Vis leans his head to the side. A shard of ice slices through his left ear, precisely where his eye had been, but he does not stumble. As he continues sprinting forward, he grins and raises his greatsword. His opponent reacts to the charge by placing her hands on the ground.

  He diverts his path to evade a sheen spreading out from the woman's hands. She clicks her tongue, the man having avoided her trap, but does not pause. From her index finger, which is pointed at Vis’ neck, a haze permeates the air. An icicle crystallises in that space and is launched towards him.

  The ice shatters on his sword's blade, but a second one forces him to halt his approach and lurch to the side. This places him fifteen metres from his opponent.

  “What's wrong, can't get close?” she mocks as she fires more, but no reply is given as he manoeuvres around the projectiles, closing the distance.

  Eventually Vis gets close enough that the woman once again covers the ground with a layer of ice, and she takes several steps backward before colliding with a wall. This takes her by surprise, causing her to glance backward.

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  Vis notices this and decides to take advantage of the opportunity. He drops his sword and plants his legs firmly into the ground. Rapidly channeling energy into them, he then launches himself forward at an inhuman speed, travelling right over the ten metre sheet of ice. His foe finally looks back and shouts in surprise.

  “But your kind can't do magic!”

  Vis’ smile only grows as his fist collides with her face, planting her against the wall. There is a sickeningly loud crunch as his finger bones crack from the impact, and the woman's body falls limp.

  A disembodied voice enters his mind.

  “Vis Magnus is victorious!”

  After several seconds of silence, the crowd watching him erupts. Vis looks around at the people in the arena’s seating, seeing some celebrating and others booing him. He yells out triumphantly, his broken fist raised in the air.

  “I will not tolerate disrespect toward my people!”

  This causes the volume of the spectators to increase even further as he walks over to his sword and picks it up, before he exits through the gate.