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74 - The Puzzle
🕑 Added 2025-03-23 21:29:07 +0000 UTCLexie watched the show for a few seconds before she made sense of what was happening.
It seemed that they were playing a modified ‘capture the flag’. Except that the flag was sitting on Conrad’s head, attached by a cute pink headband.
The three teens opposite him were probably all physical types. Or at the very least, they didn’t know how to do anything mana-based. One of them had enhanced speed and tried to rush Conrad fast enough to get the flag before he could notice. The problem with that plan was that Conrad was a Berserker. They had crazy fast reflexes and even when the girl was within inches of him, hand shooting out faster than Conrad could probably see, the minute she was about to grab the flag, he sidestepped her, grabbed her, and flung her back across the field where she landed on her feet.
And she was the best of the bunch and the only one who managed to get that close.
The other two were if Lexie had to guess, a brawler and warrior-type fighters. Their speed was so-so, and their strategy was to attack straight up and beat Conrad out of the flag, which was ridiculous to anyone who took two seconds to think about it. Conrad was almost a Golden Glove champion. He’d withstood a pummeling from the longest-standing number one in the league, the best brawler they had. Plus he was a berserker who was known for being able to take deathly blows. Facing him head-on was not the answer.
But it didn’t stop them from trying.
Until Conrad grabbed each of them by the leg, flinging them back across the field too, much to the delight and simultaneous groaning of the crowd, some of whom had somehow thought that there was actually a chance those three would take down Conrad Grace.
“Lexie?”
Lexie spun around searching for who had called her name. She soon located the moving forms running up to her from the distance.
“Abernathy?” He approached with Chris and Doyle on either side of him.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asked them, grinning.
“Abernathy lives around here,” Doyle explained. “And we saw on social media that Conrad was here, so we hauled ass from Abernathy’s house and came down.”
“Did you guys run all the way?” It seemed so. They were dripping with sweat.
“Uh-huh. Abernathy almost had an asthma attack–”
“I did not,” The bespectacled boy protested even though he was practically wheezing as he panted and his glasses were fogged over.
“–but luckily he didn’t and we made it,” Doyle concluded like the other boy hadn’t spoken. Lexie chuckled.
“Actually, it’s a good thing I ran into you here,” she said to Abernathy. “I didn't want to tell you until I had something concrete, because I didn't want to get your hopes up but I spoke to my dad and he’s talking to his college to see if he can take you on as for a kind of internship.” An eleven-year-old intern would be a joke back on Earth 2 but it was a common thing here, where children often had to figure out their life paths earlier.
"Wait what?” Abernathy's eye bulged out. Elation almost crept into his face, but then something dulled it again.
“Didn’t you mention your dad teaches Magical Elements?”
Lexie nodded. “Yup.”
He sighed. “I'm a mundane."
“Yeah, I told him. Also, he's kind of mundane now too. Hasn't stopped him from teaching."
“I mean he’s the archmage. It’s different for him.”
“True, but that’s exactly why I thought it would be good for you to learn from him. You can learn a lot of skills from him, skills that don't necessarily require magic." Like potion-making. While magic was needed for the final step, the rest of the process could be done by anyone. "You could work in collaboration with a mage as a mundane potion-maker. I think you're smart enough to pick up something like that pretty easily."
Abernathy's ears reddened.
“That is, if you don’t mind learning under a [villain]," Lexie added.
“Yeah, I’ve never cared about it,” he said firmly. “People get tagged as [villains] for all sorts of stupid things. If a college hired him anyway, he can’t be that bad.”
Lexie grinned and her eyes twinkled. “And that’s exactly why I recommended you for the role.”
Abernathy's lip quirked, the redness on his face deepening.
“Thank you. That’s nice of you.”
Lexie nodded, feeling a little self-conscious at the other two boys staring at her. And they were sharing secretive smiles for whatever reason.
“Yeah,” Chris said with his trademark mastermind gleam in his eyes. “Really nice of Lexie to do that for poor old Abernathy.”
“Uh-huh,” Doyle said with an identical expression. “That’s something only a real friend would do. Or maybe even a real ‘more-than-friends.’”
“A real female more-than-friends.”
They snickered and Abernathy glared at them.
Lexie didn’t know what they were on about but before she could ask, she was distracted by a squeal as Conrad tossed the girl in the air, grabbed her by her ankle and flung her back. The crowd laughed and clapped at the sight of her flailing and crashing. Even as she spat grass out of her mouth, she too was grinning.
“Any of you guys know what’s going on?” Lexie asked them still watching the scene.
“Oh yeah,” Doyle spoke up. “You know how Conrad announced his retirement a few months ago?”
