The crowd cheered loudly as the Uktena rushed towards Theggor. The dwarf appeared unperturbed, though, and just levelled his sword towards the creature, letting go with his left hand to pump the crowd up.

The serpent twisted its body to the left and right as its head kept a steady bead on the small combatant. It got closer and closer and the true size of it compared to the dwarf became apparent. When it opened it’s mouth to bare its teeth at Theggor it was clear that each and every tooth was as long as his arms or legs, and could rip right through him.

And it would have too, if Theggor had not launched himself into the air at the last moment, taking a few quick steps forward then using his sword as a vault. He spun in the air as it dove beneath him, the sword making a beautiful arc in the sky, landing on the far side with light feet and hands raised.

The crowd continued to go wild again. All four of the players had to agree that Theggor was a showman, an entertainer, and the crowd was lapping up every last drop and was hungry for more.

The Uktena gathered itself up after missing with its initial attack. It coiled into a ball as its head swung back and forth, confused by the noise of the crowds echoing all around it. They quietened long enough for Theggor to draw it’s attention once more.

“THIS IS FUN!” He cried, still standing in a Y pose for the audience.

Like a spring the Uktena pushed its body forward at the dwarf, unleashing all its energy like a spring, its body going rigid at it flew towards him like an arrow. Without even looking though, Theggor grabbed his sword in both hands, and then with the flat side of the blade crashed it into the side of the Uktena and sent it hurtling into the wall below the spectators. It struck the wall solidly and dust was flung up in front of their eyes, making it hard to see what was happening.

When it began to settle the Uktena was once again moving, it’s head raised up over the wall, and it seemed to be taking notice of the crowd now. No one seemed to care and they just continued calling out to it, and shouting BIG SWORD! Over and over. It lunged at them, but with a wave of blue light, it struck an invisible barrier.

“Ooooh, what was that?” Filpin was interested in the invisible wall that was separating them from the Arena floor below.

“YES!” Shouted Watatsumi, “MAGIC!”

“I thought they would use something like this,” mused Frank, “It’s not really surprising. This is a fantasy setting anyway. And how else would they protect the crowds from big monsters like this? It’s likely up all the time, and covers the sky too.”

As if to give credit to Frank’s words the blue shimmer of magic had been spreading out like a rippled in the pond, going left and right around the stadium, but also in an arc above the stadium. The crowd followed the energy around the stadium in a wave and a cheer, enjoying the spectacle even more if that was possible.

Theggor grabbed the tail of the serpent while it was shaking its head in it’s dazed state. With little effort, he spun it around a few times with a single hand, before releasing it to fly up towards the sky. It struck the barrier again and landed in a heap in the middle of the Arena.

“I suppose they might have flying creatures too then?” Filpin was grinning from ear to ear now, really enjoying this. Even though it amounted to little more than a cut scene it was the most interesting thing that had happened to them in the game so far.

Theggor ran over and leapt into the sky. He brought the sword around in an arc so it pointed downwards and plunged the tip of it close to the end of the tail of the Uktena. It thrashed as the little dwarf's weight pushed the blade through the tail and into the ground. Theggor seemed to count on his fingers for a moment as he looked at the creature, then he left the sword go and moved to the edge of the Arena.

“Are ye enjoying yerselves so far?” He called out to the crowd at the end of the Arena. The Uktena was still laying in a heap, but it thrashed around and tried to release its tail.

The crowd boomed its agreement.

“AH CANNAE HEAR YE!!!” He bellowed some more, his accent thicker than ever.

The crowd boomed the loudest it ever had, an almost deafening cry that the four of them could imagine being heard anywhere in the city at this time. He waved his hands to quieten them. Looking over the crowd Theggor pointed at a person on the south end in one of the rows lower down.

“Young lass, be prepared teh catch the horn when I throw it,” he waggled his finger a bit and a younger girl in the crowd was now clapping.

The Uktena had gathered its wits once again, though its tail remained pinned to the ground by the sword. It sought out the dwarf and lunged at him for a third time, extending to its full length. Theggor turned to face it as it did. The sword stopped its movement in a way that its teeth barely missed closing in on the dwarfs helmeted head. The spittle still reached him though, and it began eating away at his armour.

