An announcer stepped up to a stage at the side of the arena. The crowd went silent as the announcer began to talk.

“Alright folk! Here’s the tournament you’ve all been waiting for!” The announcer paused for a moment to let the cheering die down, “In the red corner, we have Mikael Ater, a knight from the kingdom of humans.” Cheers and boo’s rang throughout the stadium.

“And in the blue corner, Ella Liort, a young human girl.” Again, there were cheers and boo’s, but the cheers outweighed the boo’s.

“And now, LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!” The announcer walked off the stage and back to his seat. A loud horn was heard, officially beginning the tournament.

Mikael wasted no time, starting off the fight with a dash towards Ella. Mikael swung his left dagger at her and pull his right one in front of him, preparing for an attack. Ella deflected the dagger with her sword, allowing it drop to the floor. Ella dashed towards Mikael, both locking into combat.

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang though out the stadium, only being silenced by the roar of the crowd. Mikael struck Ella’s blade with his, causing them to struggle for power. Mikael threw a punch at Ella‘s head, stunning her momentarily. By the time Ella regained her senses, Mikael had picked up his dagger that he had thrown, and they were ready for another round.

Both circled each other, each waiting for the other to get distracted and let their guard down. Mikael grew impatient and lunged at Ella. She was able to dodge the attack and stabbed Mikael in the shoulder, piercing through one of the only weak spots in his armour. The crowd roared in excitement, anticipating Mikael to drop to the ground in agony. Their excitement turned to amazement when Mikael did not cry out, but only drew out Ella’s sword with blood dripping from it.

Mikael grabbed Ella around her throat and lifted her up into the air. Ella was choking, swinging her sword around trying to find another weak spot in Mikael’s armour. She found a small opening where Mikael’s chest plate was not properly attached to his leg armour and managed to slowly drive her sword into his hip. Mikael dropped her to the ground, but as he did, her sword went with her and violently tore more skin open.

Blood poured out of Mikael’s shoulder and his hip, but he still did not scream out in agony, he only stood there staring at Ella, awaiting her to get back up on her feet.

Yuri watched silently from the sidelines. He could clearly see that Mikael had the upper hand, yet if Ella wasn't strong, she would have never made it through the long desert trek to the arena.
The next round is mine, Yuri thought, though he wouldn't want to miss the first fight.

Ella lied on the floor of the arena, trying to get her breath back. She was coughing, grasping at her throat as if that would help her regain her breath. She finally found a steady rythm after a minute, and kneeled before Mikael, gripping her sword tightly.

'Slowly, don't give all your energy yet. Save it...' She thought to herself as a smile came to her face. She noticed how Mikael was bleeding, and was proud at herself for that.

Her smile faded as she slowly rose to her feet, and realized he had not screamed when he was hurt. 'What kind of guy is this?' She thought as she raised her sword, staring Mikael in the eyes. In one swift motion, she lunged towards him, her sword at the ready.

He has the mentality of a berserker...pain is not something to be concerned with in the heat of battle...I must meet this man after the fight.The girl...she seems afraid...it will be the end of her if she keeps it up.Fear will kill you.

Novus watched the match from on top of the arena's walls, laying against one of the gargoyle styled statues around the bowl.His eyes did not blink...only watching the battle with unshakable determination and focus.

"Get down from there!!!"

He donned a long black cloak that hid his features from the crowd in a shroud of dark, his kind being very unwelcome in this world of prejudices.Not only was he a half-elf...but he was half DARK-elf!..with a frightening posture at that.

"Are you speaking to me?"

"No, I'm speaking to the fucking gargoyle...yes I'm talking to you punk! There are plenty of available seats in the arena, so get your ass down and pick one!"

"If you wish...sir."

Novus jumped down from the wall and smiled at the guard, putting his hand on his shoulder as he walked by.

"Keep up the good work, I appreciate you keeping me in check...I am known to get a little rowdy here and there."

"Well...that's fine and dandy but we do have a duty to this arena you know...just don't do it again."

"But of course sir."

Novus smiled to the guard, releasing his hand from his shoulder. Where he had removed his hand, a mass of green slime was left behind.As the guard began to walk away the slime seeped into the skin of the unfortunate man. Novus disappeared far into the ground before the spell could take effect...only smiling lightly to himself as he heard people begin to scream.The guard had started to vomit blood and bile uncontrollably, shaking and convulsing on the arena's walkway.

"Heh...punk."

Ella lunged towards Mikael with her sword levelled with Mikael’s chest. Mikael raised his left dagger and let Ella’s sword slide against it, avoiding the attempted attack. Mikael took hold of Ella’s wrist, stopping her from using her sword and began to punch the side of her rib cage. With each blow, Ella let out a painful cry as the metal gauntlet on Mikael’s hand made contact with her side.

