Chapter 6: Blood Moons

"This turn's winner is the one the only Hadena! Ladies and Gentleman give her a great big round of applause."

The arena boomed with the sound of applause! The sound waves of the cheering rattled the earth and shook the souls of those who heard it. Trint felt his blood boil as the sound washed over him and caused desires to grow in his heart.

This tournament was more than Trint could have ever imagined. Though halfway through he unfortunately got spoilers by his parents. These two could not keep their comments to themselves about the outcome.

From a different perspective though Trint could probably win big if he was to bet based on his parent's breakdown of the fighters.

Never the less the tournament was spectacular! Especially for Trint who had never seen anything like this in either his past life nor present.

Especially the fights that the dwarf woman Hadena fought. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. Her powerful earth magic that could crush a man sent a shiver through the crowd. While she devoured groups of fighters with large sinkhole magic and so much more.

Trint had seen how she acted shy and timid throwing off the majority of contestants in the first battle royal event. Most of the stronger fighters could care less about her and ignored her to focus on bigger prey. They probably thought that it was more important to take out the majority of their competition before dealing with the trash. This of course cost a lot of them in the end since she was not the only one that hid their strength.

Only a few focused on her and they were the ones that thought she was easy prey. Very few noticed her strength his parents were some of the few that took note of her. This was what tipped Trint off about her. He too had ignored her until his father had commented about her and a praiseworthy way.

It must be understood that Trint's father was a powerhouse when it came to combat and such. His father was one of the honorable elders of the Warrior Academy and many had come from far and wide to learn from him. No one who knew anything about Trint's father would belittle the man due to his handicaps. Since in reality they were not much of a hindrance in his ability to fight.

So if his father thought someone was pretty good more than likely that person was someone you should be wary of.

Throughout the tournament the contestants began to learn the hard way that she truly was a force to be reckoned with.

During the third round there was one man who was probably the closest one to her strength, this man was tall but not burly. He had a slender frame with muscles that had looked to be sculpted on to his body. Not an ounce of useless weight was found on his body, each muscle seemed to have a purpose. None were useless this was shocking to Trint he could not imagine what kind of training this man had gone through.

"If only I could have a build like that back on Earth." Wild thoughts floated through his mind. They caused him to be slightly distracted when the fight began.

Thankfully he had drawn himself back as soon the first thunderous impact between the two was made.

Else he would have regretted missing this fight for a very long time. Honestly, this should have been the finales. But nothing is ever perfect. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable fight.

The man was the lady dwarfs counter he was a sky mage or otherwise called a wind magi. He could control the skies and cause sharp blades of air to dance a deadly ballad in the sky. These blades of air could cut through many tough metals let alone a human body. Even though earth mages are known for their reinforcement magic. That could not totally defend against the sharp blades of wind magic. There was little an earth mage could hope to do against a sky mage.

This was of course the same for pretty much all the counters that occurred in the elemental magic spectrum. Though this was the case it did not mean that one could not beat someone who countered them. Which the dwarf proved as she fought with the man, each time Trint thought she could not defend or dodge, she had proved him wrong.

She was very skilled and had learned many advanced spells one of which was particularly difficult to counter.

During her fight with Kalic she was bombarded with blasts of air nonstop. Kalic hovered above the arena out of reach of any earth magic that could trap him. Sending his last condensed air blast toward his opponent he waited for the dust to clear. Sure that he had won this dual, there was no way a simple earth mage could withstand Kalic the wind demon. This was not his first time dealing with earth mages and usually he did not even need this much power to finish them off.

Though after seeing his opponent's power in her previous fights he thought it prudent to give it his all. He did look down on her but even still he couldn't deny that she had a bit of strength. If he was not a wind mage he may have even felt worried. Still, he chose to be cautious this was due to the many fights he had been in throughout his life.

Soon the dust cleared, he could have sent a gust of wind to speed up the process. But it added to the drama of the battle to wait patiently.

When the arena became visible the crowd took a deep breath though they had seen the power as it was wielded. Due to the dust that rose instantly none had seen what that power had down to the stage.

Beneath the dust laid a broken stone arena that looked as if a multitude of meteors had crashed at that exact spot. None of them could imagine how the lady dwarf could survive such devastation.

A weird feeling rose in Kalic's heart as he searched for his opponent's body. Other than lots of rock and debris nothing else was found.

"Did I turn her into dust?" Questioned Kalic as he scanned the area.

Yet, without warning from beneath him a sharp and extremely quick spear of stone shot out of the ground. It pierced through half of his left shoulder before pulling him towards the arena.

"Ahhh!" Screamed Kalic as he mind began to race for an answer.

Before he could come up with an answer or even a counter-attack. Hadena appeared before him with a stone war hammer raised above his head.

The announcer quickly called the dual over causing the crowds to go crazy. It was an amazing fight and Trint could only dream of one day standing tall hearing his own name being praised.

The rest of the competition was pretty bland. Trint already knew that Hadena was the strongest thank to his parents. But nonetheless he soaked in the sights. His father had taught him that the best way to grow as a fighter was to watch and learn.

So for Trint this was a learning experience that could teach him new things. Trint only knew the basics but it was enough for him to pick out things that some of the contestants did wrong. Not everyone were experts and many had flaws that his father had drilled into him every day. While he also learned some cool tricks he could try to use in his own fights.

