IHPM Chapter 175: Bad Luck

A.N.: Here's a revision: The dueling tournament is about to begin. There's this Crimson haired chick whose lil' bro was hurt by Chris, and she's dangerous and she's currently staring at him.

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When the woman in red glanced at him, for some reason, Chris felt goosebumps all over.

He saw the woman's eyes seemed to narrow down on him for a moment after which it was back to normal, as if under occlumency as she looked away.

'What the heck?!' Chris once again checked his stealth and occlumency. Why did she give him that look?

'Maybe... I'm just too handsome?' He ventured a guess as he looked around at some other female participants who were throwing flirtatious glances at him.

'Yeah, that must be it,' he sighed. So that's how Fleur feels. It was certainly tiring… not at all! It felt damn great!

…

On the other hand, Anastasia once again looked at Chris after some time. This was the audacious person who'd hurt her brother. From the unique powers, she can sense that he's certainly not normal.

But… it's hidden quite well. Even Vlad doesn't seem to be able to sense anything out of ordinary. Though not her. She'll just need to be closer so that he's in the range.

Her red lips imperceptibly curved upwards. 'This is getting more and more interesting,'
She had just come around because she had noticed some anomalies in this guy. But it seems that there's more to this guy than she'd thought.

She had awakened the best unique power any Vampire could dream of. If Vlad ever knew of the true extent of her powers, he'd have never let her live a single moment longer.

So, she was not wrong if she had the mindset of someone high and mighty looking down on everyone.

And as someone who's dared to hurt her baby brother, he's going to pay.

…

After Anastasia was introduced, the commentator and host, Makar Orlov moved onto the next person.

“And our next guest whom I’d like to introduce to everyone, coming all the way from France, is a former two time world champion, Durant Martin! Apparently, he’s come to support his son who’s representing France in this under 17 Championship.”

When Durant was introduced, Chris got distracted and ignored what just happened as he clapped and cheered for Durant along with others.

Chris had to admit, his father was skilled. Winning the dueling championship when there were chances of even an Exalted participating was a big deal. And he won two times, showing that it was not all luck.

In dueling, power is not always the deciding factor. It’s the amalgamation of skill, concentration, discipline, hard work, ruthlessness, quick action and reaction and most importantly, tricks and combos.

And Durant had all these in spades. He has a chance to beat strong opponents if he can just hit them with simple spells before they can hit him. Thus, it is doubtful what would have happened in Chris vs Durant if Chris was still holding back like always while Durant was serious and not being threatened by his blood sucking wife about her son even getting a scratch.

After the introductions were done, Makar spread out his one hand grandly while touching his wand to his throat with the other,
"So, now that we're done with intros, let's move on to the matchings!"

"This time, 132 Magical communities are participating in this tournament. And each community has sent two representatives. The information on the representatives has been sent to our team and the matchings will be arranged in a way that no strong contenders will face each other during the beginning matches."

Chris nodded his head as he suppressed a grin. He shouldn't be excited since it was bad news for him.

They need the audience to be entertained until the finals. So, they're arranging the matches in a way that the strongest of the contenders don't accidentally face each other in the beginning and get eliminated.

So… for Chris who is someone quite young and seems to be weak compared to other contenders, he'll have to face strong opponents since those strong opponents would be able to beat him easily and advance to the next round.


Fleur saw him grinning and elbowed him.
"You're hopeless! I was worried for nothing." she huffed. She had thought that Chris would feel bitter about the unfairness of having to face stronger opponents to advance, but here he is, looking excited.

Chris shrugged, "What can I do? I really do enjoy crushing strong and arrogant geniuses."

Fleur was about to retort but she suddenly paused.

"Wait—"
She recalled how she was also thoroughly "crushed" by him the first time they had dueled.

So… she is just another genius he enjoyed defeating, huh?
"I must have looked like a clown to you," she muttered in embarrassment.

Seeing her pouting face, Chris could easily guess what she was thinking. He shrugged laughingly.
"Well you were a very cute clown, if that helps."

"No it doesn't!"

While they were bickering silently in their little world, the rest of the participants including Yang Wei and Wu Mei were focused on the huge projector screen that was going to display the matchings.

"Oh, it's out." muttered Chris as he checked for his match.

While trying to find his name, he did find Fleur's name on the list since it was among the top.
"Well, it's a small world, isn't it?" He muttered, a smirk rising on his face. If flag magic did exist, he had done a great job at raising one.

Fleur was matched against one of those losers from Britain who paid their way here.

Fleur laughed, "He had tried to mock you, right? Worry not, my princess. I'll get your dignity back and take revenge for you."

Chris was still busy searching for his name.
"You are so chivalrous. My innocent heart can't bear it," he muttered in sarcasm.

