Silence filled the insides of the waiting room after that point, Tristan and Nida essentially glared at each other each time either made eye contact. Thankfully, five more individuals entered that waiting room, each of them having matches.
The minutes passed and Tristan simply waited in silence, he remained the youngest there, but they all knew about him. He was the one with various titles. An incredibly talented fighter from that young age.
The silence within that room remained deafening and four others entered that place, filling it up. Tristan hated the crowds but thankfully no one disturbed him and he could wallow in the dark chasm that was his heart.
According to what he saw, even if he had arrived there before those men and a few women, all of them had their matches before he and Nida.
This wasn't the first time he had been in that situation. Keeping the best for the last. He snorted in annoyance at that thought. He hated it.
The hours passed and they were served snacks. In between fights, there were smaller games, which mostly consisted of pitting animals against animals. Tristan saw them as barbaric. Then again, he wasn't too different.
The cheers from the crowds grew in intensity and many times died, before exploding again. At times they heard the resounding boo's given to whoever fought and Tristan had to admit he got tired of them.
"Are you sure you do not want to take me up on my offer?" Nida finally sat beside him. She sensed it would soon be their time and she moved to make the most of the coming battle.
Tristan nodded, he didn't care about any challenge, he just wanted to spill blood.
"I'll get more satisfaction when I see you on the ground unable to fight anymore," he stated coldly, once again glaring at her. He stood and she hissed in annoyance. His anger was infuriating, especially how he disregarded her.
"Big words, when you've not seen me fight yet," Nida snarled, also standing. Tristan remained silent waiting for what was to come.
"You're definitely interesting," she remarked expressing a cruel smile. "I'll be sure to take a finger or two with me today." The moment her words ended the door creaked open and the figure of a masked lady unfolded in their eyes.
"Sir, ma'am," the lady gestured at the exit and Nida walked forward first. The next time they would meet would be down in the arena.
"Sir?" The woman asked. and Tristan exited the room before she could say anymore. His eyes brunt with fury and he struggled to keep it under control, but he did anyway. He had not lied to Nida when he said he fought best during moments of anger.
Two passageways curved towards opposite points of the arena, allowing the fighters to emerge from different points.
The flickering of flaming torches filled Tristan's sight as he strode down the scantly lit passageway. He could hear the announcer already and the crowd roared when his name was mentioned.
Nida was announced first and only a bit of cheering came forward to welcome her.
Standing at the entrance into the sanded arena, the bars rolled up to allow him pass, and even before the announcer could speak the crowds roared with ferocity, filling the entire place.
Expression dark and eyes listless, Tristan walked into the arena with bold steps, his eyes remained on his opponent and he could see her grip on her belted sword.
The crowds soon stopped their noise to allow the announcer speak, if he did not announce the fight they would not begin.
"I understand you all are excited to see him fight once again in these walls, and surely some of you believe he already owns the win. But I challenge your belief. His opponent is someone special" The man started, pulling the attention of those men and even women to his words.
"I have been privileged to see her fight and I must say you all have a very strong competition here. She's known for her lack of mercy in the box and has even earned herself the title; 'Manhunter,' for she's been known to have severed the parts of over fifty men!" The man exclaimed even shocked about that fact.
The crowd recoiled at that revelation. They all understood what he meant and could not but feel repulsion, especially the men.
"She's severed many generations from existence. You should understand how cruel she is. Some call her a fiend, some the manifestation of pure evil itself, but we call her Nida!" The crowd barely cheered, but that wasn't the main point.
Tristan took in all he had heard and pieced all of it together, she disgusted him the more.
Nida herself didn't care that her ugly hobby had been revealed, she focused wholly on Tristan's figure so much so that she almost made him uncomfortable.
Almost.
"With all that said… let the battle begin!" The exalted man announced, and the crowd went wild, but both figures simply began to circle each other as tension grew.
Tristan kept the left hand on the grip of his blade strapped to his back while Nida drew hers and entered a high guard.
Both individuals locked gazes with each other as they took slow steps to the side, circling the arena.
The sand beneath their feet made it difficult to make rash movements, so while both fighters had their eyes on their opponents the rest of their focus went on maintaining a defensive. If either tripped it could as well mark the end of the match.
Standing only about 3m from the other, Tristan very well knew his capabilities. He could sprint and be over there in mere moments. Still, he didn't underestimate his opponent to be capable of doing the same.
One of the many things he had learned from the losses he suffered in the past was to never underestimate his opponent. He at all points saw his opponent either as capable or slightly greater than him.
Finding no proper loophole in the other's defense and also their distance, both fighting experts seemed to make the same decision at the same time.
Taking a deep sharp breath, Tristan charged forward with power in his feet and arms, he drew his sword in that instant and crossed the distance between him and Nida.
Shockingly she made that same decision and both opponents swung their blades at the other. The result was a powerful clash that sent sparks flying into the air.
Stunned by the sheer power in Trisan's swing, Nida regained her balance and pushed her focus to its peak, unfortunately, she didn't see the next attack coming quickly enough.
In quick succession to the first swing which had been repelled, Tristan took a sharp step forward to launch three different swings at three different points on her body.
Her right arm, right hip, and upper belly. Those openings had been visible the moment their blades parted.
Tristan managed to get her right arm, resulting in a relatively deep cut, but the other strikes were parried with seeming ease. She remained nimble with her blade.
Nida jumped backward in surprise creating distance, but Tristan didn't push further.