This man was unbothered by Seru’s display of aggression. He pressed forward, closing in on Amon once more. This time, he allowed his blade’s tip to hover near the ground until he was upon Amon to deliver an upwards slash.

Amon dodged the blade with a small jump backwards, then came right back it once it had finished its intended arc. He anticipated the man following up with an overhead slash, so when it happened he already had his own sword primed to meet it. This time, though, instead of testing their strengths against one another, Amon let his blade return to his inventory.

The man fell forward, the sudden change causing him to lose his balance for a second. That brief window was all Amon needed. This was part of his plan, after all.

He pivoted into the side while summoning his blade back, slashing it down and cutting deep into the man’s shoulder. He didn’t think he had the strength to cut it clean off, so he put it back into the inventory and summoned it a third time in rapid succession. While the man was reeling from the pain of being hurt, Amon stepped even further in and thrust his blade forward this time.

When he felt it cut into the man’s flesh like butter, he knew that victory was his. Or, at least, that’s what he thought!

His opponent didn’t falter this time. He gritted his teeth and, since there was enough room to swing his sword effectively, he leaned in and bit Amon’s neck.

He was both hurt and confused. What could he have possibly been biting him for? Blood leaked from the wound as he clamped down, trickling down Amon’s neck.

He felt his energy start to leave his body, but it wasn’t as though he was suddenly lethargic. The man was sucking the mana right out of him!

He panicked, unsure of what to do. He’d never faced a vampiric foe before. He’d already rendered this man’s arm useless, and put a hole in his stomach, and he seemed mostly unfazed by his circumstances.

While he was lost in his thought, the man unlatched from him and put space between the two of them.

Golden blood lined the corners of his mouth, catching Amon’s attention. He didn’t even know his blood wasn’t red anymore!

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The swordsman rose his bad arm with ease, even though it should’ve been unusable, and wiped his mouth. He prepared to take another step in for a third assault, but he suddenly fell to the ground and started writhing in pain.

His skin began to bubble and fester with blisters and lesions. He scratched at his throat, with his good hand only this time, the veins in it bulging ceaselessly until one ruptured. Blood leaked from his eyes and he eventually fell limp.

Amon was holding his neck, confused as to what just transpired. Even the crowd was shocked and stunned.

The man disappeared into thin air and Amon silently cursed, he had meant to take the katana. What was done was done though, so he stepped towards the next door.

He could keep going, but was that safe? He saw that there were no blips in any of the stages, so what did that mean? Did Nykal fail here? Was he still on the stage? Did he call it quits after this one?

He shook his head clear of those thoughts. He knew that there was no point in stressing over someone else’s actions. It was a much better use of his time and energy to worry solely about himself and the people he loved.

4 stars was definitely a bit of a challenge, but it wasn’t impossible. He could only assume that his draconic blood was responsible for how the fight ended, but even if that wasn’t the case he felt like he still could’ve won. And that was just by himself. With Seru and Blue, he knows for a fact that he would’ve easily dominated the stage. Hell, Seru might’ve been able to do it alone.

He moved onto 5 stars. This time, he found himself and his summons standing on one of the many rocks that served as platforms so that one didn’t have to be inside of the lava bubbling below.

He looked down. The temperature was scorching, so he knew it was real lava. What the hell was even heating it?

The challenge this time came in the form of one giant, standing at around 20 feet tall from Amon’s estimates, and an equally massive blue bird.

“Take the bird.” Was all he said to the two of them before running off on his own. He had to test himself, he had to push himself. There was no room for complacency or taking it easy, he would end up dead like that.

He equipped his Blue Moon Greatsword as he closed in on his foe. This giant had no weapon, so Amon was sure that he would fight with his fists. He didn’t know whether or not he could rely on his preconceptions about giants, so he decided not to. Anything could’ve happened.

He landed in front of the enemy, who had also ran towards him and met him on a platform halfway between where they both started off.

Amon was just a little later than the giant.

When he landed, he found himself already being attacked. A powerful fist soared through the air and Amon wasn’t sure if this was an attack he could take or not. He was completely healed from the last fight, but should he take risks? Did he even know how to properly take a hit?

He chose to dodge, jumping above the attack and landing on its gargantuan arm. The giant went to squish him with its other hand, but Amon was able to outrun the attack and scale the giant’s arm with ease.

When he made it to its head, he jumped up and came down with an overhead swing.

The blade cut through the giant easier than it had the previous man, which left Amon perplexed as they both fell to the ground. Only one of them was still breathing, since the other had almost their entire head sliced in two.

He looked over to Seru and Blue, only to find that they’d made quick work of their foes. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he looked around. Was he missing something? Why was this so easy?

He returned his blade to his inventory and hopped to the 6 star entrance. There was no real point in pondering the circumstances, it didn’t change what his goal was.