“Yeah.” Xena had mourned for a whole week. “Do you know why?"
Doyle shrugged. “I think maybe he’s decided to be a hero after all, or something like that. Or maybe he just got tired of fighting. Who knows? But he says he wants to train new fighters before he leaves for good. He’s searching for apprentices to take on for free.”
“Oh? And he's looking here?
“Yeah. His girlfriend lives around here. Plus, since it’s a lower-income neighborhood, he wants to give kids from here an opportunity to earn a living for their families. Lots of people here are mundane. Like Yves over there. Others have mundane parents. So Conrad’s deal is like a life-saver to them. He says anyone who snatches that flag off his head receives free training for at least a year at the gym he now owns. Plus he'll pay for their costumes and any fighter's fees, and will also endorse them on their first match, which gives the fighter an instant boost at the start of their career."
“That’s nice of him.” Though Lexie still thought Top Dog was the better fighter, and her personal favorite, she had to admit that, personality-wise, Conrad might have him beat. He seemed affable, kind, and did charity stuff all the time and not always the obvious kind with tons of publicity. He reportedly donated almost everything he won in his matches, and he did surreptitiously too. Fans only found out due to serious FBI-level digging.
People thought it was just to keep up his image, but he seemed to genuinely want to.
And while he wasn’t the most eloquent at interviews, he always seemed genuine, if self-deprecating, referring to himself as a 'poor little rich brat'.
She guessed maybe it was a thing about being a [Hero’s] kid, being almost apologetic for their own existence, and attempting to make up for it by doing good things. Theo, during their brief conversation, gave off the same vibes. Maybe it was something they were taught as children, that sense of responsibility. Or guilt. Whichever way one chose to look at it.
Lexie didn’t think she had it. But her father certainly did.
“Yeah, he's real nice," Chris spoke up, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Except I don’t think anyone is going to get the flag. This is like the twentieth group that has tried. He even started letting them go three at a time and no one has still come close. I think he’s just doing this for fun at this point.”
And Conrad did seem to be having fun flinging kids up and down. Conversely, Lexie could see the crowd start to get bored with the current group's lack of progress muttering amongst themselves.
“How hard can it be to snatch a damn flag?” someone said.
“If it’s so easy you go do it,” another person countered with snort.
“How long have they been going at it?” Lexie asked Chris.
“Like five minutes. Each group gets about that long.”
“I see.” Lexie watched as the teenage girl finally got tired of losing, stomped her feet, and then stormed off.
“Oh come on, don’t be like that.” One of her partners called out.
Conrad shrugged. “You can let her go. I think your time is up anyway.”
“Aw, man.” The boy sighed and he walked away with the other one looking disappointed.
"Who's next?" Conrad called out.
Hands shot up in the air, people straining against the fence to get his attention. He glanced around, pointed at three people on the other side and they instantly scrambled into the field.
“You're not going to try out, Chris?” Doyle teased.
“Nah. I know my limits. And I haven’t even started official training yet.”
“Chris has a warrior affinity,” Abernathy told Lexie. “But he thinks he can get a Knight affixation."
“I don't think,” Chris said. "I know."
“Not a chance. You don't have a chivalrous bone in your body."
"That's not what you said when I gave you the last slice of pizza that one time."
"Yeah after you already took a giant chomp out of it."
“Oh I’ve been meaning to ask Chirs,” Lexie said, realizing this was an easy way to answer her query. “Do you know anything about how people transfer their mana into physical points?”
“Yup. My dad did that. He says it’s the same mechanism by which weaponists transfer mana into their weapons.” A weaponist was essentially someone who had both a mana and physical ranking and chose to dedicate those affix those mana points to an artifact, evolving the artifact and leveling it up with them. Like Lexie with cards, except this time it would be with a weapon.
Typically weaponists had a C or B mana-ranking and had a higher physical ranking. Most weaponists Lexie knew were heroes, like Lancelot and The Sword Maiden.
Lexie pursed her lips as she analyzed what Chris said. “So you’re saying that…they basically treat part of their body parts, like their fists, as weapons and pour their mana in that.”
“More or less. They affix their mana onto whatever pathways they want to develop and that becomes their 'weapon' of choice, leveling up when they do.”
“Huh.” Well, that was a creative way of getting out of being a C-rank mana user. Why be a low-rate mage, when you boost your physical abilities to become a top-rate fighter?
Lexie might have considered that path if she had a physical ranking.
Five minutes later, a whistle announced that the next group's time was up and they picked their haggard forms off the floor and walked away with sunken shoulders.
