The Fights (Flashback)
Spring, 501 AV
It was the first trial, The Fight. A series of rounds that consisted of brutal fighting where anything went and the goal was to beat your opponent unconscious for the right to proceed or for some people survival was the focus because here, death was overlooked. Yes, it was time for me to climb into a arena of pain, dust and sweat where I would fight it out with someone just as big, just as strong and just as desperate to serve the celestial Xannos as a warrior monk. My name was called. I prepared my self before stepping into the open ring that would serve as my miniature battleground. "Breathe."I thought to myself, eyes closed, "in and out, in and out."
"Begin!"
My eyes snapped open to asses my opponent. He was huge! He stood a foot taller than me at least and his arms bulged with muscle, his face was twisted in a sneer of disgust and rage. Now I was big and I was strong but this kid...he was something else. In the few moments I had to consider him what I did notice was his perfect nose. It was straight and unblemished with diamond shaped nostrils and perfectly smooth skin, I couldn't help but chuckle. The noise seemed to just enrage him further and the smile fell from my face as he came charging towards me, shoulder down, roaring his head off.
I attempted to slip into my stance but he was to close and smashed into me. My breathe ripped out of me in a ragged gasp as we fell to the floor where he immediately started laying into me with his fists, smashing my sides and head over and over. Dazed as I was I managed to get my hands up and block most of his punches. My mind scrabbled desperately for a way to get him off me.
"I can't get him off me, he's to big I..." I stopped mid thought as I realized "His positions sloppy, he's left a gap between my hips and his, this is my chance!" With an almighty heave I forced my legs through the gap and kicked as hard as I could against his chest. The force sent him flying off me into the dust. I quickly staggered into a standing position and moved into my fighting stance as my head cleared, left foot forward, right foot back with my hands just below my chin. By this time my opponent had regained his feet and was once again readying himself for the charge except this time I was ready. Then he came again, this human boulder, tearing towards me with death on his mind. As the distance between us closed I prepared myself "Breath...In and out, in and out" Finally, when he was close enough for me to reach out and touch, I opened my eyes, stepped forward, rotated my hips with my shoulders a few moments behind and extended my arm. I put all my weight and strength behind that punch and I was reward with a solid connection directly in the middle of his face. In that moment of contact where time traveled slower I felt a grinding and then a crack that reverberated up my arm. The sound and feeling confused me for a few moments before I realized what had snapped. Time seemed to start again and the roar of the crowd rushed over me in a tidal wave of noise that felt like a physical wall, thumping through my chest. I spun round and looked, horrified at the white, wet shards of bone sticking through my opponents neck but no one seemed to care because as I said...anything goes...and death is overlooked.
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