The announcer shouted "We now continue, to the 7th round of battles! This will be the final round today! Will our warriors survive, and fight tomorrow, or will both of them fall! We will find out soon!". The crowd cheered as usual, and the announcer continued "The next battle, will be between the Dark Traveller and Lares! Raise your voice, as both of them go to the platform!".
I stood up, and looked at Roland. He shook his head, and said "I have no idea ...who that guy is. I'd say ...watch out". I nodded my head, and walked over to the platform. My opponent, to my surprise, was the leader guy of Fox's group. 'I guess, it was inevitable for us to fight. He is going to be a hard opponent, I might have to reveal my freezing powers here' I thought. This guy was no pushover. Even if I used my Art of Hidden Weapons and other skills, I wasn't sure if I could win. Lares walked slowly towards me, and said "I'm grateful, that you gave that medicine to Fox and Alrika, but you also treated Alrika like a piece of discarded rubbish. For that, I will pay you back". He rushed at me, with speed that easily surpassed mine. I utilized my Natural Path skill, and took out my sword as well.
'I need to find out first, what he is capable of' I thought, and focused on my battle. He released his Aura, and became even more intimidating. I did the same, but condensed it to the radius of 5 metres. When we finally clashed, I could feel that his strength, was greater than mine. 'He is stronger, no doubt. With those restrictions I placed on myself, I can't possibly win. I need to use those Formations, and they need to work!' I thought, and started from the Camouflage Formation. Before I could even focus on that, I had to defend from his attacks.
My hand was already numb, from blocking his powerful blows, and my sword was also in a bad shape. As he slashed with his sword at me, he said "You are not a sword wielder. Why are you using a sword? Do you think, I will not be your opponent, when you use your real weapon?". I wanted to cry at that point. 'Who the hell told you that? If I could use my daggers, I would do so a long time ago!' I thought, and defended. In the meantime, I tried activating the Formation, but to no avail. 'That bastard! At least make it so that it activates! Most of the time, it doesn't even want to work!' I cursed the guy, who gave me that set of clothes.
When it finally worked, the camouflage didn't last long, and changed to some weird colours. I quickly stopped the Formation, but it was still a weird sight. Even Lares was surprised by that colour change, but didn't take it to heart, and continued slashing with his large sword. I tried and tried, and finally! It worked. But because of my bad luck, Lares didn't seem surprised. He even said "I already saw this, this will not work".
I didn't try to go behind him, but approached from the front. I swung my sword as hard as I could, and "CLING!". He blocked it. 'So this ain't going to work' I thought, and my Formation stopped working. I jumped back, and distanced myself from him. Lares had different plans though. He chased after me, and released a powerful sword skill. He swung the sword so hard, that a crescent shaped energy formed, and flew towards me. 'Shit!' I thought, and didn't have enough time to block it.
I shielded myself with my sword, and pushed myself backwards. "Booom!" the skill was so powerful, that it pushed me even further and cut my sword in half. The attack didn't stop, and hit me in my chest. I tried to activate the Regenerative Formation, but due to my bad luck, it didn't work. It still took away my energy nevertheless. The skill ripped through my coat, and left a shallow wound. I fell onto my back, and grunted "Ugh". '… This was dangerous. Fortunately, his skill only managed to inflect a minor wound on me' I thought, and picked myself up.
I saw him using the same skill again. This time, I was more prepared, and managed to dodge it, by a hair's breadth. 'I have to use my ice power, otherwise I'm a goner' I thought, and ran towards him. He welcomed that, and ran at me as well. I looked at my right arm, and said quietly "Frosty, if you are awake. Lend me your strength". With only couple of metres away, I punched out, while he swung his sword.
"BOOOM!".
I flew back from the impact, and a huge wound appeared on my chest. "ARGH!" I screamed in pain. I had a hard time, trying to pick myself up. I managed to stand up, after a while. 'I didn't miss, at least that is certain' I thought, and looked at Lares. What I saw, was a half frozen man, standing opposite of me. His chest, legs and arms were frozen, but his face was still alright. I also felt his Wild Aura surrounding him, but he couldn't make any moves.
He said with difficulty "You've won. Now, help me out here…. I'm freezing to death". I was stunned myself. 'It must be because of Frosty. With the increased power, this guy can barely keep himself alive' I thought, and took out some medicine, then smeared it onto my wound. I had no real way of helping him, besides making some fire. I took out a few torches, and lit them up. I then held them next to him, and the ice started to melt. I was not after killing that guy, this was simply a tournament. I also had no past grudges with him, and he did help me out once, so I could do at least that much.
The ice finally melted after a while, and Lares simply fell onto the platform tiles exhausted. Before he fainted, he said "You are a monster". I didn't take it to heart, and simply left the platform. When I returned to our waiting area, I noticed that Roland was confused, and a bit of fear was hidden in his eyes. He asked "Are you really human?". I replied "Of course I'm human. I just didn't want to use this thing too soon". He just stared at me, and said "Right".
Lares teammates soon took care of him, while the announcer shouted "The Dark Traveller comes back with a powerful move, that froze his opponent! What else, does that mysterious figure hide?!". The crowd cheered, and demanded more. The announcer screamed "You want more?! Then you will get more! It's time, for the final battle of the day! Roland will face Gornak!". The crowd burst into fit of cheering. 'My guess is, the reason is not Roland' I thought.
Indeed, Roland's face was grim. He said "I can't win this one. This guy won the Championships of the Arena... three times. What we are doing right now, is not the only type of battles, this Arena hosts. Championships, are the real battles". 'This is bad then, because if Roland can't win, I will have to face him as well. Not only him, I will have to face two more powerful opponents' I thought, and raced my mind, to come up with something.
But nothing came to my head. 'The only way out, would be to use Yellow Dust. I will not risk a pursuit, for some kind of contribution. If I lose, then I lose' I thought, and said to Roland "Give it your best. I will heal you up, when you are done". He nodded his head, and said "I will need it", then left towards the platform.