To Xander, the third fight and final fight of the round was the most interesting. While Illanno had shown almost preternatural skill with his weapon, he felt... cold was perhaps the best way to describe his fighting style. Calm, cool, and collected at all times. Kariel, on the other hand, seemed a much more passionate fighter. Despite also showing an extreme amount of skill with her chosen weapon, she was much more on the offensive against Valteria, striking flourishing blow after blow against the insanely armored figure of Valteria right from the start. Valteria, the clockwork knight, responded with a wide sweep of their hammer, forcing Kariel to leap backwards to avoid the blow. For a while, the match was a careful balance of Kariel darting in to strike blows in what should be critical and lighter armored sections of a plate armored warrior, only to be rebuffed by Valteria’s armor and forced away by their massive hammer.
Where Kariel needed to succeed every time and avoid her opponent’s massive hammer as she moved in to strike, Valteria only needed to get lucky once as they tanked all of Kariel’s blows. Xander watched with interest as Kariel landed slices and stabs on Valteria’s knees, elbows, even the area of the Achille’s tendon, all to no avail. It was like there was no flesh underneath all that armor. Perhaps, Xander thought, there wasn’t? Was it so unthinkable that someone other than him might be able to create a suite of artificially movable armor? Or that they might be a spirit of some type? It wasn’t out of the bounds of reality, though from his limited understanding, becoming a sentient form of spirit or other undead was rare, and becoming one that wasn’t illegal was even rarer. Maybe he’d get to find out if he got to fight with the clockwork knight.
Eventually, Kariel’s luck ran out, and, as she was making another blow against the knee of her significantly taller foe, Valteria landed a vicious elbow to the woman’s jaw, the force of which spun Kariel partway around. Even from this distance, Xander could see that the woman’s jawbone was clearly broken, hanging at an unnatural angle. Before she could recover, Valteria slammed the butt of her hammer into Kariel’s back, knocking the dazed fighter to the ground. The clockwork knight then planted a boot firmly on Kariel’s prone form, preventing the woman from managing to stand up. After a few moments of vain struggling on Kariel’s part, she eventually gave the signal for surrender, dropping her longsword from her hand. A group of healers – Xander spied Gabrelle amongst them – made their way to Kariel, setting her jaw and healing her of any other minor wounds she’d incurred in the fight. Valteria waved off the offer of healing, not seeming to need it.
“And there you have it!” The announcer yelled. “We have our three final contenders! Illanno, the foremost [Duelist] of the city! Valteria, the giant knight! And Xander, the newcomer! Who will win? Let’s find out right now! Valteria, don’t bother going anywhere, because you’re up next along with our other two finalists! Come on down and let’s see who today’s winner is going to be!”
Xander and Illanno both made paths down to the arena from the now empty section of the stands they’d been seated at. Various chants from the crowd for each of the three contestants overlapped into an indistinguishable roar as the three fighters moved to the center of the arena. The three of them faced off for a moment.
Illanno was still cold and calm, saying nothing, making no moves, and seemingly relaxed.
Valteria, however, startled Xander with a surprisingly high-pitched voice for someone so large and said, “I like your armor, Xander.”
“Thanks! I like yours too. It’s… big,” he said. “But in a good way,” he hastily added.
Valteria laughed a similarly high-toned laugh, “Thanks. Want to compare notes after this? I’m always looking for input for improvement.”
Xander was surprised by the offer, but intrigued. After all, he had a grand total of four friends, and as much as he loved them, a few more wouldn’t hurt. “Uhm sure, that sounds great, actually. What about you, Illanno?”
Illanno ignored Xander’s question. In fact, Xander wasn’t even sure the elf had heard any of the conversation between his two foes, as he hadn’t reacted in the slightest. He almost seemed to be in some kind of meditative trance. Or, maybe he was just a cold-shouldered ass. Xander wasn’t sure. He tried not to take it too personally though. He had been told that elves were a bit… disconnected from the rest of society, after all.
The three of them separated, and Xander shelved his personal thoughts on Illanno’s behavior. As he walked away from his two opponents, he tried to decide who the most dangerous of his two opponents was. Illanno had speed and finesse, while Valteria had armor and strength. It was hard to decide, they were both great threats in their own right. However, for this particular scenario, Xander felt that Valteria was the one to truly watch out for in this fight. Illanno might be able to disarm him or even land a stab in a joint in his armor, but neither of those were fight enders for Xander. Valteria’s hammer, however, looked like it could bat him around the field if she got a good hit in on him, even with his weight enhancing runes on. He’d have to be careful he didn’t let her get a hold on him and try to throw him out of the ring in the event the giant knight found it difficult to combat him in other ways.
Once enough distance had been gathered by each of the three fighters, they turned to face each other again, waiting for the gong to ring. Whoever was in charge of ringing the gong had decided to let the crowd, and the fighters, linger in anticipation for, it seemed. After roughly thirty seconds of anticipating the ring that would signal the start of the match, everyone was relieved to hear the gong struck. The final match had begun. Xander spun the ball at the end of his chain in one hand as he eyed his opponents. They were both acting similarly, sizing up their enemies and weighing who to go after first.
