A palm axe!
Cane stared at the new weapon he was given. The wide, crescent blade mounted horizontally to its shaft gleamed in the light, almost like a mirror. Unfortunately, Cane didn't have time to familiarise himself.
Lunge!
Out from the opened gates came a blur of yellow. Cane immediately leapt out of the way, and the blur turned to chase him.
"Sh*t, what is this monster!" Cane began to run at full speed. Surprisingly, even though he had Apprentice Warrior speed, a full rank above his opponent, it was barely catching up to him!
If it's a creature as fast as this, then it can only be one. The Rock Leopard.
Cane could only think of this point as he ran, switching directions periodically to throw the Rock Leopard off of his trail. At times, he even smashed the end of the palm axe into the ground in order to vault away.
Cane couldn't slow down for even a fraction of a second, or else the Rock Leopard would be able to close in for several metres. Worse, it had extremely high endurance, so it wasn't gonna run out of energy any time soon.
F*ck, this is gonna be a long chase.
...
"Now, Cane's got bad luck! He's facing off against a Rock Leopard, one of the fastest creatures for their rank. Rock Leopards have two abilities - weak individually, but quite a powerful combo altogether!" The event host excitedly watched the two blurs of speed.
"Its first ability is to increase friction! This makes it grip the ground better, which lets the Rock Leopard make full use of its incredible speed. The second ability is even more impressive. Weight control! It can make itself lighter when leaping up and heavier when falling down, basically min-maxing the jumps it can do!"
The audience couldn't see either of the two clearly. Both Cane and the Rock Leopard had mid-rank 3 speed, with the Rock Leopard being the faster of the two. Because of this, they looked like streaks of colour rapidly moving around the arena. All they knew was that Cane was the one in the front.
"Rock Leopards are less-than average in every other department, of course. This especially includes intelligence, where they're quite single-minded. If Cane can figure this out, perhaps he can use some sort of distraction against this Rock Leopard to win the fight! Of course, he's doing surprisingly well against this speed."
The Chief observed from the side. He, as a Master, could naturally make out their appearance.
Come on, Cane. How are you going to get out of it this time?
...
Crrack!!
Cane smashed the ground, causing the stunned Rock Leopard to fly into the air from the force. As it did so, Cane leapt up and slashed it across the chest with his palm axe! All cats had a soft underbelly, and for Rock Leopards, which were at an Apprentice Combatant level of defence, this was an even greater weakness.
Slash!
ROARR!
The cut was long but shallow, accidently landing too high and glancing off the Rock Leopard's ribcage. In an instant, the monster retaliated with a vicious swipe at Cane, who blocked with the shaft of his palm axe. The force sent Cane smashing back into the ground, while the Rock Leopard floated down like a feather.
The two monsters had a staredown, and Cane grinned at the sight of pain within the Rock Leopard's eyes.
"Your speed advantage is gone. Now, what are you gonna do?" He taunted his opponent, though it definitely didn't understand what Cane was saying. However, the sound of mocking was universal, and the Rock Leopard definitely understood that.
With another ROAR, it leapt at Cane, opting to regain speed through continuous jumps rather than running. Cane turned and began to leap as well, and the chase continued.
Only, this time, Cane was slipping away. After all, the Rock Leopard was already wounded, blood flying with every leap, and Cane could still pole-vault using his palm axe.
Cane could win, as long as he continued escaping. Sooner or later, the creature would die from blood loss and shock. At least, that had been his plan...
Beep!
A voice came through an overhead speaker, the first time anyone talked to Cane since the start of the Monster Gauntlet.
"If a match lasts for more than one hour, it is considered to be lost. Please bear this in mind, contestant Cane Hunter."
This piece of news was shocking, but the sudden interruption was even more so. In fact, Cane was so startled by the sudden voice that he lost focus for a moment.
Slaash!
In that moment, the Rock Leopard closed in on Cane. The palm axe was too long and unwieldy for close quarters, and he could only use his left arm to block the strike. A burning lash of pain crossed through Cane's head, and he quickly pushed back to create distance.
