Ril stepped out of Reluke hall into the semi crowded streets of the Academy.

Busy again. No matter, Let’s go to the arena and get the nine remaining wins., Ril thought to himself.

“So where to today?” Eren asked. She was leaning up against the side of the dorm hall, munching on a sandwich.

“Let’s go to the arena. I want to see how many wins I can get today.” Ril said.

The two set off, rapidly arriving at the large red stone structure that marked the entrance to the arena.

“Mind if I leave you here?” Eren asked, “I’d like to go spend some time with Hauke.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll be fine here.” Ril responded.

“Be careful. Have fun in the bouts. Don’t fight any nobles. They tend to go overboard.” She replied, waving as she turned away and walked down the street.

“Thanks. Enjoy!” Ril called after her.

Ril entered the entrance hall to the arena. There were surprisingly few people here at this time of day. Where last time he had been here there had been a line to talk to the receptionist. Now only a single solitary warrior was in the room, and she was not even in line. Rather the warrior was sitting on one of the benches lining the room and was idly sharpening a knife in relaxed, rhythmic motions. Periodically, she would dip the stone into a small cup full of some liquid before continuing her sharpening. Ril found the steady scraping of the whetstone on steel to be calming.

“Hello, I would like to do a ranked duel.” Ril said. Stepping up to the receptionist who looked blearily back at him.

“What’s your name kid?” the receptionist responded. It was not the same receptionist as Ril had spoken too last time he had been here.

“Ril Renar.” Ril said. The man flipped through a binder in front of him until he had found what he was looking for.

“Alright Ril, I can call you that right? I’ll put you in the queue. You can go sit over there and I will call you when there is an opponent on your level.”

“Yeah, you can. Thanks.” Ril responded. He walked over to a bench, and sat down. Listening to the female warrior sharpen her blade.

Before long, others entered the office and the receptionist called Ril up to the front.

“Alright, there is a fifteen fourty seven bruiser that wants to fight in the next fifteen minutes. You down for that?” the receptionist said.

“Are they a noble?” Ril asked.

After a moment of searching the receptionist said, “No, common as they come.”

“Sure, I’ll fight them then.” Ril responded, remembering that his unofficial rating was now fifteen twenty six. If this bruiser was anything like the first person Ril had faught, then the battle should be over quickly.

“Alright, go to arena 8B. A battle coordinator will be with you shortly.”

Ril stepped away from the counter, and walked deeper into the building, following the signs for arena eight. When he arrived, he walked into the preparation room with a large B written in bold on the door.

A couple minutes later, an older gentleman entered the room.

“Would you like to read the file on your opponent?” the battle coordinator asked.

“Sure,” Ril responded, wondering what the file would say.

The coordinator nodded, pulling out a manilla envelope and handing it to Ril.

“You have ten minutes before the fight. Good luck.” he said, before disappearing out of the room.

Ril took the folder, and opened it. Inside there were a couple pieces of paper highlighting the exploits of Ril’s opponent. The first sheet seemed to describe the general statistics.

Name

Elric Berm

Academy:

Member

Singles Rating

1547

Win/Loss

32/34

Team Rating

1877

Win/Loss

16/5

Class

Bruiser

Magic Focus

Light

Description

Elric Berm is 6’2” blond male close range Tank Bruiser of commoner birth. He prefers to wear partial full plate armor - including but not limited to cuirass, greaves, vambraces, gauntlets, and half-helm - when fighting.

Prefered weapon is a flanged mace equipped with a tower shield, however proficiency in swords, staves, spears and war hammers has been observed. Physical resistance observed.

Elric has been observed to be capable of unleashing beams of light from the tip of any bladed weapon that inflicts a minor burn to victims. Damage potential: minimal (warning eyes)

Combat tips: Wear eye protection (sunglasses, cloth), and maintain distance while using ranged attacks.

Predicted stats*

Strength

Medium+

Intelligence

Medium**

Constitution

High

Wisdom

Medium+**

Dexterity

Low

Charisma

N/A

Warp

<10%

Ordering of stats:

Low -> Medium -> High

A plus (+) indicates higher than expected ability

*Please note that predicted stats may not reflect actual stats or performance

**Low confidence

Wow. That’s detailed. Ril thought. I wonder what they have about me.

