Chapter 17: Chapter 17
The roar of one hundred thousand spectators vibrated through the soles of Glen’s boots as he stepped out of the dark tunnel and onto the pristine white sand of the Colosseum.
This was the main bracket. The real tournament.
The arena floor had been expanded the boundary walls pushed back to create a massive circular battlefield measuring two hundred yards across. Floating camera drones buzzed through the air projecting Glen’s face onto the massive holographic screens above. The crowd booed and jeered. To them he was still just an F Rank Mimic who had gotten lucky in the qualifiers by fighting weak opponents.
Glen ignored the noise. He drew his twin silver swords and rolled his shoulders loosening his muscles. He kept his breathing slow and steady.
On the opposite side of the arena the heavy steel gates ground open.
The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer.
Kaelen Vance walked out into the sunlight. He was a mountain of a young man standing nearly seven feet tall with shoulders as wide as a doorway. He wore heavy dark iron armor that left his massive scarred arms bare. In his right hand he dragged a colossal battleaxe that looked heavy enough to crush a tank.
He was an A Class Berserker. The youngest son of Guild Master Elias Vance.
Up in the VIP suite Elias leaned forward resting his chin on his folded hands. He had pulled every string necessary to arrange this matchup. He wanted the anomaly crushed publicly and brutally before any other guild could offer the boy a contract.
"Match Twelve" the announcer’s voice boomed over the stadium speakers. "Glen Mcdonald versus Kaelen Vance. Fighters prepare."
Kaelen stopped fifty yards away from Glen. He rested the head of his massive axe on the sand. He did not look angry. He looked bored.
"My father told me to break all your limbs" Kaelen said his voice a deep rumbling bass that carried across the arena. "He said you were dangerous. But looking at you I think the old man is losing his mind. You are tiny."
"It is a tactical advantage" Glen smiled his dark eyes locking onto the giant. "Makes me harder to hit."
"I do not need to hit you directly" Kaelen laughed. "I just need to hit the ground near you."
A loud mechanical chime echoed through the stadium.
"Begin."
Glen did not hesitate. He knew he could not let an A Class Berserker build up momentum. He activated Lightning Movement.
He vanished in a flash of blue electricity crossing the fifty yard gap in a fraction of a second. He appeared directly in front of Kaelen aiming a dual horizontal slash at the giant’s exposed biceps. He channeled Savage Strike into both blades expecting to carve deep into the muscle.
The silver swords struck Kaelen’s bare skin.
A loud metallic clang echoed across the arena. Sparks flew from the impact.
Glen’s eyes widened. The blades had not even broken the skin. Kaelen’s A Class physical defense was so incredibly dense that his bare muscles were harder than reinforced steel. The recoil traveled up Glen’s arms making his wrists ache.
"Too slow" Kaelen grinned.
The giant swung his massive left fist. Glen tried to duck but the sheer size of Kaelen’s arm made it impossible to completely evade. The back of Kaelen’s hand clipped Glen’s shoulder.
It felt like being hit by a speeding train.
Glen was thrown violently through the air skipping across the white sand like a stone on water. He crashed into the ground tumbling backward for thirty feet before he managed to dig his swords into the dirt to stop his momentum.
He gasped for air his left shoulder screaming in pain. He quickly activated Obsidian Skin covering his body in the dark translucent armor. If he had not braced himself at the last second that single casual backhand would have shattered his collarbone.
Isla was right. The gap between a B Class physical stat and an A Class physical stat was an absolute chasm.
"Is that it?" Kaelen laughed resting his axe on his shoulder. "I barely tapped you Mimic. Come on. Show me this dangerous power my father is so afraid of."
Glen stood up wiping a streak of blood from his mouth. His mind raced analyzing the data. Raw physical attacks were useless. Kaelen’s defense was too high. If Glen tried to trade blows he would be crushed in seconds.
He needed to fight smarter. He needed to wear the giant down.
"You want to see a trick?" Glen asked his dark smirk returning.
He activated Shadow Cloak. The shadows on the arena floor surged upward swallowing him completely. Glen vanished from sight erasing his visual and auditory footprint.
The crowd gasped murmuring in confusion.
Kaelen frowned looking around the empty white sand. "Stealth? In a daytime arena? You are just delaying the inevitable rat."
Glen moved silently circling the giant. He needed to find a weak point. The eyes the throat the joints in the armor. He crept closer raising his sword for a precise surgical strike.
But Kaelen Vance was an A Class Berserker. He did not need to see his enemy to kill them.
"If I cannot see you" Kaelen roared gripping his massive battleaxe with both hands. "I will just crush everything."
A terrifying aura of boiling red mana erupted from Kaelen’s body. The air around him distorted from the sheer pressure. He raised the colossal axe high above his head and slammed it directly into the center of the arena floor.
"Earth Shatter."
The impact was apocalyptic. The entire stadium shook violently. A massive shockwave of red mana and shattered stone exploded outward in a perfect three hundred and sixty degree circle tearing the arena floor to pieces.
