High up on the king's seat, Tristian stood beside him. Excitement filled the air the crowd was roaring, yet the battlefield was dead silent. Gustav had just sliced off the Minotaur's arm.
"For his age, he's pretty strong, huh. Tell me, Tristian, who is the boy?"
"Gustav is an orphan we found and brought in five years ago to help form the new generation of soldiers. We found many like him, sir."
"This child… is he like me?" thought Aurela.
"GRAAAAAA"
The Minotaur stood frozen, staring at his severed arm, hesitating to fight. Everyone in the arena watched anxiously, waiting to see the team's next move.
"Hahaha, my turn then"
From the team, the wild Samuel drew his huge sword and aimed at the beast.
But Lora didn't waste time so she attacked first.
With her large weapon, she struck the Minotaur cleanly without missing.
"Samuel, don't take so long. Others want to have fun too"
"Loraa"
Samuel walked slowly toward the beast, calm and unbothered, staring it down from up close. The Minotaur raised its second arm to strike him. Lora gasped. In a cloud of dust, Samuel remained unmoved and things looked bad for the Minotaur, as Samuel severed its second arm as well.
"GRAAAAAAAAA"
It roared and lunged at Samuel with its horns.
"Foolish creature, you don't even have the strength to butcher one of us"
Hearing that, the beast hurled him into a wall with a burst of raw power. Nolan panicked. The Minotaur charged at him with great speed.
"Watch out, Nolan!"
Hermes yelled and jumped in front to protect him. The whole crowd held their breath.
The Minotaur crashed into Hermes, throwing him into the wall. The wall cracked. Spectators were getting nervous. Even the king prepared to step in and finish it himself but Tristian stopped him.
"Don't worry, my king"
"What do you mean?"
"It's not over yet"
The king lowered his sword and watched with curiosity.
"Nolan, move!" shouted Lora.
"Ahh, what do I do? I have to defend my kingdom or the queen will eat me alive"
At that moment, Nolan drew his bow and fired at the beast. Most of the arrows shattered, but one hit the Minotaur's leg, causing it to stumble.
But Nolan froze, paralyzed by fear, while the Minotaur struggled at his feet.
"Don't eat me… please, little one…"
SSHHHRRRK!!!
"Huh?"
A soft slicing sound the beast's head fell to the ground, severed. The team advanced to the next trial.
"Who is that amazing warrior from the very start? The leader of the team GUSTAV!!!"
"!!YEAHHHHHHHHH!!"
The crowd erupted, cheering and whistling in awe of Gustav.
"Gustav, you ba...rd" said Samuel.
"Thanks? Thanks a lot, Gustav"
"Hmmmm… kid"
"Umm, yeah?"
"You were really cool… but you still need to get stronger" Gustav said with a grin.
"Come on, get up. We're done here."