The crowd went silent as red and blue stood where they were. The elf, with sword extended, looked up at the ogre with confusion. Perhaps there was some invisible battle of the minds going on, where both parties were figuring out the best way to move forward.
“I’m no expert in this world’s combat, but I think we’ve got ourselves a stalemate,” Theo said, adjusting his screen so he could get a better look. “Is blue holding the blade in place?”
“I think so, Theo,” Fenian said. “Looks like that portal has some gravity magic in it, meaning our little ogre has an interesting combination of cores. Red doesn’t want to give up the sword, so let’s see… Oh, there it is!”
Red was the first to move, pivoting on his back heel and ripping the blade free. He then delivered a series of attacks that could only be described as impossible. Theo counted at least 100 strikes in a breath, each deflected by gravity magic, or sent through a portal to harmlessly strike the ground. The elf then jumped back, sword at the ready for another strike. Silence settled in over the arena once again.
"Now that was some seriously good swordplay!" Fenian shouted, pounding his fist on the table and howling with excitement. But Blue managed to deflect every single strike without moving an inch. "We have to ask if he's actually going to use that hammer, or if it's simply ornamental."
"Do you think blue is waiting for the opportunity to strike, or is he just trying to wear red down?" Theo asked, cupping his chin.
"There's no way he's going to wear a swordsman of that caliber down. Red took the back foot to rest between strikes, meaning that this could go on forever if the ogre doesn't make a move.”
They continued their speculation as the silent battle continued down below. Theo eventually narrowed his eyes, opening his magic senses wide enough that he could actually feel something. That's when he saw what was actually going on. Just like Fenian had done several times before, he slammed his fist on the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as stunted as my magical senses are, I just opened them and got a glimpse as to what's actually happening," Theo shouted, finding himself completely enthralled in the battle. “Both red and blue are currently assailing each other with what can only be described as torrents of magic rolling over the arena floor. Hold on. Maybe we have a setting here in the arena to visualize the attacks.”
Theo was beside himself, unable to describe the series of attacks that was taking place below him. Fenian gave the play-by-play, noting each strike as it came and each healing spell. Of course, these attacks came in such quick succession it was hard to keep up. Instead, he gave the short version.
“Blue takes a hit and heals it. Red feints and gets a good hit—No, that one is healed as well. Blue cast some debuff, but… No, red removed the debuff and… Hold onto your hats, folks!”
The impact from the vicious strikes radiated with such power that the barriers protecting the audience buckled. Theo was planning to get down there and reinforce them when the last series of blows came. It appeared as though blue had the upper hand at first, his hammer glowing with a silver light. But red's swordsmanship was unparalleled. He went into overdrive, delivering a series of slices and stabs that withered away the healing magic. Theo was certain that the swordsman would come out on top. There was no way the ogre could keep up with such a massive assault.
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Blue staggered to one side, his entire body glowing red from the strikes. Red stood at a cautious distance, sword leveled and ready to deliver the killing blow. He leaned in with a measured thrust, poking into the ogre’s chest. The big guy fell a moment later, and the elf sagged from exhaustion.
“There it is!” Fenian shouted. “A war of attrition in the end, but the elven swordsman won it out.”
Theo leaned forward, mouth falling open again. “I’ve never seen anything like that!” he shouted, smacking Fenian on the back of the head to get his attention. “Look!”
The swordsman had turned away from the ogre, already counting his victory, but a bright silver light was pouring from Blue's chest, washing over his body and scouring away the red hit markers. Since the combatants couldn't hear the sound of the audience, or Theo and Fenian’s surprised jabbering, he didn't notice that the ogre had risen to his feet, and he didn't notice the hammer coming down on his head. What resulted next was a series of savage attacks that first crippled and then brought the elf to his knees. By the end of that, both of them were heaving breaths with broad smiles on their faces. Eventually, Red presented his sword and bowed his head.
Fenian was furiously swiping through screens on the window, eventually finding something that explained what was going on. "I don't believe it!" he shouted. “According to the arena's combat system, that was self-resurrection magic.”
