trice
noun
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Victor looked on in confusion as his opponent entered the arena. He barely heard the crowd’s reaction, but he knew they were mixed. Several people were excited to see him win. Others wanted his opponent to be victorious. Others had several more colorful calls about the person.
That was because his opponent today was something that was almost never seen in the arena. A woman. She was quite the beauty, and seemed to have a fine figure, which was what got the men in the crowds so riled up. He heard several people calling for him to remove various articles of clothing from her during the battle. Victor pointedly ignored them. At the very least, her outfit was fully covering and seemed reasonably well suited to the battlefield. Not as good as armor, but better than nothing.
Although she dressed decently, Victor still felt unsure of himself facing such a person. He was twice her size, wore good armor, and had a sword. She did not even have a weapon. Perhaps a martial artist? But they rarely did well in the arena. Well, he would find out soon.
The two fighters got to their starting spots, around twenty strides away. Close enough to easily close, while being far enough that ranged fighters had a chance. Victor held his sword at the ready. The woman stood relaxed and without any hint of a fighting stance. Was she throwing the match? Maybe hoping to use her looks to sway him into giving up?
The fight began at the signal from the noble’s box. Victor blinked. When he opened his eyes, she was there. Right in front of him. How had she closed the distance so quickly? He barely had the time to form the thought when her arm blurred. In an instant, he felt dozens of impacts striking his chest all at once. And these were not light jabs. Each one felt like the blow of a war hammer.
His armor was practically caved in as his body was launched back from the force of her attacks. Before he even hit the ground, she vanished and reappeared behind him. He had no way of defending from the onslaught that struck him. The attacks came all in a single instant and struck harder than they had any right to. His body buckled and changed direction from the power of her attacks.
He could practically feel his bones bending in ways they should not at the heavy blows and sudden change. He had no idea what was happening to his organs, but whatever it was could not be good. And that was on top of his badly damaged armor pressing painfully into his chest, right on top of where she had hit him.
This time the woman let him hit the ground, knocking out what little air was left in his lungs. He lay there, groaning in pain. Then he felt her hand close against his ankle. Her grip was tighter than a vice, and he felt the small bones start to bend under the force of her grip. Then she threw him.
Victor may as well have been hollow. He tumbled and flipped through the air. A small part of him wondered if he was going to hit the far wall of the arena. That part was silenced when she appeared in front of him. This time, she delivered only a single punch. A punch that might as well have come from a giant.
This time he did slam into the wall of the arena. A wall that would have taken even a fast runner a full minute to reach, he did in an instant. And he was buried in the hard stone, unable to move. And that was even had his body been able to do anything other than feel pain.
His vision started to go dark. The last thing he saw was the woman waving to the crowd as she celebrated a victory that took less than ten seconds. His mind could only wonder how she had done it as his consciousness finally left him.
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