Chapter 53 – Wolves & Skeletons

"That’s three for me and Petra then," Jordan announced as Petra ascended the steps from her pit after the fight in which she’d soundly bested a level three goblin. She’d been fortunate to fight a goblin, having already practised against them and knowing that they really had nothing to offer beyond their bloodthirstiness and agility. Petra was even more agile than the little creature despite it being one level her senior.

Jordan too had fought a goblin, though the large Defender had managed to tire the thing out by simply defending against all of its attacks and waiting for his opportunity to strike. Other than the two goblins, there had been a couple of Deadlands Boars, a Kobold, which was a lizard-like creature that stood on two legs, a couple of Knolls which were a bit like hyenas but carried long wooden spears, and the rest were large spiders with very deadly fangs, but they lacked the abilities that their Frostbite cousins had called upon. All in all, the group had fought what were considered to be the basic monsters that one might find gracing the Arena dungeons with their presence, and probably the easiest things to beat if one were to venture beyond the walls – which of course nobody did except the Hunters and the travelling merchants.

Titus already knew that the fight within him was dropping. They didn’t have any potions, Stamina, Health, or Mana to allow them to refill their reserves between battles, and although they’d discovered that Mana and Health would regenerate at a rate of about ten percent per minute and one percent per second respectively, it was Health that had become the issue, with the pool only recovering at a rate of about ten percent per hour.

All in all, this meant that in Titus’ case, the small chunks of health points he’d lost in his own two battles had left him with about half his health remaining. It wasn’t a dire situation but he knew that he wasn’t going to risk a fourth battle, no matter the outcome of the third. He was actually surprised that he’d even made it this far.

What was good though, was that they’d discovered that fighting against level three monsters alone in the pits seemed to award them somewhere around twenty experience points a go, so Titus had just twenty-nine remaining to go in order to reach his third level. And that meant upgrades and a new ability point. He could almost taste it.

This was when Titus realised how alluring the draw was to take more and more risks, and he even found he had to stop himself from daydreaming about fighting even stronger monsters just to level up faster.

Titus walked down the stone steps into the pit while his two friends watched from above. As usual, he had no idea what he was about to face, only that he knew it was going to be a level three creature, the only parameter he was able to set for himself

at this point, the option for a melee fighter greying itself out for whatever reason.

He waited in his chainmail shirt with his sword in hand – the one that Jordan had given him once he’d replaced it with Jacob’s axe – and watched the other end of the pit where the portal would open as usual to allow his opponent onto the field of battle.

Titus waited, his grip on the sword tight. He knew he had to be cautious; his remaining health didn’t give him much leeway for mistakes. He knew that perhaps he shouldn’t be risking this, but that was the point, wasn’t it? His heart pounded in his chest and he grit his teeth ready to face whatever was about to enter into the pit with him.

Suddenly, the familiar swirl of the portal appeared, and through it stepped his opponent. Titus's eyes narrowed as he assessed the creature.

Dire Wolf

Level: 3

HP: 100/100

It was a level three Dire Wolf, its fur matted and its eyes glowing with a fierce, predatory intelligence. The creature was larger than any ordinary wolf, its muscular form bristling with strength and agility. It was the first time Titus had seen such a creature, and he really didn’t know what he was going to do to fight the thing. But then really, he could only do what he already knew, and that was everything that his friends had shown him.

Titus steadied himself, recalling every training session he had undergone. He knew that against such a swift and powerful creature, his best chance was to rely on parrying, defence, and the timing of his strikes. It would’ve been a perfect opponent for Jordan in fact.

The Dire Wolf didn’t attack right away. It lowered its head as it circled its prey, its movements sleek and calculated. Titus mirrored its movements while keeping his sword ready, waiting for the right moment to strike. He remembered Jordan's advice about finding the right balance between offence and defence, especially when health was a concern.

Without warning the Dire Wolf lunged. Titus sidestepped swiftly, narrowly avoiding the sharp fangs and claws. He swung his sword in a quick, fluid motion, managing to graze the wolf's flank as it passed. The creature yelped but quickly regained its composure, circling once more.

