Immortal || ONC 2021-COMPLETE

Chapter 9

Marcus gritted his teeth in frustration. Sinister laughter surrounded them as if a pack of hyenas were waiting to tear them to pieces. Three men appeared from the surrounding woods. They watched the small group as they stood their ground, swords trembling in fear.

"Uh, should we concede?" Keith asked quietly, voice quivering. Ava stayed quiet, not wanting to be the one to decide.

"We don't know their skills yet," Marcus said, trying to sound confident. "Maybe we should give it a shot."

The menacing group didn't give them much time to deliberate. They attacked in unison, swords slicing through the air. Marcus just barely managed to block an attack; the man came at him in full force. Marcus could tell immediately that he was outmatched. This man was much stronger than he was, and he handled his sword with ease and precision.

A glance behind him told him that the other two weren't fairing any better than him, but they appeared to be holding their own for the moment. Marcus pushed the man back and immediately went in for his own attack. His attacks were clumsy but fairly powerful. He gave it his all, one strike after another. The man deftly parried his blows as if they were small flies irritating his face.

"Alright, playtime is over." The man said as he readied himself to fight back. He came at Marcus hard, with a ferocity and speed like nothing Marcus had ever seen. Marcus was sure this was it, that he was about to be sliced in pieces. He wanted to tell the man he conceded, but he could barely get a breath out. It took everything in him to focus on blocking what he could.

That's when he realized although he had small cuts and slices in multiple places, none were fatal. The man paused in his onslaught, giving Marcus a second to breathe.

"Okay, now come at me again." He ordered.

Marcus leaned on his knees and panted. "What?" he said between breaths.

The man rolled his eyes, "Okay, a little out of shape, but overall not the worst I've seen."

It was then that Marcus realized he was no longer in danger. He looked around him and saw that the people fighting Ava and Keith were also either talking calmly to them or fighting carefully.

"What the hell is this? A training session?" Marcus asked, breath slowing.

The man chuckled. "Smart too." He wiped the blood at the tip of his blade. "How else do you expect us to get an idea of your aptitude in combat? Just by watching a bunch of amateurs fighting each other?"

"Oh," Marcus said in realization. It wasn't what Marcus was expecting, but it made sense. He took in a deep breath and readied his stance. "Okay, let's go then."

The man seemed amused at Marcus's reaction. A lot of candidates seem angry when they realized their lives weren't actually in danger.

Marcus took a second to think about how the man moved and contemplate their encounter. Then he attacked. This time the man actually engaged with him, rather than simply knocking his blows to the side.

Their blades clashed as they met each other blow for blow. The man wasn't attacking the way he did before. This time he slowed down and gave Marcus a chance to observe his movements. Marcus copied him as best as he could and tried to find a weakness in his defence.

After some time, the man stopped. "Alright, that's enough." Sweat dripped into Marcus's eyes as he looked up at the man. The other two stopped their sparring as well. This man appeared to be the leader of the group.