The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

                                            Drannor was caught off guard, but he recovered in time to block Melisse's sword strike with his spear. Once again, his weapon suddenly got heavy and almost flew from his hands, but he endured. However, he left himself open to getting kicked in the stomach.

                                            Drannor bent his body forward, but then he recovered when Melisse tried to cut his neck with the sword again. This time, he had to rely on the boost of movement granted by his spear. Drannor suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight and then appeared forty meters behind Melisse. Few people knew what that spear was, but Melisse wasn't one of them, so she couldn't help but open her eyes widely and give Drannor even more time to catch his breath.

                                            When Melisse finally realized her mistake, it was too late. Drannor was already back on his feet, and he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He charged forward with all his might and aimed for Melisse's left shoulder. Since he used his boost in speed, she didn't react in time, but in the end, her yellow breastplate saved her again. This time, a more significant chunk of the armor fell on the ground and turned into dust as she tried to hit Drannor's neck again. He lowered his stance and dodged the sword, and then hit her leg with his spear to gain some distance. Much to Drannor's surprise… this time, the spear cut her flesh.

                                            Melisse clenched her teeth in pain, and Drannor frowned… why his attack suddenly worked? He couldn't tell why… it probably wasn't due to the place he hit. He hit her stomach before, and the armor had nullified the strike. The trick was in the armor in itself… even though it could protect her, it had some limitations.

"… It can't nullify attacks during a certain period of time after each strike," Drannor concluded.

                                            Upon learning that, Drannor dashed to attack Melisse, she left herself wide open for the first strike since Drannor would fail at defeating her with the big swing and then left himself wide open, but he knew that would happen. Drannor faked an all-out attack, and when Melisse swung her sword downward toward him, he increased his speed with the effect of the spear just enough to move to the side. She missed her attack, and Zaos hit her stomach two times with the butt of his spear. The first attack didn't cause any damage, but the second brought her to her knees. Once she fell, Drannor pointed the tip of the spear to her face.

"… I wield," Melisse said after a long sigh.

"… Sir Drannor is the winner!" The narrator said after he recovered from the shock.

                                            After the narrator declared the victor, Drannor lowered his spear and then took a deep breath. It has been a while since I had to fight and think that much against the same opponent. Even though he didn't do much thinking. Regardless, the spectators applauded them, and both of them left the arena.

                                            Melisse seemed in a bad mood, but she didn't say anything. She just looked at Zaos for a single moment before she left the anteroom. That was weird since Zaos was pretty sure she didn't look at him before. Regardless, Zaos didn't have time to worry about her.

"Sir Zaos and Sir Cohnal, please, present yourselves in the arena," The narrator said.

                                            Zaos stepped forward, and this time he saw someone leaving the other anteroom. Cohnal was a main in this thirties. One could see in his eyes that he had been on many battlefields. Only someone battle-hardened would try to fight Zaos after the previous demonstration. Cohnal had short black hair and deep brown eyes. Aside from a few scars on his body, he looked pretty average, the average for a mountain of muscles. What was real important was that he was also wearing full-plate armor and had a big sword on his back. Defeating that guy wouldn't be a walk in the park since he was bigger and possibly had the same fighting style as Zaos.

"Fight!" The narrator said as soon as both of them drew their swords.

                                            Zaos had planned to assume his ox guard, but he changed his mind when Cohnal dashed toward him with a tail guard and was ready to launch a full horizontal swing. Despite his size, he was fast and caught Zaos in no time and tried to cut him in two. Zaos blocked the attack, but he was sent flying for a few meters. He landed on his feet, but once he more, he learned why one shouldn't try to stop someone who was bigger and had the momentum in his favor with a simple block.

"He is trying not to give me time to use magic…" Zaos thought.

                                            Cohnal swung his sword horizontally again but only cut the air since Zaos jumped backward. While he wasn't as strong, he was faster despite the fact that he was carrying a big sword and was wearing a full plate armor. Still, Zaos wouldn't gain anything just by trying to dodge like that. Dodge and attack wasn't his style. Even though it was possible, he doubted that Cohnal would fall for that. After all, it was evident that he was plotting something since he was just using the same attack over and over again. So, he decided to do something different when Cohnal charged for the third time. He charged as well…

                                            When both fighters' swords collided in the middle of the arena, the sound of steel echoed throughout the whole area. In the end, Zaos lost the exchange once again and was sent flying a few meters, but before Cohnal could prepare another attack, Zaos dashed toward him. This time, the big warrior had to give up on the momentum and use only his strength to block Zaos's strike, but his body ended up being pushed for several meters. Once again, before Cohnal could do anything, Zaos dashed at him.