The crowd roared with every blow Mikael dealt to Ella, a chant started up, “Kill her, Finish her!” the crowd roared with excitement. Out of desperation, Ella put out her left arm and grabbed hold of one of the spikes on Mikael’s gauntlet, she managed to stop him from dealing another hefty blow.

Ella struggled to control her arms, one in the strong grasp of Mikael, the other holding onto his gauntlet, trying to stop him from striking again. Ella slowly pulled her right arm up in level with Mikael’s head. She was able to just scrape at the flesh wound on Mikael’s shoulder, causing Mikael to jerk back. This was an advantage for Ella, as Mikael loosened the grip on her hand, allowing her to slip her hand out from his grip and ready herself again.

Both fighters were now injured and had major weaknesses, yet the two continued to fight with the crowd screaming for more blood. Mikael and Ella charged yet again, locking into another battle of sword play. Mikael swiping with one blade, using it as a decoy, while trying to stab Ella in the ribs with the other. Ella was fast and able to keep up with Mikael’s speed, sometimes being the successor of the battle, but only hitting the cold hard steel that surrounded Mikael.

Mikael threw his daggers high into the air and started striking at Ella with his fists. Ella was forced backwards, her sword becoming her main defence. Ella took a slight step backwards and was greeted with a sharp pain running down the back of her calf muscle. One of Mikael’s daggers had landed right where she had moved her leg, slicing the muscle on her leg as if it were made out of butter. Ella fell to the ground in pain and Mikael stopped attacking. Mikael walked off to pick up his other dagger, which was a foolish thing to do.

Ella tore the dagger from her leg and shuffled over to where Mikael was. Mikael did not hear her sneaking up behind him because he was distracted by a commotion between a guard and some of the spectators. With one mighty lunge, Ella pierced through the chain mail between Mikael’s leg plating, going right through his flesh and narrowly missing the bone.

Mikael stood there for a few seconds as the pain settled in, but all that came out of Mikael was a long, deep, growl. Mikael fell to his knees as blood gushed out of the wound. He turned his head towards Ella, staring at her through the emotionless suit of steel, knowing that only a medical team would be able to remove his dagger from his leg. Mikael slowly stood back up, ignoring the tremendous pain that surged through his leg. He prepared himself for another round against his opponent.

((long post I think I got carried away a bit))

Connor watched from the sidelines. his hands gripping his swords tightly. Mikael seemed inhuman, but after examining his face his pain was obviously being suppressed.

"I don't know what this man has been through.... but he shouldnt be able to walk right now, let alone fight" He said to himself aloud. "It seems like he has the upper hand, but in reality Ella has the advantage here, of course I've been wrong before."

Yuri couldn't stop. He just couldn't stop smiling.
The blood. It had a strange, yet alluring scent that danced through the air. Yuri lusted for the thick crimson gushing from the fighters' wounds, but reminded himself that he was in a stadium of mixed races--humans and elves alike.
Contain yourself, Yuri thought, sighing. The taste of blood will await you when you fight.
Judging from the way the two were at their current state, Yuri couldn't really predict the outcome. Mikael was strong, but Ella had great strategies.
Who would win the first fight?

Ledah laughed heartedly as he saw the man in the steel suit fall before the frail looking girl, deeply startling the people in his vincinity as none could see him hiding in a small wedge beneath the seats in the arena's framework, allowing him to see the entire battle from a ground view.

"Impressive swordwork..... haha! Had that fool not gotten distracted by that cry he wouldnt be in this state," he muttered, looking somewhere above him where the sound originated,"nevertheless, it is still his fault for getting distracted, lets see how the rest of the match will turn out, maybe mister intimidating can still get up and fight. This should be interesting, hopefully my battle will be as well."
Following that phrase, Ledah climbed higher up the framework, picking the pockets of the oblivious human and elven spectators above him as "compensation" for the problems their race had caused him before climbing out a slight distance away, where he came face to face with a bleeding, grosteque corpse outside the hole.

"Stupid fool, dying before the match even star... oh, so he is just a guard, well then it dosent matter." he sighed as he looked around to see if anyone was watching though most could not be bothered by one mere guard's life.
Shoving the body aside, he slowly made his way through the blood and vomit, careful not to get his cloak dirty as he moved to get a proper seat and a good view of what may follow if that knight could get up

Ella panted, staring at her oppenent. She couldn't believe he was this strong. She desperatley needed a break, some water maybe, just five minutes. Knowing she couldn't just call time out like when she fought with her friends, she willed the last biy of her inner strength and glared at Mikael.

'But how is he still standing? That dagger in his leg...it must be killing him!' Ella thought, as she gripped her sword. She took a deep breath and ran towards Mikael at full speed, rasing her sword above her head and striking him hard, all while he just stood there. The sword bounced off of his armour, barely leaving a sratch. Ella smiled. 'Well, I must have done some real damage to him! He's not moving!' She thought, and ran at Mikael, ready to hit him again.

[[I know you said I could control his movements, but it still feels weird, like I'll mess something up! I'll just let you do it for now!]]