The cut had also been shallow, thanks to Cane's high defence, which was almost 2 ranks stronger than the Rock Leopard's offence. However, Cane knew he'd also bleed out if nothing happened to stop it.
The two began their chase again, and Cane was back to escaping, jumping off walls, random rock faces and vaulting.
Damn it. Back to the drawing board, huh?
...
"Both fighters are now injured. This will be bad for Cane - even once he's defeated the Rock Leopard, this injury will sustain and follow him into the next rounds. Cane's taken away the Rock Leopard's running advantage, and now he needs to focus on removing the Rock Leopard's jump advantage as well. Cane Hunter is gonna have to lay low!"
The event host continued to chatter, now much more calmer.
"Man, our contestant Cane has had terrible luck so far. I wonder how the other contestants are doing?" The event host began talking to himself. "Well, that's for the other event hosts to comment on. I just need to focus on this specific arena."
The event host and commentator for Cane's arena didn't know it, but the other contestants which were taking the test alongside Cane had had much better luck so far. In fact, their opponents were all so easy that within the same timeframe, Frytz, Jeremy and Cassidy were already facing their 8th round, one full round ahead of Cane.
...
Think, damn it, think! What can I do to distract this Rock Leopard...
Cane had fallen into a predictable rhythm, which would've normally been terrible for any fight. Luckily, he wasn't facing a smart opponent. Not even in the slightest.
As Cane continuously streaked through the air, with the Rock Leopard close behind, he noticed something interesting.
The palm axe... was like a mirror. It had a wide surface and was polished until it gleamed. This was something he'd noticed before the match even started, only that he didn't have enough time for the knowledge to register.
However, as he moved erratically, light also caught on the mirror-like blade, only for a few fractions of a second each time. But this was enough for Cane to notice, especially because he'd been weighing his options, such as his weapon.
A leopard... is basically just a big cat, right? In fact, I think that applies to tigers, lions and other felines as well. Thus...
Cane had a devious look on his face. The next moment, he spun around mid-air and used the mirror of the palm axe to catch the arena's light. He shone it onto the ground, making the Rock Leopard halt mid-air using it's Weight Control.
A strange scene suddenly emerged, stunning both the audience and the event host.
The Rock Leopard was... trying to catch the light?
Cane quickly smashed the shaft of the palm axe into the ground, securing its place and keeping the light shining onto the ground. The Rock Leopard was too focused to even notice Cane as he drew closer, and in a quick movement Cane latched onto its back.
"RAAHH!"
With an almost primal yell, Cane dug his hands into the Rock Leopard's ears. One thing about cats, as well as big cats, was that they had exceptionally large ears.
Normally, no one would be agile or precise enough to reach those areas, but because Cane had similar speeds to the Rock Leopard, as well as very precisely controlled limbs, he could most certainly take advantage of this weakness.
After all, the ears basically led straight to the brain.
Crush! Squelch!
Smatters of hot blood poured out of the Rock Leopard's orifices, coating Cane's hands with the liquid. Cane had just driven his hands deep into the skull of the creature, forcing his way through the slightly narrow gap and mutilating the brain.
...
Holy sh*t.
The audience erupted into cheers at the bloody spectacle. Looking from above, Gabriel and Susie felt a sense of disconnect - they knew Cane was a kind person, but the sight in front of them was as brutal as it could get. What Cane did next made things look even worse.
Cane didn't waste any time. He first went over to the Owl-Rat and plucked some feathers, using the downy parts to clean up both his and the Rock Leopard's blood. He also used it to soak up the blood leaking from his arm.
Next, Cane busied himself with removing the skin of the Rock Leopard, wrapping it tightly around his left arm and creating a kind of bandage.
"Hey, that's not illegal, right?"
The event host turned to ask the Chief Cleanser, who'd been watching the scene in approval.
"Even if it is illegal, if I like it, what can you guys do? Just keep the fights and commentaries coming. I think this kid can go very far in the Empty Districts."
The event host nodded along.
"Yes, that's true. I somehow feel like he'll be able to clear the 10th round..."
The two men stood in silence as they watched Cane sit down on the Rock Leopard's carcass to rest.
The 10th round, huh?
Maybe...