The noise in the underground arena was almost deafening as the pair exited the elevator, a sea of multicolored chitin surrounding the catonite circles in the room. Tiered bandstands were set against the walls, and nets were put up on the walls and part of the ceiling to let even more spiders watch the spectacle.
“Do you have similar events on Zhuque?” the Baron asked, keeping close to the human.
Dongli nodded. She was wearing an androgynus tang suit again and carried a duffle bag with her equipment. “This reminds of the mixed martial arts tournaments my dad used to bring me to, until he and my mother got divorced.” She winced, a sharp cold forming over the back of her hand. She covered it with her other hand and continued. “Once I got into college, I actually got to go into orbit to see a micro-gravity performance with a layout like this: the audience top, bottom, and all around.”
“Yeah, guess when you’re bipedal it’s more difficult to use the ceiling,” Hennat said with a nod. He pushed through the crowd, eyes glancing at the alien walking behind him. “Come on people, plenty of gawking to do later.”
The human woman blushed, leaning down close to Hennat as they walked. “I hope they don’t look at me too closely. Close inspection is for your eyes only right now.”
“Let them gaze at my goddess, she deserves veneration,” the spider said, clicking his pincers as they walked up to their teammates. “Focus on the fight, not the eyes watching.”
“I’ll try to. These are still a lot more eyes and legs than I’m used to. Heavens, when was the last time I was in front of an audience? Right, at my graduation ceremony…” Dongli trailed off, greeting her teammates. “What’s the matchup?”
“Khavil of Atheworn Tech,” Yaidani said, pointing to a large black chitined spider, who was talking to her green and black comrades. “Specializes in stone spells, but dabbles in fire, so she’s gonna be a pain to batter down with your ice.”
“Ah, a classic relationship in RPG’s.” Dongli rolled her eyes. “Sounds dangerous. One of us could get pretty injured if we’re not careful. Any advice?”
“As long as you don’t aim for the head, go for it,” Crafza said, the hanger-on having taken an advisor position. “And make projectiles to throw instead of trying to freeze her body. Lot harder to melt a big chunk of ice being thrown at you than to warm your own chitin. Err, skin?”
“I wasn’t planning on freezing them anyways; I’m afraid I might accidentally freeze their blood and bust capillaries. Nobody needs to see that.” Dongli shook her head. “You want me to pelt them with ice balls? Seems like I might accidentally hit their face.”
“You get some leniency with projectiles,” Hennat said with a shrug. “The wind up for casting at range is usually seen as enough warning. Unless you pull off something like spraying them with ice going at supersonic speeds, you’ll be fine. And if you managed to do that, the pro-leagues or the military would be knocking on the door, disqualification or no.”
“Alright, thanks for the advice. I should get changed.” Dongli gave a quick gesture of thanks, then hurried into the lockers. Upon her return, she donned a slim, white body glove decorated with blue silhouettes of winter flora native to Zhuque. There were flags of the HFR, Li Ming, and Cailin woven into the shoulders, logos of a fashion design firm and a materials engineering firm at her breast. Most of her body was covered, except for her fingertips, her heels, and her toes. As she walked out, she started warmups by stretching her limbs and bouncing on her feet.
“An active thermal suit.” Dongli explained to her teammates. “Supposedly powered by my own body movement. There’s also supposed to be some self-repair going as well. I feel like a walking tech demo.”
“Very intricate,” Yaidani said, looking her up and down. “Hopefully works as advertised.”
Hennat was silent, scratching his head at the sight. “On one hand, it covers everything. On the other…” he muttered.
“Oh stop it,” Dongli scolded him, lightly knocking him on his back with her fist. “You see all of me often enough.”
“Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” the team captain said, shaking her head as announcements started blaring over the speaker system. “Get ready for your bout, first four are up, including Ms. Liu.”
“Wish me luck, Baron.” Dongli prepared to step away, but backtracked. She hesitated, contenting herself by grabbing one of his pincers tight for a second, then scurried off.
“Good luck,” Hennat said, waving as she ran off, before Yaidani bumped his legs..
“Adorable,” she said, clicking her pincers.
