Winter came and went, and Moger made a good deal of attacking the small villages on the outskirts of the kingdoms of Veldat and the dynasty. The regulators arrived late, as usual. Xavier and the boys would use their mercenary activities to justify their profits. Meanwhile, relations between the De Vonder, Tamalor, and Prince Seigmur improved; somehow, Habdlan had stuck between the cracks and seemed to have a good relationship with Uruk.
'Where are we going, Habdlan?' asked Uruk as they traveled in a Tumulos carriage.
'To the Arena,' answered Habdlan with a smile.
Uruk laughed as he remembered his fight with that knight from Princess Mable's personal guard.
'I've been thinking for a few days that it might be fun, and I finally decided to prepare something very special for you,' Habdlan smiled.
Several hours later, the carriage stopped in the royal city. Uruk and Habdlan switched carriages and set off. Half an hour later, they arrived at the Arena of the Royal City.
'Well, this is as far as I go,' said Habdlan, saying goodbye to the confused Uruk.
'Your honor, welcome to the Arena. My name is Tenkor, and the royalty has granted me the honor of being the administrator of the Arena. The man who greeted Uruk was about fifty years old, a height of more than two meters, lines tattooed on the face right under the eyes, bald, a scarce white beard, brown eyes, and his left leg had been relaced by a wood leg. He also had a prominent belly, but when Uruk saw his arms, he noticed the muscles of a warrior.
'Will you fight with me?' asked Uruk, a little disappointed. This warrior had seen better days.
'Of course not,' replied Tenkor, laughing. 'My years of fighting in the arena ended many years ago. Come with me, and I'll show you how it works.'
Tenkor led Uruk through a corridor in the building adjacent to the Arena. There were several rooms along the hallway. Tenkor explained it to Uruk.
'The armory, you can take whatever you need; we have light armor and also enchanted armor, but you have to pay for them. We have weapons of all kinds.'
They walked to another room, and the healers were treating some wounded warriors.
'This is an important place; I recommend you save money to take care of your wounds. Nothing here is free.'
They stopped at a huge room. Several men and some women practiced with different types of weapons or using their bare hands.
'The training room. Many of the beginners do not like it because they do not want to show their techniques and skills to other fighters. The veterans don't care much; they've seen them fight many times.'
They continued walking to the end of the hallway.
'This is the way out to the arena. Once you cross these gates, your life may be in danger. Try not to kill your opponent, but killing is not forbidden. The rules are simple: you fight until someone surrenders or dies. We agree on the type of fight before hand. If you agree to a physical fight, you can't use magic. If you fight as a magician, you must agree to use a minor basic spell, and only that spell will be used. We don't want the magicians to destroy everything around them.'
Uruk smiled at the expectation of entering the arena.
'In the arena, there are no rules except those mentioned; you can use all kinds of dirty tricks; there are fights one against one, but also battles with multiple opponents per team; sometimes an all-against-all can end up with an all-against-one. I've heard that, despite being a magician, your honor is very good at hand-to-hand combat. Is that true?'
'Yes, I am a magician, but I prefer to fight with my fists,' answered Uruk with a smile.
'Excellent. The truth is that mage fights are a bit boring; our audience does not like them because of the limitations that are imposed. We are about to have a free-for-all fight. Would you like to join in?
'Of course,' replied Uruk, showing his sharp teeth in a smile that made him look like a creature out of a horror story.
'Excellent, today we have twelve warriois figthing an all against all; you will love it.' Tenkor laughed as he looked at Uruk's smile.
It was the face of a bloodthirsty man. Tenkor had seen that face many times in his years in the arena. He knew today would be a fun day, and if the boy lived up to his expectations, he would make a lot of money in the coming days.
'What weapon do you want to use?' asked Tenkor.
'I will use my fists; I don't need anything else,' said Uruk. He remembered his previous battles; he had too much of an advantage over knights and warriors. Even the former arena champion lost to him. Uruk wanted a challenge, not an easy victory.
'Very well.' Tenkor laughed as he went out into the arena, accompanied by Uruk.
Tenkor called a man who rested his back against the wall of the building. Meanwhile, Uruk admired the Arena. It was a rectangle of about five hundred meters long and two hundred feet wide, and a small rock wall of one and a half meters high that delimited the real arena from the viewers stands. At both ends of the rectangle, a stone building, the one that could be seen in the distance, was similar to the one from which he had just come out. On the side of the building visible from the arena, there were no windows, only a large door. On both sides of the rectangle, the stands were made of stone, on which dozens of people sat.
'Ladies and gentlemen,' the man Tenkor had just spoken to was a wind magician. He used his magic to increase the intensity of his voice. 'Today we have a very special event. Thirteen fighters will fight in a duel, an all-versus-all. But that is not all. You have heard of the legendary deeds of the mercenaries of the de Vonder family: two fire-titled magicians, as strong as a knight, relentless, and unstoppable. That's it, as you hear it. Ladies and gentlemen, today in our arena, the royal city is pleased to introduce you to Uruk of Vonder.' The magician, who acted as an announcer, pointed to Uruk. Many people began to applaud and shout, while others expressed doubts.
'This brave warrior is looking for a challenge. He'll fight in our arena using only his fists. No weapons, no magic.'
'This magician thinks this is a game; they're going to kill him,' commented someone in the stands.
'He will learn quickly to not be arrogant,' said another of the spectators.
Gossips and rumors spread across the stands.