Ril flipped the page over, but there was nothing on the back. The next couple of pages detailed Elric’s match history in single matches and team matches. Ril skimmed through them before the battle coordinator poked his head back in the room.

“Times up. Get ready.” He said.

“Wait! Can I see my file?” Ril asked.

The battle coordinator paused. “Ask the receptionist at the front desk after this match. You can give me that file. Let’s go.”

Ril passed the file over to the battle coordinator, then stepped out into the sandy arena.

Elric was as expected. A large blonde man in burnished steel armor. In his hand he held a bladed mace with what looked like a towel wrapped around the pointy bits. Probably to prevent deadly injuries. In his other hand he casually lifted a thick tower shield that covered the entirety of the left side of his body.

Ril waved. Quickly moving over to his spot in the arena. Elric nodded carefully. Hefting his tower shield and getting into a ready stance. The battle coordinator said the standard words before every match and lifted his flag. With one last look at the two combatants, the flag was tossed into the air.

The flag hit the sand. Ril Vanished, summoned his clone in its place and began strafing around the arena, trying to get around the Bruiser. Elric hefted his shield into a defensive position and half ran to the side of the arena. Once there he slammed his back to the red stone and crouched down. Nearly his entire body was covered by the large steel tower shield that he held in his left hand.

Ril paused, still invisible as he considered the strange behavior of his opponent.

I mean depending on what is written in my file and I was a Bruiser I would also consider putting my back to a wall. It’s an annoying strategy though...

Nothing he had would allow him to pull the Bruiser away from the wall, and surround him with his clone. Shrugging his invisible shoulders, he grinned. He and the clone ran towards the entrenched Bruiser.

A frontal assault it is

Ril charged, leaving sandy footprints in the packed sandy soil. Before he could get halfway across the arena, Elric lifted his clothed mace, a ball of golden white light appearing at the tip of each of the blades. A moment later, a beam of golden white light sliced across the arena, leaving a bright afterimage in Ril’s vision. Then Elric whipped his weapon around, causing the beam to sweep across the arena.

As the beam passed over Ril, Vanish failed, revealing himself, but not causing significant damage. The clone didn’t fare much better, disintegrating before their eyes as the mostly harmless beam sliced through it’s abdomen with ease.

Ril slowed down his charge, resummoning his clone, and circling around the entrenched Bruiser. Elric simply resummoned his light beam and sweeped it across the arena, waiting for Ril to approach into melee range.

Damn, how can I dodge that beam?

Ril approached carefully into melee range, resummoning his clone. The action almost instinctive at this point. Hefting his shortsword, Ril feinted forward, letting his clone try and distract the hulking brute. Elric didn’t take the bait, simply standing there in the corner, holding up his large shield.

Ril slashed, sparks flew, and the impact jarred his arm. Immediately, Elric stepped forward, smashing his shield forward, slamming it into Ril face.

On instinct, Ril Vanished, pretending he was the clone. Windmilling his arms, Ril stumbled backwards. Blood covering his bruised face. A steady drip coming from his crushed nose. The clone took this opportunity to dash to the side, attempting to catch Elric’s attention. It worked, Elric stepping back and hunkering down behind his shield once more.

Ow...this is not working, Ril thought as he wiped blood away from his mouth, the strongly metallic flavor unsettling.

Ril summoned his mana, calling forth a flame to appear at the tip of the clones sword. The fire cheerfully blasted forward heating the tip of the blade as the clone swiped his sword in front of the Bruiser. Elric shuffled backwards, hugging the wall, clearly apprehensive at the new development.

Ril walked forwards, holding his shirt up to his nose to prevent any blood from falling onto the soil and revealing his position. The clone harried the Bruiser. The fire it ‘held’ at the tip of it’s sword causing real damage to the Bruiser whenever it touched him. Although the damage was superficial, since most of the fire was absorbed by the layers of steel and leather that protected him.

