Chapter 33 – The Battle of Renatus

Not having learned anything either new or exciting in the Class with Ferran Torres, or even the combat class with Theodore afterwards, Titus had begun to wonder if anything he was going to learn over the next couple of days was going to be useful to him and his friends for their upcoming fight against the Frostbite Spider. It wasn't that he wasn't trying to put in the effort or listening to what the Instructors had to say, but once he'd decided in both cases that there wasn't anything new to listen to, his mind just seemed to wander off on its own, either to the upcoming fight, or to the events down in the dungeons that he still couldn't manage to piece together properly yet.

He also thought about Henderson down there, though when he had tried to feel sorry for the large Warrior, he found himself unable to do so. Henderson had simply done too much to make life unbearable for Titus and his friends, and by all accounts, he still wasn't quite sure why.

Thankfully, there was a fight in the arena that bridged the gap between the second class: combat training, and the third: strength and conditioning. Titus, not having had much to do with the arena, fighting or the like for most of his life up to the point where he'd been thrown into being a Contestant at just sixteen years of age, was not looking forward to either of these classes, not one bit.

So far, the combat training had been exhausting and taxing, with his slightly below-average physical stature playing a major part in how well things were going. Of course, when things were of a technical nature - like how to swing a sword, miss the target, and recover effectively - Titus was doing well. But when it came to strength, agility, endurance, or anything else that required a firm grip on his physical stature, he knew that he was left wanting. And from what his friends had said about their fight against the Deadlands Boar, he half wondered if he hadn't dodged a tricky situation with that one.

"Do you think it's always going to be like this?" Titus asked his friends as they left the training sands and made their way up to the real thing: the central arena where the crowds were gathered to watch the next fight that had been scheduled as if by magic by The God of Balance.

"Like what?" Jordan asked. "You two trying to run away from me and my wooden sword? Because I hope so. And I think the next class is going to help you out too because even being twice your size, I feel like I could run rings around you. You seriously never had to do anything physical, did you?"

Titus felt that not only was that a statement and not a question, but he knew that it was true.

"Ah, shut up, Jordan," Petra said quickly. "We can't all be good at everything. I have my speed and agility, Titus here at least has a brain between his ears. And you... you... wait, tell me again what you're good at?"

"Keeping you alive," Jordan said almost without hesitation.

"Ah, that's it. Keeping me alive. What a stellar job you did of that the last time we were out in the arena. And wasn't it Titus who kept you alive when that Spectral Harbinger broke into the room in the dead of night?"

"You make a fair point," Jordan said with a smile. "So next time we're out in the arena, you can stand between me and the Frostbite Spider then, seeing as neither of you need my help."

"She was only joking," Titus said. "You can protect us from the spider because my general rule is that if it has more legs or fangs than I can count on one hand, I want to keep well away from it."

"Well, technically speaking, we aren't really sure how many legs or fangs it does have, and if they're poisoned or not," Petra agreed, nodding. "But if the bug guy wants to keep us out of harm's way then who are we to object?"

It was clear to Titus that Jordan still wasn't happy about having to fight the spider, and that was actually a feeling he shared. He'd never really liked spiders either.

Once the group had made their way to the stands reserved for the Contestants to watch the battles, it only took a moment for the next Contestant to take to the sands.

And he could not have been missed.

The Contestant's name was being chanted from the moment he stepped out into the daylight, and the crowd was able to catch a glimpse of his shining golden armour.

"Renatus! Renatus!" The crowds cheered over and over, and beyond that, the crowd around the arena erupted into a cacophony of noise that Titus never thought possible of human beings. He watched this 'Renatus', with his heavy, glimmering, golden armour, stride out confidently into the centre of the sands. He was clearly a favourite of the arena. And Titus could see why just from how the man was equipped.

Beyond his armour that Titus would've guessed probably cost more coins than he'd ever seen in his entire life, Renatus carried a two-handed sword that was taller than even his six-foot-something stature. Of course, beneath the armour and helmet, the man himself could've been anything less than that, but knowing what he knew about Contestants, Titus was sure this man filled out the armour well.

Upon the golden chestplate was embossed a dragon, its mouth open and spewing fire up into the raised metal collar, a part of the intricate design of the piece, but also functional as a guard against any attacks to the neck.

