"Hei! Outsider! I challenge you to a duel!"
Nameless turned around and saw a small group of kids. They had around the same age as him. The one who talked, probably the leader, was a bit taller and probably was also older than the other kids who surrounded him.
"And if you lose it you will scram from our village!"
Nameless stood there without speaking and only looked at the boys. At the end he smiled. – "Ok let's fight!"
The boy grinned. – "At least you are not a coward!" – And with these words he directly went towards the arena. Nameless followed him and his group. The two fighters from before already finished and were talking next to the arena, but they stopped once they saw Nameless. Immediately the air of hostility appeared around one of them.
Meanwhile the boy reached a stand full of different weapons and confidently took an ice spear, a bit smaller compared to the one Gherda used. Then he glanced at Nameless. – "Are you using the dagger." – There was some poorly concealed disdain in his voice.
But in that moment Nameless had a strange sensation. 'Spear…well I don't know how to use it but…If I were to crush him with the same weapon…' He perfectly knew that loosing here would have some bad consequences, but he also had a strong urge to pick the spear.
"I will also use the spear." – And he took another one, identical to the one the boy picked up.
"I hate to admit it, but I start to not hate you that much, outsider!"
And with these words he went un on the ring.
Nameless followed. The other boys and even some adults were looking from the side. – "The outsider is going to lose! Luxar is unbeatable for his age."
'So, his name is Luxar…' Thought Nameless hearing the whisperings of the audience. Once they were one opposite of another Luxar let out a battle cry and dashed towards Nameless.
*Clang* Nameless managed to parry the incoming stab. – "Hahahahaha, I see! It's your first time using the spear?"
The boy was bombarding Nameless with an incessant flow of swings, stabs and sometimes even kicks. Later was still able to escape and dodge.
'If it wasn't for my little training with James I would've already lost.'
"Stop escaping, lowlife! Fight me like a man."
Nameless could only grit his teeth and ignore the provocation. He had no opportunities to attack and was focused on his own survival.
Suddenly the boy stopped his assault. – "Ah, I forgot to tell you one thing. If you go out of the arena, it's considered your loss." – He started grinning.
"And what does it have to do with…" – Nameless subconsciously looked around. 'Damn!'
He was in the exact corner of the square ring. If he dodged left, right or simply stepped back he would be out. His could only face the boy directly. Luxar was observing his struggling. – "You can admit your loss. It will spare you some pain. Hahahahahaha!"
'Admit…my loss…."
Suddenly something snapped inside Nameless. He suddenly remembered the words written on the entrance of the Shurika's palace: "Through ethereal glory to eternal sublimity." There was no reason for that but still he only one thing.
The unwillingness.
The possibility to lose to this boy in front of him was strangely irritating. Some scenes from the white space when he fought in a war, reappeared in his mind. His posture slightly changed. Everything about him became sharper.
Meanwhile some seconds passed in silence and Luxar grew irritated. – "If you don't accept your loss, I will just beat you until you do!"
He jumped towards his opponent. The spear was rose above his head ready to destroy Nameless.
*BAM*
A muffled sound of some flesh being fiercely hit could be heard in the next moment. Everyone who was ready to cheer because of the Luxar's victory was taken aback. The boy's body was sent flying and landed in the middle of the arena.
Nameless stood with his spear still slightly extended. He was frowning. 'What's happened…my body acted on instinct…'
Luxar stood up. His complexion was pale. – "You…You are lucky, outsider!"
"Don't whine, kid. Fight like man!" – Nameless happily returned the provocation from before.
"You!!!"
Luxar gritted his teeth and dashed forward while trying to stab the opponent's stomach. He was ready for the dodge of the outsider immediately his pupils constricted.
Nameless only pushed the spear with his left hand. It was an extremely small deviation but Luxar already knew that he would miss the target. Nameless now only had to place his spear in front of him, waiting for the boy to be stabbed by his own momentum.
Luxar gritted his teeth and stepped heavily on the ground, managing to change his direction and avoid the spearhead but the price for this was the acute sensation of pain from his ankle. Nameless only observed his opponent.
"You can already accept your loss, ice-born." – Luxar coughed some blood. – "Shut up, outsider." – He stood up another time. The pain only intensified.
Some adults who were observing the fight frowned. – "Now I will use my most powerful move, outsider!"
He took the spear with both of his hands and placed his forehead on it. It seamed that he was praying.
"You should be honored to lose to the power of the Frost God!" – He closed his eyes. Immediately a strange energy started gathering towards him. The temperature went significantly down.
The kids from his small gang were cheering, but adults only shook their heads. Some of them directly went away no more interested in the fight.
The energy gathered was getting more and more intimidating. To Luxar seemed that he was the ruler of everything with this growing power. He smiled. 'Hahahahaha, let me see how, will you evade my Frost God Avatar?! It's your doom, outsider.' He was already thinking about the insults and mocking towards this cocky outsider boy.
But suddenly everything shattered.
"Idiot" – A cold voice of Nameless brought him back from this fantasy. This voice was accompanied by a sensation of cold spearhead touching his throat.
"Closing your eyes to perform some flashy and grand move…Are you and idiot? Tell me at least one reason why your opponent should wait for you to finish this performance?!"
Luxar opened his eyes only to see the spear shaft rapidly approaching his face. After that followed pain and darkness.
[…]
The kids from Luxar's group went quiet. Suddenly someone pointed towards Nameless. – "You cheated! There is no way you could have won against him." – Other kids also started nodding furiously.
Before Nameless could retort another voice sounded on the square. – "Shut up, lads. There is no honor when one is dead. And there was no reason for him to wait before Luxar finished his useless move. He lost, and that's all."
It was Gherda. Evidently, she observed the whole fight. The kids could only shut up and go away bringing unconscious Luxar with them. Nameless went down from the ring and put back the spear with the other weapons.
Gherda was observing him.
"You're better than I thought, boy. At least with a spear you're great."
"It was only luck."
The woman was surprised to notice that the boy in front of her really meant what he just said. 'Was it really luck? From some point of the fight he became infinitely more skilled with his weapon, and I thought that he was concealing his abilities…but maybe I was wrong.'
"In our tribe people hate the outsiders but still respect the strong, so they will probably become less hostile towards you from now on." - Saying this she left.
Nameless remained alone. He was still thinking about what happened before. After recalling how he fought in the strange dream he had, he was able to fight and easily win against the boy. 'At least that strange experience wasn't so useless.'
"Heeeeeeeei boy! If you have some wounds, come to my small shop!"
A lousy old man was rapidly approaching him.
He had dirty clothes and some unknown to Nameless smell: a mix of some medicines, fried chicken and something else.
"I don't have money." – But the old man absolutely didn't care about the answer. His goatee, with some green bits which seamed pieces of salad, was distractingly trembling while he was speaking. – "Stop arguing! I clearly see that you're wounded! Come with me."
He captured the boy's hand and pulled him fiercely. 'Damn, what's wrong with this old man?!'
Nameless tried to free himself but the old man surprisingly had an iron-like grip. No mater what the Boy did he couldn't escape.
After a few minutes they arrived on the outskirts of the village. In front of them there was an extremely ugly and old building.
"That's my shop!" – Proudly announced the old man. – "Come in, I will test some of my medicines on you!"
Nameless was suddenly taken aback. – "What?!"
"I'm going to treat your sever wounds, lad. Save the gratitude for later!"
Slight despair appeared on the boy's face.