It was a day after I fainted from that lizard incident. I am glad that no one becomes food for man-eaters or dies. My injuries are still recovering from that fight. Most of my body just got bandaged. It was pretty hard to move with this bandage.
"Hulaif, are you ready to return to the barracks?" I nodded and looked at what she held in her left hand.
"What is that?"
"Oh, this is some gun powder in a pouch I got from the leader."
"Why would he give you gun powder."
"They said that it was a thank you for helping them. Actually, this is our reward. I would prefer to give this to you since you are the one who has fought to the death. I think you deserve it." She gave me the pouch with the gun powder.
"Hahaha... I just do what I can help."
"Why didn't you just escape from here? You can die from it."
"I know what you think. But, believe me, I have experienced this before. So, I want to end it before they really start to kill."
"Now I can believe that you are the one who killed that man eater. I think I shall ask Pharaoh to nominate you for a title. How about 'man-eater slayer'?"
"I think I will refuse to take that title. I don't want to expose myself to everyone there. I just want to be a free person. Doing what I want to do."
"Wah, such a humble person. You know that you can get a better reward if you get some title."
"Okay. Let us discuss this more."
"Hahaha... You really want a reward."
"I don't have any money here. To buy food, weapons, and armor, you need to have money."
"Oh, I see."
"Then, why not make some?"
"Wait, do you want me to sell what?" she pointed out to me in the corner of this room. As I looked at that corner, I was quite shocked. It was the corpse of that lizard man-eater.
"You can sell that monster to a blacksmith and butcher."
"Oh, that's why you still keep those large squid parts with you. Do you want to sell it?" She shook her head.
"Actually, this proves that I got revenge on my master's death." She looked around and said to me one more time. "Please get ready to leave. We have to return by this evening."
"Okay. I am going to pack my things."
"If you want anything from me, you could ask me. I am at outside." As soon as she got out, Mia started to ask me.
"Hulaif, did you know that he was quite annoying to me." Mia suddenly speaks to me.
"Who?"
"That lizard."
"Hey, buddy. Nice to meet you. Whoa, I really don't know this. But your sorcery is quite amusing. How could you make me live here?"
"For that answer, you could ask Mia. Wait, do you have a name?"
"No, Buddy. But, I am called by many people, many faces."
"Hmm... Do you prefer a male or female name?"
"I prefer both since I can transform into both."
"Ah, you make this complicated. What is your gender?"
"Of course I am male."
"Then it is decided. Your name is Lizark."
"Lizark. Liz and Zark. Wow, you are pretty amazing buddy at giving names."
"Ah, it is nothing." Before that, I put the gun powder in the phone storage. It appears that the quantity of gun powder has been increased to infinity. Is this some kind of trick or what? Then, I packed my things before going outside. Also, I put Lizark's corpse into storage too. "Sorry Lizark, I have to sell your body parts."
"Why did you apologize? You have won the fight with me fair and square as a human. You deserve it."
"Thanks." Now, the items are packed and I have to find Laura.
I went outside and looked for Laura. I found that no one was around me. Where did they go? I searched everyone everywhere. Where did they go? Suddenly, someone tapped on my shoulder. "Hulaif, where did you go? The leader is calling for you." Laura came to me.
"Where is everyone?"
"Oh, you will know it soon. Please follow me." I followed Laura and entered one building. It is a food hall. I was quite shocked when I entered that building and saw all the people there. It looks like they are celebrating something here.
"Hey Laura! What are they celebrating about and why did they stare at me?"
"Hurry and sit here." She brought me to one place to sit. "The village head is going to say something."
"A few days have passed since the man-eater attacked our village. The hero rises and kills the man-eater. He is the one who protects us from the wrath of the man-eater..."
"Hey, Laura! What is this?"
"Just listen."
"Although he just came here for a few days, he has contributed something bigger to us, the villagers here. However, I am going to call on our saviour to come and receive the reward. Please come, Hulaif. Our saviour, the one who killed the man-eater." Actually, I don't want to get the reward, but since Laura pushed me to the front, I have to go and get it.
After receiving the reward, we continued the celebration by eating traditional food. The traditional food here mostly uses wheat as the main ingredient in its recipes. They really like wheat so much. There were some performances they showed us as it was our last day here. They will give their best to present their culture to us. While everyone was watching the shows, I was eating. Laura came to me and said. "Hey, we're going to move for a long journey. Are you sure that you're going to stuff your stomach until it bursts?"
