Posted by As Aker had looked around the arena, he had an opportunity to kill any of the remaining four magical beasts. Probably logic would dictate that he should have attacked the Fire Ape at this point as it was a fire element type magic beast and would be the strongest and most aggressive of the all of them.
In fact, Aker’s first instinct was to attack the Fire Ape, however after contemplating he realized that of all of the remaining magical beast the one that would actually be the hardest to defeat would be the Violet Furred Hound. The Violet Furred Hound’s healing capability meant that it would recover to its full strength first, thus making it more difficult to battle. In addition to the fact that it would probably heal first and more importantly, Aker wasn’t sure if he could even defeat a healthy Level 1 Intermediate magic beast, much less one that could constantly heal itself.
Surveying the remaining magic beasts, the one that Aker feared the least was the Oppression Ox which is nonsensical as most fighters would fear that one second most after the Fire Ape. Because of the training that Aker had done with his gravity stone which was as of now at three times normal gravity, this Level 1 Intermediate magic beast only posed a threat to Aker due to its size, which was still considerable.
Of the three remaining magic beast the one Aker knew the least about was the Vuspese Gila Monster, a metal type magical beast. Being a metal type magical beast, it was exceedingly difficult to break through its defenses. The earth type magic beast was also known for their strong bodies, but they were more balanced between strong bodies and attack capabilities than metal element types. This was true whether one was referring to a magic beast or a human magic fighter.
Seeing that the remaining three magic beasts had not yet recovered, Aker after considering his options darted at the Fire Ape. If he could eliminate the Fire Ape, then he would essentially be out of danger. While the other two were still powerful they weren’t known for their attacking capabilities. Even though it would still be hard to defeat them, he wouldn’t be in absolute danger which was a good thing considering his heavy injuries.
As Aker launched himself at the Fire Ape every step bringing him closer to putting an end to this battle and cementing Alex’s worst nightmare, the Fire Ape realizing the danger swung out its massive arms, it gigantic hands open trying to swat Aker like a fly.
Aker who was solely focused on trying to put down the Fire Ape as quickly as possible didn’t consider that the Fire Ape would be able to recover so quickly and hadn’t made a plan for the Fire Ape’s attack. Fortunately, the attack was not strong enough to actually leave Aker cornered with nowhere to go so he easily avoided it, however it did prevent him from continuing on in his trajectory which stopped Aker’s attack.
Aker who was still heavily injured having suddenly stopped his momentum dropped to a knee panting heavily his lungs desperately struggled to pull in air. Aker whose internals were on fire felt as though they would shake with every step he took. While he didn’t spit out a mouth full of blood this time it wasn’t for a lack of his body trying, it was just that Aker swallowed it down this time refusing to let it happen again.
As Aker stared up at the massive Fire Ape it stared down at Aker angry and wild. It must have felt Aker’s resolute aura as it too was swallowing down and preventing itself from spitting up anymore blood. For what seemed like an eternity the Fire Ape and Aker were motionless each focused on their own body while keeping an eye on each other.
While it might have felt like an eternity the truth was it was only three to four breaths time that passed. Aker sucked in a big breath of air, stomped the ground and steeled himself to move forward. Right now, the Fire Ape had forcefully suppressed his injuries and every moment that passed it was getting stronger. Not only the Fire Ape but the other two magical beasts would be recovering any second as well. Aker must take care of the Fire Ape before it had an opportunity to heal too much and before the other two magic beasts were ready to engage. Despite his injuries, fatigue, and pain, now was the best moment for him to survive, if he can’t push forward at this moment how was he going to fight back against a stronger Fire Ape and two more magical beasts?
Without another thought Aker jumped into the reach of the Fire Ape which he had done many times. The Fire Ape’s arms swung around mercilessly as they tried to mash Aker into paste. Unlike fighting a Level 1 Basic Fire Ape this Level 1 Intermediate’s speed was faster, the fire it exuded covered its entire body and its reaction senses were better and pushed Aker to brink of what he was capable of keeping up with.
