Count Flamel walked in through the front gate of the arena down to the giant pit awaiting his blades. He had never been to the Taras Arena before in either of his lives, but he had always wished to see its beautiful architecture and to fight within it. At times, it is simply exhilarating to duel another for no reason whatsoever, and this is what Flamel wished to do at the moment. But alas, no one was around as of yet to duel Flamel. So, without anything else to do, Count Flamel decided to practice with some of his spells.

Out of nowhere a fire elemental appeared, for it was that Flamel had summoned it. He needed not to use words or gestured to use any of his spells for he was skilled in those areas quite well. And so, Count Flamel began to combine a series of spells into a great destructible effect. Count Flamel lifted up both of his hands to the sky, and suddenly a whirlwind was created. And he moved his hands in front of him in a circular motion close together. Slowly a ball of water was conjured from Flamel’s hands. And the Count let the ball go, and by the power of the whirlwind, the water went spinning in its vortex. And the finally spell Count Flamel used: Summon Lightning. He pointed his left hand at the spinning water and a blast of electrical energy jolted into the water creating a destructible whirlwind of electrical water.

And so, after admiring his artwork for a few moments, Count Flamel motioned his arms to his right side and then towards the fire elemental he had conjured up. And obeying Flamel’s motions, the whirlwind moved towards the elemental very slowly…

Gentol walked past the outside of the Taras arena. He was hoping to fight and maybe earn some money. Normally, Gentol would not fight just to fight, but he had recently changed his mind. As he walked around to the entrance, he saw many acts of nature happening at once. He knew it was magic, but he did not know why. The arenas were made for sword fighting, not magical duels. 'Maybe he's just showing off,' Gentol thought to himself as he neared the gates.

Gentol entered himself in the competitions. The man there took Gentol's helmet and sword, and told Gentol the basic rules such as no magic and no killing. He said someone would bring armor to him, as well as a plain iron sword. They did not want to risk the competitors having enchanted weapons.

He walked into the waiting room and saw only one other man. He decided to stay where he was and wait for his armor. The waiting platform they were on overlooked the fighting areas. Gentol saw mages lined against the walls of the areas, three per section. Great mages could get jobs at the arena keeping the fighters from using magic. There were only three per section, but Gentol was sure there were much more waiting indoors.

The whirlwind of electrical water slowly moved over to the summoned fire elemental. And within a few seconds, the two collided and the elemental was all but smoke. The electrical water droplets twisting within the whirlwind and collided with the elemental and washed the fire out till all that was left was smoke. Immediately after seeing the two collide, Count Flamel dispelled his magics leaving no trace of anything but a small puddle on the ground, and he looked around. He could not see anyone to duel with, and thus Flamel walked over to a bench and sate down to wait for an opponent to fight.

Gentol heard someone call his name. He looked over and saw there was a man holding a sheathed sword. Following behind the man was someone holding leather armor. As he put the armor on, he was told who his opponent was. He was to fight a man named Flamel. He had never before seen or met the man so he asked who he was. The armor bearer pointed to the man Gentol had seen casting spells.

Gentol walked over to the man and said, “Greetings, I was told to fight you.” He looked around, wondering how the fighting would start. He had never even been in the arena before. He guessed that someone would direct them and tell them when they were to fight. Already, more men began to come into the building: fighters and spectators. Soon the first fight would commence.

There was an ongoing tournament going on that week, but Gentol was in the single fight division. Half the arena was for the tournaments, and half was for the single fights. Many more people filed into the seats that provided a view of the tournament rooms than those who prepared to watch the single fights.

Gentol hoped their fight would occur early, before the shadows left the fields. The sky was cloudless, and he did not want to fight in the summer sun. Because he grew up in the forest, he was not used to the sun, or fighting in it…

Looking up, Count Flamel saw a man walking down the stairs towards him. And in fact, he man was Flamel’s opponent. After hearing the man’s geeting, Flamel spoke: “Greetings to you as well. I presume that you are my opponents in this little duel; am I correct?” Without letting the man answer, for he needed not – the man was wearing the armor of the arena, and it was only noticeable that he was fighting within the duel – Count Flamel continued to speak: “But before we begin, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Count Flamel, and what might your name be kind Sir?”

"Pleased to meet you, Count Flamel. My name is Gentol," Gentol said, looking at his surroundings. He unsheathed the sword for the first time and inspected it. It looked as though it had gone through many battles since it was last repaired. Gentol knew that it would be quite hard to adapt to the new sword after using his for so long. Gentol was anxious to start fighting. A part of him had awakened that desired to use his sword. He knew he could win.

”I look forward to defeating you,” Gentol said with a smirk on his face. His pride was always getting in his way when he fought. He had lost very few times, and with confidence comes pride. Never once had the thought passed through Gentol’s mind that he would lose. From the moment he decided to walk in the gates of the arena, his head was held high.