Dashing around, Ril began climbing the stones of the arena. Once at sufficient height, he started climbing sideways, the rough stone making the task simple. Navigating his clone around the retreating Bruiser, Ril pulled Elric so that he was standing and fighting the clone directly beneath him.

With a puff of red dust, Ril let go of the wall, falling towards the back of the Bruiser. Angling his blade, Ril landed blade first with the sword pointing at Elric’s collarbone where his armor did not cover. Instead of impaling Elric and leaving him catatonic from the lethal strike, the skin of Elric’s shoulder dimpled. A single drop of red blood welled around the tip of the shortsword.

Ril watched in horror as the tip of his shortsword rolled over, the sharpened steel bending to the Bruiser’s tough skin. Ril landed roughly on Elric. So fast that it must have been instinct, the Bruiser slammed his back into the stone of the arena.

Ril violently expelled the air in his lungs and fell off the Bruiser, crushed between the steel breastplate, and the hard stone of the arena. Elric wasn’t done though. He turned around and slammed his shield into Ril.

Ril went flying, tumbling over the now silver tinged, red sand. He came to a stop, dazed. His entire left side of his body was one massive bruise. Letting out a weak racking cough. Ril struggled to his feet before falling face first back to the sand.

“End match! The winner is Elric Berm!” The battle coordinator’s voice rang through the arena.

“Wha...Wai--” Ril started to say, but stopped when he turned his face to the side and spotted Elric’s mace mere inches away from his face.

“Good fight, kid. That sneak attack almost got me.” Elric said, his face stoic. Sheathing his mace, the massive man extended a hand.

“Th-thanks.” Ril said after a moment. Grabbing the proffered hand with his uninjured right hand, and was pulled to his feet. Nodding, Elric turned away, leaving the arena the same way he came.

Alright. Note to self. Bruisers are tough. I don’t have any damaging abilities, not counting Flame and Backstab. Not sure if Backstab counts since in an arena fight they are always going to be aware of me.

Ril stumbled out of the arena rubbing his bruised shoulder. In the preparation room, Ril found a young man waiting patiently on one of the benches. Next to him a box of various different vials, bandages and dried leaves stood open and ready.

“Come sit, I’ll set your nose, and help with those bruises.” The young healer said, beckoning towards Ril with a friendly smile on his face. Ril gratefully sat down on the bench. “You’re new here right? Yeah figured as much. Ok look towards me, this is going to hurt for just a second, but we want your nose to heal pro-- wonderful, see that wasn’t so bad.”

Ril flinched back, tears coming to his eyes as he felt like his entire face was on fire. The adrenaline from the battle had faded, leaving him hurt and exhausted.

“Alright, lie down for me. That’s good. I’m going to put this warm towel on your face. It’s infused with....” Ril tuned out the talkative healer, as he rubbed salves and bandages over his body.

“Perfect! You should be feeling better.” The healer said, packing up his things. Indeed Ril felt much better. His nose was only tingling slightly and his side was feeling as if he had not fought in the first place. Inspecting himself, he saw that the bruises were still there just much less pronounced.

So it’s not a true healing potion that he used. Guess that’s too expensive for a practice duel.

Ril rolled his shoulders, stretching, and hopping up and down.

I’m back in fighting condition. That was embarrassing. Let’s try that again. This time not against a Bruiser.

Thanking the healer, Ril made his way back to the office and reported on his match with the receptionist. His new rating was fourteen ninety nine.

Below fifteen hundred. Gotta win. Whatever, it’s not like I wasn’t planning on fighting again today. Now I am just more motivated.

He asked for another match, and the receptionist, searched for a moment, before replying.

“You want a rematch against the,” She hesitated, shuffling through the papers, “...Bruiser?”

Ril was already shaking his head before she had finished. “No thank you, can I fight someone who is not a Bruiser?”

“There is an Empyrean at fourteen eighty two, and a new Eliminator in the queue. Which one would you like to fight.”

“The Eliminator is at fifteen hundred?” Ril asked.

“Yes, he is. Please note that fighting unranked members gives double the reward in rating points.”

