The cheers echoed around me as I made my way through the tunnels. As I got closer to the stairs the sound grew louder. As I stepped up the stairs and into the afternoon sun, my eyes locked on the fight in the pit. Patric jumped from shadow to shadow as he worked to avoid the barrage of spells.

  Balls of fire, spikes of earth and ice, and even jets of water struck out at him. Yet every single one seemed to miss him by a hair. I was sure he could have moved faster to dodge each spell but every time he stopped, he attacked back. While I couldn’t make it out, his arm was definitely throwing something at his opponent. Not that whatever he threw hit his target. Whatever it was shrank and vanished before it could hit his opponent.

  Something about the fight made me think that these two people were nearly equal. Neither was strong enough to hit the other yet both were strong enough to ward off their opponent's attacks. There were only two ways one could win a fight like this. Well, three.

  One of them could decide to forego defense and charge in. While this was dangerous and could just as easily lead to a loss, it had a high chance of catching their opponent off balance. Not all that great a strategy, but sometimes such risks might be necessary to win and survive.

  Then again, you could just keep the status quo. To keep your opponent at a distance and wait for them to run out of mana or stamina. Of course, this could just as easily lead to you being the one to run out first. Given the information displayed on the screen, the mage had quite a bit of mana left, but he was eating through it noticeably faster than Patric.

  Of course, there was always the trump cards. Those skills, spells, or such that people kept in reserve as a last-ditch attack or defense. The shield used in the last round to take me out was one such move.

  Though, just like everything else, such power had limits. People saved their trump cards until the last second because they typically came with quite a doozy of a downside. Be it cost, setup, cooldown, or something similar. It didn’t matter. The only question that mattered was when was it worth using. Use it too late and it might do nothing to help your situation. Use it too early and you might have wasted it.

  The mage seemed to come to some decision. He stopped tossing attacks and started to focus on something else. Patric, seeing an opening, didn’t let the opportunity pass him by. He flit from shadow to shadow as he rapidly closed in. Just as he was within striking distance, the mage released whatever he had been focusing on.

  With a simple flick of his hand, a beam of light lanced out. It briefly connected the two before winking out. “And in a blaze of light, Ignis Lancer has defeated Patric Markus.” The announcer's voice was just loud enough for me to make out over the screaming and shouting going on around me.

  Without warning, the arena shimmered. The two of them vanished, replaced by another two fighters. Both of whom I recognized. “For our last Semi-final round, we have Austin Augusta versus Michael Petrimore. Which tank will come out on top? Let us find out.”

  Austin pulled out a new shield. It was either a backup or a replacement for the one I had destroyed. With his other hand, he pulled out an axe. The thing was tiny compared to his shield but something about it screamed danger.

  Michael, on the other hand, pulled out a shield of his own. While it was made of the same dark material, it was smaller than the one he had used against Barti. The shape and size reminded me of an older superhero's shield. Though, I was fairly sure this one couldn’t stop bullets or bounce off enemies when thrown. His sword, on the other hand, was the same one that I had seen him use before.

  With the two ready, the announcer called out. “Ready? Fight!” While Austin dug his feet in, Michael charged. He was slow to accelerate but his stride ate the distance between the two of them in a matter of seconds. Neither hesitated to swing their weapons as they got into range.

  The edge of Michael’s shield managed to get in between the head and handle of the axe. The move stopped the weapon cold. Michael’s sword, on the other hand, dug into the tower shield. It sliced a good handspan into the shield before coming to a stop. Then, as if they had both agreed to do so, they both simply stood there.

  At first, I thought they were talking, but their mouths were still. When I looked closer I realized the muscles on Michael’s back were flexing as if they were straining against something heavy. The two were trapped against each other and were trying to muscle their way out of the lock.

  A sudden glow covered Michael’s body moments before a loud metal-on-metal shrieking noise caused me to cover my ears and close my eyes. By the time I was able to look at the arena ground again, Michael was ten feet back. His sword was free, as was Austin’s axe.

  With no warning, Austin threw the axe at Michael’s face. Michael lifted his shield to block the attack and thus didn’t see the axe reverse course. The moment it landed back in Austin’s hand, he threw it again. Though this time it was aimed at his target's lower body.

  The strike landed with a sickening wet thud as the head embedded itself into Michael’s knee. Michael roared in pain. A roar that only to redouble as the axe pulled itself free and flew through the air toward its owner. As he caught it, something snapped in the man because his roars of pain turned into an anger-filled battlecry.

  All at once, five separate, but rapid, flashes of light filled the arena. A faint golden glow settled on Michael’s skin while another filled a rather large circle around him. As the two settled, a light red haze mingled with the golden glow that surrounded Michael. It was instantly followed by one of crimson. Not to be outdone, a brilliant white glow surrounded his body. While I knew the guy was human, from where I was standing, Michael suddenly looked like what one would imagine a pissed-off deity might.

