The second round of the day is met with cheers, for the number of combatants has decreased by half. It is here where winners of duels face other winners and where armor and weapons become progressively less impactful because a win gives you the loser's equipment.

  It is precisely this reason why Gino finds himself against a far more dangerous foe. His enemy wields a bo-staff while wearing runed pte armor. Specifically, armor that had belonged to Agris, who had taken from his enemy in yesterday's round. Specifically the armor with a hole in it’s chestpte. An opening for Gino, but the only opening other than the man's head.

  “Kids gonna lose.” Gond says.

  “He’s got a chance.” Myers counters, but the retired [Gdiator] shakes his head.

  “No. The bo-staff is a weapon that requires a lot of skill to wield effectively. You can’t just swing it and expect to win. The kid's good, but he’s outmatched in range, speed, and armor. He’d have a better chance if he’d worn heavier armor.”

  “He’d be slower.” Myers says.

  “He’s not faster than the staff of a trained [Staff Berserker]. A single strike is going to break bones if his only protection is leather.”

  “He just has to move with the hit,” Cillian chimes in with a bag of peanuts in one hand and a mug of not water in the other. “That’s what Boriss used to do until he became the one hitting.”

  The match begins with the [Staff Berserker] rushing forward while twirling his weapon. Using the momentum of the spin, he strikes at Gino. The kid dodge, but the [Berserker] recovers by bouncing his staff into an opposite twirl into another strike. The kid rolls a dodge, only for another strike to aim at him. He dodges again with a roll, crawl, hop. You can clearly see the panic on the kid's face as he struggles. Eventually, the luck runs out and the [Staff Berserker] predicts a dodge and smming into the kid's shin with bone-breaking force. Gino screams from the pain. The [Staff Berserker] doesn't flinch. He presses forward.

  Desperate, Gino throws his dagger, but the man merely raises a gauntleted arm in the way. Then, the man twists his staff in a spin, striking Gino across the face and ending the round.

  Both Gond and Myers fear the worst as the kid ys there, unmoving. They watch as the Judge moves to the body, his hand touches the kid's neck. Then both old men release a sigh as the [Healer] is called.

  “The kid’s grown on you both,” Cillian chuckles.

  “He’s fighting for his sister's freedom. I wish I had someone like that when I sold myself to pay for my mothers debt.”

  “Your mother sold you?” Myers asks, surprised.

  “No. You can't be contracted unwillingly unless you owe money or you’re a major criminal. My mother was being taken from me and my idiot self offered to go instead. To protect her and all that.” Gond shakes his head. “A good choice in the long run. I’d probably be starving in a ditch somewhere if I’d never taken the opportunity.”

  “What happened with your mother?” Cillians asks.

  Gond shrugs. “No idea. I never saw her again.”

  “Any regrets?” Myers asks.

  “Family. I never got to start one. Too old now.” He sighs. “It’s fine. Just an old man's musings. Lets focus on the competition, looks like Boriss is up next.”

  _______________________________________________________

  You know, I never realized it fully, but my ability to regenerate mana rapidly is very much focused on having furr. Without furr, it takes forever.

  I’m going to avoid burning off my furr going forward.

  I grimace in real time as damaged flesh regenerates first, and then my furr grows back. A very long, boring, and chilly process on account of the air temperature.

  Eventually, my fur does grow back and the speed of my mana regeneration improves rapidly.

  Let's try this a different way.

  I transform into my bird form and take flight. Immediately, I’m met with impeccable vision. I can see the heat signatures of bats hanging from the ceiling as well as the moles hiding underground. With just a mental flicker, I can see soundwaves the same way a bat can hear them. Using the newfound vision, I traverse the ndscape- one that is quite linear.

  Eventually, I arrived at a cavernous waterfall pouring further and further down. With a quick flight around the area, I’m met with dead ends.

  Down I go.

  Transforming back into a Fenrimorph, I plunge into the waterfall, descending down quite a long distance until my body falls into a deep pool. Swimming up, I exit the pool to the sight of another cavern filled with obsidian dildoes peaking out of the ground.

  At the opposite end of the cavern is a locked door with eight locks

  Eight locks and eight boulders. I wonder where these keys might actually be?

  For a moment, the thought of transforming into a bird to see what I’m dealing with passes by my noggin, only for me to brush it off.

  If those boulders explode or something, I’d rather not figure out what happens when I die while transformed.

  Taking a breath, I step forward and nothing happens. I continue stepping forward, and still nothing. Even as I get in the center of the pilrs, there is nothing.

  Shrugging, I walk to one of the pilrs, pull back my arm, and then punch with enough force to shatter obsidian.