The rest of their exchange was lost in the chattering of the crowds as the human made her way to the circle, Khavil waiting for her, stretching out her pincers. “Is that a typical uniform for humans?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Dongli felt her heart beat louder and louder in her chest. She already felt the air cool around her and threatened her skin. All the alien eyes on her for the first time in a long while, in past public outings she would sweat, but now, the only thing keeping her from shuddering was the new suit.
She shook her head at her opponent. “No, we usually wear skimpier clothes during mixed martial art combat matches.” The human woman walked up to the Theradectan, meeting at the center, and bowed, with hand over first in front of her. “This is just for my own protection, against myself.”
“Hmm,” the black-chitined spider said, walking up and bowing to the human. “I’ll have to go to one of those sometime then. May the best fighter win, Sekhreth willing.”
“... Right.” Dongli replied awkwardly, then stepped back to her side of the ring. She knelt down on one knee and pressed the tips of her fingers down on the ground, silently waiting for the match to start.
Before a fighting began a small platform dropped from the ceiling, carrying a heavily robed Neolathian, a microphone held in pincers worn with age. “Welcome to Cailin University, my fellow countrywomen,” the spider said. “It’s a great honor, as Dean of our ancient facilities, to begin the season for these combat games. May Neolath smile upon us, as Sekhreth chooses her champions.”
Prayer concluded, the platform raised as a rainbow attired spider stepped in between the four circles. “I want good clean fights, show us your all,” the referee said, before raising her pincer. “Three, two, one, go!” she added, throwing her arm down.
Dongli stood up with careful, sliding steps towards Khavil. With each step, the ground around her froze with a thin layer of ice. A light breeze formed, with the cooling air around Dongli mixing with the still warm air of the rest of the arena. Her hands were held in front of her, snow forming around her fingertips, then melting as they landed on the rest of her thermal suit.
In the other three arenas, the Theradectans were going at it, spells thrown this way and that. Khavil instead followed Dongli’s lead, circling as she intoned the goddess of prophecy with ‘Cethan Atlenn’s Sight’ soon followed by ‘Modiu’s Warmth’. “Guess you don’t go by half-measures,” she said, before pointing all her pincers out and screeching, “Marnem Edqod’s Thrust.” A pillar of rock pushed out of the ground, its point thrusting out at the human.
Dongli quickly side stepped around the pillar, her steps quickening around the Theradectan. With the ground freezing, the human woman began sliding on it, moving faster. Her hand twirled in the air, conjuring a thin bolt of ice, and threw it at Khavil, probing for blindspots and weaknesses.
Khavil her eyes flashing yellow as dodged to the side, breathing heavily as she kept up the predictive spell. She pulled out two silk threads and threw them out to either side of Dongli before jumping at her, pulling on the lines for even more speed, fangs flashing as she went for the human’s legs.
Close quarter combat, Dongli understood more instinctively. She slid to a halt, crouching slightly, her hands held forward again, ready to act defensively and grab Khavil by the limbs as she charged at her.
The spider accepted the challenge, the glow in her eyes flashing once before disappearing as she turned her attention to her left arm, biting down on the wrist before yanking down, her legs kicking at the humans’ as she tried to throw her off balance.
Dongli winced, but took the opportunity to grab ahold of Khavil’s face, harsh, freezing fingertips becoming a very unpleasant experience on the large eyeballs. Still, the spider’s legs were a problem, knocking her down onto one knee as the two species grappled with one another. The human woman let go of Khavil with her right hand, then gave a quick jab under the spider’s throat.
Khavil hissed at the icy grasp and punch, but kept her grip on the arm while she bowled Dongli over in an attempted pin. “Blaze of Sekhreth!” she screeched, flames bursting off her chitin, the spider trying to overpower the human magically and physically.
Dongli’s heart raced. It took every gram of willpower to stay calm and meet the flames with an aura of freezing air that kept her exposed skin unsinged. However, in the process, her balance was completely thrown off, her body sent to the ground. The human woman’s eyes dilated, her breathing turning into a pant. Her heart raced. The fire was still bearing down on her and there were still too many damn legs.
She grit her teeth, her vision turned gray as she attempted to focus. With her left hand still occupied with the face, she hugged Khavil tight with her legs, wrapping around the back of the Theradectan’s body. With their bodies too close for the Theradectan’s pincers to strike at her, Dongli found the leverage to punch Khavil in the side of her neck, hard, several times.
