The fight itself was at an arena owned by the Bureau. It was the first time I went back to the Bureau since registering, and so not how I thought I’d come back. I always assumed promotion or getting caught doing something illegal would draw me back. Not, well, a duel of all things.
We flew in on a HAT. It looked like it Cernobog, or maybe Lucia, preferred it as a corporate transport rather than the normal sleek and expensive hovas other groups used. It was fine. HATs offered way better protection, and were far more practical. Sure, Lucia was shot down in a HAT, but they really were quite strong when not targeted by a professional ambush.
Lucia led the way into the Bureau. Once we got off the HAT, her exhausted posture shifted to that of a regal ruler deigning to grace us with her presence. She calmly and elegantly led our procession toward the arena. It was us, the three heads, and a whole contingent of Tenok grouped up around us. The arena itself was on the back side of the bureau.
Most of the group split off from me, and went off to sit in the stands. Said stand were already full of people eager to watch the fight. This was getting way more attention then a fight between a Disruptive and Feeble rank deserved. They weren’t kidding about Tzon inviting a bunch of people to watch. They were just that confident in winning.
Lucia was the only one to follow me down into the arena. It was classic gladiatorial style. Basically just a pit in the ground with seating surrounding the place. The entire thing shimmered faintly with ether, though.
”Hope the walls hold up.” Lucia muttered when we approached the side. Could she not see the enchantments? This place was warded to the heavens. We’d have to worry about the floor collapsing long before the walls might.
“They will.” A man approached from the side. He gave a slight bow, exposing patches of scales around his neck. His eyes were reptilian slits. Must be a Ryken. “They’ve been enchanted to hold up to Acute rank attacks, CEO Orien. Greetings. I’m Impartial Prejudice, the judge for this match.”
Lucia sunk back into that regal leader mode. ”Quite the name… I hope it won’t affect your judgement calls?”
“Not unless they’re some kind of monster.” The man laughed. “Besides, I hope you guys win this. Temoc always pisses me off when he wins.”
“…” Yep, no monsters around here.
[Nighteye shoots up a paw. What even are you?]
Oh, I’m a-
“There they are! You bitches ready to suffer a crushing defeat.” A snide voice called out. A skinny man with flaming red hair approached. He looked like a skeleton with skin barely stretched out over his bones. Two axes hung from his sides,and clattered on his belt.
”Temoc.” The judge immediately lost all cheer. He looked like a guard forced to deal with a prisoner. “You’re still alive.”
”Not gonna get rid of me that quick, ole Prejy.” Temoc smirked. “Still have to judge several dozen of my victories.”
Impartial Prejudice shook his head like it was a massive shame. ”I’ll keep praying for a hit, then. Only a matter of time till someone else gets tired of you.”
”Not gonna happen.” Temoc approached me. His eyes traced me from head to toe. “You must be Moon… I always did like my women tall. How about after I smash your face into the ground, you and me-“
”Aylin.” Lucia called out to me in a smooth voice. There was a slight chill to it that I wasn‘t used to hearing from the young CEO.
“…?” I turned back, completely ignoring the stupid twig.
Lucia waved her hand to the surrounding stands full of chattering spectators. Her expression shifted slightly, though went back to complete, regal neutrality. “They tried to embarrass us… I trust you know what to do?”
”Yep.” Another request to humiliate a Warden. What was up with today? Seriously… Looked like it’d be another decisive defeat. For the flaming skeleton, that is.
“Are we ready?” Impartial Prejudice asked us. I looked back over my shoulder to see Temoc backed off and talking to someone on the far side. “As soon as you’re ready.”
Lucia patted my hand. “Show ‘em hell.”
“…” I stared at the vicious teenager for several lingering moments. Was that… a genuine request?
[Nighteye’s whiskers twitch. It’s like saying good luck.]
Ah, yep… that made more sense. I gave Lucia’s hand a comforting squeeze and backed off, letting her leave the arena. This guy wouldn’t be an issue to defeat. He did have an interesting build though.
Impartial Prejudice motioned me to stand one one side of the arena, and for Temoc to stand on the other. “Now, I want a good, clean fight. You both understand the rules of a Throne officiated duel?”
”Yep.”
”You bet I do, Prejy.” Temoc pulled out his axes and clanged them together. He drew one of them up and licked the edge of the axe head. “I know just how much damage to do to her pretty face.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Prejudice backed away to the side of the room and shot Temoc a disgusted look. Ether surged around him, and he turned ethereal. His voice took on an echoey quality. ”Three. Two. One. Fight!”
I drew out Ebonshroud, allowing the white substance to smoothly flow out of my skin. It converged on my hand, and turned into a simple shortsword. Details filled out across it like the blade was some kind of holy sword.
Temoc flipped his axes, catching them by the handle. “Why don’t you go ahead and surrender? Save us both the trouble, eh?”
I pointed my sword at the skeletal man. I snapped my fingers and pointed down at my feet. “Sit.”
”Oh-ho-ho!” His face flushed red with anger. “Now you’ve done it. Bone Burrow!”
I recognized the Skill from the list sent to me by Lucia and dodged to the side. Ether churned under where I just stood, and bone spikes shot out of the ground in an impaling strike. It was slower than I thought it was. Could probably dodge it by reacting to the ether, let alone him shouting out the name of his Skill like that.
This might actually be a bit difficult. Holding myself back, I meant. If I put too strong of a showing on, it’d alert others that something was wrong. Might even result in Cernobog facing increased pressure. The same issue would crop up if I put on too weak of a showing.
