Chapter 5.1:

I pinched one of my swords between my knees, flipped off the cork of the vial with one hand, and downed it. It may have been arrogance, but I thought I had a chance to go all the way this time.

Immediately, I felt the fatigue wash away, and my muscles swell. Not only did I feel more powerful, I felt faster. My sense of balance was slightly better, and my eyes processed information just a touch quicker. I rolled my neck and heard it pop. Crouching low, I launched myself to sprint into the center and began.

I was already halfway to the center of the arena when the other four opponents started to move. It was as if they were moving in slow motion. It was not really that much slower than me, but it was just enough where I had a chance to think. As I ran, I found that somehow, I could adjust my normal untrained reactions with actual thought and planning. Normally, thinking would lose me that half-second edge that people who have trained forever always had.

When I passed the center point, I engaged the person directly across from me. He brought his blade up to block and managed to slip to the side of my second blade. The maneuver put him off balance, and I twirled in a counter-rotation motion to try to take him again. He managed to block it. As I landed from my spin after my initial collision, I set my feet, and we began to go back and forth.

Occasionally, my opponent would get in a strike, but he wasn't the same massive man that a lot of the people around here were. He was around my size, if a bit more beefy in the arms. But when our blades met, I felt very little strength discrepancy. If anything, I was lighter on my feet as well. While his skill was superior to mine, he wasn't very familiar with fighting someone with two weapons.

As he braced a block of an overhand chop with my right hand, I bent my whole body into it, forcing him to strain. I wasn't in any position to bring my other sword to bear, but I stuck its tip in the ground and flicked up some sand into his face as he looked down, bracing.

The grains barely brushed his eyes, but it made them water, and he started blinking. And the next time I swung at him, I swung leisurely where he could block. But I remembered Bojrn's advice, so I made my feint a threat. If he did nothing, the swing would hit his shoulder. My feint worked, and I followed up with a kick to his leg. That was something he didn't see coming as he tried to clear his eyes.

It didn't do much damage besides forcing him slightly off balance. He staggered backward, trying to put space in between us. I dashed forward. A simple swing opened up a cut on his thigh with one sword that he was too slow to block. Now, with his blade out of position, my other blade crashed into his upper arm, and I heard the bone snap. He managed to hold on to his blade, but there was no way he would effectively use it. So I ran him through, one opponent down.

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I turned myself around, searching for the other three people in the arena with us. Luckily, none of them decided to attack my back while I was distracted. They were in a melee, fighting with each other. I reoriented myself and came in from behind, diving low at one of the more skilled opponents.

My sword flashed through the back of his knee, and he went down in a startled cry. The other two turned to me instead of fighting each other as I had hoped. This forced me to scramble back to my feet and back away before the downed fighter had a chance to retaliate. He wasn't going to move anywhere, but he still held on to his sword.

The two opponents exchanged a look that made my guts sink, and they started coming at me from two sides. Their splitting up was smart. It would put me on the defensive and limit my advantage of having two blades, but it gave me just the slightest opening. I took advantage of my increased speed and balance and went after the slower opponent.

He was a big man, several inches taller than me and at least twice my weight. There was a bit of a belly on him, but it was more like a powerlifter's gut rather than the body of someone who had gone soft from lack of effort. The sword looked like a toothpick in his meaty hand, but he moved it around surprisingly fast, much faster than he could move his feet.

That was fine with me. I caught it with one blade and kicked up with the toe of my boot, connecting to his inner thigh. He barely shifted to avoid the nutshot I was planning.

When his blade met mine, he blew past my block, almost throwing my sword out of my hands. I was barely able to just dodge out of the way. The monstrous blow sent me stumbling forward, as I wasn't expecting this weird combination of forces. I tucked my swords to my sides, turning my stumble into a somersault. He was a little too slow to catch me as I passed him.

Getting up to my feet, I tried to slice behind me as I got up. It didn't quite work as I wanted it to. I hadn't practiced this maneuver and almost lost my balance again. By the time I regained my feet, he had already made a full turn, but my main goal had been accomplished. He stood between me and his new ally. Showing surprising faith in his temporary alliance, he didn't check behind him to see if he was about to be stabbed in the back and instead took steps towards me.

I bounced on my toes slightly and feinted to the left before going right. He read my feint and met my attack with a chopping blow. This time, I brought up both swords, crossed to catch his blow, and managed to hold it. However, he still had an empty fist, which he swung at me. I felt ribs crack as his fist hammered into the side of my chest. The force nearly lifted me off my feet because of his shift of momentum, though the pressure on my blades let up. Taking advantage, I could disengage my supporting blade and slash at his wrist even as it withdrew from its impact with my side.

The man only let out a grunt of pain, and his face didn't even flicker as I severed the tendons in his forearm, nearly cutting down to the bone. He was starting to withdraw his blade for another attack. But I wasn't going to let him get any momentum back. I lunged forward, trying to finish this as quickly as possible before the other fighter managed to flank me. I hacked at both his stomach and his head from different directions simultaneously. He tried to step back, but his feet just weren't quick enough.