- Oliver -

  "Damn it! Another cloud?!" Oliver said as he tried to run away.

  Oliver was attempting to move to the other side of the arena and distance himself from the rapidly advang cloud while dodging attacks unched by Adrian.

  Ding

  Ding

  "Impressive, Mike; two oppos were taken down with a siack," John said.

  "What was that move, John? We khat Helena could use her shots to expel high-pressure wind. But knowing that the twins were pnning something like this shows how much House Selene is iing in them," ented Mike.

  "No doubt. Pollux doesn't have the physical build of a great fighter, but being able to expel poison is quite uo date, there are few records ers with this type of power," John expined.

  "So that's why Helena wao push the oppos away. With them distanced, it's enough for the boy to expel the poison, and she's able to release the cloud on the field," Mike ented.

  Oliver couldn't see what was happening, but seeing the green cloud, he knew he had to keep running.

  Thing

  Once again, the boy had to use his shield to deflect the spear. It had been some time since Adrian had stopped throwing the spear, but now that Oliver was trying to get away, he took this moment to hinder his oppo.

  "Fuck you! Didn't you say you were waiting for a fight?" Oliver shouted.

  "Yes, but you're the one running away," Adrian replied.

  "Damn," Oliver thought. He didn't want to alert his oppo about the approag cloud; perhaps the oppo already knew from listening to the announcers.

  In a moment of carelessness, Oliver tried to turn to keep moving away, fetting what Adrian was capable of. When he finally looked back at his oppo, he remembered that the man was able t the spear back.

  The boy tried to jump out of the way of the spear, yet he could feel the spear's tip passing over his forearm. It didn't pierce him but made a superficial cut. If he had been a sed slower, he would have had his arm impaled.

  "Shit!" the boy screamed while bringing his shield hand to cover the wound.

  Oliver checked the wound, seeing that it wouldn't hinder his movement. He armored his heart. The green cloud seemed to have slowed down its adva was his turn to take the initiative.

  The boy kept running, this time slower enough for Adrian to approach. Oliver was waiting for an opening. He k would e soon.

  Once again, Adrian threw the spear. Seeing this, Oliver stopped running and turoward his oppo. In a fra of a sed, the boy used the shield to deflect the spear and tinued running toward the oppo.

  "You wao fight hand-to-hand. So let's go!" Oliver shouted.

  Adrian gave a fident smile, waiting for the spear to return to his hand. Instead, Oliver quickly removed the shield from his arm and threw it.

  "That won't work, boy. It won't even hurt me," Adrian ented, pung the shield and knog it to the ground.

  Oliver khe shield wouldn't cause any damage, but for a moment, the big guy couldn't see where the boy roag from.

  "Who said I wao hurt you?" Oliver said.

  The boy remembered his versation with Nico about the differences between Humans and Orcs. The main one was height, which alters reach, weight, and strength.

  ‘But what if there were no differen height?’ Oliver thought.

  Oliver used the moment when Adrian wasn't looking to jump at his oppo's abdomen, grabbing both legs and pushing him to the ground.

  "And now? Shall we have our hand-to-hand?" Oliver said.

  ‘[Observation]’ Oliver thought, activating his Boon.

  But without waiting for Adrian to respond, he began to deliver blows to his oppo's face, knowing he wouldn't have a way to respond to the attacks.

  The boy's quick a disoriented Adrian; trying to summon his spear, he only mao put one hand near his face to protect himself.

  Oliver saw the shield nearby, grabbed it with both hands, and began to strike Adrian's face.

  Ding

  "Huh?"

  That was all Oliver could think; where his oppo had been before was empty. The side of the shield hit directly on the ground.

  "And we have another elimihis time by Oliver," announced Mike.

  "How brutal. I didn't imagihis boy would have this level of savagery," ented John.

  Still kneeling, Oliver tried to catch his breath and uand what was happening in the arena. The poison cloud had disappeared, with two oppos still trying to face the twins. Others were fighting farther to the right.

  The boy slowly stood up, looking around for Adrian’s spear, trying to uand if the ons of eliminated oppos had also been removed from the arena.

  ‘Lucky!’ Oliver thought upon seeing the spear right before him. He walked over to where the spear was, but as soon as he bent down to grab it, his body became pletely paralyzed.

  Buzz

  Before he could uand what was happening, his body began to vulse with a terribly strong shock passing through his skin.

  "Not so o be caught by surprise, huh?"

  The shock had ended, but the pain still lingered in his body.

  ‘Move! Move! Move!’ the boy screamed inside his mind, trying to escape whoever it was.

  With a quick leap, he moved away and turned around, seeing an iiask before him.

  "It seems that young Oliver won't even have a sed to recover. Uh... what's her name again?" Mike ented.

  "No one knows for sure, but everyone has been calliaser due to her peculiar Boon," John ented.

  "Did you like my electrifying little surprise? This was for that i on the sed floor," Taser shouted at the boy.

  "Get off my back—all this over a defeat on the sed floor?" Oliver replied.

  The girl was slowly walking toward Oliver, who was still rec from the blow received.

  "Defeat? No, this is for humiliating me. With a cheap shot," the girl tinued shouting.

  "Things don't seem to be going well for Oliver, Mike. It looks like he really pissed Taser," John ented.

  Oliver didn't remember his fight with the girl very well, especially si had been so quick.

  ‘That's it? Is she mad because the fight was short? She’s ihe boy thought.

  Besides the ivory mask she wore, other things caught Oliver's attention. Although she was taller than him and had long arms, she still preferred to use daggers.

  ‘Reach won't be a problem,’ Oliver cluded.

  Ding

  "Another one eliminated by Helena!" John ented.

  "The Princess of Selene seems to want to take first p the Coliseum," Mike said.

  "With only six petitors left, let's see how this will end," John ented.

  Oliver couldn't take his eyes off the girl in front of him. He wao see the other battle happening to avoid being caught off guard again, but Taser wouldn't give him an opening.

  While Oliver watched the girl to uand how she would fight, Taser decided to take the initiative. She lu him and delivered a flurry of sshes with her daggers.

  "WOW!" the boy excimed, surprised as he dodged one of the attacks.

  Taser focused her main attack from one side while using her oppo's blind spot to attempt a sed strike with her ger. This sed attack came close to hitting Oliver, but he was able to dodge using the signals from [Observation].

  ‘Where is the spear?’ the boy thought as he dodged a few more blows. He k should be nearby on the ground.

  "Make this easier for me. You're already tired; I want to give you a beating. How about you stop dodging?" the girl said, pointing one of the daggers at Oliver's chest.

  ‘That’s the opening I needed,’ Oliver thought, using the versation to look at the ground. The spear was near his feet, just a little to the left.

  "And how about you set yer aside? Go py with the other friends; that one who spits poison seems pretty fun," Oliver said, trying to buy more time.

  Taser frowned—not that Oliver could see her face—but he could notice from her body that she was tenser due to his reply. The boy could also see the crag energy ing from both daggers.

  Oliver was already prepared when the girl decided to un attack, thrusting one of her daggers at him. The boy threw himself to the ground to grab the spear and poi at his oppo.

  Taser stopped her advance just before attag the boy, seeing that he now had a spear. The girl wasn't stupid, just hot-headed. She wao defeat him, but not enough to fa oppo who clearly had the advantage.

  Taser and Oliver were in a deadlock. They kept each other at a distance, analyzing their moves and what they could do to end the frontation.

  "It seems you're stuck; don't worry; I'll help you," a hoarse voice shouted to both of them.

  "Poison Rain!"

  DingDing

  GCLopes