As the sun came over, Norbert headed towards the colosseum, unable to change his clothes. People around him stared at him and his ragged clothes. He was happy he had his helmet on to protect himself as much as possible with their fight to come hide his identity so those pesky rumours wouldn't follow him everywhere. He knew that the rags now attached to his body wouldn't hold that much protection as his flesh was currently exposed.
Stepping through, Norbert flashed his token as the slime appeared. He headed to the left on the second doorway, once more going underground. Walking through the tunnel once more, he made the right turn as he opened up on the room, looking about at the beds all lined up. Stopping there, Norbert counted that there were far fewer beds than the last time he came in here.
Looking up at the screen, which showed the teams that would be fighting and their names for the day, he saw his name pop up once. He didn't know the time, but there were other teams before his own, and he was happy he wasn't late for it.
He walked towards his bed, lying down on it as he stared up at the ceiling. He unclasped his helmet and laid it beside him, wondering what people would say to him after the fight and who he would be up against there.
Norbert felt a tap on his shoulder. Opening one eye, he saw a mouse-like person looking down at him. Their entire head was covered by a massive hood, drooping down over them. Norbert did not know how they could even see past it.
Looking further down, their bodies obscured by a cloak, Norbert could see only their hands, the nails thick, yellowed, and sharpened to a point from use. The two hands grasped onto a staff in front of them, to Norbert, what looked like an old piece of driftwood.
He did not see anything attached to the end, which surprised him, as the other staff he had seen had an object attached, either crystals or something of nature.
Switching to the head, Norbert said, "Yes?"
Norbert saw the two become intertwined as the individual beside him plucked up the courage to speak to Norbert. "Umm, is it possible for us to um…." Norbert heard the person breathe in and out several times, trying to grasp onto any little piece of courage that could be had.
Smiling at them, Norbert just waited, believing he knew what it could be about but letting the person get their own way.
Taking another deep breath, the person finally said what they wanted: "Come-over-to-discuss-plans-for-the-fight?" They quickly blurted out without even pausing.
Norbert blinked as he processed what she had just said. Nodding his head, whipping his legs around, Norbert jumped off the bed, picked up his helmet, and clasped the two parts together. Breathing out slowly as he moved his arms, he stretched his back out.
Looking at the bed, the fabric now lightly sanded Norbert, indicating that they should lead Norbert wherever he was needed.
The person, now only up to Norbert's hip, was surprised at their height as they quickly hurried away, not even looking back to see if Norbert was following them. There, he found several others gathered around in a circle, discussing with many arms waving and mouths open. Unable to hear anything Norbert changed his vision to magic, seeing the runes on the ground as a bubble appeared around them, Norbert assuming to block out the sound.
The two people behind them, outside the bubble Norbert could hear easily, were banging their weapons, which Norbert assumed was as hard as possible. One had a spear, something he hadn't seen in some time, and the other a morning star, the golden metal shining in the light.
As it moved back and forth, swiping at the spearman, the light danced on the ground as Norbert caught a glimpse of his reflection on the weapon. Standing there, he looked like an utterly homeless person, clothes tattered and falling off his body, sand coming off his body with every step. The only thing that made him look like he was meant to be there was his mask, breathing red light, changing the outfit's look from destitute to dangerous.
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As the person who called him entered, the six other people turned to Norbert, all eyeing him up and down, turning to his ruined clothes, the same type and colour that the others had. Leather coats, pants, and boots were all Norbert could see. Some had metal armour instead, shining in the light, and others had other accessory items like the staff the person who called him there had.
The person who called him sat down in the circle, moving about their eyes. Norbert positioned his sword as he sat down, sitting cross-legged, surprised that his legs could cross nicely; the last time he did that years ago, his knees could not touch the ground.
Taking the two parts of his helmet off, placing them in his lap, and shaking his head, he looked around the group in front of him.
Just staring in silence, Norbert sighed as he took the coin out of his pouch, flicking it into the air as he caught it. He repeated this several times, but still nobody spoke.
"Norbert at your service, scout. Now let's get this party rolling, is there a reason why you called me over?" He asked, the words breaking the stillness that was around the group.
"It looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Norbert heard someone say something from the group, and the others snickered at him.
Knowing that he looked shabby without needing to look down at himself, Norbert just shook his head, not needing to voice words to his thoughts that he looked better than death warmed up. Going through the group, I saw two other mages with the one he talked with, a bow strapped to someone's back, and an assortment of weapons and armour on everyone else.
Someone clearing their throat, Norbert turning to one of the mages, their staff tipped with a red crystal, Norbert wondering what they would be able to do with that, if it was either fire or blood as the red crystal gave off light around it.
"The others here are wondering what alignment you have as it is missing from the board." Norbert heard the woman's voice come out as she indicated with her staff to the board.
Turning around, I saw his name flash up again with his number next to it, the word scout there and the missing section.
Nodding his head in understanding, Norbert knew what he was about to say would really seal the deal. "Don't have one, and before you ask, no, I cannot do magic at all. I can't even power a single rune if my life depended on it," Norbert said as he looked around, seeing them process what had just been uttered from his mouth.
One by one, they turned to themselves, the conversation coming back up around him, Norbert being excluded. Groaning, he looked around, only wanting to know one piece of information: "Is there a healer in the group?"
The mage that asked him to go there raised their arm, the moment Norbert made contact with where he assumed their eyes would be they caved in on themselves, their arm disappearing in the folds of clothing around them.
Norbert nodded his head as he turned around, leaving the circle as the banging of weapons outside could be heard again. He looked at his other two teammates, still banging against each other. Norbert stood there as he watched, the two of them going back and forth from attack to defence and back again.
As the one wielding the morning star came forward again,, the pattern was was finallyshown to Norbert. The spearman came forward, thrusting twice before sweeping up, using the butt of the spear to wave them off before needing to retreat.
The mace wielder came forward, moving the spear butt away from themselves before doing an overhead strike downwards. A ring came out as the spear shaft, which Norbert realised was metal, landed against part of the morning star, the two rings at each other.
Going backwards as the spear came forward, swiping to the side, catching the morning star in the future, past the blade as he struck at the spear shaft, moving it away, the two of them backing away as it would start once again.
The seven moves repeated over and over again, changing the pace and speed as they fought together. Norbert moved away from them, leaving his group and those practising to their own merits. Moving back to his bed, Norbert sat down on it, knowing that the other people from Morenas were staring at him, leaving the group after so quickly being there.
Norbert was not too fussed about it, knowing that they knew he ranked as taking down a lot of the other ones before, probably thinking that he had cheated to get where he was now—thinking back, realising that it would be straightforward, with an instructor and a vampire always following him around in the Halls of the Mountain King.
Shrugging, knowing the truth would be revealed soon enough, Norbert took out all of his blades, examining them for chips as he positioned them from least to most worn in case he needed them at a moment's notice.
After that, Norbert looked over his team. They were still discussing topics and strategies that, even with his crash course, he still didn't know enough about.
Shrugging his shoulders, Norbert placed the mask over his face as he closed his eyes, hoping to get some shut-eye after the busy night he had just had. He did not know where Vivienne might want to take him next.