Thump
Thump
Thump
The world closes in.
A chill sweeps his forearm.
Everything is dark but himself, the floor, and the enemy in front of him.
Laughter
Sweaty palm.
All he hears is his own heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
Nausea.
A stabbing pain in his stumpy left arm.
His knees are weak, but he takes a stance.
He’s been through this before.
Trying to catch his breath.
His satchel.
Out of sight.
Rummaging through it.
*Weapon.
Distraction?.. Yes..*
*Never doubt a classic?..
Three should be enough.*
He can hear his own breath.
Calm down.
*You only get one chance.
Don’t lose yourself.*
*He’s big, but not slow.
He trained right.
And he knows it…
He expects to win this.
Defeat never crossed his mind…*
*First a rush. Magic? No, strength.
Shock, then feral swing.
Force him down.
Finish quickly.*
In front of him, the big bull-kin of an opponent starts to charge at him.
The world snaps back into focus. Nathan pulls three crystals from his satchel, and a single dagger. He casts a spell. A favorite of his, taught to him by his mother many years ago.
The three crystals are loaded with magic and activated, one is dropped on the ground behind him. The dagger is thrown towards his opponent.
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A weak attempt, but that’s all Fritz expects from Nathan. He smashes it aside with his sword, laughing at the pathetic attack. In front of him stands three opponents, where previously stood only one. Clearly, this was a pathetic attempt to distract him, but he will not be fooled by this.
Still convinced of his overwhelming victory, he snarls as he swipes his sword across the neck of all of them in a single fell swoop. They all pass through thin air, as the three faces in front of him twist into a smile. A fraction of a second later, three rocks spring up where each of the three clones stood.
Fritz stares at the one in front of his face out of reflex.
An explosive sound erupts all around him. Blinding lights fill the space,
A ringing noise fills his ears. He can’t see.
A spell cast in panic.
Toppling over as he loses balance, he reaches out to brace himself.
His leg is swept. A kick to the head.
Impact. The taste of dust.
Confusion.
Weight on his back.
Something sharp on his neck.
Chills running down his spine.
Failure?.. No..
The chamber is silent.
Nathan stands on his toppled foe. One foot on Fritz's shoulder.
A sword of blue mist held in his hand, pressed against his neck. Droplets of blood on the ground.
“You can step off him now.”
One of the instructors yells out.
As Nathan releases power from the artifact, the blade evaporates.
He jumps back smoothly, staying vigilant in case his foe lashes out in confusion.
Fritz jumps to his feet, still shocked by the events.
“What happened?! What did he do?!”
“He defeated you. Clear the arena so we can move on to the ne-”
“NO! I’m am not finished! He got the jump on me, I can still win thi-”
Besides him, Nathan snickers loudly.
Realizing that he’s being taunted by someone he expected to beat overwhelmingly, Fritz turns around with a freezing look in his eyes.
“Did you just.. Laugh at me?...”
“Stand down Fritz. Now.”
One of the instructors commands from the platform.
“No! I refuse to acknowledge this! If this had been a real fight, the-”
“Then that cut would have been a few inches deeper.”
Nathan interjects.
Fritz turns silently to stare at Nathan, wrath burning in his eyes.
“ENOUGH! Both of you!”
The instructor shouts, ending the argument.
“Remove yourself from the arena, immediately!”
Nathan turns his back to his opponent, walking over to collect his cloak.
Behind him, Fritz grabs his sword harder, before pulling his arm up over his head and swinging it towards Nathan, a look of rage fuelled hatred and arrogance on his face.
Quickly invoking his aura, Nathan casts the same spell as before, turning him translucent like smoke. A gifted magic used would turn invisible, with a shimmer only visible to those that know exactly what to look for. But not Nathan.
Around him, several clones that are equally smoke-like appear.
A combo taught to him by his mother during his childhood, though she would execute it with far more visual success.
“Stop this immediately!”
The instructors yell from the platform.
Fritz quickly calls out the invocation for his aura, flooding his back in a deep red aura that lights up the area around him. Wordlessly, he summons fist sized rocks and hurls them at the shadows in front of him in quick succession.
Above him, Nathan flips in the air, having jumped immediately after casting his spell, using the crystals hidden in the soles of his boots. With a gentle thud, he lands behind Fritz, pulling an artifact out of his pouch.
Unfortunately, this sound was just loud enough for Fritz to hear.
Quickly turning around, Fritz changes to a spell that showers Nathan with dozens of sharp pebbles at high speed. Covering his face with the stump of his left arm, Nathan readies the artifact in his right hand. Recognizing that he found the real Nathan, and thereby secured the upper hand, Fritz charges forward.
Nathan dodges under the swing, striking Fritz in the ribs under his left arm.
Feeling a sharp pain, Fritz kicks him in the ribs, knocking him into the air, before casting a spell that hurls a rock into Nathan’s stomach midair, throwing him across the arena. As Nathan collides with the wall, he buckles forward and spits out blood.
With an arrogant smirk, Fritz takes a step forward before hearing a strange sound he doesn’t recognize from beneath him.
Beeb
Beeb
He lifts his left arm to see a small piece of metal imbedded in his rib-cage. He sees that the trinket has two crystals imbedded in it; One blinking, the other cracked.
Just in time to hear the last beeb.
The chamber is violently shaken as an explosion erupts from Fritz, tearing him in half.
In the shadows, Nathan stares up at the hooded figures on the level above them, who despite their best efforts were taken off-guard by the explosion. They erupt into a silent argument, gesturing to each other violently.
With a grin, Nathan spits up more blood as he loses consciousness.