(Alexis POV)

Tommy's fight was definitely something I didn't expect, I thought for sure that Jareth would have swept right through the dullahan. After the first few moments of the large ogre getting toyed with by a faster opponent, I thought the fight would be over.

I definitely didn't expect for the tides to turn with a new skill that I hadn't seen him use before. It reminds me of the berserker potion that I remember seeing him under the effect of during the monster break, except this time there was no intelligence behind his movements. All that existed was pure overwhelming force matched by an impressive enough speed to outpace the originally speedy headless knight.

What really shocked me was the evolving effects of the skill that happened when fire was sprayed at Jareth's face. The switch was almost instant, he went from raging beast to cold predator in about two seconds after getting burnt. He even regained some intelligence back, but it was almost like he was consumed by his need to kill the undead for burning him.

I'm just glad that Tommy managed to unsummon Jareth before he actually killed the summon after the summoner had already surrendered, that would not have done him any favors with the other competitors.

Now I just had to wait for him to come back from the arena and sit with me until it's my turn to fight, speak of the devil.

"Congrats Tommy, I didn't think you were going to manage to pull out a victory, I guess miracles really do happen." (Alexis)

"Haha, and thanks. That was a lot closer than I'm comfortable with, it seems like having a tier 4 summon isn't everything" (Thomas)

"I could have told you that much, but a win is a win I guess, and as long as you learn from it, then no harm done." (Alexis)

"I think I got a little slice of humble pie, and right now I'm a bit full *laughs*, so I don't plan on getting overconfident any time soon." (Thomas)

"If you say so. Don't just stand there, come and sit back down by me, we still have some matches to watch before it's my turn." (Alexis)

"Whatever you say, princess." (Thomas)

"Bitch please, if anything I'm a Queen." (Alexis)

...........

The rest of the matches were between some tier 3 summoners with one other match being in the bronze league. That fight was the only really interesting one, it was between a minotaur and a treant with the minotaur losing in the end. The treant had some control skills with vines and roots that stalled or tripped the minotaur so that it couldn't charge the treant and overpower it, with no ranged skills, the minotaur was pretty much a sitting duck.

Now it was my turn as the last of the fights for the day, and I was already looking forward to my paycheck. Most of it would be going to buying necessary summoning items at the auction, but I always set aside part of my earnings for old man Will to help him out. It's the least I can do for him taking me in and caring for me like family when I had no one.

It wasn't a ton of credits or anything, but it helped make ends meet and afford a few nicer things. He was a summoner himself, but he only did a few easy jobs since his body isn't up for much more than some light exercise.

Before being a summoner he could barely do anything, but the attribute transfer after a summon evolution gave him some of his youth back. He still likes to pretend he's retired while doing a few odd jobs or hunting every now and then when needed, but I like to help him out a bit so he can relax a bit more.

He was the man I looked up to the most, and I basically considered him my grandfather in all but blood, which is why I wanted to help him in any way I can. I know he wouldn't accept me giving away most of my money to him since I need it for my own summoning equipment, but he doesn't turn away me giving a few credits here and there to him.

*CHEERS*

The sound of the crowd as I step into the arena is almost deafening, and even more so when I bring out Hemlock. My gorgeous purple drake certainly seems to be a crowd-pleaser and she soaks up the attention like the diva she is.

Every dragon-kin is a bit vain or prideful, but Hemlock seems to take the cake as far as that is concerned. She loves to show herself off and keeps meticulously clean at every opportunity, which doesn't make sense considering that the first time we saw her she was covered in mud. I guess she thought of it as a beauty spa treatment rather than camouflage, I've given up trying to figure out the lengths she'll go to appear pretty.

If she wasn't so strong already, I would be concerned that she was a beauty obsessed summon more worried about her appearance than fighting. I knew better than that though, because as soon as she got the chance to fight she would viciously tear through her opponent.

If her poison didn't take the opponent down, then ripping them apart with her teeth, claws, and spikes would do the trick. It was almost horrifying just how insanely deadly she could be, it was a miracle that we even managed to take her down in the first place.

