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.

my part, I’m 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

stuff. Is there something going on he’s aware of but I’m not? It would be seriously embarrassing if I were to lose in an instant to some trick I didn’t see coming, so I

shift of my opponent's foot is all the warning I

FAST!

CLANG!

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

quick to react, pushing off my thorax with both feet to

Whoa!

CLANG!

blade strikes hard against my gravity compressed diamond carapace, sending sparks flying high into the air. This time, I’m not going to

force of the blow to bring himself back down to the ground. Legs

try a little

spell itself is invisible, he somehow knows it’s coming, but I’m not allowing him the time to set his feet for

powerful swing. Unlike the other times, he activates a Skill. A wave of crystalline sword-light is formed on

high level sword Skill. Of course, my 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 doesn’t yield a

Gweheheheh.

one, shocked that the mighty

roar of approval bursts from the crowd, but it soon quietens as I roll deftly out of the way. Well, I say deft. The ground literally rumbles when I roll now, given how

this a