February 2, 2021

  All of the humans present at this underground arena turn their attention towards the giant hole in the sewer walls. Since most of these humans are sorcerers, they are able to see Waldo in front of Mara. Some of the humans gasp out in surprise, others move away out of fear. There are a handful of curious humans that get closer to see what just happened. There’s someone here that is exuding a large amount of cursed energy. It’s dense, powerful, and terrifying. The cursed spirits that are contained inside of the ring turn around and face Waldo. They suddenly begin to shudder and tremble at his presence. For cursed spirits, any other curse or person that has this amount of power is one to be feared without question. They have too much authority over their lives. The humans can see how frightened the cursed spirits are and question even further about this situation. They can tell that Waldo is a cursed spirit, but how in the hell is he so strong? What’s more confusing is that he has a child at his side. Why hasn’t he eaten her and why is she not afraid at all? Waldo’s gaze suddenly hardens and everyone takes a step back.

  “Enough with the staring. Is this your first time having someone barge on your parade? What is this? Some kind of underground fighting tournament? I only see cursed spirits fighting.”

  In one of the corners, huddled up together, several sorcerers whisper amongst each other.

  “Look, there’s so many of us and only one of him. We can take him on. No one has been able to beat us before. Even the Fat Cat would have trouble taking on all 8 of us at once.”

  “Are you crazy? Can you not feel that aura around him? He’s definitely stronger than the Fat Cat.”

  “Hey, don’t get caught saying that out loud or the Fat Cat will cut off yer tongue.”

  Mara looks around and inspects the place. It’s decorated like one of those illegal betting arenas you would see on TV. Some of the decor is worn out for sure, but it’s cozy for the most part. The people here seem to have a fun time. She can also sense many people staring at her. It’s practically unheard of: A human child traveling with a cursed spirit this strong. Then, both Waldo and Mara see a couple of humans run off towards a door. Waldo can faintly hear one of them.

  “Come on, we have to get the Fat Cat. A new cursed spirit just showed up on our doorstep.”

  This individual known as the Fat Cat piques Waldo’s interest. Among the tens of humans here, about 7 of them have the same intensity as a Grade One sorcerer. If there is a respected human among even these sorcerers, they must be much stronger. He decides to ask a question to his audience.

  “Who is this Fat Cat? Is he some sort of revered sorcerer? Are they a powerful martial artist? Come on, call them out!”

  Some of the humans there get irritated by Waldo’s demand. They get up from their seats and attempt to intimidate him as a group.

  “Who do you think you are calling out the Fat Cat? They’re the reason we’re all alive. We’re not going to let you waste her time!”

  Waldo processes the statements of this human and begins to laugh.

  “‘Her?’ Your leader is a woman? Well, that’s a surprise. I was expecting a manly warrior. I suppose seeing a female warrior isn’t so bad every now and then.”

  Mara glances up at Waldo as he says this but quickly looks back at the ground before he can notice her. She clearly had something to say about that. The rest of the humans also seem to have something to say. They take Waldo’s words as insults towards the Fat Cat. Most of the humans, despite feeling anger, know that they cannot do anything. They’re significantly overpowered by Waldo in terms of size, muscle, and just sheer ability. Of course, there are those few arrogant humans that step up and walk over to Waldo. Mara watches as 7 of them get down from the bleachers and surround them. Waldo raises an eyebrow. One of the humans then say,

  “You’ll regret ever speaking like that about the Fat Cat. If you’re able to talk like that, you must be strong, right? I’m a crazy good Grade One sorcerer. I’ve exorcised two Special Grade cursed spirits on my own. Me and my group challenge you to match!”

  Waldo listens and his expression does not change. It’s still the same empty and annoyed expression. Mara herself scratches her head in disbelief. She can already take a guess as to how this fight would go down. She does have to admit, though, that as far as human standards go, this sorcerer is a strong fighter. Defeating two Special Grade cursed spirits on their own isn’t an easy feat. Nevertheless, Waldo begins to snicker and puts his palm on his forehead. The sorcerer and his other partners look at him with confusion, wondering if he’s laughing because he lost it.

  “Do you really think that gives you the qualification to challenge me? What you just said is my equivalent of chopping down a tree. But, you and your little cronies have guts. I like guts. I’ll play along with your little game.”

  The other humans present in this arena cheer. Some cheer with doubt and others cheer with hope for their strong sorcerers. Waldo looks at Mara and points to an empty spot on the bleachers. She gives a small nod and hops to it. Waldo and the group of sorcerers head to the entrance of the ring. The cursed spirits that are inside of the ring tremble even more as Waldo gets closer. One of the human sorcerers step in the ring and quickly exorcise the low level curses. He steps aside and motions for Waldo to go inside. He carries a smile on his face.

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  “After you.”

  Waldo stares at the human for a couple of seconds but steps inside of the ring. The rest of the humans follow. Suddenly, they all snicker as they huddle up behind Waldo. They all pull out their own cursed tools and attempt to kill Waldo with their ambush. However, Waldo simply looks back with a bored expression.

  (Of course you were going for that.)

  Waldo is struck by the several cursed tools. He staggers forward and gets on one knee. The group of seven sorcerers smirk and the other humans watching this spectacle begin to cheer them on. The sorcerer group laughs out loud and gets closer to Waldo.

