Section 4

  Part VIII Round 3

  Sopheia’s third round. According to her, it came too soon, but she was ready. She had removed her boots to use her feet and toe claws to grip the stage better.

  She was up against the mysterious Treeliff from the first qualifier round.

  Treelif was the first one to make a move at the start of the match. He rushed Sopheia with a wooden staff. He struck his staff at her and was stopped by Sopheia’s clawed right hand. Sopheia punched out at Treelif before he pulled back his staff and smacked her fist out of the way. She punched out at him with her right hand, being blocked yet again by her opponent; she dropped down to her left knee, kicking at Treelif’s leg. Treelif jumped back, avoiding her attack by inches. Sopheia swiftly brought her leg back to the ground, dug into the stone with her claws, and pivoted on it to kick Treelif in the chest with her left. Treelif wasn't able to avoid this one, taking it straight to his chest, causing him to stumble back about a foot. The kick was closely followed up, but Sopheia, retracting her foot claws and pushing herself off the ground, jumped a whole meter in the air, bringing back her still suspended left leg down on Treelif in an arching kick to the shoulder with the base of her foot. She followed that attack up with a right knee kick to his side. Treelif lost his balance with that strike and went stumbling to the ground before he broke his fall, going to a crouch, his legs spread out to get the best footing.

  He blocked her next attack with his staff and conjured from outside of the stage an abundance of leaves and spun around his staff before striking the air, sending the leaves at Sopheia, each one cutting her and her armor like little blades. Luckily, she had the foresight to remove her cloak this round, or it could have been ripped to shreds. The blade-like leaves surrounded Sopheia like they were the epicenter of a swirling gust of wind, shallowly cutting her further with each rotation around her. Sopheia didn’t waste her time trying to cover herself with her arms; she instead summoned icy mist from her and began smacking out at the leaves, frost radiating from her, slowly stopping the leaves, until her frost suddenly died out and she was at the same time struck in the stomach with the head of Treelif’s Staff. She stumbled on the ground and sprawled out on the platform. Sohpeia backed away from her advancing foe, Rasing, and aimed her left palm at him.

  Sopheia launched an uncontrolled blast of fire the size of her head at Treelif, who blew it away from him with a swing of his staff, sending his gust of leaves and wind to his right and carrying away her fireball. She attempted to strike out at the air like Rwarg did when they fought, but was unable to send out a shockwave like Rwarg could. It was at this moment that Sopheia later told me she was panicking and didn’t know how she was going to win the match.

  She grabbed for her belt, and the moment it sprang free from the loops in her shorts, Trellif grabbed the end of it and held onto it firmly, preventing Sopheia from knocking the metal protector from the end of her belt. “I’ve already seen this trick little girl, you got me pretty good with those kicks of yours, but you're nothing like that bear, you're unfathomable to me, somehow defeat him. I’m going to take you out of this match like Rwarg should have. He was a true warrior compared to you, having to use a hidden weapon to defeat your opponent. I’m not going to toy with you like he did. It ends here, immature kitten.” TreeLif said, speaking the first word I heard from him this entire tournament. I already hated him for the way he spoke to Sopheia, but what he did next enraged me.

  Treelif pulled back, twisting the belt from Sopheia's claws, nearly ripping them off. He took the belt and tossed it behind him to his left, landing at the edge of the stage far out of Sopheia's reach. Sopheia, while Treelif was disposing of her belt, reached for one of her daggers. But before she could draw one of them out, Treelif swiped his right hand at her as thin tree roots sprouted up from the ground outside of the stage and stretched out to Sopheia and wrapped around her. The roots tightly constricted her arms to her side and dug into her back and stomach, restricting her airflow as she breathlessly grunted and squirmed in the tree roots, desperately trying to free herself.

  The tree roots that rose from the ground and constricted her began to pick Sopheia off the ground as Treelif raised his hand, controlling the binding roots. He moved his hand to his right, ordering the roots to carry Sopheia off the stage. Sopheia struggled to kick the air before it led to no avail, and she tried to bite her way through the tree roots. Treelif laughed at this as he lifted her to the edge of the stage with roots. “You've got some tenacity, but that's all you seem to have going for you at the moment, so please, for your own good, stop struggling and accept your fate like a true warrior,” Trellis said as he lowered the tree roots that bound Sopheia. When Sopheia’s feet hit the ground, TreeLif let go of Sopheia and unraveled the roots that held her, and the roots receded back into the ground when TreeLif flicked his right hand, ordering them away.

