Norbert was shaken as he opened his eyes. Seeing nothing above him, he closed his eyes, trying to remember what he had just been dreaming of, hoping he could grasp it and continue the story unfolding in his mind.
The earthquake maker is not stopping their relenting shaking. Opening his eyes, Norbert turned to the side, seeing a small bundle of cloth poking just above his bed. Wondering where he saw it, Norbert remembered where he was and the cloth being his teammate in the contest at the stadium.
"It's time?" Norbert asked.
Norbert saw the hood move up and down before they ran off. He yawned as he got up, wondering how long he had slept. Standing up, Norbert stretched his entire body, reaching as high as he could before trying to touch the ground without bending his knees.
Feeling himself limbered up, Norbert turned around, patting himself down as he confirmed that everything was where it was meant to be. His hand went over the missing dagger, annoyed that he couldn't take the sixth-throwing one.
Jogging over to the entrance to the Colosseum, the others are already heading through it and standing on the platform. Norbert pushes the energy through his body, confirming that it is working as needed and enough to be functional.
Keeping it going, Norbert stood still, feeling the platform rise into the air again. Yawning again, he stretched his hands above his head before letting them drop to the floor. He moved to the balls of his feet, jumping from one to the other on the balls of his feet, patting himself down again, making sure everything was in its correct place after his sleep, and patting off any dust that would have collected on him.
The others around him do similar acts to calm themselves down and prepare for the fight. Feeling the platform slow down, Norbert asked everyone in his vicinity, "Anything you want me to do?"
"Protect the healer." One of them said to Norbert. Not recognising the voice, Norbert spun around in the half-light, unable to see who it was as everyone continued reading up.
Spotting the healer in the dark, Norbert walks towards them. Light bathes around him as the sun finally settles, and he finds himself down in the Colosseum. On the other side, Norbert sees another group standing there, none moving off their platform as they look towards their opponents.
Norbert leaned down at the healer underneath him. "What's your name, healer." He asked them.
"Karr," the voice squeaked back at them. Norbert nodded as he looked towards the crowd, moving his eyes to the box and waving at them.
"Thanks, Karr. You'll be fine with this. Just focus on healing the others; I'll be fine." Norbert said to the healer.
Seeing the hood move in a nod, Norbert looked around, spotting Commander Sally looking back at him, not a worried look in her eye. What surprised Norbert was the two companions she had on her shoulder.
He didn't know how Obsius and the white fox managed to get inside the booth or find Sally beforehand to climb on top of those shoulders. Shaking his head, Norbert heard a voice booming around the stadium, cutting through the cheering people in the seats.
"I hope everyone is prepared for the next match. So far, we have seen many strange and unconventional tactics being used. On one side, we have the Morenas team; on the other, Kreevss," the voiceover said.
Norbert stared over, squinting and pushing energy into his eyes to see the details of their opponents: elongated snouts, beady slit eyes from what he could see. One of Ted and Norbert were around to talk to their other companions, realising what they were.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Lizards?", He questioned out loud.
All at once, Norbert saw the other team stop what they were doing and turn their attention to him. Looking around the crowd, Norbert saw some of the participants stop their cheers, the moderator's voice no longer reaching their ears or Norbert's own.
"Now you've done it," said the mage with the red crystal on their staff. "Change of plans, Norbert. You go forward, don't protect the healer, and try not to get hit," they said.
Everyone else gave Norbert a sad look, smiling as he made his way forward, his teammates making their way through. Others patting his back, like a friend going to the chopping block.
"Ehmm, as usual, death is not permitted after that announcement, but it can happen. You will be whisked away when it is deemed that you are too close. Now, with all the announcements done, let's begin this." The moderator said, his booming voice growing quieter and quieter at the end.
The energy around his body was already in full swing, and Norbert sent it out again, pushing it around as fast as he could. The time he seemed to slow down as he stared down his opponents.
"Five!" the voice rang out, echoing in Norbert's skull. Reaching down for his blade, Norbert unsheathed his sword as he gauged the distance between the two parties—about a hundred meters from them.
"Four!" Norbert gripped his blade as he rubbed his other left hand's fingertips together, feeling the sweat build up on them. Wiping them on his pants, trying to stop them, not knowing when he might need to hold onto something.
"Three!" The energy now pounding in his head, Norbert unable to move forward, changing his vision, a barrier pops up right in front of him, realising that he couldn't go any further forward. The hard-packed earth that was the field lit up from beneath. Norbert sees the number of runes everywhere in this entire place. Turning his vision back to normal, he does not want to be distracted in the fight.
"Two!" Looking down at his body, Norbert saw something come out of where the cuts in his pants were, his veins purple for all to see. Changing his vision quickly, Norbert saw purple vapour coming off his skin, being pushed away from it as he continued to move it around every inch of his body. Not having the time for experimentation, Norbert turned back to normal, looking around as the sun came just over, now shining into his eyes just from the side.
"One and BEGIN!" Norbert was star-struck, not expecting to start so soon, the time having whisked past him.
Springing forward, arms waving, he tried to cover the distance as fast as possible. His feet cracked the compacted earth underneath him. A surge of clouds came out behind him. He did not look back to see what his teammates were doing, trusting they would come up behind him.
Focusing down on his opponents, who startled for a moment, their anger and hatred abated while they saw the charging bull come towards them. Norbert closed half the distance between them as he saw them get out of their shock, three of them coming forward to face Norbert; behind them, Norbert saw two mages chanting something, the three charging him, glowing for a moment before receding, the distance they covered even greater than before, their unease being erased before his eyes.
He was sucking in a deep breath of air Norbert threw a dagger out forward, watching it spin in the air. The one in the lead tapping the dagger away with their shield, Norbert watching as a sword was drawn, the other two having spears, full metal ones like Norbert had seen his teammate use.
Both spear tips were glowing red hot, and Norbert did not want to see what made the tips glow so much. As Norbert went forward, just before meeting them, he looked up into the air and saw two spells shoot up high. As the shield bearer came forward, his sword raised, and Norbert moved to the left, wanting to move behind the shield. Both spells dropped dramatically, diving straight for Norbert.
Stepping backward, Norbert threw two daggers into the air. The swordsman swiped down at where he was standing before. A spearman on each side came forward, singing Norbert with their weapons.
Staring them down, Norbert went further to the left, knocking the spear out of his path with his arm. Charging forward, Norbert swiped down with the blade, only to be knocked down by the shield.
His body was spinning in the air. Norbert gripped his sword, not wanting to lose it, and relied only on his daggers. Landing on his knees, he skidded on the ground for a meter before stopping.
Having space, Norbert looked at his party, seeing they hadn't moved an inch from the platform they had started on. Only the healer had moved to the front, leaving Norbert wondering what the healer could do for him; not like he hadn't been hit by anything so far.
"You could help a guy out over here," Norbert said to himself as the shield hit his face. Pummelled into the ground, Norbert felt his energy going into his face, reconstructing it after the bashing he had received.