'Calm down. Try breathing properly....cleanse your mind of all emotions, feel it getting emptied of all thoughts. Now let your body relax - no twitching of arms, no trashing around...nothing.'

The words rolled in his mind like a mantra David had spoken countless times before. His body shuddered every time he felt the blade of the war axe pummel him to the ground, leaving a echo in his ears.

But David didn't let the sound distract him, didn't let the pain persuade him to give up.

"Point!"

"Point"

"Point!"

"Point!!"

In the background, the veteran's voice kept on turning desperate, as if trying to communicate with David to not lie on the ground and take the beatings.

But at that moment, David didn't hear anything. He did hear someone shouting but what it was, he didn't focus on it neither did he feel any urgency in knowing it.

'Now let's think...what options do I have?' His body jerked once again but he tried ignoring the pain, his teeth clenching slightly.

David understood it quite clearly that a normal fight between the two of them was no longer an option.

'Or more probably, it was never an option. I wouldn't have overwhelmed this guy anyways...'

Eventually he felt his mind clear, able to form cognitive thoughts.

"Two minutes more!" The warning roused him from his internal thoughts.

*Thud*

He let the war axe strike him once more as he rolled away immediately after that.

"You are one robust guy, I shall give you that." The brute man pointed the axe at him as he added, "But being tough won't change the fact that you are currently trailing me by thirty eight points."

David didn't reply. His head downcast, he held onto the ground with gritted teeth. His head covered by the brass helmet spun in the heat as a disoriented feeling made his movements wobble.

He chapped his lips, trying to hold in his churning stomach which now ached from the lack of food. Suddenly, his tongue tasted blood.

'Ugh, this helmet now feels useless...I literally got myself injured on the forehead from a dented portion of this forsaken bascinet.'

Slowly with a slight grunt, he started rising up only to fall back as a searing pain erupted at his waist.

'The blade might have been dulled by the enchanted cloth but even a blunt knife draws blood when stabbed at the same spot multiple times.'

The air above him split as something came whirling down at his back. Without glancing upwards, he rolled once again and dodged the war axe that crashed against the ground.

The brute man yawned lazily, swinging the axe as he approached David. In a tired voice, he muttered.

"Why is that time flows slowly only when you are seriously bored...ugh!"

But he stopped when all of a sudden David popped open his helmet and threw it aside, blood seeping down his chins.

His hairs were a scramble of mess and his eyes appeared glossed, the consciousness in it dimming with time.

Seeing the act, the veteran interuppted. "Contestant 1024, you aren't allowed to open the war helmet we have given you. Please put it back on."

'This helmet is cursed. It's doing the opposite of what it's supposed to do.'

Suddenly his brows creased as something struck him.

'Of course...of course... why didn't I think of that?' His lips twitched in an annoying smile, which when combined with his blood face, made him look like a maniac.

He put the bascinet back on his head as the man once again rushed at him, ready to strike him down.

Using his leftover energy, David jumped back and ran to the centre of the ring with limping legs.

"You aren't outrunning me, buddy." The man, who didn't have scratches or injuries on him, spoke calmly as he closed the distance between them.

His axe raised up in the air, he swung it at the chest of his opponent.

But before it could strike him, David let go of his body as he staggered forward.

"That wasn't my intention though..." He closed his eyes as his body leaned forward, his head at the previous position of his chest.

The man understanding what David was trying to do panicked as he tried to stop the direction of his axe. But the momentum was so high that he failed to do that instantly.

And as a result, the shiny edge of the war axe struck David's bascinet covered head with a dull clanking sound.

Almost instantly, David felt his vision explode into stars as he was spun off the ground like a weightless object.

He lost control over his body as he struck the ground...again.

"Stop right there! You just violated a major rule of the contest. Contestant two hundred one disqualified!"

He felt a faint smile still appear on his lips as he heard the echoing voice of the veteran invigilator.

"No,no...that wasn't it. Believe me, he did it intentionally. He came in front of my axe! You saw it as well, everyone saw it!"

"What delusions are you on, young man. His ankle clearly twisted at the last moment and thus, he slipped. You saw that and yet, drove your axe at him."

Enraged voices echoed at his back - the brute man trying to defend his case and the veteran trying to show him the "reality".

'That's right, mister. I had to "twist my ankles" to show my intentions weren't intentional. And on top of that, you didn't exactly have any restraint in your power.'

From the time the round had begun, it was something that caught his attention a lot. The man - he was strong, but didn't have the control over him and the direction in which his war axe should be going.

And David took full advantage of this, knowing full well that the man wouldn't be able to stop his axe before it's too late.

'I win this round. Yeah, by abusing the rules of the contest, I won...It might be unfair to him but does that matter to me? Nope. The world isn't fair anyways, so why bother with all the formalities?'

His lips spilt into a bloody grin perfectly knowing he would be saying the exact opposite had he been the victim of this "trickery."

All of a sudden, his eyeballs rolled behind his eyes as he finally lost his consciousness.

------

A/N: If you are liking this, do drop few power stones and golden tickets. Thank you :)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.