Jon’s body tensed up as he waited for the first move. His eyes settled on Rasheem’s face, waiting for his reaction.

Rasheem didn’t seem to be in a rush to move. It was as if he was smiling with his eyes.

He’s happy?

Jon’s eyes darted back to the hammer, seeing that it was missing.

Oh.

He dropped to the floor before the large stone object whipped by his head with terrifying speed and ferocity.

He shot his gun, pushing and rolling himself over to the side so he was out from underneath Rasheem. He used a shot at the floor to push himself back up to a stand.

He braced himself for another attack, but all he saw was Rasheem luaghing.

“Ah, I see!” Rasheem tossed his large hammer onto his shoulder with one hand. “You have strong evasion skills. Impressive. I can already tell that this battle will be like a cat chasing down its prey.

Jon figured he was the prey in this situation, which he didn’t like, but had to admit that this was probably the case. His goal, however, would be to change that situation. To not be a prey anymore.

“Say, your skin tone,” Rasheem pointed out. He pointed to his own. “Would you suppose that you come from the Stonetooth clan long ago?”

Jon looked at the back of his hand. They were similar skin tones. His mother had been a traveler before she settled down with his father. Still, something told him this wasn’t the case.

“I don’t think so,” Jon said. He realized how little he understood of his mother’s past, and suddenly felt ashamed. He’d make sure to have a good talk with her when he got home.

“Well, no worries. We can still work together to give these guys a good show.” Rasheem spread his arms wide out.

Jon thought it was for another attack, but instead, he stepped backwards to the edge of the stage.

“Come at me!” Rasheem shouted. “Go, give me your best shot!”

Jon grimaced. He had been in enough battles to think that Rasheem had something planned.

Then again, he looked incredibly tough. If he was knocked off, he’d still have two more chances to hurt Jon.

Jon decided that he wanted to test this man’s word.

He aimed and fired.

The blast hit Rasheem straight on in the chest, dispersing across his whole body.

Rasheem leaned back from the blow, but otherwise, he stayed standing.

He found his footing again and then held his hammer in the air.

“I can take it!” He yelled.

The crowd aided his shout with their own.

Oh. Jon understood. Now, Rasheem knew that he would be able to take on blasts from Jon’s gun. He would probably change tactics to chasing Jon around the arena.

“My turn!” Rasheem yelled. He raised his hammer and slammed it into the ground.

Ripples formed in the ground and traveled it’s way towards Jon’s feet.

Jon’s brain danced in bemusement before he understood to point at the ground and shoot away.

Crags of rocks erupted from where Jon was standing. Even if he had gotten out of the way, there was enough residual force to send Jon crashing onto his shoulder.

He focused on making his body slippery and rotated into a stand, but it was too late for his shoulder.

He can use mana. Jon was too tired to be impressed.

Rasheem raised his hammer and started running to Jon.

Jon got ready to shoot himself away. He noticed that the spell beside him had created a wall of sorts. He was boxed in, and Rasheem had a large hammer.

Jon cursed at the strategy and focused on Rasheem again. Whatever he did, he would have to get really close to him.

Jon decided to try to give himself more room at the other side of the arena. He ducked his head and ran towards the charging warrior.

This time, Jon slid onto the floor, dropping onto his back and shooting past his head.

He zoomed underneath Rasheem before shooting himself back up into a stand before he went off the stage.

He thought he would be facing Rasheem’s back, but instead, a giant hammer came to meet him as he stood.

The gun was in position to buffer against the attack, but Jon still felt the force of a mountain as the hammer slammed against the side of the gun. He even flexed his fingers so he could avoid getting any of them smashed.

It was enough to knock Jon back a few feet, but he still kept his footing.

Rasheem’s quick turn around meant that he had attacked Jon at the end of his range, and he was just too far to continue attacking right away. Noting Jon’s exhaustion, he lunged forward, hammer cocked back.

Jon fired again, pushing himself out of range. However, he could already feel his tiredness catching up with him.

