Derb lunged forward, ripping the sword through the abdomen of a swordsman, too shallow to completely rip apart but enough to send him to the loser’s square. He’d almost made it to the archer before a mace smashed into his bare face, making everything go black for a second. He woke up in a square opposite side of the fighting field. He fell to the floor and groaned in disappointment. Things really were much harder without his suit of armor. He watched on as Jack put up a good fight, picking up the mace warrior and throwing him into the ground. A stray arrow that went through his neck caused him to stumble just enough for a swordsman to stab him in the back, teleporting him next to Derb.

Jack screamed in agony, And Derb had to put him away before his eardrums ruptured. This wasn’t the first fight he’d lost since he’d started fighting without his armor. He’d sent Connor back to the inn with his chest plate, cloak, and helmet to fix, Ryan and his group telling him he’d find more opponents without it. They were right but his fighting style banked on taking hits, he came out of a fight with plenty of bruises and cuts because of it, even with the boar spell. This had been his fourth loss, and he was feeling pretty sore about it.

The ten-man group walked up to him with an awkward tension. “I-it was a good fight, I had no idea one would be brave enough to use a sword like that.” The man who speared his right kidney said. He’d made sure to pay that back by beheading him, though the price of that was another sword in the gut. Derb nodded, he was getting better at using his sword, it was the first time he’d been able to get so aggressive, not having to worry about his life after all.

“You too! I barely saw your spear lunge at my heart! I could barely move away!” The spearman’s face tightened in a grimace. Oops, was that a bit graphic? Derb decided to change the subject. “Uh… you guys a really good shot with the bow, it was really hard to get to you three.” The three bowmen, two girls, and one guy, nodded thankfully. They really were good shots, he noticed they aimed for his shoulders to drop his sword, so he had to prioritize them in the beginning. He’d only been able to get two before he dropped. That reminded him.

“Who was the one with the mace, you were quite impressive!” He walked towards a particularly fat man with a grizzly beard. He laughed as he patted Derb’s back. “Don’t be too humble yourself, boy. The way you tore apart our group while leaping around was like a demon straight from the void.” He puffed his chest and pointed at his chest. “Had it not been for me I’m sure you would have wiped the rest of these pansies out.” The group roared in opposition, some complaining how they got the most hits in. “Ah, shut it! Who was the one who got the last shot on him!?” The awkward tension broke through his taunting and everyone was back to normal.

They each went up to him and complimented him on his skill, to which Derb felt weirdly embarrassed from. After a few more go-arounds he’d managed to escape. He felt tired and wanted to go back to the inn, before he could he bumped into Ryan’s group once more. Ryan seemed a bit angry. “Derb! How dare you lose while you’re here!” What? Before he could answer The girl he now knew as Gabby jumped and smacked him on the head. He glared at her while rubbing his head, but didn’t speak anymore. “What my rude leader wanted to ask was how you managed to lose when you did so well against us. There aren’t many people in this place that could beat us head-on.”

Derb looked at them with a confused gaze. “I mean, you were the ones that told me that I couldn’t wear the armor. I had it sent with one of my demons for fixing. It worked, actually, so thank you for the advice.” Ryan opened his mouth to shout but stopped. He tried again but no words came out. His face was full of complicated emotions. “I… your welcome but you… No, you couldn’t help it. But what if...” Ryan’s face fell as he realized what he did. “I’m sorry for yelling at you back there, I didn’t realize I was at fault for your losses...”

Derb watched as everyone bowed, guilt heavy on their face. “What? No, no. I should be thanking you. you have no idea how depressed I got when no one wanted to fight me. I’ve been improving tremendously without my armor or the fear of death.” He recalled the feeling of a sword entering inside him only for him to remember to move aside so it wouldn’t pierce any important organs. That was an experience he wouldn’t change for the world.

Ryan laughed, moving forward to pat him on the shoulder “No need to console me, friend. It’s my fault for making you experience the gruesome pain of defeat.” He looked back at his group with a cheeky grin, to which they give him a warning glance back. “Say, if you’re up for it would you like to fight with us for the tournament? You definitely have the skill we want.” Derb was shocked, they’d allow a stranger they just met to join their tight-knit fighting group? “Uh… I’m not good at fighting with many people… I usually don’t get to choose where my sword hits.”

