Alex, who had been caught in the spell of the fox for only a moment narrowed his eyes. An ember began burning as rage built within him, indignation at the attempt to control him. Yet, as the rage built he did not let it expand and take over. Instead, he controlled his anger narrowing it and allowing its power to flow through him.
Permitting his anger to cloud his mind would be no different than allowing the fox’s spell to control him. He would not allow that to happen again. His gaze was no longer lacking caution but of a serpent staring at its dinner, any notion of kindness gone. He hadn’t expected the strange illusion but he was ready now, ready for any game the fox would try and play with him.
Rushing toward the fox Alex no longer met its stare. Instead focusing on the center of the fox’s body, in the hopes of not being entranced once again. As the true fight started Alex’s whole world slowed down, if only slightly. He had been unable to fully take in the fox’s movements, but as the world slowed they became within his ability to react. Now his mind was moving faster than his body could react to.
Alex was prepared to meet the fox head on. The fox had other ideas when they reached ten feet of each other a red flicker moved to the left while a faded shadow continued forward. The transition was smooth, the faded shadow not missing a step as it continued forward.
When Alex was staring into the fox’s eyes he had already seen the full effect of its illusions. Now it simply felt muted, he ignored the faded shadow keeping his focus on the brighter body.
The faded fox rushed at him, swiping his leg. He firmed that leg kicking it out, using every ounce of power within his mind to prepare for two different options. One he kicked through nothing and his foot landed firmly on the ground. Two there was actual substance to the shadow like being and his foot would meet resistance. These two outcomes would be completely different, so he kicked out with enough power that if it was substantial he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. However, soft enough he would be able to plant his foot and deal with the main body.
As his foot came out, he spun his left hand dagger into a reverse grip. His foot met with the shadow imitating a claw swipe at his leg. Yet nothing happened to him; his foot went directly through the shadow turning it to mist. His foot hitting nothing made him land harder then he wanted but he managed to keep his body under control which was enough.
He had only used a part of his awareness on the shadow, his main focus was on the tangible main body of the fox. The fox’s main body moved completely independent of the shadow, coming to his left and preparing to swipe at the back of his left leg.
Alex did not hesitate, in his low athletic stance his body twisted. The reverse grip dagger in his left hand swiped backward directly at the claw swipe. To his surprise the fox responded in time, two images split once more, a faded shadow continued the strike, while a red body moved backward.
He could feel it, the illusion was even weaker this time. Was he getting better at perceiving the illusions or was the fox unable to continuously set them up? Maybe the illusions were better the longer the fox had to create them. This time he ignored the shadow to the surprise of the fox.
The strike he had practiced so many times in his mind came out now. With a burst of energy Alex’s circulated his anger through his body. He lunged forward through the illusion completely ignoring it. His dagger had already been brought back and struck forward aiming to maim an eye.
To Alex’s annoyance he had missed stabbing deep into the neck. He felt the creature shake under the power of the strike. Alex felt emotional pain and rage sweep outward from the fox. The rage cleary far more then he was feeling. He was almost certain this was an emotional attack of sorts. A subconscious and primal instinct of the fox when injured. This attack may work for others, making them shrink back as they felt the pain from the fox, but the elusive force simply swept past him.
His dagger was still within the beast, but it wasted no time bringing up its paws and grabbing on to his arm. He had watched it happen slowly in front of him, he attempted to pull back, but he was reacting to the fox’s movements. He had put his entire being into attacking the eye of the beast and killing it instantly. His hesitation in drawing backward made him lose all momentum. He was overdrawn and his center of balance was gone.
If he had struck forward and instantly drew back, like the shadow that fought the giant in the image. than this would never have happened. He had only focused on the strike, never thinking of the importance of the draw back. After all the serpent he was imitating had only struck and hung on.. The dagger came out as Alex pulled back and the fox flung itself backward. Deep gashes tore down his arm as the fox’s claws had clung on to him, while they had both pulled back.
The fox seemed to think the pain or shock would slow him down, but it was wrong for a second time. He regathered himself in an instant. He felt the weakness in his wrist. He should finish this quickly. He would not make the same mistake again. He lunged forward without hesitation pursuing the fox.
