Chapter 44 Josiah and Watt

“Good fight, pal.” Watt pat on Josiah’s back as he left the arena. “Now, watch the pro.”
‘I better see this. Not only for Watt, but to see what he has prepared for me.’ Josiah thought.
The fight took place right after Josiah’s. Watt’s opponent was soldier Lawrence. A reserved man in his early twenties who didn’t talk very much to anybody. Lawrence’s weapon of choice was a crossbow.
Meanwhile, Watt was carrying a small wooden weapon with some heavy ball tied to the edge. The ball seemed to be something that came out a morning star, but the whole weapon was far smaller and didn’t pass the same dangerous vibe an actual morning star did.
‘I wonder what those are called…?’
The whistling sound from the instructor started the fight. As soon as it started, Watt let his weapon purposely fall on the floor. A huge crater opened up and several pieces of compact soil fell all over the place in front of Watt’s feet.
‘Such strength… But I bet he can’t hit the opponent with that strength, otherwise, he wouldn’t have shown off like this,’ Josiah analyzed. ‘His weapon must have some sort of limitation… Actually, wait… I’ve seen Watt on the first phase, I know exactly why he did this.’
Watt proceeded to catch some of the pieces of the ground with his hands.
‘Yes. That’s why.’
Lawrence, on the other hand, didn’t stay waiting. He fired a couple of shots with his crossbow right at Watt, who barely dodged them by maneuvering his body quickly in the air, still carrying the pieces of ground.
“Hey! Watch out where you aim!” Soldier Ellis shouted among the viewers, almost getting hit by the deflected bolts.
“It’s your responsibility as a viewer to watch out for ranged attacks. If you can’t stand, go to your tent.” Sargeant Koda told Ellis while he watched with his arms crossed.
Watt threw two pieces of ground at Lawrence. The first one to measure his dodging speed. The second one to strike. Watt’s aim was as impeccable as Josiah had seen in the first phase. Lawrence dodged the first one but even trying to dodge the second, the piece of ground aced Lawrence’s face direction and would have hit him if he didn’t parry with his elbow on time.
“Sh*t!”
Lawrence had to jump back while firing more bolts in order to keep Watt away.
Watt dodged the bolts with ease, but he had to let Lawrence step back as a drawback.
‘Funny…’ Watt thought. ‘I could swear the ground pieces enhanced with my bloodbound power would have more effect even if he defended… Is something making me lose my form?’
Watt looked at his arm. There was blood flowing.
‘Did I get hit? Damn, must have been that time I thought I dodged them. I shouldn’t underestimate him. If they hit me, they’re probably not regular crossbow bolts.’
Watt tried once again to pick up a barren tile from the floor and throw it at the opponent. While he crouched to do so, Lawrence fired another couple of bolts, trying to cast him away from the tiles. But fast as he was, he managed to dodge them and get the piece in his hands anyway.
Or at least he thought.
When he stopped to check his arm was bleeding even more badly. Like the wound from earlier had opened.
‘That’s strange. I am sure I didn’t get hit this time. I didn’t feel anything.’
Ignoring the wound, Watt launched the stones he was holding to Lawrence, and this time it hit him on the spot.
But Lawrence didn’t feel a thing. If anything, it was like a random person had thrown some dirt to him.
‘What?’
Watt took a glance at his wound. The blood was leaking with pressure.
‘That damn guy! My blood power!’
Without his blood flow working well, Watt couldn’t do anything with those stone tiles. He began trying to retrieve a small weapon that was tied to the belt on his back.
But Lawrence didn’t stay waiting. Seeing he was bare-handed, he charged to Watt while firing a couple more bolts to his side, so that he couldn’t dodge in time.
Lawrence’s plan was flawless. He managed to assault him and drag his body to the floor. In the end, he was fallen, being held down by Lawrence, and bare-handed against him pointing the crossbow to his head. Watt had to give up.

“Sheesh. That was embarrassing. I didn’t imagine I’d lose my very first fight…” Watt pronounced holding his face on shame while he left the arena.
Josiah was by his side:
“That’s ok. You did well.”
‘That Lawrence guy has some kind of trick… And I’m going to face him in the afternoon…’
They both walked up to Watt’s tent. His wound was bleeding pretty badly and he needed some potions to heal. Of course, Josiah himself wasn’t in a good state either.
“So now that I’m out I guess the favorite one is you, heh?”
“Me?”
“You are the prodigy kid after all. The nine-year-old of the emerging talents. If I had to place my bet, I think the final is going to hold you against Reeve. The mama boy.”
“Don’t even give me that idea.”
“You do realize you are in separate blocks, right? It’s almost like the tournament was designed for you to face each other.”
“The tournament is designed for someone from the first four fights to face someone from the last four on the final, Watt… Forget about it. What ab0out you? What are you going to do now?”
“Me? I’m going to take a rest, I guess. The losers won’t be leaving without the rest of the group, so I think I’m just going to chill and watch some fights. It sucks that I didn’t win, but then again, I’m one of the sixteen of the crew this year. I think this is enough for me to do what I wanted here in the army.”
“Why did you join the army?”
“I… Let’s say, I had a very bad fight with my old man and in the end, it turns I needed to prove some worth. That’s sort of a long story.”
“I see…”
Josiah extended his hand to Watt.
“Well, see you around, then. Good luck with your objectives.”
“What’s this? Haha! You sound like you are moving away or something. You still have business here, you know?”
“I... I know, but… It’s just…”
“Good luck you on your upcoming fight. Or fights. Beat that Lawrence guy for me, ok?”
They shook hands and Josiah went to his tent.
He wasn’t feeling like watching the rest of the morning fights. He needed to apply some sort of medicine on his wound, as well.
When Josiah entered his tent he saw Lenny there. Not even covered with the sleeping bag.
“You are still here? People are awake! They’re going to see you! You should have left when you had the chance.”
“Nice fight, Joe!”
“You saw it?”
“I saw how you did it. You cut yourself before the fight began.”
“Well…” Josiah scratched the back of his head. ‘I guess that was pretty dirty, heh?’ he thought.
“I can’t leave yet. You need me. You don’t even have potions of your own. I checked and didn’t find any.”
‘That’s also true…’
“Here.” She gave him a flask. “This one is special. It has my bloodbound power.”
“You have a bloodbound power!?”
“Teehee.”
Josiah drank and he felt much better very quickly. Far faster than the last time he drank potions when he was a younger kid.
After Josiah recovered, Lenny asked:
“Josiah… What do you say? Can I be your partner in the army?”