The atmosphere around the colosseum buzzes with excitement as spectators gather from far and wide for the first official battle of the top tournament, aiming to determine the number one fighter. The arena is teeming with eager crowds, eagerly awaiting the thrilling battles the colosseum is renowned for, while merchants sell various wares to those who can afford them. Inside her bedroom, Laura is awakened by the raucous noise of the crowd outside her window.
"So, today's the day, huh?" she mutters to herself as she rises from her bed and stretches.
In the warm-up match of the battle, she'll be facing her maid Marie's brother, Anton. If she wins, Anton will be eliminated, and Marie will leave with him. Although Laura has never spoken to or met Anton before, she feels no pity for Marie due to how she has been treating her.
Roderick had prepared her outfit and weapon for her. It's a simple pair of pants with a black cloak and hood, accompanied by a dagger. Despite her protests, stating she could use her claws, Roderick insisted she have a weapon.
"You need a weapon at least," he'd argued.
Laura ultimately chose a light blade that wouldn't hinder her movements. As she finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on her door.
"Lady Laura, I've brought you your breakfast," Marie announced, entering the room looking visibly upset with a tray of food and some water.
"Thanks. Um... what's got you so mad?" Laura inquired.
Marie glared at Laura. "I'm not mad."
"Could've fooled me, I guess," Laura remarked as she took a seat at her table.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Miss Laura. Will you consider letting Anton win against you?"
"Not even a little."
"You truly are a demon, aren't you?"
"Blah blah blah, just give me my food."
After Marie set the food down on the table, Laura took a bite of her bread and chewed it slowly while Marie sighed.
"You seem to think being rude is going to get me to change my mind. If anything, it's going to make things a lot worse."
"Well then, I guess we have nothing left to talk about."
After finishing all the food, Marie took the tray and began to leave. As she was leaving, Laura thought she could see a faint smile on Marie's face.
A few minutes later, Roderick knocked on Laura's door.
"Laura, it's time."
Laura stood and headed toward the door. Seeing Roderick on the other side, she followed him to the arena.
"Now, Laura, I'm going to go over some of the rules. The first rule is that anything goes. Anything is allowed, and though killing is strictly frowned upon, it's not illegal. There are no judges here; it's simply a battle between you and the opponent. Now, there are three ways you can win. You can either kill the other person, incapacitate them using any means possible, such as knocking them unconscious or stunning them, or make them give up. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, now that you know the rules, we're ready to have a nice clean fight. Anton was certainly pumped up this morning. He's standing on the other side of the arena surrounded by a bunch of other fighters cheering him on."
"So, if I beat him, how much allowance are you going to give me to spend outside?"
"Don't worry about that right now. Just focus on the fight."
It's been a week since Laura's arrival at the colosseum, and she hasn't set foot outside even once. She's really looking forward to being able to participate in the festival.
The two arrive at a gate that's closed off by a bunch of metal bars. On the other side of the bars, Laura can hear the mass of spectators cheering.
"Alright, Laura, wait here until you're called out."
Laura nods, and Roderick leaves her alone in the hallway. She leans against the wall and listens to the crowd.
The massive gate opens, and Roderick steps out into the arena. The crowd goes dead silent. Roderick twirls his finger, and a faint light can be seen on his fingertip. Magic?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming to the first battle of the top tournament to determine the new number one fighter. But before all that, we are debuting a new fighter!"
The crowd erupts into cheers when he says that, and out of reflex, Laura pulls her hood over her head in embarrassment.
"OUTCASTED FROM HER VILLAGE DEEP IN THE ALTRAN WOODS, SHE FOUND HERSELF CAPTURED IN NO TIME. REJECTED BY HUMAN SOCIETY, SHE FOUND HERSELF HERE IN THE COLOSSEUM OF DAWN, AND TODAY SHE'S GOING TO PUT HER SKILLS TO THE TEST. YOU'LL ALL BE TELLING YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS, AND EVEN YOUR DOG THE STORY OF THE DAY YOU SAW THE HALF HUMAN, HALF DEMON GIRL IN ACTION FOR THE FIRST TIME. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME LAURAAAAAAAA THE REJECT!!!!!!"
