Chapter 169: Striker

Chapter 169: Striker

Reivyn looked up into the stands after walking through the long tunnel into the amphitheater. The theater was built into a depression in the ground, so they were halfway up the stands when they exited the tunnel. Despite it being during the week, the stands were full of people. The sounds of conversation and cheering washed over him. He scanned the surroundings to find an appropriate location to sit with Kefira and Serilla.

The admission into the venue wasn't for any specific seating. Most people had enough Perception to be able to see everything clearly no matter where they sat, but higher-level people generally sat at a higher altitude. There wasn't any difference for most people, but simple courtesy had led to the unspoken rule. It wasn't an absolute rule, though, as some people, like Reivyn, were there more for the entire package than just the fight.

Reivyn didn't want to go too far away from the arena because he wanted to witness the team in action. There was practically no way he would be able to hear what they were saying over all the noise, but being close enough to watch in better detail was a factor he considered when looking for a seat.

Kefira understood his intentions and led him around to where she had spotted some open seats. Serilla just followed behind, keeping an eye out on the other spectators.

"Does the Imperial Family not have a reserved seating area?" Reivyn asked.

"We do, but I figured you wanted the whole experience," Kefira answered. "Ironically, we would be able to hear the interactions of the team better in the booth. There's a runic connection that filters out some of the background sounds from the crowd and allows for one to hear what's being said down in the ring."

"Well, how about we just find any 'ole seat for now, then, and we can move to the booth when we get closer to the main event."

"Sounds good to me."

There was already a low-level bout happening between contestants in the ring, but other than having been scouted for their potential, there wasn't anything special about them. Some people had connections, and some people just got a lucky break to be able to enter the more official venues to work their way up the competition ladder. Reivyn didn't know the intricacies involved in how one got the opportunity to fight in the main ring, but it really didn't matter that much to him.

The more famous Strikers wouldn't come out to compete for another hour, at least. In the time between, Reivyn intended to soak up the entire experience that most people would get.

The trio walked up further into the stands and made their way into the interior of a row. They had to bypass other spectators on their way. Most people were having conversations with each other and not paying too much to the action down below, but there were always some that were more interested in the sport and took every aspect seriously.

Reivyn plopped down on a seat next to an older gentleman with a younger man next to him. Reivyn supposed that they were related, and the older gentleman was pointing out different aspects of the fight to the younger man. The younger man appeared to be just a couple of years older than Reivyn. He was intently listening to the things that his older companion was explaining with a thoughtful eye on the fight.

"See how he leans just the right amount to avoid that jab?" The older man said to the younger. The young man grunted in affirmation. "Do you think a low Tier 3 Striker is experienced enough to do that so smoothly on his own?"

"Against somebody that he's fought before, or someone who fights similarly, yeah, I would say so," the younger man said.

"That might be true for a very talented Striker," the older man conceded. "They do have a lot of practice bouts between a wide variety of other Strikers before they have official matches, but that's not it. Those two down there haven't been in the business long enough to ingrain that sort of reaction into their bones. I could believe that they could do so with their own abilities, but not to such a perfect extent.

"No, he has a superior Tactician. Look at the men in his corner."

Reivyn followed the older man's instructions and glanced over where there was a group of three people standing near the ring. They weren't shouting and screaming advice to the Striker in the ring. They were calmly watching what was going on. The other side of the ring, however, was a different scene. There was a group of five people on that side, and one of them was jumping up and down excitedly, yelling something at the top of his lungs.

It didn't appear to be effective. The opponent of the Striker in question seemed to hesitate at the advice given by the man jumping and hollering. The one who had dodged within a fraction of an inch was able to capitalize on the slight hesitation and countered with his own jab.

The man's fist landed on his opponent's chin, and he was further stunned for half a second. That was all it took for him to dash in and lay heavily into the man's body. He quickly disengaged and circled the other competitor. It didn't appear that a lot of damage had been done, but that wasn't the point of the Striker's Guild.