He was upon the fox in an instance his ability to move forward faster then its ability to move backward. The fox leapt backward, his strike missing. But he was already bringing his other dagger forward. The first strike had been a feint, he wanted the fox to think he had struck out with everything. The fox had dodged with all of its power and was now off balance.
Alex’s second strike was even faster and reached further. His dagger sunk into the fox’s other shoulder, this time he didn’t hesitate pulling his dagger back instantly. Using as much force to go backward as he did forwards allowed him to be faster then the now extremely injured fox.
The fox was on its deathbed unable to even move. The flame within him turned back to an ember. Lunging forward in the same movement, he went for precision instead of speed. He wanted to give the fox a quick end by having his dagger go through its eye and into its brain killing it instantly.
The fox had other plans, the half dead fox came to life, its uninjured back legs were already in position to propel itself forward. Alex’s mind moved faster than his blade once again as he watched the fox latch on to his wrist. He had used the same move half a dozen times and the fox had pretended to be more injured than it really was. The fox did not hesitate its jaw locking around his wrist and using its claws to rip apart his arm.
Any last thoughts of putting the fox out of its misery disappeared in Alex’s mind as his flame relit brighter then before. The fox may be less than a hundred pounds, with rounded ears, large eyes, and a cute snout, but beneath that snout its teeth were sharp and pointy like he imagined a demon’s teeth. The fox’s claws compared to a demon's blade-like nails.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The sharp teeth entering his previously injured wrist sent a hot flash of pain shooting up his arm. The claws did not help as he felt himself losing blood quickly. He shut the pain out from his mind, flipped the blade in his left hand back to a normal grip, and swiping the blade up right past his wrist. The dagger stabbed up through the bottom of the fox’s closed mouth. The fox’s long snout allowed the blade to pass just by his wrist and into the brain of the fox.
For the last time he looked into the fox’s amethyst eyes, as the brilliant purple iris turned dark. The fox’s emotions naturally projected outward allowing him to feel its pain and suffering. He felt its desire to win, unwillingness to die, and willingness to do anything to survive, yet he also felt its eventual death. The fox didn’t let go, even in death. Ripping his blade out of the fox’s brain he sheathed his blade. Then bringing his wrist down to the ground he pried the fox’s clenched mouth open taking his wrist out of its mouth.
More blood oozed out of his wrist where the fox’s mouth was, blood already flowing out where the fox’s claws had torn apart his forearm. A dizzy haze began to cover his mind but he was still clear enough to place his other dagger in its sheath. His daggers were what allowed him to win this battle. If he survived the wounds on his arm his daggers would be what allowed him to continue winning.
Taking his left hand he placed his palm on his forearm where the most blood was coming out. Trying to put pressure on the wound and stop the bleeding as much as possible. He brought his focus into the arm letting the burning pain enter his mind ripping up his forearm. His wound was serious, probably too serious. He felt his vision blurring. Should he take off his only covering, the boxers and dress the wound? Would it do anything?
Standing in the arena, the dead fox below him, the colosseum erupted with cheers, the millions of people stomping and cheering. He hadn’t noticed the sound since the fight had begun. Had the noise disappeared or had he been too focused on the fight?
Even so the cheering affected him, a slight smile creeping on to his lips, even if he died here, he had never felt like this. The excitement of the battle, of fighting with his life on the line, of winning against an opponent who wanted to win just as much. He felt like he lived more in the past few minutes than his entire life. He felt like a flame was burning within him a strange corelation to his usually ice-like numbness.
“Alex Blackwell has defeated his first opponent!” A booming voice echoed through the Colosseum.
The cheers reached their greatest intensity yet. Millions of people smashed their feet onto the ground making the arena shake. The energy in the colosseum made him buzz as he received a forced notification from the token still hanging from his neck.
“You have won your first match! Awarding one credit (credits will be available after your tenth battle), Third Tier Obsidian Daggers (Weapons will instantly appear upon your person in designated areas), First Tier Jade Spring Essence Drop (This drop will heal your body, improve talent, and remove impurities from the body). All other rewards will be given in your cell.”
