Khenal
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Chapter Three-Hundred Eight
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 02:03:27 +0000 UTCOlander looks taken aback for a few moments before he smiles wide at the crowd and the reception. Noise makers make it practically impossible for anyone to say or hear anything intelligible, but the energy of the arena is infectious. Teemo points Berdol to the ringside seats before he directs Olander into a small side room.
They have to pass a lot of spectators to get there, with everyone loudly cheering for the coming spectacle. Once inside the smaller room with the doors closed, they can finally hear themselves think, and Teemo speaks up first.
“I hope you’re ready to give them a good show!”
Olander nods with a smile. “Absolutely. I’ve seen a few adventurer tournaments, so I know vaguely what to expect. I didn’t expect that much enthusiasm, though!”
Teemo laughs at that. “People have only gotten to see little peeks at what Rocky can do. With you here, not only will they get to see a lot more, but they might even get to see him lose! Of course they’re going to want to see, no matter the outcome!”
Olander shakes his head, chuckling. “I see that now, heh.”
“And if you don’t mind, the Boss has a suggestion to help pump up the crowd even more.”
“Oh?” asks Olander, looking vaguely suspicious. “I hope he’s not going to ask me to throw, or something like that.”
Teemo laughs again. “Are you nuts? Rocky would never forgive him if he did that! He just says you should put on a bit of a show when you walk out there. Rocky will come out with his music and some fancy magic, and you should do the same. The Boss can cover the pyrotechnics if you want. And the music, too, come to think of it. Anything in particular you’d like?”
Olander mulls it over for a few seconds before shrugging. “No music comes to mind. I’m told your Slash is pretty good at picking, though.”
My Voice nods at that. “Yeah, he’s got good taste. So when the music changes, that’ll be your cue to come strutting to the arena. Then it’ll be on you two. Just listen for the bell and stop when it rings.”
Olander nods and opens the door to listen for his cue, and does some warmups as he waits. On the other side of the arena, Rocky is bouncing on his toes and keeping himself limber and ready. I can practically taste the excitement boiling off the bond with him, and soon his music starts playing.
The crowd slowly quiets as a single note is strummed in a steady rhythm. What other song is Rocky supposed to walk out to, hmm? He grins wide, taking his first steps in time with the powerchords as he enters the arena proper, his fists high as he encourages the crowd.
He handles his own pyrotechnics, and cryotechnics and… whatever the word would be for his other affinities. An arc of flame follows in a right hook, then an icy mirror from a left, followed by a thundercrack punctuating an uppercut. He grins and points across the arena at Olander before he climbs into the arena, folding his arms as he leans against the turnbuckle in his corner. The champ is here waiting, ready and eager for the challenger.
Slash’s choice for Olander is an unusual one, but I agree with it. Good, bad, or ugly doesn’t matter here, just skill. And it sounds really cool on an electric guitar, too. The tall elf exits the waiting room, marching without any rush, his head held high. Nova handles his special effects, slamming glaives of magma out of the ground as he passes, in time with his steps and the beat of the song.
Olander’s somber facade breaks as the tempo increases for the song, and he rushes the stage, glaive held in a wide grip for a heavy slash. He smoothly shucks his pack as he nears the ring, dropping it just outside before he leaps in, landing steady and pointing his glaive across the way at Rocky. The two stand there, eyeing each other as the classic refrain plays.
Slash finishes with a flourish and the two combatants take their stances, each more than eager to get started as Aranya’s voice carries over the shouting crowd. “It’s finally time! Olander versus Rocky! Shake hands, gentlemen! Just because this is a fight, doesn’t mean there will be any hard feelings!”
The two smirk and step forward, each offering their dominant hand to shake. A single pump before the two step back to their corners, each taking their own stance. “You both know the rules! May the best win! Fight!”
The two quickly step forward, though neither taps into their affinities just yet. Though Rocky is nimble, Olander has the advantage of reach, so my zombie has to weather the storm of slashes and stabs just to get in. Olander sets his feet wide, giving him plenty of leverage to slash, stab, and swing the wide blade of his glaive in whatever angle he needs to keep Rocky away.
My boxer’s feet are light as he dances, dodges, and weaves, avoiding the steel as he probes for an opening. Olander slowly steps forward, pressing Rocky back as he seeks an opportunity to get inside the elf’s reach, and he eventually finds it. He takes a half step back to avoid a wide swing, and bats at the blade as it passes, disrupting Olander’s rhythm. It’s only for a moment, but that’s all Rocky needs to get in.
My zombie rains punches upon the elf, who steps back and adjusts his grip from one suited to a polearm to one more for a staff, letting him spin and block in close quarters. It’s Olander’s turn to slowly give ground as he avoids accepting any solid blows. Straights are parried to the side with the haft of his glaive, hooks blocked with the flat of his blade, uppercuts sidestepped, and jabs accepted and deflected with his armor and long practice of using it.
But he can only remain on the defensive for so long. He’s slowly but surely being driven back to his corner. If he lets Rocky cut off his maneuverability, the fight will be all but over! Of course, he knows that, and he’s not going to just let it happen.
He misses parrying a straight and gets a new dent in his armor for it, but it also gives him a chance to counter. Rocky gets his dukes back up just as the wide blade flashes toward his face, and he gets driven back several steps with a solid gash across both forearms.
He takes another step back to assess the damage, and Olander takes a moment to do the same. If his heart were still beating, Rocky would probably be bleeding pretty well right now. The cut isn’t to the bone, or even through much of his muscle, but the crowd still cheers at the most damage they’ve seen him take before!
