Reborn with a Necromancer System-Chapter 172: Kai vs Fenric - Part One

Kai got up off his seat and Vepice caught his wrist before he left the stands.

"Come back in one piece, alright?" she said, her voice soft and gentle, but resolute.

Kai gave her a confident smile. "I’ll do my best."

She didn’t let go immediately. Her fingers lingered a second longer than needed before she nodded and released him.

Kai nodded before walking briskly from the stands to the waiting room beneath the arena.

Kai stepped through the tunnel as the crowd roared overhead.

The announcer’s magically-boosted voice crackled through the arena, echoing with wild enthusiasm.

"Here is surely one match you’ve all been waiting for! The descendant of Angelica Trunsdale, and one of the most vicious fighters we’ve had this tournament so far! The young man who beat our beloved Durg! Let’s hear it for Alex Trunsdaaaaaale!"

The crowd responded like a tidal wave. Kai’s name, Alex’s name, was shouted from every side. Cheers, claps, and stomps of approval rumbled through the coliseum as he approached the arena platform.

He stood in the corridor’s shadow for a breath longer and raised his hand in front of him.

Six layered barriers. More than he’d used for any one person before.

They shimmered faintly around him, like translucent panes of reinforced glass. He focused the majority of their strength toward his front, where he suspected the first strike would land.

’If Fenric tries the same move from before, I won’t fall for it.’

He stepped into the light.

The arena stage was warm underfoot, the massive stone tiles still cracked from earlier battles. Kai’s gaze swept across the crowd, many leaned forward in their seats, wide-eyed. And then, just briefly, he spotted her.

Vepice, leaning over the railing with both hands clenched to her chest. She beamed at him, mouthing something he couldn’t hear. But he knew what it was.

"Good luck."

Across the field, the announcer’s voice boomed again.

"His opponent is none other than a man who has returned to us after a decade of training in the frozen temples of the northern mountains! Previously a one-time champion of the arena of kings. A dedicated monk with no weapon but his body! Let’s hear it for the undefeated, the unshakable, FENRIC!"

The cheers were strong, but not stronger than they were for Alex.

Kai felt something stir in his chest.

Pride.

He hadn’t expected to be popular. He hadn’t expected to matter to these people. But here he was. And they believed in him. Even if just for the thrill of the fight.

Fenric entered calmly, bare-chested beneath his tattered monk’s robes. He wore no shoes, and his expression was one of tranquil focus. Every muscle in his body was coiled.

Ready to go.

As they approached the center of the field, Fenric bowed with both hands together.

Kai mirrored the motion.

No words were exchanged.

"Fight!" the announcer roared.

They both stood still.

Like statues.

The energy shifted.

A tension built between them, like drawn wires stretched to their breaking point.

Then, Fenric dropped low into a wide stance, pressing one palm to the ground.

With a crack, the tile beneath him split.

A spiderweb fracture raced across the arena floor toward Kai with shocking speed.

’Is that-!’

Kai leapt to the side, but the crack followed, like a snake sensing its prey. The moment it reached him, an explosive force detonated upward.

BAM.

The impact shredded his barriers instantly, sending raw, targeted force directly into his legs. It didn’t tear his clothes. It bypassed them, striking only his body.

Kai stumbled back, catching his balance with a grunt.

"So it’s like Ki, or something?" he muttered aloud. "I dreamed about mastering some sort of ancient martial art that allowed stuff like Ki attacks..."

Fenric blinked, genuinely surprised. "You know of Ki?"

Kai grinned. "I knew it. I want to learn from you one day. But for now..."

He cracked his knuckles, shadow crawling across his arms.

"I’ve got to kick your ass."

Fenric smirked slightly, taking a step forward. "Let’s see if your will is stronger than mine."

Kai vanished in a shroud of shadows, launching forward with terrifying speed.

He watched carefully, not with his eyes, but with mana-sight, with the way the wind shifted and the air folded.

Fenric drew back a fist.

And in that moment, everything slowed.

Kai saw the flow of mana twist around the monk’s arm. The air itself parted, displaced by an unseen force. The Ki strike fired toward him like a cannon blast.

He watched as it blew away the mana in the air on the way to him.

’I can see it. If I can see it, I can avoid it!’

Kai ducked under it just in time. The pressure howled past his ears like a wave.

