Posted by As Fastagio watched Aker tumble across the floor he couldn’t help but show an ever so slight smirk. While he did not take responsibility for killing Aker like that idiot One Eye, he did come up with the idea of not exposing him to other beast. As he explained to the others the boy was incredibly talented, perhaps he should be described as a genius.
Since he was such a genius, by exposing him to more and different beast they would only be helping in growing the kid up. To be honest no one knew why His Majesty wanted the boy dead, they all just knew that The King had been more and more irritable lately because of the kid.
“Hard to imagine what that kid did to The King that he wants him dead so badly” Fastagio silently said to no one. Aker was just some boy as far as he was concerned, his life and death other than making The King happy and getting some rewards for his contributions meant nothing to Fastagio at all.
Either way those non-magical beasts were never going to get the better of the boy so it was best to keep him in a box while they prepared a lineup of magic beast that could tear him apart. The plan was multifaceted but still very simple.
First, they would limit the kid’s ability to learn how different beast fight and move by limiting him to only fighting Kulga. Second, they would throw different types of magical beast at him prodding at his capabilities and looking for his weakness.
This first fight was against a Fire Ape which specializes in raw strength and destruction. If Aker manages to survive, he will be met with a beast that specializes in speed. If he manages to survive that fight then he will fight a beast that specializes in defense. Eventually they would find his weakness and once they did, they would exploit it and focus on it until…….well until his majesty no longer had a reason to be irritable.
As Fastagio was contemplating on why the king would want Aker dead the boy in question had just stood up after getting pummeled by the Fire Ape. Aker had landed a sword across the Fire Ape’s arm so he was pretty pleased with himself. From this exchange Aker considered himself the winner.
Digging his foot into the ground and pouncing back into the Fire Ape’s reach Aker jumped left and right as the Fire Ape swung its arms down. Aker who was now only half a meter away from the Fire Ape was desperately trying to swipe his sword across the Fire Ape’s exposed knee while walking a tight rope of dodging the Fire Ape’s mighty swings.
Unlike the Kulga the Fire Ape did not dart around while attacking, at least not so far. It seemed to Aker that the Fire Ape preferred to plant its feet like a tree and use its gigantic and massive arms to attack relentlessly.
As the Fire Ape’s arms just narrowly missed Aker the sound of clank…clank…clank…clank rang out as Aker’s sword was missing the Fire Ape’s knee and only meeting the blood metal armor. As Aker hit the armor over and over it failed to leave any clearly visible signs of his attacks, Aker couldn’t help but notice that even the blood red on the metal was the metal itself and not painted on.
As Aker would aim for the knee of the Fire Ape it would slightly bend or swing its arm causing Aker to adjust his attack. Both the Fire Ape and Aker had now taken dozens of swings at each other, both of them failing to connect with the other.
Finally realizing that he was not going to be able to use his sword to injure the Fire Ape’s knee Aker threw away his shield and reached into his boot and pulled out a knife.
“Master said I was supposed to use the sword and shield but I think he will forgive me just this once if I use my knife.” Aker consoled himself as he held a sword in one hand and a knife in the other foregoing any semblance of defense.
As Aker was bent over, rather than swinging its arm down the Fire Ape decided to mix its attack up and swung its colossal arm from the side at Aker, leaving him no option to dodge left or right. If this swing of the Fire Apes arm was to connect with Aker it would more than likely be enough to split him in half. Even if it didn’t split him in half it would mean definite death.
Aker who saw the arm coming from the side realized he had plenty of time to jump back and avoid the attack all together. If he made this move, he could recollect his thoughts and form a strategy to defeat the Fire Ape. Perhaps if he could even get the Fire Ape to chase after him, he could find a way to trip it up. The problem Aker was facing was the monumental size difference between him and it. To this point his only point of attack has been its arms that it exposed when it attacked and its knee. Aker was simply so much smaller he couldn’t reach the Fire Ape to attack at all.
Aker who was still bent down on one knee having just pulled the knife from his boot realized that the Fire Ape had gone down low to hit him. As Aker began to feel the immense pressure from the air as the arm of the giant Fire Ape drew closer he pushed off his back foot raising himself into the air. As the forearm of the Fire Ape was probably around a meter around Aker had plenty of room to touch his foot down on. Using the forearm as a bouncing board he pushed himself up towards the fangs of the Fire Ape. Aker had practiced jumping off of walls in his cell as part of his normal knife training so this wasn’t overly difficult for him.
