Droplets of blood flew through the air. A thunderous punch had been delivered. However, Eliisabet wasn't the one to be hit. With her face swollen and blood in her eyes, she watched as Ralph was punched from atop her. She had been saved by an unknown savior.
Her eyelids twitched as she tried to identify the man that had saved her. She was struggling to remain conscious. Her body ached and she could barely move.
Gentle arms then lifted her from the ground. She could now see the figure that had saved her just a little clearer. His cool chocolate-brown hair swayed gently in the wind and his hard hazy eyes stared forward as he walked.
It was a familiar face that she had seen only once before. It was Chaz.
"You... You're..."
"Don't waste your breath. You were hurt quite badly. It's a good thing that I was passing by or he would have killed you."
Chaz then gently placed Eliisabet down by the stump of an old tree.
"Why... Why are you helping me..?" Mumbled Eliisabet weakly.
"Because I couldn't bear to watch what he was doing to a lady like you. Instead of killing you and taking your scrolls, he was beating you out of a sense of rage and spite. That's not honorable, even for a Sicarius. A lady should never be treated that way by a man."
Eliisabet couldn't help but admire Chaz's personality. Despite his intimidating build, he was quite gentle and kind. He was like a gentle giant who would be misunderstood at first glance.
By this time, Ralph had already recovered from Chaz's punch. He held the side of his face in rage. He couldn't believe that someone had stopped him from killing Eliisabet.
"Who the hell are you?!" He raged.
"My name's Chaz. And you are?"
"My name is of no importance to a dead man. But tell me, why did you save her? You're not a part of her team, are you?"
"That's correct. But as a man with honor, I couldn't watch you kill her. Instead of saving her the pain of suffering and killing her in a single blow, you decided to beat her to death. It is not a man's duty to bring suffering to those weaker than them. If you must kill someone weaker than you then you should do it swiftly, ending their pain in an instant."
"What is this? I couldn't care less about your childish honor! She killed my teammates! Why defend her when she was the one who made the first move?!"
"Whoever made the first move is irrelevant. This is a battle to become Sicarius. Fighting and killing one another is simply a part of that battle. If any of us dies here then that's just the reality of our situation. No grudges or resentment should be held. The moment we all stepped into this forest was the moment we all accepted that we could die at any given time. Beating someone out of pure rage for killing your teammates not only shows that you have no honor but it is also disrespectful to your teammates who have died."
"Look, jackass. I don't care about your bullshit honor. The only thing I care about is winning and moving onto the next stage as a Sicarius. I'm not going to stand here all day listening to your crappy speech about honor. You can take that honor and shove it up your mother's ass!!"
Ralph picked back up his sword and charged toward Chaz. Seeing this, Chaz had to defend himself. He grabbed a massive 6ft hammer, weighing around a hundred pounds from his back. He slammed it down at Ralph, forcing him to dodge.
The earth shattered like glass from the weight of the attack. Ralph hissed. A single hit from such a massive weapon would surely leave him crippled if not dead. However, he did not back down.
Ralph jumped at Chaz once again, this time attacking from the side. Chaz swung himself around like a tornado, bringing the hammer toward Ralph's head. Ralph ducked. The hammer passed right above his head, causing his hair to flutter wildly.
He then took the opportunity to jump beneath Chaz's guard. Chaz clenched his teeth. He was open to an attack. Ralph jammed the edge of his sword toward his lower abdomen.
Chaz groaned in pain as he jumped back, trying to avoid the attack. However, the blade still nicked him on the side, leaving him with a slightly deep wound.
"Bloodline Art: Air Punch!!"
Ralph doubled back his fist. He was relentless as could be. He came swinging with a ferocious punch being propelled forward with the power of wind. The attack was fast—almost impossible to dodge.
"Bloodline Art: Iron Body!"
Ralph's punch slammed into the side of Chaz's face. However, his entire body had hardened like steel for a few seconds, blocking the attack and reducing damage significantly. He was using an Affinity Of Iron.
Chaz then responded. He couldn't swing his hammer since Ralph was far too close to him. Due to this, he did the next best thing. He tightened his fist that was still covered in hard iron before jamming it into Ralph's stomach.
The force of the punch defied even gravity. Ralph coughed up blood as the force lifted him from his feet. Chaz then followed up with a dangerous swing of his hammer.
Ralph was left with only one choice if he wished to survive. He sacrificed his sword by quickly placing it between his body and the hammer. The sword shattered like a shard of glass as Ralph was sent crashing into a nearby tree.
"You can't win. I'll end this with one final attack," declared Chaz.
Ralph groaned as he picked himself up. His arm felt numb and the rest of his body was fueled with pain. If he hadn't sacrificed his sword then he would have surely died. The fight looked as if it was over.