  “What do you know? He’s even weaker than he looks. This will be a piece of cake.”

  “He totally thought we were going to fight him fair and square. This is life or death. Anything goes.”

  Mara’s expression stays the same. Deep down, she is appalled by the actions of the human sorcerers. Not only did they ambush Waldo from behind, but they even think that it did the trick. Little do they know that Waldo allowed himself to be ambushed like that. In reality, those cursed tools didn’t do a single thing against him. A scratch is the most that they would have gotten out of it. She looks around at the other humans cheering on their sorcerers. A small smile makes its way to her face. She’s awaiting the change of reactions as Waldo turns the tables. The sorcerer group surround Waldo and prepare their weapons once more. However, Waldo quickly gets up and, with a single strike of his palm, knocks away three of the seven sorcerers. The sorcerers cough out blood and hit the steel chains lining the edge of the ring. The other sorcerers flinch and immediately follow up with more attacks. Waldo dodges the weapon of one of them and quickly strikes him out. He grabs two of the other sorcerers by the neck and lifts them up in the air. The audience gasps and their expressions swiftly change. In just a few seconds, four people were knocked away and two are now being held up in the air. Waldo smirks and lets them down.

  “You thought that you were about to win, did you? Such a predictable ambush would never grant you victory against anyone. If you’re going to start something, finish it quickly and without letting your guard down.”

  One of the downed sorcerers suddenly jumps back up and throws a punch at Waldo. Waldo steps out of the way and pushes the human away with a palm strike. They gasp and are knocked away. The Grade One sorcerer, the leader of this group, looks dumbfounded. He then clenches his teeth and holds his weapon up.

  “Useless idiots! They’re nothing but baggage. This is how you show real power. Meet my cursed tool that’s nearly at the level of a Special Grade!”

  The Grade One sorcerer swings his weapon, a flail. Waldo quickly ducks under the flail and jumps back. His arms are suddenly tied together by some of the steel chains lining the ring. He looks around and sees that the chain didn’t move, but somehow multiplied and is now tying him. He sees a sorcerer behind him extending his arm. It must be the work of his technique. Then, Waldo looks forward again and sees the other sorcerers getting up, ready to jump him. They’re just like cockroaches that won’t stay down. Waldo bends his neck down and clamps his teeth down on the steel chains. His teeth immediately bite through the steel and remove the chains off of his arms. He takes the attack of one of the sorcerers and then slams them into the ground. He quickly jumps up and spins a kick into another sorcerer. The sorcerer is struck right on their hip and are launched at the ring of steel chains. Waldo picks up one of the cursed tools off of the ground and laughs out loud. The remaining sorcerers that are still standing step back as they watch him get closer with the weapon. Waldo waves it around and smirks at them with a mocking glare.

  “What’s wrong? Is this the best that you can do? There are seven of you, yet none of you can even touch me. Without the help of your techniques, you don’t stand a rat’s fat chance at beating me.”

  The group of sorcerers glare at Waldo. One of them steps forward, but the Grade One sorcerer puts a hand on their shoulder and pushes them back.

  “You’re real cocky for someone like yourself. You think that just because you’re a bit faster and stronger that you can win against all of us? I’ll prove it to you here and now that I can kill you by myself. Now, witness the power of my cursed technique!”

  The Grade One sorcerer sprints forward, but they suddenly vanish out of thin air. Waldo immediately heightens himself to spit him out. However, they’re not invisible. Their presence has been entirely concealed, almost as if they aren’t here anymore. Suddenly, Waldo narrowly dodges the flail that the sorcerer holds. He quickly throws a punch in that direction but it doesn’t hit its mark. Waldo continues to scan the area around him for the sorcerer. In the corner of his eye, he watches the sorcerer appear once again. Waldo appears right in front of him and slugs him in the face with a quick strike. The sorcerer gets back and disappears out of sight again. Mara’s eyes widen as she watches this fight continue. The sorcerer creates holes in the air and quickly goes inside of them. It’s like he cuts open spaces and goes into his own pocket dimension. When he nearly hit Waldo with the flail, he made another small hole in the air to allow the flail back into the ring. The other humans watching the fight begin to cheer again. Seeing the sorcerer’s technique at work is marvelous. They’ve never seen a technique like it before.

  Waldo continues to move around the ring to avoid getting hit. He’s not sure how this technique works, but he knows that it allows the sorcerer to somehow disappear and then reappear. They could also just be teleporting but very slowly. That’s sort of unlikely, however. Waldo is suddenly struck in his back by the flail and he turns around. When he sees absolutely nothing behind him, his patience grows thin. Veins in his head become visible and bulge. When he senses the sorcerer’s cursed energy again, he quickly grabs the flail with his bare hands. Waldo pulls in the sorcerer and grabs his head. In the blink of an eye, however, Waldo’s own hand disappears and this allows the Grade One sorcerer to flee out of his grasp. In that very moment, Waldo felt his hand in some other space. It wasn’t gone or destroyed, but transported into another place. He scoffs and watches as his hand returns.

  “What an annoying technique. Once I figure out how it works, you’re dead meat.”