Theggor cursed, looked at the damage his armour was beginning to take, and leapt at the head of the Uktena as it continued to try and bite him. He brought his fist down on top of its mouth and slammed it’s jaw shut, causing its upper teeth to penetrate its lower jaw. It’s head thumped against the ground and Theggor landed lightly on its brow.

Reaching down he grabbed one of the horns that protruded from the side of its head, and with a foot firmly planted at the base of it, he tore the horn from its socket. Black blood began spewing forth from the hole, coating the sand of the arena in a sticky substance. Quickly he flung the horn into the crowd where he had pointed before, and a few of the people reached out and caught it. It didn’t appear to be too heavy for them, Filpin could tell from this distance, but it took at least three of them to hold it due to the length and twisty nature of it.

“Hmmm,” Frank wore a small frown at the moment, “They must have wizards stationed around the arena. It should have hit the invisible wall.”

Filpin realised Frank was right. He hadn’t even noticed that the horn had just gone through where the wall should have been.

“Part of the spectacle I reckon,” Mor interjected, “He made sure they knew beforehand, so the wizards were ready for it.” This was all going too fast for Filpin so he just nodded.

The Uktena now screamed in pain, its mouth opening wide. Even after all the other blows, such as the sword through its tail, it had not cared about its injuries until the horn was removed. It started to thrash about again, raising its head high into the sky before smashing it again on the ground, lost blindly to pain now.

Theggor deftly stepped onto the other horn for solid footing and grabbed the end of it for support. He rode the Uktena like it was a rampaging bull, letting out squeals of joy as it went up and down. It moved all around the arena, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. The crowd was getting pumped up again, and soon they were stamping their feet and clapping.

“END IT! END IT!” They called out in unison, and the four of them joined it. Even Frank was starting to move a bit more due to the energy that surrounded them.

Theggor leapt off the horn, landed on the ground with a smart roll, and stood near his sword. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and ripped it out of the ground, holding it vertical.

With its tail now free the Uktena span around to face where the latest pain had come from and launched forward yet again. Its head was tilted this time though since the weight of the second horn was not there to keep it upright. This made no difference to Theggor, as he jumped into the air just as the fangs were about to reach him, and span his body so that his sword cleaved through the Uktenas neck.

The head crashed into the ground and bounded away as the body of the serpent fell limp. Theggor landed on the sand on his feet once again and flung it sword off to the side. He walked over to the Uktenas head and lifted it into the are by the horn.

“BIG SWORD! THEGGOR! BIG SWORD!”

The crowd was applauding and cheering and chanting. Theggor dropped the head on the ground, took his helmet off, and waved at the crowd. He walked slowly and purposefully toward the gate he had entered through. As the gate was opening he turned around to once again wave for the crowd before going into the darkness beyond and disappearing.

The excitement of the crowd died down as he left, and soon there were numerous people in the arena cleaning up the mess. Taking the body and head away, raking the ground, even throwing new sand out of sacks. The process seemed quick and well structured.

Before they had even noticed though, the crowd was half empty. The whole thing had taken what seemed fifteen minutes. Mor and Filpin were in shock, breathing fast, and Frank was just stunned and now looking a little bored. Watatsumi jumped up again though.

“Yes!” He cried, “That’s what I’m talking about! Hopefully, with our skills, we’ll be able to do fights like that too.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Frank was speaking bluntly, “It was probably a set piece, like a cut scene, and in-game fighting won't be anything like that.”

“Look, we won't know until we try it,” Filpin got up as well and gave a little stretch, “We haven’t even tried out any of the systems yet.”

“Well, truthfully we might have tried out some of the social systems, like persuasion and char and such. With those dwarves from earlier. And failed miserably. But yes, I agree, we need to do something about this. Let’s get going, find some gear and the adventurers guild building, and try to actually play this game.”

With Frank’s final statement the four of them got up and made their way out of the Arena.