A valkyrie was dancing around on the battlefield, smashing training dummies, running around artificial falls and evading small bolts that kept on being fired in her direction from seemingly nowhere.
The sound of a surprisingly powerful whistle then covered the arena "End of combat !"
Grimm came down into the arena through one of the passageways and went over all the destroyed dummies.
"There are 12 killed and 3 wounded by Astrid while 12 killed and 9 wounded by Matt. None of you were hit by the opponents attacks and both of you made good use of the obstacles, Astrid to destroy a greater number of mannequins and Matt to hide and steal Astrid's kills. Well done."
"Thank you.", "Thank you."we both said in unison.
"Tomorrow will be your day. Make sure that the results of your training is shown to the members of the clan, make us proud." Grimm said enthusiastically
Astrid and Matt went up the slope to exit the arena and saw their friend walking towards them.
"You are so scary Matt, even by watching from the top I couldn't spot you most of the time. Are you a ghost or something ?" Falco asked with a flame in his eyes.
"Don't even try to learn being stealthy from Matt. You are so loud that even a dead man would wake up. And Matt ! You should stop with your devious tricks, Astrid totally deserved to win." Joseph said
I knew he had a thing for Astrid but sadly for him ₴ⱧɆ'₴ ₥ł₦Ɇ ₳₦Đ Ø₦ⱠɎ ₥ł₦Ɇ.
Hum... I'm totally normal, yup, no psycho here~
"Well done both of you, please go easy on me during the tournament okay ?" Rhin said, trying to get some favors.
"I don't care who wins, I just want to have Falco kneel before me." Yuri said, looking at the blonde dork.
"HEY !" Falco exclaimed red faced, giving the rest of us a good laugh.
The day continued like usual, we had fun, ate something and went to bed. What was different than usual is that the next day we would finally become adults.
I just didn't know it meant in every sense of the word for me...
~~~
"GOOD MORNING VALHALLA !!! Today is the day when our young warriors will finally become true members of the clan! Please welcome them, kindly." a hulk of a woman with a voice louder and deeper than most men cried out acting like a hype man for the tournament.
War cries sounded out from beyond the doors. The group of friends were currently staying in a room inside the arena. Half of Valhalla had assembled around the arena and cheered for their new kin.
Looking behind him Matt could see his friends, some were walking back and forth from the stress, others were sharpening the weapons in their hands and a few were stretching out their bodies.
"It's time to move out. Everyone ready ?" Matt stated
"Yeah", "I'll kick your arse", "Let's have some fun", "I'll make sure to spare you from embarrassment don't worry" they were hyped, at least this wouldn't be a boring game Matt thought.
Astrid stood up from the bench she was sitting on, "Let's go."
The lower doors of the arena opened up and out came the eleven stars of the show.
The cheers intensified while war drums and horns started announcing the festivities. Looking up from the arena floor you could see that every spot around the cage dome was packed with all kinds of people waiting for the first fight.
"I can still remember when we were up there last year, this feeling is exhilarating. " Falco said
" The first part of the tournament will be two simultaneous 1v1 fights taking up half the arena each.
The rules are simple, the challengers can only bring one object from the outside per fight and can use any training weapon and armor stored in the armory.
A fight will end if someone gives up, passes out or if the judges determine he was hit enough to be considered dead.
The first round will be Nicolas VS Astrid and Wilfys vs Sarr", the speaker announced the first matches and hyping up the crowd again.
The first four took their positions and watched out for their adversary.
"Begin!"
These fights were pretty unfair, not only because of the training difference between challengers but also because of their personal equipment.
Nicolas was a perfect example for this, his prefered way of fighting was using his favourite war bow he learned to use in his hunter training to fight at medium range.
The problem was that this distance could be crossed by Astrid in less than a second and without any cover or obstacles that could be a hindrance to his adversary, he would have a hard time to win.
It proved to be an intense match nonetheless, Nicolas was able to use a smoke bomb to hide his movements and even went for a knife slash at the end. Sadly for him, Astrid wasn't hit by him even once.
On the other side of the arena Wilfys and Sarr fought like beasts. They exchanged blows repeatedly until Sarr swiped her adversary's leg to make her fall down.
The match ended shortly after.
"This round's winners are Astrid and Sarr!" the speaker exclaimed, "Next up will be Heimer VS Matt and Bohr vs Rhin !"
All four combatants now in position waited for the signal
"Begin!"
Matt threw a few rocks at Heimer but all of them were instantly deflected by his enemy's shield. However when Heimer looked over his shield again he couldn't see Matt anymore.
Since he had fought against him before he quickly turned around and luckily blocked a dagger that was coming right towards his spine.
"Ey, you caught my surprise attack!" Matt complained
"You still talk too much during fights. Now come here you little eel." Heimer said, he knew that losing sight of Matt and reacting to his taunts were stupid mistakes so he stayed in a defensive position waiting for his opponent.
"I only talk when I want something from the opposite side or if I know I'm going to win." Matt said, "In this instance it's both… Look at your feet."
Heimer was obviously confused and he knew that looking down would make him lose sight of Matt, but something was telling him that this wasn't a bluff.
Indeed, there was a canister with a blinking red light right at his feet.
" What is t-" *BOOM*
A "small" explosion sounded out right after Heimer fell back and put his shield between him and the bomb.
"Oof, I used less blaze and coolant this time, it shouldn't kill him right?" Matt aid to himself
The arena was now silent. As the dust settled, Heimer could be seen laying on the ground, his hand still trembling from the impact.
"I give up." he said, "Are you trying to kill me with that relic?"
