Derb had been looking for a group to spar against… for a while now. At some point, he’d been desperate enough to ask bigger groups, but nobody seemed to want to fight him. He’d been trying to act nonchalant about it but it was starting to make him feel left out. He was lucky to have the hood on since his smile was starting to look a bit shaken, even through the small tears in the armor that came from last night. He’d almost lost hope until something quite unexpected happened.

___

Ryan was headed straight for the entrance of the building once he heard what happened, his group following closely behind. Apparently, some miscreant had been trying to pick a fight with everyone in the arena. He’d been alone but from what people could tell he seemed like the type to play dirty. Nobody had wanted to spar with him and he’d been getting more determined to fight, even going so far as to corner a group of seven against the wall until one managed to get away and get them.

Since birth, he’d been in this city, raised by his father to constantly protect the lives of civilians. His duty as a noble wasn’t something he could easily throw away and he’d gotten his group in trouble a lot of times in the process. Even now he was causing trouble. “We shouldn’t just rush in there, what if he causes a scene?” Gabby cried, her short legs rushing to keep up with the group. “Y-yeah… we should slow down.” Gib gasped, a lot worse off than his twin. They’d almost complained until Adam picked up the two and set them on his shoulders, running all the while. “Thanks, Adam… I thought I was going to faint there.” Gib said, heaving.

Gabby was trying to jump out of his grasp, “He was the one that was tired, you dumb beef head!” Adam finally let go when she kicked his head, dropping her. She didn’t expect him to be so abrupt and landed on her back. “I’m going to kill you!” Ryan kept his face forward, too determined to notice the commotion behind him. After a few minutes, they found the culprit, sitting down next to a wall, casually throwing a massive sword up and down. He looked too brittle to be a swordsman, his arms and legs long with little on them, looking small even with armor on. They couldn’t see anything past the hood but from the cloak, Ryan noticed the armor he’d been using looked ruined, had he already gone through someone before they came?

___

A group of four was walking towards him. One was what looked to be a man about his height, at around six feet. He looked tough but had the delicate features of a handsome man with money. He was followed by a small, black-haired girl no bigger than 4’6. Her face small and slightly kiddish, hiding her age. There was another similar-looking shorty riding on a man who looked as if he’d stolen both their height. The man was massive, standing a full head taller than the other. He had curly black hair like the shorter one but his face and muscles looked more brutal than the ogres he just fought.

“You, what do you have against the people in this tournament?” The man that looked to be the leader asked. The short girl smacked his arm, it seemed they were at odds. Derb didn’t know what they meant, only coming to one conclusion. “Do you four wish to spar? I’ve been looking for an opponent all day, I've been meaning to test a few things.” He swore he saw the massive man shiver for a second but thought he was being silly. Derb stood up from the floor, his sharp sword accidentally sinking an inch into the stone ground; the group noticed.

“We know you haven’t, you’ve been harassing the people around you to the point where I've been called. Why do you seek to disrupt the tournament?” Derb reeled back at the statement, he wasn’t being too forceful… maybe at the end but that was just desperation. “I apologize, I heard that people don’t get hurt in these spars so I wanted to test how it’d be to go all out on something that won’t instantly kill me.” At that point the giant man behind the leader eeped, taking a step back.

The pudgy black-haired kid on his shoulder calmed him down, looking at Derb with a sharp glare. “What do you get from scaring Adam like that! There, there...” Derb just stood mouth agape, misunderstood as a sharp glare since no one could see under his hood. He sighed at how defensive they were. “Please, don’t be alarmed. I just wanted to have fun in the arena, to be able to fight someone without holding back is a real problem for me. I’ve never seen anything like this before...”

The four looked at each other in puzzlement. Was he being genuine? It didn’t matter to Ryan, he was here for a fight anyway, a fight he was sure he wouldn’t lose. “Then I challenge you, a solo match between you and me.” Derb looked up in excitement, shocking the three in the back. He almost agreed before he remembered why he was here. “Ah… if it’s alright with you could you fight me with your team? I need more people for my… research.” He was careful not to explain he was a summoner, lest they ignore him like the last group.

Ryan looked as if he’d eaten a lemon. Was this knight underestimating him? He was trained to fight since birth, he wasn’t a lowly bandit you’d find in the streets! “...fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, the battle will end until either you or we are incapacitated.” Derb nodded, following the four to one of the elder ritual mages. He felt a bit uncomfortable since the little one on the massive man known as Adam was staring holes into him. He watched on as they settled on a ritual. “Place your thumb on the ink, please.” The elder asked, taking a small ink pad out of his pocket.

They were made to put a thumbprint on a stone tablet, to which the elder recited a ritual into. “Do you five solemnly swear to not harm anyone in this fight, those who are incapacitated will be moved away.” The four nodded, and Derb was quick to follow. The ritual glowed bright yellow and then finished, leaving a small amulet in its place. The elder put it on and took a step back, “You are free to proceed, please don’t be too rowdy.” The five walked a good 10 feet away, taking up one side of the square they were allowed to fight in.

Derb took the other, summoning Connor and Jack. He didn’t bother with misty, she was almost recuperated but he didn’t want to strain her. The five gasped at the sudden inclusion of demons. The short girl was the first to call shenanigans. “Elder, is this allowed? They won’t be able to harm us, will they?” The elder shook his head. “They are connected to him in both body and soul, they cannot kill you just as he can’t.” Derb twirled the sword in his hand, preparing to get in a stance, he soon figured after fighting at night that the lower he got, the better the swings would be.

