Doevm looked around the room. His vision was still a bit blurry, but he could see the general shapes of things. While his senses were dull, his strength was returning. His hands were finally still and he could stand without losing balance.Only he, his opponent, and the clerk remained. He got off the bench and went over a short warming up exercise. No matter how much he tried to calm himself, his heart wouldn"t listen. His armor flew out of his s.p.a.cial ring. He took quick glances at his opponent, who wore thick metal armor. Neither of them pulled out their weapons, refusing to give each other any information.
Doevm"s imaginary spear flew out at his imaginary opponent, who dodged and countered. He maneuvered around the room, taking quick little feints and movements. His opponent took the other side of the room to practice. An unspoken line formed, dividing the room into their own sections.
"Frey did it, so why can"t I?" Doevm thought to himself. "Because I"m weak," he answered himself. "Who could have attacked me? Why?" He shoved those thoughts back into their little corner of unwanted curiosity. "I have to be focused." He took deep breaths after every attack, his glances becoming more frequent.
He could still hear the battle from inside their cell, although he was too short to see the stage. The clangs got further apart and softer as the battle was nearing its conclusion. Soon it would be his turn. Every time he thought about that, his senses seemed to dull even further.
"He looks like a sword fighter, but his stance is a little low. Could that be a mistake or is that because he uses a different weapon? He has it hidden in that giant bag of his. With his heavy armor, it should be a heavy weapon. He is definitely stronger than me, especially with my current state. I"ll have to be defensive."
The door opened for the last time and the two fighters stood straight up. "For our last battle," Alexander"s voice carried through the open doorway. "We have Doevm against Rick." Rick glared at him and Doevm smirked. They walked out shoulder to shoulder, both suppressing the urge to shove each other away. The loser of the last match was still being loaded onto a stretcher. Doevm raised an eyebrow at Oliver, but the former war mage apprentice was too busy with his half-dead patient to notice.
"Opponents," Alexander said just as Oliver left the stage. "Stand on your marks!"
Rick and Doevm did as he said, turning away from each other. Doevm pulled out his spear, throwing knives, and dagger, and Rick pulled out a short sword. He couldn"t help himself and looked up at the gla.s.s. The brackets were gone, replaced with three blurry figures. He felt rage come up, which he promptly pushed away. "I"ll find out which book was taken later. For now, I need to foc.." His vision faded into a mess of color. His foot slid forward too much and his heavy spear nearly fell out of his hands. He bit his tongue, hoping the pain would help. It didn"t.
"Begin!"
He couldn"t even make out the shapes of things, let alone Rick, who was charging at him. Just barely louder than the ringing in his wears were tiny thuds, which got progressively louder. "If he"s anything like my squad members, he"ll go for a diagonal slash," Doevm rolled to the side, and sure enough, a sharp cut and a flash of metal just missed him. His upper body lurched forward along with his stomach. He ran to the edge and launched some throwing knives. They clattered to the ground a foot away from him.
Faint boos met his ears. He shook his head and a bit of vision returned. He was looking at himself, more specifically, the reflection of himself in Rick"s blade. It crashed against his chest, bounced off only by the chain mail and life essence. He made a blind grab. His hand wrapped around an arm.
A wide smile bloomed on his face. "Got you." He shut his eyes and the distracting whirl of color disappeared. He had long since lost his balance, but that didn"t matter if he leaned on Rick for support. His spear got in the way, so he let it drop into the sand. Skin, hair, in the fraction of a second his hand ran along them until he felt his opponent"s cloth collar.
"I should be to his left side and his sword should be a good distance away from me." He yanked the collar, turning Rick around. He slid down until he could feel the b.u.mps of his opponent"s vertebrae. His hands swept down his sides until they locked around his opponent"s waist. He lowered his body, squeezed, and raised himself back up. His opponent"s limbs flew around like a fish out of water. Blind elbows and fists rained down on his face. He threw Rick down, the skull cracking against the solid stone.
A kick sent Doevm back. After steadying himself, he drew his dagger. Rick was on his feet. He held a cracked part of his skull which was rapidly fixing itself. The blood stopped. Doevm fell on a knee. "I didn"t exercise that much. I should be fine physically. I ate, I"m not sick, I slept. I am fine." He thought as his opponent closed in. "I should be fine. Throw your fatigue away just like everything else. I am nothing. I am no one. I feel nothing. Fight!"
A crack sounded out and everything turned red. "I can do it, so I will do it, no matter how strange my actions will be."
The blade swept past his neck. He grabbed his opponent"s wrist with one hand, and with the other pushed the elbow too far. The enemy screamed and fell back. The sword clattered to the sand behind Doevm"s back. "His offensive options reduced by half. He is unlikely to use lethal moves. My current weaknesses are that I am in a bad position, however he is distracted by pain. New objective is to restore my own stance and break his."
Doevm chopped the broken arm from both sides, then kicked Rick to the ground. He jumped on top of him and raised a fist. "I should take advantage of the current situation. It"s unlikely I can maintain this position nor can I damage him. In his panicked state, he will most likely cover his vitals in life essence, which leaves his senses open." His fist all but closed except for his thumbs, which he jammed into Rick"s eyes.
Rick"s chest expanded to two times its size. Underneath the cracks in his armor, was a swirling layer of blue life essence. The chest shrunk at once and a powerful sound wave threw off and on his back. When Doevm stood up, there was a stream of blood going down his ear.
"The possibility that he used magic is unlikely. More probable solution is that he used life essence. It is similar to sound magic I picked up from boomer monkeys. Unknown ability started with chest expansion and compression of air most likely. I do not have time to copy it right now. Judging by his damaged eye, he can"t heal anymore." Doevm circled his opponent. He felt none of the pain, none of the tension. He wasn"t smiling.
"He has used the same move twice now, which means he is likely to use it a third." Doevm rushed in, surrounding his legs and chest in life essence. The sword stuck him, but he kept his speed up. "My strength is limited. I cannot draw this fight out any longer." He sidestepped, ending up behind Rick. His wrapped his arms around his neck. Before he could apply pressure however, a sharp pain in his neck brought him out of his trance.