I don't own (the rights to) oblivion. This is a fan-work, and is not intended for profit.
This was intended to be part of a bigger story, which I'm still writing, but I've decided to leave it up as a one-shot instead since it doesn't quite work with the overall story. The story it was supposed to be a part of is still being written, and will have next to nothing to do with this story.
And I might as well add that the ambiguity of the hero's race, gender, class, birth sign, and everything else concerning that character is entirely intentional. Sure I could have put in the extra effort and just create an original character like most do, but I thought since the Hero of Kvatch doesn't have a specific race or gender being the players' choices, I might as well just leave it up to the readers to decide. I've noticed people tend to have their favorites in terms of race and gender after all. If this seems like a huge problem for you I apologize, but I just wanted people to know it's not a lack of imagination.
Two warrior stood on either side of the arena. It was large, and round. Citizens of the Imperial city sat on balconies above, waiting on edge for the entertainment to start. They laughed and gossiped as they waited; many drinking the finest alcoholic beverages they could afford.
The Hero of Kvatch stood proud, eagerly waiting for the gates to open. On the other side the Gray Prince (Named as such by himself for the odd gray coloration of his skin; A result of being half Orc and what he assumed was half Imperial) stood itching for a fight as well. They eyed each other, each of them sizing up their opponent. The announcer's words fired the crowd up, but were lost on the two of them, who were focused on thrill of the upcoming fight. There was an uproar of cheers as the match began. This would be the greatest match history had ever known; Two titans fighting to the death, struggling against each other's might and cunning.
The gates descended. The crowd went silent.
They ran at each other, drawing their swords and readying their shields. They circled about, eyes locked in a showdown of wits. Neither flinched, neither looked away. Agronak threw the first swing, but the Hero was quicker, and sidestepped the attack, letting the Orc's sword hit the ground harmlessly. Many spectators expressed displeasure at this, and were hoping like hell that Agronak wasn't done for just yet. That would not only be unfortunate, but also an anti-climactic waste of their precious time and hard-earned gold.
The Hero brought the sword down on Agronak, who just narrowly dodged the attack. He brought his shield up, and the his opponent's blade collided with it. He swung his blade again, but the Hero blocked with his own shield. The Gray Prince was having the time of his life; he hadn't fought anyone with this level of skill in a long time. Death would not be unwelcome though, what better way for a legend such as he to die here today having given it all?
They backed away from each other, and Agronak noted the confidence on the warrior's face. Victory seemed inevitable to the Hero he knew, but the Gray Prince would not make it easy. He brought his shield up as the Hero launched another attack at him, and countered by slashing at the Hero's legs.
The Hero jumped, avoiding the attack, and sent a frenzy of slashes and cuts at Agronak, who blocked and countered with his own flurry of expert attacks. The Hero swung horizontally, and the Orc backed away, then rushed forward with his shield, slamming into the Hero who was knocked off-balance and stumbled. He followed up with a thrust, and managed to score a hit on the Hero's left shoulder. His sword was enchanted with a low-grade shock enchantment, which caused the Hero a little pain.
The Hero pulled away, and smacked the Gray Prince's sword, sending it out of his hand, following up by tossing a hand in the air to cast spell; blue energy burst forth, and the Hero's wound was healed. The Hero's hand lit up with blue light again. Agronak blocked with his shield, but the force was backed by a strength augmentation spell, and his arm broke.
Fans of the Hero were excited at this strategy, whereas the Gray Prince's protested cacophonously.
He winced momentarily, but the Gray Prince simply pulled his shield from his left hand with his right, and sent it at the Hero like a discus projectile, and bolted for his sword. The shield collided with the Hero's own shield and bought Agronak some time.
The Grand-Champion managed to reach his sword, but had to dodge a fireball. The Hero had some skill with magic in addition to skill with a blade. Agronak pulled a vial from a pouch on his belt, and uncorked it with his teeth, then took a swig. The potion healed his left arm.
His fans were ecstatic, cheering him on, spurring him to try harder.
He gritted his teeth and rushed, dodging fireball after fireball, as the Hero kept distance between them. He would keep it up as long as he needed, until the caster ran out of magicka, and had to wait for it to regenerate. He pulled another vial from his pouch, this one being a strength augmentation potion. It was a mid-grade potion, but it ended up being enough to disarm the Hero, who was then forced to go on the defensive as the Gray Prince swung his sword with great force. He then began hacking and slashing away at the Hero, whose shield was getting chipped and worn with every blow.
