In his rage, Heracles thrust his blade into Jake’s chest. The sword went all the way through, entering through the front and exiting through the back. Jake assumed pride frustrated Heracles. He found out that Jake was holding a mystic blade, but to him, Jake simply refused to use the mystic sword on him. That pride, that disrespect, is why Heracles thrust his blade forward. If Jake was going to hold out, then Heracles would simply kill him.
The moment the blade entered him, Jake felt a sharp pain, but at that moment, he felt nothing. His brain hadn’t fully registered what had just happened. His eyes were wide open as he stared blankly into space. After a while, Heracles reached out his free hand and grabbed Jake’s shoulder. He held the boy in place as he pulled his sword out. The moment the sword was free, blood gushed out from the wound. Jake felt warm and light-headed all at the same time, but he didn’t feel any pain.
Once his sword was free, Heracles released his grasp on Jake, and the boy started to fall backwards. As he did, Jake simply chuckled. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t help it. Jake eventually laid on his back as his own blood spread everywhere, forming puddles. Heracles looked down at him, the frown still on his face. Then the man grunted and turned his back. As he did, he shot a command at T.K. “Begin your ten count,” he barked at the man as he started to walk out of the ring.
The referee was startled but did as the warrior commanded. He ran to Jake’s side and started his count. “One… two… three…” As he counted, T.K. felt foolish. As the number four left his mouth, he couldn’t help but think how useless this was. “He’s obviously dead,” he thought. As T.K. finished saying “five… six… seven…” he stopped suddenly. He was shocked, and he lost his train of thought. He stopped counting, then gibberish started spilling from his mouth. “Whaaaat… Whhhaaat… hoooow…. aaaarrrrre yooouuu…. whyyyy …. araaaarrreee youuuu?”
Hearing these words confused Heracles, he heard it thought about it but then decided to pay it no mind. He kept walking, knowing in his heart that it was over, it was finished, and he was the one that finished it. But he froze suddenly when he heard more words that confused him, but they didn’t come from T.K., but from another. The voice said, “Hey asshole, where you going? I’m not done yet!” Before he exited the ring, he turned around to see T.K. and bloody, beaten down Jake rising back to his feet. The boy was breathing hard, but when the two’s eyes met, Jake flashed the man a bloody smile.
“His back on his feet,” Biscuit exclaimed. Everyone watching couldn’t believe their eyes. What they were seeing had to be impossible. No matter how much punishment he took, Jake refused to stay down. Watching this, Zack was in awe, but not of Heracles strength or fury, but by Jake’s undying will. But that determination didn’t warm Zack’s heart because he knew that determination alone wouldn’t win Jake this match.
Heracles’ eyes were wide in shock, then they narrowed in anger. “You… little,” the man said through gritted teeth as he started walking back towards Jake. The boy laughed. “Maybe that was a bad idea. I should let you keep walking. If you stepped out of the ring, then I would have won,” he chuckled as he laughed to himself.
Heracles got his sword ready. When he did, he ended up flinging Jake’s blood off of it. Then Heracles took a massive step towards Jake with a fire burning in his eyes. “You know,” he spoke, inching closer and closer, “I should admire your determination, the fire that burns within you. But I can’t…. I simply can’t do it because of this rage that burns within me!” Heracles spat out those last few words with hate as he pulled his sword back. Seeing this, T.K. jumped back, not wanting to be caught in the man’s attack, but Jake remained where he was.
Heracles released a fearsome slash. If the air itself was solid, Heracles would have split it in two. His sword was filled with his wrath, but the deadly attack would not hit its mark. As Heracles swung his blade, Jake dodged it. The boy ducked under the slash, evading the attack completely. This surprised Heracles; hell, it surprised everyone. After the attack was dodged, Jake jumped forward as he swung his blade, but the attack did nothing. Jake’s body was tired; his arms felt heavier than lead. He could barely lift them, but still, he pushed through.
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His swing was weak and limp; it barely felt like a poke to Heracles. There was no counterattack. The way Jake was, he couldn’t win, and all that watched knew it to be so. The announcer, Moon D, sat back in his chair, shaking his head. He had made up his mind that the battle was already decided, but he couldn’t help but respect Jake’s efforts. And that thought process was shared by… The beastmen Angus, “That human put up a good fight, but it’s over now,” he said underneath his breath.
