Chapter 48 : A Tale Of Sorrow And Betryal

the faint sounds of whispering filled the arena , causing a surge of sound that reached Ajel's head.

It's been around two years since he last stood in one of these, surrounded by people. However, this time the amount of people had decreased , and that made him sigh with joy.

The pressure from last time still haunts him to this day.

"Good luck out there!~" Quinton said, standing in the corner of stadium , far from harm's reach. However , he was not done talking , as he looked up to General Lexus , who keenly sat on his throne in the middle of the stadium. "You will keep your end of the bargain , yes?"

"What bargain?" Confusion filled the mind of Ajel as he looked over to Quinton , who gave him a sly smile. "You will fight to the death. However, if you win you get a large portion of money and something from that i specifically crafted for you... well , two items , really."

Ajel clicked his tongue in annoyment. "So your signing my life away for a fucking reward?"

Quinton looked Ajel in the eye , before walking closer to him in close , steady steps.

His face got closer to Ajel , as he muttered tenderly in his ear. "His disciples are spies , and need to be eliminated. I'm not that dumb to pick a fight you can't win , just remember what i told you , Ajel of the Pinwheel Blade."

How did he know that name-

"Stop your blabbering , and get on with it." Commander Lexus groaned down , his hands arched on the side of his forehead like a foolish king portraying a role that isn't his.

Ajel grabbed his Glaive , before readying the large weapon.

He tapped his gabella , before looking onto the people in front of him.

Spies.... huh.

The girl was a battle-mage , and Ajel could see that she had the second mana point in her body. Afterall , she was using hte same technique as he had , which was of Noxus Origin.

The boy , however , handled a axe, which had a spike at the top and a then another spike on the other side of the main blade of the axe. It looked like a toned down halberd, fitted for a boy that had yet to reach his prime strength.

The girl used a wand , something that Ajel had found interesting , as he never saw a wand before in his life.

"A battleaxe." Quinton groaned. "Slow blows , but with your build and your weapon if you get hit with the blade , you are done for. The girl is using a wand , which amplifies her magic power and a gives her more control."

"i see." Ajel muttered. "How am i meant to counter that?"

"You know that better than i do."

Ajel looked down on the double sided Glaive , before he started to input mana into the heavy object.

He felt the weight rapidly shrink , but the punch it packed did not increase in the slightest.

"Do the battle ritual." The boy looked towards the girl , before they both nodded and bowed , Ajel doing the same.

The battle ritual was a ritual meant to show their opponents respect , no matter was the circumstance was.

"I , Oriel Malone , accept the challenge of the life and death ceremony."

"I , Eileen Aty , accept the challenge of the life and death ceremony."

"I accept the challenge of the life and death ceremony."

Ajel didn't say his name , which was a act of basically spitting on his opponents face.

Taunting was a valuable tool, however at the worse of times it could allow for his opponents to draw strength from anger, which was made clear by Ashe being embraced by her Freljordian heritage.

"You dare-" Oriel , the male , shouted out , before he saw a flash in front of his eyes. "Such speed!-"

The boy lowed his stance , before grabbing his axe and sending it forward straight towards Ajel's face.

Pinwheel Stance 1 : Floor Sweep.

Ajel lowered all 4 of his limbs to the ground , before grabbing the Glaive and sweeping it across the floor , causing the Oriel to jump backwards before doing a whistle.

The mage girl , Eileen , immediately conjured several fire balls and threw them towards Ajel with a fit of passion.

Seeing the fireballs rapidly strike in calculated positions , Ajel realised that he couldn't escape before grabbing his glaive and striking through each of the fireballs with precision and calmness , something that could be attributed to his eyes and steady hands.

But seeing the gust of wind behind , Ajel felt the time briefly stop as he saw Oriel come behind him , a axe handled overhead , causing a strike in a vertical manner like a executioner looking at a prisoner.

Pinwheel Stance 3 : Poise!

Ajel immediately switched from defensive to aggressive as he used his Glaive and clashed with the falling Axe , his hands and his blade rattling from the pressure the boy the age of him in front of him possesed.

Another whistle sounded , as Ajel's face changed once more.

"Fuck you." Ajel could feel mana behind him , but he ignored it as he used his legs to kick Oriel in the balls, the latter falling from the pain and being briefly stunned.

Grabbing the boy and letting go of his Glaive , Ajel rapidly turned around , using the boy as a meatshield to rapidly block the incoming fireballs.

"Stop it!-" Oriel splurged , but the fireballs had already come , scorching his hands and his face.

