Chapter 24 - Round One, Fight

—DEATHWALKER’S PERSPECTIVE—

As I returned to the coliseum after my tour of the various festivities with some of our esteemed guests, I found the tournaments underway. I was impressed by how much my people had handled. This was our inaugural festival, yet everything was well organized and running just as envisioned.

Making Elder Martha the city noble in charge was one of the best decisions I have made to date. Including the entire council in the planning efforts was second. Everyone pitched in and brought some great ideas for both economic growth and ease of engagement in the festivities for the overall populace. My tour showed me just how competent they were.

Lord Simium had stepped in for me to help judge the combatants while I was taking the tour. Guildmaster Darrius, his brother General Marius were helping judge the Melee competition. As I returned to the judges’ booth, I asked how things were progressing.

“We have seen some impressive talent, my liege.” Lord Simium replied.

“Some we may want to recruit for the army.” General Marius offered.

“If you do not recruit the non-adventurers, I will.” Darrius grinned at his brother.

“So, either way we win.” Lord Simium surmised.

“It sounds like it.” I commented.

Lord Simium leaned in so only I could hear him over the sounds of combat. “I spoke with my daughter.”

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“As well as to be expected. She shared with me that she thought he was hanging around with a seedier element, but just figured he was sowing his wild oats and indulging in some vices.” Simium shared.

“The real question is do you believe her?”

“My daughter has been caught up in royal court politics and gossip, but she has no interest in taking my place. My son was the ambitious one.” Lord Simium explained.

“Perhaps. You will need to start grooming her now. It takes time to learn the nuisances of running a territory.” I advised.

“I made her aware. She was not thrilled with the idea, but she understands the necessity.” Lord Simium replied.

The announcer, who was using a magical artifact to project his voice, called out a name that caught my attention.

“Next we have Captain Saunders, head of Lord Sebastian Dormeir’s soldiers, against the adventurer known as the Sunderer!”

“Oh, this should be entertaining.” Darrius commented.

“You missed Lord Dormeir. He mopped the floor with his opponent.” Marius informed me.

I smiled at the news of my friend’s victory. “What do you know about this Sunderer?”

Lord Simium was the one that spoke up. “He does a good amount of work in my territory. He has some impressive ability and skills that let him pierce through armor. The man is typically given quests involving monsters with high defenses.”

My interest was piqued.

Darrius spoke up next. “He is the best anti-defender in the guild. Saunders does not stand a chance.”

“Poor match up indeed. Captain Saunders is a knight who specializes in defense.” General Marius commented.

I had given Marius and Willis the combined assignment to learn everything they could about the forces we could call upon to defend our dukedom. If Marius was saying it was a bad match, I trusted his assessment.

Saunders was not a small man, he had broad shoulders, toned muscles, and stood at a decent height. Compared to the Sunderer however, he looked puny. The mountain of a man stood at least seven feet tall, you could put two Saunders side by side and they would not come close to the size of this man.

“BEGIN!” The announcer called out.

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The two men rushed each other. Captain Saunders wore plate armor and held a sword and shield in a typical defender style. The Sunderer wore some kind of scale mail and held a massive two-handed great sword. Both men moved rather quickly for their size and the weapons and armor they used.

It was clear Saunders knew of the man as he did not try to ‘tank’ the swing from the Sunderer’s massive great sword. He dodged out of the way. I expected Saunders to be faster than the massive man, but surprisingly he was struggling to keep up.

Watching the Sunderer move was like watching a mountain move, that is if the mountain could flow like water. The man bent and flowed with far more speed and grace than someone of his size had any right to. The fight lasted roughly sixty seconds, which in combat can be an eternity, but it was clear everyone’s assessment was correct, Saunders was no match for this beast.

Saunders was just a little bit too slow on his latest dodge. He caught part of the flat of Sunderer’s great sword on the swing. It was clear to me the Sunderer was not trying to kill and typically used the flat of his blade as more of a club to reduce the chance he might slice the poor knight in two. Just catching part of that hit sent the captain flying back and crashing into the coliseum wall. The magical wards made Saunders slightly bounce off the wall and land on his back.

“Cough, I concede. At least I lasted longer than I thought I would.” Saunders croaked out. It was clear he was going to need some serious healing.