Renatus' helmet covered his face entirely, and as Titus stared at the front of the thing, he found that if there was a slit for the eyes behind it, it must've been so small that Renatus' vision must've been seriously impeded.

The helmet again was golden and polished to a high shine and culminated in a sharp silver ridge that flowed from brow to the nape of the Contestant's neck.

And there, wrapped around Renatus' bicep was a single piece of brown cloth to denote his rank within the Arena.

A Brown Rank. Things had just got serious.

"Renatus is my all-time favourite Contestant," Jordan was beaming, and Titus could tell that his friend didn't want to simply sit still in his seat. "You're not going to believe the things he can do, and you're going to get to see it all from right here by the side of the sands! Oh Man!"

Titus took a moment to take in the stats that the Contestant had put up for all who'd been awakened to see, and he wasn't disappointed by Jordan's favourite.

Renatus

Level: 48

Class: Spellcaster

HP: 2,000/2,000

"He's a Spellcaster?" Titus asked, not quite believing that what he was looking at was anything other than a Warrior or Defender. "Shouldn't he have a robe or staff, or a wand or something?"

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to judge a book by its cover?" Petra asked. "I mean, take our large friend here for example," she gestured at Jordan. "He may seem overly large and has a rather gormless grin on his face right now but who's to say his intelligence isn't… nope. Can't do it. What gives, Jordan? Why's the Spellcaster dressed like a Warrior?"

"Because…" Jordan squeaked with excitement. "He's the best there is!"

And then Miss Kane arrived to announce the fight as she usually did from her private vantage point, a perk of holding the title of Grandmaster.

She waited for a moment so that the crowds could simmer down as they slowly realised she was there and awaiting their silence. Eventually, they did, and she spoke in her magically amplified tone.

"Renatus needs no introduction," she said simply. "He has fought in more battles than I care to try to remember. Defeated more monsters than I care to count, and I'm sure has displayed an aptitude for keeping the people of the City safe that many thought impossible."

As if to punctuate that statement, Renatus then banged his fist against his chest twice, the metal gauntlet clanging loudly against the golden chestplate and he proclaimed loudly for all to hear: "For the people!"

It was almost like the whole thing had been set up, but the crowds didn't seem to care as they erupted once more into applause, cheers, and whoops for their favourite Contestant.

"And as is customary for such a fight worthy of our hero, for your safety we have once again erected our forcefield around the outer edge of the arena sands. Be assured that as always, nothing can get in or out, and you are perfectly safe where you sit."

"Forcefield?" Titus asked.

"Yeah, they put it up when there's a chance the crowds could get hurt. Most of the time when the levels creep up over ten actually, but she'll put out a reminder like that when things are about to get particularly bright."

"Recently," Miss Kane continued. "Our city's fearless Hunters discovered the remnants of a nest of dragons in the mountains not far from our walls… and today, for the first time in a long time, I am pleased to showcase to you," she paused and took in the crowd's silence. "The Elemental Dragon!"

As though on cue, a dark shadow rose up high into the air from behind the edge of the arena. Not through the iron gates as it was clearly too big for that, and as soon as the dark shape reached the crescendo of its rise above the arena sands, it spread its wings to their fullest extent of over fifteen meters, hung in the air for a moment and then began to dive.

Titus didn't miss his opportunity to analyse the monster before he would ask all the questions he now had at once.

Elemental Dragon

Level: 60

HP: 30,000/30,000

"Dragons are real?" Titus asked, not taking his eyes off the creature hurtling directly towards the only target below it — the Contestant wearing overtly shining armour in the centre of the arena sands.

"Woah!" Jordan said aloud as he too analysed the monster. "I knew they were once a thing, but I had no idea there were any left! And for it to be fighting in the arena!"

"That thing is truly terrifying," Petra said, all sense of fun and games absent from her tone. "And the HP alone… I could stab at it for a hundred years and I don't think I could kill it."

"What I want to know is how they caught it," Titus said. "And then how they keep it from breaking out."

"I get the feeling they have their ways here," Petra said. "But did you see their levels? Renatus is going to face the thing alone, and it's twelve levels higher than him. I mean, I'm no expert, but that seems like suicide, right?"

"Oh, just watch," Jordan said. "Because your mind's about to be blown."