He pulled out the long weapon, its size looking jarring when compared to his skinny arms. He actually looked a bit malnourished when Ryan thought about it. “Well, will you at least let us treat you for lunch? You seem a bit… famished.” Derb looked down and rubbed his stomach, growling almost painfully at the thought of food. “Uh… sure? I can pay for my own food though so let’s go.” Ryan shook his head, putting an arm around his shoulder. “No, no, I insist, let’s go! You can't just fight all day, learn to pace yourself!” The five made their way out of the colosseum. Derb was extremely grateful for their kindness, not noticing Ryan and Gabby giving each other a thumbs up.

The restaurant they went to was pretty homey, rough-looking adventurers were littered everywhere, excitably drinking and eating while recalling their stories. The pudgy kid Derb only knew as ‘Chipmunk’ went up to the counter while the four sat down. “Chipmunk’ll set us up, we’re pretty important in this city, you know?.” Ryan said. Derb nodded, unsure of what that meant. “Um, can I call him anything else? You two are related, right?” He said to Gabby, who was already looking through the menu.

She looked up at him and then Chipmunk disinterestedly, only to go back to the menu. “Yeah, I guess. We’re twins, but since we looked so alike and our names were so similar we changed his to that.” She looked up again to see Derb’s confused face and smirked. “That was a while ago, I lost weight so we don’t look the same anymore, but the name stuck.” Ryan laughed at the memories, Adam just smiled. Chipmunk walked back from the counter, hearing the last part. “She was way cuter back then too, she was less scary, too.” She scowled at him, who just laughed and jumped back with air magic.

“See what I mean?” Derb just smiled, sure that agreeing with him would probably be bad. A lady came through with a pitcher and five giant mugs on a platter. She filled each up and haded it to them, Derb watched with a bit of unsurety. “How old are you two? Are you sure you should be drinking?” Gabby and Chipmunk glanced at each other before laughing. “We’re 18, That’s weird, usually nobody comments on it the first time. We still look plenty old enough to drink, though.” Derb felt weird about the situation, they still looked no older than 14… was that the legal age to drink here?

“When are you allowed to drink here?” He asked, taking a small sip from his mug. Gabby downed half in one shot, Ryan and Adam were even more impressive, downing the whole thing in one go. “You can enter bars once you’re twelve, you’re not from around here, huh?” Derb choked at the unexpected news, also partly because the drink was probably the strongest he’d ever had the misfortune to drink. “*Cough* *Cough*... Really? And how can you drink this, it feels like fire down my throat.” The whole group laughed raucously, Ryan was the first to speak up. “We forget that some people can’t handle dragonrot. Just ask for a glass of water and mix it, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Derb rubbed his throat, looking down at the yellow liquid. The worst he’d had to drink was 11%. This was probably more than 5 times the amount… “I think I’ll do that… When do you think we’ll order?” Gabby finally set the menu down, facing Derb. “I’ve got it covered, We’ll be paying so We’ll make sure you get your money’s worth. Well, that was easier, he guessed. He’d hadn’t even had a chance to look at the menu. He decided to use this time to talk about the tournament.

“Hey, you guys said that you’ve done this before, right? Could you tell me what goes on so I can get ready?” Ryan grinned, reaching his mug out so the passing waitress could refill. “You’ll be facing off groups, just like today. Things’ll be a bit different though.” Different? How? If this was all then was it a change in the stage. “What do you mean?” Derb asked. Ryan took out a dagger, lighting it in flames. “People didn’t use much of their techniques there, and the really serious ones haven’t shown themselves weeks before the tournament.”

The blade shone and formed rings on the metal, engraving and molding until it transformed into a new weapon entirely. It was sleek and jagged, no longer on fire. Through its black new form were small orange veins that glowed in spurts, like a heart. “People are going to try their best in the tournament, that’s why they came here to check others out.” The blade popped in smoke and the dagger looked back to normal, if a bit charred. “These three can also do stuff like that, you better watch yourself in the tournament.”

