The Soul Keeper

Under normal circumstances, she would be forcing me to stay on the defensive, since she had the range advantage with her nearly two-meter-long spear.

The circumstances, however, were nothing even close to normal. As soon my blade met her spear, I pushed her back a little. Our weapons locked, she responded to my smile with a grin and used all of her strength to push me back.

As soon as I felt that pressure, I pulled my blade back, turned my body and stepped aside. My opponent stumbled by me with the force of her push as I corrected my posture and rushed after her. I struck the shaft of her spear, then quickly stepped back to avoid her wild sweep. I went back in as soon as the danger had passed. With a surprised shriek, she somehow blocked my continued strikes while slowly retreating.

Vincent's pained scream pulled my attention. I stepped back to glance to my right, where he lay on the ground with the tip of Astrid's spear leaning against his neck.

"I admit defeat!" He shouted, as loud as possible. The crowd cheered for Astrid as I clenched my teeth. His shout was a smart move, the crowd knew he'd given up, so if anyone wanted to harm or kill him now, they couldn't defend themselves by claiming he was still in the fight.

"Not smiling now, are you?" My green haired opponent asked as she regained her balance. I glanced at the other two who were still fighting. Erik was holding off his opponent – she still hadn't figured out a way to get past his tower shield – but I didn't imagine that was a fight he could win. Joshua was busy dodging his opponent's strikes – he didn't seem to be in a good position.

"Oh hey! You're that guy!" Astrid shouted suddenly as she pointed at me with her spear. "Mary, he's the guy I was telling you about. Don't take him lightly."

I tightly grasped the hilt of my sword. "Hey Astrid." I carefully stepped away from them. I didn't want to take them both on at once. "Glad to see you're still alive."

"Well," She shrugged. "I can say the same to you." She narrowed her eyes and glanced at my sword. "I don't suppose you'd, uh… surrender, would you?" She asked.

I chuckled. "No," I said glancing at Joshua and Erik. "Not a chance." I twirled my sword around my wrist. I had to take one of them out quickly – before Joshua or Erik lost their battles.

"Thought so." She said with a shrug, then glanced at Mary. "Be wary of him."

"Yeah, yeah." My green haired opponent mumbled. She pointed her spear at me. "Here we come!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, I dashed towards her.

The sound of metal, hitting metal echoed in the arena. As soon as our weapons touched, I moved aside to dodge Astrid's spear. It felt as if time had slowed down – I could see each of their movements clearly. I moved a single step aside and allowed Mary's spear to harmlessly swing past me.

As a smile appeared on my lips, I blocked their next attacks with ease. The results of increased stats were clear as day – without such enhanced senses, I'd never be able to move like I did now. I never be able to read their movements as accurately as now. Dodging their strikes was almost child's play.

But I wasn't one to toy with his opponent. With a sharp breath, I dashed past Astrid and stepped behind Mary. Before she could even react, I hit the back of her neck with the hilt of my sword. She collapsed on the ground silently, leaving Astrid alone to face me.

"Want to keep going?" I asked with that same smile. She stepped back, wide eyed. "You weren't this fast!" She shouted. I shook my head before dashing towards her.

She shrieked and just barely stopped my thrust. Despite that, I didn't stop my relentless assault. As my blade hit the shaft of her spear again and again, I continued to push her back. With each step she retreated, the crowd shouted and cheered more. After a few seconds of continued strikes, I attempted and overhead strike. Astrid raised her guard to block it.

I silently dropped my sword from my right hand, caught it with my left and with a swift strike from the left, wounded her arm.

"I'd suggest you give up." I said as she dropped her spear, stumbled back, and shot a horrified look at her bleeding arm. "It's just a cut," I said with a shrug. "Nothing that'll kill you." I pointed the tip of my sword to her. "Do you admit defeat?" I asked coldly.

She nodded.

I said nothing, since even if I did, my words would be lost amidst the cheering. Instead, I glanced at the others. Vincent had retreated to the metal gate – he sat on the sand cross legged.

Erik continued to stay behind his shield, blocking everything. Not once did he attempt to strike his opponent. As I watched, a sour expression formed on my face. What was the point of wanting to join a tournament if he wasn't actually going to fight?

A loud clang and a woman's scream sounded from my left. I quickly directed my attention there, only to see Joshua kicking his opponent in the stomach. As soon as she lost her balance, he lunged forward and rammed her with his shoulder. She fell on the ground with a thud and soon found herself staring at Joshua's dagger.

"I give up!" She shouted. Joshua grinned, stood up and glanced at me. I couldn't help but smile – this couldn't have been an easy match for him. He had somehow overcome both his range disadvantage and the experience gap between him and his opponent.

I once again directed my gaze to Erik; he still hadn't attempted to do anything but defend. With a sigh, I approached him and his opponent. They were so focused on their battle that neither of them noticed me approach.

"I'd suggest you give up." I said, just loud enough for her to hear me. She flinched, jumped back, and looked at me, then at her three defeated friends.

I noticed her expression harden and her grasp on her weapon tighten. Without even a moment of hesitation, I pointed my sword to her. "Unless you want to fight me."

"Sorry, Melanie." Astrid shouted. "But there wasn't much we could do anyways."

Melanie hesitated, then dropped her weapon. "Well this was boring," She said, glancing at Erik. He grinned and shrugged.

"And Team Torchlight wins yet again!" The announcer's voice sounded as the metal gates behind us creaked open. I retreated into the shadowy hall, away from the cheering spectators' eyes.

"Man, this was fun!" Joshua said as the gates slowly closed. "I didn't get to see what everyone else did. How did Kai do?" He asked, glancing at his brother.

"Well," Vincent grinned. "Let's just say you looked like a turtle compared to him."

I couldn't help but laugh – this banter somehow helped alleviate all the stage fright. "Well, let's get you two healed up." I said, glancing at the Kestler brothers' wounds. "You look like you fell on some needles again, Joshua."

Erik laughed, then shook his head. "Man, I'm glad we joined the tournament."

I hid my frown and looked away.

"Excuse me." A voice sounded from the side. A woman stood in the shadows of the halls. As soon as I saw her, my mind blanked for a moment.

She glanced at me with a weak smile, then approached us. I could see her hands shaking. "Are you two Vincent and Joshua?"