A wave of applause ripples through the arena. Laura exits the entranceway to the arena's center with her hood still on. The crowd's applause is deafening.
"Why did he have to use that embarrassing nickname?"
Roderick puts his hands up to silence the crowd.
"Now then, everyone, her opponent is someone you've all heard of before."
Roderick turns to the opposite entranceway and points to it.
"IT'S A BATTLE OF PRIDE FOR THIS MAN TODAY. WITH A PITIFUL RECORD OF ZERO WINS AND FOURTEEN LOSES, THIS MAN IS GOING TO BE FIGHTING WITH ALL HIS MIGHT TO STAY. IF HE LOSES, HE LEAVES; IF HE WINS, HE STAYS. GIVE IT UP FOR ANTOOOOOOOON THE BOLD!!!!"
Anton emerges from the entranceway looking about as average as can be. He's got light brown hair that's cut short and a pair of glasses. If Laura had to describe him, she'd say he looked like your typical nerd. Come to think of it, this is probably the first time she's even seen him.
Roderick looks at both of the fighters and then looks to the crowd. "Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen. Time to place your bets!"
Laura can see everyone in the crowd handing money to some employees and being given either a red or blue piece of paper in turn. She asks Roderick a question.
"Um, Roderick, what's going on?"
"Oh, you don't know? Well, betting on matches is pretty much a given, but people prefer to see the fighters, their condition, and their opponent's condition before the betting starts. People in the crowd watch the fighters' movements like hawks, seeing how they walk, if they're sick and stuff like that."
"Oh, I get it."
After about ten minutes, a maid brings Roderick a sheet of paper. Upon looking at it, Roderick looks confused.
"What's wrong?"
He looks at her with a baffled expression on his face, and she tilts her head in confusion. Roderick speaks to the crowd again.
"Well, everyone, it seems that seventy percent of betters bet on Anton to win this match. Could it be that Laura's fighting prowess is too unknown, or do the spectators see something in Anton today?"
With that, Roderick sprints past her back to the entranceway. Anton and Laura look at each other.
Huh? My vision is getting blurry?
"BEGIN!"
Huh? What happened? My head is spinning, and the ground feels shaky. I see Anton coming toward me with his sword drawn. I manage to raise my arm and block it.
The crowd roars loudly.
"Oh! Laura took Anton's first attack head-on."
Anton's sword isn't infused with any sort of magic, so the slash does little to no damage to Laura, but she does stagger a little bit from the force. Anton follows up with a sword slash to the midsection, but Laura backsteps out of the way and falls to one knee, panting. The crowd cheers wildly.
"Anton has pushed her back, folks! This may be Laura's first fight, but she's not off to a great start. She needs to pick herself up, keep her guard up, and press forward. Keep those fingers crossed, folks."
Laura attempts to stand up, but her body won't listen to her. Anton's next swing is aimed for her head, but Laura manages to roll away just in time.
The crowd applauds.
"This girl is dodging every single one of Anton's attacks, and the few he lands aren't doing much damage. But why is she only dodging him?"
The commentators and crowd are getting confused at this point. Anton keeps swinging his sword like he's trying his hardest to swat a fly, meanwhile, Laura is just barely dodging his attacks.
What's going on? I was fine just a minute ago...
I'm starting to feel dizzy again.
"How many times now has Laura been forced to take a knee? It's almost like this girl doesn't want to fight!"
Anton doesn't pursue her. He's panting heavily as well, but for a whole different reason.
"Tsk." Laura clicks her tongue as she's forced to one knee again. Her legs just don't want to work for some reason. The fight has lasted for five minutes at this point, and all she's done is dodge. At this rate, Anton is going to win... She doesn't want to lose this fight after she talked all that smack to Marie.
Anton is getting frustrated, and he's sweating profusely.
"Anton is practically losing control of himself! He's lost count of how many times he's tried to hit Laura, and yet she keeps on dodging him!"
Laura continues to just barely dodge Anton's swings by falling out of the way. Until Anton swings his sword once again, she dodges, then she feels a sharp impact in her side. Anton drove his knee into her ribs causing her to stagger for a second. Anton follows up with his backhand slash aimed at Laura's head. His sword connects for the first time, but he doesn't move after hitting her.
"You...you've got to be kidding me."
