The Summoner's Mark (First Draft) (Book One)

The Arena's Three

The final round of the tournament had started and though Sin once again figured that one of them would have to fight twice considering that one of the four within the arena hadn't fought during the second elimination round; Sten had surprised him once again considering that he had informed them that the finals would be an all-out battle between the four of them, with the last three standing all receiving a mark of achievement.

Sin, Castien, Lucius as well as another human that went by the name of Evony Hastings all stood within the arena and considering that Sten was allowing them to use the entire arena for the battle that was about to commence. Due to the danger that this would pose to the other students, Sten moved the others up into the stands to ensure their safety.

As Sin gazed across the arena from his position within it, he was reminded of the wondrous emotions that he had felt when he first stepped into the arena on his first day at the Academy. Before he allowed himself to get lost in the emotion that was building within him; Sin brought them under control just as Sten signaled for them all to start.

Immediately, everyone within the arena charged forward.

*

Pain flared through his body as Sin took the full force of his enemy's blade directly in the side of his skull. With the pain that was searing through his body becoming too much for him to take, Sin collapsed to his knees though he was able to keep himself from completely falling due to placing his sword into the sand.

Pushing through the pain that was vibrating through his head, Sin glared at the being that stood before him with their blade aimed for another strike. When Castien had first charged at him; Sin didn't think that he would be so vicious with his attacks considering that Sin had held back on his attacks since he wished for himself as well as his friends to make it through the match.

Looking past Castien, Sin could see that Lucius was also struggling against his opponent. Even though Castien had just spent the last half hour thoroughly pummeling him with both his fist as well as his weapon, Sin still wished to see the three of them earn the achievement that Sten promised to reward to the winners of this tournament.

Though he wished to see this dream come true, he was no longer going to just stand there and allow himself to become minced meat. With each strike that he had taken to his body, a bloodlust had begun to form within him and though for much of the fight Sin gad managed to contain it; he was now no longer keeping it contained behind the dam that he had built.

Allowing this lust to flood through his body, Sin began to feel himself grow energized once more and considering the blade that was rapidly falling towards him; Sin immediately jumped into action. Flinging himself into a roll, allowed him to dodge the blade that Castien was using and as the impact of the weapon echoed throughout the arena as it slammed into the sand that Sin had once been kneeling in.

With an urge to act, Sin swung his blade in an arch that slammed into Castien's calves which caused the elven male to collapse to the ground in pain. Now that he had ensured that Castien would be unable to follow for now, Sin pushed himself to his feet and once this was done; he charged forward.

His destination were the two combatants that were battling a distance away from where he and Castien had fought and though he worried that Lucius may take the same path that Castien had and try to fight him; he figured that from how poorly he was faring in his battle that he would welcome him instead of attacking him. From the brutal method of fighting that Evony was using against Lucius, Sin could see that he was struggling to fend off the blows that were raining down upon him and would eventually end up taking a blow that would knock him from the tournament.