by Edward Brody
The announcer held his hand up to his chin. “Fight!”
As soon as the announcer teleported away, Ivar raised his axe and ran at me screaming.
I knew immediately that length of the man’s axe was going to be my biggest challenge. It was at least twice the length of my falchion, and measuring its distance to block with my sword would be incredibly difficult. I’d either need to defeat him with magic, or I’d need to get a good dodge and counterattack to close the gap.
Arcane Missile, I thought and held my palm out to the running man.
I aimed for his center, thinking that he would have trouble dodging, but he saw the attack coming, swayed left and managed to avoid the blast altogether. The missile continued across the Arena before it hit the invisible magic wall that was shielding the crowd. The invisible wall sparkled and flickered a moment while it absorbed the impact.
Whoosh, the man’s axe sounded as he swung it for my chest, and I jumped backwards, barely missing the blow.
I pivoted and started running to my right, trying to keep my distance while holding my palm out and shooting Arcane Missiles towards Ivar’s legs.
Ivar continued chasing, raising his knees high in the air and at just the right moment each time I fired a missile, a manic smile across his face.
Whoosh came the axe again, and this time I leaned backwards and held up my sword, trying to intercept the nearly unavoidable attack, but the power of the axe simply knocked my sword sideways and nearly out of my hands.
I reached out a clumsy palm to try casting a Fireblast at Ivar, but his boot came faster and landed right in my gut. I dipped forward, grabbing my stomach, and before I could focus away from the stabbing pain the boot had caused, Ivar lifted the handle of his axe and uppercut me with the wooden end of it, sending me flying backwards and to the ground.
My sword tumbled away from me.
I tasted blood on my lips and groaned as I looked up to the sky. In the corner of my vision, I saw that I had lost 20% of my health. I tilted my head to the side and saw my sword was a few feet away, and then looked up to see Ivar step closer to me and raise his axe above his head for a killing blow.
Ivar was fast enough to dodge my Arcane Missiles, so I quickly jolted out both hands and used a tactic that I first perfected in the Sands. An Arcane Missile shot out of my left hand while a Fireblast shot out of the right, and I saw Ivar’s eyelids open wide when he saw both blasts rushing towards him at the same time. I aimed both attacks for the outer edges of Ivar’s body to make it as hard as possible for him to dodge.
The momentum of his axe swinging down didn’t help his chances as he swayed to his right, seemingly trying to avoid the Arcane Missile but putting his chest in almost direct alignment of the Fireblast.
When the Fireblast connected with his body, he jolted back and fell to a knee as the axe slammed down into the ground a few inches away from me.
I scurried backwards, jumped to my feet, and ran for my sword.
As soon as I had my sword in my hand, I turned to Ivar and squared up in front of him. He was still one knee, but he was eyeing me and didn’t appear very hurt.
“Your damn magics!” he spat.
I held out a hand and shot another Fireblast at Ivar, thinking that he would have trouble dodging it while on his knee, but he rolled out of the way, and quickly stood up with defiance on his face. He raised a fist in the air, and a ball of green energy formed in his hand, then a pulse of light emanated from his body for a flicker of a second.
He knows some sort of magic too? I thought. Damn.
Ivar continued walking towards me, and with each step he took forward, I took a step back. I shot another Fireblast at him, but this time he made no effort at dodging, and the blast connected directly with his shoulder. His shoulder flinched backwards at the attack, but his body glowed green and there was no evidence of damage. I shot an Arcane Missile at him, and again, there was a brief glow of green, he flinched, but just continued forward.
Some sort of shield?
Ivar broke into a charge.
My heart pounded as the lumberjack ran in my direction, but I held my breath and raised my sword out in front of me. Focus, I said to myself. Focus.
Ivar’s axe swings weren’t the fastest attacks I had ever dodged, but he was pretty quick at dodging himself and had fast hand-to-hand skills that were making it difficult for me to get close enough to counterattack after a dodge. But maybe the long handle of his axe, which was his biggest advantage, was also his biggest disadvantage. If I could step into the attack during one of his axe swings, the momentum of his axe would force him to follow through on the swing, and I’d basically just be hit with the handle.
