For the first time in this damn village, I wake up without any painful intervention. That doesn't make my rising any less annoying though, as instead of being hit by a Skalean, it's the sun's rays that hit me in the face, burning through my shut eyes. My idiotic past self must have left the door flap half open, so as the sun dropped lower in the sky it stretched further in, seemingly just to wake me.
Despite my body feeling somewhat refreshed, I feel... starved of something. I'm not altogether that hungry, and while I'm certainly thirsty after having a power nap inside an oven-like hut, it's not that either. I feel like I'm expectant of something but I'm not sure what.
I shrug off the feeling, pushing it to the back of my mind. Glancing outside, it's almost time for me to meet the hunters in the training area. I need to be on the top of my game for this.
All I have time to do is quickly run into the deeper woods to relieve myself and then perform a hasty array of stretches while trying to re-hydrate myself at the edge of the training ring. The group of hunters wait at the opposite side, sitting in a huddled group, occasionally throwing a glance my way.
I can hear hushed hissing whispers and the occasional snort of their laughter. I know they're not going to take me seriously, so I'm more than happy to teach them a brief lesson. I'm sure they're going to be superior to me in terms of strength, speed and reflexes, but I have centuries of experience. I've waged wars, fought countless enemies, and while my win-to-loss ratio isn't all that impressive, I've learnt from every one of my failures.
We wait for only a few moments before Syzslic appears from seemingly nowhere and claps his clawed hands.
He speaks to the hunters while mentally speaking to me.
(The rules of this bout are this: no fatal strikes. Each fight will last three rounds. There is no time limit to each round, but you are limited by the training ring. There are no weapons allowed, but no form of hand-to-hand combat is prohibited. If you fall below fifteen percent of your health, then you must tap out. If you fall below ten percent before you can tap out, you lose. You may, of course, tap out at any time. A tap out is three knocks on the ground using any available limb. Rendering your opponent unconscious is allowed, but no further than that. A victory is achieved by reducing your opponent's health to ten percent, reducing them to unconsciousness, or removing them from the ring. Winning two of the three rounds through any of the previous methods will result in a victory against the opponent. Are these rules understood?)
All of us waiting nod our heads and I'm given a notification.
The arena rules of the Skalean Hunters have been put into effect. The challenger (Reuben) will fight each Hunter one-on-one through three rounds. The challenger may progress through the champions regardless of result. Rewards: +1 to body for every round won.
+3 to body for every champion defeated.
Class and personal xp may be rewarded upon round and champion victories.
It takes me only a few seconds to digest the information. This must be what Syzslic has had in mind the whole time. We must have met some conditions for this to have happened, and they must be harsh conditions because the hunters look eagerly at the makeshift arena despite the easy fight they think they have ahead of them.
There are six hunters, four male and two female, so I have a potential gain of 30 points to my body. I doubt I'll even get a handful of them.
(Reuben, if you are ready...)
I nod and step into the arena. Syzslic hisses at the group of hunters and one of the males steps forwards. He is no shorter or skinnier than the other males, but I suspect that by the way the others behind him are watching, he is either younger or less experienced. Regardless, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.
3...
2...
1...
Fight!
Immediately, my mind goes blank and I almost panic at the sudden command.
My opponent shifts into a stance similar to a boxer and raises his hands as fists. He steadily walks towards me, his neck back and concentration in his eyes. I replicate the stance, pre-emptively guarding my neck and face.
Then when my opponent reaches the centre of the arena and continues to advance, I drop the stance, remembering what Syzslic said about nothing being prohibited.
Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I shift my feet and lower my body into a ready position for judo. I get an odd look from the young Hunter, but he continues to advance and watch me carefully.
I remain passive until he gets close enough to strike, and strike he does.
As soon as he gets me in range, he jabs towards my head incredibly quickly. I'm only barely able to dodge, and I'm surprised by his speed again as I have to twist my torso to avoid a badly aimed punch at my stomach. If I get hit in the chest too hard, I'll likely asphyxiate and fall unconscious just as easily as being knocked out by a head shot.
I step back to give myself more space and another chance, ever conscious of the edge of the ring.
