Despite the humiliation of being heaved onto the arena like a child and the crowd's scornful remarks, Adam walked with his head held high and his back straight. The orcs clamored that humans were honorless weaklings. Others comnted on his plated orcish gloves, boots, armguards, belt, and single pauldron, asserting that their equipnt would fit kobolds better; that Adam was casting aspersions on their ancestral culture by blending it with his human shirt.
As expected. It mattered less than Grum'Thal and the legendary warriors.
They glared at him from the shade cast by the nine banners stretched across the box of their platform. He ignored them all, his eyes locked on Grum'Thal's leather robes, peering through the darkness of his hood even though the only thing he discerned was the sheen of the great shaman's red eyes.
A sheen that he thought showed amusent when Grum'Thal rose with a theatrical fist that captured the attention of everyone. Snickered insults died down instantly. A zealous silence engulfed the city.
Then, Grum'Thal's ancient voice carried through the morning air. "Welco to the ancestral ritual that marks the closure of yet another cycle. But this one, dear friends, is quite different. A human slid into our villages, fought his way honorably from the middle of the gorge to Thaur'Gorath. I present to you this cycle's champion, a mage who fought like one of us, a human who followed our rites. Make noise for the one Zul'Rakhan nad Adomash!"
The noise Adam received from the crowd was another wave of insults drowned in a cacophony of boos. But this ti, he didn't plan to wait. Taunt the crowd as he had with his classmates back in college? No, he would do it the orc way.
He stretched his empty hand forward. Light condensed in his palm. A wooden hilt erged before the fra extended in a shower of drifting particles. The sharp triangular edges of his macuahuitl glinted under the sunlight as he spun it upside down.
BAM
He slamd the edge of the carved fra on the arena slabs, his lips curved in a grin that held no amusent beneath his narrowed eyes. "I've never been one to enjoy long-winded introductions. I an... Why would I need to know the nas of those I'll thrash on his own turf? Bring it on, warriors." He flicked his fingers. "Others call you legendary, but you're just slightly better than the rest. After so many years cropped up behind your walls, I even wonder if you can still swing a weapon."
Grum'Thal froze for a split second. Before the spectators could erupt in outrage, he slowly clapped. "The champion has graced us with taunts worthy of the most ferocious warriors."
No one clapped with the great shaman. Instead, Adam saw the warriors reach for their weapons, fists clenched, grimacing. Angry? Good. That'll make them predictable. And he needed to scrap every bit of advantage he could get against these nine monsters.
"He's also right. We've fallen into theatrics long ago. Let this ritual return to its roots." Grum'Thal turned toward the warriors. "Who wants to test the champion first?"
Ulgarath raised his axe, sputtering through his tusks. "There won't be a second test after I'm done with this disrespectful earthworm!"
A mountain of green muscle shot from the box, landing in front of Adam in a cloud of dust. Broken chains clanged as Ulgarath rose in front of him, his fra a tower of pulsing veins half a ti taller than him, and the orc's arms an aberration as broad as both of Adam's legs.
The curved blade of his double-edged axe caught the light as Ulgarath snarled with all the disdain he felt for mages. "Let show you if I can still wield my weapon, human."
Adam kicked the fra of his blade, shooting it upward with a smirk. "Don't disappoint ."
The other legendary warriors growled, but remained seated.
The crowd let out impatient cheers. Not Zul'Gora. She bit her thumbnail without bothering to control her cracking voice. "What is he thinking? If there was any chance they'd start easy, he ruined it with his provocations!"
In her hand, Bao scrutinised Adam's back with her barely dry eyes. The sadness of not being with him faded into trust that he'd win. He had to. She knew he would. Her teacher and second favorite human couldn't lose. He had promised her. So, she would engrave his every move into her mories and recount them to Quintella after returning to college.
In the box, Grum'Thal raised his hand. "Trickery and magic are forbidden, and so are the enchantnts of your weapon. Display your skills, fight with honor for us, for the ancestors. Everything that had to be said has been said." He dropped his hand, thundering. "Begin!"
"RAAAH!" Ulgarath instantly lunged at Adam with a guttural grunt. His axe drew a brutal half-moon.
The sheer power of the strike hurled a roaring gale of compressed wind that blasted his hair backwards. He wrung his spine back almost parallel to the ground, his sky-blue eyes wide. Not only did he feel the cold bite of the tal lick his torso, but from his unstable position, he saw the blast continue for dozens of ters until it cleaved the tower of a bastion, neat and clean from its base.
Like his torso would if he were hit... The worst about it was... that it was just a one-handed slash.
No ti to think.
He swung his blade upward from his position. The angle was ridiculous, a textbook example of how not to attack. Yet, it flowed elegantly toward Ulgarath's torso.
Ulgarath pursed his lips in disgust and delivered a backhanded slap aid at the fra of the macuahuitl.
That was when Adam's smile beca genuine. For the last six days, he had fought, refined his understanding of Cordelia's battle style, and pondered about yin and yang. All of it using his body's strength alone.
After Zul'Gora answered yesterday's question?
His dan tian roared, his abdon ward, and his ridians blazed with life force.
Ulgarath grimaced when the back of his hand t the blade. Not pain, not to this monster. After all, with his dan tian unsealed, Adam could feel the Ulgarath's nightmarish life force.
No, it was surprise. A split second, born from the unexpected amount of strength the orc had to use to deflect the strike. A split second that made Adam narrow his eyes even as his blade flew over the arena while his back shot up.
Strength and fluidity rged into a chaotic dance. It was ti to test it against the brutal might of an enraged orc.
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