The spirit world is broken and in desperate need of a restoration. True heroes and ancient beasts that once walked are now a thing of the past. Between the empty spaces of forgotten treasure halls there are whispers of one who has returned. One lege...
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"Sudden Death! In the first round?" Ham Song shrieked. "How in the hell is that fair!"
"It isn't," Bodhi said, calm despite the bad news. It was exactly as they feared. They were back to chewing on their thumbnails as they watched the Old Master Laozhi bow to the astonished crowd after declaring the decision. Then with a sweep of his massive sleeves, the old sun clone returned to his seat among the other judges.
Ham Song released one disapproving snort after the other. Over the boos and grumbles of the crowds, he asked, "So monk, what do you plan to do if things don't go well in this round?"
It would seem, Dear Traveler, that Ham Song was coming around on the idea of cheating.
"Nothing," Bodhi said, sinking out of the crouch and relaxing into the seat. Though they had stopped biting their nails, all of that suppressed nervous energy went into bouncing their leg.
The pig's bristly eyebrows practically merged in disagreement. "You know, one word answers like that can make you sound wise in the moment, but now it's just getting on my nerves. You've got to have a better solution than that."
Bodhi folded their hands over their lap and looked up at the band of sky visible through the opening in the stadium ceiling.
"Do you remember when I threw that punch at Ritsu on Ripe Peach Mountain and he didn't flinch? You tried to skewer me afterwards if you recall."
Ham Song gave a noncommittal grunt. He remembered.
Bodhi went on. "Well, my hunch hasn't gone away. Ritsu has incredible reflexes. This part of the competition doesn't require any skill other than to not get drop-kicked off the platform. That and staying very clear of Sun Tie Quan. The guy clearly has it out for him."
Ham Song snorted. "If you're so confident then why can't you sit still?"
Bodhi briefly closed their eyes. "Because usually in these situations, I have something to calm my nerves."
"Can you shut up? They're going over the rules!"
"It's quite simple, Dan. The contenders have to rely on their staff in order to stay on the platform. Whether that means using it as a form of defense or offense is completely up to them. The point is to favor the staff instead of relying on personal brute strength or some flashy power."
"Okay, okay. I think I get it, Chow. So contestants can have a more defensive method where they might, say, use their staff to stay rooted to one spot on the platform. Or they could go full attack mode and knock off as many other challengers as they can. Is that right?"
"That's correct, Dan."
"And If I'm not mistaken, Chow, the judges have decided on drawing the line at eight contenders to move on to the remaining trials. We have close to a hundred sun clones out here today. So that's going to be a pretty big cut."
