Chapter 14 – A Desperate Battle

The training proceeded in much the same vein for the rest of the day, and then again for the next two, until a new Arena battle was to take place. It was clear in every lesson that a handful of the Contestants were used to fighting and had been trained to do so before they'd been sent in, most notably Jordan and Henderson.

They'd trained with swords, shields, spears, staffs, heavy shields and empty-handed; they'd trained until they were sick, and they'd been told to think about what Class they might like to have once their basic combat training was complete. Titus hadn't told another soul besides Petra about his already-awarded Capacitor Class, and he was certain she hadn't told anyone either. He felt bad for not telling Jordan, given how open and helpful his new friend was, but he still thought telling too many people was a bad idea.

After a few days of training, Titus found that he had been bad at everything. He picked up the basics as one would with focused tuition, but nothing ever seemed natural to him. A sword felt awkward in his hand, the spears and large shields were heavy, and in hand-to-hand combat, he really didn't appreciate how close his opponents got to him. He enjoyed his personal space so having someone up in his face trying to punch him really didn't sit well.

"I wouldn't worry," Jordan said as the three walked together to the central collosseum to watch the next fight. "I told you you'd be a Spellcaster, so you don't really need to know any of this stuff. They're just teaching us in case you ever get stuck out there and have to defend yourself with a weapon as a last resort. It'll probably never happen."

Titus smiled, feeling that Jordan was genuinely trying to make him feel better. "Why would I ever need to defend myself when I have you out there to do it for me? We all know you're going to be a Defender, right? And Henderson's going to be a Warrior. I've never seen anything more obvious in my life."

"Who me?" Jordan asked, pretending to be hurt. "Why, I was planning on becoming the greatest Spellcaster of all time, but I guess if you think I'd be better suited to becoming a Defender then who am I to disagree?"

Petra slapped the large boy on the back. "Don't worry big man, if you ever get bored taking all the hits for us, then I don't mind letting the monsters chase me for a while. After all, I plan on being the fastest Rogue the Arena's ever seen."

The group again took their seats in the stands and awaited the announcement of the Contestants who were to fight for their enjoyment. This time, although Miss Kane gave them a grand entrance as she had for every Contestant so far, the crowds weren't nearly as enthralled by this latest offering, and they certainly were far less numerous than they'd been for the match between Lucius and the Razor Wyrm.

And Titus could see why.

A pair of Blue-Ranked Contestants took to the sands. One was a man who at first glance was a Warrior - as denoted by his muscular frame and the fact that he carried two short, straight swords, and the other was a girl who looked younger than the Warrior. She carried a staff, and as Titus watched her, he could see the anxious expression on her face.

Silas: Level 16

Class: Warrior

Profession: Arena Contestant - Blue

Evangeline: Level 14

Class: Spellcaster

Profession: Arena Contestant - Blue

He'd been right in his initial assumptions.

The pair took to the centre of the arena and stood facing Miss Kane. As one, they each made their proclamation: "For the People!" and placed a fist to their chests. Titus had begun to look forward to this part of the fights, like it had started to mean something to him. Like he was becoming a part of something.

The iron gate at the end of the arena rolled upwards. 'Thank God it isn't another Razor Wyrm then,' Titus thought. If it had been, the gates wouldn't need to have been opened.

Instead, he watched as something still quite terrifying entered the arena.

Rockhide Ogre: Level 19

HP: 1,500/1,500

Titus watched intently as the monster stomped out onto the sand and into the sunlight. It looked up at the sky, threw its head back, and let out a roar that shook Titus's seat.

The Rockhide Ogre was a massive beast. It wasn't wearing any clothes or armour, but its skin looked thick and worn. But the most staggering thing about the Ogre was that it stood a clear twelve feet tall, twice the height of the two humans standing ready to face it. Its muscular build was covered in layers of jagged, stone-like scales, and its skin was a mixture of greys and brown. Tusks protruded from its bottom lip, and its beady eyes surveyed the arena sands like it had trouble seeing out in the bright sunlight.

"I've seen one of these fight before," Jordan said. "Those guys had better watch out because those Ogres can crush rocks with their bare hands. I hope they know what they're doing out there."

"It's not too much of a level gap," Titus said. "Not like the Razor Wyrm - that had Lucius beaten by almost twenty levels and there was just one of him."

"I don't know," Jordan said. "These things are tough to even damage, let alone kill. Like I said, they must have a plan or they wouldn't risk it."

"Is there anything you haven't seen fight out there?" Petra asked. "Every time we see some monster we've never heard of you seem to know all about it. Are you sure you aren't a monster in disguise? Where did you say you grew up, anyway?"

"I... I'm not a monster..." Jordan stammered. "I'm just big..."

"Calm down, you great fool; I'm only pulling your leg," Petra said, furrowing her brow.

Jordan looked down at his leg instinctively before he remembered the expression and gave a half-smile. "I wish I was as tough as one of those Ogres," he said.

Their discussion was inevitably cut short by the sound of the Ogre's footsteps as it slowly crossed the arena sands to greet its opponents in battle. The beast didn't carry any weapons because surely that would've been unfair, but Silas, the Blue-Ranked Warrior, was not so hampered.

Silas lunged forward with his two swords outstretched, and Evangeline moved away out of reach of the battle. She would still be in the fight, just not placed where the action was, and again Titus wondered if that was the path for him too.

As Silas closed the distance between himself and the Rockhide Ogre, he stamped his feet hard on the ground and rose into the air. His leap was higher than Titus would've expected from a simple human, though Silas was certainly more than that; he was a warrior.

