Chrysalis

Like I said, the Folk seem like they’re down to fight at pretty much the drop of a hat. Before ten minutes have passed, I find myself in an arena, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, while the dog-kin is stretching and taking some practice swings of his blade.

[How many of these arenas do you have?] I ask, a little bewildered.

[A lot,] he says. [We hone our skills in battle constantly against each other, and then against the Dungeon. Sometimes there are demonstrations where captured monsters are brought in so our warriors can test themselves against them. Most of these people probably assume that is the case here.]

He waves to the crowd and they cheer.

I wave to them with an antenna and get no response. Rude.

[Alright, what are the rules?]

[Fight, but don’t kill.]

[... That’s it?]

[That’s it. Use your full strength, because I will be using mine.]

So saying, he takes a firm grip of his sword and lowers himself into a grounded stance. The atmosphere becomes serious in an instant. A hush descends upon the crowd, as the audience holds their breath, waiting for the moment the battle begins.

going to fight me, with a sword? Just one? Look, I don’t have the biggest ego in the world, but I’m a tier seven, mythic monster over here. I don’t have

not? It would be seriously embarrassing if I were to lose in an instant to some

opponent's foot is all

FAST!

CLANG!

the side just in time for the blade, which would have punctured my eye, to spark off

with both feet to create some distance before he readies himself again. Not wanting to be caught out,

Whoa!

CLANG!

the air. This time, I’m not going to let him reset himself so easily. I lash out with my mandibles, not using Void Chomp, because… I don’t want to destroy the arena, but I put a bit of force

one of my mandibles in mid air, using the force of the blow to bring himself back down to

a little

that. I don’t manage to land a hit. Even though the spell itself is invisible, he somehow knows it’s coming, but I’m not allowing him the time to set his feet for one of those rocket jumps. In the end, all that happens is he bounces around the arena while my

frustrated, and lashes out with a powerful swing. Unlike the other times, he activates a Skill. A wave of crystalline sword-light is formed on the edge of the blade before it flies off,

reactions are on point and I angle my carapace perfectly. When the light hits, I feel the impact through my whole body, but my trusty carapace

Gweheheheh.

that the mighty cut

a flurry of strikes, each of them sending an arc of sword-light flying at me. A roar of approval bursts from the crowd, but

this a little