Nadran took a deep breath to steady himself as he watched the woman in front of him brandishing a giant greatsword as though it were made of paper. [Yeah, I think that kind of weapon suits her fighting style a bit better,] he thought dryly as he watched her closely, waiting for her to make a move.
Rethara suddenly leaped into the air as she raised her sword above her head, swinging it down as she descended. Nadran quickly slid out of the way as her sword came crashing down on the spot where he had been standing, and with a loud crash, the ground caved in, forming a small pile of rubble where she struck.
Nadran's eyes widened at this absurd scene. [I feel like this is slightly more dangerous than what I signed up for,] he thought sarcastically, shielding his face from flying pieces of rock and continuing to watch her carefully. However, even though he felt like he should be terrified at this new turn of events, he somehow only felt a gradually building excitement. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins at an elevated rate, supplying his body with the necessary nutrients to maintain a high level of concentration and exertion. Rather than backing down, he ran forward, continuing the fight.
Seeing Nadran approach once more, Rethara smiled in approval, then swung her sword toward him. In response, Nadran read the path of the attack, moving just enough to avoid the attack. He swiped his claws toward her, but she leaped several feet into the air before coming down with a falling kick.
Nadran blocked the kick with his claws raised above his head, bending his knees to absorb the force of the impact. Then, he pushed back, launching her back into the air. As she landed, Nadran launched another attack, forcing her to block before she had the ground to stabilize herself. As a result, she was pushed backward.
"What… is going on?" one of the spectators asked in confusion. "Is this really a fight between a low and mid-slate cultivator? Sure, they're mostly just using melee combat techniques rather than sigils, but almost nobody can move that fast or with that much force without some type of amplification sigil, which I'm not seeing any of. I can see how Rethara was able to crush opponents at a higher sigil realm than her."
"What about that other guy, though?" his friend asked. "Rethara is throwing out attacks that are literally damaging the arena, but he is able to go toe-to-toe with her. He's still at a disadvantage, but I've never even seen this guy before. Is he some martial arts master or something?"
Unaware of the comments of the spectators, Nadran was also trying to figure out what was happening. As he fought, he was feeling an unfamiliar excitement boiling within him, and his body seemed to move without him even giving it commands. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder what was causing this to occur.
[My mind can't even keep up with what's happening. Rethara has sped up her attacks and they've gotten even stronger with the help of that broadsword, but I'm also fighting better than before. By the time I've processed that an attack is coming and thought of a response, my body has already moved, often in a completely different direction than my thought.]
This movement caused some problems as well, however. When he thought to go right, but actually went left, it left him off balance as he tried to complete contradictory actions. This led to small moments of vulnerability between movements that Rethara capitalized on, continuously pushing him back.
Despite all this, the fight dragged on for several minutes without pause. Nadran's breathing was getting ragged as the extreme exertion took a toll on his stamina. Opposite him, Rethara looked ecstatic, fighting with a wide smile on her face, looking almost nothing like the earlier bored-looking Rethara he had first met. She appeared to be having the time of her life, and kept pushing the tempo of the fight higher and higher.
After a period of time had passed, Rethara jumped back, then flicked her fingers through the air, tracing an intricate sigil in the air. Almost instantly, the sigil finished, imbuing her sword with a black energy.
[What was that? I've never even seen a sigil that complex before, and she finished it in an instant. Wait, never mind that, how was she even able to cast such a clearly high-level sigil with the energy pool of a mid-slate cultivator? That doesn't seem possible. …Who is she?]
"Get ready, here I come!" Rethara shouted excitedly as she charged forward. Once again, she began with an overhead swing, but this time seemed different, and Nadran flung himself out of the way before he had even processed it, the hairs on his body standing on end.
Nadran landed on the ground, rolling to break his fall, when he heard a sound like a crack of thunder roar out behind him. He slowly turned his head to look behind him, and when he did, his mouth fell open in shock.
A massive crater had appeared in the arena platform. It looked as though a meteor had struck the stage, and there was stone debris raining down from dozens of feet in the air. Rethara stood in the middle of the crater with a cheeky grin, looking over in his direction. "That was a nice dodge there."
Nadran sputtered, trying to put his panic-stricken thoughts into words. "We-were you trying to kill me there?" he asked.