  As soon as the light show settled down, Michael moved. He didn’t run. He didn’t attack. He simply walked toward Austin. Not to be outdone, Austin’s body lit up as his shield skill activated. Unfortunately, that shield did him little good as Michael swung his sword again.

  The thing cleaved through the skill like it was paper. It didn’t stop there. The tip of the sword cleaved the arm holding the shield. It fell to the ground in two pieces amongst a spurting spray of blood. I thought that such a wound would have ended the match, but it didn’t. Instead, the fight continued. The cheering and jeering that filled the area made it impossible to hear anything else.

  Michael lifted his sword into the air before he took a single step forward and let gravity pull it down. It cleaved through his opponent before embedding itself into the ground. “AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!” The announcer’s voice boomed loud enough to shake the stone structure. “MICHAEL IS OUR LAST FINALIST!”

  The crowd roared with approval and excitement. While Austin just stayed where he was, Michael turned and left. A female announcer’s calm voice boomed over the noise. “In order to give both parties a chance to recharge and to come off cooldown, the next round will take place in half an hour. If you would like to make any bets or get food, now is the time.” While the fact that betting was going on didn’t surprise me, the fact that it was open and supported by the city did. Then again, how else would they expect to get a cut of the proceeds?

  With a shake of my head, I turned and made my way up to where I had left the professor. His hulking form was exactly where I had left it. Though, I did notice that the number of armed guards on this level had increased at some point. I ignored them as I took a seat next to the professor’s bulk. His voice was soft as he spoke, “You did fairly well.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I shouldn’t have charged in like I did.” I rebutted. “Mindi is going to have my hide for ignoring one of her rules.”

  A voice came from behind the both of us. One that I recognized. “What rule is that?”

  I winced a bit as I turned to look up at Mindi. “To not rely on any one method.”

  She nodded, “Sure but I am pretty sure I taught you that you shouldn’t trust what a spell looks like. Instead avoiding them as much as you can.” When had she said that? Lucky for me, I didn’t have to ask the question. She rolled her eyes as she continued. “While the rules are a great place to start they are not an end all be all when it comes to fighting. You need to look at them, learn why they exist, and then adapt them. Just because a rule tells you to not let a spell coat you does not mean you should go hitting one either.”

  That made an annoying amount of sense. But, not wanting to linger on my faults, I changed topics. “So, I seem to have gotten another class. One that I was thinking of taking.”

  “Oh,” Barti’s voice came from the seat behind me. I spun around the find the elf lounging there. Acting as if he had been there the entire time. “What class caught your eye?”

  “Elementalist.” As I said this, the elf nodded.

  “I assumed as much given the various elements you threw around while fighting.”

  “Which is something we be talking about tomorrow.” Mindi cut in.

  Barti casually lifted his hand to show his agreement with her before continuing. “While the class is not as strong as most other classes, it does have quite a few class upgrades that make it worth the time and effort.” He sighed, “But it is up to you. Either you can get a class that will make you strong now or you can get a class that takes months to build up with.”

  I gave his two options an honest thought and found that I didn’t want my class to do all the work. I wanted the challenge of learning and strengthening myself instead of using a class as a cheap shortcut. This same thing was probably why I had put up with the torture sessions they called training. Without hesitation, I opened up my character screen. With a few quick clicks, I opened up the class options and selected my new class from the list.

  I didn’t hesitate to accept then sat as I waited for something to happen. Other than a small shiver, nothing happened. Confused, I pulled up my character screen. Sure enough, my class was now Elementalist. On top of that, I had leveled, again. Given that every stat had increased by one, I had to assume it had to be something to do with my accepting the class.

  However, before I could ask, the announcer’s voice filled the stadium. “And now, for our final match, we have Michael Petrimore versus Ignis Lancer. Mage versus tank. Who will come out on top? Who will be going home with today's prize?”

  Barti snorted at the announcer. “That mage doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “Sure he does.” I countered. “He has that laser beam that he used to win his last fight.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mindi shaking her head as she spoke. “That was likely his strongest move. It took too long, and too much mana, to cast. Likely he would only be able to get one shot off before Michael was on him. Even if the mage managed to hit the tank, Michael hasn’t used a few of his skills.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because he never used his ability.” The professor was the one to answer my question. I shot him a quizzical look. “Given the other abilities he used, he likely chose the Sanctified Bulwark class.” I nodded at this as I thought back to our initial introduction. “There are two abilities that he has yet to use that could turn the fight in his favor.”

