Nalea, Aisha and Aislin broke from the boys, claiming they heard about a few nice stores they could spend some of the money they had at. Before anyone could object, the female trio disappeared into the crowd.
Zycor, Mylon and Baz walked through town as they talked about what they were going to do. “So, we have about twelve days to kill and have been abandoned by the girls… Any ideas?” Baz queried.
“We could look for a decent tavern and set up there.” Mylon mused.
“That will work, but I am looking for something a bit more active right now.”
“Oh yeah? Then, praytell, what will you do?”
Baz furled his eyebrows and looked around. He saw a passing human wearing adventuring gear and grinned. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and asked, “Hey, you seem like an adventurer, where’s the guild hall? My friends and I are looking for something to do.”
The man, startled to be grabbed by such a massive half orc, sputtered, “Apologies sir orc, but there is no adventurers guild here. Everyone who comes here typically is looking for a place to either retire or relax.”
Baz let the man go with a slight toss and scoffed, “Well there goes that idea, what the hell are we going to do now?”
The man, nursing his shoulder lightly, remarked, “If you are looking for something to do that involves other adventurers, there is a dedicated sparring arena where many adventurers gather. We occasionally have unofficial tournaments, place bets, etc. Its other use is to settle disputes or to let off steam with comrades.”
Baz thought for a moment, then remembered something. He grinned maliciously and called over to Zycor, “Hey, Zy, want to head over to the sparring area and have a go?”
Hearing the offer Zycor visibly got excited, but he composed himself and responded, “I may, perhaps, be willing to oblige your request.”
“Alright, well the arena is towards the eastern side of the village.” The man explained briefly before making a swift exit.
Zycor immediately began heading towards the arena while Baz and Mylon trailed a little behind him. “Baz, why did you ask Zycor to spar with you?” Mylon inquired, his suspicion clearly audible.
“I don’t know what you mean, am I not allowed to have a friendly match with my little sparky buddy?” Baz retorted.
“That’s not the problem. I saw the grin you gave right before asking.”
“And?”
“‘And’ I know you far too well… this wouldn’t have anything to do with that incident that happened on our first quest together, would it?”
Baz remained silent, refusing to answer. Mylon pressed Baz a little harder, “Baz, this isn’t for some petty revenge, is it?”
Baz maintained his silence, but looked directly at Mylon with a knowing look and gave a slight shrug. Mylon let out a heavy, disapproving sigh, “Oh my goddess Baz.”
After a few more minutes of walking, the trio made it to the arena area. There were three designated areas, surrounded with short, ground level pieces of wood laid out in a circle.
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“This is less of an arena and more a simple circle outlined with some wood.” Mylon pointed out, unimpressed.
Baz and Zycor looked at each other and nodded, both of them smiling. Baz drove his massive sword into the ground by Mylon and walked over to the arena with his battleax. Zycor asked Mylon to hold his small satchel for him. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Mylon asked, wanting confirmation from Zycor.
“Yeah, this is fine. It’s actually perfect timing; I had something I wanted to try out.”
As Zycor left to enter the crude arena, Mylon was left wondering what he could be thinking. Both Baz and Zycor had entered the arena and readied themselves at either end of it. Baz began to explain, “As far as rules go, let's say; no lethal blows, no attacks that could permanently cripple the other and the battle ends when a person gives up, runs out of mana, or is forced out of bounds. Are you ok with all of that?”
Zycor reached into his pocket, then fiddled with his left hand, responding, “Yeah, no objections here. How should we start?”
Baz gave a slight nod towards Mylon, who sighed, “Always have to involve me in your stupid endeavors don’t you. Fine, I will give the signal to start the fight.”
A crowd began to gather to spectate the half orc and a seemingly human boy square off. “This is getting slightly out of hand. I just hope they keep things to a minimum… although that may be asking too much of these two.”
Clearing his throat, Mylon gave a countdown, the tension in the air growing thicker with every number, “Three… Two… One… BEGIN!”
With a shout from Mylon the battle started, Zycor began to run and quickly exclaimed, “Flash!” His body was covered in lightning and he ripped forward towards Baz. The latter grinned and tossed his battleax to the side and braced himself for impact. Zycor grinned as he saw the display. Honoring his resolve, Zycor rammed right into Baz, the latter digging his heels in and being pushed back through the dirt. With a roar from the half orc, he spun Zycor 360 degrees and back to his side of the arena. Releasing him, Baz shouted, “You are going to have to try harder than that!”
Zycor landed, his feet sliding until they lightly tapped the edge of the ring. His smile growing even larger, Zycor began to advance once again. Baz mirrored his movement, advancing himself. Zycor, realizing it could end badly if he took Baz head on, decided to begin his plan. He came to an almost instant halt. Baz, confused but curious, continued his charge. Zycor rapidly threw his left hand out as it began to shine. Focusing in on it, Baz saw it was a jade ring. A massive wall of thick ice erupted from the ground, but Baz rammed into it full force, fracturing the wall.
Using this time, Zycor instantly began to concentrate. As he held his right wrist, sparks flew around it a few times, followed up with a massive surge of electricity erupting forth. Zycor’s eyes became strained as the space around his hand appeared to warp slightly. Baz smashed through the wall with one incredible punch. He saw Zycor trying to do something and instantly had danger signals go off. He tore through the rest of the wall and shouted, “You think I am kind enough to just sit back and let you just try something new? Sorry, I am not that kind!”
Zycor took what he had and made a fist with his right hand. “It might be incomplete, but let’s see if this works!” He cried as the electricity condensed around his fist and part of his wrist, becoming seemingly solid with minor fluctuations of electricity. He threw his arm back and took a heavy step forward, the ground slightly warping and cracking. He fired a punch at Baz with all of his might. As a show of respect, Baz returned the sentiment, throwing a punch at Zycors’ so they would collide. Mylon cried out from the sidelines, “Stop you two! Baz, if your punches collide, you are going to break his arm! He doesn’t have any protection!”
Lizali rounded the corner of a building and loudly questioned, “I heard Zy and Baz were fighting, what’s going-.” Being cut off, Baz and Zycor’s fists collided with a massive screech of electricity. Mylon and Lizali looked on with astonishment as Zycor’s arm was not only intact, but was actually on par with Baz’s. Their stalemate lasted a few seconds more, until the electricity around Zycor’s fist began to dissipate and he was overpowered by Baz, sending him out of the arena.
Zycor’s back hit the ground, as everyone looked on. Baz stood up straight and looked at his right fist. It was slightly scarred with small lightning streaks and was shaking slightly. With a chuckle, he looked over at Zycor who was still lying on the ground. Zycor put his hand into the air with a thumbs up and began to chuckle, “That was pretty fun Baz, let’s do it again!”
Baz couldn’t help but to burst into laughter himself, replying, “HAHA! Yeah, let’s!
“I don’t think so, you two!” Lizali shouted, running over to Zycor.
She knelt down and asked, “Hey, Zy, where are you hurt?”
Zycor, ignoring the question, very meekly groaned, “Please don’t tell Aisha…”