The food was to die for. Sarah and the cooks had planned stations around the small town, all of which housed different delicacies. While most of it was meat or vegetables, there were some notable exceptions.
Jay ran into Pete as the barbarian stuffed his face full of chocolate chip cookies. These weren't store-bought cookies; they were bona fide homemade chocolate chip cookies. They'd used most of their remaining chocolate supplies to make these bad boys.
And Pete was eating them all! "Save me one! Or two. Or three." Upon his first taste, Jay began to understand why Pete loved them so much. If the rest of the stations were like royalty, then these cookies were the king.
Nom nom nom! All around him, Jay heard happy munching. More and more people came in to try the delectable treats and it was only a matter of time before their entire party was busy taste-testing the next batch as they came out of the oven.
"So, Pete, think you can beat that Adam guy?" Kyle was the first to break the happy silence.
"I'm not sure. He's definitely strong, but my bat has never lost a fight. It's the classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. I'm just not sure which one I am."
As Jay half-listened (he was more focused on the cookies), he had to agree with Pete. Pete was their defending champion, having never been bested, but he did so through a completely offensive base. Adam, however, was the challenger, but his defense was so strong no one could break it.
To top that off, both players were nearly identical in levels, so it would come down to skill and skills. Jay was more excited for their match than ever having thought of this. It truly was a battle anyone would kill to see—hopefully nobody actually killed anyone though. It was kind of like wrestling, except this had a meaningful prize at the end.
Before they knew it, the night became late and they all stumbled back to their beds. When the morning light came shining in their eyes, they each woke up excited for today.
The first event of the morning was breakfast. Can't compete on an empty stomach, after all. But after breakfast was the grand finals, and everyone wanted to see that.
As Pete and Adam approached the dueling arena, weapons coated in water magic, Jay couldn't help but get excited. He'd never really understood people's fascination with sports, but he could get behind this. It was no wonder the medieval kings and queens held these fights all the time.
As expected, Pete was the first to charge. Adam sat firmly behind his shield, awaiting Pete's attack. He didn't have to wait long though.
Pete's (locally) famous bat-turned-mace came flying in. Adam turned it away with his shield, but there was a clear dent where it had hit. Jay thought he even saw a small hole in it where a lucky spike poked through. The power behind his swing was plain to see.
Still, Adam hadn't moved an inch behind his shield. Instead, his sword came swinging in as he attempted to catch Pete off-guard. To the surprise of the viewers, Pete used his bat to block the attack. A small cleft was made in the weapon, indicating Adam's power and sharpness of the blade.
As the two exchanged blows, things became even more complicated. Jay and Kyle were sure no spells were being used, but the two fought like the wind was helping them. They were a blur and only the most perceptive watchers could make out their actions.
Eventually, Adam was forced to abandon his shield as it buckled under the weight of Pete's strike. This put Pete in a good position to win, but his bat was looking worse than ever. Adam's sword, however, seemed to be almost pristine.
With the shield gone, Pete seemed more eager to adopt his usual fighting style. He'd ignore a blow unless it would lose him the match and this forced Adam to change his strikes into blocks.
Now, even Adam's sword was beginning to look worn down. Additionally, both fighters were losing stamina. They'd been at it for a while and both had used up most of their strength. They took a moment to separate and study each other.
Jay wasn't an expert, but he knew their next engagement would be the end of the fight. One way or another, someone was going to win.
"I acknowledge your strength. If you hadn't fought me, you might have won." Coming from anyone else, it might sound cocky, but everyone agreed Adam was a great warrior.
"If you hadn't fought me, you might have never lost" Pete retorted. Anger flared on Adam's face and he came flying at the battlerager. At the last moment of his swing, Jay sensed a golden aura surround the blade, breaking the water spells they had used.
The swing cut through Pete's armor like paper, leaving a deep gash in his abdomen. Healers hurried in from all sides and Adam smiled triumphantly. Only three people knew he had cheated at this point, and the crowd cheered for the supposed victor.
As the cheers died down, Jay went over to consult with Kyle. He was almost positive Adam had used magic, but he wanted to make sure Kyle agreed so that they couldn't accuse them of fixing the competition. Kyle confirmed his own suspicions and so Jay turned to face the eager "champion" and the crowds.
"We have a clear victor in this fight. While both sides fought valiantly, only one could win. This was meant as a fight of pure strength and skill and one of our competitors excelled in that capacity. However, I regret to inform you all that it is not the man standing in front of you.
Both judges have ascertained that magic was used to disable the protective spells placed on the competitors' weapons. Without overriding this safety measure, the match would have been won by the barbarian, Pete. We regret this unfortunate turn of events, but will not seek other actions so long as the involved parties refrain from cheating in future events."
It truly was a shame. While Jay was honest about Adam's cheating, that strike likely could have won him the match if he hadn't used magic. He would have won if he'd merely kept his temper in check. Now, with his win challenged, Adam raged even worse than before.
"How dare you accuse me of cheating! This is rigged! You should all go home because I clearly won that fight! I deserve that prize! Look at him, he's on the ground unconscious! This is ridiculous!"
No matter who tried to calm him down, the paladin wouldn't stop shouting his complaints. Eventually Trevor and Wendy made their way over to him. The first just shook his head dejectedly, but the later cast some sort of spell. The sound stopped, and Adam was unconscious over the back of a unicorn by the time Jay looked back.
It seemed even his own teammates knew that Adam had cheated and merely wanted him to stop embarrassing them. Still, it made things easier for Jay. Nobody else questioned his judgement, either out of acceptance or fear—he couldn't entirely tell which. Instead, Jay spent some time getting lunch for himself and Silver.
Pete was still in the healer's tent, so their party decided to eat there and wait for him to wake up. The bleeding had stopped, bones had been mended, and Eve even came and fixed up his armor. Jay wasn't looking forward to telling him that his bat was destroyed beyond repair. He was not going to like that. He just hoped the light blade would placate the sleeping barbarian.
The group made small talk while they waited for Pete to wake, and they handed him a plate as soon as he did so. Pete took it without complaint, but he still seemed glum.
"Pete, what's wrong?" Sarah was the first to ask him why he was upset. Fine by Jay. He wasn't great at the whole "emotions" thing.
"I thought I could beat him. I really did. Also, where's Betsy? I don't see her anywhere." Seeing his friends' faces, Pete looked almost ready to cry. "I loved that bat. We went through everything together. Why?!?"
The last word was punctuated with a sob and snot began running down his face. Jay had expected him to be upset at the loss of his bat, but not like this.
"I'm sorry Pete, there was nothing we could do. Betsy's gone. But you didn't lose the match. He had to use magic to beat you and was disqualified. The blade is yours."
With a flourish, Jay pulled out the blade, already formed in the shape of a mace. He handed it to his sniffling friend, hoping it would help. Obviously, he'd done something wrong as Pete burst into more tears.
Sarah and Kyle glared at him while Andrew looked equally lost. If only people were as easy to understand as magic.