Once Again, Stepping into the Arena

Morning come; I explained the situation at Stonepatch Village to the others. Samantha and Alina's reactions basically boiled down to unintelligible weeping. Vincent barely contained his anger, while Joshua was more shocked than anything.

As for Erik… He wasn't there. He had left the inn as soon as he saw me come down the stairs. Despite everyone's efforts to stop him, he had hurried off to the coliseum.

As we now walked there together, I couldn't help but feel somewhat angry. He was causing an unnecessary and meaningless divide in the group.

"Oh, Kai." Alina said quietly, matching her steps to mine. "How will you fight with Erik by your side?" She asked with a worried expression. I sighed, that was something I was worried about too. I didn't know if I could trust him on the battlefield anymore.

I sighed. "It'll be fine," I said, not believing a word I said. I wished I could talk to Erik – convince him that he was being delusional, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, then separated from Alina and Samantha as they headed to the stands. Soon, it was just the three of us, being led to our room by an Ereth. He showed us the door, then left.

"Kai," Vincent said after a moment. "What happened between you and Erik?"

I flinched. I had hoped he wouldn't ask. "Well," I said after a moment's hesitation. "I guess you could call it a misunderstanding on Erik's part." I shrugged. It was such a silly and meaningless thing that I almost felt embarrassed talking about it. "He thought I was trying to replace him. I think." I added.

Joshua facepalmed as Vincent just sighed and shook his head. "Ok, yeah." He mumbled. "Just what we needed before the semi-finals – high school drama." Joshua laughed while I just rolled my eyes.

"Let's go," Vincent said after his brother's laughter subsided. He pushed the wooden door to reveal the small room we were given. Inside, there was a table and a couple of benches, just like last time.

Erik was sitting by the table, slowly and carefully cleaning his shield. He lifted his head and glanced at us as we stepped inside. As his gaze fell on me, his face twisted, and his expression turned dark. I hesitated – was it a good idea to try and talk to him now?

"Erik!" It was Vincent who spoke first. He stopped right in front of the young paladin. "What the hell are you doing?"

I flinched. Was this really the best way to go about this? I feared this would just make Erik even angrier and more guarded.

"Nothing, what's up with you?" Erik replied with a blank expression.

"I'm angry is what's up with me!" Vincent shouted. Joshua flinched and dropped the dagger he was holding while I almost choked on my own breath. "You are just so-"

A knock on the door interrupted him. "Your match is about to begin," The Ereth who led us here said. "Please follow me."

"Let's go," I said before anyone could move. "We can talk about it later."

Vincent clenched his fists, took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah."

As we turned to leave the room, I could feel Erik's deadly gaze on my back.

It was only when I approached the door that I noticed something. Asher's presence, or lack thereof. Wasn't he supposed to be in the city by now? I could only sense his presence faintly – he was far away.

I took a deep breath and took my sword from my inventory. "Let's win this, then we can deal with everything else." We reached the massive metal gate as I spoke. Joshua and Vincent nodded while Erik remained silent. I could feel his anger – he was blinded by it.

"And now," The announcer's voice echoed. "The undefeated Team Torchlight once again steps into the Arena!" As his words were met with loud cheering, the gates slowly creaked open once again. Before us lay the sand covered floor of the arena. With a deep breath, I lightly grasped the hilt of my sword and stepped onto the sands.

The sun burned my eyes as the crowd started cheering. I could barely hear the announcer among their roars.

"And now, their rivals, the Four Swordsmen"

The gates across the arena opened as four men stopped onto the sands. Each of them carried a different type of sword.

The leftmost man was the tallest. He wore simple dark blue clothes that matched his hair. He carried a scimitar and from the way he was walking towards us, I could tell he wasn't weak.

The man next to him wasn't exactly human. I could see a pair of horns on his head. In his clow-like hands, he carried a shortsword. While he looked somewhat intimidating, his posture gave away the fact that he didn't really know what he was doing.

Next up was the third man – the one who stared at me intently. He was taller than me, wore simple leather armour and looked quite dangerous. From his posture alone, I could tell he was knowledgeable. He was a force to be reckoned with, it was clear as day. I glanced at his weapon – it was a greatsword. He was going to be a tough opponent.

The last of them was a short, slender man. He had a tail and scales on his body. He nervously fidgeted with his curved sword.

"I'll take the greatsword guy." I said quietly at Vincent and Joshua. "Keep an eye on Erik – don't let him interfere if he finishes his own opponent first."

The Kestler brothers nodded. I glanced at Erik. His deadly glare was fixed on the man with the greatsword. He was going to try and take him on – probably to prove himself. The simple fact that he was trying to 'regain respect' was so stupid that I couldn't even begin fathom it.

"And with that, the semi-finals begin!" The announcer's magically enhanced voice sounded. "Fight!"