Valorus whipped Jay away from the ocean, almost yanking Jay's arm from its socket as he dragged him through the air. Jay felt his opponent’s rugged hands slip from his wrists as the Relentless Champion flung him away from the cliff edge.

At first, Jay felt lucky he hadn’t been thrown into the ocean.

Then he hit the ground.

Jay’s nose shattered against the rocks as he skimmed across the cliff, careening away from his opponent. His face grated against the uneven stone surface, cracks in the rocks slicing into Jay’s cheeks.

A protruding stone snagged Jay's shoulder. His entire body twisted mid-air. The next time Jay hit the ground, the back of his skull smacked into the rocks before his body skidded to a bloody halt.

Jay knew what a broken nose felt like. This shit was worse. Thick streams of blood dribbled out of his nose until an involuntary cough ruptured the floodgates. Cascades of lumpy crimson burst through Jay's nostrils, filling his mouth with the sickening taste of iron.

Primal instincts alone kept Jay alive. His body spun itself over and blood gushed onto the floor.

A fighter’s instincts twisted his head up. If Jay couldn’t see his opponent, he was just as good as dead.

Three blurry outlines of Valorus began to bend down. Three became one as Jay’s eyesight recovered just in time to catch his opponent effortlessly picking his fallen sword off the ground.

“You won’t win with just your body. Forget everything you know about fighting. This isn’t Earth anymore; you aren’t constrained by its rules. Use everything available to you. Do whatever is necessary to win.”

Cheers mate, great advice. It’s a great fucking shame he has a massive sword available to him and I don’t!

Jay spat out a mouthful of blood and wiped his eyes clean. Slicing raindrops made way for pummelling hailstones as the skies opened on Jay's back.

The weather wouldn’t help him win this fight, so Jay looked at his barren surroundings.

All he could find was a fistful of wet leaves and a jagged rock before thunderous splashes drew his attention back upwards. Each step Valorus took trembled the stones beneath him, sending entire puddles airborne. The disparate pieces Jay held were nowhere near enough to crack the puzzle that was the Relentless Champion, but he had no other options. Jay sprinted forward, he couldn’t keep running away forever.

He'd already brought his fists to a swordfight, might as well get in range.

Standing at 6’2 and north of a hundred kilos, Jay outsized 99% of the population. Against the giants of the heavyweight division, he almost always gave up the height and weight advantage.

With height and weight often comes range, so Jay was used to that too.

But every advantage leaned on situation to prop it upright. What use is a knife in a gunfight? What use are long arms when your opponent ducks inside them?

What use is a greatsword when your opponent’s in punching range?

Valorus adjusted his grip the moment Jay neared him. Crimson streaks rolled down the sword as his bare hand clenched onto the blade. He swung his sword towards Jay like a staff. The blade moved far faster with a closer hand guiding it. Jay raised his left fist, exposing the stone within it to the oncoming blade.

The world's smallest shield couldn’t possibly stop a full swing, but Valorus couldn’t leverage much power from his new stance. Jay thanked the laws of physics as sparks skittered off the tiny shield, half an inch of stone the only thing separating him from amputation.

Valorus didn’t stop at one though. His mangled hand pulled the now crimson blade back, Jay's eyes flicked to his right to see the sword’s cross-guard swinging towards his head.

Jay tried to raise his guard in time, but the attack was too fast. Blunt steel slammed into his temple, bashing his head to the side. A murky slurry of blood and rainwater flicked off Jay's face, coating the sword’s handle red.

It wasn’t over yet.

Jay knew what was coming next. Valorus had already switched sides once, why wouldn’t he do it again?

Head-splitting agony washed left and right together into a blurry crimson nightmare.

But Jay didn’t need left or right, he needed to drag his fucking hands up.

His weary arms reached his cheeks barely an instant before the sword did.

The blade hacked through Jay’s forearm until the dull fizz of bone finally blocked the shot. Muscle fibres, sliced into two, sprayed a mist of blood into Valorus’ mask. Jay didn’t have time to think about his mangled arm. He leaped backwards, knocking himself to the ground before scrambling further away.

Valorus swiped the air where Jay once stood, blinded by bloody red mist.

Hailstones pounded against Jay's skull, their clattering cacophony almost a relief from his earlier headache. Rainwater sliced into his cheeks, but at least it washed the blood from his eyes. The weather wreaked havoc on Jay's freshly injured arm as the storm buffeted his exposed nerve endings.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A spear of lightning spiked down from the heavens, striking the great maple towering beside Jay. An amber glow flooded the cliff from within the tree before it charred into an empty husk. The tree’s explosion of life brought half a second of light into Jay’s grim reality. He could almost feel the residual echoes of electricity dancing through the air, darting into his body, desperately trying to spark life into his fading essence.

“You’re closer, but you need to do more. Forget everything you think you know about fighting. Forget your limits. Become more.”

Every trace of composure had fled the mysterious voice, overrun by desperation.

Become more what?

War drums of hail battered the sodden stone. The ceaseless pounding Jay’s only answer.

Two slivers of electricity threaded out of the roiling clouds above. They arced toward Jay, striking the ground just in front of him. Static fuzz flooded his skin. The bolts’ faint afterimages snaked around Jay like a dual helix, momentarily staining his vision white.

What do you want me to do?