  The obsidian cracks, but doesn’t shatter. Instead, the stone starts to move and crack. I step away and watch as more cracks form. One moment I’m staring at a pilr, and the next, I’m dealing with a four-armed, six-legged golem with a glowing obsidian head.

  As I take a stance, the other seven pilrs start to transform as well.

  Before the others can complete their transformation, I rush the current golem. The golem moves to intercept, but I easily dodge the slow speed. With a punch at one of the legs, the stone break and twists to reveal flesh within. The armor surrounding this monster is merely compacted obsidian.

  The monster moves to attack again, but the speed really isn’t that impressive. I break two more legs and the monster falls. I then punch it in the head, and the stone only cracks. I dodge a first and then come back with another punch. I do this several more times until the head shatters to reveal brain-matter.

  One down.

  I gnce at the rest of the now fully transformed golem monsters.

  Seven more to go.

  _________________________________________________________________

  Boriss’s second fight is a bit more difficult than his st. His opponent is actually skilled and fast, forcing the Russian to py a bit more defensively. Though a greatsword is long, the opponents halberd is longer. The man twirls the weapon with speed and ease as is befitting a [Heavy Halberdier]. The man’s weapon hits not only fast, but surprisingly hard.

  “It’s been awhile since I’d seen someone skilled with a Halberdier.” Gond says. “They’re quite rare.”

  “Standing armies tend to have a good amount.” Myers adds.

  “As a [Soldier], yes. But [Gdiators] prefer simpler weapons like swords, maces, and axes. Anything with range is good until someone gets in your face.”

  “That axe hits too hard.” Cillian comments. “It doesn’t make sense. Is it a skill?”

  “It’s the armor,” Myers says. “He’s transferring the weight of the pte and his movements into the swings.”

  “No,” Gond interrupts, “That’s a skill called [Weighted Impact]. Advanced csses with heavy in their css generally get skills that either improve attacking ability or defense.”

  “So he just hits harder?” Cillian asks.

  “Yes. The force he can magnify using weight improves anywhere from a quarter to outright triple. Even pte armor runed with durability couldn’t withstand such a strike.”

  “If all he does is hit harder, then Boriss will win.” Cillian says. He then takes a sip from his third mug.

  Returning their attention to Boriss, they watch as the Russian steps back, dodging the halberd by mere inches. As the [Heavy Halberdier] twirls for another swipe, Boriss impnts his greatsword deep into the sand using the weight of his armored body. The halberd strikes the greatsword, and the greatsword nudges several feet. Then it stops.

  The [Gdiator] attempts to pull his weapon back, but the trap has been set. Boriss flips himself up and nds fullforce on the axe-head and handle, snapping the weapon in two. Then, with a grin, retrieves his greatsword out of the sand.

  Before Boriss can even move to engage, his opponent drops his stick and surrenders.

  “That’s impressive.” Gond says and Myers agrees.

  Cillian chuckles. “Boriss is very unpredictable. I think Quasi called him a combat Savant. Not sure if it’s true, but the man has never lost a fight.”

  ______________________________________________________________

  Against humans, most fights end very quickly unless the humans in question are equally matched. This is a rarity, for even the slightest superiority in skill leads to an immediate one-sided victory. But most beasts and monsters are different. They don’t use weapons or advanced trained tactics. They are built to brawl until one side quits. For example, bears will maul each other until one leaves because fighting further isn't worth it. That’s evolution for you. It makes reasonable sense. Better to survive and fuck another day instead of dying.

  Now, whatever fucking evolution creates obsidian armored monstrosities needs to not exist. Like, why does this exist? How?

  My fist sms into the skull of the fifth monster, shattering it. Exhausted, I turn to gre at the remaining three enemies who trudge very slowly in my direction.

  My arms are so sore right now. I feel like I’ve been punching walls of stone for the st several minutes. Honestly, there must be an easier way at this. I doubt most people could take these enemies out unless they are extremely high level or carry massive hammers.

  I kinda wish I had a hammer.

  The next grueling minutes involve me finishing the st three of these enemies. As soon as the st head explodes, I allow my burning arms to rest. The gauntlets feel extremely heavy on my arms right now.

  As I rest, I look around to see if I can find the keys for the door. And I do find the key quite easily. It is dangling directly on the underside of a monster from thin chains. With a little bit of effort, the chain breaks. I gnce at the other corpses and find that the keys are in the exact same pces- directly on the monster's underside.

  Why isn’t the key inside the monster? Why is it just dangling under them for anyone to pluck it with ease? Hell, I could have easily grabbed the keys, went through the door, and not even fought…

  I groan as the realization hits.

  I wasn’t supposed to destroy them!