168 Prestige and Prominence (2/2)

Althea frowned, ”He can't do anything.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”She took away all his options.”

Mell opened his dimensional storage, pulling a vial out. As he did, Jilian unloaded a dozen bullets into the portal. I winced,

”Damn. She's not leaving a stone unturned. You can only store your bodyweight in your dimensional storage. It costs health depending on how much you put in there. He's paying the weight of those bullets in flesh and blood.”

Mell kept composed despite the damage. He opened the vial, a shiny dust floating around him. Kiki Most shouted, ”And here it is folks. His signature move, diamond storm!”

Mell propelled shining shards at her. They shot against her shield. The specks bounced off before wrapping around her. Mell maintained the spiral of diamonds while dancing and deflecting her bullets. It was a bunch of flashy bullshit, but it was still impressive.

Jilian stayed on point. She took a device from her side, activating it. She tossed it ahead of her, and it siphoned air inwards. Like a vacuum in space, the machine pulled the diamond dust into the portal. She reloaded while waiting for it to do her work.

The second the machine stopped, she fired again. Mell kept dancing and fighting back, but the bout was over. More and more bullets clipped him, slowing him down. The more he slowed down, the more bullets clipped him. The vicious cycle continued until one smacked him in the helmet.

Knocked unconscious, Kiki Mosk snapped his fingers. A shield formed over Mell, stopping his fall. Kiki pointed at Jilian, ”And we have a winner!”

The throngs of people booed like there was no tomorrow. Jilian stepped out of the arena, ignoring the jeering like a true professional. Althea sighed at me,

”Well, you were right about her being the fury. What made you guess.”

I shrugged, ”Jilian was all about the fight. Mell looked more like an entertainer. He reminded me of Thisbey in that regard.”

After they stepped out of the arena, lots of people left the stadium. They were Mell's fans leaving. Eradin sent a mental shout at me, ”Good riddance! There's no need for casuals here.”

A small grin ran up my lips at that. After the next set of ads played, Kiki Mosk gestured towards us, ”The next fight is another decisive one. We have a treat for you all. Two gialgathens are going head to head! On the one hand, we have Eradin Forest-Torch.”

Eradin opened his jaws and roared out. He flapped his wings, flying up onto the arena. As he landed, he quaked the ground.”

I squinted at him, checking his status.

Eradin Forest-Torch(lvl 6,783) - Eradin is an ancient gialgathen, over two centuries old. While experienced, his best days are behind him. With a worsening heart condition, his ability to fight for extended periods of time is lowered.

Even then, his clever tactics and experience make him a harrowing foe to face. He uses his tail as clubbed whip like most gialgathens. The difference lies in his clever usage of angle. This gives him more openings for counter attacks.

You will overwhelm him most likely, though he could pose a challenge.

The crowd booed again. Near us, one of the combatants tossed a mushy piece of food at him. I flicked my wrist, sending the food right back at the combatant. He fell backward, and Althea giggled,

”Did you see that guy? Talk about hilarious.”

I smirked, ”Yup. It was satisfying to watch.”

Kiki Mosk pointed near us again, ”And here we have his son, Moran Blademaker!”

Another gialgathen roared. Bright green with black spots on his sides, Moran flew onto the other side of the arena. He was the younger version of Eradin, his frame oozing vitality.

Moran Blademaker(lvl 6,821) - The son of Eradin Forest-Torch, Moran has struggled for many years to prove his worth to his father. This has created a healthy rivalry where each side helps elevate the others performance. Though compliments between the two are rare, there exists a respect between them both.

He lacks his father's tactical prowess, but his raw strength and endurance give him a subtle edge in combat. Just like his father, Moran could prove a challenge given the right circumstances though its unlikely.

It made sense why most espens struggled against gialgathens. Even without the system, they seemed to revolve around level six or seven thousand. It was enough distance that you needed a class to compete.

Kiki Mosk interrupted my thoughts, pointing to each side, ”Are both combatants ready?”

They nodded. Kiki Mosk raised a hand, ”Then to battle!”

Eradin and Moran bowed to each other, showing respect for each other. The old lizard wasn't joking about honor. Their tails whipped behind them, the air squealing at the speed. They clashed, slapping against each other.

Each tail ripped through the air at stupendous speeds. They clashed several times a second, sending out pounding booms of sound. Each gialgathen kept their necks tucked, ready to lunge out at a moment's notice.

