Chapter 12: The Quarterfinals
That night, Leon gets home exhausted to the bones and assisted to the door by Elise, who had already expended her healing on him, he enters and checks on his mother who sleeps fitfully. By tomorrow it will be settled mother, you will stand hale. He finds his bed and sleep takes over immediately.
The next day is work free as he pours all his effort in practicing his form and his use of the manna gun cause he has been restless since he woke up this morning. Quickknife’s aura keeps crawling into his mind and he just can’t get it off.
Night reaches and Leon makes excuses to his mother about his absence tonight and takes his leave for the shadow district. Elise is already at the fighting arena waiting for him, Hark nods at him as he passes to enter the arena.
The underground arena buzzes with electric tension. Leon descends the stone steps, each footfall echoing in the packed arena. His ribs still aches slightly from the previous night’s battles.
The crowd presses against the stone barriers, their voices a constant hum of anticipation. Silver coins flashes between hands as betting odds shifts. The skinny F-Rank necromancer has become an unlikely favorite among desperate gamblers.
The match-master spots him and immediately moves to the center of the ring to announce his fight.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The master’s voice boomed across the pit. "Tonight’s quarterfinal match features our surprising survivor against a legend of the underground!"
Leon steps onto the blood-soaked sand. His manna gun feels heavy in his grip, ammunition running low after three brutal fights. His zombie waits in the shadows beyond the pit’s edge, their connection pulsing with little shared exhaustion.
"Introducing Merik ’Quickknife’ Fenn!... Forty-seven sanctioned kills across three kingdoms!"
The crowd erupts as a figure emerges from the opposite gate. Quickknife moves like flowing water, each step perfectly balanced. Twin knives hangs from his belt, their edges gleaming with fresh oil. Geometric scars covers his forearms—tally marks of fallen opponents.
Leon has heard little whispers about Quickknife, a former military assassin discharged for excessive violence. His speed borders on the supernatural, and his precision is legendary among underground fighters.