"Why, I do not always get to eat like this when in the barracks."
"I am just worried that we should walk if there is no transportation here."
"Wait, now you mention it. Why not tell me?"
"I just worry. It is not sure whether they have transportation or not."
"Ah, you just need to have confidence. I am sure that they have it."
"Well, if you said so."
After the celebration ended at around 2:00 pm, we met the village head and asked for transport. "You want to know whether we have transport to send you to the city or not?"
"Yes, do you have it?"
"I am very sorry about this. We lost our transportation because of the man-eater attack. Those monsters have eaten our camels, horses, and donkeys. Then, I was afraid that I was going to say, we don't have anything right now and we are very sorry."
"It seems we have to walk to the city right now."
"Yeah, we need to hurry. I am going to bet for your win."
"Wait, now I remember. My promise that I said to him to give me a week to train. How many days are left for the fight?"
"Now you ask me. If I'm not mistaken, it is zero. Tomorrow is your fight."
"Hah! Are you kidding me?"
"You sure sleep a lot. That is why you waste your time in your seven-day training."
"I am not going to waste my time if I am not fighting with the monster?"
"You better have said that earlier. Now don't waste my time; let's go back to the city." Then, Laura said to me to run and follow her from the back. Ran In this dessert, it was quite crazy to do. I am going to die from the heat.
"Huh...huh... How long are we going to take to reach the city?"
"Around three to four hours if we run without stopping."
"How about if we walk?"
"You will reach there around tomorrow night."
"Wait, that is late."
"Then, break your leg and run without worrying about your body." We continued our journey to get back to the city. I did what she said, and I could feel that my leg was going to rip off. "Hurry, Hulaif, It is dark right now. Just a little bit to arrive."
"Wait, don't you say to me that if I run, it will take around three to four hours?"
"Yeah, but you run pretty slow. Also, I have to catch up with you so that you do get less air resistance during running."
"Do you help me?"
"It was not helping. If I not in front of you, you might pass out again."
"Hahaha... thanks. Could we rest a bit? I want to drink." As I wanted to sit, she pulled my hand to stay standing. "What happened?"
"You should not sit if you want to continue running. You could not stand up if you sat."
"Okay. I understand." After taking a few drinks and stretching my legs, we continued again.
"Hulaif, do you see the city?"
"Wait, where?"
"There."
"Oh, there. Ugh... I can't move my leg anymore."
"Wait, don't sit."
"Sorry Laura, I cannot help." I fell down and could not feel my leg right now.
"I don't want to do this, but you have forced me to do this. Please wait." She went to the high ground and put something there. Then, she ran towards me.
"What is that?"
"Signal of emergency." I can see smoke just appearing in the sky. It seems to me that is the smoke signal.
"Now, what should we do?"
"Just wait and see. I am also kind of tired when carrying someone like this." She also sits near me. "Well, you can sleep now. Tomorrow is your day to pay my tiredness."
"I can't let you wake up alone here."
"Oh, just sleep." She used force to make me sleep.
I passed out after she smacked me down. I am too tired to get up and can't move my body anymore. I have to rest and let Laura handle this. I hope that my fight tomorrow is smooth and not embarrassing for me. I don't know what to do if I lose. I can't use my friend's help, all by myself. Well, just wait and see what tomorrow brings. I should not worry too much. I have trained enough. I hope what I learned does not go to waste. I closed my eyes.
Now I can hear a crowd making noise. What happens now? I opened my eyes and looked around. I am sitting on a stool and can see many people around here, in the wide field. Also, Laura is on my back trying to wake me up. "Okay. Now you are waking up. Okay, he is ready." Laura shouts to a man in front of me.
"Wait, don't tell me that I have to fight now?" She nodded.
"Yes, it's pretty hard to wake you up when you pass out. I think I might make it less hurtful. Okay, now go."
"Hello, I am a referee here." There is one man acting as a referee and a host. He looks like one of the villagers here. "From the blue corner, we have a man that won in a colosseum for his first debut, Hulaif. Next, on the red corner, we have a man, a leader and a saviour, who has been a great help to the villagers here. His name is Ahlan." I could hear many people cheering for him. "Today's fight begins with three rounds. In the first round, the fighter can only use their bare arms and legs for a fight. It costs one point. The second round begins with using a weapon. It costs one point. Finally, for a third round, you can use magic or anything you want. It costs three points." He looked at both of us. "Are you two ready?" We both nodded. "Then, without waiting too long, let's start the match."