Olander is earning similar cheers as he rolls his shoulders, getting used to how differently his armor sits now, with that dent in the middle of the chest. I think it might barely affect his breathing, but much like Rocky, it’s not going to be something to slow him down too much.
The two grin and rush back at each other, the flow of the fight rapidly shifting back and forth now they’re gotten a feel for their foe. They still don’t use their affinities, instead relying on their raw skill than any special abilities. The glaive head swipes at Rocky who blocks, then blocks the followup from the other end of the weapon, before he steps in and hammers Olander’s stomach with several body blows.
A low sweep of Olander’s weapon forces Rocky to jump to avoid it, only to line himself up for a heavy kick that sends him back several paces. Each foe leans out of the way of devastating attacks, letting them miss by millimeters, each leans in to give extra weight to a blow that can’t be avoided. Their stances constantly shift as the battle does, light to move in, solid to defend, light to dodge, solid to hit.
Rocky brings a brutal left hook to bear as Olander spins the butt end of his weapon up, and each freezes as the bell rings, their attack a hair’s breadth from impacting the temple of the other. They hold for a few seconds, each grinning like madmen who have finally found a proper challenge, before they each straighten up and back to their corners.
Aranya’s voice is difficult to hear over the roaring crowd, but she doesn’t let that stop her. “What a first round! Even without using their affinities, how many could stand up to that kind of attack? That was clearly just the warm up, everyone! I think I need a couple minutes to recover more than they do! Soon it’ll be round two, and I don't think we've seen anything yet!”
Comments
AssumedPseudonym
I hope Tarl and Telar meet with up Olander at some point after this: Telar: “Yeah, Tarl fought Rocky once, too. Won pretty easily, from the report.” Tarl: “Full disclosure, it was very early in his career before he was… well… *that*.”
Guber
Or what is the theme from the Rocky movie?
Guber
So, just to be clear, rocky's song was Eye of the Tiger? Or did I miss what his song was?
Markell
Man with all the theme songs and pyrotechnics it feels like when the drama department has been given an unlimited budget
Aerowarrier
He’s got Kinetic Affinity at least so he could probably use telekinesis to pull it out enough to be fine. I don’t think he has metal tho which would definitely be better for that :p
Demonlord
Finally the long awaited fight 🥳🥳🥳
Cordell Patrick
The good the bad and the ugly
Marianamystery
Oh no, I have no issues with the pacing, I love seeing the slice of life chapters. But it's also nice to have fight scenes every once in a while.
King Jerkera
Thoughts on round one is that Khenal is a wonderful writer and knows how to write even fights! Then again I think Olander took a worse hit but as long as he can get the dent out he won’t be worse for wear.
Pete Magnuson
Can confirm, hell yeah
Herakilla
Thanks for the chapter! Loving this fight!
C
Ugh, too short!
Khenal
psst, I commented a link to a metal version of it a bit further down :P
Khenal
thanks, fixed :)
Anthony Felscher
I collect books. My library is right around 1570 at the moment. I try to get hardback books for the ones I truly enjoy.
Laetitia
I really agree ! Would love to have the paper version of this Book....
Laetitia
Girls too 😉
Laetitia
The music from the spaghetti western movie "the good, the Bad and the ugly" composed by ennio Morricone
Juno Tubolino
I would absolutely buy a vol 1-4 set the moment I can afford to
Juno Tubolino
Oh, and this is only round one... Excellent chapter, vivid imagery, and the same superb fight scenes I have come to lovingly know you for.
George
"An arc of flame follows in a right hook, then an icy mirror from a left, followed by a "thuncercrack" punctuating an uppercut. " Thunder? Also thanks for the chapter super excited about round 2
Brandon C
What was Olander’s song?
Ethan Barrow
TFTC!! Absolutely awesome, worth the dang wait and we are just getting started!
Khenal
fixed, thanks :)
fanfan8000
"He grinds wide, taking his first steps in " Did you mean grins?
Ben Bass
TYFTC! Now that was an awesome round 1! Love the entrances of both of them, they are really putting on a spectacle for everyone!
Lord-Siver
Thank you for the meal! Delicious as ever. Damn they are happy now XD finally they both have the challange they waited for so long XD
Jesper
Guys will read this and just think: Hell Yeah!
William Anderson
TFTC!!! Looking forward to the next
Typhoonator
Nice touch on the entrance Nova
chris Bell
Glad it's multiple rounds/chapters but man wish it wasn't at same time I wanna see it all now tuesday can't come fast enough
Anthony Felscher
I love both sides of the story. But his fight scenes are near perfection. He blends both pace and description so well that it just flows. I'd put his fight scenes up there with scenes like Ender's bathroom fight with Bonzo Madrid in Ender's Game from Orson Scott Card; Paul Atriedes fight with Jamis in Dune by Frank Herbert; and Wesley and Inigo's cliff side fight in Goldman's The Princess Bride. (I know a few of y'all have complained about his pacing, but that's only because you have to wait. Go back and read the whole thing once it's done and you'll see the story pace perfectly represented in the fights.)
Carl Gherardi
I'm worried for Rocky. He hasn't had any real chance to fight quality humanoid opponents. Excellent choice to warm up without magic
Carl Gherardi
It's been so long since I saw that movie, I don't recognise that intro as anything but "The Wife.mp3" when I set up a new phone. Solid choice
Connor Moreland
Excellent
ColdBlooded Network
I've been summoned. Great work love it all.
Anthony Felscher
I'm lovin it man. You're descriptions of fights are definitely some of the best I've ever read. -- Just an idea-- Hardback Box set. -- take my money
Marianamystery
What an epic first round! Exactly what we hoped for
Khenal
Olander's Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzQz3NmwGXQ
