Cut Down By The Wind

It took some time but the tournament finally picked someone to fight against Kies. He expected them to have chosen Rui, the red-scarf soldier, or the mysterious man, but he was surprised to see what they didn't. Instead, a man wearing nothing other than a loincloth marched into the arena, pounding his chest proudly as he did so. When he made it to Kies, he let out a mighty roar that could be heard from even the outer seats of the colosseum.

"Interesting..." Kies didn't know who the man was at all but hiding from the crowd's reactions, he was definitely a big shot of some sort. Even if he came into the arena without causing such a big scene, Kies was more than certain that he was somewhat of a tough opponent considering how the tournament 'randomly' picked his opponents for him.

On the bright side, the fights will only get easier from here. If the tournament keeps handpicking the strongest they have to take him down, they will eventually run out of skilled people and will have to choose the weaker ones.

"I'll smash you!"

"Hm?" Kies looked at the loincloth man, checking if he was speaking to him or someone else. Even though they were the only two in the arena, one can never be too sure. For all Kies knew, the man could be crazy and was only talking to himself.

But as expected, he was directing that statement at Kies. "I'll bury your head in the ground," he pointed at Kies and then gave a thumbs-down, sticking his tongue out at him as well.

Hearing this remark, the crowd cheered even louder, boosting the man's ego. "Yes, yes!" he laughed, waving his hand around, enjoying the showering attention.

"..."

Kies looked around for the referee. He was too lazy to bother participating in needless banter before the match started. Most of the time, people were all bark and no bite. He just wanted to get this match done already.

As if they could read his mind, the referees entered the arena and went towards the corners. One referee then walked into the center where the two were and asked, "Are you two ready?"

"Yes," Kies immediately answered. He had been ready for a while now.

"And you?" The referee turned to his opponent who was still bathing in the crowd's admiration. "Ahem." It took the referee several tries to get his attention but he eventually did and asked him if he was ready.

"No," the man strangely replied. He then proceeded to look around the arena and when he couldn't find what he was looking for, turned back to the referee, and asked, "Where are my puppies?"

"Your puppies?" the referee asked, unsure of what he was talking about. One of the other referees ran over to them, leaned in, and whispered something to the first referee.

"Oh! Those were yours!" he suddenly said out loud after hearing whatever it was that he heard from the other referee.

"Follow me, sir," the second referee beckoned for the loincloth man to come with him.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he happily pounded his chest. "Just you wait, I'll beat you to a pulp," he told Kies before hurrying away with the referee.

"..." While waiting for them to come back, Kies looked around the arena. Surprisingly, the damage from when he and Nyana fought had already been repaired and there was no trace of it anywhere. They were certainly efficient considering how they didn't have an earth mage... He had to give them credit for them. Even if they did whatever they wanted, the entire event was very well made and organized.

"Now then..." Kies looked back at the dark gate on the other side of the arena where the referee and his opponent entered. He felt several presences inside the tunnel which was strange. He sent his winds to scout the tunnel and sensed what seemed to be three large beast-like bodies. "..."

A loud roar silenced the crowd and everyone turned to look at the dark tunnel. Three pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the dark. "Show yourselves, my pets!" a voice shouted from within the tunnel. Three fast blurs jumped out of the tunnel and appeared in front of Kies, snarling at him.

"Woah, woah, not yet, boys. Soon, but not now. Soon..." the loincloth man told them in an assuring and creepy voice. He ran up to one of the beasts and caressed its fur.

"Sand hounds?" Kies gave the man a weird look but there wasn't really a point since he was wearing a mask. Kies recognized the beasts as they were the same ones that had been terrorizing the farmer on the outskirts of Otane. These ones were well-fed and had meat on their bones, but in the end, it shouldn't be that hard to deal with them.

"So you know them... I've been raising these things since they were pups. Countless people fell prey to their fangs, and you're next," he said with an evil smile.

"Are they even allowed in tournaments?" Kies looked to the referee for an answer. This was supposed to be a one on one battle and bringing pets seemed pretty unfair. Maybe one would be fine if the person fought with one at their side, but three? Three was a bit overboard.

The referee shrugged his shoulders and told Kies, "It's not against the rules?"

"Then what about killing?"

The loincloth man laughed when he heard Kies' question. "Are you scared of death!? You should be. Killing is allowed, and you'll be lunch for my beasts! Of course, you can always surrender now," he pointed out to Kies, advising that he should choose this option if he wanted to live.

Kies ignored the man's taunts and asked the referee the question again to confirm it with him. "So killing is allowed."

