The adrenaline was starting to wear off as Rick approached Lucas with a pained expression on his face. Lucas echoed emotion as he reached out for a hug from rick only to find him locked in a combat pose ready for a fight.
"No no silly. I'm trying to give you a hug and congratulate you." Lucas chuckled as he closed in for a tight hug.
"After I saw that it was a combat challenge I was truly horrified. I didn't know if you would make it." Lucas said before continuing "But what you just showed in there was impeccable. I didn't train you much in combat but that was... intense. Those strikes would have been enough to even take me down if I was a little drunk."
"Honestly kid. You made me proud today." Lucas finished his sentence with heart warming words.
The pain was increasing at an incredible level as he realized he had sprained or broken some of his ribs causing immense pain.
But the system had nothing to say to his injuries as he continued to wince in pain at every passing breath.
"I... don't know what came over me. All I know is that I felt a surge of energy like no other and knew that no matter what I would come out on top. I knew that I had to. No matter what."
As Rick said those words a simple system notification appeared.
---
Objective: Win the tournament and receive first place.
Reward: +1000 Roll Over XP and +1 luck
Penalty: - 500 XP and -1 luck
---
"I'm Bleeding?" He asked out loud in a moment of confusion.
Lucas looked at him strangely before noticing the pool of blood that had appeared on his clothes. Rick was indeed bleeding and rather badly at that.
"Healer!" Lucas shouted before motioning around in a hurry.
In a flurry of wind a strange man in a glamourous attire appeared before them. The man looked to be in his early twenties and wore a simple black suit with a light colored under shirt and a dark colored over shirt as well as a magnificent brimstone top hat.
"May I be at your service?" He said in a charming tone that could be recognized as the announcer.
"Absolutely! He lost a lot of blood in the fight." Lucas said in a rushed and worried tone.
"Chill out kiddo this is an easy fix. A simple Recovery spell should do the job."
"Velroy Recovrere" The announcer said as he gently tapped on Ricks shoulder.
A gentle white smoke quickly seeped their ways into Ricks skin and seemed to heal every pour and refill all reservoirs of energy he had ever had.... besides mana of course since he never had any to begin with.
Rick felt a rejuvenated force fill him and in a moment all that hurt him was gone in an instant. He felt stronger than ever before as another system notification appeared.
Lucien was staring daggers at Rick the entire time he was being healed but after Rick met his eyes he looked away in a panic almost tripping over a rock as him and his mentor made their way out of the arena.
"Well it looks like you put up quite a performance out there. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the finals." The announcer said before waving his hand and disappearing in a flash of wind just as quickly as he had came.
Lucas looked around almost dazed by how quick and focused the man was.
"Well that's taken care of. We better get out of the arena before the other fight begins I guess." He said in an unconfident manner.
'At least I'm safe. That man must have been awfully powerful to do such powerful magic. And to wear a hat made out of pure stone.... He also must be crazy!' Rick thought to himself as they both made their way towards the arenas many staircases leading to the packed stands.
After making their way through what seemed to be thousands of seats they managed to snag an empty pair of seats that seemed to be at just the right angle to see the battlefield perfectly as it is.
But just after a few minutes two men in dark cloaks with daggers strapped to their belts walked up to them. Almost as if seeking out trouble, both the men glared at them evilly before revealing cracked and ugly teeth that revealed their ugly grins.
"It seems that we have a misunderstanding here kiddos. These two seats you see, are ours. We just got up to use the restroom so we recommend you all leave before trouble arises. You wouldn't want to lose a leg now would you?" One of them men said with his ugly mug of a face.
Lucas was about to begin speaking before Rick quickly cut him off feeling a rush of confidence and ability seep through his bodies.
"I recommend you leave before you get hurt. These seats are first come first serve I believe and not to be reserved for people with weak bladders." Rick said confidently.
"I don't think you wanna do this kid." The bigger of the two said before lifting up his cloak to reveal a single patch sewn into the threads of their black leather armor.
The symbol resembled two black daggers crossed before a black cowl. It was a familiar symbol, incredibly familiar to Lucas but only slightly to Rick.
'That's the Assassins Guilds symbol isn't it. Aren't they just a group of no bodies?' Rick thought to himself as Lucas got cagey immediately.
"You can have the seats. Just leave us be and we will leave quietly." Lucas said quickly with a hint of fear in his voice.
"Now that's more like it." The smaller man said with a happy tone.
They were about to make themselves at home before Rick stretched his legs out and sat them on the empty seat in front of them as well, leaning back in his chair with a look of comfort on his face.
"What are you doing?!" Lucas said in a voice that can only be described as pure terror.
"What are you gonna do amidst all these people?"
"Kill us?"
"Do you even have the guts when so many stronger than you reside here. "
"Why you little!" the larger man said before being cut off by his friend.
"Fine. You keep the seats. They are just seats afterall. But remember that you have made an enemy out of us today for refusing to respect the honor code of society. The strong reign over the weak this is something you will learn soon. We will make sure." He said calmly before leaving without another word.
After a pause of silence Lucas began speaking.
"I'm afraid to say this but no matter how talented you are you can't go up against one assassin let alone two. Your crazy?!"
"They didn't even learn our names. Calm down." Rick said in response.
"Oh yeah!? Well guess what? You better drop out of the contest because in about an hour or so your next match will be up and what's even worse is if you win the pass for the most impressive match your name will be released to everyone as the most impressive fighter here placing an even bigger target your head."
"You have no power over this situation and you chose to pick a fight with someone more powerfuller than you. You have no honor or respect for peoples strength and it will get you killed one of these days." Lucas said louder than he probably should as people started to look their way.
"I'm done being pushed around. I will grow. Faster than anyone else ever has. And I won't ever be pushed around again. I won't allow it. No matter what!" Rick yelled before going silent.
And silence was what followed. An almost endless amount of it as well before the roaring of the crowd at the start of the next duel.