Count Flamel heard the man’s name, Gentol, and watched him as he unsheathed his sword and oddly examined it. This was a bit strange to the Count, for why would this man be examining his sword now of all times. Hasn’t he already fought with the sword? Perhaps not. Perhaps this is, in fact, the man’s first battle, or it may be just his first battle with a new sword. Either way, this felt like an advantage to Count Flamel, for he was a master with his two scimitars: The Scimitar of Revenge, which he had stolen in his first life to take revenge upon all the people that had persecuted him due to his ugly appearance, and The Scimitar of Hope, which he had acquired in his second life. He found a rather handy smith and told him to make a duplicate of his already owned Scimitar of Revenge, and thus, The Scimitar of Hope was made, for it was that Flamel promised that he would only kill the evils in the world using the sword and no one else.

After hearing the mane’s second reply, Flamel laughed and said: “You presume too much Gentol. This may be well the battle you lose, for I am a master of the scimitar, and it appears to me that you do not even know your sword well enough to even know all its exact details. Do not be angry if I defeat you.” He paused and said somewhat apologetically: “Now I am getting too far ahead of myself. Please forget what I had just said, for I am forgetting my own rule. I shall not show anymore prejudgments towards you any longer, for I have felt such horrible things and do not what to commit them myself towards others as people had done to me in the past. Please forgive me.”

Gentol realized his pride had gotten a hold on him when the count apologized and said, “You aren’t the one at fault, I’m to blame. I apologize for letting my pride grasp me.” There was a moment of silence followed by the arena announcer saying in his loud voice, “Welcome, citizens of Imythess to the Taras Arena. The fights will begin shortly.”

When the announcer finished, a man walked up to Gentol and Flamel. He said to them, pointing, “You will be fighting through those gates.” Gentol turned to Flamel and said, “Well, good luck.” Gentol began to walk towards the gates. He heard a “Good luck to you both” from the man as he walked to tell the next duelers their schedule.

Gentol was now ready to fight. He knew going against someone armed with scimitars would not be an easy task for a regular long sword user. Once he entered the room, he turned to see if Flamel was following.


((sorry it took so long, I thought I had replied already...))

Hearing Gentol apologize as Flamel had done, the Count nodded in an act of confirming his apology. And after hearing that they were to begin their duel, Flamel stood up and walked towards the gates in which he was to fight in. Both Gentol and Flamel entered the gates and walked to the center of the rings each on opposite sides facing each other. The iron gates shut as they entered, and the fight was about to begin.

Count Flamel stood their waiting for the announcer to begin the fight, and it was only a moment later that he did. A man walked down from a flight of stairs to the middle of the arena. He looked out towards the crowd and shouted: “Greetings everyone of Imythess! These two brave men before me will take act in a duel of swords. It will be Count Flamel against Gentol. Who will win? Well, let us find out.” He turned towards Flamel and then to Gentol and said: “The rules are as follows: Most importantly, do not kill your opponent. This is meant to be a friendly duel, not a duel to the death. Secondly, no magic of any kind. And thirdly, don’t leave the ring whilst the duel is in session. That is all, and now, the duel begins!” The man had lifted his arm and thrown it down at the word “begins.” He ran off the arena pit after beginning the duel to watch from the audience.

Count Flamel looked at Gentol and bowed, and he simply stood there afterwards waiting for Gentol to make the first move.

After seeing Flamel bow, Gentol smirked. He readied himself for a quick attack from Flamel's scimitars. They both stood there, one waiting for the other for a few moments. Gentol quickly got bored, and regardless of his instinct to let Flamel attack first, he began to run towards Flamel. The crowd that was watching their battle cried out in excitement. Gentol was determined to give the audience a good show.

When he was near enough, he swung horizontally at Flamel's right side with his left hand nearer to the blade on his grip. Gentol heard someone in the audience scream out, surprised that Gentol was fighting with his left hand. Sometimes being left-handed aided Gentol. Usually, it caught his opponents off guard, causing them to miss a block. If that plan did not work, Gentol, like most skilled warriors could fight just as well with his off-hand. This also occasionally caught opponents off guard too. Right when they think that he would have trouble countering their attacks, he would switch to right-handed fighting.

((sorry if it seems short, that's what happens in battles.))

Seeing that Gentol had taken the first move, Count Flamel could focus more on his defense for the moment at hand. Gentol’s blade flew sideways at his chest, but with his mystical wings, Count Flamel was able to avoid it rather easily. He flung his wings at Gentol and flew backwards away from his blade.

Sliding back on the ground, Count Flamel laughed and spoke aloud: “You amuse me; I love it! This is rather enjoyable, don’t you agree Gentol?” But before he let Gentol answer, Flamel unsheathed both of his scimitars and held them to his left side. And he came charging at Gentol using both his legs and his enormous wings to aid him in his speed. Coming within range, the Count threw both of his swords diagonally upward across Gentol’s chest. Flamel was just simply testing Gentol’s blocking skills to she how much he would be able to take. He wondered how much he could push Gentol before he broke him.