To be honest, she really did not need to do anything. Their lives were already over the moment they had tried running their mouths in front of him without any provocation from his side.

He was supposed to be the bully here damn it.

"I found mine!" Shouted Yang Wei excitedly as he pointed.

Chris followed his direction.
"Africa, huh? Uadagou School of Magic is as old as Hogwarts. Self Transformation magic and wandless casting. You better be careful,"

Yang Wei nodded gratefully. And they heard Wu Mei gasp at this moment.

Her match turned out to be against the crimson haired douche bag!

Yang Wie got excited,
"Wu Mei, teach that guy a lesson for me!" He was inspired by the scene of Fleur saying the same thing for Chris.

Wu Mei just ignored him. Her countenance had turned severe and Chris could understand why.

'Even if the crimson guy's a douchebag, that douchebag is strong.' thought Chris seriously. He could tell that much.

He turned to Wu Mei,
"I'd be careful if I were you. The guy's a psycho, and a rule breaker."

You know, as they say… takes one to know one.

Wu Mei glanced at Chris for a moment then nodded.
"I know."

Chris finally found who he was matched against. It was against someone from Kimbanda, whatever that place was. It sounded quite familiar.

Fleur also saw it and paled instantly.
"This is bad." She muttered as she looked back at him in concern.

Chris looked at her in confusion.
"Why? What's this place anyway?"

That made her frown.
"Were you not paying attention? This was the only country your dad had warned us against. 'Quit the fight. It's not worth it.' he had told us."

Chris scratched his head.
"Uh...did he now? I was… a bit distracted. Can you tell me about it?"

Fleur face-palmed.
'Oh, of course he was!' She thought in anger as she recalled how that bitch and Chris used to be busy with each other while they thought she and Durant were not looking.

Yang Wei, who had heard their conversation, also looked alarmed.
"Brother Chris, I'd advise against fighting the match. They cultivate demonic arts!"

Fleur explained in more detail.
"Kimbandia, a magical country whose location no one knows, participates only once in a few decades. They practice Black Magic related to voodoos, rituals, spirits and sacrifices. They aren't people you want to face in a fight."

"....Whut?"
'Are you shitting me?'
Why did he turn out to be this unlucky?

Chris shook his head.
"No matter what, I'm not going to quit. I mean, you've seen me, right? How can that guy beat me?" Chris was never the one to give up easily.

Fleur sighed. She was also feeling quite vexed that Chris would have to leave so early. She was looking forward to seeing other people suffering the same fate as her. But,

"The point is not if you can win or not," she explained in a defeated tone. "Kimbandians… their magic is quite weird… and powerful. Even if you win, the price of victory would be quite high if you get cursed. Also, you don't want to make them your enemy. Their curses and voodoo magic are quite mysterious and dangerous, and they are extremely petty."

Chris realized what she was talking about.
They might take revenge on you if you defeat them in the very first round. Even your family might be involved.

"They are a bunch of shameless, petty and immoral people. They should be punished by the heavens,"
Wu Mei, who had been quiet for this whole time also couldn't help but add her opinion on the matter.

Chris raised up his hands, "So… let me get this straight. Everyone here knows about them except for me?"

Fleur scoffed. "And why would you even know about them? You're from Britain, currently one of the most back water magical country. Do you guys even have an international newspaper?"

"YOU—!…. are kinda right. I never really paid much attention to the world," Chris realized. He was still stuck in the Harry Potter series, not realizing that the woman really couldn't add any more details in just seven books. So he should stop limiting his boundaries to those novels.

"Anyways, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna think of a way to win this without any backlash. So you guys enjoy the duels." He said to everyone as he closed his eyes.

There were eight dueling circuits in the arena. So there could only be 16 people dueling at the same time. There was still some time for their turn. So they just sat at the contestants' corner.

The duels of the first round were quite exciting and worth watching. The commenter was screaming his lungs out, trying to explain the main moments of all eight rings. Too bad Chris had his eyes and ears shut as he thought with a mild Super trigger Blue. By the time he was done, a lot had happened.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes. His expression had turned calm. The answer was very simple, and he had already implemented it. He just didn't know it. He had spent the last few mins solidifying the details.

"Did I miss something?" He asked in a jovial tone.

Fleur looked at him in confusion.
"You… actually found a way?"

"Yep."

She refused to believe it.
"Are you sure? I don't think there's a way you can do this without offending them. They're a bunch of cheaters!"

Chris looked at her like she was a lost cause.
"So what if they are cheaters? You've known me for so long, and still haven't figured out a simple fact, Fleur."

Fleur tilted her head.
"What?"

A laugh escaped his mouth.
"I am the best cheater in existence."

Or you could say.… his existence itself was a cheat.

***

A.N.: What's he gonna do? It's quite easy to guess.