76 Conditions (1/2)
Unfortunately, a simple verbal rejection didn't seem to be the deciding factor in this exchange, as Jhan, pulled out a purple card from his jacket's pocket and held it up before Atid. Looking at the purple card which contained the Chinese character for ”Battle,” Atid spoke as if he was breathless as he said, ”Are you really going to waste a card for this purpose? How will you ”end my days” or whatever, if you use the card her… Don't tell me you have two cards?!”
”Che! While you've enjoyed your life here as an instructor, I, on the other hand, haven't been playing around! I've got much more than just two cards, and for my goals, no amount of work exceeds my ability! Now pick the conditions and let's get this over with.”
”...” With the purple card involved, Atid couldn't reject Jhan. The purple card being a mandate of the highest order from the Martial Society, its appearance made it clear that today wouldn't end without a fight. But, as he was the one being challenged, Atid could choose certain conditions from the established battle formats of the Martial Society. So at the moment, he was considering what kind of battle he was least likely to lose.
It was certainly out of the question for him to put himself up against Jhan as they were neither in a contained enough locale to secure the safety of the people around them should they truly enter a full-blown fight to the death, nor was this the best time to challenge Jhan as Atid was at the brink of breaking through to beyond the King Stage. But looking at the people Jhan brought to sub in for him, as it was without a doubt their purpose in being here, Atid couldn't help but frown as every and every one of them were at the prime of their levels.
Along Jhan's lineup, there was a lass at the peak of the Mortal Stage, a man wearing a black belt who stood at the peak of the Pawn Stage, and a final man wearing a red belt boasting cultivation at the Peak of the Soldier Stage. Unbeknownst to all but Elizabeth and Sun, these three were people that partook in Elizabeth's would-be kidnapping. The lass was the girl with the rare lightning physique, the man donning a black belt was previously Level 8 when Elizabeth met him, and the man wearing the red belt was the man who had spoken to Elizabeth at that time; somehow he had crossed a whole stage and now stood at Level 15, the peak of the Soldier Stage!
Only Elizabeth knew something fishy was going on under the scenes, as her medically trained eyes picked up on some subtle clues that the two men's apparent jumps in strength were unnaturally produced. Even from a distance, she could imbue her eyes with Inner Strength and tell that there was a massive amount of damage still in the midst of progressing within their bodies and especially in the man who now stood at the Soldier Stage. She couldn't tell their ranks as they hadn't activated their Qi, thus leaving her status functions unable to return a value for their strength, but it couldn't be more obvious that those two had done something ridiculous to gain strength at the expense of their future potential and longevity…
”...I'll chose the option of best out of three.” Atid didn't feel comfortable leaving it all down to Elizabeth even if it was the best option; pragmatically speaking. Though he trusted her strength, she had seen her spar against Jane and Sophie in the past and firmly believed her lack of experience might lead to moments of hesitation and inevitable defeat. Thus instead, he chose what looked to be the best option and chose three people from the dojo, who matched the cultivation ranks of Jhan's people to fight.
Atid said, ”As for the losing condition, what do you even have that's comparable to Elizabeth in objective value?”
Jhan turned to the lass representing the Mortal Stage fighter from his side and said, ”Go ahead and give them a formal introduction.”
The violet-eyed girl gave him a bow before standing a bit closer to his side and saying, ”My name is Irene Gilavante and I come from the Gilavante family. Born with a rare Active Lightning Physique and possessing extensive mastery in formations, I swear upon my very will and integrity as a Martial Practitioner to uphold the promise of faithfully serving you should my master be unfortunate enough to lose this duel.”
”...” Unless Atid spoke up about Elizabeth's near-godlike ability as a Acupoint Master, it would seem that the girl Jhan offered was every bit as good as Elizabeth had thus far shown herself to be. Reluctantly, Atid had to make his way over to Elizabeth and explain the kind of predicament they were in.