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  I stood there, jaw dropped like a fool, still locked into my own fight with Swarf Blite, that dwarf from the first round of the qualifiers. I stood there, not believing what Treelif had just done. My dumbfounded shock was interrupted by the booming voice of the announcer, who, if I forgot to mention, was standing on a narrow but semi-high-rise podium watching the match at a level a meter higher than the Middle stage. “Wow, what a conclusion to match B of the third round.”

  I finally focused back on my match, pried the hammer out of my opponent's hands, and held it to my shoulder, ready to strike. “Put down your sword, or I’ll break it,” I said as Swarf Drew her great sword and backed away from my reach. “That’s not how this is gonna work, Draxson. That hammer isn't what measles with the metal, it's the enchantment in my rings and a metal weakening spell I'm using on what I strike.” She said, reading herself to strike with her greatsword. “Whatever, I don't care, I’m still not going to let you get me with that sword of yours,” I said as I stuck her greatsword as it neared my hands that held the hammer. The metal-on-metal contact resounded with a loud ring, and I dropped the hammer on the edge of the blade to knock my opponent off balance. The unexpected weight of the hammer added to her blade left a stunned look on Swarf’s face, and I used that moment of shock to surprise her even further. I kicked the wide part of her blade with the back of my foot, bringing it downwards in an arc, taking some inspiration from Sopheia. Swarf struggled to counteract the weight I was putting on her sword until I raised my foot again and kicked harder, which knocked her sword free from her grip. As it fell to the floor, I lowered my foot and knocked the sword away with the side of my Boot.

  While Swarf scrambled to pick up the sword as it clattered to the floor a few feet to my left, I picked up the hammer and tossed it head-first at Swarf's chest plate. The collision of the hammer with her chest armor knocked her off her feet and put her on her rear. When she fell on the ground, a loud thump sounded, followed by a crack as the back of her armor broke the stone stage on contact. I walk over to her, picking up the greatsword she failed to grab on my way over. I looked at the blade over, watching it shine brightly as I turned it around. I stopped a short distance from Swarf and pointed the blade of the great sword at her throat when she picked her back off the floor and sat up.

  “It’s over, Swarf. This was an exciting fight, and I’m sorry I wasn’t paying much attention at the beginning. I was watching my friend, but I need you to surrender now so I can move on to the next round and avenge her against that elf.” I said, pointing the sword toward Treelif Leaffat, or at least that's what the announcer said his name was. Swarf turned around and saw who I was pointing at, then she spoke to me, “Aye, I see what you mean, laddie. I’d want revenge too if someone were to mess with me, pals,” she said, looking me in the eyes. I moved the greatsword back where it was, just above her throat, to ensure she didn’t try anything while I wasn't looking. “Aye, you can put that down now; I surrender,” Swarf Blite said, raising her hands in the air. She then announced to the crowd, “Aye, listen up, all you folks! I will be calling it a match here; I have been bested by this young lad.” “Um, I guess that's the end of Match A of the third round of the tournament. Give it up for Drrraxson ChaosWing! And give it up for the amazing Swarf Blite for her wonderful display of skill. And while you’re at it, give it up for Sopheia Ne-ko for her show of might and unwavering bravery, even in the face of a nature-wielding spellcaster.” This elicited a loud collective cheer and applause from the crowd. Sopheia made her way to the base of my stage, clapping for me along with Rebekah, Phantom, and her brother, who both had their mouths wide open like a happy dog would as they cheered for me. The only one not cheering or applauding was Treelif Leaffat, who walked away from the stage, presumably to find a good spot to rest before the fourth and final round against me in about an hour.

  I stopped looking at him and turned back to Swarf Blite, who was still on the ground. When our eyes met, Swarf said, “Could you help a lady off the ground, lad?” I replied, “Oh, I’m sorry; I got distracted,” as I extended my hand to her and pulled her up to her feet. “Ah, that’s understandable, lad. You’re a great opponent. I hope we can meet again someday for another match, but as for me, my company and I need to hit the road shortly after this. However, I can stay to see you win the tournament. I still need to pick up a few things here anyway, so I’ll catch up with you later, Draxson,” she said as she shook my hand.