Once the competition was over Trint and his family rode back with Uncle Zorin to have dinner. The food was probably the best food Trint had ever tried since his rebirth! This was not to say his mother's food was not good. Trint knew better to let her ever think he thought way. But the quality of the food was the best money could buy and the chefs were top class. The outcome of the food could be predicated when you factored all the information.

After dinner Trint's farther and Zorin had disappeared into Uncle Zorin's study. While his mother whisked Aunt Kathleen away to gossip.

Trint was not sure what to make of the situation he was dumped into. Thinking back to his other life he was pretty much a loner and so was not the best in these types of situations. His older brother on the other hand had no issues with the situation.

"Vincent want to spar in the courtyard?" Barked Rodric with excited smile.

Vincent bolted up and with a gleam in his eyes and headed to the door leading outside. "Prepare to feel the taste of defeat!" Proclaimed Vincent as he reached the yard. Apparently, Vincent and Rodric's fighting spirits had been ignited.

This peeked Trint's intrigue as he began to follow the two. However, before he could get far a soft noise broke his stride.

Behind him the little princess crossed her arms and huffed at him with a pouting face that sent a shiver up his spine.

Trint had no idea what this girl was all about. They only met today and it seemed she was obsessed with him. Though that could just be his own misguided notions he was not sure. Nevertheless, Trint turned to the grumpy little girl and smiled.

"Is there anything you want to do?" He wanted to watch the fight but knew it would be rude to just leave her all alone.

"Of course he-he just follow me!" with a bright smile on her face Melody acted all mysterious as she instructed Trint.

Trint may not have been too experienced with women. But he knew this one was already skilled in the art of men manipulation.

The two bounded down the hall while Rodric and Vincent began their dual. Both boys were none the wiser to Trint's predicament and to them it was none of their concern at the moment. They stood at an equal distance from each other before reading their weapons.

The two were both fanatics of the sword. For Rodric his love came from the fact that it was the only thing he had any talent for. Though Vincent who also shared his father's magic. He loved the sword more because of the heroes in stories that his mother used to read to him. This had caused a desire in him to be just like them. Of course one of his biggest idols was actually Trint's and Rodric's father. Which made him slightly envious of the two brothers who got to learn from him day and night. Though if he knew the regiments they had to go through he might feel differently.

Rodric lowered his stance which caused his center of gravity to change. This had the effect of increasing his balance and explosive strength during the bout.

Vincent did so too but his stance was a bit different leaning more to one meant for speed. His earth magic was all he needed to cover up his weaknesses.

He had simultaneously cast two buffs on himself. Green mana surged around him and made his presence intensify.

Though Rodric could not cast magic he had learned a trick or two from his father that would even the playing field. It was common knowledge that if a fight between a spell blade and warrior broke out. The spell blade would have the advantage even if their realms were of equal standing. But this was not always the case. There were many instances where a warrior had overcame a mage or a spell blade of an equal or even higher realm.

Spell blades, of course, were a mixture of a warrior and a mage. But sometimes specializing in two fields would make you a master of neither. Whereas a warrior who had mastered his trade. Could out fight any average spell blade regardless of realm. This, of course, was just what ifs because it came down to each situation.

Rodric though had a heart of steel and nothing could shake his conviction in himself and the way of the sword his father had taught him. No one knew how much he trained and how hard he pushed himself past what was expected of him. Even Trint was unaware of his brother's dedication to being the best warrior even one day hoping to surpass his father.

The two smiled at each other before in a flash they both struck out at each other. Sparks jumped into the air making the night sky sparkle as their blades intertwined.

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Elsewhere in the city. Near the cemetery, a pile of dead bodies lay waiting for the grave keeper to return them to ash. Among the torn and bloody bodies lay one that looked to be that of an old man. On the man's chest was a blade wound near his heart. The wound still leaked a few droplets of blood that puddled on the ground.

Black birds nibbled at the dead bodies enjoying their feast before it was destroyed. One black bird hopped over to the old man's body as it readied itself for the succulent meal it was about to enjoy. The last drop of blood seeped from the body and with it a shriek echoed into the night.

High above the city, the two moons covered the land with their warm loving glow. Children around the city were being tucked into bed under the sister moons watchful gaze. Lovers whispered sweet nothings into each other's ears. As soft sounds of pleasure escaped into the night sky with only the moons light as a witness.

In the courtyard, two boys clashed nonstop under the soft light of the moons. While Trint and Melody watched the moons rise higher into the sky from the roof of the estate.

"Hey, Trint did you know that they say that when two…" Melody was interrupted by Trint as he stood to his feet and gazed out towards the distance.

A feeling he had once felt before seemed to cover him the moment he heard a odd screech in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Trint as he continued to stare into the distance.

"Hear what? You're scaring me and it's not funny!" Pouted Melody as she stood up too to look out to where Trint was looking. "If you did not want to hear the rest of my story you could just say so you don't have to try and scare me away!"

Though she pouted her words fell on deaf ears as Trint began to shake. The feeling was starting to become clearer in his mind. It was a feeling he did not want to feel again not for a long time. It was a cold feeling one that accompanied those who died.

Realizing that something was truly off Trint grabbed Melody's hand and was in a rush to find his father. However, his feet froze as the light that blanketed him changed from a soft warm white to that of a cold blood red.