“How’d you do that!? That was amazing...” Ryan beamed at the compliment. “It’s something that comes with perfect control, you have to be with your blade for years if you want this type of synchronization.” The two twins grinned, it seemed they also knew how to use something similar. Derb suddenly realized how obvious he’d been in the fights, the only thing he hadn’t used was the dark infusion in his sword. Only using it once with his fist. He looked at the victim of said fist. “This might be harder than I thought...”

The five spent a few more hours laughing and drinking, Derb himself had gotten particularly drunk, slowly getting used to the strong drink they’d given him. “Drink more! Why not have some fun before the tournament?” Gabby asked, a fake smile on her face. Ryan just laughed at the obvious scheme, no longer worried about Derb finding out their plan. He was just too strong, if they fought they’d either lose or be too tired to continue. They remembered his absurd stamina, he’d gotten in a total of 10 fights and won six, each with increasingly larger numbers of people.

Some were groups that’d give even them a hard time. If they wanted to place high they’d have to get rid of this variable. Ryan took a drink of his mug, basically water. they’d made sure to tip the waitress in filling Derb’s mug with dragonrot before serving. He didn’t notice a thing and already went through three mugs, enough to knock a normal person out. He seemed fine though, a bit on the drunk side but much less than he actually should have. Ryan cursed, that drink was expensive.

___

Derb stumbled through the streets, he’d spent a good six hours in that bar and was stuffed. He couldn’t see where he was going, the world spinning around him too fast. He fell over once more, smashing his face on the cold stone. “Connor… help me...” He moaned. He couldn’t feel anything except for the uncomfortable heat on his neck. He couldn’t even think. He crawled back up, bumping into a familiar face. It was the inn keeper’s wife!

“Hey… you… you own my house.” He slurred, barely keeping himself up. The women leered at him before remembering who he was. “Oh… are you ok?” Derb nodded, the force of the movement enough for him to fall again. “I’m okay, ma’am. I can’t bother a… a pretty lady like you.” He tried standing up but landed on his hand wrong, slipping back onto the floor. He was about to try again before he felt small hands on his arm. “If you're heading back to the inn then... I can help you...”

He looked at her with teary eyes. “Such a wonderful person… a shame you’re married.” He leaned on her shoulder, the weight a bit too much for the short and now embarrassed woman. “P-please don’t say things like that… it’s bad for my heart.” Derb blinked rapidly, too focused on walking to hear her. “Such a shame...” Derb didn’t really remember the rest. blinking and finding himself on a chair. “Huh… wher’m I?” The alcohol was really starting to hit, he could barely pronounce his words. Through the spinning, he felt something touch his lips.

He almost went in for a kiss before the water started pouring into his mouth. “*cough* *cough* wha’? Wai’, plea’ stop...” the person either didn’t hear or didn’t listen, pouring until Derb started drinking manageably. “You idiot, you’re not gonna make it tomorrow like this...” Someone said. Derb couldn’t see them through his teary eyes. “Let’s leave him in his room, we should feel lucky that he won’t get in the way.” Another voice, deeper and manlier than the other. “I jus’ need sleeep. You’re all… nice. Thank you for... drinking water...”

Another one spoke up. “Ugh, I can smell the alcohol from here. He’s too far gone, luckily for us, huh?” The three laughed, carrying him by the shoulders and sending him back to his room. They threw him on the bed and Jenny was kind enough to put the covers on him. “Keep him safe, ok? She told the meek demon who was fretting over his poisoned master.” The three walked out, feeling a bit relieved to see him out of the picture after seeing him on the battlefield.

___

Connor was freaking out. The poison was ruining his master’s brain as he spoke. He manually turned on his master’s boar spell, slowing the process down. He had no idea what would happen if the poison continued so he knew he had to act quick. He bit a hole in his finger, dripping the blood into his master’s open mouth. The mana burned going in, he knew that. He was scared of what would happen to his master but he had no choice. Connor gripped both sides of the bed, slowly losing consciousness. This was going to hurt.