“I’ve never heard of such a spell,” Theo said, throwing his hands in the air. “Is that against the rules?”
“The arena says it is within the bounds of the rules. The cooldown for the spell is a year, and it only brings someone back from a near-death state, not fully dead,” Fenian said. “So, red didn’t actually get the kill. If anyone in the audience still has eardrums, they’re soon to be busted wide open!”
The sound of the crowd was deafening. People were standing in their seats, throwing their hands in the air and shouted as loudly as they could. Theo found himself drawn into the madness, pumping his fist in the air.
“By all the gods I can count, Theo,” Fenian said, leaning back with a massive smile on his face. “I think this is the most emotion I’ve ever seen you express.”
“Come on!” Theo shouted, gesturing to the window. “Did you see that? I’ve never seen people fight like that.”
Fenian frowned. “You’ve seen me fight.”
“Yeah, but we cheat. Those are just regular people who climbed the ladder the right way. We’ve got mega cheats from space birds.” Theo shook his head. “We are not the same.”
“You wound me,” Fenian said, fanning himself with his hat. “I learned to fight during the war, you know. I could hold my own down there.”
Theo truly doubted that the combatants who had just fought were on a completely different level from anyone he had seen before. The alchemist realized that hanging around with people who relied on cheats had skewed his perception of what a person was capable of in this world. He was certain that the amount of skill that went into that fight was beyond anything he could comprehend. The only person he could think of in his life who could compare was Khahar, and he was currently stuck in the Arbiter's Citadel.
After Theo and Fenian signed off for the day, they enjoyed the private tunnel that took them outside the arena. Down in the stands, things were insane. People were already partying before they even left the building and moved across the causeway. Instead of dealing with that, he teleported both himself and Fenian to town, where they somehow found themselves with drinks in their hands and a song on their lips. They were soon joined by Tresk, who wouldn’t shut the hell up.
“And then he went like this—BAM!” Tresk shouted, swinging an imaginary hammer.
Something that Theo had feared since arriving in Broken Tusk was the introduction of alcohol. But during the End of the World Games, he figured it wouldn't be too damaging. He smiled as he watched people returning from the arena, celebrating in the streets. They would be lucky to get any sleep tonight. Since the bracketed one-on-one fights started again tomorrow, things were only going to get even crazier. He hadn't expected himself to be swept up in the excitement of everything, but there he was, singing a song about how Red almost won the fight. It was a crude limerick, but catchy.
Theo lost track of the time. He paced himself with the booze, but eventually felt a strange nagging at the back of his mind. It took him far too long to realize what it was and worked his way through the crowd to find Tresk.
“Come on,” he said, grabbing her by the arm. “Last-minute business to attend to.”
“I got your bizniss right here,” Tresk said, flexing and slurring her speech.
Theo shook his head, dropping them both into the void before angling for the System’s platform. They arrived in the snowy landscape a moment later, trudging over the drifts and ascending the steps of the platform.
“You rang, your crystalness?” Tresk asked, swaying to one side.
She appeared in her crystal form a few moments later, shaking her head. “Why does it have to be you two?”
Theo shrugged. “You summoned us, lady.”
“I mean, why do you have to hold positions of power? Nevermind. I thought to give you a report before you slip into the dream realm for the night,” the system said.
“A report on the stupid war!?” Tresk asked, tripping to one side. She fell on her back, vision swimming. “I’m just gonna lay here.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Theo said, kneeling to pat her on the head. “So, you agreed to the war games?”
The system nodded, still looking down on Tresk with disgust. “There were convincing arguments. When Death and Hallow agreed, I thought it was best to move forward.”
So the games were a lot less impromptu than Elrin had made them sound. That made Theo feel even better about what was going on. Maybe he was just still amped up about the games. “That’s awesome.”
“Indeed it is. Would you like a full report?”
Theo looked down at Tresk. She was already asleep, lingering in the void between here and the dream realm. “Sure, why not? She’s not going anywhere.”