Chapter 7: Tipping Points

It was an important day in the dojo at the center of the training ground. A tournament has spewed up as the end of the school year was about to arrive. There was a big buffet of snacks and drinks on one of the tables. The students were enjoying the food while they were waiting for their turn to spar and win to go up to the next level in the tournament. Of course, Katy and I signed up for it and we plan to win both of them. I win the boys' tournament and she wins the girls' tournament.

Katy looked at me when she was done signing in for the tournament on the spreadsheet, "You better make sure you win the tournament."

"Yes ma'am."

After I said that I was slapped across the face.

"You better shut that mouth of yours and focus. I don't train you to make it to the semifinals. Hell, not even second place is an option for you." Now I knew she was serious. I was seriously shocked. Katy continued, "I don't train losers and I better not see one on my training ground tomorrow you hear me?"

I nodded my head, didn't say a word.

"Don't you dare show me your f-"

"Katy!" We both turned our faces and saw Jack yelling out to Katy, "I need to speak with you for a second."

We looked at each other and paused. "I'll be back. Just enjoy yourself and get some snacks and soda for the both of us."

"Sure thing."

Katy started to walk away from me and head to Jack. As I reached the snack bar, I turned around to see Katy walk into Jack's office. I hope she is not in trouble or anything about me training with her privately. Or maybe someone snitched on us about our dates. I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of that happening since this school is very suspicious of what all the students do here. I got two plates of snacks and drinks and sat down at the same place where Katy and I both were. I got some cookies, brownies, chips, and cupcakes. I was watching the matches go on and the students cheer every time someone gets slammed or thrown by the opponents. Then Katy comes out of the office and sits next to me.

"Is everything alright?"

She sits down and hugs me, "Yea."

I hugged back, "You sure?"

She reaffirms me, "Yes Shadow everything is fine. Thanks for the snacks."

I've seen videos where girls say that and they don't actually mean it. But I am not experienced enough to fully know if this was the same case.. I just let it go. I got a fight next round to win and I can't screw it up. Katy was still hugging me. I told her I got to go win and she didn't want to let go but I told her I will be right back. She let go and I put all the snacks and drinks on the side next to her. I got up and stretched it out as I walked into the ring when they called my name.

The student referee shouts into the mic, "Let's give it up to the debut freshie. SHADOOOOOOOW SHAAAAAAKRRRIIIIII!"

The crowd started to cheer, and I waved around. My opponent and I walked to the center as signaled by the referee.

The referee looks at me to tell me, "I wanna tell you the rules again just to make sure."

I thought there was no rule. Except for the tap out, "Sure?"

The ref yells when the cheers go on for the opponent, "No rules! Fight your opponent to a point where he can't fight anymore and respect the tap."

Yep, I knew it. I nodded my head to signal that I understood what he said. The referee backs off and the cheers only get louder. The guy wanted to smack talk to me.

My opponent, I forgot his name, said to me, "You are the fake black belt right." Sorry, I don't memorize my enemies' names. All I see is my target. My eyes focus on the enemy just like Katy taught me.

I heard him but then said, "WHAT?!?" To see if he had the guts to say it again.

He said it again, "You are the fake right!"

Then I fired back, "Sorry I don't understand bullshit weak people talk."

The crowd hears this and responded with their loud collective voice.

I laughed and I knew I pulled a nerve. He got so pissed since he was somewhat of a high rank in this dojo but wasn't a black belt. They were all waiting for the referee to say fight. I'm sure at this point Katy was worried about me. I wouldn't blame her because my heart is racing a hundred beats in a minute and it's not healthy. One thing she definitely taught me a lot was to keep my heart steady and to focus. At this moment I couldn't really do both. I was thinking this was some sort of chess game where I think of all possible moves my opponent can spring out at me. When the referee started the match I didn't even think of what to do for attacking. I jumped back and avoided his kicks and punches. I knew I couldn't keep doing this so I went for a low blow and swept his legs to knock him down. I stepped back to adjust myself and think. I needed time to think. He rolled back and got up. This time I saw a punch coming in so I grabbed his wrist and pulled it. Once he was off balance I grabbed his neck in a headlock and took him down. Got him in a tight lock and didn't let go. I did not want to tighten his neck too much because I know I will overkill it. I just took the struggling in as much as I can for as long as it needed for him to tire himself out. He eventually did and said he gave up. Started to tap out and the ref ended it. I won my first fight. I celebrated with warrior cheer, "AHOO!" I went back to the outer circle where Katy was sitting, and some students congratulated me and some patted me on the back.

Katy sipped her soda and said, "Looks like you are getting famous."

I replied, "Oh no, really? That's bad."

"Yes, very bad."

"So tell me. What did you think?"

"You were such a coward. I can feel you were scared from here."

"THAT OBVIOUS!?!"

"YES!!!" She yelled back and stared at me. Then she slapped me again, "Stop overthinking."

"O-okay. I'll try."

"And next time. Use your speed as an advantage. You are fast, I know it. Like how you headlock him and took him to the ground. You can't do that all the time to win. In real fights, you actually need to fight the opponent. Also, I wanted to kick you so hard out of the ring when you didn't climb over him to punch him in his face multiple times when you leg-swiped him. You showed mercy. In this tournament, there is no mercy. GOT IT?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Just... call me Katy."

