It was midnight at the corral, and half of the local herd had shown up to watch the fun as two humans beat on each other and rolled in the mud for hours. Sedge beasts surrounded the corral on three sides, leaning against the barriers.

Marceline was geared up in her best armor and festooned with weapons. More were leaning against the corral, ready to grab. Her prep work had included an hour of meditating on the word 'Unyielding', and a five-pound porterhouse steak from the local butcher that gave her +10 STR and +500 Stamina for the next hour. It was expensive, but worth it. The Potion of Frenzied Berserking was churning in her gut and had a 10% chance of giving her a beard for a week, but she needed the speed and bonus chance for critical damage that it gave her. She'd picked them up from an Outlaw Alchemist, buying all 23 bottles he had of the brew. He'd made them from the heart of a Raging Alpha Wolf her group had killed while clearing out the Dark Forest. Sadly, even if she got another heart, there was no guarantee he could make the same potion. Random effects came with the class and couldn't be avoided. She was hoarding them for big events. Tonight fit the bill.

Her armor was a mix of styles, whatever gave her the best protection. She never wore this set except for tough dungeon crawls and boss fights. She had started thinking of Ozzy as the latter. The smiling Butcher across the corral from her was far tougher than any tier four opponent she'd faced. In fact, all four of these people were stupidly overpowered when you considered their classes and limitations. What they lacked in weapon skills and special abilities was made up for with huge Health, Mana, and Stamina pools. And somehow they'd gained an odd collection of abilities. The irony that she was helping them hone their skills and increase their power while trying to beat them wasn't lost on her. She was actually very happy with that. It gave her tougher opponents to test herself against, reveal her weaknesses, and make her train harder. Marcy knew you didn't get better by keeping people down. You trained them to a higher standard, and then trained yourself to be better than they were, always a step ahead of the people you led.

She'd been careful not to show Ozzy all of her abilities, saving some for tonight when better gear, alchemy, and food buffs would enhance her chance at beating him into the ground. She knew all of his fighting abilities at this point and had ways to counter, dodge, or deal with them. It wouldn't be easy, by any stretch of the imagination. It would take timing and using the right combos depending on how he reacted. All four of her students were doing better and learning fast, but they needed to see the full extent of what a skilled player could do. They had extra health and mana, but that would go down fast against the best Tier Four special moves.

Ozzy was starting the fight with his two smaller axes. He grinned at her, totally relaxed. "You about ready, Sunshine? I promised the herd a good show tonight." As if they understood, the sedge beasts began mooing and pawing the ground. Suzette was standing near, on the other side of the corral. "Don't underestimate her, Ozzy, she's serious about this fight."

Ozzy shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll give her a good fight and try not to kill her this time."

Marcie looked over at the Courier. "Call it, Ben."

Without hesitation, Ben yelled out, "123GO!"

Marcy shot across the corral using Close the Gap and triggered First Strike, which would use a chunk of stamina but ensure her first hit was critical, catching the Butcher off guard and injuring him. Her shield was up and ready for any wild swings he made. Ozzy didn't move as she zoomed across the ring at him; he didn't have time to dodge and only raised his crossed flensing axes. She grinned; she wasn't aiming high, and his block wouldn't stop anything. A fraction of a second before her sword would have severed the tendons in his thigh, she hit something hard and immovable. Whatever it was, it knocked her backwards, flying through the air as her momentum was used against her. The corral shattered as she hit and came to her feet.

Rolly yelled out, "No worries, I'll show you how to fix that tomorrow."

Marcie caught the lingering image of the prow of a glowing ship, but didn't waste any time getting back to the fight. This time, she advanced more carefully, moving in and out of Ozzy's range, testing his speed and defenses. He was blocking her harder shots as she'd taught him. She let him get into a rhythm, then struck hard. Her shield slammed into him, using Stunning Bash to slow him up, and she leaped high, coming down with her sword in both hands to execute a Phoenix Strike. The Butcher wasn't able to get his weapons up in time, and she was coming straight down on him. Two things happened at once. Marcy's sword took Ozzy in the shoulder, going deep...

And the Butcher opened his mouth and breathed fire, roaring in pain as her sword struck. Marcy was surprised by the fire and blinded by it, with no way to avoid it. She didn't see the axe that slammed into her and knocked her to the ground, still on fire. She rolled to the side, beat out the flames, and grabbed her spear. Ozzy grabbed her sword with one hand, straining hard, but managed to pull it out. "Damn, you got it stuck in the bone. Hurts like hell."

Marcy echoed that feeling. She was covered in soot, and her hair had burned off, even under her helmet. Rank 7 Fire Resistance wasn't enough against the fire of the Butcher of Sedgewick. She prepared for another round, then stared as the Butcher began to grow, reaching a height of fifteen feet.

"Oh hell. Where did you learn that?"

"Runs in my family. Believe it or not, I'm one of the little ones."

"Shit. Well, guess I'm playing David to your Goliath then." He started to laugh at her, and then her first slingstone hit him in the forehead. "Someone laughed once when I said a sling was a deadly weapon. I train my men to use them. You can kill a lot of big critters as long as you have a sling and enough rocks."

"Those aren't rocks, those are steel ball bearings!" She'd managed to hit him three more times, and the blows stung. He wasn't taking much damage, but it would start to add up. And the pain from the welts on his skull was annoying.

