Chapter 9: Koga Miyazoko Vs. Cedric Tallywick
After taking another bath, Sam, Lazula, and Calista climbed into bed, still naked, and fell asleep cuddling each other, smiles on their faces. The following morning, they woke up, got dressed, and headed down to the tavern for breakfast.
"So, if we have a few days until your crew potentially gets here, what should we do until then?" Calista asked.
"I’m down for anything," Lazula said through a mouthful of potatoes. "As long as we’re all together."
"Is there anyone here who could train me to properly use my Dragon Warlock powers?" Sam asked. "I think that should be a top priority."
"Agreed," Lazula said with a nod. "I think there is a Dragon Warlock who is always fighting over at the Arena, so we should be able to talk to him there."
"Okay, cool! We’ll head over there after breakfast," Sam declared. Lazula and Calista nodded in understanding.
After they were done eating, they headed out into the city, making their way to a huge open air colosseum. People were hooting and hollering from the bleachers as two fighters stepped out onto a raised rectangular platform made of stone tiles.
One combatant was a human male with long black hair pulled into a messy ponytail, dark eyes that looked tired or bored or both, light olive skin, and a few days-worth of stubble on his face. He looked like he was maybe in his mid-thirties and was dressed very casually - a wrinkled black shirt, dark gray shorts, and a pair of sandals. He was slouching with his hands in his pockets. He seemed to be in excellent physical shape, despite his lazy demeanor.
The other was a tall, humanoid green-skinned frog with a bright orange pompadour. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a sleeveless blue body suit with a high collar and a deep v-shape showing off his chest. His demeanor was considerably more energetic.
They both stepped forward to a referee in the center of the ring.
"For this match, we have Koga Miyazoko, Class: SSS-Rank Dragon Warlock, Specialization: Air Samurai," the referee said as he gestured to the man with the ponytail. He then did the same to the frog guy. "And Cedric Tallywick, Class: SSS-Rank Leviathan Warlock, Specialization: Water Samurai! You will fight until one of you loses consciousness, falls out of the ring, or submits! And as always, killing your opponent is strictly prohibited! Ready? Set? FIGHT!" The referee finished by clapping his hands together and then getting the hell out of the way.
Koga and Cedric charged at each other, trading high-speed punches and kicks. They began hopping around the ring as they blocked each others’ attacks repeatedly.
"Are we done warming up?" Cedric asked with a cocky smirk.
"Fine by me," Koga lazily replied.
Cedric took off his sunglasses and threw them out of the ring, revealing dark yellow eyes that began glowing blue. He manifested a thin pillar of water from his hand that morphed into a katana. At the same time, Koga’s dark brown eyes were now glowing white, and he summoned his own katana from wisps of wind energy.
Then, like a flash of lightning, they both charged each other again at super speed. Their blades clashed over and over again as they hopped and dashed back and forth across the ring. They were moving so fast that Sam could barely keep up. Oh shit! This is epic!
Cedric used a jet of water from his feet to shoot himself up into the air, and then Koga fired a wind blast from an open palm that sent Cedric flying out of the ring. But once he hit the ground, his body dematerialized into a puddle of water. The real Cedric was still in the ring, right behind Koga.
Holy shit! How did he replace himself with a water clone so quickly? I didn’t even see it! Sam thought to himself excitedly.
Koga lifted his sword arm over his shoulder, his katana blocking Cedric’s as it came down from behind. Then a moment later, Koga dematerialized into wisps of wind and then reappeared behind Cedric. They continued this song and dance a few times, each one showing up behind the other, only for their subsequent attacks to be blocked.
They resumed darting around the ring as they clashed swords, then they each skidded to a halt.
"To finish off this duel, how about we each stand at one end of the ring, and then we’ll see who can overpower the other in a beam struggle!" Cedric suggested.
Koga shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Sam was amazed that neither of them looked fatigued at all. They hadn’t even broken a sweat!
After they took their positions at opposite ends of the ring and dematerialized their katanas, they each brought their hands together as if holding an invisible ball. Cedric conjured a sphere of bright blue energy between his palms. Koga did the same, but his energy sphere was white. Then, they both screamed out and thrust their arms forward, hands outstretched.
They each fired out a massive beam of swirling energy, which collided in the center of the ring. The clash triggered an uproar of wind that cascaded out over the bleachers, blowing everyone’s hair.
Fuck yeah! This is sick! Sam thought excitedly as he watched the epic beam struggle.
Koga and Cedric flooded more energy into their blasts while their hair and clothing whipped from the high speed winds. Koga powered up a raging aura of white energy around himself. Cedric ignited his own blue aura. Their eyes glowed brighter. Cracks of electricity began sparking out from the friction between their raging auras and the clash of energy in the center of the ring.
Koga grew a pair of white opalescent dragon wings from his back while his face shifted to become more beast-like. His fangs showed as he snarled. Cedric’s own face became more monsterish as well, like the sea monster his Class was named after.
Then, they both began rising up into the air while maintaining the beam struggle. Koga was flapping his wings to fly up, while Cedric fired energy from his feet to ascend. They both shot up higher and higher into the sky until they were out of sight.
Everyone was startled as a massive explosion of white and blue light ignited the sky above. Then, a moment later, the two came floating back down. Koga was using his wings, while Cedric was expelling energy from his hands and feet to stabilize himself.
"So, who won the beam struggle?" the referee asked as they both touched back down in the ring.
"We’ll never tell!" Cedric said with a laugh. Koga just smirked.
"So... A draw then!" the referee called out. Everyone in the crowd clapped and cheered.