“Who do you think will win between them,” I asked Isaac.

Isaac gave me a sideways glance and looked back at the fight occurring between the two. “You’re joking, right? Are we watching the same fight?”

Doukur’s hammer whirred through the air with ease, sending Tholdred’s rock golems flying as the dwarf’s sweat-soaked body glistened. According to the announcer’s commentary, dwarves are naturally attuned to the terra, which is soil and all that. With their special attunement, they can channel the mana within the terra and command it according to their will, as long as they have the energy and focus to do so. Basically, this is a terrible match-up for Tholdred.

“Ah screw it. Wasting mana on this ‘ere muscle-head,” Tholdred grumbled. He swung his war hammer face down, causing the remaining golems to slink back onto the ground.

“Finally fighting me head-on with no petty tricks, dwarf?” The demogre gloated. With fire in his eye, Doukur stomps toward the haggard man.

“Yeah, guess so. Hmph!” Suddenly, the dwarf’s skin grew taut as his muscles enlarged. He looked like a five-foot-three man who spent all his life in the gym.

Isaac snickered at the sight. “Holy shit! He reminds me of that one guy on the internet! What was his name again?”

“Are those muscles just for show, dwarf?” Doukur said with a condescending sneer. Tholdred, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed by the remark.

“Why don’t ye come an’ find out?”

“Of course!”

Doukur leaped high into the air and cast his metal club downward at the dwarf. Tholdred didn’t have enough time to dodge, so he braced himself, tightening his muscles and raising his hammer to defend himself. As the two weapons collided, a thunderous clang reverberated throughout the stadium, like two gigantic steel discs crashing together at lightning speed.

“Oh? You were able to block that?” Doukur said.

The dwarf grimaced at Doukur’s brute strength. Tholdred shifted his leg forward, and a small golem appeared behind the oblivious Doukur. The golem scampered onto his back and tightened its grip, constricting Doukur’s neck in a headlock. At the sight, Nevar screeched into the mic excitedly.

“Just when we thought Tholdred was done, he made one more golem while his opponent was distracted!”

Nevar won’t be able to commentate as much during these matches as the fighters can also hear him. One slip-up and it could be considered cheating, so he had to watch his mouth.

Tholdred’s plan seemed to have worked, as Doukur’s grip on his weapon slackened. Tholdred noticed it right away and was able to get away by parrying. I could not say the same for the golem as it was destroyed as Doukur grabbed it from behind and crushed it into a fine powder.

“Do you think you can defeat me that easil-“

Doukur’s grumbling was cut short when a hole that hadn’t been there previously appeared near his foot. He inspected the hole briefly and peered up into the sky. In a matter of seconds, Doukur was pelted by an abundance of rocks that rained down on him mercilessly. Tholdred watched the bombardment, not moving a muscle as he waited patiently for the dust to settle.

“Haw-haw! Is that all you got?” a haughty voice rumbled. Doukur jumped out of the screen of dust and landed right in front of the dwarf. Tholdred was shocked for a moment, but soon regained his composure and swung his war hammer at Doukur. Alas, the demogre effortlessly caught it in his hand.

Doukur frowned at the puny dwarf. “I think it’s about time to end this. You are no match for me.”

The brute tossed the hammer aside and glared at Tholdred. The dwarf glanced at the hammer and back to the demogre.

“I giv’,” Tholdred said out loud. “I know I ain’t a match fer ya.”

Nevar fluttered to the arena and stood between the combatants. “Ladies and gentlemen! Tholdred has conceded! The winner of our first match is… Doukur!”

The audience clapped and cheered as if the results of the match were predetermined. It was quite understandable. We had a gist of what each of us is capable of and Tholdred just got the terrible end of the stick.

“It was obvious troll-breath was going to win,” Isaac said under his breath.

We watched Tholdred being carried off by healers. These specialized mages are on standby in case of an emergency. Tholdred claimed he was fine, but the healers weren’t taking no for an answer and practically kidnapped him, forcing him on the stretcher and retreating to a tunnel on the other end. Nevar watched the healers with a smile until they were gone.