Valteria was the first to move, holding her hammer and warily making her way towards Illanno. Xander followed suit, albeit at slower pace. It felt unsporting to simply sit and watch his two opponents duke it out while he waited. Illanno held his rapier towards Valteria, but angled himself so that he could see both of his opponents. As Valteria came close enough to strike at Illanno with her warhammer, they did so, making a two-handed sweep at Illanno, who stepped back just far enough that the hammer whistled in front of his chest. As the weapon swept in front of him, the elven [Duelist] counterattacked, his rapier flashing out and scraping against Valteria’s armored wrists, drawing sparks. Sparks seemed to the only thing his attack drew, however, as Valteria was unaffected by the blow and delivered another attack with a backswing of her massive hammer.
Seeing that Valteria was occupied with Illanno, Xander took the opportunity probe the clockwork knight’s resistance to his elemental enchantment. During the backswing that Valteria had aimed at Illanno, who had calmly stepped back just out of reach once again, Xander’s weapon sailed through the air, empowered by its momentum enhanced runes and a blast from [Ferrokinesis]. It impacted heavily against Valteria’s shoulder, rocking the knight to the side slightly and throwing her swing off balance. As the ball bounced off of the knight’s armor, the only damage shown was a faint dent. The elemental rune enhancement had not made it through the armor, and other than being knocked off balance for a moment, the massively armored fighter was yet again unaffected.
The three of them settled into a sort of stalemate for a time. Valteria trying to pin down Illanno, Illanno smoothly dodging her attacks, and Xander launching his weapon at both of them. Illanno had masterfully deflected Xander’s weapon several times, and sidestepped and weaved around his other attacks almost as easily as he did with Valteria’s hammer. Valteria continued to shrug off his attacks as easily as they had previously.
Something had to break, and Xander decided that he would be the one to break it. Casting [Improved Reactive Armor] on himself, he slowly drew closer to the two fighters, continuing to throw out attacks with his chain weapon. Soon, he was almost as close to Valteria as Illanno was. As the heavily armored knight went for another swing, wider this time in an attempt to force Xander back as well, Xander manifested a flashbang from his inventory and tossed it to the ground. His two opponents reeled as the explosive device detonated and obscured their vision with its bright light. As soon as the device activated, Xander then activated [Smoke Screen], blanketing all three of them in a sphere of smoke that only he could easily see through.
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Xander decided that to go after the softest target first: Illanno. No matter how good of a hit he got on the disoriented Valteria, no single hit was going to take them out of the fight. Illanno, however, seemed much more vulnerable, and proved to be so as the head of Xander’s weapon buried itself in his side. Judging by the force with which the elf was thrown to the side by the artificially enhanced momentum of the weapon, at least a couple of his ribs were broken. Before he could follow up on his attack or confirm that Illanno was out of the fight, however, Xander was blown backwards by a gale of hot steam.
Valteria had finally activated a skill of some kind that had a visible appearance. From the knight burst forth a gale of heated steam. The force of it dispersed Xander’s [Smoke Screen] and knocked him a short distance away. Illanno, already on the ground and less armored than Xander, was simultaneously tumbled on the ground away from Valteria and burned by the steam. The injured elf weakly crawled away from the two standing fighters, and several healers ran out to meet him. Xander and Valteria held off on clashing as the healers entered their line of sight, instead trying to assess each other’s weaknesses as they regarded each other.
“That was a dirty trick,” Valteria commented as Illanno was brought to his feet and helped off the field.
Xander shrugged. “Not my fault most people can’t handle being blinded by a bright light. It’s not like it’s permanently damaging or anything.”
During their short intermission, Xander was formulating a plan to try and deal with Valteria. He didn’t think he was going to be able to do more than cosmetic damage to the knight with his ball and chain. He also was struggling to get a good reading on the proportions of the knight’s body under all that armor, making [Brand] difficult to use, and a partial marking would be ineffective. He could swap to his mace and try to slowly wear away at the armor, but that would be time consuming and give Valteria many opportunities to make counterattacks or display other skills. They were definitely too heavy to lift with [Improved Ferrokinesis]. Given how much metal seemed to be involved in the joints of their suit, perhaps gumming it up with the fast-drying glue would slow them down.
Once the healers were a sufficient distance away, the two commenced circling each other, angling for the right moment to strike. Xander struck first, surprising Valteria by manifesting a glass jar and tossing it at her instead of his usual attacks with his weapon. The knight raised their arm to deflect the projectile, and it shattered, splattering glue all across the end of their arm, wrist, and hand. Some of it splashed further up their arm and onto their chest, but it was not enough to do anything. Valteria tried to wipe the fluid off of their arm quickly, backing away to prevent Xander from rushing in to take advantage of the situation, and found the substance to be incredibly sticky. Another jar was launched from Xander’s free hand, where it shattered and splashed against Valteria’s waist and one of her knees.