The dragon descended from its initial flight and looked to be headed straight for Renatus, who still refused to move. But at the last moment, possibly sensing that something was amiss, it diverted its flight to come to a stand near the edge of the arena, right in front of the Contestants' spectator area.

Titus could've almost reached out and touched the creature's jet-black and hard scales, though he knew the forcefield around the arena sands would've prevented that. What he did get, though, was a sense of just how large the creature was as it towered above him high up into the air, even as it stood firmly on the ground.

And then the dragon turned its head.

Titus' heart stopped.

Because it must've been clear to everyone present that the dragon had craned its neck, and took a second to stare directly at the Contestants watching the fight.

The dragon then opened its terrible fanged maw and let out an ear-piercing screech. Titus almost brought his hands up to his ears, but just like that, the dragon fell silent and turned back to its single opponent, who still stood stalwart in the centre of the sands. Renatus was facing the dragon, but otherwise he hadn't taken a single step.

Nobody had the chance to dissect what had just happened; instead, they watched the dragon as it beat its wings once and flew towards Renatus just a single foot off the ground. It led its charge with its deadly-looking talons, and the crowd held its breath as the distance was crossed in a second.

And then the dragon struck Renatus with a loud clang that echoed around the round amphitheatre like it had punctuated the death of a master Contestant.

A cloud of dust erupted from the impact as the dragon came to a halt, landing in the position where Renatus had stood.

"He... he just let it hit him?" Titus asked almost to himself.

"Just watch," Jordan said. "At this level, things aren't usually what they seem."

Then, sure enough, through the settling dust Titus saw movement.

The dust settling quickly allowed everyone to see the Contestant in shining golden armour return to his feet to stand not feet from the dragon.

The dragon, seemingly unimpressed, whipped its long tail from around its back, and it thrashed into Renatus, sending him hurtling through the air. There was no puff of dust and sand this time though, because where Renatus had previously hit the ground, this time he impacted the invisible forcefield that surrounded the arena sands with a crash and slid down to land on his backside, looking clearly hurt.

"This is crazy!" Petra said aloud, not caring who heard her. "He's going to get killed out there!"

"Just wait," Jordan repeated knowingly and in a soft tone.

The dragon seemed to agree with Titus and Petra, not charging for a third time, rather turning from his opponent in disgust. It spread its wings again and leapt high into the air, rising in a corkscrew until it was well away from Renatus, who was stumbling forwards again into the centre of the arena. When the Contestant reached the centre, he stopped again, holding his sword before his face in a stance that said he was ready, but maybe not that ready.

The dragon now seemed like it didn't want to waste its energy, so instead of diving once again to attack with its claws outstretched, the creature reared its neck high up into the air, threw back its head and opened its jaws. Then it whipped its head forwards and a round blue ball the size of a horse burst into existence and flew downwards directly towards Renatus.

When Titus saw the ball, he could immediately tell that it was a swirling ball of water, something he hadn't been expecting to see from the dragon. Everything he thought he knew about dragons had said that they breathed fire, not water.

"Woah!" Jordan echoed Titus' thoughts from beside him. "That must be why it's called an Elemental Dragon, right?"

Titus didn't have time to form a response though, because the ball of water was moving with such speed it'd reached Renatus in a moment.

Titus watched with bated breath, expecting the attack to devastate the already weakened Contestant.

But something strange happened. Renatus held up his sword to protect himself from the attack, and when the ball impacted his weapon, he wasn't thrown back across the arena or obliterated right there on the spot; rather, the sword seemed to soak up the water and pull the ball into itself. Within a second, the ball of water had all but disappeared, and the large sword was now tinted a definite blue.

"Renatus' sword!" Jordan exclaimed with glee. "It soaks up the first elemental attack that comes at it, and then all the spells it comes into contact with of that type are completely negated! It's amazing, right?"

It was amazing, and Titus wondered exactly how much a piece of equipment like that was worth.

"That's impressive," Petra said to cut through Titus' thoughts. "But it seems pretty useless against enemies that don't use spells, no?"

"You have no idea what this man is capable of," Jordan almost whispered cryptically. "And I get the feeling you're about to get a good lesson in waiting to see what happens before you speak."

