Capítulo 7: Grudge Match [Pt 2]
The training room used for duels was a huge facility designed in a way that could easily replicate any environment through spatial magic.
There were several screens where the audience could watch the ensuing battle without fear of being hurt in any way.
The crowd that had earlier gathered at the Serdana dorm slowly made its way towards the training room among them, countless other students from other classes and dorms had also joined in.
The news that two members of the elite class were about to duke it out had spread like wildfire and everyone wanted a piece of the action.
In the prep room, Arnik watched anxiously as Rowan prepared himself for the fight. He looked confident.
A bell rang in the arena signaling both fighters to come out.
Arnik quietly left the room behind Rowan, he didn't like this situation but, since it was something Rowan had decided for himself, he couldn't stop him even if he wanted to.
He had always been like this since childhood—once his mind was made up on something he would follow through to the end.
They soon got to the end of the corridor, and just as Rowan was about to get on stage, he looked back at Arnik with a smile on his face.
"Wish me luck!"
Arnik looked at him, wide-eyed, before eventually smiling back.
"Good luck, man, give 'em hell!"
Rowan began climbing the steps to the stage, without looking back he raised his right fist; "I will!"
Arnik looked up at the huge screen in front of him and saw Rowan and Gerdi glaring at each other. Werner, the senior, picked up a mic and began explaining the rules of the match—
"This match ends when either of the fighters can no longer go on or accepts defeat. Without further ado, let the match begin!"
With this, a bell signaled the beginning of the match.
Rowan quickly covered both his arms in stone and immediately went on the offensive. Gerdi countered by slamming his fist into the ground and erecting several stone walls to protect himself.
Rowan began breaking through each of them, determined to get to Gerdi.
Just as he broke the last wall, he was met by a barrage of stone bullets, he quickly switched from offense to defense, using the earth he had gathered around his fists as a shield.
Soon the barrage of bullets ended and both fighters glared at each other, each waiting for the other to make a move.
Gerdi moved first, slamming his fist into the ground. The effect was that the ground began to ripple, vibrating uncontrollably, and Rowan lost his balance.
Gerdi, meanwhile, had been launched into the air and began raining down huge chunks of earth on Rowan who had covered himself in a huge ball of stone, Gerdi slammed both fists into the ball causing it to crack and shatter into several pieces.
Both boys covered both arms in stone and began throwing fists, they both seemed to be equal in strength, Rowan threw a right hook which Gerdi avoided by ducking low, he countered by throwing a right uppercut which Rowan narrowly avoided by tilting backward, he couldn't completely avoid the attack though as Gerdi had used earth to hold his leg in place, the blow grazed Rowan's chin and Gerdi followed up by landing an overhead kick with his right leg which Rowan blocked with his left hand, the impact of the kick was so heavy that the ground cracked below Rowan's feet, Gerdi quickly twisted mid-air and kicked Rowan directly in the face which sent him flying back.
As Gerdi began walking towards Rowan he said "You will never be as good as me, I will always be better than you" he got to where Rowan lay on the floor and put a foot on his chest,
" You and your family will always be inferior wannabes" he spat on the floor next to Rowan"You're just trash, just like your father, a mage who couldn't even keep his wife safe". Rowan grabbed Gerdi's leg
" What did you say" , Gerdi's leg was beginning to get crushed by Rowan's hand,
" Let go off me you piece of shit" he winced in pain managing to break and instinctively jumped back, the earth behind Rowan suddenly propelled him upright, he looked at his left arm which had been dislocated when he had blocked the kick earlier, using his right hand he snapped it back into place, "I'll kill you, I'll kill you , I'll kill you" he kept muttering , all of a sudden he looked up , his face covered in blood and yelled
" I'LL KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH" he dashed forward like wild animal , Gerdi instinctively blocked with earth, Rowan simply jumped over this and slammed his fists Gerdi , he began pummeling his opponent with his fists, Gerdi who had been defending with his fists suddenly pushed him off with a heavy attack from the side, Rowan stood up unfazed and began rushing towards Gerdi who had started firing several earth bullets, without trying to defend Rowan simply ran through them to Gerdi who was caught unawares by his doggedness, "This bastard" Gerdi thought to himself " He's lost all sense of self-awareness, shit I won't be able to defend properly " , what followed was a series of heavy attacks from Rowan , he completely stopped defending and focused solely on attack , even when he was hit with any attack he wouldn't stop and would just keep fighting, finally he landed a huge blow on Gerdi which sent him flying quite a distance.
