Limits.

Roland went for a quick fight this time, to conserve his energy. He defeated his opponent without much of a problem, and returned to our waiting area. "I guess, it"s going to be my turn now. Let"s see what I get" I said, and waited for the announcer, to call out my name. I didn"t have to wait long, before I heard "We continue to the 6th round. There are only two warriors left. Will they manage to pull through, and defeat all the challengers? Or will they fall, and the challengers will take the ultimate win?! We will find out soon!".

He then continued "The next battle, will be between the Dark Traveller and Niel. Let"s hear it for the warrior and the challenger!". The crowd erupted, while I looked at Roland for any hints. He shook his head, and said "I don"t know that guy. Whether he is strong or not, we will find out, after you fight him". I nodded my head, and entered the platform.

To my surprise, the opponent was a human. Not any human either, he was one the guys from Fox"s group. "Well, I was warned that I will meet them on this platform. I don"t think that this guy will be a problem though, but you never know" I thought. Niel looked at me, and said "Even though you are strong, I don"t intend to lose either. Let"s see who is better!". I nodded my head, and the battle began.

Niel was a sword and shield user. I already dealt with shield wielders in the past, but the problem was, I couldn"t use my Art of Hidden Weapons. It was the biggest restriction, I had to place on myself, in order to stay unrecognised, as well as prevent humans trying to kill me. "Anyway, I will try with a bow" I thought, and took out my bow. The Niel guy just smiled, and moved forwards. I started shooting one arrow after the other. There was a problem though, and I realized why he had that smile. My arrows not only bounced back when they hit his shield, they bounced back so much, that they flew towards me at an increased speed.

I managed to escape just in time. Otherwise, I would get hit by my own arrows. Not only was that counter dangerous, it would be embarra.s.sing as h.e.l.l. "Just imagining getting hit by me own arrows… fortunately it didn"t happen" I thought. I hid away my bow, as it wouldn"t be very effective against that guy. He attacked me immediately, when my bow disappeared. I could only fight with my fists now. "It"s a shame, I didn"t buy any rubbish weapon… wait a minute!" I thought. I still had some different weapons with me. I forgot about them. For one, I used my daggers, but also the weapons were rubbish, compared to my daggers. "I should have that sword still" I thought. A sword which I made, when I was learning more about smithing. I made couple of them, just to practice, and I used better materials as well. My final creation was still rubbish, but it was made from Purified Steel.

"This is better than nothing. I just have to watch out for that shield of his. It seems to have a Formation, that can bounce back attacks, and even at increased speed" I thought. While distancing myself from that Niel, I rummaged through my bag, and finally found the sword. The sword was out of balance, it was crooked a bit as well. The sight alone… was simply a disgrace. Niel looked at my sword, and laughed "You want to fight with this? If you don"t have a sword, just say one word, I will lend you one. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA".

The crowd laughed as well, but I wasn"t angry. "The sword may look like this, but it was created by my hand, and I know it"s a solid piece of steel" I thought, and started walking forwards. Niel stopped laughing, and prepared to attack as well. We met halfway, where he used his shield, in order to ram me with it. I evaded it easily, but to my surprise, when I attacked with my sword, he managed to block it.

"He must"ve used a shield for a long time. He is quite proficient at defence, and aware of his surroundings" I thought. Proficiency was one thing, but what if he couldn"t see his enemy? I decided to test the Camouflage Formation. "Even if it fails to work properly, I can always try one more time" I thought, and focused on activating the Camouflage Formation. After a while of waiting, nothing happened. "Oh well, let"s try again" I thought, and avoided the attacks.

I tried again and again, until finally after 5th try, the Formation worked. To my surprise, it worked as it should, at least at that moment. Wasting no more time, I used my Natural Path skill, and appeared behind Niel. He didn"t expect my sudden disappearance, and looked around him for clues. I stuck to his back, and then slashed with the sword.

"ARGHH!"