"Nah, I was pretty sure you'd survive," Rethara responded nonchalantly. "After all…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind. Well, let's wrap this up with one last strike."
"…How about we don't, and say we did?" Nadran suggested nervously. [This person is an absolute battle maniac. Am I going to survive this?] He looked over at the referee who was watching from a distance, but got a face in return that seemed to say, 'This is way above my pay grade.'
Rethara suddenly flicked her greatsword in Nadran's direction, and a piece of the glowing black light that surrounded her sword flew off, striking Nadran. There was no sensation of impact when it struck him, but his body suddenly felt as though it weighed thousands of pounds, and Nadran fell to his hands and knees. It almost felt like a giant hand was crushing him into the ground.
Rethara smiled, then leaped into the air. Her sword swirled with black energy, though it was a lesser amount than the last strike, since almost half of the energy had already been tossed at Nadran.
Nadran gritted his teeth as he stared up at Rethara's airborne form. He was physically incapable of moving out of the way in time, and it seemed like this last strike could only result in his death. Despite this, he still felt an inexplicable excitement pouring out from deep inside him. It was as though this moment, at the line between life and death, was when he felt the most alive.
The fear that should have paralyzed him was pushed out of the way, allowing his mind to think freely. Time seemed to slow down as Nadran tried to figure out a way to escape this predicament. Thoughts passed rapidly through his head as Rethara's figure slowly descended.
[With the amount of force behind that strike, a normal barrier would shatter like glass. I need a different way to stop the strike from hitting me. What about… redirecting it? For that, I could use some type of 'push' type sigil. But all the sigils I know of that type would take too long to form, I wouldn't be able to finish it before I turn into meat paste. Let's see, what could I do? Wait, what about the 'core' of the push sigils? What pattern is shared between all the 'push' type sigils that I know? Maybe I could cast that part in time.]
Dozens of sigils flashed through his mind as he compared them to each other, quickly finding a pattern. He immediately began tracing a shape as rapidly as he could, purple lines of light appearing in the air. The shape was simple enough that he didn't need to pause to remember the next part of the sigil, allowing him to finish it in one go. He poured all of his remaining internal energy into the 'push' sigil as Rethara swung her sword down toward his head. He then directed the energy into the approaching sword, which was now close enough to target with the sigil.
At the last split second, the sword was pushed toward the left, slightly altering its path and causing it to strike the ground less than an inch away from his kneeling form. The shockwave from the strike launched him into the air, causing him to roll for several feet before coming to a stop lying on his side. He winced in pain, but was too exhausted to do much more.
"Wow, very impressive," Rethara commented, spinning her sword around before tapping it against her ring, causing it to disappear in a flash of light. She casually walked over toward Nadran, talking as she went. "Thanks for giving me such a fun fight. I haven't had a fight that exciting in… ever? Six days? Well, something like that."
[Do you even understand the difference in time scale between forever and six days?] Nadran complained mentally as Rethara stopped in front of him.
"Sorry, I went a bit overboard, didn't I? Here, take this," Rethara said, her tone already becoming more calm and measured than before. She kneeled down, handing Nadran a healing pill.
[You call that a BIT?] Nadran thought with a groan, but managed to accept the pill. He could immediately feel the effects of the pill alleviating his pain; it appeared that this pill was of a very high quality.
"I really need to work on my… overexcitement during battle," Rethara calmly stated. "I did not originally intend to continue to this extent. Do you want me to help you back to your room so you can rest?"
Nadran hesitated for a second, then nodded his head. While he was bitter about her almost killing him, she seemed apologetic now, and he really didn't want to rest on this broken stone stage. [What is up with her, though? It feels like now that the battle is over, she's a totally different person. She is so calm and collected now, while she seemed like an excited child during the fight. Strange…]
"So, where is your room?" Rethara asked as she picked him up off the ground.
"…A-314," Nadran managed to reply weakly.
Rethara paused upon hearing the 'A' prefix in the room number. "You're an alchemist?" she asked, surprise creeping into her voice.
Nadran nodded in affirmation, causing Rethara to stop and contemplate for a few seconds before a faint smile emerged on her face. "Alright then," she replied, walking toward the alchemy dorms while carrying Nadran on her back.