The attack had done little damage to the creature, but it was first blood, and that gave Titus a wash of newfound confidence.

Titus felt his adrenaline spike. He was in the moment, every sense heightened.

The wolf lunged again, this time with more ferocity. Titus parried with his sword again, feeling the impact run up his arm like he’d hit a stone wall, but he counterattacked with a thrust aimed at the creature's shoulder. The wolf dodged, but not fast enough to avoid another cut as it shifted its huge form. Titus had struck again, but he could already feel himself tiring.

It was funny, because the wolf was so large it was almost impossible to miss and Titus found himself smiling at that.

Titus could see that the wolf's movements were already becoming slightly more laboured, the cuts although minor already slowing it down. So now he pressed his advantage: he lowered his sword so that it was parallel with the ground and charged forward.

There was a blur of motion and a yelp from the wolf as Titus made contact, but it took a moment for the dust to settle and show that the wolf had been wounded badly this time just inches from its throat. Its health pool had dropped by almost half, but now Titus was bleeding too. In the engagement, the Dire Wolf had managed to land a blow of its own, scoring three deep cuts on Titus’ face that bled from just beneath his eye and down his cheek. If he’d been a little less lucky, he could’ve been blinded there and then. He had to be more careful.

But Titus had managed to move away and put some distance between the pair. His own health pool had taken a huge dent, but he knew that he had the upper hand in the fight; the Dire Wolf had caught him, yes, but it was a lucky strike because Titus had been overenthusiastic to land a blow. He could see that now. He could see that all he had to do was invite the creature to attack, and he could counter. He’d started off faster than the Dire Wolf, and now with its injuries that gap was only increased.

Titus took a deep breath, centring himself, focusing on the wolf’s every move knowing that there were no more mistakes to be made.

The Dire Wolf, sensing its own vulnerability, became more cautious too, its eyes fixed on Titus with both wariness and primal ferocity. Titus could tell it was waiting for an opportunity to strike, perhaps hoping to exploit his own injuries.

But Titus had learned from his mistake. He would not charge in recklessly again. Instead, he re-adopted a defensive stance, ready to respond to the wolf's next move. His strategy was clear: bait the wolf into attacking, then counter when it was most vulnerable. It was how the fight he’d started and arguably how Titus should’ve kept going. Perhaps then he wouldn’t have been almost blinded by the thing.

The wolf paced and then, with a sudden burst of speed, lunged at Titus once more. Titus braced himself, sword at the ready. As the wolf neared, he sidestepped again, though this time swinging his sword in a much wider arc. The blade connected with the wolf’s side as it passed him by, leaving a deep gash that tore into the creature’s flesh.

The wolf howled in pain and anger, staggering back and almost seeming to stumble as its injuries took hold of it.

Titus didn’t waste a moment. He lunged forward, delivering a series of quick, targeted stabs and slashes. Each blow was calculated and his form tight, designed to sap the wolf’s health points without exposing himself to unnecessary risk.

The wolf, now severely injured, tried to retaliate, but its movements were sluggish, hindered badly by its wounds. Titus evaded its attacks with relative ease, continuing his onslaught.

After a tense minute, the Dire Wolf’s strength finally gave out and it collapsed to the ground, its breaths coming in laboured gasps. Titus stood over it, his chest heaving with exertion, his sword dripping with the creature’s blood.

Titus knew that he had no choice but to end the fight, and so without hesitation he drove his sword deep into the Dire Wolf’s throat, taking away the last handful of health points the creature had.

Titus felt the surge of adrenaline ebb and flow as the realisation hit him that he’d won the fight, but he eagerly awaited the notification that always followed:

You have gained 20 experience points

XP to next level: 9

The journey from level one to two had been a long and difficult one comparatively speaking because the jump from two to three hadn’t been a long grind filled with fighting and monsters. Although as Titus thought about it, he could appreciate that the monsters he and his friends had been fighting recently had been higher levelled, but also they’d been mostly fighting them alone.