Competitors in the Striker's Guild didn't normally fight until someone was knocked unconscious. Reivyn had done a little research, and he knew that it was more technical than that. The opponents were graded on their abilities to land and avoid strikes more than on how much damage they could cause. Everyone's heightened Vitality Stats made it harder for someone to get knocked down in the competition.

It still happened, of course. There were instances where someone was mismatched with an opponent or someone lacked the Skills necessary to withstand certain effects that strikes to the head could cause. Even with 10,000 Health, someone could get hit in just the right way to ring their bell and knock them loopy. It was considered an embarrassment for that to happen to one of the competitors, though.

"Look, he was anticipating not only the reaction of the Striker, but he was also taking into account the distraction of the other man's coach," the older gentleman said. "It seems like the tactical teammates are the real rookies here. Screaming and shouting in the middle of the fight isn't going to do anything; you have to wait until the round is over.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

"Calm, cool, and collected is how to be, not just for the Striker, but the entire team. Look how they just silently watch and take everything in. When the round is over, they'll take that opportunity to tell their Striker everything they Observed from the opposing team. A good Striker will be able to digest that information and make use of it in the ring. Trying to give directions in the middle of the fight isn't the way to go about it."

"Excuse me," Reivyn interjected. The older gentleman looked over and nodded his head, indicating for Reivyn to continue. "What sort of members make up the team on the sideline?"

"First time?" The older man asked. Reivyn simply nodded his head. "There are a variety of teammates one could have on their side. The one we're watching right now only has a Strategist, Tactician, and Observer. His opponent comes from a more well-funded organization, and he has a Trainer and a Healer.

"Trainers and Healers aren't as necessary as having a solid Tactician and Strategist, but they can tip the scales in a close match. All the highest Tier competitors have a full team."

"So I get what a Healer does, obviously, but what does a Trainer do? At least in the middle of the match?" Reivyn asked.

"The Trainer not only can help the Striker adapt their muscle memory more quickly to the advice given by the Tactician, but they can grant some small physical buffs as well. The one with the Trainer wouldn't be quite as agile or quick as he is without him, but his lack of experience and distraction from his own Tactician is negating that advantage."

"I see, and why do you say advising in the middle of the match isn't the way to go? What if something completely unexpected happens and needs an adjustment right now?"

"Have you ever been in combat? Like combat combat, where a leader is giving out instructions in the middle of the fight," the older man asked back. Reivyn nodded his head once more. "Ok, and how complicated were the instructions given?"

Reivyn thought back to the first time he had fought in line when he was conscripted. All of the orders given were things that had been practiced many, many times. There weren't any deviations from what any of them expected to be ordered to do.

Renry frowned as they made the turn, and he glanced at Reivyn.

"Are we going the right way?" He asked. "I don't think..." His jaw dropped, and he froze in place as Kefira waltzed past some guards and opened the door to the premier booth. "Umm, this is the Imperial Family's booth..."

"Uh-huh, I know," Reivyn said. "Kefira here is a member of the Imperial Family."

Reivyn grabbed Renry by the arm and dragged him along to the interior of the booth, Herrick tentatively following behind. Serilla didn't show it on her face, but Reivyn could see the satisfaction in her eyes at their reaction.

Renry pulled free from Reivyn's arm and grabbed the back of his grandson's head. He shoved his grandson into a bow with him.

"Your Highness, please forgive us if we've shown any offense," he said. Reivyn could hear the trepidation in his voice. He wanted to chuckle, but he refrained from making fun of his new friend.

"Oh, relax," Kefira said, taking a seat on a couch. Reivyn followed her and sat next to her, holding her hand. "Lift your head up."

Renry and Herrick straightened out with some small hesitation. They glanced around the booth nervously, taking in all the luxury they hadn't expected to encounter.

"Renry, you don't have to worry about it," Reivyn said.