Laura caught the sword in her teeth.
"She's biting his blade! Laura caught the sword with her teeth!"
The crowd goes wild as Anton tried to pull his blade away, but Laura doesn't budge. With her opponent no longer able to use his sword, Laura drives one of her claws into his arm that's holding his sword and squeezes.
"Ah!" Anton screams in pain, and the crowd cheers some more.
Then, with all her jaw strength, she bites down even harder on the blade, causing it to shatter, leaving only a little bit of the blade and the hilt remaining. Anton tried to back away, but the claw that's sunk into his right arm prevents him from escaping.
Laura talks to him in between pants. "I...don't know...what trick you pulled... but you're... going to... regret it..." Laura's eyes stare at Anton with murder practically radiating from them.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Anton responds in a frightened tone.
Squelch.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Anton screams as Laura shoves her other claw into his spleen, piercing through his armor.
"OW! OW! OW!" Anton is writhing in pain.
Laura removes her left claw from Anton's right arm and grabs his face.
"OW! OW! OW! Please stop stop stop stop!!"
Laura is squeezing Anton's head painfully.
"Owww! Owwwwww!"
Then, with a loud snap, Laura breaks the glasses.
"Gah! Gah! Gaaaaaaaahhh!!" Anton cries out in agony. "I GIVE UP! PLEASE, I GIVE UP!"
After saying that, Laura hears Roderick say, "The match is over. The winner is Laura."
Laura takes a deep breath and releases Anton's head. He falls backward onto his rear. He looks up at her with tears in his eyes, and Laura turns and walks away.
As soon as she gets out of the arena, she collapses. Her body is limp, she can barely lift her arms. She collapses to the ground, breathing heavily.
Roderick comes running up to Laura.
"Laura! Get a medic over here!" He yells at someone.
Laura opens her eyes slightly to see Roderick looking concerned as he helps her sit up.
"I'm okay. Just tired."
"Quiet. You were acting strange during that fight, all you did was dodge, and you could barely stand. A medic will be here any moment."
"Thank you, Roderick."
Roderick flashes Laura a smile before she closes her eyes and falls asleep.
The atmosphere around the colosseum buzzes with excitement as spectators gather from far and wide for the first official battle of the top tournament, aiming to determine the number one fighter. The arena is teeming with eager crowds, eagerly awaiting the thrilling battles the colosseum is renowned for, while merchants sell various wares to those who can afford them. Inside her bedroom, Laura is awakened by the raucous noise of the crowd outside her window.
"So, today's the day, huh?" she mutters to herself as she rises from her bed and stretches.
In the warm-up match of the battle, she'll be facing her maid Marie's brother, Anton. If she wins, Anton will be eliminated, and Marie will leave with him. Although Laura has never spoken to or met Anton before, she feels no pity for Marie due to how she has been treating her.
Roderick had prepared her outfit and weapon for her. It's a simple pair of pants with a black cloak and hood, accompanied by a dagger. Despite her protests, stating she could use her claws, Roderick insisted she have a weapon.
"You need a weapon at least," he'd argued.
Laura ultimately chose a light blade that wouldn't hinder her movements. As she finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on her door.
"Lady Laura, I've brought you your breakfast," Marie announced, entering the room looking visibly upset with a tray of food and some water.
"Thanks. Um... what's got you so mad?" Laura inquired.
Marie glared at Laura. "I'm not mad."
"Could've fooled me, I guess," Laura remarked as she took a seat at her table.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Miss Laura. Will you consider letting Anton win against you?"
"Not even a little."
"You truly are a demon, aren't you?"
"Blah blah blah, just give me my food."
After Marie set the food down on the table, Laura took a bite of her bread and chewed it slowly while Marie sighed.
"You seem to think being rude is going to get me to change my mind. If anything, it's going to make things a lot worse."
"Well then, I guess we have nothing left to talk about."
After finishing all the food, Marie took the tray and began to leave. As she was leaving, Laura thought she could see a faint smile on Marie's face.
A few minutes later, Roderick knocked on Laura's door.
"Laura, it's time."
Laura stood and headed toward the door. Seeing Roderick on the other side, she followed him to the arena.