A drop of water appeared before him, the drop was not ordinary though. Instead of blue it shone with an emerald light. His mouth instantly watered as though he was staring at the most delicious fruit in the world. His mouth opened subconsciously and the floating drop entered his mouth.
The drop instantly dispersed in his mouth, warm currents spreading throughout his entire body. His wounds that were burning moments before began to cool. He felt the pain of his wounds begin to disappear and the seeping blood begin to slow, he removed his hand to watch in awe as the wounds healed at a visible rate. No pain came with the healing, just a warm and fuzzy feeling on his arm. Within moments his arm was completely healed, even the dizziness from blood loss disappearing.
With the wound gone and his mind clear his attention shifted. He had rolled his right ankle when he was younger. Since then, there had always been a stiffness when he moved. A click sounded and he felt his ankle shift. Jumping up and down no pain or stiffness followed the movement. He stretched his neck left and right, touched his toes, and bent this way and that way. He felt as though his entire body had been nearly perfected. His coordination and balance felt intune with his mind. If this had happened before the fight, then he wouldn't have missed the fox’s eye the first time.
When moving before he almost felt as though his own body was holding him back. This was no longer the case, he felt as though he moved with perfect efficiency, he felt balanced, centered. But then he also wouldn’t have learned an important lesson.
This was only the beginning, a black goo began excreting from the pores in his skin, a horrible smell coming with it. A layer of the black goo covered his entire body. Taking in a deep breath, he ignored the smell simply taking in the feeling. He felt as though a dense fog within his mind was lifted. The clouds in his mind cleared and a new world appeared around him.
The colors in his vision became vibrant. The sand in the arena became a beautiful orange. Made up of millions of different yellows, oranges, and golds. His eyes taking in each of these unique colors.
Looking into the now empty stands the people had all disappeared; to where, he had no idea. If they hadn’t, he would now be able to see the faces on the bottom few rows. Observing his hand he could see every crease, every line, every bump, and every scar. Only before his eyes those scars began to fade under the effects of the jade drop.
He had never realized that he was only using part of his brain. Now, he felt that leaving this state would be like an addict unable to get their drug of choice. Would this leave him? No. This was a change of the very essence of who he was.
As the warmth disappeared leaving him in an empty arena covered in filth he thought over the jade drop: first his fresh wounds had healed, second hidden injuries that had never healed disappeared, third his body had shifted his bones becoming stronger and aligning, his muscles and tendons balancing out, fourth the fog every human had within their minds disappeared his mind function much faster then before, and fifth his body had excreted the impurities of his body anything that shouldn’t be there was gone.
If one had cancer before then the body would have destroyed the tumors, then forced them out. His whole body felt light and wholesome like never before. As the warmth left him, his mind had time to focus on an important change within him. The notification had said the two obsidian daggers were now his. When the notification had appeared, he felt something change with his daggers.
Taking them out of their sheaths he studied them. The dagger that had taken a drop of blood from his finger now felt strange to him. A feeling of attachment had developed in him. He had felt this since the dagger had cut him, but after he won the feeling became stronger. When the jade drop washed his body the connection became clearer.
He closed his eyes, placing all his attention on that feeling. He pulled on the connection between him and his dagger. Click. Opening his eyes the dagger was gone, while Alex’s smiled widened. The connection had intensified many times over and he could feel the dagger within him. Through his connection with the first dagger, he could feel a faint connection with the other, as while they weren’t one weapon they were born from the same stone and made by the same master smith.
Placing his finger on the other dagger another drop of blood dripped off and disappeared into the dagger. He slowly felt a connection form, then pulled on his connection with the dagger. This time he watched as the crystal stone melted into his body.
Before he was taken from the arena, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Letting his thoughts go over the battle while still fresh in his mind. He had made two mistakes today, that if repeated would most likely kill him in the future. One, your withdrawal should be as quick as your attack. Two, the enemy isn’t finished until it's dead.
Opening his eyes he felt ready to be sent back. The token had alluded to more rewards and based on the Jade Spring Essence Drop, he was looking forward to the possibilities. A flash covered his eyes as he appeared back in the underground prison, only things were different now.