Double the points... Ril thought, but then shuddered remembering Julius’s burning sword ripping through the assassins. Nah, I chose life.

“I’ll fight the Empyrean.” Ril said meekly.

The receptionist hid a smile, “Arena 3A. Fight starts in thirty minutes.”

“Wait can I see my file before the fight?” Ril asked. Silently, the receptionist handed him a copy of his file as well as that of his opponents.

* * *

Thirty minutes later Ril stood in front of a petite girl in flowing robes. His file had been interesting. It had very little in it, most of the fields remaining blank or with double asterisks indicating a low confidence in the prediction. One surprising thing was that they thought he had a teleporting ability.

I guess I can see how someone would think that from the first fight.

His opponent on the other hand had a much more complete file. Ril recalled what he had read about her.

Name

Julia Kimber

Academy:

Prospective

Singles Rating

1482

Win/Loss

48/54

Team Rating

N/A

Win/Loss

N/A

Class

Empyrean

Magic Focus

None

Description

Julia Kimber is 5’4” brunette close range Empyrean. She prefers kiting attacks while wearing down her opponents with her curse. Unusually large area of effect observed. Curse can affect inanimate objects.

Prefered weapon is a long sword and kite shield. No other proficiencies have been observed.

Combat tips: Attempt to dodge the curse and win with artillery range attacks. If not possible attempt to overpower her in a fast duel.

Predicted stats*

Strength

Low

Intelligence

Medium+**

Constitution

Low+

Wisdom

Medium**

Dexterity

Medium+

Charisma

N/A

Warp

<10%

Ordering of stats:

Low -> Medium -> High

A plus (+) indicates higher than expected ability

*Please note that predicted stats may not reflect actual stats or performance

**Low confidence

She had fought more than a hundred times and looked determined to get above fifteen hundred to join the academy. Other than that, she was a relatively standard Empyrean.

Ril greeted her with a wave. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.” Julia nodded.

The battle coordinator said his prepared speech before launching the flag into the air. A moment later it landed on the ground and both combatants burst into action.

Ril dashed forward, Vanishing as his clone strafed around the lone enemy. A sphere of emerald fire expanded out from Julia’s form. The fire passed harmlessly over the clone. Julia’s eyes widened in confusion, before scanning the rest of the arena. As the flames passed over Ril’s invisible form they appeared to boil, before being drawn into his body. Immediately a weakness suffused his entire body. Although the weakness was not as potent as what he had felt during the fight with the assassins. Julia refocused, completely ignoring the clone and raising her shield towards the ghostly disturbance in her cursed fire.

Son of a...

The clone charged at Julia from behind. A small flame appearing at the tip of its sword as it swiped at the Empyrean. Julia didn’t even try to block, marching slowly towards Ril.

She let out a yelp as the fire burned here. A black scorch mark on her armored robes, a smoke rising from the singed strands. Julia jumped back. She waved her sword at the clone, trying to keep the flame away from her.

My clone isn’t as useless as you think it is, Ril grinned, and charged.

He raised his sword and slashed viciously at Julia’s unprotected back. Or he tried to. His already weak strike was further sapped by the curse emanating from Julia. The blade, dulled by the curse, bounced harmlessly across Julia’s robes.

Turning around absentmindedly, Julia looked at Ril’s vague outline and grinned.

This is stupid. I can’t hurt her, Ril thought, backpedaling as Julia advanced, wildly swinging her sword at where she saw the emerald flames of her curse distort.

Wait, no. The flame hurt her.

Reinvigorated, Ril sent his clone charging at Julia from behind the flame burning hot at the tip of the sword. Julia flinched and hopped away, another plume of smoke rising from her singed vestments. The clone charged again, intent on burning the Empyrean. She turned, and swiped her sword through the overextended clone. It vanished, leaving nothing but dust in its wake. She grinned and turned back to Ril’s outline which had retreated to the other side of the arena by now.

“Eeek! What the?” Julia yelped again as a third plume of smoke rose from her back. Ril let loose an invisible smile.

What made you think the fire was limited by my clone? He thought to himself, as a disembodied flame bobbed happily towards Julia.

