Below the stage, Eric lay motionless inside a dark, circular room made of stone. A wooden door at one end of the room was the only decoration the room had, apart from a glowing circle engraved deeply in the stone floor. In the middle of the circle lay Eric, surrounded by a slowly fading light, as the magic that had teleported him from the stage began to dissipate, the runes going dormant once more as they awaited their next activation.

Lying motionlessly on the cold stones, Eric stared listlessly at the ceiling above. Suddenly, crimson flames in the shape of a sword appeared, filling the empty room with visions of Hydrus' sword as Eric replayed the fight in his mind.

Closing his eyes, Eric rested his hand on his forehead. He'd been so close to seizing victory. The opportunity had been right in front of him, and only his own lack of skill had prevented him from seizing it.

No, that's not right. Hydrus was strong. Incredibly strong even. Eric rationalized. It wasn't as if he or Jun lacked skill, Hydrus had just been… Better. Every move Eric had made, every tactic he'd employed, Hydrus had countered them all. It was like he'd been able to read Eric's movements, accurately choosing the most effective counterplay at every available opportunity. Eric had been forced to pull out all the stops just to get hits in, and still Hydrus had been able to counterattack.

Plus, what was that last attack Hydrus had used? Eric still hadn't come across anyone else with a skill as powerful as Multi-linked Wind Dart. Rob's enhanced and dualcasted Stone Sphere was close, but even that wasn't as powerful as Eric's best spell. However, Hydrus' final attack had been on the verge of overwhelming Eric's attack. The reason Eric had taken more damage than Hydrus was due to the explosion being more powerful where he stood than it had been where Hydrus did.

Above him, Eric could hear Halfthur's voice seeping through the stones as he announced Hydrus' victory to the crowd, the muted noise all that could be heard inside the dark room.

As Eric dwelt on his defeat, a soft noise from the opposite end of the room caused him to become alert. Clawing at the floor, Eric propped himself up on one arm, staring at the doorway which had been opened a crack, as a young elf peeked her head in.

"Excuse me, Mr Kystfyr? Ummm…" she stuttered, staring at the burnt form of the half-elf in front of her. Most of Eric's skin was on display, as the armour and clothes he worn had been slashed or burnt away in his confrontation with Hydrus.

"Yes?" Eric asked, doing his best to appear nonchalant as he became cognizant of his current state.

With a small blush, she continued. "The tournament organizers would like you to get healed and proceed back to the stage for the award ceremony."

"Of course, would you be able to lead me to the healers?"

"They're just over here," the maiden said, pointing to the room just beyond the door.

Climbing to his feet, Eric followed her out of the dark stone room into a well lit room with wood panelling. Numerous beds covered the floor, each one coming up to waist height. A large projection covered one side of the wall, where a number of men and women wearing robes were gathered, discussing the final match as they waited for Eric to arrive.

"Ah, Cyera! You brought him," one of the robed women exclaimed, catching sight of Eric and the young elf as they approached.

Pointing Eric to one of the nearby beds, the robed watchers gathered around, taking out rosaries and wands as they observed his injuries.

"That Hydrus really did a number on you, didn't he dear?" an older woman asked, fiddling with a large rosary in the shape of a teardrop.

Eric winced, "Yeah. He was pretty strong," he responded. Doing his best to keep the emotion from his voice.

Seeing this, the woman gave him an apologetic look. "Well, you did your best. It was a shame you couldn't win though, I'd imagine all the viewers in Nova.n.a.lba were cheering you on."

"Agreed! That Hydrus fellow is lucky he didn't wind up down here. I would have given him a piece of my mind!" said an elderly healer impa.s.sionedly, leaning on his staff with an annoyed look as he gazed towards the projection, where Eric's fight with Hydrus was being displayed.

A replay, Eric realized with interest, observing the magical projection briefly before turning away.

"I was really hoping you'd win," the young elf said from the side.

"Sorry. I let you all down," Eric apologized.

"None of that now. You did your best, anyone could see that," the old woman said gently. "That… Man," she spat, "was just too strong. But I'm sure you'll have your revenge. Those arrogant types always get their comeuppance in the end. Take it from someone who's worked in the arena for decades."

"And even fought in it for a while," the elderly man said with a wink towards Eric.

"Ancient history, I have no idea what you're talking about," the woman retorted, before turning back to Eric. "Now then, it looks like you've got primarily burn and slash wounds. Nothing too serious."

Nothing too serious? What on earth did this woman consider as serious? Eric wondered incredulously. His body was covered with wounds, both large and small. His back and front both bore enormous slash marks from where Hydrus had managed to land full power strikes on him, and he'd received some fairly harsh burns from their final exchange.

As if reading his mind, the healer gave him a devilish smile.

"At least he didn't use any acid attacks."

Eric shuddered, "Thank the G.o.ds for that."

This earned him a laugh from the gathered healers.

"Now then, we can heal you with armour on, but I'd like for you to give us your armour. We'll have it fixed and returned to you before we're done so that you can go out there and not look like something the cat dragged in. Your weapons on the other hand will need to be fixed by their original makers. Not to worry though, Novarena will reimburse you for the full price of any damages you've sustained to your gear while fighting in the arena."

Looking at his weapons which he'd set next to the bed, Eric sighed. While the Quickwind Dagger and the falchion were both fine, having simply gotten a little too hot, his bow was another case entirely. The shattered and burned remnants of the once proud longbow lay alongside the ruins of his quiver, looking more like kindling than a once deadly weapon.

Craig is not going to be happy, Eric thought sadly as he gazed at the bow.

"You said they'll reimburse me for anything that was damaged?" Eric asked, removing his armour and handing it to the elf maiden, who took off before she could turn an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"Yes."

"Does that include my pride?"

With a much louder laugh than before, the gathered healers set to work. Casting a mult.i.tude of healing spells as they cleansed Eric's body of the numerous wounds he'd received from Hydrus.