He closed the gap in a heartbeat. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Shadow magic propelled him forward. Wind magic sliced through resistance. Strengthening magic flooded his muscles.

He punched.

Fenric caught the blow effortlessly.

His palm didn’t even shake. The monk sighed.

"Without Ki, your fists are weak."

Then a knee struck Kai’s chin like a steel rod.

He flew backward, vision spinning. It wasn’t just force.

It was disruption.

The Ki reverberated through every nerve in his body, like it was trying to shake him apart from the inside.

He rolled once, twice, and came to his feet with a stagger.

’I’ve never been hit like that... Not even by Durg.’

His legs trembled slightly.

He smiled.

’This... is fun.’

"You smile?" Fenric asked, his voice as composed as ever, his breathing even. He stood tall in his loose monk’s robes, not a single bead of sweat on his brow.

Kai wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, still grinning through the dull ache in his jaw and the way his knees trembled beneath him.

"I do," Kai said. "This is an exciting fight."

Fenric tilted his head. There was no malice in his expression, just honest confusion.

"I am only here to see if my strength has improved. To see if my training was worth it. Excitement is not important for a fight."

Kai shook his head and forced himself upright. His vision wavered slightly, but he blinked through it.

’No... that’s where you’re wrong.’

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, cycling wind magic through his lungs to push more oxygen into his bloodstream.

He felt the adrenaline accompany the extra oxygen.

’Excitement is the fight.’

Most people feared combat. They dreaded pain. But Kai had learned the thrill of the fight after almost dying several times.

He stared across the arena.

This wasn’t just another fight. It was a puzzle. And puzzles, like all things, could be solved.

Fenric stepped forward again, silently. His movements were deceptively slow until he suddenly vanished and reappeared just meters from Kai.

No flash of magic, no distortion in the air. Just raw, honed movement.

’Is that also Ki?’

Kai barely raised his arms in time before Fenric’s next strike came. A sweeping palm thrust aimed at his gut.

He blocked the physical attack. But the Ki?

BOOM.

Invisible pressure slammed into him like a warhammer.

His half-rebuilt barriers cracked again, and Kai was flung backward. He hit the arena wall with a painful thud and left a crater before slumping to one knee.

’A second hit... fuck.’

His stomach screamed with internal bruising. His arms trembled from the strain.

Still, he laughed. The sound echoed in the sudden hush of the crowd.

Fenric paused.

"Why do you smile even now?" he asked, genuinely bewildered. His stance remained flawless.

Low to the ground and prepared for another strike.

Kai rose to his feet again. "Because... I’ve never had to think this hard in a fight."

He raised his hand, flexed his fingers, then closed his eyes for just a moment.

’If blocking physically won’t work, surely I can block in some other way. It doesn’t matter if I can see it if I can’t block or dodge it.’

He activated mana sight again, but not like before. He pushed it further. He dumped more energy into it, pouring everything into reading the flow of life force, the vibration in the air, the tension before each blow. It hurt to maintain. It hurt to feel everything.

And then he saw it.

Ki.

Not mana, but something similar. Denser. Slower. More refined. It pulsed through Fenric’s limbs. Gathering in his legs. His arms. His fingertips.

’There. That’s the tell. I can see where he focuses his Ki now.’

[Learned: Sense Life.]

Kai had no time to celebrate.

Fenric was on him again, this time faster than before.

A third strike.

A rising elbow.

Blunt, close-range, almost impossible to evade.

Kai threw up his arms, crossing them in front of his chest and layering a final, fresh barrier across them. He infused it not just with raw magic, but his will. His intent to endure.

The Ki strike hit.

CRACK.

His barrier shattered instantly, but the force was absorbed, somewhat, by the layer underneath, by his force of will.

He was still tossed back, skidding across the tiles, but this time, he landed on his feet.

Barely.

’That’s three... If he lands another clean shot like that, I’m done.’

Kai had read it. He understood what Fenric was doing, even if he couldn’t replicate it.

’He breathes in to gather Ki, then pushes it through his limbs. All I need is... time. One opening. Just one.’

Fenric nodded once, acknowledging Kai’s endurance. "Few remain standing after one of my strikes, let alone three."

Kai exhaled. "That’s because most people fight for pride. Or glory."

His grin widened again.

"I fight because it’s fun."

"No. It’s because your body seems to naturally understand Ki. If you do beat me, I can give you some training, as you asked."

’An even bigger incentive. Perfect.’