Connor walked as Craig led the way towards the Arena.
They passed by the houses and got out of sight as they kept walking. After making sure no one was looking, Connor's hands moved as he muttered something silently and a Skeleton hand flew through the area and dug itself into Craig's back.
'Thank god!' Connor thought after seeing no reaction from Craig whatsoever, this proved his theory and eased his nervousness. Although he and Craig had the same level of Swordsmanship, Craig's Stats were still a mystery. 'I put a lot of Gold in this, I can't lose' Connor took a deep breath and finally stepped into the Arena.
"Alright, you ready?" Craig asked, unsheathing his sword. Connor felt bad for cheating like this, especially since Craig is a good man, but what could he do? it was survival of the fittest!
"No hard feelings" Connor said, grabbing his Sword as the reinforced new Leather Armor reflected the lights of the Torches.
"No hard feelings!" Craig said before dashing towards him. He was fast.. Too fast. All Connor could do was raise his shield up and jump back, but the strike still hit as his whole arm swung back from the force.
'He's strong!' Connor thought, feeling the numbness in his wrist and shoulder. Without hesitation he charged forward, only for his attack to be easily dodged and countered, feeling a sharp heat on his side as blood appeared on the ground.
'I'm injured!' Connor didn't have to look at himself to know. 'All I need to do is land one damn hit!' He took a deep breath. 'ONE HIT!'
Craig was relentless as he used the Sidewinder footwork and struck. Connor's body was riddled with injuries as he kept trying to land a hit, so matter how unsuccessful and weak it would be.
'Damnit!' Connor had no chance if he kept going at it like this, as another hit landed on his leg, he wobbled and appeared to lose his balance. Craig smirked as he approached again and was about to slash at his back when he saw a Sword heading straight for his neck. Craig quickly moved with a frown and his sword deflated the attack at the last second, he smiled, looking at Connor.
"You're sneaky" He said.
"I've been in this camp for a while now.. I've learned a few things!" Connor replied
"Too bad it didn't work"
"You sure?"
Connor's question made Craig frown as a small droplet of blood slid down his neck and dirtied his armor. His hand moved and wiped it away with worry, but after finding no more blood he spoke. "A scratch? That registers as 'Worked' to you?"
"Sorry Craig!"
Connor's apology was odd, but the next second Craig shuddered, feeling a cold from inside of him passing though his very bones.
His skin started to turn blue before a few patches of ice appeared here and there. His skin cracked on each area the frost appeared and blood started appearing. It slowly started to drop as more appeared.
It did not seem fatal but it did decent damage, especially when Craig tried to back away fearing what Connor did and he found out his speed decreased by a scary amount.
"You dare use Magic?" Craig spoke.
"It's part of my abilities!" Connor answered before quickly rushing towards him. The Speed debuff wouldn't last long, only 5 seconds, before it vanishes, so time was of the essence.
In a couple seconds Connor was in front of Craig as he bashed him with his shield. As the attack landed more and more ice appeared breaking his skin as Craig's body was covered with blood. The damage was not great as Craig didn't even feel it but the Speed Debuff kept applying whenever the Curse was activated. Craig's face paled as he tried to dodge or counter but his body couldn't respond to his thoughts properly.
"STOP! You win" Craig hurriedly announced, seeing his bloody body. He mistook the blood as Connor landing critical damage on him but all Connor used was his shield, trying to keep Craig Debuffed and not wanting to hurt him. Craig was a vital member of the Camp and if Connor did anything to him, especially after people saw them leave together, he wouldn't even be given the right to explain himself.
"Connor!" Craig said. "Using Magic Scrolls or any type of tools other than the contestant's main weapon is considered cheating!" Craig looked at Connor with a frown as his anger showed on his face.
"I didn't use any Magic Scroll" Connor said before demonstrating the Chill Touch Spell on another bug.
Craig watched as Connor approached the bug and lightly kicked it. Frost appeared on the poor thing and killed it after a bit of struggling. Clearly the damage dealt on humans and small bugs were completely different.
"Where did you learn that?" Craig asked.
"A Novice taught me it" Connor replied with a lie.
"He just taught it to you? Just like that?"
"Well.. He didn't really have a choice.. I killed him anyways after though so the Monastery wouldn't hear about it. He was collecting herbs in the Area I've been hunting in"
"Yeah, i heard you were Hunting like crazy earlier.. lucky bastard" Craig was silent for a few minutes before he started laughing. "Well, if that is the case then it is not considered cheating.. You're lucky no one in the Camp came to watch the fight thought or after seeing you use Magic you would have been beaten near death and thrown outside the Camp after getting your shit stolen "
Connor was surprised by Craig's easy personality as he accepted the lie too quickly. "So we're cool?"
"Yeah, of course!" Craig continued. "Well, you wouldn't win against me if we fought again since now I know about your little Spell but a win is a win" He said, handing Connor his winnings.
"Can I get the Blade Fragment too?" Connor asked. He remembered that Connor had one from Luis and asked.
"Same price i told you last time"
"Yeah" Connor handed back the Gold he received after pocketing a few coins. He grabbed the Fragment and shoved it into his Inventory and smiled.
'It went better than I planned!' Connor thought. 'Thank god I didn't have to kill him!' Connor smiled. 'The last Fragment should be on Brog...'