Entering the Caerhamian Arena for, surprisingly, the first time, Virul slowed down his run and began to hop about excitedly, waiting for Eve to catch up. Spotting Nickademus, the thief hailed out to the referee with a wave of his hat, "Aha, long time no see, dear sir! Doing well despite this feverish heat, I hope!"

"I get by." Nickademus stoically conceded, but still unhurriedly left his spot at the center of the Arena and made his way towards Virul as if the thief presented salvation.
"What brings you here?" The referee asked once he got about ten feet away.

"A bit of battling, of course, of the Circus Maximus variety. I hath an ally coming along soon, hopefully, who shall be participating in her first battle." Virul replied as he briefly gazed at the arena entrance before turning back to Nickademus, "I hope she didn't get lost. In any case, that's my intention for the time being. Preferably of the harder difficulty for the thrill of it all. Hm hm.... so any news regarding the outside world or those other referee types?"

Eve finally made her way into the Arena stopping at the entrance. "Oh my trees, it’s hot here!" She said grabbing her hat and putting it over the top of her head. Spotting Virul she made her way over to him carrying her bow in her right hand.

"Eh. The outside world doesn't concern me much." Nickademus replied , and saw Eve appear before he could answer the other question.
"And this would be the, ah, your ally?" Nickademus asked Virul the rather obvious as Eve walked over and, without waiting for an answer turned to the archeress and brought his fist to his heart, clanking a bit as his gauntlet hit his chest-plate.
"Welcome to the Arena!" He declared rather flamboyantly. "I am referee Nickademus and this is the Caerhamian arena! In here, you will fight under the warmest of suns!"

"Aah, indeed." Virul said, turning toward Eve as she approached. Hearing both her and Nickademus's comments regarding the heat made the thief realize that it was awfully hot out here, especially so for a guy wearing quite a few layers of clothing. Fortunately enough his hat blocked out the sun, though he still hoped the upcoming battle wouldn't take too long before he started overheating.

"Thank you for the introduction Nickademus's."Evesaid softly as she made her way further into the arena. "Shall we get started before either of us get weary from just stanind here under the heat?" Eve asked Virul.

"Yes, of course." Virul replied as he took off his scarf and laid it on the ground somewhere, "I'll take the melee approach then, while thou attack long range and try not to get hit." Steadily wielding both epees, he hopped left and right in anticipation for the upcoming battle.

"Alright. You have a few seconds to get into position!" Nickademus said, resuming a normal stance before walking off to the alcove that held most of the levers for the Arena's inner-workings.

"Hm hm hm hmmm, here's to Lady Luck then." Virul said aloud in a singsong sort of a way as he walked over toward the center of the arena. Roue, meanwhile, stuck around to the side as he was still just a pretty weak little pup.

Eve flashed Virul a smile, quickly making her way to the edge of the arena taking a quick look around for some kind of height that she could use to her advantage.

Eve cast a look around and saw that behind her was a step, about a half a foot in height, that went around the Arena and could count as higher ground. Otherwise, there were four pointy-like structures she could try scaling, though it would take a rather nimble person to get up there, and falling would mean being vulnerable to attack.

As Eve was busy looking around, two large sandstones at J13 and 14 moved aside with a sandy crunching noise, revealing a pit to Virul, and a moment later, the heads of two Lizardfolk as they were brought up by a platform.
They had rather vicious grins on their faces as they stepped off the platform and the sandstones crunched back into place, and carried equally vicious battle axes and mauls.

"There are your opponents!" Nickademus yelled out to everyone, human and reptile alike, from the safety of his alcove. "Tear them to shreds!"

---

Battle has started!

Turns and positions are as follow!

Virul (19/22 HP, 20/20 MP, L14)
Lizardfolk Scalebreaker (-7/50 HP, 10/10 MP, K13)
Eve (9/10 HP, 10/10 MP, Q9)
Roue (7/8 HP, L9)
Lizardfolk Mauler (-12/26 HP, 8/8 MP, K14) *_*

---

Virul's turn! -

Virul tightened his grip on his epees as he quickly observed both of the lizardfolk approaching them. He quietly noted the relatively small size of the arena, not ideal for a long range fighter, and thus decided to bring as much attention from the lizards to himself as he could. Giving a tight smile as he dashed off toward the bigger of the two lizards, the Scalebreaker, the thief attempted to pierce it in the belly with his swords.

The Scalebreaker's slitted eyes narrowed as Virul demanded its attention by charging at it. It had just enough time to reposition its feet before the fencer was on him, and he lowered his shield to catch the first epee at the same time as he swept his battle axe in hopes of deflecting the second epee!