Aker who was short one sword as he chose to attack the Violet Furred Hound and then the Fire Ape instead of retreating to grab his second sword elected to stay on the attack at this moment. Aker who had dodged a half dozen swings of the Fire Ape by jumping around and rolling immediately tossed out a throwing dart which struck the Fire Ape in the eye. Immediately following the deafening roar of the Fire Ape upon its eye being struck Aker turned his blade attempting to slice at its knee.
Aker who was completely enthralled in his battle with the Fire Ape perfectly missed the Oppression Ox that had worked its way over. As Aker struck the knee of the Fire Ape and before he had time to attack the other knee, he felt a sudden and intense pain in his side. With the jerk of his neck he looked over and found he was leaving the ground.
The Oppression Ox had rammed Aker from the side using its forehead. The might and force of the ram was preparing to launch Aker into the air. Aker who had a free hand as he was only using one sword reached out and was able to grab the horn of the Oppression Ox and using his momentum pulled himself back and around going in a circle.
Suddenly he was being launched not out and away as the Oppression Ox had planned but was flying forward towards the Fire Ape. Aker didn’t forget to slice the neck of the Oppression Ox as he completed the circle around it.
As Aker flew through the air his right arm dangled behind him flapping in the wind. This was the arm he had used to grab the horn of the Oppression Ox. The price he had to pay to kill the Oppression Ox and launch himself at the Fire Ape was a dislocated shoulder. With the force the Oppression Ox had struck Aker at, it wasn’t just his shoulder that got injured as Aker had heard his ribs crack as well.
Aker’s eyes were locked onto the Fire Ape and as Aker’s sword drew ever closer to the Fire Ape it must have already witnessed the scene of Aker sliding his blade through its neck as just before Aker was raising his sword for the killing blow the Fire Ape put its head down its eyes reflecting its submission.
Aker in the air perceiving that the Fire Ape had submitted to him pulled back his sword. As he was still in the air, he couldn’t adjust his trajectory but that wasn’t a concern for him as there was no chance that the Fire Ape would attempt to attack now that it had submitted.
Aker shifted in air to lead with his feet and hit the Fire Ape solidly in the chest. As Aker’s feet made contact with the Fire Ape, Aker bent his knees to reduce the impact to both him and the Fire Ape and allowed for the rest of his body to bang into the Fire Ape. While leading with his feet and bending his knees on contact diminished most of the force, both the Fire Ape and Aker felt a jolt. Upon Aker’s full body making contact with the Fire Ape he allowed nature to take its course and used gravity to slide down until he felt the soft dirt under his feet.
The body of the Fire Ape was still on fire however for some reason Aker found that despite contacting the Fire Ape and sliding down its body he wasn’t burned at all.
Aker turned to face the Vuspese Gila Monster, his right shoulder hanging at his side, his other hand holding his sword, a Fire Ape standing behind him and a dead Oppression Ox laid out before him.
The stench of blood permeated the whole arena and even through Aker’s jet-black clothes the crowd could make out the tell tell signs of blood and injury.
“Did you see that? Did you see that? I can’t believe what I just saw. That damn ox hit him full force and the boy managed to grab its horn, swing around it and launch himself at the Fire Ape. That damn Fire Ape was so scared seeing Aker flying at it, it just gave up. Did you see that?” An old man with bad eyesight was so astonished he had asked three times if they had seen what he saw, he couldn’t believe it. He was thinking that everything he thought he saw was due to his bad eyesight.
“I saw it all. No one is going to believe it when I tell them. That’s why I come to Aker’s fights; you never know what you’re going to see. I bet that Alex is seeing stars right now….hahahahahahaha…..something about seeing a high and mighty figure get slapped in the face makes you laugh.” A kid in his twenties answered the old man and added his thoughts in as well, which mostly revolved around laughing at another person’s misfortune.
“I thought when those five beasts came out Aker would be in for a tough fight. When they set up that formation and that Fire Ape attacked with the strength of a Level 2 beast, I thought the kid was done for. Do you think he had that attack on the Ice Mammoth planned out or do you think it was luck? If I was in his position I would have tried to run or at the least defended against the Fire Ape attacking. I would have never thought to attack another beast under that kind of pressure. That boy sure makes your blood boil watching him.” The weaselly eyed man couldn’t help but analyze the battle. He had watched hundreds of Aker’s battles and had been impressed countless times. This time however he felt his heart move.