Without my and Tommy's summons working together, it would have been nearly impossible to take her down. Dragon-kin aren't known for being some of the strongest summons without reason.

*ROAR*

I was drawn out of my thoughts at the sound of a loud and bloodthirsty yell from the Rougarou on the opposite side of the arena. It was the summon of my current opponent Charlotte Benson, and all that I knew about it aside from the race was that its' name was Gromit, which was a pretty odd name if you ask me.

Charlotte looked like a southern belle with blond hair and summer dress to complete the look, but all that the look managed to achieve was give the impression that she was a haughty person. I mean I was dressed in my hunting armor and here she is looking like she's out for a stroll, she is either really underestimating me, or she was just that arrogant.

I wasn't risking being hit and killed by a stray attack, but it's not my problem if she is. I guess some people are more concerned with appearance than safety.

"See that person Hemlock? That's what happens if you keep worrying about your looks, you'll end up useless and taking stupid risks."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

She looked a bit horrified and affronted at the thought of ending up like Charlotte, which I thought was hilarious. I guess just the reminder of this moment would get her to stop being so vain.

It would probably require more work to get her to stop worrying about all of that stuff. Maybe I'll buy a psychology or summon training book to get her to give up her obsessive and unnecessary grooming habits.

"It looks like we'll have another easy win Gromit, such a shame, I was hoping to at least have some competition." (Charlotte)

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" (Alexis)

I couldn't stand the gall of this girl, she takes a look at me and just writes me off like I'm not worth her time.

"You heard me, or are you not only weak but deaf as well?" (Charlotte)

"You're sure confident for someone who's going to have the floor wiped with them." (Alexis)

"I doubt that's going to happen, there's a reason I'm in the bronze league and you're not." (Charlotte)

"Yeah, it's called being younger. I want to thank you ahead of time for being my first stepping stone in the bronze league, although I don't plan on being here long. You must not be all that special to still be in the bronze league after all this time." (Alexis)

"We'll see who's going to win soon enough. Gromit dear, you don't have to hold back during this fight, have as much fun as you want." (Charlotte)

"You heard the Bitch, go ahead and rip the mangy mutt to shreds. Don't blame me for your summon's death, you brought this on your self." (Alexis)

.........

"Both contestants are fighting in the final match of the day, and it appears that the stakes are higher than usual today. The fight will be decided by a deathmatch, where the victory condition is the death of the opponent." (Referee)

"Now that both of you are ready, let the fight begin... NOW!" (Referee)

The swamp werewolf began charging on all four limbs at a rapid pace, but its' charge was brought to a premature halt as Hemlock spit out a cloud of paralytic poison. Most of the cloud was dodged, but the very edge managed to catch the rougarou before it could completely stop.

A few breaths were inhaled accidentally with some of the poison mist contained within. This wouldn't be enough to paralyze the summon, but it would be enough to inhibit its' reflexes and strength slightly.

Hemlock gave no time for a second charge by Gromit and instead went on the offensive herself. She was a swirling quadrupedal storm of claws, spikes, and tail. She managed to utilize her assets to the greatest effect considering the situation.

She would swipe with her claws before making a quick spin and whipping her tail with all of the spikes on the end at her opponent. Wounds were quickly accumulating on the rougarou with only a few cursory swipes in return that slightly bled at best. It was on defense at this moment and was holding on quite well against the onslaught.

I honestly expected it to have fallen to the poison already, but despite the quantity already put into the bloodstream, only a few effects could be seen. Apparently, the rougarou had some type of poison resistance, luckily it wasn't immunity, and the quantity and quality of the poison already put into the summon would begin to affect it soon.

After a few more slashes at Gromit, Hemlock backed off to let the poison go to work. The wounds were already starting to close, but the edges of them were still purple-colored, and the poison was beginning to work its way through the body.

It seemed the moss and grime-covered beast was aware of its' sudden time limit until it was taken out of the fight completely, and began to frantically try to end the fight. What was surprising was the lengthening of and silver-color coating the nails of the bipedal wolf. I learned the use of them soon enough as they tore through the tough purple scales of Hemlock.

