Azim and the other two fighters were standing strong against the five strangers.
The blond knight was taking on the batten hunter one on one. Leone was boosting his strength to take on the elf knight bare-handed as well as the amphiome wizard. Meanwhile, Azim, with one hand, was fending off the terram and feliome berserkers at the same time.
The opposing fighters moved strangely, attacking with completely offensive stances. None of them seemed to be any bit cautious, not even the hunter. It was as if they had no sense of self-preservation or worry of any kind.
Azim swung his wide sword valiantly, his blade being an appropriate proportion to the size of his adversaries. The two berserkers took on the sword with a brazen nature, the terram knocking it back with his rock-covered arms and the feliome keeping his sledgehammer low to parry Azim’s attacks. The robot was surprisingly agile, not necessarily having the upper hand but still swinging his large weapon with such speed and grace that neither of his opponents could get in too close. He waited for one of them to make a wrong move. Azim expected it to be the feliome, as the cat man already had a slash mark along his chest from where the knight had hit him. The robot was right.
Soon enough, the furry berserker lifted his giant hammer up and over his head on a back-step, which Azim considered an error. Taking advantage of the wrong move, Azim swiped his arm, bringing the triangular sword horizontally across the feliome, just over his head. The android’s sword smoothly cut through the handle of the cat man’s hammer, snapping it in two. The giant head of the hammer, no longer attached to the feliome’s handle, fell promptly onto his head with a “thud”.
Despite the cranial collision, the berserker did not seem entirely down. While the cat man took a knee, the terram on his right started charging forward. Azim was ready, holding up his large sword in a guarded stance. The giant terram threw forward a stony punch, but the robot held up his weapon so that the hole was facing the berserker. As the rocky man’s punch flew toward Azim, the android directed the fist through the hole of his sword, capturing the terram’s arm. With the new leverage, he shoulder-rolled the berserker off of the blade, throwing him back into the feliome. While the two were scrambling over each other, desperate to get back up, Azim rushed forward for a final assault.
As the large men were standing back up, Azim zipped between the two of them, slashing the feliome precisely along the existing slash he already bore. As the furry man fell, Azim dodged an unbalanced swing from the terram, who wobbled as he came forward. The android jumped onto the terram’s shoulders, this time sliding his head through the hole of the sword, and pulled him down in a front-facing suplex. The rock-covered man landed on top of the feliome berserker once more, before receiving a forceful slash from the robot’s newly acquired blade and passing out as well.
Meanwhile, Leone was handling himself well against his opponents. The elf knight had been dispatched fairly quickly, his sword and shield carelessly tossed to either side of his passed-out body. The amphiome wizard, however, was proving to be a little difficult. The young man found it funny how in such a short amount of time, he had dealt with a huge brute of an amphiome who barely relied on magic and now a slimmer one that revolved entirely around it.
Most of the amphibious woman’s spells were simple mid-range attacks, like icicle shards, creeping bramble, or bursts of fire. Nothing that was too difficult for Leone. What was difficult was how evenly their attacks bounced back and forth. He wasn’t able to rely on speed, as the floor, and especially his immediate environment, was much too crowded. He had his strength, but couldn’t get in close enough to use it. He had decided to stick with AP Switch, hoping his magic toolkit would supersede the amphiome’s.
After a good few minutes, he managed to snuff the magic woman out, finally getting in close enough to quickly activate his strength boost and give her a quick, wind-knocking punch to the gut.
By the time the two fighters had finished with their chosen partners, they turned to see how the knight was doing. He had seemed to have the easiest time, not just because he had only fought one of Lemaerk’s contestants, but because the batten had not been fighting the way she should have. The armored man explained to the other two, “A hunter like her would have normally been a more sneaky, dodgy combatant. Even in an arena like this one, she would not have fought the way she did.”
According to the knight, something was off. And it seemed to Azim and Leone that the armored man already knew what.
----------------------------------------
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Riva did her best to keep an eye on Azim and the others, making sure they weren’t getting into too serious of trouble, but her own exploits held her attention. The woman was not familiar with a sword, and the bone-made one the robot had offered her was not the most adaptable for a beginner like herself.
Luckily for the woman, she had Roman with her, and the two were proving to work rather well together. Despite being Azim’s new pet, the moss-covered cat was taking a liking to her as well, resulting in it looking out for her on the floors of Lemaerk. With each approaching combatant, Roman tried to protect Riva, standing in front of her and growling at the other fighters.
