Chapter 408: Skull Crusher

The ogre’s heads disappeared beneath its own club. The enormous weapon struck with enough force to shake the ground under Kael’s boots, crushing both skulls before continuing into the red dirt beneath them. There was no final struggle or desperate roar, and nothing remained intact long enough for regeneration to matter.

Kael kept his weight against the handle for another second before releasing it. The Twin-Headed Ogre stayed on its knees, balanced there for a moment by the sheer bulk of its body, then slowly tipped sideways. Its shoulder struck the ground with a heavy thud. Kael looked from the motionless corpse to what remained beneath the club.

"Always aim for the head."

The arena erupted around him. Whatever disappointment the spectators had felt several minutes earlier vanished as thousands rose from their seats, shouting down at the man who had picked up an ogre’s weapon and crushed both its heads. Kael barely paid attention. A notification had appeared before him, and the Tower’s opinion of the fight interested him considerably more than theirs.

[FIRST ROUND COMPLETE]

[TRIAL OF SURVIVAL CLEARED]

Additional Objective Completed: [Twin-Headed Ogre Defeated]

You have exceeded the conditions required for victory. The Trial of Survival has concluded, and your final Gladiatorium reward has improved.

Kael read the last part again and smiled. Defeating the creature had improved his reward, though that hardly justified charging it from the beginning. He had survived, kept most of his abilities concealed, and finished the fight when an opportunity presented itself.

"So killing it did matter."

Before the first window had fully faded, another appeared beneath it. Kael’s attention shifted toward the new heading, followed almost immediately by a familiar warmth spreading through his body.

[ROUND RESTORATION]

Health, Stamina, and Internal Energy restored.

All expendable personal resources have been restored to their state at the beginning of the previous Round.

The strain left by Presence vanished. Fatigue drained from his muscles, and the minor aches accumulated while dodging the ogre disappeared with it. His Internal Energy returned to full, leaving him as ready to fight as he had been when the round began. Kael rolled one shoulder and raised his eyebrows.

"That is useful. But also means that another shit show is about to start."

Across the arena, Darin and Roth were staring into the empty air before them. Roth pressed a hand against his wounded side, then drew a cautious breath. When it caused him no pain, he inhaled more deeply and straightened. The broken ribs and whatever other damage the stone fragments had inflicted were gone.

Darin looked toward Kael. His expression was difficult to read at that distance, although the circumstances probably contributed. His group had spent most of the round insisting that they needed to defeat the creature together, and Kael had ended it with one blow from its own weapon. He gave Darin a small wave, then turned back as another notification appeared.

[THREE GLADIATORS REMAIN]

The Trial of Survival has ended. You have demonstrated your ability to endure. Now demonstrate your ability to fight.

[SECOND ROUND: TRIAL OF COMBAT]

Each surviving Gladiator will face an individual opponent. Defeat your opponent to achieve victory.

"Individual?"

Stone shifted beneath Kael’s boots, and he stepped back as a wall rose between him and Darin. This was considerably more substantial than the barricades that had emerged during the previous round. A thick slab climbed steadily above their heads, followed by another that cut Roth off from view.

Within seconds, the enormous battlefield had become three separate arenas. The spectators remained visible above the new walls, but Kael could no longer see either Red Sun member. He turned slowly, checking the corners and the height of the partitions. Neither offered a sightline into the neighboring sections.

That solved a problem. Darin and Roth could still hear the crowd, but they would have no way to watch what he did inside his section. Kael was considering the possibilities when a grinding sound drew his attention to the opposite wall.

A rectangular slab sank inward and slid aside, revealing a dark passage. Someone stepped out of it, and Kael straightened slightly. For once, he did not have to look down at his opponent, or all the way up. The man was nearly his size, perhaps a little shorter, although the massive bronze helmet made the difference difficult to judge.

Most of the gladiator’s upper body was exposed. Old scars crossed his broad chest and thick arms, while leather straps held the rest of his equipment in place. Heavy armor protected his lower body beneath a layered gladiatorial skirt. He looked comfortable beneath its weight, moving without the stiffness Kael usually saw in men wearing more protection than they could handle.

The morningstar in his hands was another matter. Its enormous head bristled with thick iron spikes, each long enough to punch through plate if enough force stood behind it. Judging by the arms holding the weapon, a lack of force was unlikely to be a problem. The gladiator raised it, and the nearest sections of the audience began chanting.

"SKULL CRUSHER! SKULL CRUSHER! SKULL CRUSHER!"

Kael looked from the weapon to the bronze helmet and then back again. The name certainly communicated the intended result, although he doubted much thought had gone into choosing it.

"I suppose subtlety wasn’t part of the branding."