The hunter follows me, sure that I've only made it easier for him to push me out of the arena. He goes for a square punch to my chest, and I react by grabbing his extended wrist before it can reach me, putting my other hand flat on his chest, and tripping him over my left foot. He stumbles until I push with my right hand and pull with my left, effectively spinning him out of the boundary.
Danis has left the ring! Match 1 round 1 over. Victory: Reuben the challenger.
Reward: +1 Body
I'm given little time to celebrate or question the lack of xp gain as the now very pissed off Hunter roughly shakes my hands free and returns to where he started from. I do the same and immediately the countdown returns.
Fight!
The Hunter sprints at me, no pretence of tactics at all. He holds both of his hands outstretched, showing off his talons.
Any kind of strike from him in this state will certainly force me from the arena, and might also kill me. I meet his sprint and try to predict how he's going to attack. I'm far slower than him, so if I want to try to counter him at all, I'll have to act fast.
The hunter jumps and stretches a taloned foot out to my face. I immediately let my legs go limp and slide underneath the poorly executed attack. The rough ground is enough to scratch up my shins pretty badly and I lose a handful of hp because of it, but I would have lost a lot more if I hadn't dodged that attack properly.
I'm back on my feet as fast as I can, but the hunter is far faster and before I can try to formulate my next move, a scaled shin has found its way into the softest part of my torso and I'm launched backwards several feet by the impact.
-81hp
Status effect: Internal bleeding (16:30)
My health starts to tick down by two or three every second. By my math, I have less than a minute before I hit the 15% mark and will have to tap out. I have to go ish this quickly or let myself fail with a concrete chance of being healed before I die. I'd rather not let my hp fall too far, as I stand to lose a fair bit by dying here. Syzslics teachings, though harsh, are all I need to be a competent fighter in this world.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
I weakly push myself up, causing my new internal injury to flare up. The bastard must have turned my guts into mush with that kick, and he didn't look like he was holding back. He could have made it worse by using his clawed feet too, but thank Senca for small miracles.
The young hunter is approaching again, a gleeful glint in his eyes. We both know I'm screwed.
I quickly slam my hand on the ground three times, then roll onto my back.
Reuben has tapped out! Match 1 round 2 over. Victory: Danis the Hunter.
Syzslic, if you can hear me, please heal me.
(Hehehe... of course my foolish student.)
As the cooling healing magic knits my organs back together through a mercifully numb few seconds, I have to admit to myself that while I can open a gap against someone stronger than me with less experience, it's not that big of a gap. Overwhelming stat differences can't be held back by much.
And while I know that both my soul and probably mind are far above his, soul has very little combat potential besides increasing the amount of time I can fight for, and my dangerous mana capabilities are being shut off by this stupid sickness debuff!
Once healed, I thank Syzslic and return to my starting position.
The hunter is still glaring at me, but he knows that he has me rattled. If I lose to the first champion, I'll have no chance against the rest.
Fight!
The young hunter stays standing where he is, waiting for me to come to him. It's a smart play on his behalf, but one I'm plenty well versed in countering. A very flashy shock-and-awe kind of tactic that utilises anything and everything at hand.
Instead of approaching him, I walk around the edge of the arena, causing him to constantly have to look over and adjust his feet to keep me in sight. The whole point of this is to make it look like I have a plan when I really don't.
I slowly edge closer, maintaining the circular course around my opponent. It's a shame I have to resort to this so soon since the others will surely learn from it, but it's the only way I can guarantee a solid victory. And it revolves around assuming that Syzslic hasn't told them much about me.
Wearing my shirt and ruined trousers, there's almost no way to tell that my wings are pressed close to my back. Even when I've been in the village, I've kept my wings hidden as best I can. At the time, it was only to reduce the curiosity of the villagers, but it's provided me with a unique opportunity.
In one smooth motion, I leap towards the unsuspecting hunter and pull my wings out from my back, causing him to flinch from my sudden motion.
I try and push my wings to give me more height and distance, enough that despite the painful stretching of the muscles, I end up with my knee at the perfect height for a headshot.
The Skalean wisely raises his arms above his head at the same time as drawing it back so that I can't hit it. Again, a smart move, but not smart enough.
I twist my wings so that I rotate in the air, almost facing his back and unprotected head. With how much time he spends ensuring his long neck doesn't get hurt, it must be a weak point.