The Hero bided time until there was an opening, and sent a punch at Agronak, which collided with the Orc's face, and set him off-balance. The Hero kicked him in the gut, then followed up with a shield-swing at his hand, which managed to disarm him.
Agronak rushed in, grabbing the Hero's shield and tossing it aside. The Gray Prince went berserk, a surge of power flowing through him. The world around him blurred, until the Hero of Kvatch was the focal point of his rage. He threw a flurry of punches at his target. The Hero blocked a majority of the gray Price's blows, but the Orc managed to land a few good ones, that would certainly leave bruises.
The Hero kept up a strong defense, but eventually turned onto the offense. Like Agronak, the Hero, who had earned the right to be called Champion was proficient at hand-to-hand combat, and
Scored several hits on the Orc after managing to stun him momentarily with a well-place blow to the gut. Agronak could take it though, because he was the Gray Prince, long believed invincible. Though the crowd's faith in that theory would be shaken by now. But despite that, at least he knew he still had fans; they were still cheering for him after all.
"AgroNAK! AgroNAK! AgroNAK! AgroNAK! " They shouted as they clapped their hands together in unison.
He rushed the Hero, sending a punch augmented with a minor strength augmentation potion. This potion also augmented his speed a little, and his punch managed to throw the Hero back a bit, and he followed up with a kick, sending his opponent staggering. He rushed in and back-handed his oppnent as his potion wore off. The Hero had somehow managed to toss up a mediocre shield spell. His hand stung a little, but it was still in one piece.
The Hero sent a kick at him in retaliation, and he blocked it. The Hero followed up using a downward thrust with hands joined together. Agronak brought his arms up to block. He succeeded, but the Hero kneed him in the groin as he did so. His fans roared with rage.
Agronak's opponent tossed a bolt of lightning at him, which missed as dropped low to the ground, rolling backward. He rose, dashing toward his with a haymaker, sending the warrior to the ground. As the hero lay spread-eagle, Agronak leapt into the air, and came down at his foe with an elbow thrust. The hero rolled over, springing up and away form the Orc, and aiming a frost spell at the Grand Champion. The movements of the two fighters were too quick for deadly accuracy, and the attack merely grazed the Prince. He rose up as the hero stumbled backward, before gaining balance again, and bolting for the nearest sword.
Agronak took the opportunity to get the other sword, which turned out to be his adversaries. The Hero hadn't scored a hit on him with it, so he wasn't sure what the enchantment was, but at the very least he knew it wasn't a corrosion spell. The two of the engaged each other once more, slashing angrily, blocking, dodging, and countering. The Champion managed to nick the Grand Champion's right leg, and Agronak felt a pulse of electricity run up his leg. He half-staggered, half-side-stepped to the left of the Hero, slashing his foe's right arm. The blade appeared to be enchanted with a strength absorption spell as Agronak suddenly felt a surge of power as he stepped backward and swung his blade again. It met the Hero's sword, and Agronak could tell his opponent had become slightly more frail than before.
His foe was still no pushover however; he took a blast of lightning to the face as he laughed triumphantly. The spell was weaker than it should have been, and though it stung, the Gray Price had no problem staying focused on his mark. He thre his sword up to block another attack, which was then followed up by a kick that glanced his thigh. He stumbled momentarily, but was just barely able to block a flurry of attacks, before retaliating with a flurry of his own. The Hero side-stepped his last attack, and snuck him on the wrist, sending a jolt up his arm and causing him to drop his sword. In the blink of an eye he slapped his opponent in the face, and followed it up with a punch in the gut. The Hero countered with a backhand and fired up another strength augmentation spell, then began pummeling him, before belting him across the face breaking his jaw. Agronak fell to the ground broken. As he the Gray Prince lay on the ground the Hero approached Agronak's broken form, laughing like a maniac. His time was up, he had lost, there was no denying it. He was going to die.
Agronak made peace with that. He had managed to give his all, and that was what mattered most to him. He preferred to die in battle, against an opponent who had earned the right to call themselves his superior.
He died without regret.
The day Agronak gro-Malog died had been a sad day for some, and a proud day for others. And for some it had even been a combination of the two. There were those who were glad as well, and those who could really care less, so long as they got their winnings.
There were rumors that the Hero had made a deal with a daedric god or godess, though no proof supported it. This was hogwash of course, but many could not bring themselves to believe that such an Orc could be killed in the first place, let alone by someone of the Hero's stature.
It was the end of an era. The arena would never be the same from that day forth. The new Grand-Champion went on to fade into obscurity where the arena was concerned, never returning to defend the title of Grand-Champion.
Agronak's memory would live on though, as Heroes' memories often do.