Today I just continued practicing alchemy. I managed to go past the 20 grades variation and arrived at 18 grades.
//Note//
- Happy for nothing…
Today, Old man Karl (this was the old manager's name) arranged my second regular challenge.
I was nervous for two reasons: Vlad prohibited me to use weapons, and I had to fight intelligent beings.
'How good it would be to fight just some beasts.' I thought for a second but that I remembered some information from the 'Basic Bestiary'.
Some beasts were basically immortal from the moment they were born.
"Your opponents are…particular." – Told me the manager. He became far more friendly towards me after I won my first fight by myself.
"Particular?" – I immediately became suspicious. – "What do you mean?"
"They are not strong…actually, usually they are useless fighters. They call themselves life-molders and they are a foreign race."
"Foreign…race? Not from Astria?"
Karl nodded. – "I don't know where they came from. Only people above the fifth level of Warpath know more so don't even ask. What I can tell you is that some of them have some strange abilities and can change their bodies, grow new…body parts…and other things."
[…]
Still thinking about the little bit of information that Karl gave me I worried. Without a weapon, I felt slightly insecure.
"You have to be brave to use your fists, Eliot!" – Told me Vlad.
'Brave…right against these guys you had to train my bravery…'
[…]
The guys on the other side of the arena seemed completely human. They were three, but I had one beast on my team. It had a large physique and was slightly similar to an ape.
The fight started and the ape immediately ran toward the opponents.
I followed behind.
Two guys went left and right while the burlier one lashed with the ape.
Right before the clash, a small bone spike grew from his hand and he tried to pierce my teammate.
The other two guys went towards me.
'Want to kill me two on one and then finish the ape?'
I immediately changed my battle plan.
//Note on the side//
- Just tell the truth. You did not have a battle plat at all.
I accelerated towards one of them. 'I absolutely have to kill or at very least injure him before the other reaches me.'
I had something like 4 seconds. My mind became clear and sharper than ever.
'Maybe this was what Vlad was talking about.'
When only three meters were separating me from my opponent I dashed and punched him.
Bone fangs appeared right on his hand and he tried to catch my punch midway. 'He will shred it to pieces.'
But is topped a few centimeters away from his fanged arm and punched again. My enemy's expression suddenly changed as some blood spurted from his forearm.
Yeah, I pulled out the punch Vlad was teaching me these days.
I guess that I function better under pressure.
My second punch went straight for his ribs and connected.
The second punch also worked, and my opponent fell on the ground right before his companion arrived. He was pale and hesitated for a second. I immediately jumped towards him and using the momentum I locked his neck under my armpit and just let the gravity do its thing falling on the ground.
I felt some resistance for a second before a muffled *clack* announced the demise of my opponent.
This one the move that Vlad explained to me once and I felt inspired right now and decided to use it.
He said that its name was simply [Neck Lock]. Actually, there were many different neck locks, but the name was always the same.
'One had his ribs shattered and the other one had his neck broken.'
Suddenly I heard an animal wail full of pain. My teammate ape was pierced by the muscular guy it was fighting.
Now he was coldly looking at me.
There was some bloodlust but nothing I couldn't manage. I went to him.
"Show me how strong are you, b*stard!"
I was surprised by my sudden battle spirit later.
I punched and he immediately dodged and stabbed towards my ribs with his bone spike. I changed the direction of the punch and hit instead the spike deviating it towards the ground.
Another punch vent for my opponent which he also dodged. This time he jumped back distancing from me, but I followed. – "COME HERE, TRASH."
He stabbed but this time I was expecting it: I grabbed his arm and punched his elbow.
*Crack* His arm bent unnaturally in the wrong direction suddenly I felt some pain.
I looked down and saw another bone spike piercing my leg.
At that moment I just smiled, ignoring the pain, and punched another time, this time hitting my opponent's ribs and successfully breaking at least a few of them.
The enemy coughed blood right on my face and fell on one knee. Suddenly I sensed something. 'Danger!'
I backed up extricating myself from the spike in my leg.
I was right on time because suddenly with a scream the guy let out ten o something spikes. 'Damn hedgehog…'
A few seconds later the spikes were retracted, and he fell on the ground. It was his last effort I guess
I have won!
"CHALLENGER FROM THE NORTHERN BARRACKS WON THE CHALLENGE!" – Announced the mechanical voice.
"ONE OPPONENT IS STILL ALIVE. DECIDE HIS FATE, CHALLENGER!"
I was never told about this situation. I didn't know what to do.
'Say [Kill and Claim]'. I suddenly heard Marian's voice right inside my head. – "Kill and Claim!"
A bolt of red lightning suddenly appeared from nowhere and hit the first guy beat.
With a short scream, he was obliterated, and a strange-looking red cloud floated from his corpse towards me and entered my body.
I felt my energy being replenished and… somehow, I felt even stronger than before.
I had some things I had to think about…I killed a person I could have spared. It felt somehow bad for someone from a bit more lawful society…
But I left these doubts for later.
I won. I survived!