I focused on Ivar’s movements as he closed in on me and swung his axe again. As soon as the weight of his blade started towards my waist, I rushed forward and lunged the tip of my sword at his chest.
The handle of his blade smacked against my lower ribs just as the tip of my sword penetrated his chest. Ivar let out a loud cry.
The momentum of his axe carried us into a half spin, and we both almost lost balance as we stumbled away from each other.
Ivar looked down and put a hand over the deep wound in his chest, and I knew I couldn’t pussyfoot around. I jumped forward, just as Ivar was looking back up and connected a hard slash across his chest, ripping the leather of his vest completely in two. As he tried pulling his axe into a defensive position, I ducked down and swiped my sword across his waist.
Ivar dropped his axe, fell to his hands and knees, and with his head down, he held a fist high. A green ball of energy was starting to form around his hand again.
Whether it was a healing spell he was casting or another shield, I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to let him have time to finish whatever he was doing. With both hands, I swung my sword at his arm with all my might.
You have reached level 11 in Swords!
When the blade severed Ivar’s hand, I heard an audible “Ohhhh!” from the surrounding crowd. In fact, I had been so focused on fighting Ivar, that up until then, I had had temporarily forgotten I was fighting in front of so many people.
Ivar’s hand rolled on to the ground, and the green magic that had started to form inside of it dissipated. Ivar screamed and grabbed at his arm as blood poured out.
“Finish him!” someone from the stands shouted. Then I heard another person and another. “Finish him!”
Ivar was undoubtedly in pain, and for a moment I hesitated. He had clearly lost the fight and didn’t need to be killed. But, then I remembered that we both had the Last Breath spell, and postponing the battle any longer would just cause him more discomfort.
I spun around ‘til I was behind Ivar, raised my sword high in the air, and slammed it hard into his spine. Ivar screamed again, and just as I was dislodging my sword, I felt and saw a clearish force of energy push me backward and dislodge the sword on its own.
Ivar fell flat to the ground, but the blood pouring out of his arm stopped.
You have completed all requirements for the quest: Tier 1 Battle! Return the spoils to the Arena warden to collect your reward.
The crowd clapped, but Aaron, Ozzy, and a couple other people I didn’t recognize were on their feet cheering. I felt a sense of self-pride like nothing I had ever felt before. It may have been my first fight at the Arena, but that fight skyrocketed my confidence, and sowed a seed that made me not only want to want to fight in the Arena to meet the King, but made me want to fight simply because I wanted that feeling of accomplishment again.
As the pair of healers rushed out into the fighting grounds to attend to Ivar, my eyes panned over to the box where the King was sitting. He was clapping lightly along with the older woman and the pretty young lady who was with him.
I’ll meet you soon, King Rutherford. I thought to myself. One day, I will be a champion.
Chapter Eleven
1/26/0001
“Great fight,” Castille said as he handed me a sack of gold.
> You have completed the quest: Tier 1 Battle!
You have gained 3000 XP
“Thanks,” I replied and tilted my head to the side a little. “You saw the fight from in here?”
“Indeed,” he replied. Castille turned around and slid a small panel of the wall behind him that gave a clear view out into the fighting grounds. “We can watch the battles from here.”
I smiled and nodded. “Well, thanks. I’ll be back soon, I’m sure.”
Castille nodded. “Hurry back.”
As I started out of room, the Krazir whom I saw previously was leaning near the exit. “Hurry back,” the Krazir repeated with a hiss and raised the side of his mouth to show his sharp fangs.
I wasn’t sure why the cat person was trying to intimidate me or if intimidation was even his intention; maybe he was naturally intimidating just because he was a cat man with sharp teeth. I gave him a closed-mouth smile and continued on.
Burly Boris at the front desk congratulated me as I passed, and a few people in the stands said “Great fight,” and similar comments as I made my way back to Aaron and Ozzy. As soon as the pair saw me, they shot up out of their seats.