“No kidding, my bloods on fire……hey, what do you think of pulling that job that we’ve talked about all these years but been too afraid of?” The young man looked to the weaselly eyed man for his thoughts.
“What the hell the worst that can happen is death. If this boy can stand there and face this kind of odds and pressure and do what he did why the hell not!” These two friends have struggled for years with pulling a heist that is high risk high reward. Every time they would daydream about pulling it off reality would kick them in the teeth, and they would come back to their senses. However, after watching Aker’s battle today they couldn’t help but condemn their cowardly selves of the past. These two men spent most of their time in the arena and were fairly well known around as the Righteous Twins.
Both Aker and the Fire Ape stood tall and wobbly. After the Fire Ape submitted to Aker, they had come to some sort of unified wobble that seemed to pace each other. It was unknown if the ape was following Aker’s lead or Aker was following the apes lead but from those who were looking down at them it appeared that they were in a perfectly synced dance.
Without a word both Aker and the Fire Ape lifted their leg and started walking towards the last remaining magic beast.
Alex who had been screaming the entire time for the Fire Ape to attack Aker from behind had his combat robes covered in sweat watching as the Vuspese Gila Monster faced its impending doom.
“You damn animal attack that brat now! Both of you together can still beat him, he is barely hanging on by a thread.” Alex had not stopped yelling for the beast to attack.
Once a magic beast submits it will never attack. The problem that Alex was facing was the difference between taming and submitting. While both were essentially the same when training and getting the beast to follow your will, it was a completely different story inside the arena. The Fire Ape was not tamed by Aker, it was beat into submission by Aker. At an instinctual level it feared Aker, and that fear would never disappear. It would never consider disobeying Akers command much less attacking him.
As Aker walked along heading towards the Vuspese Gila Monster he reached his sword back and held it up to the body of the Fire Ape. Within a second the sword was completely consumed in the fire. The fire from the Fire Ape was not strong enough to melt or damage the sword however it could burn on the blood that was sticking to it giving it a menacing ambience.
The Vuspese Gila Monster being of the metal element and seeing the wall of fire approach felt fear from its head to the tip of its tail, its body visibly shivering. The metal element was of course weak to fire and now this magic beast was facing a nightmare of a Fire Ape and a crazy kid with a fire sword.
The Vuspese Gila Monster began stepping back as Aker and the Fire Ape stepped forward. Seeing the fear radiate from the Vuspese Gila Monster Aker’s killing intent didn’t decline but instead intensified. To force a magic beast to submit it had to feel hopelessness and despair in its soul. The despair must go beyond death, it has to feel the torment will carry on even into the next life.
Boom! The gigantic Vuspese Gila Monster dropped to the ground its body still shaking. It dares not look at Aker, its only hope is that this nightmare ends.
As the Vuspese Gila Monster submitted, Aker’s killing intent began to wane and as it did he felt his body begin to feel light and his strength disappear.
‘Oh no, the only thing keeping me on my feet is my killing and battle intent. If I let up, I’ll pass out before I get out of the arena.’
Realizing that if he relaxed at this point he wouldn’t be able to walk out of the arena on his own feet Aker looked up to the pedestal in the sky and laughed mockingly “Hahahahahahaha……you had all the resources you wanted. You had all the time you needed and that was the best you could do against a trapped prisoner in a cage? I heard the announcer say that people out there call you a genius, turns out the standards for genius is only this much. Perhaps instead of your name being No Tamer we should have them start calling you Almost Tamed….hahahahaha…. thanks for getting them ready for me!”
As Aker’s battle intent flared up, he made his way toward the exit not forgetting to pick up his sword, his back turned to the now slumped Alex. After witnessing Aker defeat him and then listening to his words Alex lost the strength in his legs and fell, his face planted into the pedestal but that didn’t keep him from having a perfect view of Aker’s laughing back because of his clear pedestal.