Chapter 12 - Solo

"I can't believe we get to watch an Arena fight as the first part of our training," Petra said as the three made their way from breakfast up the steps to the segregated area in the stands set aside specifically for the Contestants. "Just… do you think there'll be many spectators so early in the day?"

"My grandfather wouldn't miss a single fight," Jordan said. "He said it was an honour to watch the men and women who offered up their lives to keep the rest of us safe."

"He watched all of them!?" Petra asked. "Aren't there hundreds of fights a season?"

Jordan nodded. "I basically never saw him, unless I went with him to a fight, then I'd get to see what he was really like. Not to me, mind you, he was just very loud. It was kind of annoying."

"Well, you haven't watched a fight with us yet, we can get pretty aggressive..." Petra said, then added: "Just kidding," knowing that Jordan wasn't exactly the quickest when it came to sarcasm.

The three Contestants took their seats and prepared to watch the fight with the rest of the crowd, and surprisingly, the central colosseum was heaving with the expectant faces and excited grins of the morning's crowd.

Miss Kane once again quietened everyone with her magically amplified voice.

"Good morning, citizens!" She announced. "And good morning to our esteemed season ticket holders, and as always, our distinguished guests of honour!"

The crowd erupted into cheers at their mention.

"Now today, we all know what you're here to see, do we not?" Miss Kane asked, and the crowd again erupted into whoops, cheers, and screams.

"Because he's here today to remind you what makes an arena Contestant Black-Ranked. Why they should be feared by any beast thinking it's better than the rest, any monster who puts the lives of our citizens at risk! This morning I'm proud to present to you: Lucius the Bloodied!"

If the crowd had expressed their delight before, it was now like someone had told them all they'd won the lottery. Women screamed, men beat their chests and roared, but as Titus watched, it seemed like everyone knew who this man was and they were excited to see what he was going to do.

One of the iron gates at the far end of the arena rolled upwards with a clang, and onto the arena sands stepped an absolute beast of a man. He was easily seven feet tall and wore a leather skirt and sash. But matched to his stature, the man had bulging, rippling muscles the likes of which Titus had never seen before attached to a human being. He also carried a long wooden staff that looked a little out of place to Titus, given that it had no blade and looked much like something that a Spellcaster would carry and not a Warrior, so he analysed the gladiator.

Lucius the Bloodied: Level 84

Class: Warrior - Blood Berserker

Profession: Arena Contestant - Blue

"I've seen this one fight before, and if you didn't think that Warriors were the best Class before, you're about to have your mind changed," Jordan said. "I mean, just look at him... he has an incredibly ability too. One that you aren't going to believe. Don't worry though; I'm not going to spoil it for you."

Titus looked at Jordan who wasn't taking his eyes off the Contestant on the sands. He could see why though because 'Lucius the Bloodied' was working the crowd into a frenzy.

"For the people!" Lucius cried and raised an arm into the air. Then he set off on a slow jog around the outside of the sands so that everyone watching could scream and cheer as he came close to them. Some of the women even threw flowers in his path.

Eventually Lucius came to a halt in the centre of the arena sands again, and Miss Kane resumed speaking.

"Today we have something special to present because it is a rare thing to see when a Contestant enters the arena alone!"

"He's going out there alone?" Titus asked in a whisper. "After everything we've been told about making a team that works well together?"

"Shh," Jordan hissed. "At white, you can only fight in threes, then blue in pairs or more, and after purple, you can go in alone. It just doesn't happen very often."

Titus thought about the reasons anyone would choose to stand out there alone, given what he'd seen of the Deadlands Boar and how deadly it could be if the group fighting it didn't work well together.

"It is a rare thing indeed to see a Contestant fight alone," Miss Kane continued. "But even less so when the opponent is one of the deadliest creatures in the land!"

The crowd screamed with excitement, and Lucius stood still in the centre of the arena, not fazed by the announcement. He knew what he was about to fight.

"It's got to be a Leviathan, or a Behemoth," Jordan said under his breath. "But why would he want to fight one alone?"

"Because look at the size of him!" Petra replied to Jordan's monologue. "I wouldn't bet against him in a million years!"

"But do not fear, ladies and gentlemen," Miss Kane said. "As is customary in this level of battle, the Arena limits have been warded so that means nothing in, nothing out. Everyone present is perfectly safe, well that is of course except for our very own Lucius the Bloodied here. Because his opponent today is none other than the dreaded Razor Wyrm!"

There was a loud cheer in response to the announcement of the monster that would take to the sands, and Jordan positively beamed.

"You're going to want to keep your eyes on this one; these things can be tricky," he said without turning to anyone inparticular.

Titus didn't have the chance to ask what a 'Razor Wyrm' was, but it didn't sound good. And if it was a Black-Ranked Contestant at level eighty-four fighting it, then it must've been something so far out of his own league it was comical.

"And begin!" Miss Kane shouted, and the crowd fell silent.

Titus didn't understand it. There was no monster entering onto the sands from any of the iron gates, and Lucius still stood alone in the middle of the field of battle. The Contestant wasn't moving, like he was waiting for something.

And then Titus saw it. A tiny patch of sand near the edge of the arena began to ripple. It was strange, like the sand was more like water because it flowed and shifted as the patch started to grow. Then it turned into a bulge. A bulge that seemed to turn its attention towards the Contestant standing in the middle of the arena sands, increasing its speed as it flowed towards him.