He still had a little way to go to reach that next milestone, but Titus had won, and it was a close call. His health was alarmingly low, and he knew he needed to be more cautious in future battles - but he’d wanted to get that XP so badly. Even so this fight had been a good reminder of the dangers that lay in the Arena and the importance of strategy and skill over brute force.

As he caught his breath and exited the pit, he was met with cheers from Jordan and Petra.

“That was incredible, Titus!” Petra exclaimed.

Jordan clapped him on the back, a broad grin on his face. “You handled that like a true Warrior. I’m impressed.”

Titus smiled weakly, feeling a mix of pride and relief. “Thanks, guys. But I think I’ve had enough for today. And one day it might be nice to hear ‘you handled that like a true Capacitor’, you know?”

“Well a few weeks ago you didn’t even know which end of the sword to hold on to,” Jordan said. “Progress is progress.”

“It’s the end with the handle, right?” Titus asked. “Though I didn’t have the benefit of being prepared to be here for days, weeks, and months. So really, holding my own and taking down three monsters in the pits, just like you two… well, you could say I was making better progress than either of you.”

“You could,” Jordan said. “But I’m not done yet, so let’s bring on number four and see if there’s something down there that can really show off my skills.”

“Alright,” Petra said. “But if it’s another spider I don’t want to hear you screaming like a girl again.”

“It wasn’t… I didn’t,” Jordan said. “Shut up. I didn’t scream, I was just surprised.”

“Surprised like a girl,” Petra said under her breath.

“OK, let's do this!” Jordan said to shut the conversation down and readied himself for his next fight. He was carrying the large wooden shield he’d already become fond of, as well as the long battleaxe he’d appropriated from Jacob. Paired with his heavy plate armour he certainly cast an imposing figure, one that Titus knew he wouldn’t have wanted to face head on. He doubted he’d even be able to land a solid blow against his friend.

Titus watched as Jordan took an easy stance on his side of the pit. His friend looked limber, and his heavy weapons and armour didn’t seem to be costing him too much in the way of movement, though his increased strength stat probably was the cause for most of that.

“Wooo! Come on spider!” Petra cheered from beside Titus. “A big juicy one! I want to hear that big guy scream!”

Jordan, to his credit, didn’t seem fazed by the ribbing from his friend. If anything, he looked like he was planning to tear his next opponent limb from limb, whatever it was.

The portal then opened to signify the start of the fight, and Titus watched as the bony white form of a level three reanimated skeleton unfolded from the swirling abyss and came to a standing halt, round steel shield and a rusty-looking single hand axe in the other. Without skin, the skeleton had a kind of devious smile on its face, one that Titus didn’t enjoy. Again, thankfully Jordan seemed unfazed.

The skeleton, lacking flesh and blood, was a foe unlike any that any of the three friends had encountered in their previous bouts. It moved with an unnatural, jerky motion and its bones clattered with each step.

Jordan, with his shield raised and axe ready, initiated the combat. He advanced towards the skeleton, his axe poised and to the ready. The skeleton responded in kind, swirling its own axe in a wide arc like it was daring Jordan to come closer, to cross the empty space between them.

The first strike came as Jordan reached the skeleton’s range, and the creature swiped out with its weapon in a horizontal arc, all the while grinning its harrowing grin.

“So there are skeletons outside the walls just wandering around?” Titus asked Petra as the two watched their friend in combat. “Like, one could just come up to you and start a fight?”

Petra shook her head. “Now I’m just guessing here because really I don’t know… and I don’t think anyone except the Hunters really know either, but I think the monsters out there would most likely stick together. We see a lot of variety here because the Hunters don’t conquer the monsters, they capture them and send them back to us. Besides, if all that happened in the Arena was that the crowds watched Contestants fight goblins over and over – of varying levels even – it’d get pretty boring, wouldn’t it?”

That made sense to Titus, and so did the feeling that monsters stuck together out there. After all, it was normal to see things like that happen even inside the City walls. Take rats, for example, not the giant kind that seemed to have been awakened by the God of Chaos, but the regular small, sewer-dwelling kind. Where you found one, you’d most likely find a dozen more. It was just how nature worked.

