THERE WAS A TWO-HOUR BREAK BEFORE THE NEXT BATTLE COMMENCES.

Ploy was taken care of Dakarai\'s medical team, and it was really a good thing that Fei applied immediate healing action to keep the tissues of Ploy\'s arm intact. We left the dome and went to the hotel restaurant to have lunch. Most participants were there as well to relax.

We were at this large fine dining table where we were joined by Merizem and Manila teams. It\'s a good thing they were there. I badly need a diversion from what I witnessed in the fight earlier.

Taki and Taka were cracking their jokes. Somehow they made me feel okay.

"Okay, guys. Let me ask you a question," Taki said. "What\'s red and smells like blue paint?"

"What?" the people on the table asked.

"Red paint," Taki answered. "Come on, you guys, that\'s a no-brainer."

Everyone just sighed, and afterwards, we laughed at how awkward Taki\'s jokes are.

"He tried his hardest," Taka sighed.

"Really? How about you, Taka? Can you tell us any joke that you know?" Jia asked.

Taka sighed again. "Well… I do have a joke about a broken clock, but… it\'s not the right time for it."

All of us chuckled at his delivery. It was hilarious! These Filipino guys are so funny!

Unfortunately, we were cut by the servers who brought our food. Well, it\'s fine, since nothing can be fixed by food. Plus this hotel serves great food! One of the best I\'ve ever had.

"Here you go, sir," said the server who put the food on my plate. It was a parmesan risotto with roasted shrimp. It looked delectable!

All of us had our appetizers and we all loved our food! The entrée was even better. And oh, don\'t get me starting on the dessert.

Now that we\'ve done eating, we walked outside and there was a really great forest near the Orkatta dome, which is kind of relaxing. The trees are so tall and they\'re really great to the eyes. While we are chilling, Taki then opened the topic of Fei\'s fight before. Ellis and I just listened to the conversation and remained quiet.

"Hey, Fei. Congratulations on your first win," Taki said.

"Thanks, man. It was tough," Fei said.

Taki\'s face showed that he wasn\'t convinced with Fei\'s response. "Really? You almost tore Ploy\'s arm."

"When have you thought of using the laser?" Taka followed up.

"Since the cat said that there\'s a laser surrounding the ring," Fei answered.

"Wise," Tiberion commented.

"Thanks, Princess," Fei said.

"So, since the beginning, you\'ve thought of using the laser wall to defeat Ploy?" Taki asked.

"I have," Fei said.

"Hence, the power balls," Taka surmised.

Jia then spoke. "You\'ve noticed why he used only four of those power balls. Have you not wondered why he didn\'t use… say, wind, or soil, or other elements. Or even just a bit of sorcery."

"Now that you mentioned it, Jia…" Tiberion asked. "Why?"

"He tested the waters," Haru explained. "The rock and ice power balls, if you have observed, the moment they landed on the platform, they showed some sort of impact that the entire ring has some sort of technology to take on all kinds of elements, witchcraft, sorcery, or magic. A rock power ball hit hard the ring and there was this small steel pipe that appeared, which I believe, the entire ring can do a lot of stuff. It can also control temperatures, that\'s why Fei is able to make that large ice tank and fill it with water. It\'s also the reason Fei controlled the laser with the lightning spears, strengthened with firepower."

"So, basically, he used the dome to fight," Tiberion summed up.

Well, that was impressive. I can see Mrs. Xing that attack. I remembered when Mrs. Xing defeated the ingelids in front of me. She used the blood of the ingelids to their own demise—by poisoning them with their own venom.

"Did you know that Ploy can turn into a Siamese fighting fish?" Taka asked.

"It wouldn\'t hurt to get to know the people around you," Fei said.

"How did you find out?" Taki asked.

"During the party when Dakarai introduced the Thai team to us. I observed Ploy\'s hands. They\'re scaly, like those of fish\'s," Fei said.

All of us were surprised. During the party, I couldn\'t even remember the people Ellis and I talked with. I didn\'t even notice the scales on Ploy\'s hands.

"So… You think the other two Thai team members… Can they also transform into some sort of animal?" Taka asked.