Jordan was right of course; watching its attack peter out to nothing, the dragon screeched again and launched itself down through the air towards Renatus who was peering out from behind his now blue sword. This time though, the dragon didn't look like it was going easy with its descent, falling through the air to leave streaks of atmosphere and wind behind its wings.

Again, Renatus just stood there.

"He has to move!" Titus was unable to stop himself from exclaiming. But it was already too late.

Clang.

The frontmost talons of the dragon pounded into Renatus' sword and chestplate, and the entire crowd let out an earsplitting cheer as Renatus' body was ejected from his armour.

The man who was now wearing a long dark robe flew backwards, somehow phasing through his heavy golden armour the moment the dragon hit. Titus at first thought that the dragon had hit so hard it'd obliterated the man.

But then Titus looked again, and he could now see that not only was Renatus standing back about ten feet from where he'd been hit, but his armour stood tall as though there was still someone inside it. His huge sword too was floating in the air next to the armour, like they were suspended from some hidden ceiling by invisible wires.

And then before Titus' very eyes, the sword began to move like it was in the hands of the golden armour that also began to move.

The dragon didn't look phased at all, and it struck out at the armour with a terrible claw, only to find the sword whip around lightning-fast to intercept the strike. Then the weapon swung about in a wild counterattack and cut cleanly and deeply into the dragon's arm.

The dragon screamed a terrible scream, and Titus watched as its health points tumbled by the hundreds. It wasn't a lot, but first blood had been spilt.

"Renatus is the best Spellcaster I've seen at his level," Jordan explained. "This is what I've been wanting you to see. He uses his armour and weapons to fight like a Defender and Warrior combined, and then he… well, watch. He's like an entire party all by himself!"

Titus didn't need to be told to watch because seeing what a Spellcaster could do was mesmerising.

Renatus, guarded by his autonomous equipment, had the time to concentrate on dealing some damage of his own. He held his hands before his stomach and began to concentrate. At first, nothing happened, and then a tiny ball of fire flickered into existence. And then it grew. It grew and grew hotter as it morphed into the space between Renatus' hands and as he forced it to obey his commands, it changed from yellow to orange, to red, and finally to blue. The ball of flames he held and nurtured as his sword and shield kept the dragon at bay was nothing short of meteoric.

Then Renatus jerked his body and hurled the fireball at the dragon.

It almost didn't see it, but when it did, it was already too late.

Hidden from the dragon's view by the large blue sword until the very last moment, the fireball careened towards its target, hitting it square in the neck and bursting into a splash of fire, blood, and smoke. The dragon screamed at the impact and reared up, allowing the sword space to slash at the creature's armoured hide.

The attack didn't do as much damage as the fireball, but combined, the dragon lost another sizeable chunk of its health points. And still, it hadn't caused Renatus to lose a single point.

The crowd again clapped, cheered, screamed, and stamped their feet in admiration of the skill and aptitude of this one single man standing alone against what was nothing short of a monster of legend.

But the dragon wasn't done yet. Spreading its wings once more, it leapt into a sweeping glide just feet from the ground and began to circle the edge of the sands as closely as it could to the forcefield without touching it. It beat its wings to go faster and faster and then opened its maw to spit darts of water and ice directly towards Renatus.

To his credit, and in keeping with the theme of the battle so far, Renatus remained still once more.

He already knew the magical attacks from the dragon would do it no good because each time the beast let fly its spells from its mouth, Renatus' sword whipped around so quickly to absorb them that it was practically a blur. The dragon eventually resigned to the fact that if it was going to win this fight, it was going to have to do it without magic.

"So he's a Spellcaster," Titus said thoughtfully. "And his sword negates his opponent from using spells... and he can make his armour and sword act like they're both a Warrior and a Defender? It doesn't really seem fair, does it?"

"It wouldn't," Jordan agreed, "but he's doing it all by himself without any help from anyone, isn't he? He must've come up with this plan and worked towards it, and you can bet his stats are heavily skewed so that he can keep his armour animated, right?"

"Sometimes, Jordan, I don't believe I know you," Petra said without turning to look at the Defender. "It's like one minute I see you forgetting how to hold a spoon properly, and the next you're teaching us how a high-level fighter has spent his stat points. It's mind-boggling."

"Ah, you'll get the hang of it soon enough," Jordan replied. "After all, I've seen more fights than I can count."

