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 have the kind of ant numbers

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

foot is

FAST!

CLANG!

in warning, my nerves fire and I shift my position, angling my head to the side just in time for the blade, which would have punctured my eye, to spark off my

feet to create some distance before

Whoa!

CLANG!

a guided missile. I shift my head and again, the blade strikes hard against my gravity compressed diamond carapace, sending sparks flying high into the air. This time, I’m not going to let him reset himself so easily. I lash out with my mandibles, not using Void

in mid air, using the force of the

try a

though the spell itself is invisible, he somehow knows

a powerful swing. Unlike the other times, he activates a Skill. A wave

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

Gweheheheh.

as one, shocked that the mighty cut wasn’t enough to get

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

take this a