Cassidy, Jeremy and Frytz limped to the lounge where Gabriel and Susie were residing in. Up on a large screen depicted Cane, resting his back on a giant tortoise's neck. He was munching down on the meat, not caring that it was raw.
"What's happening over here?" Frytz was the first to speak. The three had just failed their 9th rounds, although passing round 8 was already quite respectable. After failing the 9th round, they'd all been given temporary care and sent to the Northern Combat School's resting lounge.
"It's Cane! He just passed the 9th round, so he's gonna face the 10th round very soon!!" Susie jumped up and turned around excitedly, before she saw the wounds on Cassidy, Frytz and Jeremy.
"Oh! Right, come over here and let me heal you guys."
As everyone rested on a large sofa, they all shared their experiences with each round.
Everyone had easily defeated the rank 1 Red Ant. After that had been a Scorpion-Spider, another easy challenge which even Supporters could kill if they had good weapons. After the first two, every other monster was randomized.
However, once Cassidy and the others learned about the rank 2 monsters which Cane had faced off against, their minds grew numb. How is this even human? And what terrible luck...
As everyone was lost in their thoughts, a sudden announcement came through the speakers. It was from the event host.
"Everyone, this is the first time in decades that someone has managed to reach the 10th round! Since this is a somewhat special occurrence, we've decided to bend the rules a little and give one full hour of rest for our contestant, Cane Hunter!" The event host smiled through the screen.
"For the majority of you who've been watching through the livestream, please resume watching in one hour's time. For those of you who've been watching in-person, we recommend getting up and going to the bathroom. Or, well, something else to occupy your time."
The announcement ended, and the screen in the lounge room turned off.
"Wow, one whole hour huh? Also... I CAN'T BELIEVE CANE BEAT THE 9TH ROUND!!!" Gabriel shouted in amazement. Even though he'd seen the entire round play out before his eyes, he was still in disbelief when he realised that Cane had gotten an opportunity to face the 10th round.
"Indeed. It's really impressive." Jeremy nodded with a look of respect. "We should all work hard, okay? We can't let Cane get ahead of us."
Everyone looked at each other in agreement, determined to catch up with Cane.
...
"Come on kid. Let's get you to a larger arena. Also one that's hopefully in better shape." It was the event host, hand outstretched to Cane.
Cane stared at the hand, and stood up by himself. "Alright. Where's the arena?"
"Just follow me."
The three of them - the Chief Cleanser was also there with them - walked out of the arena. At this point, Cane noticed the crowds of people in the audience who were also leaving.
"Who are those guys?" Cane wondered in curiosity.
"They're a bunch of rich folk. For ordinary people, they might save up money for 5 years in order to view the Monster Gauntlets and Tournaments from a screen. This is actually the best option - since you can switch to viewing other contestants." The old Chief shook his head in disapproval.
"As for these people, they're rich enough that they're willing to pay extra money in order to see the fights in person. Most of these people chose your arena because of your status as a "secret, hidden prodigy" from the North Combat School."
The event host then butted in. "Well, you certainly delivered, didn't you? By the way... what was that skill earlier, when you teleported the rank 1 monsters into your hands?"
Cane kept his mouth shut, causing the two of them to begin speculating out loud in front of his face as they walked.
"It couldn't be Steal, could it? That skill only works on objects. Even when it works on biological things, they're dead."
"And I doubt it's any of the Taming-type skills either. After all, one receives damage if their Tamed monster is hurt."
Cane was shocked. What? Steal only works on non-living things??? But why does mine work differently?
He was deeply confused by the revelation, but didn't let it show on his face. At best, he could only guess it had something to do with the skills he'd gotten before his awakening. It was the only true difference between him and any other awakener, after all.
The three continued on their way, and before long Cane was greeted with a luxurious-looking waiting room.
"Don't open that door until you're told over the intercom. That way leads to the arena. We'll let you see all the information you need about the opponent you'll be facing, no worries about it." The event host paused to think before continuing. "Oh, right! You can pick any 2 weapons you want."
Click.
And with that, the door shut, leaving Cane alone in a room with rows of weapons and a case file.
Well. I guess I better get to reading about my opponent.
...