Already? Jon cursed the small space he was in. He was used to being able to move around wherever he wanted. He could shoot all day, but his body could only take but so much.

“Shoot him!”

Jon made a risky double take into the audience. Thalia had cupped her hands around her mouth and was shouting.

“Shoot him!” She yelled again. “Shoot!”

Shoot. Jon looked down at his gun. She was right. Even if Rasheem was a superior fighter, Jon’s best weapon was still his gun. He should use it like it was meant.

Shoot.

Jon looked back up to the closing strongman, hammer held over his head.

Shoot.

Jon aimed up and fired.

A blast hit the man’s face. He kept going forward, but his momentum was slowed, and his eyes were forced closed from the blast.

Move.

Jon sidestepped the large hammer slamming into the ground. Jon imagined it might have hurt him severely if it landed, but his mind didn’t dwell on it too long.

He shot at Rahssem’s side. Rasheem took the blast head on and swung again.

The blast had kept Rahseem at bay, so Jon was easily able to side step away from the blow. He was now behind Rasheem.

Jon started rapid firing.

Each blast caught Rasheem in the back before he was forced into a forward stumble.

Now.

Jon knew he had the advantage. He had to think of something quick.

Big blast. Sabez. Wind.

Jon needed momentum. He slammed down at the butt of his gun with his fist, forcing it into a flip.

He caught it. Already imagining a ball of wind at the muzzle of his gun. He fired.

A ball of translucent energy twice as large as any of his other shots fired from his gun.

The blast was large enough to send Jon off of his feet, but he landed gently a few feet away.

Contrary to that, Rasheem was hit hard in the back side by the double sized blast, sending him over his head and sloppily tumbling forward.

Jon felt his chest tightened. He could only wait for his body to recover as Rasheem stood back up. Still, Jon appreciated the pride of being able to give himself a breather.

“Wow! A master of the wind!” Rasheem stood back up and fixed his hat, which sat on his head at an angle. “But you look troubled, my friend.”

Jon tried not to let the tightness in his chest show. However, he wasn’t able to respond.

“So, you can only do some of those but so much.” Rahseem nodded. “Looks like you’re short on options.”

Option? No. Jon needed to win this. He had invoked the image of Sabez in his mind. Now, he had to make good on it.

As soon as he could take a full breath, he pointed behind himself and fired.

He ducked a swing from Rasheem’s hammer, ending up behind the man once again.

This time, he didn’t even bother turning around. He fired forward, launching his own back into Rasheem’s.

The attack connected. Jon felt the force of Rasheem’s rock hard back.

Still, Rasheem crashed into the ground face first.

Jon landed on his feet and clutched his chest. The attack and the frequent mana use caused him to need to take another breath. More breaths.

“This is what I’m talking about!” Rasheem pushed off the ground. He used his momentum to swing his hammer at Jon.

Jon didn't have enough time to duck. He put the gun up to his head and blocked the hit again.

Jon had been expecting to be tossed aside again, but the side of the hammer simply landed on the side of the gun.

Raheem pulled the hammer back. The hammer’s head caught on Jon’s barrel and pulled him off his feet and closer to Raheem against his will.

Jon’s mind was blank from surprise, so he wasn’t properly scared when he was dragged into Rasheem’s outstretched arm.

The inside of Rasheem’s arm and elbow collided with Jon’s jaw.

Jon blanked into a fury of ringing, blindness, and pain.

His body flipped in the air once before he crashed face first into the ground.

Ow.

Jon took his time standing back up. As he expected, Raheem had turned to the crowd and raised his hands again. He had the taste of metal in his mouth.

Jon normally didn’t like doing rude things in public, but it felt like too much for his body. He spit onto the ground to get the taste out of his mouth.

The crowd cheered.

Jon looked down at where he spit. There was a splatter of red on the ground.

Oh. That came from me?

That was when the dizziness hit him. He hadn’t fully recovered from the hit. Everything around him started to become a buzz.