“Let’s not waste any further time! It is now time for the second match! It will be between Myra and Fenris!”

Upon hearing her name, I gave Myra a small wave when our eyes met. She didn’t wave back, but simply nodded her head and kept walking. Fenris was right behind her. He had an average look with his short, disheveled, dark brown hair and a pointy nose. He also had a bow, like Myra. Strapped to both hips were small daggers. The two stood at opposite sides of the arena, waiting to begin.

“The two combatants are ripe and ready to rumble! Are you ready to witness these two elves in battle?”

In response, the stadium buzzed with anticipation. Will this be their first time witnessing a battle between elves? As for me, I’ve only seen them fight in shows and movies. Actually, this would be my first time too since this will be an authentic experience.

“Without further ado… May the second battle begin!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Without hesitation, Myra had her bow in hand and a mana arrow ready to fire, launching multiple arrows at Fenris. Instead of drawing his bow, he brandished his daggers, deftly slicing each arrow in two.

“He’s very agile. Slicing arrows traveling at that speed is an amazing feat,” I said to Isaac.

“Bet you can’t do it,” Isaac taunted.

I wanted to kick that boy in the back of his head, but I had to suppress the need of committing violence. There are people watching and I don’t want to be called an abuser or anything crazy like that.

“Isn’t it kind of weird, Laila? How is she able to keep this up? Is her mana reservoir large enough to fire that many mana arrows? Or is her magic that low of a cost to use?”

I opened my mouth to reply but shut it quickly, as I had no answer. I could only pay attention to the fight and just watch. Fenris was shuffling closer to Myra every time an arrow was cut by his dagger. Even then, Myra was calm, as if the situation was still in her favor. Just what is she thinking in that head of hers?

“Fenris’s agility and evasion with the dagger show just how skillful he is! Not only is he cutting away at Myra’s attacks, but he is also dodging them with ease,” Nevar explained.

The longer I watched the fight closely, the quicker I figured out what Myra was planning. I didn’t notice it before, but Myra purposely missed some of her shots, each one disappearing into the sky. All this time I thought Fenris was narrowly dodging them, but Myra was micro-adjusting to make it not obvious. When Myra battled against the golems, she landed all headshots against the lifeless constructs. This time, her aim wasn’t true, unusually so.

“What will you do now that your specialty of long-range is invalid?” The male elf gloated. With both daggers raised, he lunged forward to disarm her bow, yet Myra remained composed and unruffled.

“Got you,” Myra smiled.

The mana arrows Fenris thought he dodged were flying back toward him, similar to an air raid. He was now sandwiched between Myra and the arrows. A bead of sweat appeared on Fenris’s face as he clicked his tongue. His daggers glowed, infused with his own mana. He turned his body at the arrows, and with a swipe of his daggers, released a barrage of translucent slashes. That split-second distraction was all Myra needed. Just before Fenris could face her again, she notched two mana arrows into both of his legs, causing him to stumble. With him now disabled, Myra lurched forward and tackled him to the ground. She then pressed her knee into his back and pinned his arm securely underneath her.

“Do you give up?” Myra said coldly.

“Of course not!” Fenris growled.

He thrashed around, kicking and turning, but Myra didn’t budge. A sharp sigh escaped from her lips, and she twisted the arm in her hands. What followed was a loud snap. I winced at the sound of his arm breaking. With my increased hearing, the sounds of broken bones are far worse. Droplets of sweat cascaded down Fenris’s forehead as he clamped his jaw shut to stifle a cry.

“Oh, that’s gotta hurt! The ruthless Myra is showing her Elven brethren no mercy!” Nevar said happily. There were some members of the crowd who hid their faces, but many others were enjoying the fight, jeering.

“Last chance, do you concede?” Myra warned, holding Fenris’s other arm. The man gave her no response. Myra’s grip tightened around Fenris’ arm as she prepared to break it, but a feeble croak finally escaped his lips as he tapped out.

“Okay! I give!” he said through gritted teeth. Myra immediately released her grip and stoop up, backing away from the man clutching his oddly bent arm.