  “And is one of them?”

  “Yep.”

  “Fighters ready?” The announcer's voice cut over the crowd. Everyone in the arena went silent in anticipation. Michael pulled out his small round shield and his sword while Ignis pulled out what looked like a fancy stick of blue and green metal. Based on the hissed breaths coming from the three people next to me, it was something they had not expected. “FIGHT!”

  Right off the bat, Michael’s body and surroundings lit up. However, unlike the last fight, his opponent didn’t wait for him to get ready. The mage made gesture after gesture before shouting “” Five beams of light shot out from each spot he had gestured. As one, they converged on Michael. He stood up straight. Even going so far as to move the shield out of the way before the strikes hit him.

  Light splashed off his body but otherwise seemed to do nothing. “And that would be his ability.” The professor sighed.

  “Not just that. Look at how the light isn’t splashing all over the place.” Barti said, his eyes narrowed as he watched. “There is another ability at work here.” The professor laughed but otherwise stayed silent.

  Not that he had to. As one, the beams of light cut off. The mage stood there stunned. As one, we all watched the glow shimmering around Michael. Without warning, it condensed and fired a beam of light back at the mage. He must have gotten lucky or something as the light hit the tip of his wand.

  While I expected the thing to explode, it glowed brighter and brighter until it rivaled the sun high above. As it finished absorbing the attack, he flicked it once in Michael’s direction. “!” Instead of a golden-white beam like his last attack, this one was a bluish-white cone.

  The professor huffed. “Well, that is a bit of an ambitious name for a spell.”

  “What is?”

  “ loosely translates to soul fire.” He replied. Barti shot a look at him but didn’t say a word or try to stop the professor as he continued. “While this is a game, how can such a thing portray souls? Let alone use them as a fuel source.”

  I wanted to ask him more questions but the fire chose that moment to sputter out. The mage collapsed to his hands and knees. His head lifted to check on his opponent. Even from where I stood, he didn’t look so healthy. His cheeks looked hollow and his eyes had sunk deep into his skull. It was almost as if the spell had sucked the very life from his body.

  The fires that surrounded Michael dimmed and vanished to reveal the beast of a man in all his glory. And I do mean all of his glory. His armor had either burned off or melted. Given the quickly solidifying puddle of metal surrounding him, I was sure it had melted away. And the metal wasn’t the only thing to melt either. Wolf whistles and cat calls filled the stadium as people got an eyeful of the man. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to care.

  Before the match could continue, the mage seemed to croak out something before he collapsed to the ground. “And there we have it. Michael Petrimore is this year's champion. Give it up for Michael!” The announcer practically screamed into whatever they were using to do their job. For his part, Michael lifted his hands in victory before jumping forward to help the medics with his opponent.

  “With that, I think I am going to get going.” The professor spoke as he stood up.

  “Where are you going to go?”

  “I think I will head to the front lines as I want to do some more research on these SoulStones.”

  “SoulStones?” Barti asked.

  I passed mine over to him as the professor spoke. “It was something the gods gave each traveler this morning. When I used it, I became this.”

  “It looks serious.” Barti passed my stone to Mindi. “Have you experienced any of the negative effects?”

  “I got lucky there.” The professor carefully made his way down the stairs. While the guy used his wings to help maintain balance, he tried to not beam anyone over the head with them. “One of my more expensive items has the ability to get rid of a single status item at the cost of a charge. As I hadn't been using it while in this quaint town, it still had all four charges.”

  “But there are five debuffs.” I pointed out as I put the stone away.

  “True, but I didn’t need the buffs either so I got rid of them, preventing me from ever gaining the debuffs.” That was one way to do it, but it sounded like a waste.

  “Smart.” Barti nodded before turning and looking me in the eyes. “Promise me you will not use your stone unless you have no other choice.”

  “Why?”

  “It would make one hell of a trump card.” The professor answered for him from the tunnel stairs. “Plus, who knows what you might change into.”

  Barti looked like he was fighting over what to say. Eventually, he just nodded. “And you have seen what happens to non-humans in this town.”

  “Actually, not really.” My statement caught the two of them off guard.

  Mindi spoke as if she only just realized something. “Because you have been training with us most of the time.”

  Barti looked like he wanted to argue but, after opening and closing his mouth a few times, he sighed. “I need a drink before I try to explain any of this.” He didn’t wait for either of us, he simply turned and vanished into the crowd.

  “Take your time getting back. Just meet us back at the guild hall around dinner time.” Mindi spoke quickly before taking off to catch up with the elf. I had a feeling that she was chasing him to make sure he was okay and had time to blow off a bit of steam before being allowed to drink. I was also fairly sure this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Now, I just needed to find something to do for the next few hours.