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.

still pretty confused. This guy is just 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

be seriously embarrassing if I were to lose in an instant to some trick I didn’t

of my opponent's foot is

FAST!

CLANG!

my head to the side just in time

missed, my opponent is still quick to react, pushing off my thorax with both feet to create some distance before he readies himself

Whoa!

CLANG!

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

in mid air, using the force of the

try a little

spell itself is invisible, he somehow knows it’s coming, but I’m

Skill. A wave of crystalline sword-light is formed on the edge of the blade before it flies off, racing toward me

never seen sword-light this dense or fast moving before, clearly this guy has a high level sword Skill. Of course, my reactions are on point and I angle my carapace perfectly.

Gweheheheh.

Not even remotely enough! The crowd gasps as one, shocked that the mighty cut wasn’t enough to get through my exo-skeleton,

arc of sword-light flying at me. A roar of approval bursts from the crowd, but it

a