The Fire Ape who was bent over as he swung his arm out wide to pulverize Aker watched in utter horror as an ant stuck a knife deep into its eye. Out of reflex alone the Fire Ape screamed out in pain, mixed into the scream was a heat wave and deafening percussion that caused Aker to grimace in pain. Having its eye stabbed the Fire Ape violently began swinging its arm while agonizing over its lost right eye. Aker who was dangling from the face of the Fire Ape holding on to the knife while it was lodged in the Fire Apes eye was like a small boat in a mighty ocean storm. The entire time Aker was hanging on he was twisting and turning the knife trying to drive the Fire Ape into as much pain as possible.
In a moment of clarity, the Fire Ape grabbed Aker by his right leg and in one smooth motion pulled him away and threw him out. Aker suddenly felt his body jerk before he realized it, he was flying through the air. The sizzling sound from where the Fire Ape grabbed his leg still ringing out in his ear.
Flying six- or seven-meters Aker’s body slammed against the ground and started rolling over and over again. Aker rolled at least a half dozen times before coming to a stop.
The audience who watched this whole fight to this point was still. The stillness of three hundred thousand people and six hundred thousand eyeballs that were focused on a boy who laid motionless on the ground created an atmosphere that resembled the honoring of a lost hero. The solemn and silent atmosphere weighed down on all people watching, even those people who had bet against Aker couldn’t find it in their heart to cheer at this moment.
Aker who had daringly charged after that Fire Ape, who fought toe to toe standing not more than one meter away and even used the Fire Ape’s very own arm to propel himself up and stab the Fire Ape in the eye was to amazing. What was more unbelievable was rather than let go Aker pushed forward holding on to the knife as he twisted and turned it driving the Fire Ape mad with rage.
The Fire Ape who was still screaming out in pain was the only noise in the universe at this moment.
“Hahahahahaha……I don’t care if you call me a bastard……I won…. I finally won and I got to see that brat pay me back for everything I lost.”
Finally, with the first person speaking up a half of the crowd began to feel excited. Some had lost years’ worth of money and savings while others lost their entire life savings. While this fight wouldn’t result in them getting all of their money back, at least they will get a chunk of it back, and for some of them just the joy of seeing that boy lying unmoving on the floor after being tossed like a doll brought them immense joy.
As some of the crowd began laughing out others in the crowd felt like a mountain had just fallen on them. Vance who was watching through the small window found himself rubbing his eye and didn’t even realize it. A small tear was slowly working its way down his face, slowly centimeter by centimeter as if though it didn’t know what to do. Even when Vance was betrayed and tossed in The Pit, he never let even a single tear out, but now watching that boy fly through the air he felt like he had lost a piece of himself.
Vance had no family in this world. After his brothers betrayed him, the father he took died and the woman he loved casted him into Hell he was left with no one. In just three weeks Vance had begun looking at Aker as he would his own son. He fed him, trained him, encouraged him, and pushed him, how was he any different than a father to Aker at this point?
As Vance and the crowd was beginning to feel the cold and relentless stabbing pain of reality Aker who had been motionlessly laying on the floor slowly used his arms to push himself up. Still holding his sword, he dug it into the ground and used it as crutch to pull himself up and come to a standing position.
Those who had just been celebrating their new found wealth and sweet, sweet revenge against a brat who had taken so much from them felt the world collapse around them. The words that came out of Aker’s mouth caused some in the crowd to throw up blood in disbelief.
Aker suddenly smiled, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and half his face covered in road rash, looked up at the Fire Ape and called out “That hurt you more than me didn’t it?”.
And with a slight limp where the Fire Ape had grabbed and tossed Aker who now had a massive ape sized palm print on his leg bent his knee, dug his foot into the ground and jetted towards the Fire Ape once again kicking up a cloud of dust and rock.
The Fire Ape who was now blind in one eye and still screaming out in pain a knife still stuck in its eye didn’t notice as Aker almost instantly closed the gap and slid his sword across both knee caps.
Suddenly without notice while in the middle of screaming the Fire Ape felt its legs give out as it fell to both of its knees. The overly huge and massive size of the Fire Ape worked against it after getting its knees sliced it was no longer strong enough to support its own weight.
Aker who watched as the Fire Ape fell to the ground completely incapacitated looked up to the heaven’s chest up high and arms behind him at his side and gave a roar “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh” having just defeated this monster.
Without looking back Aker turned and began limping to the exit. Aker was not like when he left the arena after fighting the mobs of Kulga, just tired but uninjured. This time he had truly fought with his life on the line and faced death countless times under the mighty swings of that Fire Ape. As he walked away, he couldn’t help but look up at the luxury box. Aker who had been fighting here for a few weeks had basically figured out the layout of the arena and the stands, so while looking up he sneered, then flashed a glorious smile and bowed, then proceeded on his way.