“Do you have similar events on Zhuque?” the Baron asked, keeping close to the human.
Dongli nodded. She was wearing an androgynus tang suit again and carried a duffle bag with her equipment. “This reminds of the mixed martial arts tournaments my dad used to bring me to, until he and my mother got divorced.” She winced, a sharp cold forming over the back of her hand. She covered it with her other hand and continued. “Once I got into college, I actually got to go into orbit to see a micro-gravity performance with a layout like this: the audience top, bottom, and all around.”
“Yeah, guess when you’re bipedal it’s more difficult to use the ceiling,” Hennat said with a nod. He pushed through the crowd, eyes glancing at the alien walking behind him. “Come on people, plenty of gawking to do later.”
The human woman blushed, leaning down close to Hennat as they walked. “I hope they don’t look at me too closely. Close inspection is for your eyes only right now.”
“Let them gaze at my goddess, she deserves veneration,” the spider said, clicking his pincers as they walked up to their teammates. “Focus on the fight, not the eyes watching.”
“I’ll try to. These are still a lot more eyes and legs than I’m used to. Heavens, when was the last time I was in front of an audience? Right, at my graduation ceremony…” Dongli trailed off, greeting her teammates. “What’s the matchup?”
“Khavil of Atheworn Tech,” Yaidani said, pointing to a large black chitined spider, who was talking to her green and black comrades. “Specializes in stone spells, but dabbles in fire, so she’s gonna be a pain to batter down with your ice.”
“Ah, a classic relationship in RPG’s.” Dongli rolled her eyes. “Sounds dangerous. One of us could get pretty injured if we’re not careful. Any advice?”
“As long as you don’t aim for the head, go for it,” Crafza said, the hanger-on having taken an advisor position. “And make projectiles to throw instead of trying to freeze her body. Lot harder to melt a big chunk of ice being thrown at you than to warm your own chitin. Err, skin?”
“I wasn’t planning on freezing them anyways; I’m afraid I might accidentally freeze their blood and bust capillaries. Nobody needs to see that.” Dongli shook her head. “You want me to pelt them with ice balls? Seems like I might accidentally hit their face.”
“You get some leniency with projectiles,” Hennat said with a shrug. “The wind up for casting at range is usually seen as enough warning. Unless you pull off something like spraying them with ice going at supersonic speeds, you’ll be fine. And if you managed to do that, the pro-leagues or the military would be knocking on the door, disqualification or no.”
“Alright, thanks for the advice. I should get changed.” Dongli gave a quick gesture of thanks, then hurried into the lockers. Upon her return, she donned a slim, white body glove decorated with blue silhouettes of winter flora native to Zhuque. There were flags of the HFR, Li Ming, and Cailin woven into the shoulders, logos of a fashion design firm and a materials engineering firm at her breast. Most of her body was covered, except for her fingertips, her heels, and her toes. As she walked out, she started warmups by stretching her limbs and bouncing on her feet.
“An active thermal suit.” Dongli explained to her teammates. “Supposedly powered by my own body movement. There’s also supposed to be some self-repair going as well. I feel like a walking tech demo.”
“Very intricate,” Yaidani said, looking her up and down. “Hopefully works as advertised.”
Hennat was silent, scratching his head at the sight. “On one hand, it covers everything. On the other…” he muttered.
“Oh stop it,” Dongli scolded him, lightly knocking him on his back with her fist. “You see all of me often enough.”
“Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” the team captain said, shaking her head as announcements started blaring over the speaker system. “Get ready for your bout, first four are up, including Ms. Liu.”
“Wish me luck, Baron.” Dongli prepared to step away, but backtracked. She hesitated, contenting herself by grabbing one of his pincers tight for a second, then scurried off.
“Good luck,” Hennat said, waving as she ran off, before Yaidani bumped his legs..
“Adorable,” she said, clicking her pincers.
The rest of their exchange was lost in the chattering of the crowds as the human made her way to the circle, Khavil waiting for her, stretching out her pincers. “Is that a typical uniform for humans?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Dongli felt her heart beat louder and louder in her chest. She already felt the air cool around her and threatened her skin. All the alien eyes on her for the first time in a long while, in past public outings she would sweat, but now, the only thing keeping her from shuddering was the new suit.
