Chapter 38

“How you doing Nicky?” Keith’s voice was strained, but Nick could tell he was having fun. The moment they clashed, Keith had drawn Mark away to fight, leaving Nick to face off against Marcus. With everyone being limited to level 10 energy, Nick knew the fighting would be tough.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to you hurrying up.” He blocked a blow from Marcus as he spoke, feeling the weight of the attack push him back. They may have equal power levels right now, but Nick knew Marcus had an advantage. The giant had a much larger range than Nick, and he was taking advantage of it.

“Hey now, this is the only time I actually get a fun fight. All the other times, I’m just too strong.” Keith’s laughter was interrupted by a curse from the fourth year. He could only guess Mark had gotten in a solid strike.

“You should be worrying about yourself, Nick.” Marcus swung as he spoke, noting that Nick had turned to check on Keith. Nick clenched his gauntleted fist, using the shield to absorb the blow. He pushed against Marcus’s sword and tried to attack, but his sword was blocked as well.

“I could say the same for you.” He dove forward towards Marcus, putting all of his strength into his legs as he tried to take the giant to the ground. It worked, but it felt like he had hit a brick wall.

Marcus wrapped his arms around Nick as they fell, and began to squeeze Nick with all his might. Nick immediately regretted his decision. Knowing he wasn’t going to get any help, he rocked back, lifting Marcus off the ground, before slamming him back down. The giant grunted, and his grip lessened. Nick repeated the move, and this time Marcus’s grasp broke.

Nick clenched his left hand, bring the shield and knuckle guard to life, and struck down at Marcus’s face. The force of the blow broke bones, but to his credit, Marcus stayed conscious. He blocked Nick’s next strike with his shield, and his jaw began to heal. Nick needed to do more damage.

He started switching his strikes between Marcus’s face and ribs, landing strikes wherever the first year couldn’t block, knowing that if he slowed, Marcus would take back the advantage. On the ground though, in this position, his larger size meant Nick had more targets to hit.

“Bout done Nicky?” Keith’s voice pulled Nick from his frenzy of blows, and he could see Marcus was struggling now. The giant had blood dripping from his face, and his eyes seemed dazed. It was likely he was running out of energy to heal himself with.

“You give up?” He gave Marcus the chance to surrender. The giant spit in his face. With a sigh, Nick started to rise, before dropping his elbow suddenly into the giant’s chest. He could feel the sternum break under his blow, and Marcus’s gasp was full of pain. The giant’s guard fell, and Nick sent him into darkness with another swift strike.

“Finished.” Nick stood shakily, suddenly aware of how much energy he had expended during the fight. This game was really fun.

“Great, because the game’s almost over.” Nick looked around, wondering what Keith meant. He couldn’t recall Keith or Mark detailing how the game was won.

“What do you mean?” He could see both teams chasing down balls and attempting to score. Keith motioned the scoreboard overhead, and Nick looked. A timer had begun to count down, showing less than a minute remaining.

“Games are ultimately decided by overall score.” Nick checked, his team had two more points than Mark’s team. “Matches can last up to thirty minutes, but a countdown timer is activated if three members on a single team is incapacitated.” He motioned toward the two unconscious first years, and toward Mark, who was struggling to heal his broken arms against the wall.

“So we’ve won?”

“As long as those two first years on the other team don’t get too lucky.” He nodded towards the orb above, and Nick could see balls being thrown frantically towards the bottom slots.

“Nothing sweeter than stealing a sudden death win by landing a 5 pointer.” Nick could see his teammates through Dagr’s eyes, continuing to aim for the funnels. Tiff was doing a good job, and they were slowly pulling a head.

“10 seconds to go.” Everyone was watching the scoreboard now. One of the balls found the bottom entrance, giving the enemy team five points. They were tied.

“Come on, Tiff.” Keith sounded worried, and as the last few seconds ticked down, Nick watched her take aim and throw. With one second left, the ball found its mark, and they took the lead with a single point again. A siren sounded, and blue lights flashed across the arena. They had won.