As soon as the announcer was done, Six men in light armor or in leather clothes, armed with swords and spears, came out of the same gate by which Uruk had come just before. Uruk had seen some of them practicing in the training hall; they passed by and headed to the center of the arena. Uruk followed them. Six other men came out of the other building. Two of them carried bows and arrows, as well as swords. They stayed away from the center of the arena.
Tenkor looked from the inside of the building. "If they kill him, I will earn a lot of money; if he survives and comes out victorious, I already earned a great deal of money, and the show will increase the visits to the arena. Thank you, Master Robalt," he thought as he played with the heavy bag full of coins in his hands.
In the middle of the arena, the men looked at each other. Uruk sight was fixed on a fighter in front of him. Everyone in the arena was bigger and stronger than him, but this man was the biggest of them all. He was a white man wrapped in light armor composed of a chest plate, a helmet, and bracelets.
"When will this begin?" thought Uruk, before closing his eyes. Someone on his right had thrown a bunch of sand in his face. Uruk retreated by instinct with a jump; one arrow clung to his side while the other failed by only a few centimeters. Fortunately, the wound was superficial; his skin was too hard to receive a great deal of damage from a simple arrow.
When Uruk recovered his sight, all the fighters were running towards him. He pulled the arrow from his side, and the sound of the arches firing made him move. He threw himself against the biggest warrior in the arena. He threw a punch that was too wide and obvious. The man held Uruk's arm and pulled him in before he knew what was going on. Uruk's body came crashing to the ground, and a sword was heading toward his chest.
Uruk turned over himself, and two arrows hit the place where he was before. Uruk smiled. Doing a somersault, he got up from the ground, kicked the sand, and threw it over the eyes of one of his attackers. Uruk moved as fast as the wind with a single punch, and one of his attackers bowed over his belly, losing consciousness. A spear scratched his arm. Uruk held the spear, pulled the man holding it, and used him as a shield against the arrows coming towards him. The man died from the attacks of his comrades. The archers did not seem to mind and just reloaded. Uruk used the body as a weapon, holding it by one leg and using it like a club to strike the other fighters.
One after another, he hit them with the corpse. The biggest of the fighters threw himself against Uruk; a gray aura covered his body. With his strength increased by the armor, he cut off the leg of the corpse that Uruk used as a weapon. Uruk threw what was left of the body in his hand against the face of the armored fighter. Uruk used the distraction to close in, and after a punch, he made the warrior fly until it crashed against the stone wall. The impact caused several of the rocks to break and fall to the ground.
Uruk turned around; of the twelve men who entered the arena, only five remained. Including the two archers at a distance. Uruk looked at the three men near him, smiling. Uruk was covered in blood. When he was swinging the corpse around like a club, the body was splashing blood on him. Uruk's blood-covered face with that evil smile gave him a wild and brutal appearance.
'We give up,' said the three men at once, as if they had agreed before hand.
Uruk showed a face of disappointment, then turned his head and looked at the archers. The two men looked at each other, then threw their bows to the ground and even threw out their swords as a sign of surrender.
Uruk dropped his shoulders. He looked at the stands. He had not noticed the prevailing silence. All the arena was frozen in place, and eyes and mouths hung open. The power, brutality, and dominance Uruk had over his opponents left them astonished.
Tenkor had dropped the gold bag to the ground and remained with his mouth open like the others.
Suddenly, a laugh was heard in the silent Arena. Habdlan rose from his seat and began clapping. After him, everyone began to applaud and shout.
'Uruk, Uruk, Uruk,'
'Uruk the destroyer' screamed Habdlan.
The rest of the arena followed his steps.
'Uruk the destroyer, Uruk the destroyer,' they shouted.
Tenkor laughed. Uruk was a spectacle; if he could make him come a couple of times a week, he would make a fortune. Meanwhile, in the arena, Uruk raised his hand to greet Habdlan, and the audience went crazy. Uruk entered the building again. The fight was fun, but he was left unsatisfied. The advertiser, who had come out of his stupor, declared Uruk the winner of the battle.
'Your honor, that was impressive,' hurried Tenkor.
'Yes, I suppose,' replied Uruk.
'What's the matter, your honor?'
'Nothing.' Uruk continued to walk, while Tenkor followed him. They walked to the other end of the building, where they had left the carriage, shortly after Habdlan arrived.
Tenkor was trying to talk to Uruk, who had a bored face. Habdlan was going to congratulate Uruk on his debut in the arena, but...
'Ah! Tenkor, Tenkor, Tenkor. I think you fell short. You see, I promised my friend Uruk a challenge. But...'
'Sir, I didn't know that your friend was this strong. Give me a couple of weeks, and I'll give him a real show.'
'What do you say, Uruk?'
'Well, if you can get something to entertain me, I don't mind going back to the arena once more,' replied Uruk without much enthusiasm.
'Excellent, I promise you that I will do my best to bring something worthy of your strength,' promised Tenkor.
Habdlan and Uruk got into the carriage and left. People coming out of the sand commented.
'Did you see that? He was using the body of a man bigger and heavier than him as a club'
'Totally insane; he's a savage. Do you really think he's a magician?'
'I don't know, they say; in the Vonder family, everyone is a magician. It is said that the destroyer acquired his strength after eating monsters in the jungle of Morr. The Vonder guys play in there like they're in their backyard.'
'I wish I had been born in that family.'
Tenkor had the glow of gold coins in his eyes when he heard the comments.