Hey, our friend didn't calculate his strength, almost broke our arm, and is unaware of what happened. Stopping the tournament so that this could not escalate further would be pussying out and unbro. Let's unleash our lethal techniques on him instead, and hope nothing bad happens, because what else are friends for?
Kayerts said:
Best case for A seems to be that we enter the finals relatively unharmed, having shown off our tricks. Worse case is that (1) we seriously hurt Guo Fu (and he's less able to protect his wife), (2) Jing hurts himself, and/or (3) Jing reveals his techniques to the entire pugilistic world.
kazgar said:
A only guarantees skill ups, but at a potential physical cost to Guo, or ourselves (or both). Doesn't guarantee the win.
B guarantees a win, but could be seen to be dishonourable/out of character, though also correct by the rules.
C guarantees a loss, Guo will probably thank us though.
The worst that could happen,
Kayerts, is not that you seriously hurt Guo Fu. The worst that could happen is that you kill the guy on the spot, because that is what your techniques do. That is what they were designed for. Up to this point, you have held yourself back and avoided casualties, but you will no longer do so. You are going all out, without any restraint or consideration for your opponent, because you think the guy can take it. But it is not his godlike Endurance or brutish Strength that makes him resist your blows. The man is not a golem, and neither he is an alien that transcends human physiology. It is his technique,
Jinzhongzhao, that allows him to do so, and he can not maintain it constantly. You have already noticed that it requires a certain amount of preparation for him to prepare to your most destructive blows. All it would take for a blow to get through is for the speed of your attacks to exceed his preparation time, and since you won't hold anything back, both Kuanglang Step and Yuanshi Hundun will see the light of the day, bringing your Agility to the human peak levels. You will get through, this is
inevitable. Your movements will be erratic due to the use of Primordial Chaos, you can not predict where your Shouwang Mad Claws would land, and you can easily end up striking him at a trachea, or a throat, or the eyes, or any other vital organ. All it takes for you to kill a man is one unfortunately misplaced (or a well-placed) blow, as the bandits that assaulted Yifang have proven.
Why could it not happen if you do not maintain strict control over your moves, and the update explicitly states that you wouldn't?
I can not care less if Jing hurts himself, or if Guo, unaware of his own Strenght (since we never warned him off) sends us in a coma for a month or two. Maybe this would help Jin to get rid of his YOLO attitude. But subjecting our friend to the risk of death out of some misguided and horribly twisted concept of honor sickens me to the core.
I mean, the argument against B is that it is dishonorable? The guy breaks the rules and our arm with them, he is clearly at fault, and will himself admit as much if you only let him know what he did, yet you would be the one that acts without honor if you stop this madness? If it were someone else, you would have chosen B without a second thought. The rules of the tournament are, among others: do not leave the ring, do not get knocked out, and do not harm the opponent, else you lose. Why is one more important than the other? Forcing your opponent to break either leads to your victory, yet apparently you shy away from it. Why? Because it was unintentional? If you had thrown him out of the ring, do you think it would be what he intended? One of the principles behind the tournament is that one should know his own strength - this is paramount to a pugilist. The guy have already lost when he broke the said principle, yet you want to cover for him... instead wanting to make him lose a second time, possibly killing him for good in the process.
What does this fucked up logic has to do with honor?
I am not afraid of showing off our techniques. With the exception of Bai Jiutan, and maybe a masked fighter, no one else here poses a threat to us. I am absolutely positive that we can roll over Yiling and Yandi under normal circumstances, and I have little doubt that we can take Guo Fu out, should we desire so, although not without consequences. We no longer have to hide from the Masters, and, seriously, I don't give a fuck about Huashan Sect and their ilk. If we ever need to take down these insufferable pricks, we can walk to the the other sects and ask our newfound bros on how they would beat them. They'd only be glad to help, since they can't stand them themselves. Qi Liuwu would personally sneak out at night to teach you the rest of the moves of Xianglong Eighteen Palms, just so he could safely bet all the alms his fellow beggars brought him on you. How is that for a flow of information?
I understand going 'Ooh! Shiny!' at a sight of skill increases. However, you need to think, what are the drawbacks of A?
Nothing comes for free. Every choice has its price.
Is it the fact that we lose to Guo Fu and drop out from the tournament? Is it the fact that we win at a cost to ourselves, and lose the subsequent match with Yiling or Nameless?
No, this is what C is for.
Is it because we get to show our hand to everyone present?
No, the Masters of the most famous sects are on your side, and they will give you poiners on how to beat their own disciples just to make them work harder at improving themselves.
What is it, then? I am afraid that Kayerts 1 is the only possible answer, only with a darker twist.
As for B, the merits of moderation were already mentioned. I would also add, that neither Guo Fu would hate us (why? wasn't he the one who hurt us? if anything, he would feel bad for us), nor it would place him in any more danger than he is. He will be cleared of suspicion of being ZJ's disciple when you reveal yourself tomorrow, he will prove himself stronger than you and thus will assure his future in a sect of his choice, and until the next day comes he can spend the night in your apartment, under the watch of everyone on your team. The reason he didn't do so yesterday was his upcoming fight with you, and now it would be out of the way. And by inviting him in, you will show him that you hold no grudge over what happened today. Really, I can't see the choice that would be more beneficial to our growing friendship with the guy.
On that note,
B.