Peter was immediately dragged out of his eye of souls and put into a form that he wasn’t entirely familiar with. He blinked a few times, astounded to what happened to him before looking at his hands. He had a spear in one hand, and a simple wooden shield in the other, just like Dramix.
He then noticed that his hands looked a lot like his too. He knew where he was, so he turned back to look towards him, who seemed surprised to see another Drakan in front of him. Suddenly, Dramix eyes shifted right and Peter barely dodged the blow from a huge battle ax swung by a brute of a human that complimented the woman. Peter was amazed at how easy it was for him to regain his balance before attempting to counter with the spear.
It was instinct more than anything, but the brute used the ax handle to deflect the blow. He then brought his elbow toward the shaft of the spear. Peter was lucky he still had momentum because he used the hand that held the shield and punched the brute square in the face. He went flying back quite a distance before regaining his equilibrium. Peter glanced at his spear before leaning over and freeing the axe from the stone. It was a lot lighter than he thought it was as he gently tossed it back towards the brute, who then bent down cautiously and grabbed it.
“You should have taken me when you had the chance.” (Brute)
Peter smirked before responding, “I’d rather die with honor than live with deceit.” (Peter in Physical Form)
The other spirit raised up some, knowing those words. The fight left him slightly after that.
“Yama, we should try to retreat. The others are aware.” (Brute)
Peter backed up a step before using the end of his spear to point back at Dramix, who was looking up from the balcony.
Peter turned the spear and followed his gaze, finding Naleeit holding her spear while naked.
Obviously, the fight woke her up, so she rushed here to help, but she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. The brute took a step to the side as the woman eyed Naleeit.
“Soul wielder, if she interferes, then your honor will be tainted.” (Yama)
Peter looked at her before quickly dodging another cheap shot.
This time, instead of countering with his spear, he planted a foot firmly on the top of the ax to force it out of the brutes grip before using his off hand to try and punch him again. This time, the blow was blocked by the brutes dominant hand. Peter secured his footing before lunging with his spear that was also caught by the brutes offhand. Peter didn’t realize it before, but he was the stronger of the two, as he kept pushing forward. The brute then let go of Peter’s other fist to stop from getting impaled by the spear. He then dropped his elbow to threaten the spear again, so Peter went for the back of the man’s skull with his newly freed hand, letting his spear go as he went for the first hand to hold the spear back. He then put his foot that was on the ax to the end of the spear, as he used his mass and position to pull the man’s chest right into the tip of his weapon.
A moment before he gave the killing blow, his opponent turned into fog and slipped backward in surprise. The woman wasn’t pleased as she looked at the man appear at her side again with a mark on his chest from the spear.
“Useless spirit.” (Yama)
The man put his hand to his chest as he picked up his ax and responded, “I’m a spirit of deception, not combat. You used up half of my power before we even began.” (Brute)
The spirit then faded away, and Peter faded away as well. Peter didn’t realize it immediately, but he was not returned to his eye.
Instead, they arrived at a table with the brute at one end, and Peter on the other, with a series of hourglasses in the middle.
The brute then sighed before speaking, “I lost fair and square.” (brute)
Suddenly, one of the foggy figures appeared.
“Since this is the first time one of you has been in a duel, I will explain duel rewards. When a duel occurs between two spirits, there are bets and wagers put on each. The victor will receive a wage from these bets based on the odds and their performance in the fight. The loser will receive a wage as well, but they will be penalized based on the odds of the fight.” (Foggy Figure)
Peter followed his explanation before several hourglasses floated around in front of him. Somehow, he knew the prize was much greater than he could handle.
He was scared though that Dramix would likely throw away the earnings again on something he wanted. It didn’t seem right for him to use the prize though.
“Keep the prize. I’m going to build him on my own. I don’t want outside influences to manipulate my intentions for him.” (Peter’s Spirit Talking)
The foggy figure looked at Peter in surprise, then the brute across the table chuckled as they were both taken back to reality.
Peter returned to the eye of souls to find Dramix putting the woman’s hands over her own amulet that laid over the still bleeding hole in her chest. Peter felt a little queasy at the sight, but he knew it was only a game. At least, that’s what he suspected.
Dramix then turned to Naleeit, who still held a spear in her hands, as if she had just killed someone and the blood was still dripping from it.
“We have to hurry! Wake up, Gulliver. I will see to the fate of the other two.” (Dramix)
Naleeit suddenly tossed away her spear before sprinting up the balcony.
Dramix sighed before going into the room where the tools are stored and grabbing a shovel.
“I suspect that I’ll be digging three plots.” (Dramix)
