Ezio: Let's hoop.
Zed [Level 3]: You seriously want to hoop for the first challenge?
I'm a dumb little boy for asking. Of course, Ezio would choose a sport where he could try injuring me. If he broke me on the first challenge, it would prove that he was far superior. Then the other challenges wouldn't be necessary. But my suffering wouldn't end there. I'd be torched for the next few minutes too. I look to the crowd of demons to understand why I'm fighting. It seemed surreal that this was actually happening.
The arena was then set up for the game. The full court had two baskets, four corners, one official each corner. Ezio got first possession. His first play was aggressive, but I had already expected it. Ezio throws elbows all over the place while I try to defend myself from the onslaught. He scores four consecutive buckets with ease.
Ezio: Get to the weight room buddy!
Ezio taunts me after each made bucket. It slowly gets to my nerve, so I tell him that he was wasting his breathe.
Ezio: What did you say?
He uses this as a distraction, moves left, then drives for a clean look.
Ezio: Now that's how you hoop!
Zed [Level 3]: You've been hooping since the old days I can tell.
Ezio: Yeah. I have.
Only when Ezio gets a huge lead do I get possession. My first dribble was clean. When I get a good look, I throw it up with no hesitation. It's a make. The score is now 2 to 4.
Ezio: What luck.
Luck wasn't a part of my newbie stats, so what nonsense was he spouting?
I pull up for three once more. Score was 4 to 4 now.
Ezio starts to get nervous. He is now playing aggressive lockdown defense. He pushes me away from the basket, so what do I do? Move back to the half-court line; pull up for three. With the game now 6 to 4, he wouldn't let me score. Ezio hacks: throwing punches, kicks, elbowing my face. When the game was over, the score was 6 to 7. Ezio had won.
Since Ezio was so proud of that win, he allows me to choose the next challenge.
Zed [Level 3]: Running.
Ezio: Are you crazy?! I am one of the fastest in the world.
Zed [Level 3]: How about a push up fade?
Ezio laughs at the challenge.
Ezio: A push-up fade?! Fine!
We both get to our comfortable push up positions. When the count goes up, I try to take calm breathes. Doing lots of pushups is about keeping calm. If I panic, then my body will convulse, so I try to stay as still as possible. The first few pushups were not bad. We both kept a good pace. It wasn't until we got to 37 that it began getting difficult. My arms are now giving up, but when I look to Ezio, he was smiling as he snuck one arm behind his back. I look to the crowd of demons, suddenly getting a strength boost. It's the type of boost that I get when I'm about to die, a strength that I can't explain, the will to survive. Suddenly Ezio slipped trying to grab the object behind his back. Ezio curses under his breath after losing.
Ezio: You shouldn't have won that challenge.
Zed [Level 3]: I did so to survive. You know what my confidence is telling me?
Ezio: What?
Zed [Level 3]: I won't lose to you.
Ezio simply laughs at me.
Ezio: Are you really that delusional? If so, I'm ready to tell you about the last challenge. It will be a fight! HAHAHA! So, tell me Zed! How much fighting experience do you have?!
I shook my head.
Zed [Level 3]: Why should I tell you?
Ezio: You don't have to. The look I see is enough.
When the new arena is set up for the fight, I glance around the see the decorations. There are lines drawn to the floor. Passing the line counts as losing. A display of weapons appeared, Ezio grabbed the wooden scythe then added the other ones to his collection. He left the only big object, the glowing wooden pillar. It was not a weapon, but I had to use it to fight. The wooden pillar was heavy, so I had to carry it with both arms. Why couldn't this be a simple book?
Ezio: I chose this scythe because it matches my magnificent looks.
Zed [Level 3]: Don't trash talk.
Ezio starts to laugh
Zed [Level 3]: Don't you dare trash talk!
I playfully swung the pillar to threaten Ezio. Ezio makes the first attack, swinging the scythe downward, but I block the attack. He strikes with more elbows. When my defense falls, that's when I get struck by his scythe.
I swung the pillar twice to make Ezio back up. He does not back up, choosing to throw a flurry of punches my way. All of them struck me. When I had enough, I swung the pillar to attack, but Ezio was too fast. He kicks me in the chin then follows up with more elbows forcing me to drop the pillar. He slams his scythe down to my head, but I am able to catch it before it fully connected. A trickle of blood flows down my forehead. I knock his weapon away with my head. Ezio jumps back then uses a bow. A few non-lethal arrows come my way, but I dodge most of them. When he runs out of arrows, he goes back to his melee weapons. I block each of their attacks, but Ezio punches me in the face causing me to tumble back.
Ezio: How embarrassing, you didn't even get one hit off.
He goes to pick up his scythe. That's when I charge with all my strength. The charge then became a tackle, one strong enough to move Ezio past the line.