She shook her head at her opponent. “No, we usually wear skimpier clothes during mixed martial art combat matches.” The human woman walked up to the Theradectan, meeting at the center, and bowed, with hand over first in front of her. “This is just for my own protection, against myself.”
“Hmm,” the black-chitined spider said, walking up and bowing to the human. “I’ll have to go to one of those sometime then. May the best fighter win, Sekhreth willing.”
“... Right.” Dongli replied awkwardly, then stepped back to her side of the ring. She knelt down on one knee and pressed the tips of her fingers down on the ground, silently waiting for the match to start.
Before a fighting began a small platform dropped from the ceiling, carrying a heavily robed Neolathian, a microphone held in pincers worn with age. “Welcome to Cailin University, my fellow countrywomen,” the spider said. “It’s a great honor, as Dean of our ancient facilities, to begin the season for these combat games. May Neolath smile upon us, as Sekhreth chooses her champions.”
Prayer concluded, the platform raised as a rainbow attired spider stepped in between the four circles. “I want good clean fights, show us your all,” the referee said, before raising her pincer. “Three, two, one, go!” she added, throwing her arm down.
Dongli stood up with careful, sliding steps towards Khavil. With each step, the ground around her froze with a thin layer of ice. A light breeze formed, with the cooling air around Dongli mixing with the still warm air of the rest of the arena. Her hands were held in front of her, snow forming around her fingertips, then melting as they landed on the rest of her thermal suit.
In the other three arenas, the Theradectans were going at it, spells thrown this way and that. Khavil instead followed Dongli’s lead, circling as she intoned the goddess of prophecy with ‘Cethan Atlenn’s Sight’ soon followed by ‘Modiu’s Warmth’. “Guess you don’t go by half-measures,” she said, before pointing all her pincers out and screeching, “Marnem Edqod’s Thrust.” A pillar of rock pushed out of the ground, its point thrusting out at the human.
Dongli quickly side stepped around the pillar, her steps quickening around the Theradectan. With the ground freezing, the human woman began sliding on it, moving faster. Her hand twirled in the air, conjuring a thin bolt of ice, and threw it at Khavil, probing for blindspots and weaknesses.
Khavil her eyes flashing yellow as dodged to the side, breathing heavily as she kept up the predictive spell. She pulled out two silk threads and threw them out to either side of Dongli before jumping at her, pulling on the lines for even more speed, fangs flashing as she went for the human’s legs.
Close quarter combat, Dongli understood more instinctively. She slid to a halt, crouching slightly, her hands held forward again, ready to act defensively and grab Khavil by the limbs as she charged at her.
The spider accepted the challenge, the glow in her eyes flashing once before disappearing as she turned her attention to her left arm, biting down on the wrist before yanking down, her legs kicking at the humans’ as she tried to throw her off balance.
Dongli winced, but took the opportunity to grab ahold of Khavil’s face, harsh, freezing fingertips becoming a very unpleasant experience on the large eyeballs. Still, the spider’s legs were a problem, knocking her down onto one knee as the two species grappled with one another. The human woman let go of Khavil with her right hand, then gave a quick jab under the spider’s throat.
Khavil hissed at the icy grasp and punch, but kept her grip on the arm while she bowled Dongli over in an attempted pin. “Blaze of Sekhreth!” she screeched, flames bursting off her chitin, the spider trying to overpower the human magically and physically.
Dongli’s heart raced. It took every gram of willpower to stay calm and meet the flames with an aura of freezing air that kept her exposed skin unsinged. However, in the process, her balance was completely thrown off, her body sent to the ground. The human woman’s eyes dilated, her breathing turning into a pant. Her heart raced. The fire was still bearing down on her and there were still too many damn legs.
She grit her teeth, her vision turned gray as she attempted to focus. With her left hand still occupied with the face, she hugged Khavil tight with her legs, wrapping around the back of the Theradectan’s body. With their bodies too close for the Theradectan’s pincers to strike at her, Dongli found the leverage to punch Khavil in the side of her neck, hard, several times.
