Chapter 13 Tournament of Blood(2)

The sun rose to the beginning of a new day and the beginning of the third round of battles. The remaining kobolds gathered in the arena for the next matches each waiting with anticipation or fear for what is to come.

With only 64 kobolds left in the competition the day went by quickly with the smaller amount of matches and the forfeits of lv 0 kobolds when they faced lv 1 kobolds.

Though with the few matches between lv0 kobolds or the matches between lv1 kobolds, the excitement and bloodthirst still persisted in the eyes of the lv 0 kobolds. As they struggled to use everything to their advantage to win even when they died their eyes still shone with persistence.

As lv1 hadn't faced off against each other everyone was excited for this great battle that was unseen so far. With the quieting of the arena as the match began and the slow methodical movements of each fighter waiting for an opportunity to strike the tension slowly rose.

As this would define the direction the tribe would take. With new leadership came new laws and direction though with the elders still alive and the Lord of Grass or what he is now called The Lord of Bloodied Grass.

This fight would be the beginning of a new era for this tribe one filled with might and legends. Eventually the patience of one of the fighters ran out to the excitement of the crowd as they watched the fight with anticipation.

With a mistake that would prove fatal the more patient kobold lost in his surprise.

With the end of the match they started cheering the Lord of Bloodied Grass to Jack's happiness since his worship value was increasing.

Originally he was to be called the Lord of Blood but Jack persuaded the others to keep grass in the name to remember the roots of the tribe and how everyone comes from nothing. To remember humility and honor even with the new taste of blood.

Also the Lord of Blood sounds evil and though the titles aren't important he didn't want such a embarrassing name.

Through the first few battles of lv1 kobolds the tribe learned the ins and outs of the strength a lv1 kobold has. Giving hope to lv0 kobolds to maybe do the impossible though most decided it wasn't worth the risk. Maybe they had a chance to beat a lv1 with tricks but definitely not the several needed to win the tournament.

Without knowing when they would level up they conceded even if the light contained within their eyes flashed with bloodlust, greed and jealousy as they surrendered and left the area.

Jack contemplated ways to preserve the lv1 kobolds throughout the day so the tribe could retain its strength and continued exponential growth. As the first match between lv1 kobolds finished Jack realized with the faith and directions he gave early that stopping the match would have large repercussions on his faith and the tribe.

Noticing the difference in strength between each lv1 kobold from outside the arena many kobolds realized that achieving lv1 recently and having been a lv1 for years was a massive difference that couldn't be covered with tricks.

As the day finished with the final battle coming to a close night fell as Jack furthered planned out the next day.

He decided the next day would be night battles instead of day battles. He did this for the injuries of many kobolds to recover and so the battle would be different from the norm so far.

Hoping a change in environment would maybe invoke some sort of benefit for the tribe.

Night battles from what Jack saw the day before gave Jack hope to see battles of great cunning instead of brute force.

This would give the females an advantage since they are generally weaker than the males but are smarter than them to make up for this.

Even if the level of the blood pool decreased from the day before it was still at at the upper leg portion of each kobold and with the replenishment of blood from the third round the blood pool was still standing strong.

Another night during the tournament of blood passed quietly.

In the morning with the gathering of warriors in the arena Jack announced to the tired and injured crowd of warriors that the battles would be delayed to night.

The warriors looked at each other before each sighing in relief quietly hoping others wouldn't notice their moment of weakness before quickly making their way home to rest.

With the elders and children helping take care of them during the day to prepare for night time battles.

As night settled in and the warriors once again gathered in the arena Jack announced the start of the battles.

As the final lv0 kobold participant lost the comfort all remaining contestants had vanished as each battle would be hard no matter if they were previously high ranked or low ranked.

Few females remained but most won this round since they were able to put to use their cunning.

As the battles were almost over and the final female of tonight entered the area to face off against a male kobold.

The battle started out typical with hiding and sneaking around to jump out to attack.

When this attack happened the female thought she got the jump on the male though unfortunately was wrong as the male quickly turned with a grin as he swiped with his weapon injuring the female badly.

Realizing the danger the female quickly tried to escape but before she was able to the weapon in the male's hand fell onto her arm severing her hand from her body.

As the female screeched to the world releasing her pain she endured and successfully backed off and was able to hide.

With the pitch black darkness and the red pool at their legs the kobolds had extremely limited vision and had to rely on their other senses to succeed.

The female backed away losing blood every second from both her arm that was severed and the chest wound she received on the initial engagement.

She had barely any time left and would probably die eve if she succeeded. So realizing the hopelessness of the situation she decided to calm down and try sneaking up again.

Charging would just get her killed and even if she could collapse any second now she had to wait for the possibility of success.

Using willpower to stay awake as her eyes were flashing while sneaking around the male who was waiting for the announcement that the match was over since leaving would mean he forfeited. Even if she died right after he left the chance for leadership the kobold had would be lost.

As the seconds ticked by with the him waiting not for an attack but the announcement he revealed a weakness that the female took advantage of.

Reacting to slowly and late to do anything the male turned around to see his last sight of a ferocious female jumping and lunging her weapon right into his neck.

With the battle won the female collapsed happy that she was successful even if she was dying.

Jack announced the end of the match as he walked down to both corpses prideful and remorseful that this female was someone he raised and that she died he worthless.

Once close to the bodies with his legs wet from the pool he reached forward to the female grabbing her and pulling her to the surface of the pool.

Jack stared in shock at the female as he couldn't even comprehend the situation in front of him.

This female isn't dead and not only is she not dead but her heartbeat is getting stronger not weaker as time passes.

Realizing what is happening he quickly carried her and rushed out of the arena to a nearby burrow to tend to her.