Two days went by and Monday arrived. Ning woke up early and went to the cafeteria to meet up with Saphandra.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm ready," Saphandra said.
"Are you not worried at all?" Ning asked.
"No," Saphandra said. "I will win."
Ning smiled. He liked seeing that confidence in her. Besides, he realized there was no reason to be scared. After all, she was one of the finalists in a competition that spanned galaxies.
"Well, you'll need to be careful still," Ning said. "I'm very much sure he double summons as well. I don't see how simply wind alone can bypass the barrier in the last fight."
"Don't you dare ask your system for the answer," Saphandra suddenly said.
"No, no, I haven't. I promised I won't. Geez, you need to relax a little," Ning said.
"It's hard to come across a match that I am excited for. I don't want you to ruin the surprises that lie ahead," she said.
After the two of them finished eating, they left for the arena. Saphandra was taken away by some staff while Ning walked to the seats alone.
Once he was there, he once again was surprised by just how many people were there. There were just as many people here like last time.
'Are people that much excited about Saphandra's fight? Her first match shouldn't garner so much attention,' he thought.
Of course, Ning understood they were here for Barry, but as far as they knew, this was going to be a short fight. So it didn't make sense for them to have come here for Barry again and in just 2 days at that too.
"Did you watch the last match?" someone spoke near him.
"No, I wasn't able to get a ticket," another man said.
"Me neither. That's why I came so early today," the first man said.
"I heard Barry barely won the last match," the second man said.
"No way, he had the fight in the bag," a third person joined in.
As Ning heard their talk and the other people's talk, he quickly came to understand why the arena was so full today.
These were people that weren't able to see Barry's match last Saturday and had thus bought today's tickets to see him.
'He's quite the superstar, isn't he?' Ning thought.
The host came out and started introducing the new fighters. Barry needed no introduction, while Saphandra had nothing to introduce her by.
This was her first match so she was a blank slate.
After seeing the two of them walk out from either side of the arena, Ning walked over to the betting area.
High above the betting room, the two contestant's odds were written.
Barry had -92 on him, while Saphandra had 65. This means for every 92 pearls someone bet on Barry, they would get back a single pearl. However, for every Pearl they bet on Saphandra, they would get back 65 pearls.
It was obvious who the arena and audience thought was favored in his match.
Ning smiled a little bringing out about 100 Pearls to bet. However, before he could bet, the arena went silent.
Ning turned around to see that Barry had taken the center stage and was saying something.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but since you are all betting on this match, I would like to place a bet with this lady too," he said.
Saphandra narrowed her eyes as her mind churned to translate the words. "What bet?" she spoke.
"If I win, I would like to make you mine," Barry said.
Saphandra didn't immediately understand what he said, so she didn't show any response. But the crowd understood it and was shocked.
After a few seconds, Saphandra understood it too and her eyes narrowed.
"What's in it for me?" she asked.
"If you win, I will give up my favorite suite to you," Barry said.
Saphandra cocked her head as she didn't understand some of those words. Ning quickly translated the words and sent them into her ears.
Saphandra was surprised to hear him, but she didn't let it be shown on her face.
"Isn't the suite tied to the number 1 fighter in the arena?" Saphandra asked.
"Yes, it is," Barry said.
"Then no need. I can get there myself," Saphandra said.
"Ooh, ambitious, aren't we?" Barry said. "Then tell me, what do you want?"
Saphandra thought for a moment and said, "If you lose, we fight again tomorrow."
Barry's smirk widened. "You are a bit too ambitious, and that will be your downfall, lady," he said. "Very well then. If I win, I get you. If you win, you get me."
Saphandra smiled back as she understood what he meant.
The crowd was praising and booing from all around the arena as the talk of the bet was clearly heard by all of them.
Ning turned around to see that the betting odds had surprisingly changed after the bet as they believed Barry would fight extra hard now.
Now, the bets were -100 for barry, and 80 for Saphandra. Without any hesitation, Ning brought out 200 pearls and bet them on Saphandra.
The rest of the people went crazy and bet for Barry as they had come to do.
Ning returned back to his seat and waited for the match to start.
Once the two contestants had moved to the edge of the seat, the referee moved in between them and got them ready.
Saphandra took a deep breath as she calmed herself before the fight started. Her powers were of one note, so she had to be extra careful of how much of it she used in every fight.
She crouched a little as she got into a fighting position while Barry also got ready.
The referee saw that and shouted, "Fight!"
The crowd erupted into shouts and cheers as Barry made the first move.
He suddenly took off with incredible speed and appeared in front of Saphandra. Just then, his right arm changed as blood seeped out from inside and formed a blade around it.
Saphandra understood easily that he had summoned the powers of a Blood beast.