"My lord?" Renry said, looking at Reivyn.

"I'm not a lord," Reivyn said with a smile. "Think about how we were acting just a couple of minutes ago. That's how you should act. This is her personality."

"It's true," Kefira spoke up. "Right now, we're just on a date as a man and a woman. I'm not the princess; I'm just a spectator at the event. Just act normally."

"I'm not sure I can do that, Your Highness," Renry said nervously.

"I'm telling you not to worry about it," Kefira said. "Reivyn appreciated your expertise, and so do I. You'll make this more interesting for us."

"Of course, of course," Renry said. "I'll do my best to explain everything in the greatest detail."

"No, that's what we're saying," Reivyn said. "Just do it the same way you were earlier. Come on, let's watch the next match."

A new pair of Strikers had already mounted the stage, and their teams were on the sidelines, ready to Observe and Strategize. Renry walked up to a seat with his grandson and started watching the match.

The sounds of the crowd weren't completely drowned out by the isolation, that was part of the experience, after all, but none of the noise came through from the magic devices transmitting the words of the teams by the ring.

"I've seen these Strikers before," Renry commented. "The one in the yellow is a hard hitter, and he likes to corner his opponents and draw the matches out into slug fests. The other guy in blue is more versatile. He's able to stand his ground in such a fight, but he's more agile. If the yellow Striker wants to win this match, he's going to have to trap his opponent. The blue Striker will have to avoid the corners. If he gets caught at the edge, it's fine as long as it's not a corner."

"I see," Reivyn said. "So then the teams on either side are going to try and figure out a way to do just that. The yellow team wants to get into a corner, and the blue team wants to stay away from them."

"Exactly," Renry said.

The match started, and it played out the way Renry anticipated. The two Strikers were both able to land pretty heavy hits, but they were also able to withstand them easily, as well. Renry kept up a litany of explanations as the Strikers moved about in the ring. The blue Striker danced around the one in yellow, occasionally exchanging blows with each other, and Renry commented on how the Tacticians on each side were trying to come up with ways to have them move the way each side wanted.

The yellow team proved to have the superior Tactician, though, and he eventually managed to surprise the blue Striker by bodily smashing him in the direction he wanted him to go. Once they were in the corner, the yellow Striker laid into the blue Striker, who was unable to get away. That one round was enough to secure the ultimate victory for the yellow team, as they were evenly matched enough that the blue team couldn't secure an advantage.

"So if they're so closely matched, was there any way for the blue team to win in the first place?" Reivyn asked.

"Of course, if he had managed to stay out of the corner," Renry answered. Reivyn tilted his head in confusion. "The judges take the teams into account," Renry explained. "If they manage to pull off their strategy, they get points for it. The yellow team managed to get a round in the corner to play on their strengths, so they got points for that. The blue team would have gotten the points for strategy if they had avoided it the entire match."

"I see," Reivyn said, nodding his head. "So the teams are even more important than just the performance of the Strikers in the ring."

"Exactly," Renry said. "Once we get to the level of the champions, we'll get to see some great shows. This is still considered fairly low-level, and the strategies were quite basic. If this had been a championship match, there would be even more scrutiny on each individual round's tactics."

"So, did the previous match not get bonus points for each individual round because it was low-level?"

"No, they did," Renry said. "Only because it was so one-sided, though. It'll be hard to see something like that in the higher matches."

"Well, I'm looking forward to it."

Renry was finally able to relax after he got into the groove of explaining the matches and the decisions the teams came up with. Reivyn greatly enjoyed having someone so knowledgeable available to show him the light, and Kefira enjoyed Reivyn having such a great time. She wasn't nearly as interested in the matches as Reivyn was, but just the sheer amount of fun Reivyn was having was infectious.

Even Herrick opened up and engaged in conversation with everyone. The atmosphere in the Imperial booth was quite lively, and the day moved on quickly. Before anyone knew it, the final matches of the day were being held in the ring below.