Gentol in the excitement did not notice the man's wings before. He was surprised when Flamel flew back. He quickly prepared himself for a counter attack. He had ignored Flamel's comment, knowing he was just trying to distract him from the battle. When he saw Flamel pull his scimitars down, he prepared for upward slashes. Sure enough, the attacks came both at once. He too could move quickly, and he demonstrated it by stepping backward, much like Flamel had done.

Seeing Flamel had his hands up, Gentol lunged forward, in a stabbing motion. His face showed determination rather than the frustration most would have shown after a comment like Flamel's. He thought that Flamel would probably just step back as he did before. He would be more prepared this time if Flamel did. Gentol knew that he would be able to make Flamel show most of his moves early in the battle.

Glad that he had not defeated Gentol just yet, Count Flamel watched as Gentol stepped back from his attack as did the Count to Gentol’s attack. And he watched as Gentol threw his long sword straight for Flamel’s gut in a hope that he would not block it. Correct was Gentol, Flamel was not able to block the thrust, but he was able to dodge it rather easily. Quickly, Flamel stepped to left avoided Gentol’s blade, and the instant he was out of the way, Flamel using his left scimitar swung horizontally across the neck of Gentol. This was, in fact, a dangerous attack, for if Gentol was not able to avoid or block the attack, then it would be his head that would be lost. Count Flamel was nearly testing him to see how much he could take. If it were that Gentol would not be able to avoid or block the attack, then the Count would simply stop the blade at his neck winning the duel.

As well as attacking Gentol’s neck, Count Flamel used his other scimitar as a shield and held it horizontally between his chest and Gentol’s body in case he would be able to block/avoid his attack and come back with a counter attack.

When Gentol realized he was being attacked from behind, he thought about dropping to the ground and quickly flipping back up. He found fault in this plan, however, for the Count held two swords, and would easily pin Gentol before he got up. "I suppose I have lost," Gentol mumbled under his breath. He trusted Flamel would not behead him, because the penalty for an avoidable murder was death. "You're quite good," he said, dropping his sword as he preformed the flip unarmed to avoid being attacked by Flamel.

Gentol has given up, no more attacks should be attempted!" said the announcer as Gentol dropped his sword. Instantly, the mages readied spells of restraint to use on Flamel and Gentol if necessary. Those who had bet on Flamel cheered loudly. Their cheers, mixed with the booing of the people who bet on Gentol filled the arena. "That was enjoyable," Gentol said after he regained his bearings. "Maybe we will meet again down the road."

((Gentol needed an awakening that he isn't the best fighter ever :P.))

Seeing that Gentol had given up, Count Flamel sheathed back his scimitars after ending his attack, which Gentol had ducked under whilst he was unarmed. He stood up straight and bowed to Gentol whilst he spoke: “It was honor to have this duel with you. Maybe another time when magic is allowed we shall do this again, yes? You are an excellent swordsman with that long sword of yours.” After bowing to Gentol, Flamel turned towards the audience and bowed just the same. The cheers and boos had died down by then, and Flamel turned back towards Gentol and spoke: “Pardon, but I am sorry, for I must leave. As a token of my appreciation, please take this gift of mine.” Flamel pulled out a small, ordinary arrow from underneath his cloak and said: “This was once an arrow owned by a vicious demon of fire I had ran into not too long ago. I found the demon within the City of Balefire and sought to kill it, for it was slaughtering innocent civilians at random, but it fled before I was able to have the chance. Please, accept this gift from me as a promise that we shall meet again and rid this demon together.” Count Flamel held the arrow out in his right hand and waited for Gentol to reply.

Gentol looked at the arrow, then back at the Count. He received the arrow saying: "I'm sure we will meet again, and vanquish this demon you speak of. I was going to head south to my home in Norwood Forest soon. Do you know where this demon lives?"

"Enough talking! There are other fights that need to commence," said a man, walking towards the two. "Mr. Count Flamel," he read from a piece of parchment, "congratulations on your victory, please go to the betting offices to claim your winnings."

"Well, I guess we had better leave," Gentol said, walking towards the gates. "I will be staying in the Song of Elves Tavern & Inn tonight if you want to meet me there." Gentol walked away, wondering if the Count would follow him with something to say.

Count Flamel replied to Gentol: “Yes, I may just well do that, but first I must retrieve my prize. I shall meet you there in time, but for now I say farewell.” And so, the Count bowed to Gentol and walked through the gates disappearing into the distance to find the betting offices in which the man had told him about. And after, Count Flamel would travel to Song of Elves Tavern & Inn to meet up with Gentol once again.