A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 531 - Battle start

After Ankhur issued his challenge, Erik took a deep breath, then smiled widely. He felt the power coursing through his veins, felt his muscles bursting with energy, felt the aetherium at the tip of his fingers, moving at his behest. Small sparks of icy white lightning, tickled across his fingers.

"Love…" he growled affectionately at the fairy by his side. "Please stand aside… watch me, establish our empire."

A shiver went through Elora's spine, and her grin soon matched Erik's. "I'll watch closely, my Emperor. I know you'll show them your worth."

She snapped her fingers to grab the attention of the three women surrounding them and pointed to the side. As a unit, the four of them then moved to the stands, with Nora, Anne, and Seraphina keeping Elora in their protective formation.There, they joined Runa, who naturally wouldn't miss Erik's fight for anything.

Erik and Ankhur stared at each other, but before the fight started, Erik wanted to address the crowd as well.

Taking his hammer in one hand, he spread his arms wide and let his voice boom across the arena. "People of Enkare Nkai! I know many of you don't know me yet, but I've enjoyed mingling in your gatherings and testing my mettle against your mighty warriors!"

Cheers began to spread. Excitement was high, and the respect he showed them was welcome. Rumours about his activities in the city had long since spread around, although some people hadn't heard much yet.

"Hey, is that true?" one asked, after recently returning to the city.

"It is! He's been showing up sporadically at our gatherings with one or more of his wives, and it's always a good time!"

"Yeah, and have you seen his wives?! I'd give my left arm for a single night with just one of them!"

"Don't you dare besmirch saint Emma like that!"

"If anything, he's being humble about testing his mettle against us!" another laughed good naturedly. "He trounced us!"

Erik listened to the responses and sighed with a hint of relief. Over the past few months, he'd tried showing his face among the populace as often as he could, despite his busy schedule, and it'd paid off.

With that settled, he pointed forward at Ankhur, who stood about a hundred paces across from him. "Your king is wise and powerful, and if I manage to proof myself worthy today, I'll be honoured to count him, and you his people, as my own as well! Because the world is dangerous, and together we stand strong!"

The cheers reached a new crescendo. Everyone started repeating the line, together we stand strong, and Ankhur smirked at Erik. "Well spoken, Erik, but I think it's about time we get this show on the road, don't you?"

At those words, a sigil suddenly flared to life on the stump of his left arm. In mere moments, dark green energy formed itself into a new, slightly transparent arm. Against anyone else Ankhur might have saved this arm as a surprise, but Erik naturally knew off it.

The crowd, however, did not, and many gasped in surprise. Ankhur choose not to explain this one, however, as doing so might skew some people against him, thinking he only accepted Erik's request for himself.

Slowly, he swung the new arm around a little. He'd spend the last two months training hard with this new arm until he was finally confident enough to use it in battle. It still wasn't as strong as his old arm, or as coordinated, but by now, it was more of an advantage than not.

Finally, he grasped the second khopesh with the hard-light arm and unsheathed it a little dramatically.

Erik's hammer was held in one hand as the two fighters stared at each other. Slowly, Erik's body started changing. His bones cracked, his muscles trembled, his spine elongated.

He took a little longer than normal, for dramatic effect, but after a few moments, he stood there in full werewolf form, still encased by armour. The only thing he left of was his helmet. Stretching his back for a moment, he reached the total height of 210 cm (~6'10.5") and howled into the air.

A massive blast of sound threw dust into the air, made the air thrum with power, and caused everyone's neck hair to stand up in delicious fright. For a moment, silence fell as everyone shivered in their seats… but then, the cheers only became louder.

The Maasai respected strength, and the power Erik displayed here was truly intimidating.

Meanwhile, however, Ankhur wouldn't be outdone like that. Standing straight himself, he roared into the air, spreading an even more powerful shockwave, showing he wouldn't be holding back today.

Unfortunately, Erik had only broken through about a day ago. He'd barely been able to use this to get used to his new power, but catching up to someone who'd been in the third rank for at least a few years was impossible.

Still, Erik intended to win. Technically, he only needed to impress Ankhur, but the idea of starting his empire with a loss left a bad taste in his mouth. No, no matter what, he'd have to win today.

But by now, the combatants had also lost all patience. Even Ankhur was getting revved up quite a bit. In the end, he, too, was a warrior.

There was no further preamble, no more words spoken. From one moment to the other, the fighting had started. With a loud wail, a storm of yellow sand formed around Ankhur, before he charged at Erik with a roar.

Releasing a roar of his own, Erik used his newly gained strength to twirl the hammer in his hand. Icy white electricity sparked across his body and armour, and a thundersnow blast started charging on the tip of his hammer.

But Ankhur was approaching too rapidly.

With a cry of excitement, Erik lifted his foot. An icy blue magic circle appeared under his sole, before he slammed it down on the ground. Instantly, a sturdy ice wall spawned from the ground, just in front of the charging Ankhur.

Unable to stop in time, he simply smashed right through it, but it caused some damage and forced him to slow down. Ankhur snarled but still grinned from his own excitement.

These two warriors had never even seen the other fight, so it was going to be a journey of discovery for both. In this case, Erik used his ice maker Arcanist spell, which had become a little easier to use since his breakthrough.

Regardless, this afforded Erik the time he needed to finish charging. Just when Ankhur was about to enter his range, Erik took a step forward, and swung his hammer with both hands, aiming straight for Ankhur's head.

The battle had begun, and neither of them would be holding back.