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The lesser chimera and I were now locked in a staring contest, as we re-evaluated each other, every time I repositioned my arms or footing, the lesser chimera would twitch and lash its tail about as it dug its claws into the dirt, ready to move at a moment's notice.
Seeing that this was a powerful and agile opponent that had excellent reaction speed, an idea came to me, and I started weaving some spells to replace the ones I cast.
Within a few seconds, I was ready, so I made the first move. I waved my hand in a horizontal slash, releasing a Wind Blade spell, and rushed in right behind it. The lesser chimera reacted by jumping in the air, making it an easy target for me to throw another Wind Blade at it, but its bone-bladed tail sliced through the air, clashing and dispersing my Wind Blade. Those are some tough bones on that tail.
I rushed forward on its way to the ground and thrust my spear up at its center mass, this forced the lesser chimera to use a paw to swipe away the tip of my spear, making it land on one front paw, which had to bear the weight of the rest of its body before its hind legs touched the ground.
This force made the lesser chimera roll to the side as I spun around with the force of my spear being parried and stabbed at the lesser chimera's head, but only scoring a glancing hit that cut the skin between its horns.
This enraged the lesser chimera as it lashed its tail at me while recovering its footing. As soon as it was on its feet and I was trading blows with it, my spear bending and warping as I tried to stab it from different angles, while the lesser chimera attacked with tail, teeth, and claws.
Before we broke off from our clash, I managed to get in multiple cuts on its hide and a solid stab on its left shoulder, but unfortunately, according to the red markings on the first layer of the tournament-provided mana shield, I did not come out of the trade unscathed, there are four red damage marks that I know about and a few that I did not have the time to see but I know are there.
But even if I incurred some damage, I achieved what I set out to do. Now that I have injured it, the lesser chimera now has its undivided attention not on me exactly, but on the tip of my spear. To test this, I swayed my spear around and saw its head and eyes track it. I was ready for the next stage of my plan.
I mentally cast a sound barrier around my ears, manipulated wind mana in front of my mouth to amplify my voice, and readied a light spell at the tip of my spear. I readied myself for another clash by leveling my spear at the lesser chimera's eye level and charged, and the lesser chimera responded in kind.
While we closed the distance to each other, the only thing I could hear with the sound barrier over my ears, was the sound of my breath, the pumping of my heart, and the impact of my feet hitting the ground. When I was just outside the striking distance of the lesser chimera, I closed my eyes and triggered the light spell at the tip of my spear. At the same time, I pictured R. Lee Ermey in my mind, commanding me to show him my war face, and shouted with all I had into the wind mana construct in front of my mouth, "AHHHHH!!!"
This combination of a bright flash from my spear and a shout loud enough to kick up dust was the equivalent of a flashbang going off in front of the lesser chimera's face, and I opened my eyes just in time to avoid being run over by a deaf and blind lesser chimera by diving between its legs.
I then immediately got to my feet, turned around to face the rear of the lesser chimera, and did something I was not proud of. Not wanting to waste the opportunity to strike a disorientated opponent, I did not consider where I was hitting the lesser chimera, only that I hit it.
The practice of my thrusting form took over me, and one aura-empowered lunge later, I luckily, or should I say unluckily, shoved half of my into the lesser chimera… where the sun doesn't shine.
When I realized what I had done, I was still, the lesser chimera was still, and the audience let out a collective "Oooh!" while winching, but there were some weirdos in the crowd cheering and making lewd jokes.
A second, later the lesser chimera released a screech of pain as it trashed around, which most likely made its internal injuries worse. After around ten seconds of thrashing around, the spear inside its body must have hit something important, and the lesser chimera flopped to the ground with a pathetic whine.
I drew my sword and walked over to the creature lying on its side, when I looked into its eyes, I could still see that it was blinded by its pupils darting around despite me standing over it, this was no longer a fight, it was an execution. I poured aura into my sword and stabbed into its skull where I thought its brain should be.
A few seconds of twitching later and the deed was done.
"Ladies and gents, give it up for our contestant!" the announcer said and the crowd started cheering once again. "Truly, we should expect nothing less of the winner of three combat events! But take heed, dear contestant, this next round may push you to your limits."
The "Round 4" wheel of monsters was then brought out, but I noticed that there was a lot less variety on the wheel, this round was supposedly monsters at the level where an aura-capable warrior needs to take to the field.
When the wheel stopped, I could see the king and the announcer wince, "Oooh… I feel sorry for you dear contestant, you have got a most irritating opponent… a Mirage Spider."
At the uttering of that creature's name, I could see confusion in the general audience's faces, but there were a few rough-looking men and women who dressed like adventures that shared the same expression as the king and announcer.
I have never heard of this Mirage Spider, but I am sure the announcer owls enlighten me like he did for every other monster.
"To prepare for this fight, mages, please change the Pit's barrier into a dome configuration, and raise some pillars." as the changes to the Pit were being made the announcer started his monologue on my next opponent
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our young contestant will face one of the most elusive and fiendish creatures to ever share the land with us, the Mirage Spider!
A true master of stealth and bane to many a mighty adventure, the Mirage Spider is a creature of shadows and subtlety, a predator that preys on fear itself. With near-invisibility cloaking its movements, it is a monster that innately uses light and dark mana to obscure itself, making it hard to pin down and even harder to strike! But watch your step, for its webs, though nearly transparent, are tough as steel and capable of ensnaring even the mightiest of warriors. This beast's lair is a death trap in every sense of the word!
And don't let the fact that it is just a monster fool you, it's clever. Oh, it's cunning as sin! It studies its prey, luring them into traps with a mind sharper than any blade. It waits, it stalks, and it strikes when you least expect it!
Will our contestant prevail against the fiendish tricks and deadly webs of the Mirage Spider? Or will the hunter become the hunted? Only the battle will tell! So, place your bets, steel your nerves, and prepare for a clash you'll never forget!"
Wait… did he say it innately uses two kinds of mana? And did they add the pillars to give the spider a chance to spin some webs around the area? And they never mentioned how big the spider was!
It was then that the portcullis opened, and a draft horse wheeled in a metal box that was almost twice as large as the lesser chimera's. The horse was quickly unhooked and brought back into the tunnel where they closed the portcullis behind them, and with a pull of the chain from behind the portcullis, the door of the metal box swung open, and a shimmer shot out of the box and up the nearest pillar.
I barely saw the monster, and I already felt that this was going to be a pain in the ass to fight.