Chapter 9

Only a week had passed since Mili's death. Vince messaged me once saying that the job was very difficult but he knew he was close. Since then I had wandered from place to place as I had been doing for months before meeting Mili.

I found myself going into Delvus, a large town that served as a huge trading post for the area. It was pretty busy, players going in and out of shops, buying and selling at the numerous stands that lined the streets. I followed along the dirt road leading in and at the towns entrance I noticed a makeshift arena. Wooden beams lay on the ground in a big circle and two contestants dueled inside. One was a small guy, the other a rather large man with bulging muscles and a face that looked like it could kill you with a single aggressive stare. He held a massive sword with his giant arms. In a single attack he had won the match. The players in the audience exchanged gold for their bids.

A fat man little man stood before them with a stick in his hand. He looked like a dwarf with a wooden cane, his scraggly beard reaching his chest. "Anyone else?" called the man, "Will anyone else face Utgarl, my undefeated champion?"

I looked into my inventory and saw that I had only a hundred gold left, which was not much and wouldn't get me far when I still needed to eat. So I raised my hand, "I accept."

He looked at me with mock sympathy, "Well I was hoping for a real contest, but I guess I'll have to settle. To fight, put up fifty gold up front, the rest of us will match it. Win, take it all. Lose, we get yours."

I pulled out my gold and gave it to him. He opened his menu and it disappeared into his inventory. His eyes looked me over for a moment, "This is a duel, not a fight to the death. Weapons only, no spells, no special items. Agreed?"

I nodded and stepped into the arena. Utgarl raised his sword, glaring down at me. I drew both my swords, pulling Nightfang from my right side and Morning Star from my left shoulder. They were a lethal mixture of night and day, black as death, white as the light my foes would never see again.

We pulled up our screens for a duel, adjusting the settings to weapons only, and we both confirmed. The man raised his stick, "Fight!"

Utgarl swung for my head, his massive arms weilding the huge sword as easily as I used mine. I ducked under the attack and rolled to the right, cutting his leg as I went. I inflicted only a minor wound but found myself in more danger than planned. His leg kicked up and hit me in the chest, sending me up into the air and crashing down on my back. I rolled left just in time to evade a stab.

He was fast - too fast. I climbed to my feet and felt the fear clenching my chest, but I took deep breaths to slow my heart rate. I had to focus on my breathing and let the fear go, let my instincts take over.

I crossed my blades to block another attack and then forced his sword away, though my followup stab was not fast enough to make its mark. We fought hard, sparks flying with each clash of our blades. I cut him a few times but when I stabbed again he moved away quickly. The distance between us was covered easily by the length of his giant weapon and he cut deep into my shoulder. My health bar lowered from the significant damage, dropping just a sliver away from half.

The crowd cheered at the sight of it, shouted for more of the blood that poured from my wound and formed a growing puddle at my feet. It burned like fire but I did my best to shove aside the pain. I hit with a flurry of lightning fast slashes, each deflected. Again I was kicked to the ground and had to roll around stabs and scramble back to my feet.

Nightfang glowed blue as I activated my Break Force ability. Utgarl stabbed and I hit his blade with mine, the strength of the blow cleaving his weapon in half. The giant man staggered back and fell to the ground. Frustration burned inside me like the fire that flashed through the gaping wound in my shoulder, but I did not attack again. I sheathed my swords and the golden star appeared above my head to show my victory.

Shocked faces watched me, and the little fat man hesitated before handing me a coin pouch filled with gold. I said nothing when I left.

Blood made a trail down the road, but I had no potions to heal with. I hobbled along weakly. The health bar on my display showed that I was bleeding out and my heath was lowering rapidly. I fell to the ground and tasted the dirt. Black came over me like a curtain.