But Ajel raised his eyebrow seeing that the boy was not as impacted as Ajel would of thought.

He had seen the temperatures of those fireballs and had to use his blade to neutralize it.

Was it his body technique?

no , if he truly possessed a body of that state Ajel would of been dead by now.

Something slipped down the sleeve of Ajel , as he threw the body of Oriel to the side before retrieving his beloved Glaive.

Seeing another round of fireballs with his name on it , Ajel grasped the item in his hand before throwing it at the girl , who saw the needle fly towards her throat with haste.

Watching the needle fly towards her neck , Ajel sighed in relief as he saw the girl use her hands in a desperate manner to block to the needle , as Ajel heard a faint cry of pain, that went as quick as it came.

Ajel saw as the girl pulled out of the needle out of her hand without flinching , before casting a spell of fire that immediately healed the wound , leaving only a scar to tell the tale.

No matter, Ajel thought, as he grabbed his Glaive and rapidly approached Eliana.

"Die!" Eliana growled as a wave of flames poured over Ajel , as the latter spun his Glaive around with enough speed to create a small barrier of wind that was magically reinforced with the magic of the weapon.

Ajel's eyes started to sink as the mana usage was starting to slowly wear away on him.

He needed to end this , quick.

Pinwheel Stance 1 : Floor Sweep

Ajel got down on all 4 limbs , before sweeping away.

The woman had neither the agility or strength of Oriel , meaning she couldn't just simply jump up.

The smooth and quick blade tore through the air , as the girl suddenly stumbled backwards , the blade following her like a snake seeking its prey.

"Agh!" A blood-curdling scream filled the room of the hall , as Commander Lexus gripped the palm of his throne chair with a confused look in his eyes. The girl's leg flew across the stadium , before landing directly infrontont the face of Oriel.

Looking towards the girl on the floor , Ajel brandished his Glaive before Quinton shook his head.

"Before you do that , bring her over to me." Quinton said with a dainty smile that , for some reason, sent shivers down the spine of Ajel.

"Your not going to do..... anything weird , aren't you?"

"Ahhaha , of course not." Quinton said , shrugging his soldiers. "You should know i'm not that type of guy."

"Well , as much as i would love to , that bastard over there is about to charge me.

"Hm.." Quinton looked over to Oriel , who had started to slowly get up from his prized jewels being shattered with a iron vengeance.

"Let her go... you bastards...." Oriel spluttered , blood staining the floor of the arena.

Ajel felt a sudden surge in nausea , and with the amount of mana used, , the stamina is used once more.

Slowly reaching in his pocket and retrieving a small bottle , Ajel chugged the condensed mana , before clicking his tongue in annoyance.

He should of gotten more of these.

"Quinton , remember your promise. "Commander Lexus bore his Halberd in his other hand , while the other was propped up his face with the look of killing intent displayed with a red flicker in his eyes.

"This would have impact on the fight , afterall." Quinton snapped his fingers , and a a large gust of magical power swept through the coliseum. , Objects , weapons , and even people in the viewing station were impacted with this , some people nearly flying through the banisters onto the stadium below.

Such... condensed mana! Ajel gritted his teeth , as he dug the Glaive into the ground.

Who was this boy , the same age as him?

he had red eyes , a noxian feature , and a a black hair , just like a normal bog-standard mage.

The girl in front of Quinton immediately fainted on the overload of mana , and Oriel was once more knocked unconcious as he was in the perimeter.

Ajel breathed in and out , the recoil of the mana seeping through the body , threatening to rip it apart if he didn't hold onto his blade.

"You got through that pretty well for a newbie."

"You....you....you... bastard." Ajel felt his eyes droop in , but Quinton only laughed. "Do not sleep yet , friend!"

A body rolled through the floor as Quinton kicked the girl across the stadium , walking past the aching Ajel that only held on with a simple breath.

Quinton grabbed a knife out of his pocket , before rolling over the girl and cutting open her clothes on her back.

"Quinton!" Ajel growled , but Quinton shook his head. "Relax."

Ajel watched as Quinton grabbed the girl's clothes on her back , before he clicked his tongue in a sense of glee. "Bingo." Quinton then dragged the girl back to the corner , before looking over to Ajel and then to the conscious Oriel.

"What are you waiting for?" Quinton muttered , his gleeful smile condesned into a wicked stare. "𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

Ajel followed his stare , before he saw Commander Lexus with a horrified expression on his face.

Something happened , when he was catching his breath.

Raising his Glaive out of the scorched floor of the Stadium , Ajel looked towards his last opponent of the day.