Call of Ring(Compleled)

34 Placement at Stake

The bulky big man slowly rose to his feet but was still gently covering his groin area as if he was gently caressing his balls back into well-being. Meanwhile, Blake’s original opponent stood watching the scene play out with a look of bewilderment on his face. To the surprise of almost no one, the stalky man stumbled toward Sadie instead of Blake. Embarrassment fueled his anger, and this was the worst type of anger. Not only had he been knocked out cold by a woman, but he had also been woken back to consciousness with a rude kick to the man section by the same woman. His stumble turned into a rage-infused charge toward Sadie.

Blake assessed the situation. One opponent appeared content to watch, while the other was focused on someone else. Still, he had to defeat them both, and he wanted to protect Sadie. He wasn’t sure she was in need of protection, but he allowed his feelings for her to help hatch a first step in his plan. He would stay focused in contrast to the other man who was clearly distracted. In fact, it was this man’s initial distraction and indeed fascination with Sadie’s body that had led to his first fall.

The bulky man was less than a foot away from Sadie when Blake simply extended his right foot. As the man tripped, Sadie took a quick step to the side and the man fell headlong into the ground. Blake took his baton and whacked him on the back of the head, causing his face to smash into the ground. Blake then turned quickly to observe his other opponent, hoping that he was still a frozen spectator of what was unfolding in front of this audience that included the king. 

To his surprise, the tall lanky man was running toward him. Presumably, he had hoped to attack Blake from behind, while he was focused on assaulting the other man. The look on his face had changed showing growing signs of determination. Somehow, his eyes had turned a bright red. As his opponent ran, his right hand clutched the baton raised high in the air, mere seconds away from a swing at Blake. Dodging the swing of the baton, the momentum of the attacker took him right past Blake. Blake shoved him hard in the back and he crashed into the bulky man who had just managed to get back to his feet. Although everyone could hear their heads collide with one another, neither was struck hard enough to fall to the ground. Instead, they simultaneously turned around to face Blake. The bulky man bleeding from the face, and the lanky man appeared to be bleeding from the eyes. Both of them were now singularly ready to direct their collective rage toward Blake.

Blake closed his eyes hoping to sense what they would try next.

He sensed a lightening strike coming from the lanky opponent that would match the fire in his eyes. The onlookers saw Blake crawl into a ball on the ground with what some guessed was a move of resignation. Instead, and to their surprise, a wood covering of armor spread across Blake’s huddled body, covering him like a giant sea tortoise shell. The covering completed its shape a second before a lightning strike made contact, and to the amazement of even the King, the shell acted as a ricochet. The fire redirected itself and struck the tall lanky man in the right shoulder. His gown caught fire. The man dropped to the ground and began rolling trying put out the fire. As he rolled, he screamed in pain. The fire was finally snuffed out, but the man lay motionless on the ground, clothing still smoldering emitting also the smell of burnt flesh as an aroma for the audience to take in.

Blake closed his eyes a second time and as he did so, the bulky man became suddenly enveloped into a small windstorm. A tornado like wind encircled the man. It was the same wind element that Blake had rescued Apollos from, and the same one that Sadie had dispensed her ice element to rescue herself from. The wind gathered speed and lifted the man’s gown above his head exposing his nakedness to the entire crowd. Sadie marveled not at what she saw, but at how ironic it was that his imagination of her body exposed had now come full circle into his exploitation instead of her own. The brown gown left his body altogether and flew up into the sky out of sight. The stalky man’s feet left the ground, and his naked body rose higher and higher into the air.

Sadie looked over at Blake whose eyes were still closed. For a moment she felt bad that he was missing the spectacle unfolding before the group. But before her gaze left his face, he suddenly opened his eyes. And when he did, the windstorm disappeared. Blake’s opponent began plunging toward the ground.  A little way off from the group were some poles the group had used earlier for climbing training. To the horror of some and the entertainment of others, the man’s body fell on one of the poles, impaling him straight through.

Blake turned his attention now to the lanky opponent who still lay motionless on the ground. Smoke was still rising from his body. Blake wasn’t sure if it was from the clothing or his actual flesh, but he reminded himself that the test required a fight to the death for both of his opponents. After walking a few yards closer to his body, he now stood over him. Blake nudged him with his baton, and the man moved with a horrific groan, surprising many that he was still alive. Blake repositioned the man’s right foot, knowing he neither had to be gentle or cautious. His opponent was certainly no longer a threat to him, but he had to kill him, and he knew exactly how to deliver the fatal blow. Blake raised the baton high in the air and swung down hard impaling the man’s foot with it and driving it clear through to the ground. One last moan of pain rang out. Everyone knew it was the last sound this man would ever make.

Blake turned his attention first to Sadie, hoping for a look of reassurance. What he received was so much more. Not only did her smile warm his entire being, but she also folded her hands placing them across her heart as a symbol of solidarity. The gaze between the two was broken by the King’s words.

“Allow me a moment now to confer with Grand Master Zenith before I can offer any congratulations.”

The two men whispered quietly for less than a minute. The conversation ended with a nod from Mage Zenith before he spoke.

“A few changes have been made. We have decided that only three will graduate today. Ten of you will be permitted to remain at the school with one more week to prove yourselves. For the three that I name, you will be graduating to an intermediate level. The rest of you, save the ten, must leave immediately. The King thanks you for your time of study at our prestigious school and hopes that you will serve well whatever communities you return to.”

The surprise turn of events would have had the students murmuring amongst themselves, but they remained silent out of deference to the King. Blake was confident Mage Zenith had changed his mind in regard to his fate but could only be hopeful that Sadie and Natan would be the other ones graduating today.