Ch 50

It was morning. I had slept through the night without dreams after the exhausting ordeal of the day before. I momentarily flashed back to the pain I had felt, lying on the floor in that abandoned house with poison coursing through my system. Then I remembered, there towards the end, something different. My body had felt significantly changed by the last round.

            I stood up and walked towards the goblin who was yelling that it was time to get up. I had a match today so I should hurry up and get my breakfast while I could. Afterwards, while waiting for my match I took some time to examine my body. Physically, I still moved the same which I made sure of by bending and twisting in different directions and stretching out my form. After this I paced around the room.

            I am sure I looked like I was nervous to the others in the room, but I didn’t care. I was not going into that match without knowing what changes had been made within me. After I could not find any noticeable differences I sat down, flummoxed. I was certain that a change had been made other than developing an immunity to those poisons.

            As I sat thinking I ran my tongue around my mouth, sucking on my teeth in a habitual sort of way. After a minute I noticed something strange in my mouth. There behind my top canines was something that felt like a small blister and when I applied pressure to it with my tongue… a gush of liquid surged into my mouth, tasting a little bitter and tangy.

            With a disgusted grimace I spat on the floor next to my cot in order to clear the fluid and the taste from my mouth. When I did so I saw a dark green, bile-like fluid mixed in with my saliva. I was shocked and grossed out but before I had time to analyze this, I heard the goblin yelling out “DUNG!” and it was once again time to go into the arena.

            As I walked forward towards the gate that would eventually rise to give me access to the arena, I cautiously ran my tongue over the remains of the blister that I had popped. It seemed to have resealed and while still mostly empty was starting to refill. The one on the other side was remaining unchanged so long as I did not put too much pressure on it.

            As the drums began to beat in a rhythmic fashion, I idly wondered if I should ask Gikats to see a healer after my match. After all, this seemed to be some kind of negative reaction to the potions that Lilly had given me yesterday. Putting these thoughts aside I look ahead as the gate starts to rise.

            This time, at the other side of the arena was a dark-skinned human woman who had a muscular build that reminded me of body builders back on earth. She was wearing a leather tunic and some soft boots while carrying a massive war hammer. As soon as she locked eyes on me, she shouted out “BY SILTHAR, YOU ARE MINE!” and charged forward. She was strong, moving quickly despite the weight of that hammer.

            I also moved quickly to get into the middle of the arena. I suppose I should have been afraid of the hammer, but I doubted she could swing it fast enough to hit me and being so big there were limited ways in which she could swing it. As I got close, she didn’t waste any time brought her hammer down in an overhanded swing, probably intending to crush my skull.

            As the hammer came down, I stepped to the side and allowed it to pass by me harmlessly. As it struck the ground I kicked at the back of her knee, trying to take advantage of the opening from her missing with her hammer. Unexpectedly, she let go with one hand and shifted her grip before pulling the hammer back to swing it up with an underhanded chop.

            The unexpected swing caught me by surprise, and I had to jump back, nearly falling on my ass to get out of the range of her swing. Smiling now she hefted her hammer onto one shoulder and looked at me confidently. “You may be quick little man but by Silthar I will win this fight!” She was obviously trying to taunt me, but I was curious, so I decided to take the bait.

            “Who is this Silthar that you keep calling out to? Is that your master? Some lord perhaps?” As I spoke, I slowly started circling to the side drawing out my daggers. It was obvious to me now that this was not going to be an easy win. “Silthar is the god of battle of the northern tribes and in his honor, I shall strike down any who come before my hammer!”

            Apparently, she was done talking because she was again moving forward, swinging that hammer again and again, making me jump all over the place to keep from getting hit. The thudding sound it made when it struck the ground was enough deterrent to make me want to make sure it never connected. After a minute she started panting heavily. Expecting a trick from this crafty fighter I stayed back.

            As I watched her, she kept breathing hard for a minute and then proceeded to charge towards me again. This time her barrage of blows was somewhat shorter than before and then she again started breathing hard, staring at me as if daring me to come at her while she was winded. I decided that this was probably the best chance I was going to get and ran straight at her. As she swung her hammer at me horizontally, I dove underneath it and rolled to my feet behind her plunging my dagger into the back of her elbow.

            I had intended to hit both arms and retreat with my weapons, but she was too fast for me. I managed to disable one arm, but she turned instantly and headbutted me, causing me to fall back. I rolled to gain some distance and then regained my feet, still slightly dizzy. As soon as I did, I had to move because she was charging at me again, hammer held in one arm, blood dripping down the other with my dagger still lodged inside it.

            Dazed and now down to one dagger I kept moving until I could see clearly again. When I could I realized that she would soon be getting winded again after having chased me around a bit. I waited for it and then when I saw it, I moved in again, this time feinting towards her injured side as if to attack her where she was weaker before spinning back in the other direction.

            She fell for the feint and turned the wrong way, as her hammer swung by in a harmless trajectory, I stuck my remaining dagger into her arm through the bicep. The warrior who hadn’t cried out a single time in pain after being stabbed exclaimed in shock as her hammer fell from her grip. She turned to look at me with a hard look in her eyes.

            “Hurry up then, this hurts a lot so if you are going to kill me get it over with.” I was stunned at her words. It seemed that this woman from the northern tribes with her god Silthar had no fear of death. I walked forward and casually jerked my weapons out of her flesh. She went a bit pale but still did not cry out.

            I did make her death quick as she requested. I suppose I could have left her alive like I had the wood elf, but she seemed so determined to meet her god. I didn’t know if the gods worshipped in this world had any relation to the one, I had met when I was dead, but I do know that his follower that I had met today had faced her death without flinching.

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