A surge of warmth flowed through his entire body.
'A level up!?' clarity once more returned to Magnus mind.
He wanted to ask the system what was going on, but with his vision cleared up he had bigger issues.
"OYAAAA!?" rolling on the ground, he dodged an incoming attack.
Dusting himself off, he looked at the last arena enemy.
An armored human.
Standing at nearly 2 meters tall, he towered over Magnus. His entire body was covered by a thick armor, shining with an ominous glint as it was covered in runes. The helmet itself had 10 sharp horns protruding upwards, like a crown of sorts.
'... Armor made from Drant.'
He glanced at the mace in the armored man's hand, also from Drant. 'Drant that's very densely covered in runes to boot...'
The figure charged once more towards him.
'Slow?' he thought to himself, 'It's only about half my speed... If so!'
He charged towards it as well. 'With my speed advantage, I'll get in the first attack!'
5 steps away from the figure. A slight sense of crisis.
4 steps away from the figure. Alarm bells went off in his head, and Magnus stopped dead in his tracks.
'What-'
SWIIISH!
CRACK! BOOOOOOOOM!!!
His entire body moved instinctively, bending his spine back as far as he could. A black shadow flashed in front of his eyes, as a powerful wind almost threw him off balance.
He hastily retreated, eyeing the figure. Cold sweat covered his back as he saw the mace deeply embedded into the Drant of the arena.
He blanked momentarily, and the figure pulled out the mace from the ground. Once more, it charged towards him.
5 steps. Unease.
4 steps. Danger.
He dodged backwards once more.
SWIIIISH!
The mace once more passed where he had been, this time causing him to stumble.
Alarm bells.
He rolled to the side in desperation.
CRACK! BOOOOOM!
'What the fuck!' he got off the ground, gazing at the second crater made. 'How am I supposed to win this!?'
He didn't get any respite, as the mace was already raised behind the figures head.
He evaded to the side, another explosion ringing from where he dodged.
He was covered in sweat, and his expression as white as a sheet of paper. Eyeing the mace that was pulled from the ground, a spark of understanding flashed in his eyes.
'It can't repeatedly swing it!? But... I don't know if that's true. If it's faking it-' he felt a chill crawl up his spine, 'I'd be done for.'
The mace came flying towards his head once more, interrupting his thoughts.
Barely avoiding the blow, he made up his mind. 'Next one I'll try, I'll die if I don't do something!'
He got ready to dodge, anticipating the next swing. 'One more! I got one more in me!'
A fist was rapidly approaching in his vision.
He wanted to raise his arm to block it, before changing his mind and opting to dodge.
A split second decision.
The metallic fist brushed past his face, the metal glove cutting open part of his face. Bleeding, Magnus saw the faint glow of runes underneath the armor plates.
'Even the armor is covered in runes!?'
His alarm bells suddenly went off, and he noticed the mace was firmly gripped in the enemy's hand.
Time seemed to slow down. The gears in his head turned like crazy. A flash of inspiration struck him.
'All stats to speed!'
A punch of his shot towards the enemy, a beat later the mace was swung towards him.
BANG!
Magnus flew to the side, the mace embedded deeply into his side. Blood shot out of his wound as he yanked the mace out, and a white shard of something fell out.
'A bone.' he blanked, before throwing the mace to the ground. 'You're mine now!'
He charged towards the other man, who had also gotten up. Faint traces of blood seemed to trickle out of the helmet.
The enemy didn't hesitate either, charging towards him as well.
"Too slow!"
Bang!
His punch, much faster than before, landed squarely in the face. His dented glove got even more deformed.
Not allowing the enemy any respite, his foot stepped on the man's. His left hand shot forward, wrapping around the enemies arm.
Another punch followed, bending the enemy backwards, before pulling him forward for another blow.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Punch after punch rained on the armored man, not allowing a moment's rest. The blood that started flowing down the seemingly unbreakable helmet started dripping to the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Where's the cocky" BANG! "bastard from before!!!"
"CAN'T DO SHIT" BANG! "WITHOUT YOUR" BANG! "MACE, CAN YOU!?" Crack BANG!
The sound of bones breaking rang out, as Magnus entire fist was covered in blood. After incessant blows upon a nigh indestructible metal, the cracks on his bones accumulated, and they snapped.
"HAAAA!"
BANG!
With one final blow, Magnus stopped, panting. The body in front of him slumped to the ground, a pool of blood having formed at one point in time.
A different surge of warmth entered his body, causing him to frown.
'What even is-'
His thoughts were cut short, as blood spilled from his mouth. Glancing at his side, he knew instinctively his lung was ruptured.
'I don't have much time, I need a pot to heal.' he glanced at the two girls, before trying to calm down.
"I won... Right?" struggling to speak, he turned to look towards the shadow.
"Correct. You won, even if by slightly underhanded means..." it deliberately paused, causing Magnus to suddenly have a bad feeling. "But you did pass."
A question suddenly popped in Magnus's head as he saw the body of his opponent engulfed in shadows.
"You announced the others but... What was this bastard?"
"Doesn't matter, does it?" for a fleeting moment, Magnus thought it smiled at him.
"Well... It doesn't. What about the reward, I know you said something about doubling rewards if I fight without breaks."
"That is true, but there is one small problem. I cannot pay out the full reward for the trial, so would you accept an equivalent exchange for a portion of it?"
'It can't pay out the reward... Huh? Any ideas, system?'
No response.
A thoughtful expression appeared on his face,'Well... It's not smart to antagonise someone powerful. And I don't even know what the reward is so might as well...'
"Sure, I accept."
A box, barely the size of his palm, was thrown to him. Catching it, he looked down on his hand and tried to open it.
The shadow suddenly waved his hand. A scream came from the distance, and he glimpsed Charlotte and Elara disappearing into the ground.
A light suddenly shone under him as well.
' HUH?! '
A colorful hole opened up underneath him, multiple meters wide. He tried to grab the edges but it was out of reach.
"DAAAAAAMN YOOOUUUUuuuuuuuu..."
The hole closed. All of the skeletons that stood still until now fell to the ground, and the shadow chuckled lightly.
With a soft hum, it also disappeared from the arena, leaving it in the same state Magnus found it in.