"Yes ma- um... yes Katy." Damn is that a sign. I can never tell.

It was soon Katy's turn to go and she did not have her sword during her battle. This is the first time I see her without the sword since she always likes to have it with her. She went up to verse a girl in the women's tournament and I can tell her opponent wasn't much of a match for Katy. I looked closer to see what I could learn from her. But five seconds in, Katy takes her down and the match was over. My jaw dropped and didn't know what to say when she came walking back to me.

Katy sat down, "Did you take notes?"

I replied, "No. I blinked and it was over."

The tournament went on and on. I went on to my next match and then Katy and back to me again. Like a rotation and we kept our stuff safe. Every time I win, I seem to be getting an interest from the people in the dojo. Some people kept coming up to me to ask where I have trained and what I do but I never really responded. All I could tell them is that I trained hard.

I was kind of getting happier seeing that I was getting popular. Feels nice knowing you are some tough new guy in the dojo. When the semifinals came in, the tournament was put on hold as the big BBQ seemed to be lit and the food was cooked and ready. The student all went outside to grab a plate and some food. All chowing down on their food and forming circle groups. Having private discussions and being together. Very wholesome in my eyes. I liked to see others having fun. I hope no other guilds or dojos try to ruin this. I got my food but I didn't want to eat too much and ruin my chances of winning first place. I would like to see myself get first place and not disappoint Katy. Every girl seems to know that Katy will get first place no matter what they try to pull off. I've been walking around listening to side conversations.

We got back to the tournament and they seemed to have made some upgrades as we left outside to eat some real food. They got a gigantic screen now and my name was on that board with 3 other names. They got a good editing team as well as dragons were flying through the screen and fire under our names. I feel very accomplished at this moment but I should keep in mind that it ain't over yet. When it was time for me to go up, I ended up facing the biggest heaviest guy in the dojo weighing fifty to seventy pounds more than me. Judging from what I can see. As the match started, the guy took no thought and charged right at me. Expecting to grab me many times and throw me until either my back can't take it anymore or my stomach or my sides. I tried to see if I could wrestle him back. But that plan seemed to be futile as he just spun me around and threw me. I went up in the air and dropped down on the mat hard. I got up quickly and tried it again but was once again thrown in the air even higher this time and landed on my back. That one hurt me a lot. My body went into shock for a moment but I managed to recover quickly. I was trying to hold my body up with my hands and knees as I see my opponent inch closer. He tried to stomp me but I avoided the attack and tried to punch him hard in the side. It seemed like my punch did not have an effect. I went walking back for a moment acting scared and my opponent laughed. He yells, "Get over here!" as he charged again. I grabbed his shirt and pulled. I laid on my back and used my legs to kick him off the ground and make him slam on his back. I waited for him to get back up before I ran up to him and did a flying kick to his face. It knocked him down once. "Stay down!" is what I told him. Though he seemed committed enough to get up. I showed no mercy and went for a kick across his face but this time he grabbed my foot and slammed me on the ground. I don't know what happened but I think I lost consciousness and then woke up immediately as I felt a 200-pound fist hitting my body. I got hit a few times before I could dodge it. At this point, I was out of steam. I was bleeding badly and breathing heavily. All I could do was catch my breath. I was breathing heavily and my body is completely damaged. I stored up the last bit of my energy to run up to him. He thought I would do another flying kick to his face so he guarded himself. I did take this advantage to slide under his feet. He turned around to see where I was and uppercut his face directly. Hitting him right at the chin and knocking his head back completely. He was down for the count and couldn't fight anymore.

When I saw that I won on the big screen, I was so relieved. I just laid down on my body bleeding away. People were cheering and screaming and charged at me to congratulate me. Though I guess I wasn't feeling alright as their facial expressions turned from excitement to worry. Katy came to look at me and told her men to take me to an infirmary. When I got there I woke up to Katy laying her head next to me. As I started to move, she woke up immediately.

"Oh my God! Hey!" She was surprised

"Hey..."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Let me finish my last battle."

"No dummy. You can relax. The final is tomorrow."

"Oh really." I turned to look at her nodding her head. "That's a relief."

"Yea after that performance. You got the ref to give you an extra day since he wasn't expecting you to win. Usually versing that guy, he would mostly come out unscathed."

"I see." I laid back down and closed my eyes.

Katy used her magic to ease the pain a bit more.

"Whoa hey, you don't need to do that." I grabbed her wrist.

She grabs my wrist and shushes me, "It's okay. Let me just do it."

I felt guilty but I had no choice. Barely had any strength to grip her wrist

"Oh, why don't you use your magic during the fight."

Katy looked at me like I was an idiot, "One, because that's so unfair. Two, my father doesn't allow me because that's technically disrespecting my power. Three, I only use it on enemies, not fellow teammates to win a stupid tournament."

It made sense. With that power, I guess you have to have the right mind for it. Use the power too much and others might get upset. As I begin to rest. Katy held my hand. I could tell she was worried. She laid her head down while holding my hand and I started to really catch feelings for her. I wanted to enjoy this moment and what better way to enjoy it than to stay in a quiet peaceful place to rest up.