Endrick's attack kept mounting an impressive force onto Orean. Orean encapsulates his Resan to his feet, leaping past the gravity that was hindering him, his feet were like a dancer's what an impressive piece of footwork. No doubt it was the product of years of diligent training. Endrick continues his offensive, his fists continue to pump out Resan at a fearsome pace, his Resan levels were high if I remember correctly.
Each repetitive step was masked in a regal elegance, Endrick was an incredibly skilled fighter, this much I could tell. His Resan was reverberating out vastly, the glow around him was purple, a colour matching his fluency in combat. His fists combine together, blasting out a massive wave of Resan fueled by his element of gravity. Orean is impressively fast, his footwork sees him out of the range of the attack and he withdraws to a pillar that stood like a monolith within the arena. His feet kicked up sand with the sheer speed he withdrew with.
Orean pressing his back on pillar of stone, his breath melding with the air around him begins to channel his own attack. His hands weave into complex shapes, his eyes were full of malice as he pushed off and used a finger to pierce the very air. A gust of powerful wind erupted out of that finger in a straight line, as if a rock had been flung by a sling.
Orean was a wind user, and his grasp of this element was nothing to scoff at. Endrick was struck on the shoulder by the wind, he buckled and was flung across the arena. I tense my eyes at the screen, he was using Resan to soften the blow and ease it across him. All done within mere seconds. The sheer force that he was rocked with had kicked up a large amount of sand around the two, the lines that Endrick created when he skid on the floor were easily visible, but his silhouette was missing. Orean continued his offence, using Resan to quicken his steps, he bravely rushed into the fray. His hands kept weaving, coddling the wind and air around him, beckoning it to him as if it were second nature. Endrick, was missing.
A massive eruption of Resan was seen in the next moment, the fight intensified and has seemingly reached its climax. What a battle. The fate of their destinies hung in the balance, one never reaching the pinnacle of power, the other basking in glory. Who would emerge victorious?
When the dust settled, Orean stood alone. Something was amiss, his breath came in ragged gasps. Endrick appeared behind Orean, his fist resting upon his back; with a final push his Resan poured immensely into Orean. The gravity began to beckon Orean to the floor, the very earth trembled as Endrick released this final attack. Orean was surrounded in a purple miasma as the force kept pummelling him to the floor, his body began to twist and malformed, bones were breaking.
The blood that stained the sand was tantamount to a river. Orean was defeated, he keeps gasping for air amongst the Resan. He was on the verge of death.
Endrick did not stop, his fist kept pushing deeper into Orean, yet no one came to save him. The crowd only kept cheering and roaring in excitement. What is happening? Were they truly about to let this boy die in front of everyone?
With a final followthrough of his fist Endrick rammed his entire arm down Orean's back as he lay on the floor. He went limp. The crowd met this limp body with pure guttural roars of bloodlust. They were praising the glory of this murder.
It was murder.
Bloody murder.
They truly let this happen? None of the proctors even flinched. Are these the stakes of the game I play now? Death or triumph...
He just killed a boy. Endrick murdered him.
My mind slips and fades out, I'm truly understanding what the proctors meant by how the students were expelled from ever attempting the test again.
You cannot attempt the test if you were dead.
These battles are to the death.
My breath becomes more ragged, mimicking that of Orean's in his final moment. I had just witnessed someone dying, I've seen dead bodies before, but never a murder. Not with my own eyes.
I was expected to do this too?
The sight of the blood played tricks on my mind, I can feel my thirst gaining on me again, I keel over; a sickening reaction had stemmed out of my gut and onto the floor. Random assortments of fluids lay before me, my hands were shaking. I grasp the floor as tight as I can, my nail beds beginning to bleed from the pure force I exert on the floor to try and hold myself together.
I can't do this.
Not this.
The door to the room swings open, a proctor cloaked in black throws a blood pack towards me. My hands instantly fling off the floor and towards the blood, the mere sight of it was causing me to drool. I need this. My mouth wraps around the pack and pierces into it. My tongue flicks over the piercing I made, covering the entire hole with my mouth as I begin to suck the blood out of it. The door slams shut as I continue to feed.
This felt amazing, far better than anything I have ever tasted before. As I continue to feed my mind gains a higher clarity. They must've been watching me to know I was struggling, I was starving.
I let out a breath of relief as I drop the empty pack the floor. I felt invigorated, truly strong in every sense. Stronger than I have ever felt. I haven't fed since I had been turned, I used a ridiculous amount of Resan. Learnt new abilities. It was high time I fed, and what a feeling it was. I was truly on the edge of losing my mind there.
I continue to breathe, calling back to the teachings of that parchment, if this was a battle to the death then I had to make sure it was me winning, living. I cast my mind back down into my Resan reserves, allowing it to pool around and continue to manifest into the lightning.
Thoughts of lightning are all around my brain, they bounce around constantly. I feel crackles ripple around me in the air.
My head is thrown through a loop suddenly.
My Resan turns black, darker than any night I have seen. Darker than the death I had faced before. It was malice incarnate. I try to dispel it, ward it away, I'm in a panic. Damn, damn it all! Stop!
Boy.
You are weak.
What are you?
I am you.
Your true self.