" Is it over?" Rowan thought to himself as he collapsed to one knee, he was completely exhausted and had received considerable damage to his body, there was no way he could keep fighting.
Just then he heard Gerdi's voice " Ho, who knew trash as you could inflict this much damage on me, I'd be in trouble if I didn't have this, just then the dust cleared and Gerdi stood proudly, donning a magic armor, he looked completely unhurt, Rowan couldn't believe it, outside Arnik yelled at Werner
" Isn't it unacceptable to be wearing a magic armor" to which Werner simply responded,
" I stated the rules, this isn't against any of it".
Gerdi cracked his neck and spoke, "You've had your fun, now it's my turn, did I mention that I also have an affinity for metal, let's see how you fare against that", with this Gerdi covered his arms and feet with metal and attacked Rowan, what followed wasn't much of a battle but rather a beat down, it was so graphic that many of the students couldn't bear to watch, while this was going on Arnik kept yelling at Werner to end the match,
"He hasn't admitted defeat " Werner simply answered. In the ring Gerdi threw a series of blows and kicks and eventually threw a punch which sent Rowan flying across the arena, Rowan lay there unmoving,
" Rowan, Rowan" Arnik yelled as he called out to his friend. Gerdi smirked to himself " I win " he announced, just as Werner was about to announce him as the winner though, Rowan began rising to his feet, his face and body were bartered, he was missing a few teeth and had several broken bones, " I will never bow to you" he winced in pain as he clutched his ribs, he used what little mana he had left to erect a pillar and rested against it,
"My family's honor rests on my shoulder, and we will never succumb to you", the crowd was stunned, many began cheering Rowan on.
"You piece of shit" Gerdi cried out angrily, I was still being lenient with you, I was being generous, I was only going to take the core from you, but now I know that's not enough to show how much better I am, I'll destroy not only you but your dreams as well, I'll cripple you and end your dreams of becoming a mage" with this Gerdi began preparing several metal spikes all aimed at Rowan, he purposefully covered them in dust so the crowd wouldn't see,
" I'll end it with this attack he yelled out". Arnik with tears in his eyes called out to his friend
" Rowan please stay down, everyone here acknowledges you, you have done your family proud, so please stay down" he said as tears began streaming down his face, Rowan simply looked in the direction of his friend smiled and gave him a thumbs up, the dust cleared and everyone saw what Gerdi was attacking with but before anyone could react he had sent the attack Rowan's way, the students screamed in horror, Werner had begun running towards the ring ,
"Shit I won't make it in time" he thought to himself, time seemed to become still and in the instant, before the spikes hit Rowan there was a bright flash and an explosion.
The entire room went silent as students waited anxiously to see what had happened, when the smoke cleared Arnik was in the ring holding Rowan who had become unconscious, he looked towards Gerdi and said loudly for everyone to hear,
" THIS FIGHT IS OVER", with this he began walking away from the ring with Rowan's arm over his shoulder, Vilma who had heard about the fight and also come to witness it rushed to his aid as they both helped carry Rowan away from the ring.
Gerdi was furious, " Who do you think you are " he yelled, Arnik simply ignored him and this angered Gerdi even more,
" Fight me you piece of shit, fight me" with this he sent a huge chunk of earth towards Arnik who destroyed it with a fireball,
" I won't fight you" Arnik replied," I have no reason to" he continued.
Gerdi was livid," Trash, you're trash, fight me damn it " he raged "Of course, you wouldn't dare, after all, you're a coward, a disgrace, just like your father".
On hearing this Arnik looked back at Gerdi, his eyes burning with rage, in a low voice he asked
" What did you say?"
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