The guests sat down, from the lower part to the king's side their status wrote their seating plan, or you can say how the prince viewed is what made it that way, he was in charge of the festival after all, some servants brought forward to the king two glass jars and a dice,
Looking at his heir the king asked "What is this for?" holding the jar full of paper cuts while leaving the other one that is empty in the servant's hand
"It is for you to choose; the names of the participant will be picked at random by you," said Prince Rafam
King Gerdon looked down at the jar with 12 paper cuts inside and said with a smile "I like it!" as he reached inside, picking one and reading it "Ramen, self-signed, a swordsman" that what was written on it
"And what is the 10-sided dice for?" asked the king
"As you know, we have 10 slaves in total, each is numbered, you throwing the dice reveals their fighter" replied Prince Rafam
The king's hand picked the dice, throwing it on the same table it took it from, it danced around it under the moonlight, before it became stationary
"7 it is!" said the king
The arena dug in the ground bellow had 10 cages lowered down, each with its own slave, they were placed in circle, leaving the middle for the blood to spill, of course some cages had to be bigger than other, and sturdier, but nonetheless, there was no way of escaping
On the higher sides of the pit crossbow users circled it, ready for any unplanned harm, 3 guards entered it, holding keys and hanged weapons to choose from, opening the cage numbered 7 a frail tall man, with small muscles tight as a bull's, although the hunger he received was obvious, so was his battle experience
Glaring at the guard in front of him, he looked at the arrows pointed towards him, knowing it wasn't worth it he picked a heavy two-handed axe, on one side sharp as a tooth, and on the other it had pointy heads covered it like small mountains
The king whispered to the reader Brone "He should've have chosen a light weapon; he doesn't seem to have enough muscle mass to wave that around"
"Don't underestimate these Vikings, they are not of the same flesh as any other, after all, these are the warriors" replied the reader
Right after the guards left, letting the knight in, that slaved waved his axe with two hands as hard as he could, the sound of the air shocked the audience, some knights were scared, others surprised, only the top few seemed interested or excited
The knight inside nervous and knowing if he goes back the king will have his head, had only one chance, and that is to tighten his hands around the grip of his sword, and aim his view forward
The moment the bell rang, without hesitation the slave dashed forward, he did not leave a mark on the ground, but the sound of his heavy steps did leave a mark on the air
The knight got into a defensive mode for he was shocked by that speed, a strong slash hit his sword, sparks of yellow and orange filled the knights face and armour so he had to close his eyes, but he did not do that for more than an instant, for that would have been his last, quickly his leg kicked the stomach of the slave as he moved back
Going back into a defensive mod he noticed the slave on his knees, his weapon fell beside him, holding his puke inside, hunger was his true challenger, not that shiny steel in front of him
The knight with a grin though "If I tire him down, or hit him rapidity in the same place, I could reign victorious and leave with my head intact", sadly that thought couldn't be kept for long, the anger on the Viking's face grew larger as he picked his axe back up with one hand, dragging it on the ground
The sound was like a monster's, he dashed forward and with a big step stopped, leaving his arm like a rope, the weapon went in front of him hitting the knight's sword, not as much sparks this time
The slave gripped tightly on his axe with both hands whilst it was still in the air, and continued with a downward hit, the knight could only reflect the thunder rage pointed at him, eyes of red wanting him dead was both in front and around him held by chains and cages of iron
The king watching it got excited as he shouted "Do something you rat like creature"
The knight getting dragging his feet across the field heard people insulting him "Stop dancing around. Hit back you chicken. Are you a sword or a shield man?!" one after another the noble men insulted him after the king
Knowing that wining with a cheap strategy will also lead to either the fall of his career or his head, the knight started pushing forward with hits, those barbaric nobles shouted in excitement as both his and the slave's blood was being spilled down
The knight got tired, but all the slave had was rage, as that metal armoured boy fell on one knee with his sword worn out and filled with cracks, the slave raised his axe, and dropped it down with all his strength, the knight used his sword as a slide, directing the falling doom to the ground, as it was being thrown down it cracked in half, and thus the axe took a huge chunk of his flesh to the stones bellow
the injured and afraid swords man used his handle to strike the stomach of the slave in desperation, and it worked, the slave started puking out his stomach's acid, the knight used that chance to take the broken sword and stabbed the neck of the slave who was already on his knees
The honourable warrior fell to his side his feet and hands hitting the ground in slow death, while the shameful one stood up looking at the nobles, they screamed even more of excitement, right before the king could raise his hands revealing the end of the dule the axe was being dragged
People shouted for him to look back, but he was more focused on the high noble's opinion, as they looked behind him in shock he turned his head back, but it spined around at the same time, crack sounds filled the silent air, alongside the dripping blood and falling teethes, while his body fell down to its knees and then flat on the ground
The slave took its last breath to use the hammer side of his big axe to kill his opponent, just to join him right after
The air was still and cold, people stared at the scene, eyes wide, the king started clapping slowly, and so did the people beside him, even if they did not agree, everybody clapped, because the king did so
After he stopped with a loud and happy voice king Gerdon shouted, "bring me the jar!!!" as the bodies and blood were being removed from the scene