"Yes," the referee nodded his head. "Though we tell our contestants to be careful, things happen in the heat of battle. Sometimes, we can't call the match in time and someone dies..." the referee explained to Kies, his last sentence sounding more like a threat than anything.

But Kies was fine with this. He wasn't planning on surrendering or losing. "Good." He didn't have to worry about holding back now.

The referee raised an eyebrow, not understanding why Kies would find that as a good thing but didn't question it. The three sand hounds snarled at Kies, trying to bite him but they were being restrained by their owner who had them by their chains. "Hold on! Not yet, not yet!" He pulled the three back with monstrous strength. "This is your last chance to surrender before you get hurt," the man warned Kies, reminding him that once the battle starts, the three hounds will get set free.

The referee looked at Kies, waiting for him to raise his hand and surrender like the man advised but he said nothing and stared at the referee back, waiting for him to start the countdown.

"Hmph, don't say I didn't warn you," the referee told Kies.

His opponent laughed. He was amused that Kies chose to fight even though it was a one-sided fight... Or so that was what it looked like to him and the audience. Only a few people knew the truth.

"Thanks for saving me some expenses today. It's quite expensive to feed these pups," the man said with an evil grin.

"..."

Kies was surprised that he had the galls to say that, especially when he had seen him fight against Nyana and her forest guardian. What were a couple of sand hounds compared to something like that? It was almost like they had completely forgotten about the previous fight. But whatever, he will remind them just how powerful he is when this fight starts.

The referee raised his hand and signaled the start of the countdown. The crowd laughed at Kies' foolishness for not surrendering and choosing to fight against three sand hounds. "-Three, two, one... Begin!"

The referee sprinted out of the area the moment the fight started and the loincloth man also released his chains at that exact moment. He started laughing as the sand hounds closed in on Kies, their mouths spitting saliva everywhere, hungry to taste meat. But unfortunately for them...

A loud roar cut off the man's laughter. However, the roar did not come from his hounds... It was the sound of the wind. The arena exploded with a red color. It took everyone a second to realize that the red was blood, and it was not Kies' blood either, it was the sand hounds'. The beasts all crumpled to the sandy floor at the same exact time, a loud thump echoed the walls of the arena.

"What- The loincloth man looked around at his sand hounds which were all lying on the ground dead. It took him a moment to register what had happened and when he did, his eyes lit up with fury. "My babies! How dare you-" the man never had the chance to finish what he was saying.

A strong wind slammed into the man and sent him flying into the wall of the arena. He fell face-first into the sand and didn't move. In just one second, Kies killed all three sand hounds and also knocked his opponent unconscious. This silenced the entire colosseum and they all stared at Kie with their eyes wide-open, uncertain of what just happened.

Without even waiting for the referee to announce his victory, Kies turned and left the arena, but suddenly stopped. "What happened..." a voice from behind him asked. He turned around to find a referee walking towards him, his eyes filled with fear and confusion.

"I won," Kies answered him. That's what happened.

"No, you have to have cheated!" the referee exclaimed. He pointed at Kies, wiggling his finger at him angrily. "I don't know what you did, but..."

"If you don't know what I did, then how can you accuse me of cheating?"

"Because it doesn't make sense! You didn't even move and you somehow won. Do you expect me to believe that!?" he pointed out how Kies had his arms crossed the entire time and didn't even take a step.

"..." Kies was really tempted to punch the referee in the face even if it meant that he would get disqualified, and it took all his willpower not to. The man continued accusing Kies of cheating, saliva spitting from his mouth as he furiously interrogated him, demanding for him to tell him what Kies did. Of course, Kies ignored the man and continued standing in front of him with his arms crossed, thinking of some way to get out of this situation, and that's when an idea popped in his head.

"Actually... Why don't you send everyone else down here?"

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. Send the rest of the competitors down here and have them fight me if you don't believe me," Kies proposed.

"Are you out of your mind!? Why would I do that!?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I'm fighting again next?"

The referee glared at Kies. "How dare you mock us!"

"Mock you? Am I mocking you? Knowing my luck, I'm probably stuck in the arena for the next hundred or so battles. There's no point in me leaving, is there?" Kies said to the referee, angering him even more.

"You- I'll-" The referee was at a loss for words and despite being an entire head taller than Kies, he wasn't intimidated even the slightest by the referee. The man looked like he might punch Kies, but before the situation could escalate any higher, a voice called out to them.

"Stop!" Kies and the referee were told to stop arguing.

"Who do you think you are, interrupting me-" the referee's face paled when he turned and saw who it was that was coming towards them. He quickly covered his mouth and took a few steps back. "I'm so sor-"

The referee didn't have a chance to apologize as the now very woman cut him off, demanding, "Who do I think I am? Who do you think you are?"

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