Eo balled a fist and stuffed it into the thug's gut. Everything Eo did now was slightly enhanced with essence, so the guy flew back several meters and slammed into several of his friends.
Eo didn't want to waste any time on these clowns. He summoned daggers and flicked them in either direction, taking out two of them. Then, he stretched out his hands and chains flew out, completely ensnaring several more.
There was only one left, and he was the boss. Eo lunged towards him, dagger in hand. The boss barely managed to pull out a crowbar and block it.
Eo whispered to the boss.
"How many wins do you need to get out of here?"
The boss looked surprised. "F-fifty," he managed to croak out.
Eo stopped pressing his weapon against him and leaned back.
"Thanks."
Eo walked away.
"H-hey, you think you can just attack us like that?" The boss untangled his cronies and tried to look intimidating.
Eo summoned a sheet of metal and launched it towards them with his enhanced strength. They all crumpled.
☆
For the next month or so Eo just grinded his way up at the arena, still refusing to use his tangiform on the field. He still practiced it in secrecy, though.
As Eo fought more and more, the opponents seemed to get more ruthless. Getting "defeated" by them was harder, as they would try to finish him off. Eo decided to just win all of his fights. He still refused to use tangiform, though. That would be his ultimate trump card.
The announcers and some other spectators noticed his long string of victories and were surprised. Wanting to see him lose once more, they decided to ramp up the frequency of fights and difficulty of opponents.
☆
This was Eo's fifty-second fight, and he had forty-nine wins on his record. He had undoubtedly one of the highest win/loss ratios for his group.
"Everyone, we have a famous rematch! Standing before us is Nestaris, lone survivor of the Shadow Star Clan. On the other side is Eo, someone who used to be special for being new but now that's not the case anymore!"
Eo's eye twitched. What were with these announcers and their painfully accurate remarks?
Nestaris raised his smokey-grey sword and leveled it at Eo.
"We meet again… roommate."
Eo barely contained his laughter. Nestaris looked at Eo weirdly and continued.
"I am Nestaris Lumen the Fifth, heir of the-"
Eo rolled his eyes.
"Dude, stop. You say this every morning when you wake up. It's creepy already, okay?"
The spectators looked around uncomfortably. Nestaris just pulled out his sword.
"Eo, I have learned some advanced techniques. I'm not going easy on you this time."
"Cool, me too."
Eo added a chain onto the dagger and spun it. He was a lot more used to fighting with this kind of weapon now.
Eo slowly edged towards Nestaris. His plan was exactly the same as it was the first time they fought. This time, though, he was more physically competent.
Eo was going to tangle the sword on his chain and disarm Nestaris. Nestaris seemed to remember the last time they fought, so he edged away.
Eo finally let his dagger fly towards Nestaris. More chains got synthesized as the distance between the dagger and Eo's hand increased. Nestaris ducked, and the chain embedded itself on the ground behind him.
Eo wasn't done though. Out from the sides of the chain, more daggerchains erupted. Nestaris either dodged or blocked them. Nestaris then pointed his sword at the ground and carved out a rune.
"Night."
The arena lights seemed to dim—no, they were getting sucked dry. The arena itself became extremely dark. Bands of grey essence were attached between the lights and the rune.
"Shadow Form."
A weird darkness enveloped Nestaris, until he was pitch black. Eo squinted. It was extremely hard to see him in this darkness. That was definitely his plan.
Eo focused on the faint glint of the sword to see where Nestaris was going. There was a flash, and Eo barely managed to avoid an impaling.
Eo didn't entrust his very normal senses in this life-or-death situation, so he summoned a cage of metal spikes all around him. Nestaris wouldn't be able to fit through, and Eo would be able to look out of it.
"Nice try, but I'm already behind you."
Eo jumped out of the way as a sword sliced the air where he was standing a moment ago.
Not only had Nestaris managed to completely bypass the cage, but he had succeeded in making Eo trap himself in.
Eo barely managed to synthesize shields as Nestaris' blade clanged against them. Nestaris whispered "Shadow Blink", and he appeared right behind Eo, in his shadow.
Eo crossed his arms together and a bubble of metal completely encased Eo. It was too small for Nestaris to fit in, so Eo hoped that would prevent him from teleporting in.
Nestaris laughed confidently. "You really think that's enough to stop me?"