The Scalebreaker's wooden shield slid into position and the large lizard easily deflected Virul's first attempt at an attack. Since Virul had had to move to get to his opponent, he couldn't get his second epee in before the Scalebreaker recovered!

Scalebreaker's turn! -

The Scalebreaker flicked his tongue at Virul as a toothy grin appeared after having thwarted his attack. It recuperated its axe-swing and brought the large blade down on the thief with a backhanded swing, aiming for his mid-torso!

Virul snorted in slight annoyance as he attempted to horizontally twist in the air and avoid the attack.

Virul contorted himself as the large axe approached and easily got out of the way unharmed. The Scalebreaker snarled in anger when its axe didn't even come close!

Virul can counterattack! -

Having evaded the axe swing, Virul attempted to once again strike at the Scalebreaker with his epee the moment his foot hit the ground.

The Scalebreaker let itself get carried by the momentum of its axe-swing and tried to dodge to the side, since neither its axe nor its shield could be used to defend so quickly!

Thanks to the power it had given its attack, the Scalebreaker managed to dodge Virul's epee rather impressively for such a large creature.

Eve's turn! -

Eve quickly eyed the two creatures. Deciding the Mauler might be an easier kill, she took aim and released her arrow.

The Mauler quickly spun upon itself and flicked its tail at the arrow to swat it away!

Brute strength proved to not be enough as the Lizard misaimed its tail and Eve's arrow found its way into a joint between two scales on the Mauler's back, dealing 4 damage!

Roue's turn! -

Roue, being a cowardly little wolf, scampered off to safety toward R11.

Roue scurried away to R11 with his tail between his legs.

Mauler's turn! -

Growling in irritation more than pain, the Mauler glared at Eve for a second, greatly wishing to close its teeth down on that delicate neck of hers.
Instead of giving in to its desires, though, it turned and ganged up on Virul, swinging down with its mace at the fencer's face!

Virul sighed, both at his misses as well at Roue's running away, before shifting his focus on the Mauler's incoming attack. As soon as he recovered, the thief hopped aside to dodge the swing of the mace while attempting to counter back with his blade(s).

Even while being attacked on both flanks, Virul managed to evade the oncoming attack, though the maul had come closer than he was comfortable with. As he dodged, he lashed out with a quick strike of Rio Lobo and caught the lizard's underarm, slicing away at a bit of triceps and dealing 3 damage!

Virul's turn! -

Deciding to follow the route of a predatory animal, Virul focused his attention on the more wounded of the two lizards. Having been able to narrowly avoid that last strike, the thief's blood was pumping as he lashed out with both of his epees at the Mauler, attempting to strike it four times in a row in rapid succession.

Though the Mauler tried to defend, there wasn't much he could do against such a quick onslaught and he rapidly crumbled to the ground looking as if he had been used as a pin cushion!

Scalebreaker's turn! -

The Scalebreaker roared in anger when Virul skewered its brethren. Something changed in its eyes as it entered a rage, dropping its shield in the process, and wildly attacking Virul with two-handed strikes of its battleaxe!

As the rage took over, the Scalebreaker's defenses dropped drastically, but both his strength and dexterity leaped to new heights!
Scalebreaker's Str is now 18, Con 1 and Dex 17!

Quickly recovering from his own attack, Virul yelped and triggered his lightning speed to quickly evade the brutal strike, all the while attempting to counter back with Rio Lobo on either of the monster's arms.

The Scalebreaker's axe savagely swished through the air as Virul's lightning speed kicked in and the fencer became a blur as he evaded the attack!
Virul then twisted Rio Lobo towards the Lizard's arm in counterattack and, though the Scalebreaker was fast in pulling back from the blade, Virul was faster and dealt 7 damage as he gouged his opponent near the elbow!

Eve's turn! -

Shaking her head Eve loosened her grip on her bow and turned to get up on the step.

Eve stepped up to Q9.
1 Action remaining!

Eve reloaded her bow with a bolt arrow.

Roue's turn! -

Roue yawned and scratched himself. (pass turn)

Roue sucks.

Virul's turn! -

Keeping up his momentum and hoping to end this quickly, considering the hot weather was really starting to get to him now, Virul immediately struck repeatedly at the Scalebreaker with both of his epees.

