The Tower - Part 1

Landing at the bottom of the staircase, Leezy felt as if though he were being watched…

The sound of a weapon being deflected again echoed above him amid the darkness of the stairs as he turned around.

A large room lined with torches welcomed him, making it easy to see a huge creature sitting upon a large barrel in the middle of it.

It was a few meters tall and held a huge wooden mallet. It's thick green skin had multiple scars along the surface. It's face was similar to a warthog, and in each of its long pointed ears were gold hoop earrings.

"A fucking ogre?"

A disdainful look came across it's face, hearing his comment as it stared at him.

"Meat?"

The whole tower felt like it shook while the ogre shifted its weight to the balls of its feet and stood up.

"If u think that i'm meat, you definitely bit off way more than you can chew big guy, let's see if you can make me break a sweat."

As he spoke, Leezy slung his sword over his shoulder and sprinted toward the ogre.

Before he could get close enough, the ogre swung it's mallet. It's swing so fast that the air became visible as it swirled around it.

'Hmm, pretty fast for a big guy huh?'

Leezy's leg muscles tightened as he prepared to dodge but just as he was about to, something strange happened.

Water burst out of the barrel the ogre was sitting on and wrapped itself around both of Leezy's ankles, preventing him from moving. With not enough time left to block with his sword, he used his arm as a shield.

Thwack!

He blocked it successfully, but the force of the strike sent him soaring through the bottom of the staircase and into the wall.

With a crater formed into the wall from the impact, he laid among a rubble of stone with blood trickling down his lip.

Small dents riddled his armor. One was located on his arm where he blocked the blow, the others were along his chestplate. Doing a quick scan of his body, he noticed that he only suffered minor injuries.

The ogre's attacks usually devastated anyone it hit, so it was surprised Leezy was even able to block it.

"Pretty strong you are! Gronk eat you and get stronger!"

Shouting at Leezy, Gronk started running toward the rubble. As he got closer, he realized his prey was no longer there.

Searing pain shot through his back as a large gash separated the skin between his shoulder blades.

Without looking, Gronk swung his mallet behind him with even more speed than the first attack.

Seeing another attack coming, Leezy swung his sword upward with a horizontal slash.

As the blade struck the mallet, the force of his swing caused it to shatter into wood splinters.

In an attempt to follow up with another attack, he used the weight of his sword bring his body into the air and threw a roundhouse kick at Gronk with his left leg.

Before attack could connect, the wood splinters from the mallet assembled themselves into a shield that blocked his kick. At the same time, the water from earlier wrapped around his right leg and slammed him against the floor.

Leezy grit his teeth in pain as his body rebounded back into the air, bouncing him directly into the incoming path of Gronk's fist which sent him crashing into another wall.

He didn't hesitate as he continued his attack, throwing his body toward Leezy in a shoulder bash similar to a pro linebacker.

Even though Leezy was briefly stunned from his impact with the wall, he dove out of harms way and watched Gronk slam headfirst into the spot he was just at.

Green blood trickled down Gronk's hands and back as he held his head. A large gash on his scalp had opened after slamming into the jagged rocks that lined the wall.

Taking his chance, Leezy leapt into the air while switching the grip on his sword. Holding it like a javelin, he threw his sword at the fresh gash with pinpoint accuracy once he was eye level with Gronk.

It pierced clean through his hands and skull, sending a chunk of brain attached to skin into the air. Unimpeded, the sword continued on its path, driving itself through the wall behind Gronk.

Leezy landed with a thud and crossed his arms, admiring aftermath of his work. He grinned softly while watching Gronk fall to one knee, his hand struggling to keep pieces of his brain in his skull.

"You! You hurt Gronk!"

Looking at Leezy with burning hatred, black tattoos that were barely visible before began to glow red on Gronk's skin along with his eyes.

The muscles that wrapped his body doubled in size as Gronk snapped his head back and roared. The wounds on his back and head sizzled as they sealed shut and began healing.

"Hmm, interesting… Thats right big fella, let it all and show me what you've really got!"

Leezy felt his heart race at the sight of this newfound ability. Unfolding his arms, he extended a hand toward his sword. Pulled by an unseen force, the sword flew out of the wall and returned to his grasp.

At the same time Leezy's sword returned to it's owner, Gronk grabbed a huge chunk stone that was laying among the rubble and threw it at him.

It reached Leezy in no time.

Without so much as a flinch, Leezy casually held his sword infront of him, cleaving the chunk in half and sending grey dust flying everywhere.

Out of nowhere, Gronk's fist cut through it and hit him square in the chest. Like a rocket, he slammed into another thick wall behind him. Struggling to get up, a follow-up kick from Gronk sent him crashing through it and into the dark room behind it.

More blood spewed from his mouth as Leezy smiled beneath a dented helmet.

"Thats more like it! Now its time for me to get serious!"

As he shouted that, a bright glow chased away the darkness as blue lightning began to ark from Leezy's armor. Pulling himself to his feet, he stared at the hole in the wall his body had made and prepared himself.

Gronk suddenly came bursting through it, rushing forward with increased speed.

Gripping his sword in a two handed grip, Leezy channeled lightening into his sword.

With Gronk now a few feet away from him, he made his move. A blue bolt of lightning struck his opponent square in the chest as he swung his sword.

Blood crackled in the air as Gronk's torso exploded, the force of the impact sending his limp body back through the hole and into the room they began fighting in.

With a soft chuckle, Leezy worked his way over to Gronk's dead body as it sat motionless in a puddle of green blood. The large hole in his chest revealed a dark blue Soul Gem stained with blood.

After grabbing hold of it and absorbing it, Leezy felt his power growing as tattoos began to slowly appear on his skin…