The gladiator struck the weapon’s handle against his palm, pointed it toward Kael, and shouted something. Kael frowned. He understood none of it. Whatever translation effect had allowed him to speak with the arena attendants apparently did not cover every language used within the Gladiatorium.

The man shouted again, louder this time, which did nothing to improve Kael’s understanding. It might have been a threat or an introduction. Given the chanting, there was a reasonable chance it concerned the condition his skull would be in afterward. Kael pointed toward his own helmet.

"Yeah, I’m keeping this on."

The gladiator’s expression suggested that he understood Kael no better than Kael understood him. That suited the situation well enough. Kael checked the dividing walls once more, confirmed that both Red Sun members remained out of sight, and began unclasping his plain fist guards.

He returned the cheap equipment to his inventory, then bent to retrieve the training rings from the dirt. Both still lay where he had dropped them during the previous round. He brushed loose soil from the fastenings and secured one around each wrist, allowing their familiar weight to settle before equipping the Malachor Rune Gauntlets.

Metal covered his hands and forearms. Kael flexed his fingers, checking the fit around the weights and letting himself grow accustomed to the full set of equipment again. The ordinary fist guards had served their purpose, but these felt considerably better.

"Much better."

Skull Crusher watched the change without apparent concern. If anything, he seemed pleased that his opponent had produced something worth hitting. He tapped the morningstar’s handle against his palm three times, adjusting his grip between each movement. Kael watched his shoulders, elbows, and feet, paying more attention to those small adjustments than to the weapon itself.

Then the gladiator charged. He moved faster than Kael expected from someone carrying that much muscle and armor, raising the morningstar overhead as he closed the distance. A dodge to either side seemed like the obvious response, and Kael nearly took it before noticing how little the man had committed to the attack.

His shoulder remained too relaxed. His hips had not rotated enough to support a full overhead strike, and his grip still allowed the weapon room to shift. The attack was a feint. If Kael dodged early, Skull Crusher could change its direction halfway through the descent and catch him moving into the real blow.

It was a good technique, especially against someone distracted by the size of the morningstar. Kael stepped forward instead. The gladiator’s eyes widened behind his helmet as the distance closed, forcing him to turn the feint into an actual strike.

The morningstar descended with one of its spikes aimed toward Kael’s face. Skull Crusher laughed, apparently deciding the unexpected movement had merely made his task easier. Kael raised his left fist and reinforced the arm with Stone. Heft followed, loading the gauntlet with weight as he drove it upward.

Frost activated just before contact. The first spike met the gauntlet and flattened, cutting off the gladiator’s laughter. The rest of the morningstar’s head struck an instant later, allowing the cold to surge through the metal while Kael’s punch continued driving against it.

White spread across the weapon. The sudden cold seized the metal, and the force behind the weighted gauntlet finished what the Frost Rune had begun. The morningstar shattered, scattering frozen fragments through the air and leaving Skull Crusher stumbling forward with a broken handle in his hands.

For a moment, he stared at what remained of his weapon. Then he looked at Kael, and the confusion behind his helmet gave Kael all the opening he needed. His right hand shot forward and closed around the gladiator’s throat.

Skull Crusher reacted quickly. One hand released the broken weapon and clamped around Kael’s wrist, pulling with enough strength to confirm that his size was no empty threat. Unfortunately for him, strength mattered very little once Kael had established the contact he wanted.

"Too late."

Fire activated against the gladiator’s neck. Kael directed the heat into the point of contact, sending flame and superheated air upward beneath the lower rim of the bronze helmet. The enclosed space trapped it for an instant before fire burst through the eye openings.

Skull Crusher jerked violently. His scream lasted less than a second before the hand around Kael’s wrist weakened. Kael released him, allowing the enormous man to drop onto his knees and fall forward into the dirt. The broken handle landed beside his body.

The nearby spectators fell silent. The fight had barely begun, and several still seemed to be waiting for Skull Crusher to get up and explain why his weapon was scattered across the ground. Kael looked down at the corpse, then at the frozen fragments of the morningstar around his boots.

"Skull Crusher. Should’ve invested in a better mace."

The audience found its voice again. Cheers rolled down from the surrounding seats as another window opened before Kael, confirming what the body at his feet had already made clear.

[SECOND ROUND COMPLETE]

[TRIAL OF COMBAT CLEARED]

Opponent Defeated: [Skull Crusher]

Victory Time: Exceptional

Damage Received: None

Your Gladiatorium reward has improved.

Kael flexed his gauntleted hand and smiled at the final line. The round had cost him little beyond the energy used to activate his Runes, and the reward was improving again.

"Two down."

Three more victories would earn his freedom and passage to the next Floor. Kael glanced toward the walls separating him from the Red Sun members, grateful that the arena had finally provided something useful. With his real gauntlets equipped and those two unable to watch him fight, the Gladiatorium had become considerably more interesting.