Read Online It Rained Red Upon the Arena by Kenneth Champion - Free Book Online Page B

kitchen. Nick did not talk to anyone else, and no one else attempted to talk to him. He thought it made sense for the veterans to not even attempt to mingle with someone who had just arrived, someone who statistically would be dead soon.
    Nick made his way over to a table where Phillip was sitting. Nick said, “Okay, so tell me about how Grimey fights. What do I need to look out for?”
    “He is fast, just like you. Only he is fast with conjuring his magic; he has nearly perfected it. Have you ever seen a Reza fight?”
    “No, not fight. But I have seen a few use their destruction magic a few times,” replied Nick.
    “That’s good,” said Phillip. “At least you know what they can do. The Reza are an interesting race. They are trained with books at a young age of the magic that flows through them while we Paplon were trained with a sword. The point being that combat is part of all of us, every living person has it in them, whether they believe it or not. A Reza has the ability to conjure a fire or ice attack from their hands. They can do one at a time or do both simultaneously. The difference between all of them is their speed to produce the magic and the power behind the attack. Grimey possesses both power and speed unlike any I have seen. He fights at a distance. If someone tries to run up on him, he simply moves backwards or to the side while still attacking. The easiest way to defeat him would be to get close enough to use your sword. But you cannot do that if he moves around too much. You need to hinder his movements. If you can slice his leg, then you will be able to catch up to him. If not, you will have to rely on your running speed and blocking skills, which I myself would personally not want to rely on. How are you with a bow and arrow?”
    “I can hit a stationary target most of the time. If he is moving it will be of no use,” said Nick.
    Phillip thought for a second while scratching his chin. “Well, that’s not an option. What about throwing daggers? Some Paplon prefer one over the other, and some have no use of either.”
    “I am better at throwing daggers than using a bow and arrow,” said Nick. “But I would need to get close enough to throw it. If I get close enough, hitting a leg is a hard target still. Hitting him in general would be tough, but I will have to try. The chances should be much higher for me using daggers over a bow and arrow.”
    Nick knew a plan such as this did not have a huge success rate. Throwing daggers is very risky. So many things could go wrong; there were too many variables. He did not want to stake his life on whether he could throw a dagger well enough but it was his only choice. He had never really practiced any sort of long distance attacks when he was training to become a Refect. He always assumed he would learn at the academy where they had state of the art bow and arrows, spears, and throwing daggers.
    ***
    Nick threw hundreds of wooden daggers over the span of the few hours they had to train. Some missed the target, but most of them he hit. But this was not a moving target; it was stationary. When the daggers hit the target they were not necessarily hitting the bundle of hay where the blade was on the dagger. It would land on its side or on the handle. Phillip helped his throw by telling him to let his fingers guide the dagger, and the momentum of his arm to put power behind the throw. If needed, the snap of his wrist could also help to guide his attack to the target. Nick was learning, but it was hard trying to master a skill in under a few hours.
    Time was up. Nick was not confident in his new craft of throwing daggers. His thoughts began to consume him. Doubt filled his mind, doubt mixed with fear and anxiety. He had to put his life at risk in the arena within a few hours. Chances were that he would not survive.
    Nick was looking down at the gravel beneath his feet in the dark dungeon with flickering lighting as candles and torches burned by the rocky walls.