She screamed out in pain and frustration and switched to offense by throwing herself at the other summon and impaling it on some of her spikes. This was a bit of a sacrificial move since the rougarou had an equal chance to damage her, luckily Hemlock was larger and on top of her opponent.

Her position and advantage helped to prevent any potentially lethal moves while further damaging the ragged Gromit. The summon at this point was more scarlet than the dark brown and grey it had been before, blood was now pooling out of the newest wounds made since Hemlock switched poisons to an anticoagulant one.

Not only poisoning but bleeding out her opponent would end the fight that much quicker. Gromit began to become noticeably weaker and slower as time moved on and the pair frantically clawed and bit each other. Gouges had been made along Hemlock's flank, and chunks of meat had been torn off by the frantic rougarou.

Hemlock gave just as good as she got, and she had managed to half-blind the summon by clawing its' right eye out and ripping out a section from its' side by her spiked tail being used as a mace.

It seems that Charlotte had forgotten about the initial poison breath or had assumed it would take too long to recharge for Hemlock to use it again. Unfortunately for her, Hemlock had recovered enough for an additional breath and used it to devastating effect.

While in close quarters and no room for escape, Hemlock grappled the wolf and sprayed a neurotoxin right into its face. It was extremely effective, because the exhausted summon found enough energy to wail in pain and began tearing into itself to make the pain stop.

This was an especially vicious attack reserved for killing strong summons, their nerves would begin firing rapidly with the signal for extreme pain being activated all over despite there being no injuries. The only downside was that it didn't last long and needed a direct hit to be effective, but it was almost guaranteed to drop an opponent long enough to finish them off.

Luckily my beautiful drake shared my sense of urgency and charge the distracted rougarou and tore into its' open throat, killing it within moments. I almost felt bad for the summon, but its' summoner was the one who forced it into the mess in the first place.

Poison and venom were Hemlocks greatest attacks and advantages, and she used them to devastating effect today. By weakening the wolf with her poison at the start with an anticoagulant and paralytic the summon was brought down to a manageable level with no real advantages. She stalled for time while Gromit continued to bleed out and have the poison advance, and when he was finally weak enough she distracted him in order to deal a final blow.

I couldn't be prouder considering I really didn't have to direct her at all, she had managed to develop to the 4th tier on her own, so her battle ability was far greater than most and I trusted her to make the right decisions. If she was in a bind I might have helped her out, but so far it had been unnecessary.

"There you have it ladies and gentlemen, the poison drake managed to slay the rougarou after a fierce battle of attrition. The winner of this deathmatch is Alexis and her drake Hemlock." (Referee)

*Roar* The crowd went wild at the spectacle of the rougarou finally being slain after being toyed around with for so long.

"I warned you this would happen. Maybe next time, you won't be such an ass and end up with your summon dead." (Alexis)

With my victory already announced and my parting shot towards the crying Charlotte given, I began to head back to Thomas after changing out of my hunting clothes.

"Congrats on the win Alexis, the fight was so one-sided that I almost felt bad for your opponent. You were unexpectedly vicious to your opponent, what did she say to rile you up like that?" (Thomas)

"The bitch was acting like she already won and called me weak, I figured I would give her a manners lesson. Although the only reason the match was so easy was the summon's lack of ranged attacks. Hemlock requires close quarters for her poison to be effective, if it had dodged her and stayed back while pelting her it might have been a different story." (Alexis)

"All that matters is that you won, so let me go get changed since I didn't think about it till I saw your outfit. Once that is taken care of, we can go collect our earnings and then get some icecream." (Thomas)

"Sounds good to me, I'll pay this time though, and no arguing with me about it. It's only fair after you treated me last time. It doesn't hurt that my earnings will more than make up for the few credits icecream costs." (Alexis)

"What are you doing still standing there, I have money to collect and icecream to eat, don't make me wait forever. I already showed off what happens to people who make me angry, now get to it." (Alexis)

That last bit seemed to put a bit of pep in his step as he broke into a run to get changed in the competitor locker room. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his reaction to my threat, which I would never actually follow through with, although he didn't need to know that.