Fifty-Five

The roar of the crowds was like a physical weight as Kon walked out and across the sands. Warmth spread as the rays of the sun beat across his skin unimpeded as across the stadium his opponent walked out. Hali Paker walked out with her shovel slung over her shoulder, dead eyes looking straight ahead without once acknowledging the crowds.

"You must have killed someone important to receive my attention," Hali's voice was a deep rolling monotone as she marched over toward him, stopping only feet away. Kon touched at the head of the mace, feeling the bite of electricity that sparked up his feeling.

"Don't remember their names," Kon said, giving a loose shrug as he offered her a small smile. She didn't react, her leathery face unmoving.

"Know that I will kill you here. This task will be what grants me the wealth to ascend to D-Grade. I feel obligated to thank you for your audacity. Without it I would have to take years to gather the resources needed to ascend," Hali continued.

"I'm not one to wait. Let's get to it," Kon said, pulling his mace free from the loop around his waist. It felt comfortable in his hand, the weight of it reassuring.

"If you wish for death, I shall grant it to you," Hali said. She unlimbered the shovel from her shoulder, holding it like a spear as she fell into a fighting stance.

Kon leapt at her, dirt exploding as he cleared the distance. The mace came whistling down as Hali leapt out of the way. The edge of the ball shaped weapon brushed past her before slamming into the dirt. A blast of wind whipped out as dirt burst around him, peppering his shins as Hali flashed away.

He leaned back, bending at the back as metal sliced through the air where his throat had been. Hali pushed her attack without pause, her swing turning into a thrust in one clean motion. Kon swatted away the edge with a flick of his wrist, the scream of parting metal loud even over the sound of the roaring crowd.

Hali kept attacking, slashing and stabbing in a continuous blur of speed. Kon's body was light as a feather, his newfound strength and speed allowed him to stay ahead of the sharp blade but his opponents' reach was becoming an obstacle he was struggling to overcome.

"Is this all you have? Nothing but talk," Hali scoffed, for the first time a hint of emotion passing across her leathery skin. Scorn. Kon bristled, his pride stung, but he kept his cool, suppressing that bubbling cauldron that had made its presence known these last weeks.

"Nothing? No last words?" Hali continued to taunt and her long, sharpened shovel continued to speed up till it was nothing but a dancing blur. Metal met flesh and blood flowed as it scraped along his ribs, parting his robes as if they were made of gauze.

"Not going to make fun of people's weapon choices again." Even as the personal recrimination flashed through his head, he thought of Benny's lessons. If he wanted to be a brawler, he needed a way to initiate a brawl without bleeding out.

"This is going to hurt," Kon muttered under his breath as he stopped retreating. The long edge of the blade came for his throat again and once more he batted it aside with his mace, metal ringing as Kon lunged forward. Hali retreated and as she did she slashed downward, cutting along his tricep as Kon leaned away. He didn't stop his advance.

Hali was fast, speedy enough that Kon would have struggled against her in a flat race. She was trying to backpeddle as he advanced though, even with his weaving he was able to cut the distance and it only cost him a few new scars.

"Stop!" Kon barked suddenly and the cultivator blinked for the first time, surprised by the powerful command. She didn't stop, but for a split second there was a hitch in her step. Kon closed the distance and brought the mace around in a howling blow.

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Bones crunched as the head of the mace connected with Hali's side. The alien bent for a moment and Kon thought she'd absorb the blow, just tank right through it. Then she was plucked from her feet and thrown like a ball through the air, bouncing twice in puffs of dust as she rolled. Her tri'baculan flashed in the sunlight before landing on the ground feet away from the downed cultivator.

"That it?" Kon taunted her. He hadn't stopped moving though, his legs pumping as he crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. Hali contorted in a way that was unnatural, legs and arms twisting like bugs as she pulled herself out of the way of the falling mace. Once again the head of the mace cratered the arena.

Hali scuttled away on all fours for a second before snapping back into place, standing upright as retrieved her weapon, kicking it up to her waiting hand. Her ribs were misshapen where Kon had landed his blow, her breathing hitched as if in pain, but she set herself back into her fighting stance without a word.

"No more banter?" Kon asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he closed the distance again. Hali bared her long fangs as her white eyes increased their glow, becoming miniature infernos as she increased her speed even further. Her limbs bent and warped with unnatural elasticity as she whipped the blade around in strange angles.

Kon slid to avoid being skewered, sliding past her attack and rising to his feet in one smooth motion. He backhanded her, the knuckles dragged against her teeth, skin peeling back even as her head snapped to the side. Kon stayed close, not allowing her to separate as she stomped on her instep, delicate bones snapping with ease.

She punched him in the chest, her bony knuckles knocking the air out of his lungs. He didn't allow himself to be pushed back, his feet dug into the ground and he leaned forward, punching her again even as he reared back to strike with the mace. The haft of her tri'baculan tried to intercede but snapped as Kon increased the density of the mace right before it landed.

She leapt to the side but was too slow. Where her shoulder met neck the head of the mace connected. Hali bent inward, body decompressing as things snapped and popped. A foot connected to his stomach, Kon bending in half as he was tossed backward by the sudden surge in her strength.

"You dead yet?" Kon hissed as he struggled to drag a fresh breath in. His chest was refusing to rise, bone and flesh compressed tightly as his lungs slowly inflated after a second.

"That was a gift from the hive mother," Hali growled, the rage in her voice finally showing her emotion.

"Should have let me cave your skull in. Your weapon would have been safe then," Kon said, giving her a one shoulder shrug.

"I am a scion of ancient bloodlines. My ancestors have tread upon the dead stars, harvested the remnants of the flames of creation. I am so far beyond you, you peasant scum that you could not imagine the depths you wade." Hali started to monologue.

Kon didn't give her the time. He crossed the short distance in a single powerful lunge, drawing on the deep wells of his natural power for the first time. So far he'd only needed to use his natural strength, but he was done with this fight. Blood was drenching his robes from the thin cuts she'd landed, an icy burn running across his body even as a deeper numbness had started.

Hali tired to block, her arms crossing to protect her head, but he powered through it. Arms were turned to splinters as Kon drove her into the ground. Blood splashed across his legs as he stood above the defeated cultivator. Milky white gore drenched her dark, leathery skin, a hint of ammonia in the air.

She wasn't dead, her burning white eyes glared upward with hatred as she started to drag herself up. Bones knitted themselves together, the sound of snapping, dry twigs.

"Yield or die," Kon said, bouncing the haft of his mace in his hand.

"Scum. I will never bow my head to the likes of you," Hali clicked, her voice changing to become insect-like.

"So be it," Kon said, rearing back, intent on finishing the fight as quickly as possible.

"CEASE!" a voice boomed, the air rattling as pressure descended across Kon, holding him in place.

Hali surged upward, the broken handle of her shovel glinting as she rose up. Hatred filling her face as she aimed the splintered haft at Kon's throat. He couldn't move, his body locked tight.

"Not like this!" Kon raged in his mind as the sharpened ends closed on his soft throat, nothing to stop it.

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