Unfortunately, the dark green cat’s size wasn't all that intimidating, and most of the fighters that came their way were not deterred by him. However, in perfect chemistry, whenever one of them seemed to be the target of a stranger, the other stepped in to knock them back. Whether it was Roman jumping on and clawing someone charging at Riva, or Riva slashing at someone who was hoping to turn the mosstail into mulch, the two had each other’s backs.
At one point, a woman walked up and asked if the green creature belonged to Riva. Flustered, the woman said, “Kind of," not entirely sure how to respond to a stranger on the battlefield.
The woman was human, with fair skin and red hair. She wore a simple red and orange tunic that blended with her hair, tied at the waist with a thick leather belt. She looked about 26. What caught Riva’s attention almost immediately, and what kept her on her guard, was that she had what looked like a fresh splatter of blood decorating her tunic. She looked to be a Witch, as she carried with her a staff with a warped point at the top. Witches were not defined by their gender, nor were wizards or Warlocks, but instead by their use of magic. Unlike the latter two classes, witches relied on magic tools like staffs, wands, or even totems rather than their own hands.
“Are you—“ Riva stuttered. “Are you here to fight us?”
“Huh? Aw, naw’, honey, nothing like that,” the woman answered in a surprisingly country accent. “Can’t yuh’ see this?”
The woman pointed to a small orb that floated above her head. It emulated the one from Floor 2 that Riva and the others received when winning their matches.
“This here means ah’m done,” the witch continued. “Ah’ just wanted to say ‘hi’, ah’ hope that’s alright.”
“Uh… yeah…” Riva stumbled.
“Ah’ really like animals,” the witch said, unprompted.
“That’s… that’s cool, dear.”
“Yeah, ah’ really love animals, especially forest-y ones like this guy,” she continued, pointing at Roman. “Aw, ah’m sorry, ah’ don’t mean to make you think ah’ want him or anythin’, I just like meetin’ cute faces!”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose,” Riva replied warily, still staring at the blood on the woman’s clothes.
Before either woman could say another word, a runty gnome came running up to them with an axe that both women thought to themselves was too big for him to be carrying. The gnome screamed frantically, hollering whilst he ran toward the witch and Riva, not exactly settling on a target. While Riva seemed stunned at the sight, the red-haired woman merely appeared dismayed.
“One second, honey,” the woman said in a rather sweet tone
She then raised her long warped stick and, without turning her head to look at the gnome, chanted, “Entangle.”
At that moment, the gnome stopped dead in his tracks as dozens of thin vines uprooted themselves from the ground and wrapped around him. The bramble was covered in small thorns, and the vines which carried them tightened as the gnome moved, causing him to squirm in pain. The short man wanted to let go of his oversized weapon, but the large weed was wrapped around his hands in such a way that he couldn’t. All he could do was wince and shriek as the thorns poked into his sides and face. It was this day that the gnome wished he had worn thicker garments.
“Oh my,” Riva mumbled, putting a hand to her mouth. She had not seen magic that effortlessly executed since she first met Azim. And that instance had seemed to be a peculiarity.
“Anyway, ah’ better get goin’, ah’ gotta’ head my way on up! The name’s Emirelle, by the way. Ah’ hope t’see you around sometime!”
Before Riva could even reply to the woman’s greeting and goodbye, the red-haired witch poked the small orb above her head and evaporated from sight. Riva simply stood still for a moment, unsure if the change that had just happened and actually occurred.
“Huh,” she humphed. “Alright, then. Where were we, boy?”
----------------------------------------
The knight turned to face the black-robed man with the bald head. His dark skin had a shine to it as the light from his scepter bounced off his dome. “Well look at you all, such brave fighters,” he mocked. “That was quite the skirmish. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Be quiet, you worm,” the knight growled. “I am simply here to deliver to you what you gave me.”
“And what makes you think you could do that, when you couldn’t do so the first time?” the man teased. “Hm? I seem to recall that secret weapon of yours that you were oh so proud of… not really helping you out? Do you remember that? Do you?”
“You damn witch! Have at thee!” The armored man declared, pointing his sword toward the dark-skinned man.
The black-robed man held up his scepter slightly, inciting, “Actually… why not… have at them?”
With a bright splash of purple light from the man’s orb, the knight flinched. His stance did not change for a moment, but something certainly had. Azim and Leone stared at the man in armor, the robot asking blankly, “Are you all right, sir?”
Slowly, the knight lowered his sword and stepped out of his guarded stance. He turned to face away from the witch and toward the two adventures. Tilting his head up so they were all at eye level with one another, Azim and Leone realized the man’s eyes were now glowing purple. “You know kid…” the knight spoke in a distorted voice. “I think I’m doing just fine.”