"Don't worry, the thermal shock grenade that I used had much less power than usual… and I knew a big guy like you could take it," Matt explained, "And it's not a relic, it's a toy I made in my free time."
Everyone was dumbfounded, even the two that were fighting next to them stopped to look at what had happened.
"Aren't we only allowed to bring one object? Why would you not bring that favorite hidden knife of yours? You know the one that comes out from under your forearm."
Matt had spent a lot of time with Oslo, to the point where it was questionable whether he loved his teacher more than Astrid…
Having learnt the art of Smithing and engineering of his clan to its peak he took ideas and concepts from his previous world to make incredible devices and his so called "toys".
He went through everything, a handheld repeating crossbow, a steam engine, an explosive fuse, a grappling hook, a hidden sleeve blade from a certain stealth game that he liked...
That weapon was recreated by him and even improved upon slightly, he made the blade reach further by attaching it on miniature pistons powered by a replaceable blaze canister.
This also gave it the unintended effect of having the penetration power of a jackhammer, quickly extending out and being able to pierce a log with almost no resistance.
It quickly became Matt's favorite weapon, only having to hide, ambush and destroy a prey's brain in a single attack.
It was just a tad bit too dangerous to be used on his friends, there was an accident once where the blaze canister activated thus launching the blade forward and almost cutting off his fingers or another time when the railings holding the blade with the gauntlet broke launching the blade into a tree a few yards away.
"I'm sure you would rather fight me with small explosives rather than with my "Silence". " Matt said proud of his babies.
"Yup, I would rather face anything rather than your murder weapon with cringy names." Heimer took the chance to inflict a psychological attack to his enemy, the only attack he made since the beginning of the match.
Sadly for him Matt knew how cringy the name was but liked it nonetheless thus making Heimer's attack miss.
"This round's winners are Matt and Rhin!"
Apparently the fight on the other side was also finished…
…
Matt's POV:
The combats that ensued were very entertaining and I had a lot of fun fighting my friends in an official tournament.
Their skills are nothing to scoff at and I had a few close calls against them.
"Now for the final battle!", the speaker hyped up the crowd again causing very loud cheers and cries to erupt from all the bystanders. "Please welcome! Astrid and Matt!!!"
Even more cheers ensued, I didn't really care about social interactions but having that many people watching me still made me nervous.
For this final match the entire arena was used and the two finalists, me and Astrid, were already facing each other in the middle.
Usually I would taunt, destabilise or make the opponent underestimate me to give me higher chances of winning but Astrid knew me too well for my tricks to work.
Looking into her eyes I could see that she really wanted to win this but I also knew that she didn't know if taking away my chance to be first could make me angry at her.
It was a fear that she was never able to get rid of, being scared that I would leave her if she "humiliated" me, something I didn't really care about. And I really wanted to fight her seriously... I am not a battle junkie, I just find fighting fun.
"Please fight seriously and don't even think about giving up for me." I said warning her
"B-but." She looked at me and understood that this wasn't a suggestion, "A-alright, but if I win you'll have to do something for me."
"Sure." was my answer
"Begin the fight!" The speaker initiated the combat but unlike what he expected it didn't start immediately.
I raised my hand in a handshake position "Let's have a good spar. "
Astrid looked at my hand and shook it with hers "Let's h-"
I took her by surprise by pulling her towards me and kissing her on the lips.
The spectators were flabbergasted by this unexpected show of affection.
But I didn't waste a second since I knew that Astrid would wake up from her stupor very soon. I grasped the dagger that was strapped to my belt and thrust it towards her heart.
I didn't expect much as I knew that her danger awareness was phenomenal and as I expected my attack was stopped right before it could make contact with her.
"He kissed me...HE-. Hey… That's pretty mean of you hubby. Why are you playing with my heart like this?" Astrid muttered something before sounding out coldly as she deflected my attack.
I'm happy that she entered her berserk state because now I knew that she wouldn't go easy on me.
"Sorry for that but I really want to have some fun with you." Matt said
Immediately after that she took out her battle axe and swung it horizontally at me.
Backing off and retrieving my spear from the ground where I had planted it previously, I took a fighting stance expecting her to follow up with another attack.
This time she threw one of her hatchets at me and ran right behind it.
I had no choice but to dodge the initial attack and parry her great axe with my spear. I was able to feel the shock travelling through the spear into my hands and it made me almost drop my weapon.
We kept on exchanging blows like this until my composite spear started to have small cracks and deformations covering parts of it.
Yeah she's pretty strong when she goes berserk but the scariest part is that even when she becomes crazy she can keep a dangerously calm mindset.
I knew that continuing like this wasn't a good idea so I improvised. Turning my double edged spear while praying her strike made my spear get lodged between her axe blade and the handles shoulder.
I gripped my pike even tighter and turned it so that the battle axe would point to the ground.
Astrid wasn't going to stand idle while I was momentarily disabling her main weapon, she took her second hatchet and swiped at me with it.
What I did next was pretty crazy I must admit. I advanced towards her attack and lowered my upper body a little bit barely evading the slash.
Continuing my charge I dislodged my spear from her axe and slashed downwards.
The sharp edge of my spear squarely landed on her shoulder guard.
I expected the judges to end the match as I had done enough damage but apparently they thought otherwise.
That short moment of inattention caused me to get hit in the stomach by Astrid's kick.
The force made me fly into the arena wall and lose my spear.
I could feel my head bleeding and myself quickly losing consciousness.
I don't want to stop. I want to keep on going, PLAY WITH MY PREY AND SLOWLY SEE THE LIFE FADE OUT OF ITS EYES.
But I still passed out... for a moment.
[Host is ready. Releasing partial helix traits.]