As I fall behind him, I reach out with both hands and manage to get one around his neck close to his head. I fall further, collapsing my legs and pulling his head down with me. I roll backwards onto my butt and put both my feet on his lower back, using my power over his head to force him to fall backwards. As soon as most of his weight is on my legs, and his hands are reaching back to try and force me to let go, I push up as hard as I can as I roll back completely.
His large body swings back, a wholly painful experience not helped by his surprisingly weak neck muscles.
When he lands just behind me, I know I have to use this moment properly.
I roll onto my front, still keeping his head in a tight grip. His eyes are unfocused, but since I can't see his status effects, I have no idea if he's stunned or not.
Not wanting to risk it, I rise up to a kneeling position and punch him hard on the snout. There's no adverse reaction so I keep it up, slowly whittling his health down until I'm stopped from injuring him anymore. My hand is stopped in midair.
I look over to Syzslic, an accusing glare painted on my face. He raises his hands to show that he isn't the one doing this, then points above me.
Danis' health has been reduced to 10%. Match 1 complete. The winner is Reuben the Challenger.
Reward: +4 Body.
Superior enemy defeated in an arena. personal xp (110) class xp (xxx)
I fall back, gasping for breath. I lost myself in the fight and almost killed someone younger, tempted by the promise of stats and experience.
Syzslic heals the boy as I slowly edge away, trying not to meet the deadly stares of the other hunters. I'm guessing they're not happy I did something like that to one of their own.
The fallen hunter is quickly healed by Syzslic and stands, looking confused before focusing on his own system message and punching the ground in frustration. Judging by the ease with which his hand compacts the hardened dirt, I suspect that even until the end he was going easy on me.
He doesn't look like he particularly wants to kill me because of my less-than-honourable methods, just that he's angry he lost. He looks over to me with less anger than I thought I would get, so I walk over to him and offer my hand to help him up.
Like I hoped, he accepts and I pull him to a standing position. A quick shake of hands and a small nod from him is all I get before he walks back to the group of hunters, his head lowered.
I almost feel sorry for the kid, but the very recent memory of my mangled organs prevents it. He can only be a better fighter after this.
(You may rest for five minutes before the second round begins.)
"What!?"
This is going to only get worse, isn't it?
Syzslic shoots me a smug grin.
(Most likely.)
----------------------------------------
It's only in my final match, halfway through the first round that I appear to gain what Syzslic wants me to.
Feat Unlocked Mana-infused Growth
Mana-infused Growth You have undergone dramatic muscle destruction and reconstruction under a state of mana flux. Effects: Mana can be directly channelled into muscles to increase the effects to the body stat.
I don't get to read it all at once, as the temporary distraction the message provides is enough for the hunter to savagely punch my throat, crushing my ability to breathe.
-71hp (critical)
Choking: (--:--)
Before the subsequent status effect of asphyxiated even appears, my vision goes dark and the next thing I know I'm on the floor.
+50hp
+21hp
Reuben has been rendered unconscious. Match 6 round 1 over. Victory: Elor the Hunter.
Just like the vast majority of the rounds I've fought in, any attempts for me to outsmart my opponents have been crushed by their overwhelming force. after that first champion, I haven't been given the chance to win a single match. the hunters underestimated me early on, so they all took on the same strategy of crushing my resistance early on.
still, getting the four body points and the impressive sounding perk is enough for me, and I have no desire to get beaten up again beyond necessity, so as soon as the final match timer starts, I jump out of the circle, effectively forfeiting the match.
Reuben has left the arena! Match 6 complete. The winner is Elor the Hunter.
The Hunters Tournament is over. you have won 1/6 matches. Additional rewards: (none)
Oh well.
The day is almost over, with the evening sun far gone. it's only about an hour until I won't be able to see properly any more. The tournament was thankfully over fairly quickly, so with a short formal hand-shake with the final hunter and a thankyou aimed at Syzslic, I retreat to my hut. I'm hungry and despite the constant healing, I hurt in a dozen different ways. despite it all, I fall asleep almost instantly.
Though I may not have put up much of a fight against the hunters, I hope that now they at least understand that in some way, I am formidable.