The Sunderer reached out his hand and lifted the heavily armored knight like he weighed nothing. “You fight well. Not many can stand against me. One day perhaps I will find one who can. From that day I will be his man.”

His words surprised me and gave me some ideas. I filed that away for later.

It was time for Cal’s match up. He was up against an elf. King Alfheim, Elder Martha, Duchess Lightheart, and Lady Emma were judging the magical competition, so I could not ask them why an elf chose martial combat instead of magic. It was not like someone couldn’t enter multiple disciplines, but the first few rounds of the magic and melee tournaments were being held at the same time. This made it rather hard for someone to participate in both. As elves were magically inclined, this surprised me.

“What do we know about his competitor?” I asked.

“That is one of Mineheir’s majors, a man by the name of Arden. He is more martially inclined. Has some body-strengthening magic but not much in the way of ranged magic. The General was telling me about him. I believe he was also going to enter the archery competition when that starts tomorrow.” General Marius explained.

“Interesting.” I replied just before the announcer called out, “BEGIN!”

In terms of speed the two men were evenly matched. They practically danced and flipped around the arena as they parried and dodged attacks. It was clear this elven major was rather skilled. Even when he started to activate his body strengthening, my teammate had no problem keeping up with him.

I realized how much Cal had really grown. I did what I could to join them on any quests from the Adventurers’ guild. This allowed Cal to take greater risks as he knew I would be there to heal him. Greater risk, greater reward. He learned how to enhance his body using his mana and once he learned that his talent skyrocketed. It was clear the orphaned twin was driven, both to keep up with his sister and her growing capabilities and, I think, his interest in my head maid.

The two of them finally started to go out on a few dates. I made it clear to both of them that they were grown adults, and I had no expectations either way. Sure, I gave Suzie a decent amount of paid time off lately, but that was more me making up for how poorly the employment laws were in this kingdom, sure that is why and no other reason. Okay, maybe a little reason. What can I say? I could tell they both were interested in each other and the only way to allow that to blossom was to give them the time they both needed.

I heard Suzie cheering for Cal, and when he heard it, a look of greater determination took hold. A driver all men knew of that would make us push ourselves harder and risk more, all to gain greater respect from the woman he loved.

Cal’s speed and the force of his blows increased. The elven major was now backpedaling as he attempted to keep up with his opponent’s newfound strength.

The fight only lasted a few more moments. As with any type of combat, the scales can turn quickly. Cal had increased the tempo of the fight, but it did not take long for Major Arden to adapt.

The battle-hardened major infused his muscles with power and started to emit a faint aura. This aura created a cold that began to leech away Cal’s own body-enhancement magic. Realizing the tables had quickly turned the rogue tried to draw his opponent in.

Cal made a desperate feint in a last-ditch effort to gain an upper hand, but Major Arden did not take the bait. Instead, he used Cal’s temporary over extension against him by sweeping the rogue’s legs out from under him. The move caught Cal completely off guard. The elf fell flat on his back and as he looked up at one of Arden’s blades, which was inches from Cal’s face.

“I concede!” Cal cried out.

The elven major offered Cal his hand. “Well fought!”

“Good match!” Cal commented as Arden helped the man to his feet.

“You fight well. Work on not letting your emotions get the better of you in battle, that is what defeated you, not me.” Major Arden advised.

Cal was about to protest, then paused and realized he was proving the man’s point. Exhaling, “Ah, you may be right. You are a tough opponent. That aura of yours is wicked.”

“I have Winter Fey in my bloodline. That has its perks.” Arden commented.

“I would not know. My parents died when I was young. My sister and I were street rats. There is very we know of our heritage.” Cal replied.

Then the elven major said something neither Cal nor I were expecting to hear. “Let no one speak ill of your humble origins, orphan. Yes, I know of your background. I knew your father; he would be proud of the elf you have become.”

Cal just stood there in shock. He tried not to think upon those painful memories. They were so young when his parents died. He knew so little about them.

“If you ever wish to speak or hear some stories of our past adventures, seek me, Major Arden, out.” The elf said as he started to walk out of the arena. “Oh, and if you are ever in elven lands and anyone disrespects or dismisses you due to your accent, tell me and I will straighten them out.”