The Scalebreaker twisted and ducked to the right, then the left and jumped back, using the speed its rage provided him to evade Virul's strikes!
Having already tasted the bite of Rio Lobo, it seemed that the Scalebreaker put more effort in dodging it since Virul didn't land a single attack with Rio Lobo this time. His other epee, though, licked the lizard's left shoulder on the first try, dealing 4 damage, then went for a leg on the second swoop, dealing 7 more damage!

Scalebreaker has to recuperate from Wild Attack and evading 4 times in a row. Loose's turn!

Eve's turn! -

Eve took aim and let loose her arrow toward the monster, then reloaded with another bolt.

Though the Scalebreaker was starting to get tired after so many consecutive attacks, it flicked its tail at Eve's arrow and successfully sent it flying elsewhere! The arrow had gotten much closer than it would have liked, though.

Roue's turn! -

Roue rolled on his back with his belly in the air. (pass turn doo bee doo)

A loud, derisive, grunt came from Nickademus' alcove.

Virul's turn! -

Virul was growing weary as time went on, though he continued his melee assault by striking the vital regions of the Scalebreaker with his epees.

Weariness was indeed working it's effects on Virul, as the Lizard dodged both of Rio Lobo's blows, one ducking low, and the other by spinning to the side!
However, the Lizard was also getting tired, as it veritably got impaled mid-chest by one of the epee-strikes, receiving 10 damage, and then got its right arm pierced for another 4 damage! The first wound bled out a bit more, giving 6 more damage!

Scalebreaker's turn! -

Feeling a bit woozy from his last wounds, the Lizard wildly flailed at Virul with its axe, hoping to get this over with before his life bled out!

Virul smiled as two of his attacks managed to hit, again, and noticed the visibly weakening Scalebreaker getting desperate. Hopping away far enough to avoid the axe, the thief mentally thought to himself that he needed a less stuffy change in attire. As he tried to dodge, he also attempted to counter back with Rio Lobo.

While the Lizard came flailing at Virul, loss-of-blood caused him to stumble and completely miss its attack, causing him to swing widely to the right and left it hurrying to catch his footing, lest he fall to the ground!
That left him wide open for Virul's counter, but the fencer had been aiming towards where the Lizard should have been! Virul couldn't rectify his strike fast enough, and swung at the air also!

Eve's turn! -
Eve let loose another bolt arrow praying for a hit before reloading.

Though Eve's shot was on target, the Lizard was still fast enough to bend backwards and evade the electrified arrow!
Eve couldn't reload fast enough, however, and has to wait until next turn.

Roue's turn! -

Deciding to be of help for once, Roue headed closer to the lizard by moving to L9.

Roue scuttled over the hot sand to L9.

Long exposure to the arena's heat is starting to take effect!
Virul takes 3 sun damage!
Scalebreaker takes 3 sun damage!
Eve takes 1 sun damage!
Roue takes 1 sun damage!

Virul's turn! -

Sweating and panting as the fight dragged on, primarily due to his excess clothing in combination with the heat of the arena, Virul tightened his mouth and grit his teeth together before continuing his offensive onslaught with four more strikes at the scalebreaker. He was certain by now that the fight would end at this point.

Virul's prediction was near its mark. Though the Scalebreaker pulled off some impressive contortions on the first two strikes, it eventually slipped and the next two epee-attacks hit their mark, puncturing lung and bowels for a total of 16 damage, which made the lizard jerk and gargle on it's own blood before it fell backwards into the sand, very nearly dead.

---

Battle has ended!
Virul gains 2560 Exp! Virul gains a level!
Roue gains 2560 Exp! Roue gains 4 levels!
Eve gains 2560 Exp! Eve gains 4 levels!

Retreating towards a shaded area as he took off his poncho, Virul sat down for a few minutes and allowed himself to cool off after nearly burning himself up under the scorching Caerhamian sun. After a bit of rest, he looked toward Eve and and said aloud, "Not a bad scuffle, hmm? T'was certainly tiring, however.... we'll still need to make a few more preparations before getting on with our mission."

Shouldering her bow, Eve jumped down from where she was and walked over to Virul wiping sweat off her forehead. “It was a bit hot for what I am used to, but no, not bad." She said finally reaching the shaded area. "What do you have in mind?" She asked to the last part of his statement.

"Hmmmm, a bit more equipment for thee and something from the temple should suffice." Virul replied as he got up and headed toward his fallen scarf, shaking away the sand while he did so. "Let us head on the smiths for the time being." he said before departing for the Lemirian Colosseum.

Nodding Eve followed Virul to the Lemirian Colosseum, without a word.

Back to Caerhamian Arena.