Lucius the Bloodied still didn't move.

"It's going to hit him! Whatever that thing is, it's going to hit him!" Titus hissed, unable to take his eyes off the battle about to begin.

The bulge in the sand grew closer and closer until it was practically on top of the Contestant.

And then it happened.

The sand erupted into the air like a volcano, and from it, a creature more terrifying than any Titus had ever seen emerged. It was the colour of the sand and with the head of a terrible lizard, the long serpentine creature had spines covering its long, fat body that looked like they'd slice through anything they touched. Its name was not misplaced.

Razor Wyrm: Level 100

HP: 15,000/15,000

"Level one hundred," Titus breathed. "And its health…"

"I've not seen one that big before," Jordan admitted. "But then I've never known their levels either. I have to admit, it does seem like this one's going to be a tough fight."

The Razor Wyrm lurched into the air clearly expecting its opponent to turn and run from it, but Lucius stood firm. The Wyrm then dove forward and impacted the ground inches away from the Contestant, and as it did so, its razor-sharp scales bit into Lucius, causing him to turn away or be dragged along into the ground with the Wyrm.

Blood spurted into the air from the multitude of cuts Lucius had sustained, and although Titus couldn't see the man's health points, he could only assume that they'd dropped substantially. And that was just the opening attack.

The ground rippled and bulged again, and Titus followed the path of the Razor Wyrm as it circled the arena before heading back to Lucius. All he could do was hold his breath.

The Wyrm again erupted with a spray of dirt and sand, but this time it changed tact from a glancing blow to a full-on attack. It opened its jaws to reveal rows of jagged teeth and whipped its head down towards Lucius like it was a venomous snake.

This time, Lucius reacted.

As quick as a flash, he raised his wooden staff into the air and the space between himself and the creature's terrible maw.

The Razor Wyrm wasn't fazed by the tiny human's action though, and went for the kill.

Titus bit his lip.

But the Wyrm didn't clamp its jaws around Lucius as Titus had expected because the wooden staff between them was now lodged in the monster's mouth, keeping its jaws apart.

Titus was about to ask a question, but Jordan answered it before he could.

"That staff must've been made by some master craftsman to withstand the power of those jaws."

Titus peered at the staff, but he couldn't get a good look at it. It looked like a normal, simple wooden staff, but Jordan was right; not even a tree trunk would have been able to withstand the pressure of those jaws.

The Razor Wyrm wailed and thrashed in the air to try to free itself from the offending weapon so that it could attack again. But it was no use; the staff was stuck fast. The monster would have to rely on its razor-sharp scales to end its opponent.

"That... that's effective," Titus breathed and he saw Jordan simply nod knowingly.

With that new task in mind, the Razor Wyrm turned and dove back into the ground, but not before wrapping its long, deadly body around Lucius the Bloodied, forcing the large Warrior to fall to his knees as he was cut, sliced, and impaled dozens of times over as the long serpentine body passed by him.

When the Wyrm was again back underground, Lucius was still on his knees, covered in blood and wounds, and the crowd was silent.

A pool of deep red blood was expanding beneath the Warrior, and the terrible wounds that covered his body Titus knew would've killed a lesser man.

But Lucius was still in the fight. He hadn't caused a single point of damage yet, but he had survived two attacks from the great Wyrm that would've killed anyone else.

Lucius wearily returned to his feet, and again the Wyrm made its attack run. Again Lucius took the damage without even trying to defend himself. Then again and again.

"It's going to kill him," Petra said, voicing Titus' thoughts. "Why isn't he fighting back? Does he want to die?"

"Just wait," Jordan said. "These things don't always go the way you'd expect, and if I know Lucius, he's almost ready."

"Ready for what?" Titus asked. "His funeral? Why isn't anyone stopping this?" He looked up to Miss Kane, who, like the rest of the crowd, was watching the fight intently.

"Just wait," Jordan repeated.

Titus made the effort to shut his mouth with a click and then looked back out to the Arena sands where the Wyrm was about to attack again. An attack that Titus was sure would mean the end of this defenceless Contestant.

The Razor Wyrm reared up and flung sand in all directions, but this time as it raised itself to its full height with the wooden staff still locked in its jaws, Lucius opened his arms wide like he was welcoming the monster to attack him.

The Wyrm screeched.

And then Titus noticed something. The blood-soaked sand, the cuts, scrapes, scores, and bruises, in fact, every single drop of blood that had been spilt from Lucius' body seemed to retreat back to where it had come from. It took a second, but the effect was clear: the Contestant was somehow absorbing all of his blood back up and into his body.

"Here it comes!" Jordan announced with a huge grin and wide eyes.

Then the last drop of blood flowed back into Lucius' body, and the man's skin turned a deep shade of red.

The Razor Wyrm lunged.

There was a flash of movement.

It was like it had happened in the blink of an eye. Lucius the Bloodied leapt up into the air towards the advancing maw of the Wyrm. He snatched back his wooden staff from the monster's terrible maw in one swift swipe and unleashed an attack with the weapon so devastating that the Wyrm's head had caved in entirely.

The pair fell back to the ground, though where Lucius landed gracefully on his feet, staff in hand, the Wyrm had fallen down dead. Silenced and beaten.

And it had only taken one strike.