“Don’t be upset,” Conrad called. “You did well. Just consider your hand-eye coordination next time. Yves, you favor your left too much. It’s a crutch. And James, learn to control your speed. Faster isn’t always better, sometimes it might be more beneficial for you to go slow and time your attack. Hans, careful with that Lasso or you'll take your own eye out next time."
The boys each nodded in turn. Ironically, the criticism brightened up their expression significantly, maybe because it showed that Conrad was taking them seriously enough to note the flaws in their technique.
“Who next?”
More hands went up, waving in the air. He pointed at three of them and
beckoned them over.
The minute they stepped into the field, Lexie could tell these three were different. One of them was a girl with a long black ponytail and a scar on her eyebrow. She was holding what looked like a water gun, but having seen a water gun used to melt the skin of a giant monster, Lexie knew not to underestimate those things.
But it was the fierce look in her eye that truly caught Lexie's attention. The girl looked like she wanted to crush Conrad.
Conrad seemed to think so too because he grinned as though pleased at the prospect. “Name?”
“Jenna,” she said.
“Vlad,” a boy with platinum blonde hair behind her also said. He had no weapons and stood in a boxer's stance, so Lexie guessed he was a brawler.
“Kristoff,” said the final guy, a brunette. Likely another brawler.
“Lovely, glad that we got the introductions out of the way. Now let me know when you're ready."
The second thing that set this group apart was that they didn’t charge in immediately. Jenna called the other two boys over, and they put their heads together to discuss strategy. Lexie was impressed. At least they’d learned that brute strength and speed weren’t enough against Conrad. They also couldn't hope to tire him out because exhaustion just did not exist for Berserkers. They had constant renewable energy feeding into their battle lust, making them even more determined to beat their opponents.
So, as Lexie knew it, the trick with Berserkers was to use their madness against them. To get them into a frenzy, confuse them, find the chip in their armor, and then take advantage to deal a decisive swift blow.
At least, that was what Lexie would have done.
But she still didn’t know if it would have worked because truthfully, unlike his earlier matches, Conrad’s matches after beating Top Dog had been devoid of any traces of madness. He’d maintained the number two spot for a year without going all out like he did for that TD match. He'd won and most of his subsequent flights with a relentless calm.
And even now he looked remarkably zen. This was just a fun game for him.
Finding a chink in his armor would be remarkably difficult
The group finally finished their strategizing and turned back.
“Ready?” Conrad said.
The three of them nodded silently.
“You can start.”
The three teens took the best tactic available. Attacking all at once. But they did something different in that they buffered their attacks. The girl went first pelting Conrad with metallic-looking BB gun pellets. They would hurt but not enough to do much more than bruise given that they were probably abiding by circuit code and regulations.
She didn't shoot all at the same place. She shot a few at his head, then at his left shoulder, and another at his feet, all in quick session.
He dodged the headshot without effort, and the shoulder shot, but the second dodge oriented his body in a way that the ankle shot was a close call. The girl didn’t stop, squeezing out the same three shots again in close succession. Accurate shots too, considering how fast they were coming. She must have been a sharpshooter. Probably a soldier-type.
At first, Lexie thought the first set of hits was a fluke because apart from the headshot, none of the other hits were vital points.
But then Lexie remembered. Xena had once told her that Conrad had a long standing shoulder injury due to that fight with Top Dog. And he’d had a match recently which might have injured his ankle seeing as how fervently Jenna was targeting that last.
She was aiming for his weak spot, and using the other two shots, which he would need to avoid, to get him into a position where it would be hard to dodge the ankle shot.
And the two boys made it even harder to dodge because, the first one, Vlad, was a brawler who could clear twelve feet with one leap. As Conrad avoided the bullets, Vlad aimed a punch at his stomach which distracted Conrad from seeing Kristoff’s subsequent kick. Kristoff did a fancy flying kick which marked him as some kind of martial-arts type fighter.
Everything was happening so fast Lexie could barely track it.
Conrad blocked Vlad's punch and when he turned to block Kristoff, Vlad reached for the flag.
At the same time, Jenna fired off three more shots.
Lexie gasped in confusion at first, because Kristoff was in the way of the bullets.
But at the last minute, he dropped to the ground, as though pulled by an invisible force. Conrad had already ducked to the side to avoid both Kristoff and the bullets. Nevertheless, the bullets arched to follow him.
It all happened so fast, that Lexie would only get time to process it after it was done.
She figured out that Kristoff actually had some kind of magnetic or telekinetic powers.
That was what he used to drop his body so fast and also to arc the bullets.
