The ice drake charged the group of gladiators. Its footsteps pounded against the ground, echoing off the coliseum walls.

Tilos sympathetically linked the drake to the ground, his Essence draining fast from the imperfect sympathy.

The drake tripped, falling to the ground.

Tilos released the sympathetic link, condensing force at the bottom of his soles. He then released the tightly packed force, sending himself sailing towards the drake.

The ice drake twisted and clawed at Tilos.

Tilos held up his shield. The drake’s claw hit the metal and sent Tilos flying backward. Tilos landed a good distance away.

Loris ran past Tilos. The gladiator moved faster than any average human. The Sygaldry tattooed on his body glowed with Essence.

The drake sprung to its feet. The beast opened its maw and released a beam of ice toward Loris.

Loris tucked and rolled, the ice beam freezing the ground where he had been. Loris lunged at the drake, thrusting his spear into the creature’s side.

The ice drake roared, swiping at Loris with its claw and flinging the man away. The creature turned and chanced after Loris.

Tilos sprinted after the drake, amplifying his speed with a burst of Force. He reached the drake before it caught Loris. Tilos formed a Force Bolt, charging the spell with Essence, and then released it.

The Force Bolt cut through the air, exploding on impact with the drake. Chucks of white scales and red flesh splattered across the ground.

The drake was thrown off balance but stayed on its feet. A gapping wound appeared on the drake where the Force Bolt had hit, blood dripping from the wound onto the creature's white scales.

Tilos bound the Threads of Force, Sharpness, and Strength to the tattooed Sygaldry covering his body. Pumping Essence into the tattoos activated the spells meant to enhance his body and weapons. The world slowed before his eyes, his reaction speed improving. He channeled Essence into [Consitution], the Talent amplifying his base durability, making him sturdier. He then materialized blue force constructs around his sword and shield.

The drake swung at Tilos when he was in range.

Tilos erected a force barrier around his leg and kicked the drake’s claw away. He then stabbed the beast in the leg with his sword, extending the force construct covering his sword all the way throw.

The drake screamed, and a blast of cold aura emerged from the beast.

Tilos pulled out his sword. Winding back his shield, he struck the leg of the drake. A wave of force exploded and impacted the drake’s leg, breaking bone. Then TIlos backed away from the beast. A layer of frost coated his leather armor, weapon, and shield.

A thick layer of ice armor materialized around the drake, ice wrapping around drake’s wound, stopping the bleeding.

A blast of purple energy hit the drake in the head, the creature seizing up.

Hiro ran at the creature, Elra following his lead. He held his hammer high. The Sygaldry covering his exposed skin glowed blue. His muscles bulged as he channeled Essence into [Strength]. He swung the hammer down onto drake’s head, sending the creature’s head crashing to the ground, shattering the ice armor around the beast’s head.

Elra slashed her two swords across the belly of the creature, her blades barely piercing the drake’s ice armor, only leaving shallow cuts.

Tilos, once again, hear the sound of metal grinding against metal. He looked up. Two more gates opened along the arena walls. Two drakes came charging out of the gates, one with red scales and the other with yellow.

The red drake charged Loris and the yellow one Raven.

Tilos ran to intercept the drake going for Raven, pulses of force exploding from his feet.

Lightning surged around yellow drake. It blurred as its speed increased.

Tilos pushed as much Essence into his legs and expended a colossal blast of force. He rocketed forward into the air, throwing his body in the way between the lightning drake and Raven. Tilos crossed his arm in front of his chest and tucked his head.

Tilos and the drake collided, the blow knocking Tilos’ sword and shield from his hands. The beast raked its claws across Tilos’ arms. Tilos hissed as the claws cut into the flesh along his arms. Tilos fell to the ground and then distanced himself from the drake. He kept his eyes on the creature.

“Raven get back,” Tilos circled the downed lightning drake and picked up his sword and shield.

The yellow scaled drake stood on its four legs. It glared at Tilos, its fangs exposed at it growled.

Tilos lunged at the creature before it had a chance to react. He dodged the claw of the drake. His sword struck down at the beast's hind leg, cutting the limb clean off.

The drake whirled around in pain, screaming in rage. Blood poured from the severed limb, painting the dirt red with blood.

Tilos jumped over the spiked tail of the drake, landing on the creature's back. He channeled Essence into his sword and stabbed the blade into the back of the creature. He extended the force construct, coating his sword, the blade sinking through the drake’s insides and emerging from the creature's belly.

The beast screamed, jerking its body back and forth, trying to shake Tilos from his back.

Tilos held firmly to the hilt of his sword. Force spikes sprouted from the soles of feet, breaking through yellow scales and sinking into the flesh of the creature. He took a step forward, dragging his sword with him.

The drake screamed louder, its movements growing more berserk. Lightning arced from drake, striking at Tilos.

Tilos screamed, muscles spasming as lightning surged throw him. But he continued towards the drake’s head, the wound along the drake’s back growing larger as Tilos dragged his sword with him.

