Pride glared around ."It seems everyone has received their colored paper, so I'll give you five minutes to prepare your strategy, steady your weapon, and collect information. After which, we'll begin." While everyone was getting ready, stretching, and talking to each other, I began thinking about what would be written on my tombstone. "Don't worry, master! We won't go down that easy!" Faith reassured me, but I already had lost my hope to fight. "Come on, master! We have to think of something," Faith insisted. "Wait... Faith? Can you chant without speaking out the chant name?" I asked. "I can. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think I might just be able to pull something off," I declared as I began plotting against Pride. Even though we weren't up first, you can never be too ready. I patiently plotted and waited for the 5 minutes to elapse. As I waited, out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Sarah, talking to the green-haired boy. What could they be- GOLD? I then shifted my focus to their hands... and they both held off-gold colored paper. They're up first, and what's worse- They're up against each other! I began walking over to the duo, with every step, pity pilled up in my mind for poor Jason. He looked so silent and simple, and fate put him up against a raging and unforgiving bulldozer. Jason's gonna get steamrolled.
"I-I don't think I can do this," Jason stuttered, with his wavy green hair flowing with the wind. "Come on Jason! This won't be fun if you give up already," Sarah sighed. "I believe YOU need to go easy on him," I intruded. "Oh! Jay, how long were you here?" Sarah gasped. "Long enough to know how you're cornering him into submission," I maintained. I looked over to the quivering Jason, who already decided his own fate. I placed my hand on his uneasy shoulder.
"There once was an ant, always working, and never giving in. Then one day, a human tried to squish the ant, but the ant always escaped by mere inches. Then the human brought over a vacuum cleaner to suck up the ant. The ant tried and held on to the stones on the ground with all its might. Do you know what happened to it?" I inquired. "D-did the ant e-escape?" Jason stammered. "Quite the opposite actually... the ant was sucked up by the vacuum cleaner, where it dies of starvation and dehydration," I resumed. "Wow... dark," Sarah murmured. "But, what's important is, that the ant tried, even when it knew it didn't stand a chance. But here, you can stand a chance, you aren't the ant, you're going to be a lion, so roar and fight like one!" I exclaimed. "Also," I said, then leaned in closer to Jason's ear, and whispered a strategy. "It's d-dangerous, but t-that might actually work!" Jason gushed. "Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute, what are you guys plotting?" Sarah joked. "Nothing much," I chuckled. "I-I'm a lion! I can do this!" Jason declared. "Yeah! That's the spirit," I giggled. I didn't expect a made-up story and some advice to actually work. I might one day think of becoming an author or a motivational speaker... I'll make a buttload of money.
"Well! The five minutes have elapsed. Everyone, let us welcome the first duelers, Sarah and Jason!" Pride announced after which the whole group roared and cheered for Sarah, some even betting on the winner. "Sarah versus Jason! Place your bets!" Well, I guess this is as normal as it gets, I thought to myself. Sarah, with her exceptional looking copper alloy gladius and Jason, almost empty-handed, with just a small shield in his left, walked over to Pride, as he guided them a little further, then muttered something. "Imprisonment spell detected. Permission to dispel?" Faith said, emotionless. "What- oh, it's like a boxing ring, but with magic, so dispelling it is not necessary," I replied. "Understood, master." Faith firmly replied.
The crowd went crazy. Some yelled profanities at Jason, while the others just insulted Jason upfront. "Has this kid lost his mind? Is he planning to use just his shield against Miss Sarah?" Someone yelled from the crowd. "Don't you dare look down upon Sarah, or I will kill you!" Pride looked back, his bloodshot eyes oozed with anger. One second, it was chaos, the other, it became silent. Pride turned around. "The match has been set! Are both parties ready?" Pride's voice boomed. Both of them nodded. "Then... BEGIN!" Pride yelled.
Whoosh! Sarah charged right into Jason, leaving behind a trail of uprooted grass and dirt, with her gladius right in front of her, getting dangerously closer to Jason each millisecond. By the looks of it, she's trying to end this quickly, but she was totally unheeding of the fact that Jason had something under his sleeve. As the shiny tip of her copper alloy gladius got closer, with a swift movement, Jason got out of the way. This caught Sarah by surprise, as she stared blankly at where Jason was standing.
With the element of surprise, Jason had leverage, and he wasn't afraid to use it. Again, with rapid maneuvers, he caught Sarah's gladius-wielding hand, and locked it in place behind her back, sending a sharp pain down Sarah's arm. "Aaargh!" Sarah shrieked in agony. The sharp pain caused her to drop her gladius. Cling! Clang! "That was a good show of skill, both of you, but there can be only one winner. I declare Jason the winner, as he rendered Sarah, weaponless!" Pride exclaimed. Everyone was silent. No one dared to move an inch from their places. For what they thought was an easy win for Sarah, it seems Jason managed to flip the table with ease.
Jason glanced back at me, with a wide smile stitched on his face. I smiled back, giving him a thumbs up. I walked back to the guy who was taking the bets and said, "It's always the silent ones that you need to be on the lookout for," and emptied his pockets. Why? Well... I might have placed my bet on Jason and it was a huge risk, but worth every penny. I swear I don't have a gambling problem! Both, Jason and Sarah shook hands, and walked back, both having conflicting looks on their faces.
This was a duel just between two kids, and it was intense. But now, with Pride involved, I wonder...