One of the bullets hit Conrad in the shoulder but he dodged the headshot and the leg shot, by leaping out of the way. It was a clumsy leap, like his body moved before his mind did but it cleared him.
And though the group's first attack ultimately failed, this was the closest anyone had ever gotten, given by the gasp of excitement in the now silent crowd who were completely immersed in the fight. A few people even cheered that Conrad had finally gotten hit.
And Conrad himself looked so darned excited about it.
“Wow,” he said. “You kids aren’t playing a game. You’re here to win.”
“Obviously," Kristoff said and lifted his hand again.
They used the same tactic, using Vlad as a distraction while Kristoff curved the bullets in whatever direction they thought Conrad would bend to avoid Vlad. And Lexie had to admit it was a good strategy. The problem was that Conrad was still too fast for them, and now that he could see it coming, he’d gotten very good at dodging blows, attempts to snatch the flag, and shots to his feet in particular. Sometimes he would take the shoulder shots, but he kept the ankle safe, to the point of once doing a backflip to avoid it. Another time he fell backwards dramatically but caught himself on his elbow and within seconds he had flipped back.
The crowd cheered for that and he laughed.
On the other end, the other three were starting to get frustrated. Lexie could tell that they thought this tactic would be a winner and didn’t prepare much in case it failed. To be fair, they didn’t have much time to, and also it was a strategy that would have probably worked on anyone that wasn't’ Conrad Grace. It was just that the man was terrifyingly fast, resilient and so annoyingly indefatigable.
Lexie had a whole new respect for Top Dog now. How on Earth did he beat this guy?
Towards the end of their time, the group finally switched tactics. This time, it seemed that Kristoff ran and used his magnet powers to propel himself forward toward Conrad. And when he got close, he shifted his hand and aimed for Conrad's feet.
Veins popped out on Kristoff’s head, and his hands shook which told Lexie that he was pouring everything he had into this.
“Now,” he screamed and Jenna started shooting Conrad like a madwoman.
Conrad tried to run but he frowned and glanced at his feet. He couldn’t move. Like his feet were glued to the ground.
And as Kristoff got close enough to grab the flag, Conrad bent to one side then the next, moving like one of those inflatable men. The smile on his face matched.
The bullets finally riddled his body, some ripping his shirt, and Lexie could tell from the impact that it hurt. One of them even almost got him in the eye. But Conrad just kept smiling.
He roared and then ruptured whatever magnetic connection he had with Kristoff. He jumped across the field.
Both Kristoff and Vlad gave chase in desperation and it turned a little slap-stick.
“Stay till asshole," Kristoff snarled.
“Nope,” he said happily, prancing about. The crowd laughed at the comical scene. When they leaped onto Conrad again, he caught them both by their shirts and he windmilled them, sending them to opposite sides of the field. It was a hard landing.
And it seemed Jenna was out of bullets.
She sighed and put her gun down.
“That was actually pretty good, guys,” Conrad said, cheerily. “Not bad at all. I don't have too many notes, just that you always wanna have a plan B in case plan A doesn't work out. And a plan C in case plan B fails. And so on. You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready, you know.
Also...Vlad was it? Yeah. I like the leapfrogging thing you did. That was great, but I think you would get more power with more bending of the knees. It won’t be pretty and it will give you a froggish look but it'll be a much better result."
The group nodded their disappointment and then walked out to considerable applause from the audience that had grown. Conrad finally turned to the crowd again. "Alright. Who is next?
Lexie put her hand up.
Abernathy gasped. “Lexie? What are you doing?”
Doyle and Chris just stared at her.
But she said nothing. She knew what this was for, and while she didn't want to join the circuit, she was itching for a fight with Conrad Grace. Apart from it being a chance to test out the battle readiness of her current deck, it was also just too good a bragging story to pass up.
It was a way to test herself too.
She didn’t have to win. But she wanted to. And she thought she could. She felt an inexplicable excitement thrumming in her. Like when she played an MtG game with her grandpa or arranged puzzle pieces to start forming a full picture. She recalled the satisfaction when slid the last piece, when she won.
This wasn’t about the fighting necessarily. That wasn’t the part that drew her.
She simply wanted to solve the puzzle that was beating Conrad Grace.
Conrad scanned around and he picked two other people. And then his eyes fell on Lexie. A little bit of confusion ruffled his eyebrow, because Lexie looked significantly younger and frailer than anyone else who had tried their luck.
"Are you crazy?" Abernathy hissed. But Lexie resolutely kept her hand up, staring him dead in the eye. She wanted to do this.
His finger hesitated on her for a second, and then something about her expression must have convinced him. He smiled and pointed at her. “You.”
