Exam, In The Arena

The two entered the amphitheater, which had been converted into its gladiatorial arena mode. They looked around and took in the sights, large rows of empty seats surrounding them at all sides with two large private areas towards the top on exact opposite sides of the oval arena. The entire place was made mainly from stone, that was of a tanned worn color and grain, but had wood fixtures that were clearly added after the overall construction. Large as it was, Cyrus could only estimate the tens of thousands that could perhaps fit in the audience but that was only within Cyrus' mind for a fraction of a second as he immediately began searching for possible threats.

"You have two options, fight one on one to have all the glory for yourself or choose to fight together and share in your merits. The difficulty of the fight will stay the same in either case, which do you choose?" asked the Legionnaire.

"It is a gamble merchant. Will the difficulty increase exponentially or slowly. First choice means we should work together, second means we should be separate. Toss of a coin decision, call it as I am fine with either" said Cyrus after a quick analysis.

"Merchants only gamble when the odds are already stacked in our favor, otherwise we prefer guaranteed profits… or at least that is the school of thought I follow" said Imran as he turned to the Legionnaire.

"We choose to fight together."

The Legionnaire said nothing but simply, with one large jump, landed on the bottom of the spectators rows and sat down.

"Prepare yourself, the first fight will begin shortly. After which there will be a short period of rest in between each fight" ended the Legionnaire, never changing his tone.

"Remember what we discussed, I will be frontline and you will be my support. I will be the one to call whether we have an early retreat since I will be in the front fighting. Try to only join in in the worst-case scenario or to let me rest if the fight is easy" spat Cyrus in rapid fire as he drew his sword and prepared his will.

"Sounds like a plan, we are not familiar with our combat styles anyways so fighting side by side may hurt more than help anyhow" said Imran as he also prepared his will while letting his Glaive lean on him.

Mere moments later the sound of chains being pulled sounded along with the rhythmic sound of a portcullis being raised. The first set of combatants were released and slowly revealed to the pair. From the now opened gate came a group of six men all chained to one another with loose chains that allowed a short range of movement but not enough to go more than a few feet from one another. Slowly they walked up and let the light from the open rooftop shine on them, revealing their muscular figures, shaved heads, and the many scars and wounds they have on them.

"Death row prisoners, guilty of conspiring with cultists. They allowed the cultists to infiltrate the village they were tasked to defend, allowing the entire population to be sacrificed via bleeding out on crosses for a hefty bribe. Caught by Imperial Scouts that had arrived two days ahead of schedule after being tipped off by a member of the Inquisition that there were signs of cultist movement heading into the region. All of them are Tiro's that were about to qualify for advancement to Miles but were punished for insubordination, but on account of good behavior they were allowed to garrison a minor settlement" stated the Legionnaire, reading their description off from a ledger.

Of the two, one was quite pleased with the first enemy being a weak group of humans while the other was suddenly gripping their glaive with a force so hard their knuckles whitened. Cyrus looked back towards Imran in one quick movement, "Focus, back me up if I get into a tough spot." He then broke off into a sprint towards the prisoner on the far-left side, while carefully holding his sword.

"Oh how they underestimate me so. Each fight must be to test a specific trait or to isolate certain weaknesses. This one would be the fear of killing fellow humans, how simple.… they even limited their range of movement for me" thought Cyrus, who was quite satisfied.

Within moments he reached the first prisoner, who was long since ready for his arrival. He was slowly backing towards his ally the entire time, playing it careful. Cyrus did naught but feint a single swing towards him, before jumping back and launching a throwing knife at him. The man easily dodged at the last moment, which was a testament to his reaction time as Cyrus' throwing knives were not easily dodged.

Or so the man thought before he heard a cry from behind him followed by gurgling sounds, surprised as he was the prisoner had half a mind to turn around to face a possible enemy attack. The man knew that the two they were fighting had access to magic, perhaps the other one had sped himself up? Alas, that one moment of indecision was all Cyrus required as he swiftly fit his blade snugly in between the man's ribs. The prisoner gasped in shock as he felt the cold steel enter his body and then writhed in unimaginable pain as his heart was shattered like a stone to glass. Then, all was dark as he returned to Mundus for all of eternity. The last sight the man saw was of Cyrus using his body as a battering ram to dispatch another of his former allies; with such precision at that, the dying man had a fleeting thought that perhaps his enemy had used this tactic many times before…

Not knowing of the incredibly complicated thoughts of the man Cyrus had easily taken down, he finished with his third consecutive kill. The first being the man he had aimed his knife for purposefully to hit him right in the throat, the second being the man he ran through and the third being the one he used the same tactic as his first few combat kills on. The fight had quickly turned from a 6v2 into a 3v2, however the last few combatants were far more alert now and had just witnessed most of Cyrus' tricks. While their movement was now even more limited due to having three deadweights added to the chain link, Cyrus only had his throwing knives for ranged options and a limited number at that. He looked over at the last three prisoners, where the two farther on the chain link had walked next to the one closest to him. Cyrus stood in his defensive stance while wondering what he could do, as even these failures of human trash were most likely more adept at offensive measures than he was which meant if he was to easily succeed they must attack him first… while he also wanted to conserve his own and Imran's will reserves of which he communicated to him by motioning him with his hand to stop casting the spell he was preparing for. That was when an idea struck him and with a malicious smile he went into action.

He edged towards his enemies, causing them to tense up while waiting for Cyrus to act. Unaware of their tension, Cyrus simply bent over and picked up his throwing knife from their dead companion and then continued his stroll. The Legionnaire was suddenly interested in Cyrus, as from his perspective it looked as if the student he was watching over was merely taking a brisk walk in a garden on a sunny afternoon. Perhaps to him, the people he was slaughtering were merely weeds for him to remove.

As Cyrus took his time walking towards the three men, which caused their nerves to tangle themselves into elaborate paintings, he did one swift dash forward which caused his enemy to take a step back… intimidated but still maintaining their stances and will to fight to the death as there was no possibility of retreat for them. They were fighting not for money, a king, or for a cause but to merely live one more second before the Empire eventually executed them. They knew they could not live for long, alas, all they wished for was just for one more second after one more second. Their hope was quashed instantly and mercilessly by their opponent, who had stopped short just after faking their dash in. Instead with one swift movement of his leg, he hooked the chain on the ground with his foot and dragged it backwards in one fast motion. He did this so quickly and so precisely, that it lined up perfectly with the exact second in which all the men were taking a step back in fear. This step back, this single small movement of theirs would end up as their lives second greatest mistake right after conspiring with the cultists, or perhaps it was their lives greatest mistake… who knows but all Cyrus knew was that it was their last mistake. As he had planned, the three men all lost their balance and were knocked to the floor by their own chains. To which Cyrus responded by charging forward and easily slaughtering them, plucking their lives like a gardener would pluck weeds: quickly, quietly, and without much thought.

Thus, ended Cyrus and Imran's first test with resounding success.