Eradin deflected one of Moran's strikes, sending his son's tail off to the side. The old beast snapped out, his teeth tearing into Moran's neck. Moran shot out his tail, but Eradin cocked his neck back before it landed. Another fierce volley of lashing shot out, the crowd unable to see them.

I saw them in detail, however. They both hit each other with the hardened tips of their tails, forged through years of training. Each attack was done with an angle, never head-on. They weaved each attack into the next, creating no opening for a snap of each other's jaws.

Eradin times another pristine deflection, sending Moran's tail out from in front of him. Just as before Eradin snapped out. Moran countered, snapping his jaws against his father's own. The older gialgathen punished that attempt, snapping his tail onto the side of Morna's head.

The younger gialgathen lost his balance, stumbling sideways. With a brutal flurry of his tail, Eradin tore chunks of flesh fell off Moran. Moran launched a heavy tail whip at Eradin. The old gialgathen snapped his jaws further down his son's tail. This stopped the momentum of Moran's attack.

With one final, blinding snap of his tail, Eradin knocked his son out cold. Kiki caught Moran from falling with the flick of his fingers. Kiki pointed towards Eradin,

”And the father wins!”

Another set of boos roared out. By now, I hated the crowd. Those two gialgathens just laid their hearts out in that battle. It was was a stunning display from both adversaries. No one gave a shit. The crowd just played favorites without any rhyme or reason.

It left a bad taste in my mouth as Eradin flew back to his spot. He turned towards me, breathing heavy, ”My son has improved so much since last year. I nearly lost my bout!”

I scoffed, ”Yeah right.”

Beads of sweat poured from Eradin, ”You jest. Look at me. Fatigue almost claimed me. If he hadn't grown overeager, he'd have worn me out with that pace. It's a good battle for him to learn from. He will defeat me next year. Of this, I have no doubt.”

He stuck his chest out, his head held high, ”He's a good boy, no, a good warrior. He will give my family honor in the days to come. Once he's healed, I'll let him know this.”

I grinned at the old guy. He was a great father even if he was a little harsh with his lessons. Just I smiled, the pre-fight hype started up again. Two big names were coming up again. I raised my head up and wheezed out,

”No, not this shit again.”

Clips from the last fight popped up along with some I'd already seen before.At least it didn't last as long this time. With the hype over, Kiki pointed towards one side of the arena,

”And here we have yet another big fight! Here, on the one hand, we have the returning veteran, Jilian Krokov!”

Jilian walked out in her black power armor, stone cold and badass. The booing of the crowd commenced in full force. People poured into the arena once more, wanting to watch the next fight. Seconds later, new clips played on the teleprompter. These videos drew my attention, however.

They showed a guy in gray power armor keeping up with a gialgathen's tail whips. He deflected each attack, pressuring the monster back. As he encroached on his prey, he unleashed a furious assault. The gialgathen didn't stand a chance, and he was launched out of the arena. I frowned.

It was me.

A light beamed onto me from above as Kiki Mosk pointed at me, ”And here we have the popular newcomer, Daniel, the Gray Giant!”

The crowd roared as I looked around. I stood up, wondering why the fuck they didn't just give me a list of who fought who. As I pushed my ass off my seat, the entire stadium exploded with praise. I raised my hands and portions of the crowd began a standing ovation.

It was pure madness.

I pumped my fists up and down. The people standing up did the same. I grabbed one leg behind me before hopping on one foot. To my utter disbelief, some people did the same. Kessiah smacked my back from behind me. I laughed before pulling myself up with gravity, floating towards the arena.

Once onto the stone arena, Kiki Mosk pointed at the both of us, ”Are you all ready to see the third high profile bout in a row?”

The crowd went crazy again. It was bizarre, out of body experience. Everybody had an expectation of me, and that expectation was who I was. I didn't like it, and I intended on fixing it when I was able to get a speech in. All that would come later.

I rolled my shoulders while cracking my knuckles. I twisted my neck, the crowd stomping. My mana charged, building to obscene levels in seconds. An aura leaked from my armor, whipping wind nearby. Jilian Krokov took a step back, the energy causing her cold persona to crack.

Kiki Mosk raised a hand, ”Are both combatants ready?”

I nodded as Jilian sighed. She pulled out her rifle, aiming it at me before the fight started. She nodded.

Kiki Mosk pulled down his hand, ”Then lets fight!”