“Dude! That was awesome!” Aaron said and slapped me on the shoulder.
“Two wins for Unity today!” Ozzy added and held a fist out my way.
“Thanks guys,” I said and completed the fist bump. I looked at the seats behind the two. “That guy is gone?”
They both nodded as we lowered ourselves into our seats.
“He stuck around a while and kept trying to convince us to sway you to let him into the guild,” Aaron explained, “but he eventually gave up and left.”
“Good,” I snorted.
Aaron shrugged. “Maybe we should just let him join.”
I raised an eyebrow to him.
“We need to get our numbers up, right? The more Re…” Aaron glanced from side to side. “Ahem… The more people like us we can recruit, the better. The fact that we can respawn gives us a huge ad—“
“Dude,” I interrupted. “How do we know he’s not just trying to get in our guild to steal from us again or attack us when we’re sleeping?”
Aaron snapped his lips. “I don’t think so. I think he’s just a dumb kid who fucked up. You were kind of dumb when I first met you, you know?”
“Oh, fuck you, asshat. Who was the one running around in orc armor—“
“Fur armor,” Aaron corrected.
“Well, whatever. You got your ass handed to you a couple times for that.” I rattled my head. “But that’s beyond the point. What if he decides to ‘fuck up’ more?”
Aaron shrugged. “I dunno…”
“What do you think, Ozzy?” I asked.
Ozzy took a deep breath. “I see both sides. He’s a risk, but I feel there’s some good in him.”
“You didn’t get killed like some of the others,” I said pointedly. I lifted my elbow in the air and placed two fingers on it. “And he didn’t chop your arm off either.”
Ozzy sighed. “Well, you’re the guild leader. I trust your decision making.”
“Hey, look!” Aaron shouted and pointed out into the fighting grounds. “It’s Kronos’ twin.”
A stocky dwarf walked out into the center of the Arena, holding a spear that was three times his size and a shield that could almost cover his entire body. He had blond hair, a fat nose, and thick tangled beard that fell down to his belly. Other than being a dwarf, I didn’t see much resemblance to Kronos.
Still, I was surprised to see another dwarf in Highcastle.
We ended our discussion on that note and watched as the dwarf won his battle against another tier 1 combatant, and there was another tier 1 fight after that—two humans who mostly relied on sword fighting.
As the loser of the last fight was carried out of the Arena, the announcer appeared as usual. “Now, it’s time for our final tier 1 fight of the evening before moving on to tier 2 and tier 3!” He cleared his voice and slowed his speech. “Please give a round of applause for Highcastle’s highest ranking tier 1 combatant and Eden’s Gate’s next champion, the level 20 Dark Assassin, with a record of 23 wins and 0 losses, Meijir Rashtini!”
“23 wins…” I whispered. With a record like that, I felt I had a long way to go before I’d ever achieve a top rank, much less become a champion. I perked up in my seat to get a better look at the strongest competition that was on offer.
Out onto the fighting grounds stepped the very Krazir who had shown me his teeth before and after my fight. Around his waist was a belt with two straight daggers tucked inside. He held two fists in the air and bowed his head as he found his position.
Nearly the whole Arena stood to their feet at Meijir’s entrance, and several people were shouting his name.
“He’s really is going to be Highcastle’s next champion—I tell you,” the tubby man sitting beside me said to his friend as they both applauded. The cat man was clearly a fan favorite.
“And welcome the contender, with a record of 7 wins and 0 losses, the level 20 Warrior, Rudy O’Conner!”
A Dark Assassin and a Warrior... I wondered what prerequisites were required to obtain those titles.
The warrior stepped out in front of the crowd confidently, holding a broadsword in each of his hands. His hair was a layer of stubble that covered his head, lips and his chin, and he was of an average height and build. He had a thick-plated chestpiece, and the rest of his armor seemed to be some sort of studded leather. Several people in the Arena stood and cheered for the man, but after seeing the reception for the Krazir, his seemed unimpressive.
