"Ohh oh ohh! What is this? We have a winner. Primeboy from Ganymede wins the match!" The announcer cried in a frenzy, and the crowd roared.
Ardlan assumed that it was his cue to leave the ring and join the twins, but the force field still remained activated about him, neither was he given a path to go through.
"Hmmm…" A strange sound reached his ears, like the rubbing of a smooth surface against another, and then, he realized that meters away, a rectangular slab of the metal surface sank downwards, was this his path out?
He slowly drifted to it, and upon getting to the edge of the slab, he peered at a bulbous black head ascending from the sunken spot, and he reversed swiftly.
His opponent had arrived.
"A Hipemodron," He muttered.
"From the aqueous planet of Calasta, Tundi the reach!"
"The reach? Got anything to do with your abilities?" Ardlan teased, shrugging.
"Who would win?! The Jupiter boy or the aqueous beast?!"
Ardlan noticed a crease in the creature's large head, and if he was certain of their body language, he would say that it didn't like being referred to as a beast.
"Terribly biased, and rather anthropocentric don't you think?!" Ardlan yelled with his hands cupped around his mouth.
Then, he spotted a large glowing tab hovering right above the pentagon. He had assumed that it was for scores which he found inconsistent and strange, but once the numbers on it rose meteorically, and he saw units to them, he realized.
"They are betting on us."
"Yes," the Hipemodron answered, its voice was a loud vibrating hum, and there was a calmness to it.
"I see."
Ardlan studied it. He knew the hipemodron to be a scholarly folk, highly knowledgeable and resourceful, with many holding sway in the empire. Their features evolved for a largely aqueous environment, but they could survive in a moderately dry atmosphere for days. So to Ardlan, it was very strange to see one right in front of him ready for battle. He didn't think they were a battle-oriented species, they certainly did not look like it.
His Hipemodron opponent was tall, and with a massive round head from which its other organs seemed to sprout downwards from. A thin neck attached to a torso which opened at the flanks to reveal fleshy deflating and inflating brown gills, and from the bottom of the torso branched six thick tentacles about the width of an average human arms, and from it gills jutted two pairs of larger tentacles. It was a glossy black, and the tiny blank black eyes embedded on its massive head told Ardlan all he needed to know; it was here for business and it would show no mercy.
34 quint dolons to 14 quint dolons, that was the stake displayed on the bet tab from which the audience electronically placed their bets. The money placed on Ardlan was up by 20 quint.
"Oh oh oh!" Seeing the difference improved Ardlan's mood, the audience were impressed by his previous bout.
"Fight!" The announcer cried, and a tentacle from the Hipemodron's gill sprang forth. It came forward so fast and sudden, that even Ardlan hadn't anticipated it, and it struck his chest heavily, throwing him on the force field.
The electric current couldn't pass through Ardlan's spandex, preventing him from getting even more damage but the force field ricocheted him to a curve around the pentagon, and Tundi engaged in a follow-up attack, throwing up a massive tentacle and slamming it down on his torso.
"Arghhh!" Ardlan felt the impact of that one, and he crashed on the metal floor with an impact causing a dent on it.
The Hipemodron slowly withdrew its tentacle and looked on at Ardlan's unmoving body.
"KO?" The Announcer questioned.
Suddenly, Ardlan rose in a single motion, like a taut rope had pulled him from above. A tear ran through his suit at his back, exposing his olive skin.
"The match continues!"
"That was a clean hit." Ardlan said, rubbing his exposed back.
"If you had continued with a barrage of attacks of the same force, then undoubtedly you would win, but that would cost you a lot of power wouldn't it? And you simply do not have that."
He stretched his arms,
"Cosmic energy could fill that gap, but it seems you are not proficient in it, don't worry, I'm not as good either. You Hipemodrons are interesting, you know. However, I have a test to pass."
"A test?!" Tundi blurted in his native tongue, no way he was fighting a student.
Ardlan noticed as its eyes sunk even further, it was feeling distressed.
"Good."
He launched himself at his opponent, holding forward his right arm and jetting through the air like a released arrow.
Tundi responded in kind, lunging all four of its powerful tentacles.
The two opposing blows struck, and both participants flung across the pentagon from the recoil. Ardlan hit the bottom close to the ground, and the bolts of electricity laced around the field got to him through the tear on his suit, slamming into him and against the metal ground. His body convulsed violently, his limbs flailing apart until he was flung away to the center by the energy.
The Hipemodron unfortunately wasn't as durable as Ardlan was, and it got roasted on the spot.
The impact had not only thrown it above, but it had also burst its tentacles. Should it have survived, it would have lost to Ardlan.
Its charred remains lay some meters away from Ardlan, and the crowd was left slightly confused and eager. Had both parties lost?
Steam oozed from Ardlan's body, and the announcer began a countdown.
"Fourteen, thirteen, twelve… I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Primeboy stands."
Ardlan stood, his suit greatly damaged and exposing a generous amount of skin, yet no signs of burns showed across it. His mask was torn from his lower lips to his neck, but nothing that would reveal his face.
It was the right moment, and he threw up a fist declaring his triumph.
The crowd on the brink of losing their minds roared.