After he said that, the fight started. Ahlan came at me fast and tried to hit me. I dodged getting hit. "Long time no see, Hulaif; I hope you have the luck to beat me."
"If I have it, I am scared it will let you down against me." I have to find his weakness. For now, I just evade every attack he tried to land on me.
"What? Are you scared to land a punch on me."
"I'm not."
"Then why do you not attack me? Don't say to me you are weak." It looks like he was trying to provoke me.
"Yeah, I am pretty weak, but I know you are weaker than me." It looks like that makes his blood pump faster.
"How dare you." He ran towards me and tried to hit me. I grabbed his right hand, swiped his right leg, and pushed him through his ribs as soon as he punched me and his right leg behind. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Then, I moved my hand quickly to a few inches around his neck.
"Tch, I lost."
"It looks like we have a winner here. The winner of the first round is Hulaif. Congrats. The second match will start in half an hour." I went to see Laura. She smiles at me.
"Nice Hulaif. I know you can do it."
"So, this is the result of my training?" She nodded.
"Yes, it is. As people who use a bow as a weapon, we need to prepare when fighting close combat. We are weak when it comes to power, but for killing we are not."
"Okay, I know it. Do you have any suggestions for the second match?"
"Just destroy his weapon, if you don't want to hurt him."
"Okay, thanks." After half an hour has ended, the referee starts to speak.
"Okay, now we will start our second match. This time, the fighter will use the weapon to fight. Just remember, don't kill other fighters." As I entered the field for this match, Ahlan also entered.
"Here you can use this bow." Laura gave me a bow that she had brought. It looks like this bow is sturdy and light.
"Thanks." I wear a quiver in which there are only eight arrows.
"Good luck."
"Now, are the fighters ready?" We nodded. "Then, let's begin our second match. Let the battle begin."
"This time I will not let you win."
"Well, let's see if what you said is true." Ahlan came towards me and swung his large hammer. He tried to hit me with that thing. I quickly dodged that attack. It looks like he did not joke when he said he did not want me to win. If I get hit by that thing, I think I'm gone. His movement is now much faster than it was previously. I don't have any chance to attack. I should stay in range to attack him.
When I tried to escape from him, he always came toward me with his hammer at full speed. I think this quiver makes my movement slower. I should throw this away. Every time I escaped, I put one arrow down at the place I stopped until my quiver was empty and there was only one arrow left in me.
It looks like he does not notice it. I shot my last arrow at him. He deflected the arrow and came at me. I escaped and went to a place where I put an arrow and shot at him. Then, he deflected the arrow again. I just repeated my movements until I heard a crack sound from his weapon. As he tried to deflect my arrow, his weapon and my bowstring broke. Wait, who loses if this thing happens?"
"Wow, what an exciting match. The weapon is destroyed at the same time. But there is only one winner in each round. We will ask the pro. Miss Elar, which one do you think the weapon is break first?"
"In my opinion, the Hulaif bowstring breaks before the hammer."
"Now you hear that, the winner in this match is Ahlan. Break for an hour for a final." I thought I had won this match. Don't say to me that this bow is the reason I am defeated.
"Hulaif, the bow that you use is not a great bow after all. That bow can't hold your power. That is why it is broken. I think that girl might plan this." Mia said to me. "For the next match, do you want to use me?"
"Let's see and wait for it. I will use you when I can't handle it."
"Okay." I met Laura and asked her.
"Why do you say my weapon broke first?"
"I just tell based on my observation. If you don't want to lose in the next round. Then, focus on what your enemy is doing. For your next round, what do you want to use?"
"It is secret."
One hour had passed, and the referee called for us to enter the arena. I looked at Ahlan, I could feel a dangerous aura coming from him. What happened to him? He always upgrades and upgrades in every match. This time, I think I have to be more cautious. "Mia, get ready. I might have to use you in this match."
"Okay."
"Now, since the crowd are excited enough, we will start our final match. The loser need to listen for what winner said. Ready, start." The final round started.