Down below, Jordan was still dealing with the jerky reanimated skeleton who’d swiped out at the Defender again. Judging by their health pools, neither of the fighters had landed a single blow as of yet.

Jordan easily parried with his shield, the sound of metal clashing against wood echoing through the Pit.

The skeleton, seemingly undeterred by the first exchange, pressed on with a series of rapid strikes with its axe, forehand and backhand one after the other and each met with Jordan's shield or were dodged entirely. Jordan's extensive training and experience were evident in his ability to anticipate and react to each attack.

It was clear that Jordan was biding his time and awaited the perfect opportunity to retaliate properly. Everything up until this point had just been a feeler, a way for the Defender to determine the level of threat his opponent posed. And now Titus could see that Jordan had made up his mind.

The large Defender took a half-step back and placed his axe behind his shield so that the skeleton had a clear path to reach him. Before Titus had seen Jordan fight so many times, he might’ve been worried. But now he knew exactly what his friend was doing.

Sadly, the skeleton didn’t have the same knowledge and experience Titus did of the Defender, and so it lunged at Jordan leading with its axe first, straight into Jordan’s shield.

The axe penetrated into Jordan’s shield for a solid inch, and at that very moment, Jordan made his move.

Jordan unleashed his Shield Bash ability. He thrust his shield forward with immense force, completely catching the skeleton off-guard. The impact sent the creature staggering back, its bones rattling violently as it rolled, but when Titus looked back at Jordan, he could see that the creature had left its axe, and half of its arm attached to Jordan’s shield.

Petra cheered from the sidelines, her voice filled with excitement. "That's it, Jordan! Show it who's boss!"

The skeleton, though momentarily disoriented, quickly regained its footing. It obviously lacked the capacity to feel pain or fear, making it a relentless opponent in any fight. However, it also lacked strategy, relying on basic, repetitive attacks and the only thing it had left to hand now was its round steel shield.

The skeleton didn’t seem to care that all it had left to its name was a defensive item, nor did it seem to care that it only had one hand with which to hold said weapon. It simply raised the shield up into the air like it truly was a weapon, and moved forward again.

Credit where credit was due, the shield crashed into Jordan’s own shield over and over, splintering the wood and sending bits and chunks everywhere. The attacks were so ferocious and unrelenting that Jordan didn’t even have the time to counterattack with his axe.

“He’s going to need a stronger shield,” Petra said almost nonchalantly.

“What about that one?” Titus asked, gesturing to the reanimated skeleton who was still throwing his shield around like it was nothing.

Petra shook her head. “Anything in the Arena either belongs to the Contestant, or the Arena. Things like that can be sold or melted down to make other things; we don’t get to keep them. Maybe they do out there beyond the wall, but really…”

“You don’t know,” Titus finished for her.

“Exactly.”

Titus turned his attention back to the battle down below, and watched as the reanimated skeleton finally showed its limitations. It had tried to do too much, too quickly, and it was slowing down.

It was actually quite funny watching a skeleton tire, as the concept itself didn’t quite make sense to Titus. Was its lungs burning? Because he could see that it didn’t have any. It didn’t have anything in fact.

And then there was the mistake. The straw that broke the camel’s back. The skeleton overextended with a particularly aggressive and somewhat desperate swing of its shield. Jordan sidestepped and delivered a powerful blow with his axe, cutting through the bones of the skeleton's other arm, causing it to drop its shield this time, again along with a good chunk of its person.

The skeleton, now weapon-less and basically armless, attempted to lunge at Jordan with its one remaining weapon: its teeth. Its jaw clacked as it tried to bite the large Defender, but Jordan, with a somewhat bemused look on his face simply backed away from the creature as it tried desperately to reach him.

The skeleton’s attacks were futile against Jordan's reach and armour, and eventually Jordan, with a steady hand, delivered a series of precise strikes, each one weakening the skeleton further, breaking ribs, leg-bones, collar, and shoulder.

Finally, with a decisive swing, Jordan's axe cleaved through the skeleton's spine, causing it to collapse into a heap of disjointed bones with not a single health point remaining.

The fight was over, and Jordan had emerged victorious without a single scratch.