"They do," Haru answered. "I\'ve read their profiles and confirmed that "

"And where did you find those?" Ellis joined the conversation.

"Connections," Haru briefly answered.

Ellis\'s left eyebrow arched. "Ooh, so you\'re done reading erotica and now you\'re into fighter profiles? Connections? Let\'s see… Is it from the Dutch girl?"

Haru grunted. "Really? You think that I\'m only reading erotic stories?"

"Well, you should. You\'re so tense. It\'s as if you\'ve never had sex in, like, what, a year or two? Was the Dutch girl your last sex? Or your first? Or have you never done it?" Ellis really pushed Haru\'s button on this conversation.

Haru squinted his eyes. "I\'m not gonna have this conversation with you. I\'m gonna go and prepare for the battle."

"We still have 45 minutes left to relax. Also, it\'s Jia\'s turn. You\'re after Jia," Ellis backfired. Haru just continued walking and never turned.

"Hey, Waffle! Come back here!" Ellis called.

"Waffle?" Taka, Taki, and Tiberion uttered with surprised faces.

Fei, Jia, and I giggled.

"So, you and Haru are Waffles?" Taki asked.

"Is it Facebook-official?" Taka followed up.

"Good for you, Ellis," Tiberion commented, then he went closer to me. "Are you and Fei pancakes?"

Fei walked between me and Tiberion and held my hand. "He calls me sweetie."

Tiberion chuckled. "Sweet? Come on, Trick, that\'s bad for your teeth. How about I give you something good for your heart?"

"How about I give my wrist to your face, Princess?" Fei stopped Tiberion from getting any closer.

And we all had a great laugh after that. We trod back to the dome and sat near each other. Fei, Jia, and Haru went back to their area near the ring.

I was looking at them and Ellis checked on me. "How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"About Fei," Ellis said. "You heard him in the forest. Now that I finally heard his side, I kind of understood him. It was all his strategy."

I sighed. "Well, yeah, it is just his strategy, but does he really have to hurt Ploy like that?"

"If he really has to hurt Ploy, he should\'ve gone all the way. He should\'ve turned her into a roast tuna or something," Ellis said. "He gotta do what he gotta do, Momma. This is war and not a friendly competition."

"I guess…" I just said. It\'s just that I cannot forget that look on his face. Of course, that was just part of his attacks, but the intention of hurting her to the point that he had to rip off a part of her body? That\'s just insane. He could\'ve hurt her in a way that she, like, wasn\'t bitten by a ferocious animal.

I don\'t know… I really can\'t tell my feelings right now. I must have been shocked by what I\'ve witnessed.

But, hey, I don\'t know what will happen in this tournament. Maybe I must have prepared myself emotionally too. I must not let my emotions become hindrances in my battles.

After some more minutes, the competition is back. Jang-mi appeared again in the middle of the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second match of the day. Manhattan and Bangkok teams are fighting today and now, we\'re going to have Jia Xing from the Manhattan team and Kittichat Watthana from Bangkok. Fighters…"

Both fighters approached the ring and shook hands.

"Before we start, may we call on our friendly cat, Beketi!" Jang-mi pointed to the big screen and there appeared Beketi jumping out of the suitcase.

"Hello, wonderful fighters! It\'s me, Beketi, your friendly cat! Let me show you the twists for this round." Beketi then jumped on the handle of the slot machine and after a few minutes, three icons again appeared on each slot and Beketi explained them one by one.

"Yay! For the dome slot, you got the bomb! This means that the ring contains bombs that can explode you in pieces. Of course, you can\'t stay out of the ring within five seconds. You will lose! For the power slot, there\'s a \'no\' sign and inside it is ice, which means, no ice attacks for this round. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. Last, for the time slot, it says 20, which means, you only have 20 minutes to fight. After 20 minutes, if both fighters are still standing or not standing at all, the match will be considered a draw. Are you ready?"

Good thing ice is prohibited in this round. I think it\'s because they can just freeze the bombs and not detonate them.

"Ready," both Jia and Ton uttered.

"Jang-mi, take it away!" Beketi jumped back in the suitcase, and at that moment, Jang-mi spoke.

"Jia versus Kittichat… Commence!"