Chapter 259 - Birds and Bats (1/2)
As the time for their scheduled match drew closer, Roovan felt the jitters take over his body. He was not ready to fight that vampire. Even though Ruth hasn't been in the village for long, nobody doubted his strength. Vampires, even on Earth, were known to be one of the most powerful supernaturals that existed. They had insanely high regenerative abilities, speed like no other and terrifying strength on top of their blood gift. If Roovan had a choice, he didn't want to go up against such a terrifying foe.
Ruth stretched to warm up. There were fewer people watching the night battle. Zero did his best to help light the village square with light magic lanterns and fireflies. However, it was still rather dim. The children had gone to bed and some guests had left. Those who had to tend to the garden tomorrow opted to have an early night so Zero only counted about fifteen villagers including the participants.
Instead of Lowis, Mitchnew now took over as the night match's announcer. Zero couldn't help but compare the different hosting styles. Mitchnew was calmer and informational when she hosted. Zero listened to her explanation about night matches and their difficulties for each participant before elaborating on the rules of the match.
”As this is an aerial battle, opponents who touch the ground or any surface within the arena will lose. Magic is not allowed but bloodline abilities are. Weapons are allowed but they must be dull.”
Ruth had no problems with it. He was a bare-hand combat specialist but tonight, he thought that he would use the match as a testing ground for Zero's new weapon. The lab members worked fast to create the twin tonfas carved from the wood of a strong tree. Cleo called it a living wood and if charged with earth magic, it could grow. Right now, Ruth didn't need it to grow. He was going to test it out against the scout who was sweating buckets at the moment.
”On this side, we have Ruth Roth, the last vampire of the Roth clan from Hell. He specialises in close-ranged open-hand magic supported combat style. However, in this match, he will be going for a weapon called tonfa. Make no mistake, he is still one of the best fighters the village has ever known. With his high regenerative abilities and superior senses, the night is his playground.”
Roovan looked ill and Zero wondered if he should give the raven beastman some pills to help. He didn't think that it was a physical thing more than a psychological issue. The first time the teenager went against Ruth, he was mentally scarred by how he could have lost his neck if Ruth hadn't held back.
”On the other side, we have Roovan. He is our best scout and look-out because of his ability to see very far into the distance as well as his aerial advantage. Not many know of his combat abilities because Roovan tends to stay out of conflicts and solves them with his words most of the time. In actuality, his combat skills are subpar when compared to the average of this village. Roovan cannot win against Amaraline so I shall leave it as such.”
Roovan looked like he wanted to bury his head into the ground somewhere. While it was true that he never won Amaraline even when she was blind, Mitchnew failed to mention that the fortune-teller had a gift to see the future. It had nothing to do with his combat abilities even if Amaraline was one of the weaker villagers. She should have compared him to someone like Crudgel! He could whoop that centaur's ass any day.
”Let's cut to the chase and get the battle going. Warriors, on the count of three, the match begins. Three, two... one!”
Ruth leapt off the ground and transformed into a bat-human hybrid form. Zero was in awe. He'd never seen Ruth partially transform before and wondered if it was also possible for him after he mastered shape-shifting.
Roovan decided to gain altitude so that he could react better. Ruth was slightly slower to gain altitude but had no problems catching up with the raven. Bats had a natural advantage over birds at night. His echolocation skill told him exactly where Roovan was even if he couldn't see him due to the lack of good lighting so high up.
From below, the crowd groaned, unable to see anything more than faint shadows in the night sky. Zero was an exception. He activated night vision and was thrilled by how lively the start of the match already became. His combat teacher didn't disappoint and was gaining on Roovan who was desperate to put some distance between them.
The raven beastman threw some objects in Ruth's way. The vampire smirked and deflected them with his tonfas handsomely. Zero applauded and thought that the strange weapons looked very cool. The teenager scribbled notes into his book while observing the fight. Aerial battles were rather different from the other battles Zero had seen. They had mobility that created a lot of room to play with. It wasn't easy to nail down the target and Zero frowned. Ruth almost got Roovan trapped in a corner but the raven beastman took the opportunity to take a nosedive there, escaping the vampire successfully.
After watching their match for a while, Zeo noticed how Ruth was only able to glide with his wings rather than fly properly. His acceleration was slow and changing directions mid-flight was tricky for him.
On the other hand, Roovan was an expert in flying. His sharp turns and dives saved him many times from Ruth's attacks. The raven beastman also knew how to use the wind to his advantage, something that Ruth didn't have much experience with. It took a while for Zero to understand that like underwater currents, air currents played a huge factor in aerial battles.
While Ruth got more frustrated, Roovan gained more confidence when the match didn't end within the first five minutes. The scout was so sure that Ruth wouldn't give him a chance and would pummel him mercilessly into the ground the moment it started but after the chase, Roovan could tell that Ruth wasn't used to flying. Roovan hoovered around a spot and decided to give his ambush trap a try. The vampire might be good at deflecting thrown projectiles but the raven beastman was sure that traps were a different matter.
When Ruth saw Roovan hovering in the air, he sulked. As a bat, he needed to land if he stopped flapping those wings. He was at a natural disadvantage as a bat because those wings had a lifespan before they became nothing more than leathery burdens on his back. Bats can't hoover even for a short period.
Roovan decided to lead Ruth towards the ground to increase his chances of success. Unlike Ruth, he only had this one trick that will enable him to win the match. Zero raised a brow. Ruth and the others might not be able to see it clearly in the dark but Zero noticed the strange gun that the raven beastman carried as he threw projectiles at the vampire ranging from darts to stones.