Unsure as to the effect of the fluid that Xander seemed intent on coating them with, Valteria went on the offensive once more in a bid to prevent him from throwing any more jars. Unfortunately for the clockwork knight, Xander’s spider legs were capable of propelling him over the field faster than the heavy armored knight could run, with the added bonus of leaving him free to throw even more jars as he was chased. Soon, a thick layer of the glue coated Valteria’s armor in multiple spots, concentrated around the joints of their armor. As it seeped into gaps in the armor and began to dry, the scraping sound of metallic components could be heard. Valteria began to grow slower, knees and hips providing far more resistance than they normally should, and their hammer blows were affected as well as the joints in their arms and shoulders began to gum up as well.
It was still not enough to stop Valteria though. Doggedly, they followed after Xander, and he eventually ran out of jars of glue to throw. He debated creating more from his [Creation] ability, but decided it was pointless. The knight was about as coated and soaked in the glue as they were going to get. It had had a noticeable effect, at least, and he would have to work from there.
Though the attacks from the large hammer were easier to avoid now, there was still a significant amount of force behind them, so Xander needed to be cautious. He still didn’t have a way to break through the armor of his foe, at least not without killing them, and he still didn’t fancy a prolonged session of beating on Valteria with his acidic mace. If he couldn’t break through the armor, was there a way he could use it against his opponent?
Of course! He was surprised he hadn’t had the idea sooner, but if he could get close enough to briefly touch the knight, he could start using [Improved Manipulation] to start welding the joints of the armor together. He would still need to get close, but he’d only have to make small, quick touches against his foe rather than trying to make larger hits with his mace. And every successful attack he made would make it even harder for Valteria to move.
Ready to put his idea to the test, Xander changed his grip on his weapon as if he were intending to use it as a flail, and came in closer to Valteria, settling back onto his own two feet, rather than continuing to outrun them. He came into range of Valteria’s hammer and quickly danced backwards from the swing the knight leveled at him. As soon as the hammer passed by him, though, Xander darted forward again, activating [Sprint]. The sudden burst of speed allowed him to get in close enough to run his free hand over part of Valteria’s knee, the material flowing into one piece as he molded it together. He paid for it, though, as his opponent struck him with the butt end of the hammer, knocking him back away and staggering him. Valteria then aimed to lash out with a kick at Xander as he staggered backwards, but instead stumbled as their knee failed to bend.
Confused as to why their leg was no longer working as intended, Valteria took a limping step forward, but Xander had already had time to recover after the failed kick and managed to sidestep the overhead blow Valteria had desperately swung at him.
As the knight lifted their hammer, Xander dashed forward, again aided by [Sprint], and clamped a hand down on Valteria’s right elbow, sealing the armored joint shut. With one arm half locked in place and one knee unable to bend, and every other joint gummed by the glue Xander had doused them in, Valteria’s movement was severely limited. The harder it was for them to swing their hammer at Xander, the easier it became for him to seal more and more of the armor shut. Little by little, Valteria was reduced to a motionless figure, unable to move inside of their armor.
Xander drew closer, weapon held loosely at his side, and was about to ask if Valteria surrendered when he was once again surprised. A panel on the chest large breastplate of the knight blew forward exploded outward and off of the knight’s armor, and struck Xander square in the chest, knocking him flat. Following the heavy, metallic projectile was a much less heavy, fleshy projectile in the form of a deep violet skinned woman who was roughly four feet tall.
Landing atop the metal plate that was still resting on top of Xander, Valteria shouted, “I’m gonna win this tournament, damnit,” as she attempted to pry Xander’s helm from his head.
Unfortunately for Valteria, without her oversized suit of armor, her strength left much to be desired when matched up against Xander’s rune powered body. He quickly brought his hands up to Valteria and grabbed her arms in a tight grip. He used his hold to jerk the woman to one side as he shifted to dislodge the plate that was on top of him. Then he stood, lifting the odd-looking woman off her feet by her arm, looking at her curiously. He’d never seen someone with purple skin before. He shook the questions from his head. Staring at people like that was rude, anyways, and he certainly knew how it felt to fear judgement for being ‘different.’
Still dangling Valteria by one arm, he asked, “Do you surrender?”
Valteria slumped and sighed as the fight finally went out of her. “Yeah…” she said sadly. “I surrender.”
Xander gently placed her back on her own two feet and the woman raised her hands and backed away from Xander, signaling her surrender. The gong rang and the crowd, who had grown silent watching Valteria hanging from Xander’s grasp, exploded into a clamor of cheering, chants, whistles, and various other celebratory noises.
The announcer trotted out to the edge of the field and called out, “And there you have it! This year, The Wraith of Ilbek has come out on top! Better luck next year everybody else! What an amazing match that was, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fighter where one of the contender’s armor was sealed together like that!”
The rest of the announcer’s monologue was drowned out by the cheering as Xander looked around a bit confused as to what he was supposed to do now. Did he go back to the stands? Was he supposed to leave and collect his winnings at the guild? His thoughts were interrupted by a light rapping on his armored side. He turned to see a rather abashed looking Valteria looking up at him.
“Could you… undo what you did to my armor? It’s too heavy for me to move on my own…” the violet skinned woman asked him, sounding embarrassed.