What followed was a strange game of cat and mouse. Julia sprinting away from a slowly moving flame, as she chased a silhouette across the field of sand. This continued for nearly five minutes before the Battle coordinator decided to intervene.

“And...Time!” The battle coordinator jumped into the sandy pit. Ril stopped running, leaning over while panting. “That’s a draw.”

That was the stupidest fight I have ever participated in. Ril thought to himself. Julia glared at him. It appeared that she agreed with Ril’s assessment of the fight. At least I learned that I can’t move the flame very fast before it dissipates. But bloody hell that was exhausting.

Ril rubbed his chest, the strain of maintaining the Flame spell taking its toll on his mana.

“Good fight...” Ril said, between breaths. Julia rolled her eyes, before she stalked out.

Whatever. I want to win one. Why can’t I get someone like the first person I got. The Outrider. Why is it that everyone can see me when I am invisible?

Ril returned to the receptionist. His rating didn’t change from the draw. Still at fourteen ninety nine.

“Do you have any other fights?” He asked, leaning on the counter, not fully recovered from the five minute sprint that he just participated in.

“The unranked Eliminator from before is still waiting for a duel. Not many people want to fight him considering his class.”

He’s unranked. Maybe he is less like Julius and more like that Outrider that I defeated in my first duel... Ril rationalized. Also Eliminators probably don’t have the defense of a Bruiser, or the weakening abilities of an Empyrean, so I will probably be able to hurt him.

“I’ll fight him.”

The receptionist shrugged. “Arena 4B, fifteen minutes until the duel.”

* * *

Ril walked out of the preparation room fifteen minutes later. This time his opponent hadn’t arrived before him, so he waited patiently as the battle coordinator joined him and stood idly reading some paper. Ril rubbed his hand over his head, enjoying the feeling of stubble. A moment later he retracted his hand. The tiny metal hairs growing from his head were sharp.

Just then his opponent walked into the arena. Ril hadn’t received a file, considering the Academy didn’t know anything about this guy, and Ril hadn't bothered to ask for one. So when Godric Glotsk stepped into the sandy arena Ril was floored.

Godric looked just as impressive as always. Or perhaps rich was the correct word. He wore richly dyed robes and a flouncy hat that he hadn’t bothered to remove from his head. On each of his hands he wore massive, heavy looking, blue steel gauntlets. Veins of some teal colored metal flowed through the dark blue steel. He smiled politely at Ril.

“Greetings. My name is Godric Glotsk, and I will be your opponent today. I look forward to fighting you Ril Renar.” Godric nodded his head politely in a tiny imitation of a bow.

Ril only nodded mutely.

Does he recognize me? No it doesn’t look like it...That’s ... Lucky. Ril thought to himself, his heart beating a mile a minute at the shock of seeing Godric here in the arena.

“Good luck.” Ril murmured.

Godric nodded once more before settling into a martial stance.

The battle coordinator said his pre-battle speech before launching the flag.

Ril jumped backwards, Vanishing as his clone went forward.

Let’s see what he can do before I engage.

Godric watched the clone approach him. Then he raised his left armored gauntlet high above his head. At the peak of the motion he paused for a moment. Then with all his strength he slammed the gauntlet into the ground.

Right before the gauntlet smashed into the ground Godric’s form disappeared, reappearing right in front of Ril. The real Ril.

The earth shook from the impact. A glowing orange rune flashed across the sand three meters in every direction around the impact point. A pillar of golden orange flames rose from the orange rune. Ril’s eyes widened as he felt his skin sizzle in the flames. A wall of force slammed into him, sending him flying across the arena.

Without even checking whether his attack hit, and before the pillar of fire had even faded, Godric slammed his other gauntlet into the ground. Once more Godric vanished, and appeared right behind Ril. Another pillar of fire and force ragdolled Ril back towards the center of the arena. The clothes Ril had received from Gemma ignited, further exacerbating his burns.

Godric slammed his left armored hand into the ground. His entire body twisting to enhance the force of the blow.

Then his right.

Then his left.

Ril’s vision went dark.