"Look at that!" Jordan exclaimed. "He's going for the kill straight away!"

In mid-air, hanging there like he was suspended from some hidden ropes or wires, Silas's twin swords glowed a bright blue.

The weapons shone in the sunlight, but just as the swords had shone, a second before they impacted the Ogre and no doubt penetrated his eyes, the monster opened his colossal hands and his entire body darkened.

The Rockhide Ogre turned to stone.

Not figuratively, but literally.

Silas's attack landed true, but rather than send the monster on its way, a fountain of sparks erupted from the place they'd impacted, and he fell back down to the ground without having caused a single point of damage.

"What just happened?" Petra asked, her eyes wide.

"It's the main defence of the Rockhide Ogre," Jordan explained. "It can turn to stone for a few seconds, and that prevents it from taking any damage. I've seen some Defenders do the same thing too, but it's kind of useless if you're out there on your own."

"That makes sense," Titus said. "If there was someone else there to fight back, then it'd be handy, but Silas is just going to wait for the Ogre to go back to normal, isn't he?"

Jordan nodded just in time for that to happen. But the second the Ogre's skin lightened and it was able to move again, it lifted a huge heavy foot and stamped on the ground, causing the sand to ripple and throw Silas off his feet and onto his back.

Titus watched as the Warrior landed hard, then as Evangeline began weaving her hands, clearly casting a spell. It took him a minute to realise that she was healing her teammate - the pair were a Warrior and a Healer type Spellcaster.

"Odd combination," Jordan said, frowning. "They should have a Defender out there with them, especially at Blue rank. They won't have the skills to deal with the enemy like that alone. I thought maybe she was a damage dealer, but a healer? Pretty useless against that thing if you ask me."

Titus's attention remained on the battle because Silas was back on his feet and charging again.

This time, he didn't leap into the air and aim for the killing blow; rather he struck out at the Ogre's legs, aiming for the slight gaps between the rocky formations and scales. His weapons, still glowing a bright blue, cut into the monster's thick hide like it was nothing, and the Ogre howled.

Its HP was dropping by a hundred points a strike, and Silas was relentless, striking over and over with all his might.

But through the Ogre's howls of pain, it managed to ball a fist and throw it down towards the enemy that was slowly killing it from below.

The crowd let out a loud 'oooh' as the Ogre's fist crunched into Silas' torso, sending him flying back across the arena sands. Evangeline again cast her healing spell, and the pained Silas looked to be instantly soothed.

Silas returned to his feet but a little slower this time.

Then the Ogre did something that Titus never thought he'd see. It reached down and peeled one of its rocky scales free from its leg like it was nothing more than a scab, wound up its arm, and launched the scale across the arena.

It hadn't been thrown at Silas though.

Evangeline had been too busy concentrating on healing Silas to see the projectile incoming, and at the last instant she heard the yell from the crowd. She threw herself to the side, but the scale hit her hard, biting into her shoulder and sending her spinning away and to the ground.

Silas roared.

Then he charged.

The Warrior came into contact with the Ogre again and sliced over and over into the now exposed part of the monster's shin. It had been a good attack from the Ogre, but it had left the monster with a weakness.

Titus watched as the Ogre's HP fell by over one hundred and fifty points with each strike now, and he could see that it was just moments from death if only Silas could keep up his rampage. He moved to the edge of his seat and didn't blink for fear of missing the final killing blow.

Titus shifted to the edge of his seat, his heart racing as he watched the pair locked in combat. The Ogre swiped but Silas juked to his left, dodging the attack entirely. He sliced into the Ogre's leg again, then juked to his right to dodge another retaliation.

Just two more strikes should do it.

Crunch.

One more.

And then the Ogre lifted its foot and stamped on the ground again, sending Silas sprawling.

But this time the Ogre didn't give the Warrior the chance to regain his footing or for Evangeline to help him.

Reaching for the closest thing to hand, the Ogre pulled at its own head and after a loud tearing sound, its entire head came free from its shoulders and the monster threw it at Silas.

The Warrior had no chance.

His blood splattered across the sand as his body was mulched by the heavy thud of the Rockhide Ogre's head.

The arena turned silent.

And then Evangeline screamed.

"No!" she cried, but the Ogre was already slowly walking towards Silas's body and its head, stooping down to collect the appendage.

She knew she had to do something.

Evangeline cast a healing spell on herself and ran towards Silas. She needed to get there before the Ogre; she needed the swords.

She was much faster than the Ogre, and she made it to Silas before the monster, picking up both of the fallen swords in a swift movement. And then she ran at the Ogre, and if Titus hadn't analysed the creature, he would've called her crazy.

Rockhide Ogre: Level 19

HP: 9/1,500

The monster was down to just nine health points. Nine measly HP had been the difference between life and death for Silas. But now it was the Healer's turn.

She swiped out with the two swords, letting out a defiant scream as she attacked. But the swords did not glow, and the moment she hit the Ogre, sparks flew from the blades as they rebounded from the monster's impenetrable hide.

The monster's HP did not drop by even a single point.

The Ogre then raised its hands high into the air, balled them together into a single colossal fist, and unceremoniously pummelled Evangeline into the ground.

Evangeline's blood sprayed far away from where she'd been hit, turning the arena sands wet and red.

Both of the Blue-Rankers had been killed, and nobody had been there to help them.

They'd lost the fight, and in doing so, they'd lost their lives.