Norbert buckled down, seeing that the teeth that were once bone white, turned black like the rest of the bones underneath Arzlan’s flesh. Wondering how long Arzlan could keep up, Norbert looked for his sword, Arzlan roaring and coming up to him.
Preparing for the sound, he gritted his teeth as the roar echoed down his ear drums into his jaw. For some reason, his entire skull felt like it was vibrating, and the sound started to get more irritating than even the banshee.
Leaning down, he scooped up the sword, amazed that the edge no longer smooth and clear, but still ready to be used for its next victim. Hoping he would be able to buffer the knick out, he remembered that the point of being given this sword was for it not to get damaged.
Holding the sword in both hands as Arzlan came at him, the cleaver pressing down on him as Norbert swiped it to the side, only for its pair to come around at Norbert.
Striking into the side, Norbert dug the entire sword in, twisting it around the bones wanting to grab the sword, only allowing it to be slid free when properly positioned. The sword slid out as the cleaver came down at his hands. Pulling the blade out just enough, the cleaver banged into the blade's flat, and the sword's tip slamming down into the ground made Norbert lean over.
Squatting down instinctively, Norbert was able to hold the blade mostly flat as Arzlan twisted his body around, swinging both cleavers wildly in the hopes of hitting Norbert. Both going under him, Norbert sliced upwards with his sword, catching Arzlan underneath the jaw and lodging it into the giant's head.
Norbert, holding up, lifted off the ground as the sword remained stuck, looking at the belly of the creature, hoping that it would finally be the end of the battle.
“Surprised you didn’t change over,” Norbert spoke aloud, breathing in slightly as the energy within him started to slow down. Norbert was no longer forcing it to move so fast around him, sapping into its pool to keep it moving and fuelling his body at that level.
Chuckle
WHOOOOSH
Norbert felt himself flying through the air, not knowing what happened as his body smashed into the barrier, still holding onto his sword Norbert gripping it tighter as he ramped it up again, sadly he had not won yet.
Falling to the ground, Norbert rolled to the side, feeling like he was needed. A moment later, a clang and crackle came from his position. Norbert looked down at what it was, and half of his sword had made its way to the other side of the barrier, resting about a meter away, red hot and smoking in the dirt.
Captivated, Norbert quickly changed his vision, seeing a hole in the barrier. Before he could even move to possibly escape out of it, the barrier had been mended and repaired, and it quickly died down, becoming a slow-moving bubble around Norbert.
Following the sword path, Norbert looked towards Arzlan, the giant on the ground, panting hard as its face was covered in blood, half split open from the sword in its chin. It ripped through the front of his face.
Around the beast man, a thick miasma of black collected, and Norbert watched as two white lights seemed to watch him from within, drawing him into it and causing him to continue staring, and it didn’t matter about anything else around him.
ROAAARRRR
Norbert shook his head and smashed his magic vision closed as the black mist and the two white lights disappeared. He was thankful for Arzlan’s roar as the lion charged at him on all fours.
Looking down at his broken sword, he was surprised this could even happen to the weapon that was meant to be reinforced. Throwing the broken weapon towards Arzlan, Norbert grabbed two more throwing daggers, placing them into his hands, and reversed them as the lion opened its maw to Norbert.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Shoving his right hand inside the jaw, Norbert crawled the top of his dagger against the roof of the lion's mouth—that is until he felt the teeth bite down, stopping him from reaching any deeper down the lion's gullet.
Grabbing the other one Norbert brought it down towards the lions eye, pushing energy into it, something he didn’t want to do but forced to, whatever had grabbed his attention still making him twitchy and wanting to get away from it and Arzlan as soon as possible.
Norbert pushed all of his energy into it, imagining it was cleaving through the lion, grazing past its back, and travelling down the creature's spine.
And that is what the energy did.
A wave of force shot out like a dagger, travelling at supersonic speeds before it hit the lion's eye. It shattered when it made contact with the gooey orb before continuing, turning into pieces and shredding Arzlan.
The lion was blown off Norbert's arm, as his own was shredded in the process, only the bone remaining on his hand. Having completely spent everything within him, Norbert screamed, not wanting to hold anything back,
Screamed and screamed, whenever he looked at his bone, he would scream again, until finally his throat became horse, the pain there as he fought himself not to think about it.
“You’ve finally stopped!” A hoarse roar came from the other side of the arena.
Norbert slowly looked up to where the sound came from. There, being kept upright, leaning on the barrier, was the disfigured face of Arzlan—black blood drooling down his torn and matted central. The king of the jungle no longer looks regal.
Norbert chuckles out between his teeth gritted tight, blood starting to pool down his arm, leaving a trail as Norbert slowly walks towards Arzlan.
“You got any more of that juice in you?” Norbert asked the giant.
Arzlan chuckled, the effort causing another wave of blood to come out. Norbert was now in front of the lion, watching the skin slowly get pieced back together.
“So, can you go another round?” Norbert asked, stars starting to flash in his vision from the blood loss, slowly Norbert started to rock on his feet.
“More than you could even imagine,” Arzlan growled out. Norbert saw that the giant didn’t cough up any more blood this time. The hole in the lion's face slowly came together again, and Norbert saw the two sides reach out, starting to build bridges and healing the beast man before his eyes.
Closing his eyes, Norbert tried to force the energy around him. Although the channel was there and waiting, there was no liquid to fill it. He wished he had a mana potion here so he could fill up at least a little bit and end this.
Norbert looked around the ruined battlefield, pieces of body parts flung about, their liquids sprayed everywhere from a mad painter, struggling to do their last work before being locked away.
Turning back to Arzlan, Norbert saw the blood slow down the trickle, feeling his pool again; it just had the smallest drop, only to disappear instantly. He groaned to himself as he looked down at Arzlan, even though standing still was getting too complicated. The giant looked straight at Norbert, a single raised lip, as both knew how the fight would play out.
Crossing the fingers of his left hand, Norbert fumbled for his last throwing dagger, not wanting to dirty the knife with the task he would need to complete. Falling, arm out as Norbert cut into Arzlan, tearing into the giant, cutting a section of his flesh out.
Arzlan looked in horror at Norbert's actions, not imagining that a Morenas would stoop so low.
Norbert was pushed away, but holding his prize in his hand, he quickly took his helmet off, holding all three items as he tried to juggle it while half gagging. He forced the bile down with the flesh he took, the black blood oozing out, a single white speckle flowing outwards as Norbert bit down, quickly eating it as he hoped it was worth the effort.
Swallowing it down Norbert’s body, instantly ripping it apart for any magic it had in there, and a little it did as it was quickly taken in, his pool bubbling on the lowest levels, the pain finally and properly leaving him.
Twitching his right hand, Norbert looked down, seeing the muscle starting to grow. He pulled the energy away, not wanting to waste it. As Arzlan got to his feet, the giaforceding itself into action due to Norbert’s rash actions. Quickly Norbert placed his helmet back together, finally when he could see again Arzlan was in front of him, surprised the beast man could move so silently.
Norbert was smashed in the chest with a backhand and toppled to the ground. He smiled as he fell, Arzlan towering over him. He was no longer able to stop the stars dancing in his eyes as darkness crept in from either side.
He smiled to himself, knowing the other person would take over when he passed out. He was happy to finally wake up in bed with several potions and his arm fully healed.
Their eyes rolled back in his head as Norbert passed out in the arena. The battle continued, and the crowd looked shocked, as neither heart had stopped beating.