Rudy swung his swords in circles and smiled cockily as he waited for the announcer’s cue.
“Are you ready?” the announcer asked Rudy before turning to the Krazir and asking the same. Once he got his second confirmation, he disappeared, and the fight began.
Rudy held both of his broadswords up high as he rushed for the Krazir, but the assassin stood perfectly still, not even bothering to grab his blades.
“What’s this guy doing?” Ozzy questioned.
When Rudy closed in on the erect figure, he swung one of his swords down, but Meijir kept his feet planted, leaned his body to the right, and narrowly missed the blow. Rudy’s swung his alternate sword at Meijir’s head, but Meijir ducked at just the right time, avoiding yet another attack.
Rudy pulled his swords to a parallel position and viciously swung them up from the ground in a diagonal slice that seemed like it would be impossible for the crouching Krazir to block, but Meijir sprung up and back right before the blade made contact, performing an acrobatic flip in the air.
At the height of Meijir’s backflip, he thrust each of his arms out in front of him, and two projectiles that looked like black throwing stars with a trail of equally black energy sped from his hands. The two strange stars struck into Rudy’s chestpiece, and Rudy yelped on impact.
Meijir landed on his feet and skidded backwards several inches, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him.
“Holy shit,” Aaron said.
Black energy rose from the throwing stars that were wedged in Rudy’s chest, and he grunted as he dropped one of his swords and pulled at the one closest to the center of his frame. He threw the star on the ground, and a second later, the star faded away. When he yanked the other star out of his chest, there was visible, liquid metal pouring down his chestpiece, and the area where the star had been lodged was a few centimeters wider than the actual star. Apparently, the star had somehow melted part of his chestpiece and likely caused a significant amount of damage underneath.
When he tossed the second star on the ground, it quickly disappeared, and there were holes in the fingertips of his gloves where he had touched the stars.
Rudy gritted his teeth through the pain, leaned over and snatched his fallen sword.
Meijir simply stood still.
You could feel the tension escalating in the Arena as Rudy started pacing in a wide circle around Meijir with a look
of rage in his eyes.
Once again, Rudy started running towards Meijir, but this time he shouted, leaped into the air halfway through the run, raised his swords as high as possible, and slammed them forward at the ground where he landed.
Dirt sprayed from the ground and rocketed towards Meijir in a thin, single line that seemed too fast for him to dodge.
But Meijir did.
It was as if Meijir became a blur of dark color as he somehow transported himself a mere foot or two left of the attack. His feet and arms didn’t seem to move; it was as if his body just shifted to the new location.
“What the?!” I stood from my seat and blinked my eyes before looking down at Aaron. “Did you see that?”
Aaron nodded.
Someone behind me touched me on the back, and I turned to see a robed man with yellow belt around his waist. “It’s called Shadowstep. It’s an extraordinary dark magic spell.” He cleared his voice. “Now if you’d please have a seat. You’re blocking my view.”
I scratched my shoulder and nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”
As I sat back down in my seat and turned my attention back to the show, Rudy was holding both his broadswords out to his side and was growling fiercely at the sky. The veins on his neck looked like they were about to burst, and his muscles were flexed so hard that you could see them pressing through his armor.
Sweat starting pouring down Rudy’s face, and the moment he stopped growling, he looked like a man possessed with rage. His eyes were wide, his skin was reddened, his nostrils were flared, and his chest heaved with heavy breaths.
He charged towards Meijir, moving almost twice the speed that he had before and kicking up dust with each step he took. When he closed in on Meijir, he leapt forward and scissored his swords towards Meijir with such a power that sparks flew in the air as the two blades rubbed together.
Meijir ducked the scissoring swords, again at just the right moment, pulled a dagger from his belt and slammed it into Rudy’s thigh. Meijir quickly pivoted so that he rolled out from under the sword and was almost behind his target when he rose back to a standing position and slammed a backhanded dagger into the center of Rudy’s spine.