Chapter 370: Honor
The roar of the crowd was nothing but a muted murmur to Art’s ears as he stepped onto the center stage alongside Kien and Vix. Starforge’s team approached from the other side of the arena, climbing up to stand across from them.
Art’s hands clenched at his sides of their own volition. Showing any amount of emotion in a fight was a bad idea. It gave his enemies something to work with. Weak links were always singled out and targeted first — but it wasn’t like Art could have been any more of a weak link.
He was a cripple in a sea of adventurers. It only took a single glance at his crutch to bring every single scrap of attention their opposition had down directly on his back. Targetting someone that couldn’t fight back would force his allies to spend effort covering his back, which would expose their own backs in the process.
So in that case, I suppose it doesn’t matter if they know just how much I hate them. Or perhaps its more accurate to say I hate their guild. I don’t know if these three have anything to do with the people they’ve killed.
The man in sleek white armor matched Art’s gaze, a faint smile playing across his lips. He was in his middle thirties, with the beginnings of stubble from a few days of not shaving sprouting up from beneath his helmet. His eyes were a stark purple and his features were confident.
Art didn’t have to speak to the gravity mage to ask what he thought of his chances. He definitely thought this was going to be an easy win. The man wasn’t alone in the thought.
Behind him, the twins behind him moved with the exaggerated grace of a dancer playing the crowd in a burlesque club. Every movement they made was measured — intentional. Art was more than aware that the women were far more warriors than they were performers, but they certainly knew how to play the crowd.
From the information I have on them, they’re fast. Both are acrobats with a lot of experience. Neither of them have very powerful magic, but they know how to use what they’ve got very well. Despite one twin using fire and the other using water, they actually work together to create steam that makes the battlefield harder to navigate for their opponents.
Then again, for most opponents it doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Even if I ignore the magic of the gravity mage, raw strength doesn’t always equate to threat. A dagger between the ribs kills far more efficiently than an axe. The twins are actually the bigger threat to me. They might take me out the moment the fight starts.