He was walking through the portal, and Norbert appeared in the hallway again. Looking both ways down the corridor, nobody else was there. Norbert wondered where the other one hundred contestants would be this time.

He walked down the corridor until the centre stairwell was in front of him, pondering whether to go down to the other floors or see if the same thing could happen as last time. They remembered the figures atop the mountain and how they just abated, going away like they weren't even there.

Knowing he couldn't do anything, Norbert descended the stairs to the floor below. Norbert could hear signs of people fighting below as he went down, still descending the spiral staircase. Norbert dismissed it, not caring a mind, knowing it was a practice area anyway,

The barriers bellow up once again as he looked out across the hall. People were fighting against each other as Norbert continued to descend. Some people stopped momentarily as he walked, pointing at him before continuing. Others just glanced at who the newcomer was before going back to whatever they were doing. And then some didn't even give Norbert the time of day.

Not seeing a reason for interacting with them, not knowing how much time he lost, they all probably now spent training instead. Hitting the floor, Norbert pushed energy inside his body, sprinting to the next staircase to go to the floor underneath the one he was on. Looking for the dummies to train against.

Making his way to the next staircase, Norbert also went down there. Halfway down, Norbert sat on the outer rail, letting himself get swooped down the rail, the wind going through his hair one more time. Smiling to himself, Norbert landed on the floor, his feet skidding as he went into a jog, feeling the daggers jostle around as his pace evened out.

Getting straight to the next stairwell, Norbert went down again, now having seen the outside, wondering what else this place had to offer, needing to be more than just these several halls, remembering the snaking road far below his balcony.

Leaving the exploring for later, now wanting to see how the knives would function, Norbert went down the staircase again, sliding on the railing again, shouting to people to move off the side as he went down.

Holding on to the railing behind him to slow down, Norbert plopped onto the ground with a light jump in his step. He looked up the stairwell he had just come from, far above him, and imagined how deep he was now in the mountain. Walking, Norbert went to the most enormous dome he could find, empty and with a dummy.

Needing to walk far down the corridor, Norbert found one that met his liking. Most of the other large ones on this floor are already occupied. Most of them were occupied by a single person; Norbert rarely saw two people together fighting the dummies.

Norbert strolled through, seeing the barrier come down around him. Norbert headed towards the dummy; seeing the dummy stay still, Norbert stepped closer until he was a meter away.

Breathing in, Norbert took one of the throwing daggers out, tossing it into the air before catching it. Feeling the weight, he bounced it in his palm. Facing off against the dummy, Norbert lifted the knife behind his head as he threw it forward, grasping onto the hilt like a ball.

BANG TING

Norbert heard it bounce against the floor. Happy that he at least hit the target, having it be enough distraction, Norbert took a step back, reaching down for a knife on his left side and throwing it.

Watching as it hit the dummy, Norbert stayed where he was and unloaded the other four daggers. Having missed the last one, Norbert walked forward, picking up the daggers as he returned to his position. As he walked around, Norbert started to feel them on his legs.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Needing to bend down, Norbert looked at his straps, tightening them between each dagger as he secured them. Trying to wiggle them to the side, happy that they weren't moving, Norbert squatted down, only feeling slightly restricted when he was at the bottom.

As Norbert entered his position, unleashing the daggers, he saw them hit, throwing the last one as hard as he could, watching as the dagger once more joined the others on the floor. Walking towards the dummy, Norbert saw a scratch slowly disappear on it.

Nodding his head, satisfied at making it forward, Norbert took a step back from his position, now roughly three meters away. Norbert knew he would be in for a long time.

***

Count von Count stood outside the barrier, staring at Norbert as he threw the daggers several meters away. Most of them could hit, but only a few were missing, and none stayed within the target.

Watching as Norbert shook his head, walking towards daggers scattered around the dummy as he bent over, placing them each back in their sheaths. Working his way from the bottom up. Walking back over, still lost in thought, Count von Count waved at him.

As he watched Norbert, a smile appeared on the man's face. He waved back to his friend from Earth, Norbert, who walked through the barrier.

"What made you come here and bless us mortals with your presence?" Norbert asked Count von Count, bowing as Count von Count saw a dagger start to slide out of a sheath.

Norbert came back up, looking at the scowling vampire. Looking down at his body, not finding anything wrong with what he was wearing, he looked back up, making eye contact with Count von Count.

He raised his eyebrows as to why the vampire scowled him. Bending down, Count von Count kneeled as he dragged Norbert forward.

Clicking his tongue as he adjusted the straps, Norbert looked down, wondering what the vampire was doing there. He felt the tightness that he was used to come out, the feeling of them disappearing on his legs. He looked down, confirming that he still had them on, not believing how the vampire set it up.

As he moved around, Norbert, moving to the right-hand side, reached up and took the daggers off the straps. Norbert changed his vision, seeing the magic holding them in place as Count von Count examined the magic circle before nodding his head and attaching the dagger back on.

Norbert watched as he adjusted the dagger, a strap that Norbert didn't know what to do with as he just placed it under the others. Count von Count took it off and tied it around the handle before securing it with a button click.

Norbert watched the angle being nearly pointed directly towards the ground and watched as the vampire went further and further up his leg until finally reaching the top dagger. He only slightly adjusted the angle before he turned Norbert around, working on the other side.

Now both sides in unison, Norbert looked down, seeing the daggers at the bottom pointing to the ground, the ones further up pointing straight ahead and the top one where he would expect it to be like the other dagger and knife he had.

Pointing to the weird angles, Norbert waited for an explanation.

Count von Count was already opening his mouth before Norbert could even move. "It was designed for you to lift your leg to get the knife, not bend down." He curtly explained to Norbert.

Norbert nodded as he lifted his leg, moving it forward. Naturally, he found that each one would come into position depending on how far up he raised his leg.

"So I'm meant to do high knees with this?" Norbert asked Count von Count.

He turned his head as he spoke to Norbert, "The point is when you're running forward. This is not standard equipment, and I have only seen several people use it effectively." He said, the last part mostly to himself.

Norbert nodded in response as he imagined he was quickly drawing with a gun. Taking a significant step forward, leaning naturally forward as well, he could unclip the dagger easily, feeling his arm come naturally above his head.

Sliding to a stop, Norbert looked around, nodding his head to Count von Count as he stepped inside the dome.

Norbert walked forward, dismissing the vampire from his head as he ran towards the dummy. Far away, Norbert grazed his legs over the knives, confirming that what Count von Count said was right. Them being angled in what seemed like a weird way was the correct position.

Now close to it, Norbert unleashed the six daggers at the dummy, needing to halt before smashing into it.

Skidding on one foot, brushing the daggers on the floor, Norbert stopped a meter away. Seeing that most of them had missed Norbert was satisfied with himself, seeing a single dagger sticking out of the dummy's chest.

Pulling the dagger out, Norbert collected the others, going over to position. Seeing Count von Count standing there, the man nodded, approving of what Norbert did. Norbert, standing on the other side of the barrier Norbert, breathed in, knowing he would need to be doing this a lot more.