"Now that I don't doubt," Petra said. "Knowing that once you run out of fingers and toes, the counting gets a bit difficult for you."

"What?" Jordan asked.

"And there he goes tumbling right back down to earth," Petra muttered under her breath.

Titus had only been half-listening though because out on the arena sands, the dragon had landed once again and it looked like Renatus was preparing another spell, the concentration again evident on his face.

As Titus watched, he could hear Jordan begin to exclaim again, clearly knowing what was about to happen.

The dragon, unfortunately for the creature, was not so well informed.

Spreading its wings wide again and ready to let fly, the dragon took a single step forwards when Renatus' head, which was focused seemingly on his feet, whipped up, and he pushed both his hands out before him in the telltale Spellcaster way.

Not a second later, thin spears of flames burst from the ground all around the dragon, and it reared its head up to the sky to scream its ear-piercing scream as the flames tore through the thin skin covering its wings leaving a multitude of holes as they penetrated the beast.

Unable to move through either pain or surprise, or possibly both, the dragon's wings were decimated and once the jets of flame had eventually dissipated, Titus could see that all that was left resembled bloody, burnt, tattered rags hanging limply from the beast's outstretched wing-bones.

"Oh man, did you see that?!" Jordan cried, standing now. "He waited until just the right moment again! And now the dragon can't even fly if it wanted to, and did you see its health points? Less than a quarter left and it still hasn't laid a claw on Renatus. Can you see why he's the best there is?"

Titus could absolutely see that Renatus was an absolutely amazing Spellcaster, but he could also now see the value in powerful and carefully chosen equipment. Sure, something like his stamina ring was going to come in handy in general, but Renatus was out there showcasing exactly how building your skill set around a single task was possibly more powerful than he could ever have imagined. The only thing he couldn't tell though, was if the control over the equipment was because of a spell that Renatus knew or if it was an effect of the armour and sword themselves.

The dragon was stumbling from side to side, its head whipping around in pain as its wings continued to smoke and smoulder, and that's when Renatus did something that Titus was sure was a spell and not a function of his clearly impressive equipment.

The sword flew through the air to hang suspended not a foot away from Renatus, and the Spellcaster held his hands out before himself again, though this time one on either side of the weapon. As he concentrated for just a second, the blade erupted into flames, and the crowd gasped animatedly as one.

This time the flames were not blue, but orange and flickered with an almost ominous calmness to them.

And then the sword flew away again. Back towards the dragon.

The creature didn't even see the weapon coming.

If the flames had been any indication that the dragon had a weakness to fire, the burning sword cutting through its limbs went a long way to confirm that fact. The blade sliced through the scaled beast like it didn't even have to try.

Titus almost began to feel sorry for the creature as the sword whirled around it, seemingly getting faster and faster up till eventually in one lightning-fast swoop, the blade cut cleanly through the dragon's neck, and it fell silent before the loud thud of its head falling to the arena sands caused the entire crowd, Jordan, Titus, and Petra included to stand, cheer, and applaud. The applause was deafening.

They fell silent again not a moment later though, when their eyes fell upon Renatus, who had first fallen to his knees, and then flat on his face.

"What happened?" Titus asked, trying to peer across the sand to Renatus, trying to find any sign of injury through his dark cloak. But there was nothing. No rips, tears, or blood anywhere to be seen.

As if to answer Titus' question directly, though, Miss Kane retook her position to address the people.

"Wasn't that as amazing as always?" She asked. "And do not worry, our unbeatable Renatus here has simply overtaxed himself; it's not a simple feat to best a monster that much stronger than oneself!"

As she spoke, two Arena Hands scurried out onto the sands and began to carry Renatus back to the open iron gates, presumably where he was going to get the attention he needed.

"Ran out of Mana?" Titus asked.

"I'd say so, probably," Petra said. "Or Stamina maybe? Because his HP didn't drop a bit in all of that…"

"Yeah, I've never seen his sword move that fast before," Jordan agreed. "And lighting it on fire? That's a real class act right there. But I guess you're right, and Miss Kane. It looked like he almost killed himself to win out there."

Titus couldn't help but agree with that; it had looked like Renatus had almost killed himself, and although the Spellcaster had made for a devastating and effective one-man army out there, Titus couldn't help but feel like he'd never want to stand without his two friends by his side.