As they spoke, Urz'Vekk allowed his gaze to shift toward the Grath'Mekhai. Her expression hadn't changed.
'What is this feeling?' Urz'Vekk wondered. Like the other elders, he was pleased with the turn of events.
If Drogan could defeat the Ashskin, they could finally be done with him. But even though Drogan had forced him back, something didn't sit right. It felt like… it still wouldn't change the outcome.
All eyes remained glued to the stage.
'He was faster than I thought,' Malakai admitted, mind racing. That was what had disrupted everything, Drogan's sheer speed had caught him off guard.
'Those legs…' Malakai's thoughts narrowed.
Drogan had just two nodes, like the other stalkborn he'd fought today, yet his speed was on a completely different level.
Malakai had read and predicted his movements, but he hadn't accounted for just how fast they'd come. Much faster than expected.
Malakai couldn't help but wonder what the hell the Gor'Mekhai truly were. Why did they have beast parts? Some looked human. Others had beast skin. Some, like Drogan, had actual beast limbs.
It was strange. Too strange.
Were they actually humans, or beasts?
'Humans…' Malakai recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier that morning as he walked through the coven.
He had seen numerous small children having their baths. That wouldn't have been odd, save for the fact that these children were completely human.
No beast parts. No odd skin. The same could be said for the slightly older youths, though they bore slight variations, humanoid forms with minor quirks, like beast skin or faint fur patches.
This discovery had convinced Malakai of one thing, the Gor'Mekhai were, at their core, completely human.
Which begged the question: why the hell, and how the hell, were they replacing their parts with beasts?
'An ability?' Malakai wondered. Perhaps they weren't a new species at all, but rather, humans with an ability that tied them to beasts in some way.
He cleared his thoughts and focused on the battle.
His eyes met Drogan's, and they sharpened. The earlier barrage of attacks he had narrowly evaded had allowed him to measure just how fast Drogan really was. Now that he knew, he could predict, and react, far better.
Looking up, he saw that Drogan now had a smug smile on his face.
"Don't think I'm the same as those weaklings you defeated," Drogan said with a smirk. "This is true power, something only the truly gifted can understand."
He crouched low, legs coiled, ready to spring. As the crowd chanted his name, Drogan blasted forward, appearing in front of Malakai like a phantom.
His leg snapped forward like a spring, hurtling toward the side of Malakai's face.
But Drogan's eyes popped wide as he realized, Malakai had already evaded, even before the kick got close.
'He got faster?' he wondered, but quickly shook the thought off. No, he could see the speed Malakai was moving at. He hadn't gotten faster.
Drogan narrowed his eyes as Malakai closed in, his steps tight and calculated.
'He'll go for my chin,' Drogan realized, and his gaze darkened. If Malakai landed even a single blow to his chin, it was over.
As the rounding kick missed Malakai's head, Drogan abruptly tensed his leg and whipped it back, aiming for the back of Malakai's head.
A confident smile crept onto Drogan's face. Despite the awkward angle, his movements were still explosive. That kick would knock Malakai out at the very least, at most, kill him.
But in the next moment, his heart sank as Malakai vanished, dipping low once more and evading the strike with ease.
Before Drogan could comprehend what had just happened, he felt a sharp force slam into his leg.
He lost balance before the pain even reached him. His eyes shot downward, and he saw his leg bending at an unnatural angle just as his body toppled.
He looked up, just about to shout, but the only thing he saw was a knee filling the entirety of his vision.
The knee slammed into his face, snapping his head backward with brutal force. Before he could even reel from the blow, another roundhouse kick crashed into the side of his chin.
Drogan felt his brain rattle, then darkness swallowed everything before he could even scream.
He hit the ground with a loud thud, unconscious.
Once more, the crowd fell silent. Many who had been on their feet, ready to roar in victory, could only stare at Drogan's crumpled form on the floor.
Malakai hadn't defeated Drogan in a single move, but somehow, that didn't make it any better. He had still done it so effortlessly.
The elders shifted uncomfortably in their seats, some clearing their throats, others frowning to mask their unease.
"Haha! That's Grunde's little bro!" Grunde's cheer broke through the silence. It didn't stop, even as dozens of eyes turned to him with spite.
Luna had stood up to join him, uncaring of the glares they were getting.
Among the seated stalkborn, the youth Malakai had tagged as the strongest was now on his feet, cold eyes locked on Malakai.
The rest of the stalkborn followed his lead, standing behind him like a pack behind their alpha. They all stared at Malakai with open hostility.
But not all of them moved.
At the back, Lina remained seated, hands clenched tightly as she stared at Malakai with a conflicted gaze. 'He had actually defeated Drogan…'
Under the weight of Grath'Mekhai's intense stare, the guard finally called in the last opponent.
By now, the crowd had slumped back to their seats. Hope was gone. The final participant wasn't even a Drah'Morr, and it showed.
As the guard dropped his arm, the youth rushed forward with everything he had. A second later, a sharp bam echoed, and he dropped to the floor, motionless.
Another clean hit to the chin.
Just as the guard opened his mouth to announce the winner, a cold voice echoed across the clearing.
All eyes turned instantly, landing on a youth calmly making his way toward the stage.
It was the same youth Malakai had marked from the beginning, the one he had deemed the strongest among the stalkborn.