>>6234028“The challengers are ready!” Melanie exclaims. “Let the first round of the gauntlet…begin!”
You scoff loudly. Ordinarily a fight against three highly-experienced veteran mercenaries would have excited you, but the Wheel of Fortune saw fit to rob you of any enjoyment you might have possibly derived. There was no point in stretching this out any longer than you needed to. You begin walking forward, your axe out and resting atop your right shoulder. The mage, Ramiz, begins to panic. Shaking, you watch as he stammers out some manner of incantation, conjuring a ball of light that appears directly above you. You stop and stare up, and it hovers there for a moment, before falling upon you in an explosion of light and sound.
>Tristain: 45/63 HPThat stung a little bit, but ultimately it was a futile endeavor on his part. You continue moving forward. Aslan and Zora attempt to get in your way, but without weapons they might as well have been trying to stop a raging storm. You slash Zora’s head clean off with a single swipe of your axe. The woman’s body lingers for some moments longer, taking a few steps before plummeting to the ground to unleash a river of blood. As it does so, you duck out of Aslan’s grasp and headbutt him, knocking down the large man. Ramiz shrieks loudly, as you now bear down upon him, looming menacingly.
“Ahh! Mercy! I yie-”
Your axe cleaves the Light Mage right down the middle, slicing him into two messy pieces.
“Such brutality! Such devastation! Life in the octagon is brutal stuff!” Melanie exclaims excitedly. “It doesn’t matter how much skill one possesses, if lady luck is not on your side, you’d better kiss your ass goodbye!”
You turn around just in time to watch Cuthbert plunge his spear into Aslan’s chest before he can get up. The mercenary gargles a spray of blood before falling still. Just like that, you and your allies emerge victorious in the second round of the gauntlet.
>50xp gained! (50/100)“Klement!” You shout, loud enough for the heir to House Bergliez to hear you. The cage’s gate has opened, and Shangri-La’s workers are already carting off the corpses of the vanquished Desert Wraiths. “I thought you’d planned on making this interesting? Do you really plan to make me sit through three more of these foolish battles before facing me yourself?”
“Tristain, my friend!” Klement grins ear to ear. If he was annoyed at your victory thus far, he was doing his best to now show it. “We’re hardly even halfway through with our challenges! I advise you not to grow so arrogant so soon. The thing about luck is that it often has a funny way of turning around.”
“Our third challengers are now making their way to the ring!” Melanie announces. “And it looks as though this showdown will have the foreigners facing off against one another!”
