A few nights later, the Midnight Circuit returned. The fights were set and the crowd was louder than ever. Liam Velmont was also back in the ring ofcourse but this time, though, things were different.
Instead of one challenger per match, Liam had made a special request to the manager, Silas. He wanted all his middleweight challengers to face him at once, one ring, one fight, no breaks.
The announcer's voice boomed across the arena:
"Tonight's main event is a special championship match! All four middleweight challengers will face off simultaneously against the reigning titleholder… the Lightning General! The Devil of Detroit! Give it up for...Liam!"
The crowd roared.
Not Liam Velmont. Just Liam. This was another part of his request. After his encounter with Director Grey, even though he still didn't exactly believe all of it, he still needed to be careful.
The four challengers stood waiting in the ring: first was, Jimmy Uslav, purple mohawk and metal piercings gleaming. Then, German Marcus, a brute with reinforced bone armor under his skin. The third person was called Infra Zero, he was calm and silent with his eyes glowing faintly and then finally, Kenny McClain, cloaked in smoke, with loose ash floating around him.
Liam walked the path into the ring and soon as the bell rang, they rushed at him. Jimmy went first, leaping forward with a heavy steel hammer aimed at Liam's skull. Liam stepped aside cleanly and quickly, then countered mid-step with a right hook that cracked Jimmy's jaw and sent him crashing to the edge of the ring.
Right on the heels of that, Infra Zero fired heat vision through his eyes. Twin beams tore toward Liam, but he dipped low, pivoting out of its range, but he immediately sensed movement behind.
German Marcus lunged from his blind spot, fist like a cinderblock ready to strike at his opponent. However, Liam raised a palm and caught the blow.
CRACK.
Marcus staggered, his reinforced bones fracturing from the impact. Liam didn't hesitate either. He spun, kicked him in the ribs, and launched him straight into the ropes.
Then came Kenny. The air thickened as ash rolled across the arena like a wave of smoke grenades. It stung the eyes and choked the throat. A suffocating fog meant for Liam alone.
[Skill Active: Contract Borrowing]
A violent gust exploded outward from Liam's position, sweeping the ash away like dust on wind were simultaneously blasting all four challengers out of the ring.
That was Pip's wind magic borrowed, just in time.
The challengers didn't bother getting up and heading back into the ring after this. One by one they backed off, they knew Liam was out of the league, there was no point risking their lives for this.
Liam also noticed that at the state of the match, the system didn't prompt him with any Elimination notifications. He sort of understood why. These challengers weren't threats at least not to him at his current level and it seemed the system had realized it too.
The notification screen shot up.
[+2 Stat Points Available]
"At least I got points for that anyway". Though he sounded rather disappointed, it was still better than nothing.
Liam eventually left the ring to thunderous cheers and as usual he said nothing, he just walked past the crowd and made his way to Silas's office.
"Hell of a match," Silas grinned. "Never seen anything like it." He added, whilst handing Liam his payout for the night.
"Put me in for heavyweight," Liam said directly without even lingering on the cash. Silas raised a brow, but nodded. "I can set you up with the champ directly but whether or not you win, you'll have to relinquish your middleweight belt"
"Done." Liam agreed before leaving this office.
...
The next morning, Liam answered a knock at the door. Standing there was Quinn on black suit, black trousers and dark shades with her hair packed cleanly. He let out a tired sigh and turned away, leaving the door open. She followed him in and shut it behind her.
Liam didn't bother with pleasantries. "What are you doing here?"
Quinn got straight to the point. "We want you to join USOV."
He chuckled. "And why would I do that?"
"To start with, your safety," she said. "And to help keep your identity off the radar. You've already proven you can handle mythical beasts and in a very peculiar way. We could use someone like that. And if it's money you care about, you'll be well compensated."
Liam didn't react until she mentioned mythical beasts, that caught his attention.
"If I find one," he asked, "can USOV claim it before the factions do?"
Quinn nodded, but clarified, "It depends. If a faction gets there first and handles the beast, it's theirs. We don't interfere. But in cases where multiple factions show up at once, it's common to split rights after the fight."
She paused, then added, "Sometimes, to avoid conflict entirely, factions buy rights to new breaches from us before anything even comes out. If the area's quiet, they'll still monitor it in case some monster slips through."
Liam considered that for a moment, then gave a non-committal nod. "I'll think about it."
Quinn placed a contact card on the table and left without another word.
Later that day, at the USOV facility, she met with Director Grey.
"I made the offer," Quinn said. "But there's something else. He's stronger now. I could tell that his mana quality has changed, nothing close to a god's kind still but he is at least B-Tier and it's only been a few days."
Grey leaned back, "That kind of growth shouldn't be possible in such a short window."
She nodded. "Exactly."
Grey didn't say more. Just stared ahead. "We'll wait for his answer. Either way… we move to the next phase."
...
Elsewhere, Ray Hooks sat in a dimly lit hotel room, speaking on the phone. From the tone and content of the call, it was clear he was reporting to his faction leader.
"There's something happening here," Ray said. "New beasts of different classes, way stronger than what Michigan's used to. Some of them shouldn't even exist in this zone." He paused, then added, "And USOV Michigan… they're hiding something. I saw it with my own eyes, a high-threat mythical beast, protecting a human."
The voice on the other end remained silent, until now.
A woman's voice, cut through the line. "Keep up the work, Ray. Report everything back."
Ray nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "Yes, ma'am."
...
Night had fallen, and Liam was suiting up for his new title fight tonight.
The rules had been bent in his favor. Normally, a contender would have to work up the chain, fight after fight, but Mr. Silas had seen enough. Liam's domination of the middleweight class had earned him a direct shot at the heavyweight champion. All the red tape had been swept aside.
As Liam laced up, his mind wandered back to his conversation with Quinn earlier that day. Since contracting with Pip, he'd only managed to secure two summons. Either he arrived too late, and the factions had already moved in, or the moment he sensed too many powerful signatures, he backed off to avoid complications, but if he took Quinn up on her offer; that kind of access could change everything.
He glanced at the card she'd given him. Still undecided, he slid it into his pocket.
Silvery-blue sparks flickered across his skin and Lightning coiled beneath his eyes. A heartbeat later, he vanished.
Tonight was his shot at the heavyweight crown.