along with them. I tried to let go, but the movement was abrupt, imperceptible.I could only cover my face before the imminent impact…But when I hit the ground, I did not feel the blow.The round had come to an end just in time…"Second great victory for Tristan Malory."