Jay scoured the barren clifftop, the mist-like downpour obscuring his view. The gash in his left arm rendered it almost useless. He couldn’t even scratch Valorus with two arms, what the fuck was he supposed to do with one?

Jay clambered his way to two feet just as Valorus cleared the last of the blood from his eyes. The Relentless Champion advanced. Thudding stomps grew gradually louder as Valorus drew closer. Jay circled back, nearing the spot where he’d started the fight.

The steady march became a thunderous stampede.

Another dart of lighting struck the ground, carving through the air to land beside Jay. His right foot plunged into a pool of rainwater before another step back took it back to uneven stone. After another, the squelch of waterlogged foam told him he was in position.

This had to be timed perfectly.

Jay threw the fistful of leaves at Valorus’ eyes the moment he stepped within range. Rain blasted the mulch as it flew towards the Relentless Champion’s mask. He swiped his sword in front of him, guided forth by a shredded right hand.

But that was just the distraction.

With all his focus on the leaves, Valorus forgot about downstairs. Jay kicked his drenched boxing glove forward, sliding it across the rocks towards his opponent’s feet.

Valorus waved the leaves away instantly, but his right foot slammed down on the soaking boxing glove. The glove slipped across the rocks, dragging the Relentless Champion’s foot with it. Valorus’ leg swept outwards. He released his sword, raising his hands to brace his fall.

Jay sidestepped, keeping close to his falling opponent.

Now!

The greatsword clattered across the rocks, the clanging metal cut through the droning rainfall.

Wait…

Jay had planned to kick Valorus while he was down, but he remembered how poorly his last kick went. What if he slipped on the rocks, or Valorus grabbed his ankle mid-kick?

He chased after the fallen sword, rushing to catch it before it tumbled off the cliff.

A dart of lightning stung the sword, bouncing it off the ground and killing its momentum, stopping it mere inches from the cliff edge.

Jay’s blood-soaked hands fumbled on the rain-soaked handle. Even after he grabbed it, Jay struggled to lift the massive sword.

What the fuck is this made of?

The emotionless clutches of adrenaline began to slip from Jay's mind. He dragged his injured arm over to the sword’s grip. Daggers of pain tore his arm apart as he clenched his barely-functional fingers.

The blade wobbled, buffeted by wind, rain, and hail. Barely supported by an injury-stricken grasp. Jay slowly raised the sword in front of him. Arms straining for every extra inch.

Valorus flicked his head up.

The wooden mask had cracked, most of the painted red side lay in pieces atop the rocks.

Scars and burns stained the Relentless Champion’s uncovered face. Savage, irremovable war paint that permanently echoed a history of violence. Bloodshot eyes, unshrouded by shadow, glared red and raw at Jay

Should’ve stuck to the plan. Fuck!

The Relentless Champion rose to his feet. He took his first step forward. The warbling growl of thunder shook Jay’s core as Valorus took another, and another.

The sword’s tip dropped half a foot, Jay's exhausted arms unable to keep it raised.

A flash of brilliant white light descended from the sky, ricocheting off the blood-soaked blade into Jay's eyes.

Jay looked up.

The lightning?

Knotted clouds roiled amongst themselves, gatekeeping the heavens. Flashes of light escaped, glimpses into the universe.

Is this what you wanted?

No reply.

A spark of hope skittered onto the fading embers of Jay's inner flame. His left hand clasped onto the blade. Fresh blood rolled down Jay's arm, smearing its mark over his wound. A melting pot of suffering, stirred and fused together by the falling storm.

Jay's shoulders strained as he raised the sword above his head.

An arrow of lightning struck the ground behind Jay. Casting a vicious shadow onto Valorus, who marched forward.

Hailstones battered against the blade. Vibrations coursed through the metal directly into Jay’s bones.

When a boxer dodged more swings than he threw, and lacked the ability to end fights without warning, he had to make it up to the blood loving audience somehow.

Jay could never satisfy the crowd’s clamour for violence with raw power.

But he was their champion.

And he’d give them a fight.

Jay screamed the moment Valorus stepped into his range. He screamed at the heavens, at the storm, at anyone who’d listen.

The storm responded.

Individual raindrops, once blurred together into a dense haze, finally stood still. Droplets, marching on their warpath towards the earth, stopped. Valorus stopped. Jay stopped.

Everything stopped.

Everything apart from the flashes of electricity, coursing through the roiling storm above the arena, the snaking chains of lightning weaving between rolling clouds.

The entire world froze in pure serenity.

Then there was light.

Momentary peace became an instantaneous inferno of energy.

A brilliant eternity of white engulfed the world around Jay, replacing his old reality. Needles of electricity crept their way inside Jay. Not damaging him, bu-

Then it vanished.

Jay's fleeting instant at one with the lightning felt like an eternity. It didn’t feel long enough.

He stood tall. Beaten, bloodied, battered, but still standing.

His opponent wasn’t so lucky.

Valorus spasmed on the floor, unable to cope with the storm’s energy. The smell of burning flesh filled Jay's nose as he looked down towards his former opponent. Convulsing limbs flailed into Jay's legs. The Relentless Champion’s final, instinctive attack.

They flailed and thrashed until they finally lay still, and Valorus’ unconscious body finally relented.

“Not too bad. Although maybe I should’ve expected it. Have fun out there, and forget I ever existed. You’ll probably never speak to me again, but you might. Especially if you want to find him.”