Realm of Monsters

Sylvie grumbled to herself as she paced back and forth past the weapons rack. The large array of weapons hung on the wooden racks, gleaming in the torchlight from their recent polishing. Freya watched her with a half-hearted smile. The crowds chanting reverberated over the tunnel’s walls. The sounds of thousands echoed faintly through the air.

“You hear that?” Freya pointed upwards. “That’s the sound of ‘you’re running out of time.’ Try to hurry it up if you can.”

“Just a little longer,” Sylvie muttered and kept perusing through the dozens of weapons. 

“Why is this so difficult for you? How many of those weapons do you even know how to use?”

“Enough to make the choice difficult,” Sylvie shrugged.

“Really?” Freya asked skeptically.

“I had a very thorough education growing up. I had countless tutors and instructors who taught me all sorts of things, not the least of which was the art of weapons.”

“Yeah, I can relate. Not to the weapons part – I only ever learned to wield the hammer – but the rest sounds pretty familiar. I used to stay up past midnight most days, learning about trade routes and mercantile practices. Ugh, it was exhausting,” Freya shivered in recollection. “But the worst had to be learning about magic before my magic even awakened. It’s so weird trying to learn about your mana flow when you don’t even have one yet.”

“I actually liked my magic training,” Sylvie smiled softly. “Sure, sometimes there were boring instructors and lectures, but other times my dad taught me instead. He’s a pretty busy guy, always juggling one responsibility or another, he barely ever has time for himself, but he always somehow found time to teach me. It was nice, just me and him. I missed those days.”

“He sounds like a cool dad.”

“Yeah, I guess. He’s usually pretty patient even when I tried to get him angry,” Sylvie chuckled.

“My dad is on the Hollow Council so he’s pretty busy too. He doesn’t have much patience at all and gets angry easily, but never violent. Most days he was angry; it would usually end up with him passed out drunk on top of some of his concubines. The really tricky part was where. Sometimes it was in his bed, other times it was in one of the pools or the kitchen. One time he fell asleep on the roof and didn’t wake up until the next afternoon. There he was, butt naked, covered in sunburns.”

“Your dad’s sleeping habits sound weird, but oddly fun,” Sylvie grinned.

“Pfft. Yeah? We should try it some time,” Freya laughed. 

Sylvie picked up a large two-handed double-sided ax and shifted it around her hands, testing its weight. She sighed in satisfaction, “Damn, you really can’t go wrong with a good ol’ ax.”

“Just try not to chop off your opponent’s arm like last time, yeah?” Freya said wryly.

Sylvie spun the ax in a wide flourish around her, then finally rested the wooden shaft on her shoulder. She smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

~~~

The sky was filled with pale grey clouds, the first signs of a far off rain nearing Undergrowth. Yet the threat of rain did nothing to hinder the thousands of spectators. They all eagerly watched from the stands, staring as the dire vampire-human walked to the center of the arena, where her opponent waited. 

Diane had already drawn her swords. She crossed her blades and stabbed them into the ground, then bowed respectfully, “...It is an honor to be your opponent.”

Sylvie cocked her head to the side, the orc’s words sounded familiar. Sylvie’s eyes widened with recognition, they were the words the frost giant hybrid had said to Diane in their match. “Ah. Where did all that aggression of yours go? You still have those stupid double swords, so you’re clearly still the same idiot. So what changed?”

Diane narrowed her eyes, “I came here to win, that hasn’t changed. But I was wrong about my previous opponent, the frost giant Lynn was a worthy enemy. She displayed honor in our duel. And I thought to show you the same courtesy. Clearly, however, you care not for the honor of warriors.”

Sylvie laughed disdainfully, “I don’t accept your ‘honor.’ Honor is accepted and given only to the worthy, like that frost giant. The way she was willing to fight you to the bitter end, putting everything she had on the line, that was the mark of a true warrior, unlike you. Fighting Lynn would have been fun and far more interesting than whatever you have to offer.”

“Because I’m unworthy?” Diane sneered and grabbed her blades.

“No, I’d at least usually have fun defeating an uptight orc like you. No, this match won’t be interesting because it’ll be too easy. All thanks to those couple of swords you carry around like an idiot. I mean honestly, a sword is a terrible weapon as it is, overused and often impractical, but two of them? It’s like you're signing your own death sentence.”

“Is that what your haughty instructors taught you?” Diane dragged the tips of her blades through the sand and walked in a wide circle around Sylvie, eyeing her like a wolf eyed a sheep.

“How did you know I had weapon instructors?” Sylvie furrowed her brow.

“Please. You practically ooze an arrogant rich girl aura. Just standing there, judging that you’re better than me without even knowing me. What do you know of true combat?”

“I know I’m stronger than you, that’s for certain,” Sylvie winked.

“You really are an arrogant brat.”

“Not arrogant, just confident. I know my limits.” Sylvie smiled coldly, “More importantly, I know yours. I saw your last match. I saw how you struggled against Lynn’s water magic. For a mage your magic is quite terrible. So if all you have are those stupid swords, than I’ve already won.”

Diane snarled, “You cocky little shi-”

The Herald’s Tower’s enchanted horn blared across the coliseum.

“OUR DUELISTS SEEM READY TO FIGHT!” Mark yelled.

Jane cupped her hands together and shouted into the horn, “THEN LET THE 9TH MATCH OF THE CHALLENGE OF SPELL & STEEL… BEGIN!!!”