"Now, Laura, I'm going to go over some of the rules. The first rule is that anything goes. Anything is allowed, and though killing is strictly frowned upon, it's not illegal. There are no judges here; it's simply a battle between you and the opponent. Now, there are three ways you can win. You can either kill the other person, incapacitate them using any means possible, such as knocking them unconscious or stunning them, or make them give up. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, now that you know the rules, we're ready to have a nice clean fight. Anton was certainly pumped up this morning. He's standing on the other side of the arena surrounded by a bunch of other fighters cheering him on."
"So, if I beat him, how much allowance are you going to give me to spend outside?"
"Don't worry about that right now. Just focus on the fight."
It's been a week since Laura's arrival at the colosseum, and she hasn't set foot outside even once. She's really looking forward to being able to participate in the festival.
The two arrive at a gate that's closed off by a bunch of metal bars. On the other side of the bars, Laura can hear the mass of spectators cheering.
"Alright, Laura, wait here until you're called out."
Laura nods, and Roderick leaves her alone in the hallway. She leans against the wall and listens to the crowd.
The massive gate opens, and Roderick steps out into the arena. The crowd goes dead silent. Roderick twirls his finger, and a faint light can be seen on his fingertip. Magic?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming to the first battle of the top tournament to determine the new number one fighter. But before all that, we are debuting a new fighter!"
The crowd erupts into cheers when he says that, and out of reflex, Laura pulls her hood over her head in embarrassment.
"OUTCASTED FROM HER VILLAGE DEEP IN THE ALTRAN WOODS, SHE FOUND HERSELF CAPTURED IN NO TIME. REJECTED BY HUMAN SOCIETY, SHE FOUND HERSELF HERE IN THE COLOSSEUM OF DAWN, AND TODAY SHE'S GOING TO PUT HER SKILLS TO THE TEST. YOU'LL ALL BE TELLING YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS, AND EVEN YOUR DOG THE STORY OF THE DAY YOU SAW THE HALF HUMAN, HALF DEMON GIRL IN ACTION FOR THE FIRST TIME. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME LAURAAAAAAAA THE REJECT!!!!!!"
A wave of applause ripples through the arena. Laura exits the entranceway to the arena's center with her hood still on. The crowd's applause is deafening.
"Why did he have to use that embarrassing nickname?"
Roderick puts his hands up to silence the crowd.
"Now then, everyone, her opponent is someone you've all heard of before."
Roderick turns to the opposite entranceway and points to it.
"IT'S A BATTLE OF PRIDE FOR THIS MAN TODAY. WITH A PITIFUL RECORD OF ZERO WINS AND FOURTEEN LOSES, THIS MAN IS GOING TO BE FIGHTING WITH ALL HIS MIGHT TO STAY. IF HE LOSES, HE LEAVES; IF HE WINS, HE STAYS. GIVE IT UP FOR ANTOOOOOOOON THE BOLD!!!!"
Anton emerges from the entranceway looking about as average as can be. He's got light brown hair that's cut short and a pair of glasses. If Laura had to describe him, she'd say he looked like your typical nerd. Come to think of it, this is probably the first time she's even seen him.
Roderick looks at both of the fighters and then looks to the crowd. "Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen. Time to place your bets!"
Laura can see everyone in the crowd handing money to some employees and being given either a red or blue piece of paper in turn. She asks Roderick a question.
"Um, Roderick, what's going on?"
"Oh, you don't know? Well, betting on matches is pretty much a given, but people prefer to see the fighters, their condition, and their opponent's condition before the betting starts. People in the crowd watch the fighters' movements like hawks, seeing how they walk, if they're sick and stuff like that."
"Oh, I get it."
After about ten minutes, a maid brings Roderick a sheet of paper. Upon looking at it, Roderick looks confused.
"What's wrong?"
He looks at her with a baffled expression on his face, and she tilts her head in confusion. Roderick speaks to the crowd again.
"Well, everyone, it seems that seventy percent of betters bet on Anton to win this match. Could it be that Laura's fighting prowess is too unknown, or do the spectators see something in Anton today?"
With that, Roderick sprints past her back to the entranceway. Anton and Laura look at each other.
Huh? My vision is getting blurry?
"BEGIN!"
