The group of five were called and walked to the arena. As they passed the gates that led into the sand pit where the fights happened the cheers of spectators howled over the magic barrier separating the battlefield from them.
“On our left corner we have a group of 5 young men who are here to try the Rookie Survival challenge. Mathias, Kaki, Luminus, Moon and Klaws are their names! A round of applause for their courage!” The announcer said from his booth. His voice echoing in the arena.
Mathias got his big sword ready, it was basically a buster sword. He had to change his weapon and this one was the best one he found. Kaki did the same with his spear, Luminus unsheathed only one of the rapiers in his belt and Moon readied his short sword. Klaws was the only one without a weapon.
“As you know the survival challenge is a fight against 100 of our selected warriors. The further you go, the better your prizes are. They will come in groups of variable numbers in fixed random intervals. No attacks can be made from any side until both gates are closed and you can’t camp the opposing gate. Now, here comes the first wave of fighters!” The announcer said as the gates of the opposite side of the group opened. 7 people, all men, with a mixture of spears, bucklers and short swords walked in. They were all adults and had the bodies of people that at least fought regularly.
“Me, Klaws and Kaki, only support if they don’t fold in a few seconds.” Mathias said and everyone in the group nodded in agreement.
Once the gates closed Mathias, Kaki and Klaws dashed forward towards the enemy group, taking them by surprise.
Klaws was the first one to reach someone, a man with a buckler and short sword. Klaws let his energy flow and nails transform into claws. Using all the force given by his speed he shoved his hand into the face of the man, half slapping, half clawing him. The man’s face was cut by Klaws’ nails before he was sent flying into a wall by the force of the attack.
Kaki was the next one and he went straight to the spear user. That man was a little more prepared and had his spear ready. The only problem was that he was way weaker than Kaki. It took only a simple application of force from Kaki’s part to make the man’s spear fly out of his hand. Kaki stabbed the man, piercing his gut and sending him flying to the wall too.
Mathias reached a group of three men with only short swords that were close together. These 3 clearly knew each other and fought together. They all tried to block Mathias’ attack together, a slam with his sword like it was a baseball bat. All 3 of them were caught in the attack and sent flying to the side. Only two people on the opposing side remained, all stunned due to the sudden attack. The crowd went crazy, the announcer not even able to say anything, just cheering on along with the crowd.
Luminus dashed towards the group of 3 that Mathias sent flying. Before they could really do anything, he stabbed each one on the neck, drawing blood for a moment but then the magic of the arena kicked in and teleported them out of there so they wouldn’t die. Moon sent a very small projectile of dark energy into the man Klaws sent into the wall, making him leave the arena too.
Klaws began to run towards one of the men left standing. Mathias advanced towards the same target while Kaki went towards the one left. Klaws blitzed the man, punching him towards Mathias who tried to chop the man in half with his sword, making the spell on the arena trigger once he cut the man a little too deep in the chest. Kaki slammed the last man in the head, with a lucky hit on the side of his head, making the spell trigger and sending him out via magic. Kaki then takes his spear and throws it towards the spearman he sent to the wall first, impaling him for a moment before he is also sent out of the arena, making sure the first wave of fighting is over.
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“An incredible first wave! These newcomers just showed that they are not here to play!” The announcer excitedly said. Kaki used this brief moment of pause to grab his spear. The group then gets back into formation, ready for the next wave of enemies to arrive.
The gates open again, this time 10 people come out, two of them with tower shields. Armor is not allowed in this event, only light clothes, things like cotton shirts and pants. A big shield would help guard not only the user but its allies.
The group of 10 is more aware and ready. The two men with the tower shields position themselves somewhat in front of the group, ready to defend most of them.
“Assassin formation. Shields will come down first. Kaki, you are supporting, Moon, you with me.” Mathias commands his team mates and they get in formation. Mathias stayed on the right, Klaws on his left, Moon just behind Mathias and Luminus behind Klaws. Kaki is in the middle of all of them, with a meter or two between all of them.
The group dash forward, taking the initiative on this fight. Mathias and Klaws dash straight towards the big shields, slamming them with their weapon and fist respectively. The men holding the shields groan as the impacts reach them, the shields barely doing their jobs. Two people with spears try to poke at Klaws and Mathias but Kaki parries the attacks, making them miss.
Moon suddenly dashed very close to the ground, going below and around Mathias, reaching the side of one the shielders. Without hesitation he uses a spell, bathing his sword in dark mana and pierces the shielder in the head, teleporting him out of the arena once the sword goes deep enough into his cranium. Luminus does something similar, in a way, he dashes towards one side of the other shielder but sends his other rapier to the other side. He tries to poke the shielder who manages to block an attack with his hand but with his distraction he is taken by surprise when something impales his head from behind, making him be teleported too.
The rest of the fighters go forward, trying to take the momentum of Mathias’ group while they are open but they are not powerful enough. Mathias, forcing himself just a little, parried a sword coming in the direction of Moon and sent the man attack flying back, stopping part of the group attack before it began. Klaws straight up grab a man and slam him into the ground, almost breaking his neck and making him vanish from the arena. Kaki used the second people became stunned with the brutal display to smash his spear on the rest of the people, sending them back a few meters.
Luminus moved one of his rapiers with his psychic powers, stabbing a man that fell on his butt in the head, making him vanish from the arena soon after. Moon creates dozens of small balls of darkness and shoots them at the enemy group. Half of them are eliminated from the match with that attack. Kaki, Klaws and Mathias dash forward, ready to strike their enemies again.
The enemy group quickly manages to stand up since a lot of their group vanished. A woman using a longsword tries to intercept Klaws but the boy just tilts a little to the side and slam into her with all the momentum he was generating and just before she is sent flying he tries to gut her with her claws, making her vanish once his fingers go deep enough.
Two of the people that survived so far were spearmen and they tried to fight Kaki. Clearly using their cultivation they tried to reduce Kaki’s space to move but their cultivation was low, in a single burst Kaki manages to once just stop the attack but this time instead of just going on the offense, Kaki put some power into a slash with his spear, almost decapitating the two spearman as the spell that teleported people barely activated on time.
The last opponent in the group was a man using a buster sword like the one Mathias was using. The man actually managed to hold his own against Mathias for a while. Mathias tried to just ignore the man and power through in a small burst of power but the man was around the same rank in cultivation and was showing no qualms in burning as much mana as he needed to.
Head-on crash after crash between their blades they are not moving. Mathias, making use of his training, not needing to activate his cultivation to parry the attacks coming his way. Once he saw that the man was going to use a really powerful attack, he let go of his sword, freeing himself of the weight and confusing his enemy. Mathias dashes forward, creating stone around his fist with a small spell and smashes his knuckle into the man’s face, knocking him out and making him vanish as the wave finishes.
The group once again regrouped, still serious. The crowd cheered them on and went crazy. They like it a little but they knew that so far they only dealt with canon fodder.