He couldn’t help but notice he looked a bit weird. He was crouching, one hand touching the ground while the other was holding the sword rested on his shoulder. The other two on his side weren’t much better. Jack was curled up in a sitting position, eyes darting to each opponent, unnerving them immensely. Connor looked as if this was the last place he wanted to be right now, but he kept a straight back and stood near Derb, scowling at the enemy. Such barbaric acts ruined such a nice face, Derb couldn’t help but notice.

The four weren’t dawdling around either. The small black-haired girl took out two daggers, each laced with an icy blue edge. Adam had taken out some spiked fist gauntlets, cactuses, if he remembered right. Ryan had a simple longsword while the pudgy short one had taken out a staff. “We will begin the fight, I wish you good luck,” Ryan said, genuinely. Derb nodded and charged, ordering his demons to cover his weak spots. Connor had placed a curse on Adam, blurring his vision. The giant moaned in panic before being covered in a green glow. In a second his eyesight returned, all thanks to the small pudgy boy.

Connor scowled at the loss of his curse, running forwards to fight. Jack was the first to make it, silently walking the distance and grabbing Adam before he could properly fight back. Adam threw a punch but was stopped with a hand. He was tall and strong but no match for the size and strength of the demon, being a foot taller. At least, that’s what Derb thought. Another green glow and Adam was able to push off the demon. “Both of his demons can use curses! And quite nasty ones at that! Tell me if you’re hit!” The pudgy one shouted. Jack dodged a punch and grabbed Adam’s face, slamming him to the ground. All that heavy hit got was a groan from the giant man.

Derb would have helped but he was busy circling both the short girl and Ryan. They stood near each other, not moving. As if daring him to come to them. He dared, bursting at them in incredible speed, turning on both the rabbit and snake at the same time. The girl squeaked in surprise as Ryan darted forward. Time slowed, Derb knew this man was strong, the slow down happening much faster than usual. He used the weight of his sword to go under the blade, striking upwards with his fist laced in darkness. He crashed his fist into Ryan’s hand, smashing the fingers holding the sword.

Before he could even drop the sword Derb charged at the girl, He was surprised to see no openings, instead choosing brute force. He activated the boar and smashed his fist and legs into the ground, blowing forward in immense speed. She seemed to almost dodge it but the attack was too quick and sudden. He could see the knife in her hand blow away as she attempted to parry the massive sword. She probably had no idea how heavy it was. For a split horrible moment, he saw the sword go through her, and then she was gone. He panicked before he saw her in a small square not too far from here, stomping the ground and yelling obscenities.

Derb was so amused he almost didn’t dodge the sword coming straight at him. He jumped forward and blocked the next strike with his blade. “Ambidextrous, damn. I should have finished you first.” He chose the wrong words, apparently, as Ryan grew furious. Flames erupted from his body as he swung the sword in his direction. Derb dodged but could feel the heat in his armor rising. It wasn’t too painful though, he figured he’d just become a bit well done after the spar. He clashed the sword against Ryan’s, parrying it and moving him off balance. A kick to the stomach brought him down. Derb couldn’t help but feel deja vu at kicking someone like that.

“I swear I'm beating that old bastard one day.” He murmured, bringing the sword down to decapitate the warrior. Ryan was a beat quicker, jumping out of the way and stabbing the sword through Derb’s gut. Derb didn’t even flinch, grabbing it and pulling it deeper in him, pulling Ryan close enough for a boar and darkness-infused punch. It knocked him out cold and he was sent out of the arena. He went back to help his two demons and found something surprising.

Jack was strangling the hell out of Adam, who was subsequently trying to smash Jack’s face until it was unrecognizable. What was really surprising was the fight between Connor and the pudgy pseudo-healer. Connor was kept back by green waves while throwing flames, and he was slowly losing the fight. He was surprised someone could out magic Connor, even if he was mostly a support class. He watched as Adam thumped motionlessly onto the floor, blinking out of existence and showing up in the square without a bruise. This angered Jack immensely as he kept pounding at the floor where Adam used to be.

Connor was left dodging the green waves, nimbly moving past each one. The pudgy Pseudo-healer almost seemed to have won had it not been for Jack’s rage-fueled fury. He charged at the poor kid and grabbed his face, squeezing down. The rest was history and he was sent into the square. Derb laughed at how messed up Jack’s mask had gotten, his eyes were still fine but his face seemed malformed, as if it was slightly molded wrong.

He almost made a quip until He saw the group running at them. Were they being sore losers? He tightened his grip on his sword and waited until they got close enough to- “Oh dear gods are you alright!?” The pudgy boy shouted, running up to Derb and examining the wound in his gut. The girl and Adam also seemed worried, each had their hands out as if they wanted to do something but hesitated. Ryan looked the most mortified. “I… I don’t understand. You should have been healed and put into the reserves...”

Derb looked down and realized he was bleeding quite a large amount. He felt around the gap in his armor, blood gushing an obscene amount. “Oh, this? Trust me, I feel like any one of you could survive a wound like this. I’m actually quite surprised it took a punch to take you out. Isn’t death supposed to be the clincher?” Ryan coughed awkwardly, the offhand comment a larger blow to his pride than he thought. The rest of the group grinned at his loss, it wasn't always that there leader got shown up.. “Yes, it was… you pack quite a heavy punch.” Derb removed his helmet, the only way to properly remove his chest plate. “I guess I did put a lot into it.” The three gasped at his features. Pale and sharp, with eyes that were both kind yet dark. What was most surprising was how old he looked. They’d assumed he was older thanks to the armor and his tone. Instead, he seemed to be younger than half of them.

“May I ask, good knight, how old are you?” Derb grinned, peeling off the bloody chest piece. “Aren’t you supposed to ask for my name, first?”