“And Moon D nodded in agreement,” in the same room yet still up against the wall, the double-sided axe Rickenbacker thought to himself, “That presence, I recognize it. So, it is you, my dear older sister… So how long will you just sit there doing nothing as your wielder gets beaten to a pulp? Or”
The mystic blade became lost in thought, “Have you not yet seen that boy as a worthy wielder?”
Back in the auditorium viewers outside the ring watched as Jake landed his weak attack on Heracles, and most could only shake their heads. “He can’t win,” Gabby said. “It’s too great a task,” Biscuit exhaled as he held his head down, his ears drooping. “If only Jake wasn’t so badly injured and he had some training, maybe he’d stand a chance,” Zack said, trying to convince himself that things could have turned out differently for Jake. But that thought process was shattered when a voice made a comment on what Zack believed. “It wouldn’t do that boy any good.”
The three applicants most concerned for Jake turned and watched as an assistant walked up to them. It was the same female assistant that was reading out the names for each round. She walked up to the three as she watched the ring. “It doesn’t matter,” she repeated, “no matter how uninjured he could be or no matter the years of training he could have, applicant 1267 could never beat his opponent.”
The three were shocked, watching the woman as she continued looking at the ring. “Because his opponent is a resident of the land of Eden,” “THE LAND OF EDEN !!” Biscuit shouted. He was so close to Zack and Gabby that he nearly burst their eardrums. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious, ma’am,” Zack rubbed his ears as he opened his mouth to speak, “Ow, you mangy mutt, pipe down, would you?”
“What’s this Eden she’s talking about?” Zack turned his attention from the assistant to Biscuit. “You’ve never heard of Eden?” “If I heard of it, I wouldn’t be asking you, stupid dog,” Biscuit didn’t focus on Zack’s comment. He could only continue speaking, “Eden is like where I’m from. It’s one of the badlands.”
Hearing this, Zack’s focus was less on the ringing in his ear and fully on what Biscuit said. “It’s one of the badlands?”
“Yes, as you know, the badlands are ecosystems that have been changed and altered because of the great blacksmith. Because of his actions, beastmen like me and Mr. Minotaur’rus and others can exist. But unlike the badlands where I’m from, the land of Eden wasn’t just a forest, a jungle, or even a desert. It was an entire continent. Eden is the largest badlands in existence.”
Gabby and Zack were shocked to hear such a thing. The female assistant only nodded her head, “Yes, Eden is the largest badland there is. But also, unlike the others, Eden is the only badland where humans lived as well. All the others only natural wildlife existed. But on Eden, a primitive tribe of people lived, and like the beastmen and the behemoths, those tribesmen were affected by the great blacksmith’s actions. It changed their very DNA until we can now witness what we’re now seeing before us.”
The three turned and looked at Heracles as the woman continued to speak, “This man as well as all of his tribesmen are the same natural-born warriors. Coming from Eden makes him the peak of a human’s physical condition. Even if that boy had a hundred years of training, he still couldn’t beat that man… He gave a good effort, better than most, but he can’t win this fight. The winner was decided long before the two of them entered the ring.”
After Jake landed his weak strike, he pulled his arms back, getting ready to swing again. But Heracles simply swatted Jake away with his hand. This strike was weaker than his backhand, but to Jake, it still hurt. He felt as if he was hit by a truck. The strike sent him flying. As he was in the air, Jake’s mind started to wander. He thought of everything that led him to this moment. Then he landed hard on the ground, laying there as limp as before. But this time was different. His entire body felt heavy. He wasn’t sure he could move. As he looked around, his vision became hazy. He could feel his body shutting down. But before everything went dark, his eyes rested on the sword he held in his hand. There were specks of Jake’s blood on it, but besides that, the sheathed sword looked the same as it always did. As Jake looked at the sword, he opened his mouth and for the first time, he addressed the sword, “Hey… you… can hear me… right? You… can speak… can’t you? Tell… me… why won’t you let me… unsheathe you?”