'Yep, and I had them enchanted and blessed just for good measure! I'm quicker than you, especially with all that extra mass. I have to be careful of your flaming breath, but that's got a limited range." She dodged away again, launched a missile at his right kneecap, and then his left, hitting both.

Ozzy stumbled, then growled. Marcy dodged back as he inhaled, but what came out was smoke, not fire. Ozzy breathed out smoke three times as Marcy took advantage of the opening and peppered him with enchanted ball bearings. It was harder to see, but a fifteen-foot-tall Butcher wasn't something that could hide well. She was starting to wonder what his strategy was when the first shark bit her on the leg, going for a spot behind the knee where only thin chain links protected the joint.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What the hell!" Three more sharks latched onto her, sharp teeth finding weak points. She dropped her sling and pulled two daggers, quickly dealing with the sharks, but she could see more forming in the smoke, and Ozzy was charging. She tried to dodge, but one of his cleavers caught her solidly. She gave ground with Acrobatic Dodge, burning stamina, but only taking a quarter of the damage. The game was changing quickly, and she needed new weapons. Running to her stash, she grabbed her Katanas of a Thousand Cuts, wielding one in each hand. She'd learned to use them when fighting a horde of were-turtles and evil kitsune in the Lost Palace of Emperor Yin.

They were ideal for dealing with sharks, and while they might lack the power of her great sword, they could whittle away a large opponent as each hit did incremental damage and caused bleeding.

Ben was trying to keep score, marking down each hit, annoyed that Rolly was looking over his shoulder and commenting.

"You're giving the sharks full points? They're pets, Ozzy should only score partial points for them, and how do you account for bleeding wounds?"

"Then how would you two score them? They also have a slowing effect on her; you have to take that into account."

Rolly conceded the point. "True, so maybe a half point per shark? And increase the value of her sling hits. They're pissing Ozzy off. That makes him do more damage, but he doesn't think as good and goes directly at her. And Marcy knows that. Going for the kneecaps in a friendly fight? Ouch."

Ben erased several numbers and jotted more down. Marcy had just taken out two more sharks as she danced around Ozzy, slashing at his lower half, all she could easily reach. "Family can be difficult. I'm lucky that I can usually win over the ones who try to kill me."

Marcy could see that Ozzy was feeling those deeper wounds. He was bleeding smoke and blood from a dozen cuts; he wasn't using his flaming breath anymore or summoning sharks, and she hoped he was running low on mana. She was moving too fast for him to hit most of the time, and when he did connect, she was using skills to take less damage and maneuver away from him. She was bruised and battered, but the strategy was working, so she kept coming back at him, slashing at him with her swords. She knew that if he wanted to win, he'd have to change tactics. That made her wary as she wondered what else he might throw at her.

She found out when she dodged away from him, and instead of following up, he stepped away and began swinging the chain on his arm. She wasn't worried; she could dodge a flailing attack as easily as anything else. What she wasn't prepared for was for him to throw the chain out, and the end to split into 8 separate chains that spread out too far for her to dodge. The chains wrapped around her torso, and the Butcher dragged her into the air and whirled her around his head. She knew what was coming next and used Just a Flesh Wound! to halve the damage as she was slammed into the ground. She could only do that four times a day, but with how much damage she was taking, it wouldn't matter. Ozzy jerked her back and whirled her around again.

She'd dropped her swords on purpose. She had one chance and needed her hands. Ozzy was making a show of it for the damned cows, whirling her around in a circle. She slowly pulled herself up the chain and created some slack. She almost let go when he slammed her again. As soon as she hit, she rolled towards him, then gained her feet and ran. He couldn't jerk her into the air unless the chain was tight.

The audience of friends and sedge beasts watched as Marcy raced at Ozzy and leaped high, landing on his shoulder. With a quick flip, she looped the chain around his neck and began strangling him, triggering Killing Blow to give her an extra chance of scoring a crit. Chainey tried to drag her off, but that only succeeded in tightening the chain even further. Ozzy could survive without air, but a crushed throat was a different thing. Marcy wasn't as strong as Ozzy, but at forty STR and the boost from the potions, she was quickly strangling him. He only had one trick left to play.

Marcy saw the huge polearm appear in his hand, and wondered if he was going to use it like a backscratcher to knock her off. Then the fire hit her. Across town, the smoke pit belched fireworks into the air, and all of its heat was channeled to Chainey. Marcy strained as hard as she could, but she was dead in only a few seconds. Ozzy collapsed on the ground, with Chainey entwined around his neck and Marcy's tombstone on his back. He struggled to rise, and then a second tombstone appeared.

Suzette covered up her worries about Ozzy, trying to appear calm. "I told the big lug to take her seriously."

Ben cursed, but Rolly just shrugged. "It's going to happen now and then. We can't play rough like this and think we're immortal...well, beyond sort of being immortal. Kind of. If he isn't back in a couple of days, I'll take a dive into his hellpit, die, and try to escort him back."

"You walked out of it once. Is it a portal of some sort?"

"Sometimes, but only one way. It's just the easiest way to die so I can visit Tartarus, pet the puppies, and then look for Ozzy."

"Better you than me. I think those puppies would use me as a chew toy. But how do we score this? Technical victory, or a draw?"

"Let's go with a draw, that way they have to fight again."

The sedge beasts pawed the ground and mooed in approval.