He darted toward me, and swung his axes into a heavy twirl. Ether clad his entire form, leaving trails of deadly sharp ether slashes. Whirlwind, I think it was called. The trails of the ether filled in the gaps that a normal spin attack would leave behind.
Ebonshroud flowed from me, creating a simple kite shield. Ether reinforced it, and I Braced for impact. The spinning attacks hit several times in quick succession, though I blocked most of them with no issue. He didn’t even get through the protective layer off Ether Reinforcement, let alone to the actual Ebonshroud.
Hitting me wasn’t his goal though. He dodged back a moment later and kicked the spikes summoned by Bone Burrow. His frame filled slightly, and muscles grew along his skeletal body. Ossuary, his suspected Trait. He could absorb bones to strengthen himself, or something like that.
Ether pooled underneath me. I flicked forward, charging the man with my shield raised high. I paused just short and put my entire momentum into a horizontal slash aimed at the guy’s chest-
Clang!
His double axes caught the heavy strike, though he still staggered away from the sheer force of my blow. I followed it up with a shield slam to his chest. He staggered back and took a slash to his ribs—
“To me, Warrior!” He shouted at the top of his lungs as he backed away. His order had an ethereal twinge to it, and seemed to slightly echo across the space.
A skeletal form intercepted my next strike aimed at his head. The skeletal warrior slammed forward with a heavy two-handed axe, and forced me back a step. As soon as Temoc had a gap to recover, he absorbed the skeleton and moved away from me to buy himself some time.
He looked even more muscular now. Not quite to an orc’s level, but I had a feeling he’d surpass them if this kept up. I wasn’t sure what the limit was on Ossuary, but it was a damn strong Trait. It’d probably be even stronger if the man had actual muscle mass to begin with. It was basic math, really. 5+1 was greater that 0+1.
Ether surged underneath me once more. This time, instead of waiting for me to move, he threw two more attacks in quick succession. “Mictal Fog!”
A heavy, thick fog spilled out from his body and filled the arena. It was sticky thing that pulled at my body and slowed me down a step. My blood pumped slower, and I could feel tiny needles prick into my skin all over. According to the documents I read, it was an AOE type debuff and one of his signature Skills.
Whirlwind came again, and was slightly more of a threat thanks to the slowing effect of Mictal Fog. Just before impact, his chrome arms extended unnaturally in an attempt to throw off my tempo. “Bone Barrage!”
Bones simultaneously formed all around him and shot out at me. A thin layer of Ether Reinforced Ebonshroud underneath my white jacket blocked all of the sharp bones, causing them to shatter upon impact. They fell uselessly to my sides with absolutely no effect. I likewise met the off strike of his chrome arms with my shield.
My shortsword flicked forward into a slight gap between the trails of sharp ether flowing off of him and caught him in the side. It was the exact same spot that the last strike hit. Blood flowed freely from his now muscular form, though was stopped by a layer of armor stuffed under his skin. Subdermal armor, or something like that. I never was good with chrome names.
He stepped back and dropped a hand to his side. “Ha- hahahahaha! How dare you injure me?! Very well- you want to play hard? I’ll play hard!”
“…” I wasn’t even trying yet though? I wanted to see the rest of his skills before I brought this to an end.
The man stretched out, chrome arms extending much further then they should’ve once more. ”And after I lop off one of your limbs, I’ll have Tzon do the same thing to that little rat of a CEO. I’d love to see her face twisted in-“
An ivory spear clad in fire flashed forward, slamming into the man. He barely managed to block it with his twin axes, though the frown on his face showed just how much force had been put into it.
I took a deep breath. It didn’t help the rage slowly building up inside of me. He could talk bad about me all he wanted, but about Lucia? Some dogs were better put down. I formed another spear of Ebonshroud. I was starting to get bored of fighting this guy anyway.
”Ah-ha! There it is. That beautiful face twisted in disgust!” Temoc casually kicked my spear aside and touched a mound of bones, strengthening himself even further. “Was it my comment about your boss? Oh I can’t wait till we rip her apart piece by piece. Why so angry about someone who only got her position by spreading her-“
A Flame Spear flashed forward once more, interrupting him. He swatted it to the side, causing one of his axe heads to crack under the Ether Reinforced strike. A heavy two handed sword formed in my hands before the spear could even impact, and I lunged forward.
Pling!
Without hesitation, I plucked an Ether String and brought the great sword into a heavy overhead slash. Frost Fang, a first string magic, coated my blade in a layer of magical ice. He had no choice but to block it or suffer a debilitating blow.
“To me, Warrior!” A skeleton popped out of nowhere to assist the block. It lifted its two-headed axe, standing in front of its summoner.
My sword cleaved straight through the bone warrior, destroying the summon before it could have much of an effect. It continued down, freezing and completely shattering the cracked axe. Jets of flame burst from his chrome legs, allowing him to barely dodge out of the way.
”Bloody hell!” He shouted, holding at his wrist. The metal was pointed in the wrong direction, though he still held onto the haft of his broken axe.
On the ground, my sword transformed into a deadly scythe with the sharp point pointed up to him. Ether Physique channeled through me, strengthening my body. I slammed the head of the scythe with my foot and sent it catapulting toward him.
“Argh!” Its head arced up toward his chest with far more force than it had a right to. He was lucky he had subdermal armor. Otherwise, it would’ve shot straight through his chest. As it were, my enhanced strike still had enough force to spike him up into the air. Course, part of that was thanks to me flattening out the head just before impact so it wouldn’t instantly kill him.
A vicious grin spread across my face, and a nearly irresistible urge to laugh welled up inside me. I’d have to leave him alive, but they never put a limit on how much I could injure him. I’d show them all just what happened when they went too far and dared to threaten Lucia in front of me.