“After fighting for his dear life- or in this case, his limbs- Fenris has finally given up! Myra is the winner of our second match and will advance to the next round!” Nevar exclaimed. The announcer motioned at the healers to hurry and send Fenris to the healing station. Once Fenris was placed on a stretcher, he was whisked away immediately.

“Man, she is brutal!” Isaac sneered.

I massaged my arm as I thought back to the gut-wrenching snap. “…Kinda feel bad for the guy. I don’t know what a broken arm feels like, but it probably hurts like hell. Just thinking about it makes my arm throb...”

Nevar glanced at a paper in his hand. “So far, these fights have been totally one-sided! Are the top five in leaderboards that strong or are the matchups totally lopsided?! Who knows? On to the next match, which is between Isaac and-“

“Well, it’s time for me to step up,” Isaac said casually. “My opponent is some no-name, so I’ll make it quick. No need to waste my energy on him.”

I simply rolled my eyes and watched Isaac step onto the platform. I mean, it’s not a good idea to be over-confident, but since it’s Isaac, he’ll be fine.

Nothing of interest happened as the series of events unfolded. Once the battle began, Isaac quickly dispatched his opponent with a swift kick to the head after dodging the opponent’s slow swings. His opponent was just your regular man with a chest plate, sword, and helmet. Isaac loomed over the kneeling, winded man with a blank expression. After the results were announced, he whipped back and stood next to me.

“Did you really have to evade all his attacks for a solid two minutes?” I asked Isaac.

He shrugged his shoulders and put both hands in his pockets. “I just felt like it. I thought about dragging things by dodging all his attacks until he grew tired, but I said screw it and just finished it in one blow.”

The disrespect Isaac can show is quite appalling. Back at home, there would be moments when he would hop on the microphone and talk trash to others online during one of his gaming sessions. There was this one time when he was loud to the point where I busted into the room and told him to shut up or ill break his kneecaps. My threat had Isaac whispering to the mic as he grumbled about how unfair I was. Speaking of home, how long has it been since we’ve been here? Have I been kicked out of my university already or am I on suspension? Are there people looking for us? I don’t really communicate with other people at my university. I’m just there to do the work I’ve been assigned and only focus on graduating with a bachelor’s in biology. Having friends is just a side task you get along the way. Even if I had friends, I wouldn’t have enough time to hang out with them. I already have too much on my plate with schoolwork and jobs. Someone has to put food on the table…

“Hey, Isaac.” I pulled him closer and put my lips near his ear, whispering so no one else can hear. “Do you miss Earth? Or your friends?”

“Hm… Not really,” he said answered matter-of-factly. “I don’t miss them at the moment. I might get homesick here and there, but my current situation is way too much fun. And also, it’s because I have you here with me. If I were stuck here by myself and you were left behind, I would feel-“

I placed a hand over Isaac’s lips to shut him up. “Alright, stop. Hearing you say that with a straight face feels awkward. I just asked you a simple question.”

“Hey man, you asked,” Isaac said with a smirk. I released my hand and looked away, hoping he didn’t see the expression I had on my face. If he caught a glimpse, he would definitely laugh with that annoying face of his…

The next fight was just your classic sword fight between men. This time it was an even match-up and kind of interesting to watch. Their shoulders were forward, and no one over-committed with their swings. I don’t know much about sword fighting, but I think their stance and footwork were sort of insightful. I should keep some notes about it.

After one of them was disarmed, they forfeited the match, and the other remained victorious. Next, it was time for Airon to step up. He’s the most mysterious person in the entire tournament, second to Lycaon. The only information he disclosed to us was his name and not where he was from. He refused to speak about it. However, whenever you look at him, he bore a striking resemblance to Volken and Solgen. He was tall, had pale skin and lavender eyes. His short, gray hair swept across his forehead. As he made his way up into the arena, I could’ve sworn that he glanced in our general direction. Isaac noticed it too and spoke up.

“He looked at us, right?”

“Yep,” I replied.

“Oh, so I’m not the only one who noticed. I thought I was going crazy. Does he have beef, or is he interested in us?”

I guess we’ll find out later.