Rory POV

Either Mylor Anifya had a death wish or he wanted me dead. It didn’t matter that the Duke said killing was not allowed. Mylor was coming at me hard. He had a mace of all things that swung at me endlessly. The guy had started one of those wicked laughs as he swung his spikey death ball at me. Emera used her bow as a blunt weapon against Samuel. The dwarf guy was strong and shook the ground when his ax slammed into the dirt. Somewhere, the queen and the general were squaring off with the ambassador people. After today, I can see why Myrra and Elias never wanted us to become S-rank adventurers. I would have become a pawn for these people forever.

Mylor was good. Almost better than Uncle Axel, but I am faster. Only a bit faster, but fast enough to get out of the way of his mace. He kept trying to box me in against the wall, but I tumbled out of the way before he could get a clean hit. Mylor glowed a gold color for a moment, activating his magic. He must have enhanced his speed because he started matching mine. The last swing of his spikey ball ripped a chunk of my hair away. Shit. I need to switch tactics.

“Your speed won’t save you,” Mylor taunted. “I will have you locked away before midnight.”

This guy is a boasting nut case. He thinks I will give in that easily? Hell, no. I did a quick spin and ducked down sliding right past his legs. Taking the opportunity, I cut into his fancy pants to stab his leg momentarily. Blood spurted out from his calf. He muttered a slur before activating his healing magic. I seized the moment and doubled back to get another swipe at him. Going high, I tricked him into blocking and had my other dagger slam into his gut. He blurted out another slur and started shooting ice magic to lock me in place.

My foot was caught in the ice, holding me in place. Mana stirred beneath my skin sensing the danger around me. I couldn’t allow myself to lose control here. In fact, I am done letting my magic control me at all. Stomping my free foot toward the ground, I summoned my magic into the dirt. With a wave of my hand, I knocked Mylor to the ground with a sudden spike of dirt, rising from the ground. Mylor used the momentum to toss his mace at me, and it collided with my arm. It tore my skin off and blood dripped down my upper arm.

“That’s unfortunate,” I sighed as a purple glow went to heal the injury. The pain was intense, but I have experienced worse.

Mylor was back up and running toward his mace, which landed in the wall behind me. Using my magic in the ground, I broke the ice. My foot was numb and cold, slowing me down. I have to remember that I can’t kill this guy. He’s smart and tries to throw ice at the ground to force me to fall as I try to put space between us. Athyra’s ice was scarier than his lame ice magic.

One good hit is all I need to make this guy knock out. Mylor can match my speed. He can be strategic with his magic, but I am sneakier than this guy knows. My advantage was the dusty ground of this arena. Terran magic was about to save my ass from this guy and his death wish for me. It took a few minutes to let my magic build in the ground as I barely missed his attacks. He scored another chunk of my hair and a cut on my shoulder that sliced through the right strap of my dress. When my magic built up enough I forced a hunk of the ground into the air and dropped it right next to Mylor. He panicked. I took the opportunity to tackle him and hold my blade to his throat until the duke finally noticed us. The duke declared Mylor a loser and guards dragged him out of the arena as he argued against the duke.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Mylor Anifya has been eliminated,” Duke Hylon Kurts announced. “General Ceres and Ambassador Zarranos have also been eliminated.”

Three down and three to go. Samuel Galin was chuckling in his face off with Ema. He had arrows sticking out of his armor from Ema. Poor Ema was huffing hard, trying to fend off against the man’s ax. The ground shook as Ema forced the dwarf’s weapon away from her. Queen Amory and the ambassador’s husband had been watching Ema and Samuel as well. The moment they realized I was free; they sprung into action. Queen Amory dashed at me with her sword while Mr. Zarranos charged toward me with chains… Crap.

“There’s no rest for the wicked, Red Lady,” Mr. Zarranos smiles creepily. Queen Amory forces me to duck from her slash while Mr. Zarranos’ chain is wrapped around my ankle. “This dinner has become fun, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No, I would not agree,” I growled. Utilizing my dagger, I freed my ankle from the chain whip the weird guy used.

Queen Amory asserted her way between us. Her sword clinged against my dagger and she forced me backward with her strength. “I thought you were enjoying yourself more, Piggy. If I had known you liked combat this much, I would have set up a mock battle during your last visit.”

How often has she hosted these guys from Solis? Often enough that the two of them were bantering with each other. I took a moment to rest. My foot finally felt normal after the ice trap. Smaller cuts had healed already from my magic. My arm stung, but the blood had clotted from the healing skill that Silas had taught me. The strap of my dress was falling further down, nearly showing off my undergarments. The bottom of my dress was torn away when I was dueling Mylor. My poor hair was ruined by the mace and Mylor. I looked like a wreck.

“Queen Amory, quit playing around and finish this!” Milow called from the stands. He was the only spectator besides Grand Fairy Flora, Silas, and Braxton.

Queen Amory groaned as if Milow had sucked the fun out of this brawl. The expression on her face turned serious as she challenged Mr. Zarranos. His chain manipulation was on another level. In less than ten moves, Mr. Zarranos had Queen Amory wrapped in a chain unable to break free. Her strength failed her against Mr. Zarranos' skills with the chain whips. I might be in more trouble than before as the Duke declares the queen eliminated.

Mr. Zarranos approached me again with his creepy grin. “Just you and me, tramp.”

What sick things were going through this guy's mind right now? I felt myself become flush as he squared off with me. This guy was off in a way, unlike any other person I had ever met. He was wicked in the worst ways, or at least it feels that way. The thing that bothered me most was this guy had no scent to him. I should have smelled his sweat at least since the brawl started. The guy looked sweaty, but I couldn’t scent anything. Whatever was off with this guy was throwing me off.

“Get ready to spend your life in chains,” Mr. Zarranos teased.

Yep. I just might be screwed.