I entered the Arena to the roar of a thousand spectators. The King stood, this simple action commanding Silence from the crowd, "Begin!". The gate was released and my first challenge came out. I picked up my sword and shield, ready for whatever came out.
A bull came charging out to meet me. I dove to the side, narrowly avoiding its razor-sharp horns. The fact that I was wearing all red wasn't helping either. No matter what I did I couldn't get a hit on the bull, dodging constantly from side to side, until I lost focus. The bull slammed into my shield knocking me back 10 metres into the wall of the arena. I remembered some
Words of Wisdom
from my mentor Odric, Master Tactician: "To
Lose Hope
is to admit defeat."
So I stood up, and charged. The bull ran to meet me in response. I planted my foot on its head, and with
Akroma's Blessing
, drove my sword into its neck, killing it.
The King anounced: "Release the second challenge!"
The next gate opened, and out came a Loxodon, a whip in each hand, taunting me with the challenge. It quickly closed the distance between us, every
Lash of the Whip
punishing to block, even more punishing to make contact with
Flesh
. Speed was my ally against it, and so with a
Burst of Speed
and a Burst of Strength, I dove under a swing, and sliced off its right hand. Shocked at the turn of events it stood stunned, which gave me plenty of time to cut off its head.
"The Third Challenge!"
Out of the third gate came a
Fleshpulper Giant
and a
Cyclopean Giant
. One carrying a giant hammer, the other simply used its feet. Big, dumb and slow, not an entirely uncommon combination of attributes. The hammer came down, and I quickly dodged out of the way. I had to think of a strategy, and I think i just did. I ran up to the
Fleshpulper Giant
(the one without the hammer), and jumped onto its foot, the cyclops again brought the hammer down, this time onto the other giants foot. I quickly climbed onto the hammer, they completely lost track of where I was. I ran along the handle until I reached the cyclops' hand, and quickly clambered up its body. The fleshpulper saw and drove his fist into the other giant, while I quickly dropped lower. Again, I climbed onto its head to which the same giant knocked out the cyclops. I ran along his arm onto his shoulder, and then to his head, where drove my sword into his eye, and climbed in.
Cutting my way through to his brain, I cut his brain stem, killing him instantly. As I climbed out, I realised that i had won, I had passes all the challenges, or so I thought. "There is one final challenge for you champion, the
Black Knight
!"
At this the crowd cheered, eager to see the
Hero's Demise
. The knight came out on his horse, lance in hand, his steed mad for the taste of flesh. He charged at me lance down, i dove out of the way and sliced the horse's leg, toppling it and its rider. He turned to face me, now with a greatsword in his hand. We entered and intense sparring duel, a Rivals' Duel. Constantly parrying, and lunging at each other's throats, until his sword made contact with my shield arm, slicing my flesh, his cursed blade sending searing pain through my body. I dropped my shield, and still he attacked, now parrying his greatsword with my smaller one-handed sword. No matter how much I tried I could not make contact. He became over-confident, as victory was seemed close for him. He made a swing, which i ducked under, and i came up and sliced his hands off, which i quickly followed by removing his head from his body. The crowd was in Shock for a moment, but they soon began to cheer. "The challenger has won! Claim your prize!"
So i received the greatest prize of all from Akroma herself, the Gift of Immortality.