"Hey, by the way." Gabriel suddenly spoke up. "Do we... even really know Cane? I mean, I know that we're friends, we've known him for months now... but, do we know anything else?"
At these words, Frytz also began feel a bit wary. "Well, we know he's from the Outskirts, and that he was homeless. Well, he's also an orphan, and not technically a citizen. Although those three things are basically one and the same."
All of a sudden, the mood in the lounge began to shift. It was true - they'd been around Cane for months, but never really knew him. They didn't know how he managed to get enough money to board a train to the Inner City.
Hell, they didn't even know what his skills were!
Jeremy stood up, an unhappy look on his face. "Enough. I don't want to hear anymore of this talk, especially behind Cane's back. He's our friend - he's taught us how to hunt monsters, he's looked out for us, same way we look out for each other. Cane's clearly lived a rough life, so if he wants to keep some secrets..."
He stared at everyone.
"Let him."
Gabriel spoke up one last time. "Fine. But... somehow, I feel like he's not as good of a person as we think. If, no, when he chooses to share his past, we should keep it in mind - even as we support him."
"Well, I don't think there's anything to worry about! After all, we're friends!" Susie eased up the tension, leaving the lounge more calm. They all turned to the screen in that moment, which displayed the arena.
Cane's 1 hour of rest time had ended.
Now, it was time for battle.
...
Cane stepped into the arena, finally meeting face to face with the monster he needed to kill.
It was... a spider. Eugh.
In fact, it was a very familiar enemy. The Scorpion-Spider. However, there was one major difference.
This time, Cane would face off against a Scorpion-Spider Matriarch.
So, what were Matriarchs?
Well, as it turns out, every monster was set on a path for evolution. If certain species reached a certain rank of strength, they could evolve into more powerful versions of themselves. Some creatures, like the Sky Serpent, weren't fully evolved at all.
In fact, if a monster wasn't evolved, they'd be much weaker than a regular monster of the same rank. However, once they did evolve, their power would skyrocket, allowing some fully evolved monsters to be twice as strong as other monsters of the same rank.
All that was to say, Scorpion-Spider Matriarchs were the fully evolved versions of the Scorpion-Spider species. Scorpion-Spiders evolved with age, not power. When one was at rank 1, they'd just be a small baby, maybe no taller than half a metre or so. Baby monsters were perhaps only useful in an astral pet store.
At rank 2, they were juveniles - and were extremely weak, despite ranking up - who would be no more than 1 metre tall. Finally, when a Scorpion-Spider became an adult, they'd reach rank 3.
Of course, they would be extremely weak for a rank 3 - they might even be defeated by Apprentice Warriors. However, if a Scorpion-Spider could survive for long enough as an adult, they'd evolve once more to the top of rank 3, becoming Matriarchs.
As Matriarchs, they received powerful abilities. They could give birth to hundreds of babies within a span of a few weeks, their silk and venom would be insanely more powerful, their physique, previously terrible, could become as powerful as a Warrior rank awakener.
And now, Cane was going in for a fight with one.
As the audience watched, both in-person and via livestream, they finally saw Cane. And the weapons in his hands.
"The 10th round is rather special, so contestant Cane has been given the privilege to choose his own weapons! It seems... he's chosen a syringe gun and an energy shield! Terrible choices, if I do say so myself." The event host smirked.
"After all, Matriarchs have immunity to venoms and poisons! The syringe gun's venom injections will at best paralyse the Matriarch, or perhaps only slow her down. If Cane had chosen another weapon to go with this, his chosen combination might still make sense, but he's chosen an energy shield for defence?"
Well, let's see how it goes. Contestant Cane certainly isn't stupid, so perhaps he has a plan? Both the event host and the old Chief Cleanser could only ponder with themselves about the interesting choices that Cane had made.
But their thoughts were cut short.
Hisssss!!
The Matriarch instantly spotted Cane, and shot a web towards him. At the same time, it also coated the silk with venom using its stinger.
Cane quickly blocked with his energy shield, causing the silk to burst into flames and produce a noxious gas, which Cane swept away with the wind from his shield. He then countered by firing once and injecting the Matriarch with 2 syringes.
This sequence of actions marked the start of the fight!
The start of the 10th round!