Niel fell face down onto the platform, and made some painful noises. The wound on his back, was quite substantial. He could still fight probably, but he would lose anyway now. The Formation stopped by itself, and I appeared behind him. "This time, the Formation worked. Although, relying on it against strong opponents, is not a good idea" I thought. The announcer shouted "What an incredible win. The Dark Traveller surprised us yet again!". I walked down from the platform, and joined Roland in our waiting area.

Roland asked "Was that a Formation?". I nodded my head, and said "Yes. Although, I can"t depend on it". He seemed confused, so I added "That"s how it is". He didn"t seem satisfied with my answer, but didn"t ask about it anymore. Soon, the announcer shouted again "The next battle, will be between Roland and Alrika!". I looked at Roland, and asked "Are you going to be alright?". He shook his head, and said "I don"t know that person either". I replied "Test her strength first. I have a feeling, I know who it"s going to be". He nodded, and entered the platform.

The person who appeared on the stage in front of Roland, was the exact woman who belonged to Fox"s group. "I felt it"s going to be that way" I thought. The weapon of her choice, was a bow. "I don"t know her skills. I have no clue, whether Roland can win or not. I still hope he does" I thought, and watched the battle.

Roland didn"t waste any time, especially since his opponent was an archer. He wanted to get as close, as it was possible. But the archer named Alrika, was having none of that. She used some sort of weird technique, and circled around Roland, while shooting. Roland had a hard time evading, not even mentioning getting closer. He tried using his Aura, be she had an Aura as well, much stronger than Roland"s at that. "This Aura… It feels familiar somehow" I thought. The Aura was serene and distant, but it somehow made you want to look at Alrika, when she used that Aura.

I didn"t have much hope for Roland, when I saw her skills. I could win with her, when I used my own skills, but without them, it would not be simple. I would have to sacrifice a chunk of my flesh, in order to do that. To my surprise, that is what Roland did. As a final resort, he released his skill, and ran towards her. She stayed calm, and continued shooting the arrows. Roland on the other hand, no longer evaded them.

His clothes also had some kind of Defensive Formation. Nevertheless, he still received damage. He managed to arrive in front of her, at which point, she started to panic. "It seems, she is not very good in close combat, or doesn"t have much strength" I thought. She backed away, and tried to increase the distance, but with the last ditch, injured Roland threw his sword at her, like a spear. "Swoosh!". She didn"t expect that, and was unable to evade. The sword pierced through her stomach and nailed her to the ground, outside of the platform. "AAAAHHHHH! ARRRGHHH!", she screamed in pain.

Roland was not in a good condition either. He was bleeding all over, and barely stood on his own legs. "What a mess" I thought, and stood up. Roland started limping towards our area. As his strength was leaving him, I grabbed him, and escorted him back to his sit. I took out some medicine, and said "Drink it. Drink both of them, I will return in a moment". He nodded his head, and drank the medicine without any hesitation.

I walked over to his opponent Alrika. Her teammates, were already next to her, giving her some medicine to drink. I walked over, but didn"t say anything. The leader of that group asked "Can you help her?". I walked over, and pulled out the sword. She screamed even more, while blood started gushing out. I took out the medicine, and threw it to the leader, then left.

I wanted to retrieve a sword. I didn"t care about her injuries, she had her teammates who would take care of that. I provided the medicine, only because I extracted the sword, which resulted in her wound getting worse. I returned back to our waiting area, and threw the sword towards Roland. He said "You are... quite cruel. To just take out... that sword from her ….and leave". I replied "I gave them some medicine. How are your wounds?". He said slowly, as he was catching his breath. "Alright ...I guess. With enough time ...they will heal. Your medicine is great... tell me, where did you get it from?". I replied "I can"t do that".

He didn"t ask about that anymore. Instead, he asked "Why ...did you help me?". I replied promptly "I need you. If we want to win, I need to offset the strong opponents between us. If I had to face the strongest opponents one after the other, I would lose for sure". He smiled, and said "I figured ...as much. At least ...you are honest. Well ...I don"t intend to ...fail my task. I will take you up ...on that offer. Haah... I will try to win ...but make sure I don"t die". I replied "I"m fine with those arrangements". He went quiet for a while, then said "Thanks ...for returning my sword". I waved my hand, and said "It was nothing".