The creature's frantic jerking grew more subdued until it stopped altogether. The drake collapsed to the ground, blood pooling from the vast wound along its back and stomach.

[Templar - Level Up!]

[Templar - 4]

+1 Talent Point

+2 Mind

+3 Body

[Kragna Force Affinity - Level Up!]

[Kragna Force Affinity - 6]

Tilos pulled his sword free of the drake’s body and jumped down from the corpse of the beast. He faced Raven, “Are you alright?”

Raven nodded, “Just a little startled. I think the others could use your help more than me.” Raven pointed over to the other gladiators fighting the ice and fire drakes. Hiro was soloing the ice drake, beating the beast into submission with mighty blows from his war hammer. The ice drake had already been weakened from its earlier wounds. Loris and Elra were handling the fire drake, the pair fighting together as if performing a dance they had practiced for ages. “If I had my potions, I would be less of a burden.”

“We all play our role in this team. Your time will come soon.” Tilos nodded and then sprinted over to the fire drake.

Tilos formed three Force Bolts above his head, sharpening their tips into points, spinning them in a corkscrew motion, and launching them at the drake. He channeled Essence into his legs, transmuting it into Force, before expelling it from his feet. Tilos flew through the air towards the fire drake. He squinted to block out the dry air.

The three Force Bolts drilled into the flesh of the fire drake and then exploded, ripping huge chunks of flesh free from the beast’s body. The drake roared, spewing a storm of fire from its maw.

Loris and Elra backed away from the magical creature, out of reach of its scolding flames.

Tilos held his shield out in front of him and crashed into the head of the drake. A cone of force blasted out of his shield.

The drake fell dead to the ground. Its skull was caved in by Tilos’ shield.

Tilos cut the beast’s head free from its body, ensuring that it stayed dead. Tilos looked over to Hiro, finding the man standing over the ice drake’s body. The drakes head smashed to pieces across the arena floor.

The crowd was silent. Then one by one, people started to cheer.

“Well, that was some fight. If all Templars of Trinity can fight like that, I would hate to face them in battle,” Gellen’s voice boomed through the Swine Pit.

“Come, we need to get back onto the elevator,” Elra yelled. She and Loris were already standing on the wooden elevator.

Tilos, Raven, and Hiro went over to join them. The elevator descended when they stepped foot onto the platform.

Tilos looked down at his arms. The lightning drake’s claws had cut throw the armbands around his wrist, piercing the flesh beneath. Luckily the cuts were shallow. He expended a bit of his Essence, and the wounds closed themselves.

The elevator stopped, and the opening in the ceiling closed. The other gladiators left below the arena were playing card games or lying on the ground, tired from their earlier matches.

“Turn on the armbands!” A guard yelled from the other side of the locker room door.

The armbands around Tilos’ arms glowed once more, siphoning his Essence to power the magical items. But his connection to the Weave remained, though it was weak. Tilos looked over the damage done to his armbands. The drake must have damaged the enchantment meant to block his access to the Weave. However, the armbands were still siphoning Essence from him. Tilos smiled, I can work with this.

“Stand back from the door!” The same guard yelled.

The gladiator near the door dispersed and stepped away from the door. The door unlocked and was pushed open. Guards rushed in with weapons drawn. Spells precast and pointed at the gladiators in the room.

A man stepped forwards, his helmet in his hand. “Remove your armor and weapons, then line up. There will be no more fights. We’ll be taking you back to the carriage you arrived in.”

***

The carriage ride was bumpy. They had left the Swine Pit a while ago. The fighting coliseum had long disappeared from Tilos’ sight. The cold night air brushed against Tilos’ skin. He shivered from the sensation.

Tilos stood up, balancing himself as the carriage kept moving forward.

He focused his mind and bound the Threads for Force with the assistance of [Kragna Force Affintiy]. It took all his effort with the armbands weakening his connection to the Weave.

“What are you doing,” Ralken hiss under his breath. He shot up from sitting on the floor. “You're going to get us killed,” Ralken marched to Tilos.

“Hiro, hold him,” Tilos said as he continued to Weave a simple Force spell, using his blood as a Sacrifice for the spell. He could not have any interruptions. One wrong move could cause him to kill himself.

“On it,” Hiro responded by grabbing onto Ralken. Ralken struggled to break free of Hiro’s grabs, but Hiro's [Strength] talent held Ralken in place.

Tilos released his spell. The wave of Force blew off the armbands around his forearms. Instantly his connection to the Weave came back stronger. His pool of Essence passively restoring itself.

He grabbed onto the bars surrounding him, his headlight from the amount of blood he used. He took a few seconds to catch his breath.

Tilos then let go of the bars. Channeling Essence into his leg, he kicked at the lock on the cell door. The lock ringed against the metal bars of the door, deforming from Tilos’ kick. Tilos smiled, “We’re almost free.”