Huh? What happened? My head is spinning, and the ground feels shaky. I see Anton coming toward me with his sword drawn. I manage to raise my arm and block it.
The crowd roars loudly.
"Oh! Laura took Anton's first attack head-on."
Anton's sword isn't infused with any sort of magic, so the slash does little to no damage to Laura, but she does stagger a little bit from the force. Anton follows up with a sword slash to the midsection, but Laura backsteps out of the way and falls to one knee, panting. The crowd cheers wildly.
"Anton has pushed her back, folks! This may be Laura's first fight, but she's not off to a great start. She needs to pick herself up, keep her guard up, and press forward. Keep those fingers crossed, folks."
Laura attempts to stand up, but her body won't listen to her. Anton's next swing is aimed for her head, but Laura manages to roll away just in time.
The crowd applauds.
"This girl is dodging every single one of Anton's attacks, and the few he lands aren't doing much damage. But why is she only dodging him?"
The commentators and crowd are getting confused at this point. Anton keeps swinging his sword like he's trying his hardest to swat a fly, meanwhile, Laura is just barely dodging his attacks.
What's going on? I was fine just a minute ago...
I'm starting to feel dizzy again.
"How many times now has Laura been forced to take a knee? It's almost like this girl doesn't want to fight!"
Anton doesn't pursue her. He's panting heavily as well, but for a whole different reason.
"Tsk." Laura clicks her tongue as she's forced to one knee again. Her legs just don't want to work for some reason. The fight has lasted for five minutes at this point, and all she's done is dodge. At this rate, Anton is going to win... She doesn't want to lose this fight after she talked all that smack to Marie.
Anton is getting frustrated, and he's sweating profusely.
"Anton is practically losing control of himself! He's lost count of how many times he's tried to hit Laura, and yet she keeps on dodging him!"
Laura continues to just barely dodge Anton's swings by falling out of the way. Until Anton swings his sword once again, she dodges, then she feels a sharp impact in her side. Anton drove his knee into her ribs causing her to stagger for a second. Anton follows up with his backhand slash aimed at Laura's head. His sword connects for the first time, but he doesn't move after hitting her.
"You...you've got to be kidding me."
Laura caught the sword in her teeth.
"She's biting his blade! Laura caught the sword with her teeth!"
The crowd goes wild as Anton tried to pull his blade away, but Laura doesn't budge. With her opponent no longer able to use his sword, Laura drives one of her claws into his arm that's holding his sword and squeezes.
"Ah!" Anton screams in pain, and the crowd cheers some more.
Then, with all her jaw strength, she bites down even harder on the blade, causing it to shatter, leaving only a little bit of the blade and the hilt remaining. Anton tried to back away, but the claw that's sunk into his right arm prevents him from escaping.
Laura talks to him in between pants. "I...don't know...what trick you pulled... but you're... going to... regret it..." Laura's eyes stare at Anton with murder practically radiating from them.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Anton responds in a frightened tone.
Squelch.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Anton screams as Laura shoves her other claw into his spleen, piercing through his armor.
"OW! OW! OW!" Anton is writhing in pain.
Laura removes her left claw from Anton's right arm and grabs his face.
"OW! OW! OW! Please stop stop stop stop!!"
Laura is squeezing Anton's head painfully.
"Owww! Owwwwww!"
Then, with a loud snap, Laura breaks the glasses.
"Gah! Gah! Gaaaaaaaahhh!!" Anton cries out in agony. "I GIVE UP! PLEASE, I GIVE UP!"
After saying that, Laura hears Roderick say, "The match is over. The winner is Laura."
Laura takes a deep breath and releases Anton's head. He falls backward onto his rear. He looks up at her with tears in his eyes, and Laura turns and walks away.
As soon as she gets out of the arena, she collapses. Her body is limp, she can barely lift her arms. She collapses to the ground, breathing heavily.
Roderick comes running up to Laura.
"Laura! Get a medic over here!" He yells at someone.
Laura opens her eyes slightly to see Roderick looking concerned as he helps her sit up.
"I'm okay. Just tired."
"Quiet. You were acting strange during that fight, all you did was dodge, and you could barely stand. A medic will be here any moment."
"Thank you, Roderick."
Roderick flashes Laura a smile before she closes her eyes and falls asleep.
