The endless roars and cheering of the crowd flooded Isen's senses immediately after stepping out of his cell, accompanied by the sun beating down on him from above, and the scorched sands that filled the pit he was being guided through. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of people all watching Isen as he experienced an entirely different atmosphere than anything he was used to—it was closer to the opposite of what he'd been accustomed to throughout his life if anything. And to add on to the pressure of everyone watching him… Isen knew that in this strange environment he'd never experienced before, he'd have to fight for his life in the most literal sense of the word. To say he didn't have much combat experience would be… an understatement. He played around with magic at home and always pretended to be doing crazy stunts, but he never had a chance to actually do any of those things in the Demacia.
"Name." One of the guards spoke as they reached the center of the arena, while another undid Isen's restraints. "We need a name from you to get started."
"Oh, uh… Isen."
"And where are you from?"
"...Demacia." He could feel the guard's disgust on the guard's face when those words left his lips. Demacia and Noxus… They weren't at war, but they certainly weren't on friendly terms, either. Isen didn't know the full history of it—he never cared to learn, really.
"The fight will start in just a minute." The guard turned away from Isen, as the other finished his work undoing the restraints around his wrists. They walked to the other side of the pit, leaving Isen alone to his thoughts for a minute.
"Okay, so… I should probably come up with some kind of strategy if I'm about to fight some Noxian gladiator here. Let's see…" The only real tool at Isen's disposal was magic. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if it was allowed here. But considering the circumstances, he couldn't care less what the potential punishment for using magic could be. After all, if he didn't use the tools he had at his disposal… Well, he'd almost certainly end up dead. That's what he told himself, anyway.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Just as Isen finished that thought, he heard the screams of an announcer overpower the thousands of people in the crowd. Even with a microphone, that seemed incredibly impressive. "We've got a special day in the Arena today, folks! One young man from lands faraway finds himself deep in the pits of Noxus to fight for his life in a battle against one of your favorite Reckoners! Will he succumb to the Noxian might that our strongest Reckoners have to offer? Or will he overcome all expectations and find his way home!? Let's give it up for our contender, hailing proud military kingdom of Demacia, ISEN!" To Isen's genuine surprise, there would people actually… cheering for him. Did they not care about the fact that he was Demacian? Or were they cheering in hopes that they'd get to see his blood soak the sands below? That would be impossible to tell.
"Okay… thousands of people now have expectations. No pressure! Not like I'm already under the pressure of maybe dying or anything…" Isen told himself under his breath, trying to distract himself. His normal method of calming himself down was to use magic, but… He didn't wanna do that. Not now. He realized that… Nobody in Noxus knew he was a mage. Hell, nobody besides his father knew that he was a mage. There was strength in that… Strength he had to use. A secret weapon of sorts.
"And for his first match, we're bringing in a crowd FAVORITE! The hype's as big as his biceps, it's… VESSID!" Immediately, the crowd began roaring. It made everything he heard from them before seem like distant whisper in comparison. And, as they did… a man emerged from the other side of the arena… and he was HUGE. Isen would look like a toothpick standing next to him. And as soon as the two of them made eye contact… It was like any kind of plan Isen was able to formulate flew out of the window all at once. He was expecting to fight against someone that looked like the guards that he had encountered this far—people that at least looked human. But this guy… He was monstrous!
"Okay, don't panic… He's a big guy, but that just means… he's probably really slow! Yeah, it'll take him a long time to move those…" He thoughts got cut off as he noticed Vessid being a crowd pleaser, flexing and yelling as people cheered his name. "...Absurdly large muscles. So I'll be able to avoid his attacks!… Right? Yeah… That easy. Totally."
"The sun's out, the crowd's ready… Let's RECKOONNNN!" Before Isen even had a chance to process the fact that the fight was starting, Vessid began charging directly forward with his fists up, instantly prepared to start fighting. Isen just barely had enough time to jump out of the way of the giant, but then ended up losing his footing and falling backwards into the sand.
"Well… So much for him being slow! Okay, so plan B is..." Before Isen had the time to come up with a new plan, or even get on his feet again, Vessid turned around and rushed forward once again, ready to take full advantage of Isen's moment of weakness. In a state of panic, Isen tried to quickly crawl away with his feet while still on his back, but all that did was slightly delay how long it took Vessid to reach him. He got in close and raised his fist in the air, before attempting to slam it straight down onto Isen. Isen rolled out of the way of the attack with just barely enough time to spare, and used the chance to create some distance between the two of them.
"Rule one of Noxus! If you don't fight back, you die!" Vessid roared, before once again charging straight toward Isen. He had no time to think up a strategy of any kind other than to dodge out of the way again and try to find an opening. But this time, Vessid wasn't going to let Isen get away with the same trick for a third time. Instead of just charging forward and trying to throw a punch, Vessid reached for one of Isen's arms and gripped it tightly. Then, he lifted Isen up into the air and slammed his entire body down against the ground.
"GAH!" Isen could feel the pain course through his entire body at once. Pain unlike any he had ever felt before. The pain only someone who was trying to kill him could inflict. After just one slam, Vessid tossed Isen aside, having him roll through the sandy pit until colliding with the wall on the opposite side of the arena.
"Noxus! All of you are my strength!" Vessid yelled out to the crowd to hype himself up, which got everyone chanting his name at once. Meanwhile, Isen was left on the ground, coughing up all of the sand that got caught in his mouth.
"Well folks, this fight's looking pretty one sided! Our Demacian newcomer just can't stand up to the raw power of a true Noxian warrior!" Even the announcer was taunting him at this point. Isen felt so weak. He was no warrior. He was no fighter. He was just a kid, caught up in all of these events. Badly hurt… and alone. Nobody was coming to save him. Nobody was coming to bail him out of the mess he got himself into. Nothing.
And then, he looked down. He saw the scarf around his neck, now layered in a thick coat of sand. His mother's. He looked up to the sky. He had always told himself that… his mother was up there, watching over him from above. Was he wrong? Was he really alone all this time?
"...That doesn't matter…" He began pushing himself up, eventually standing on his own two feet again. "Yeah… I'm no fighter. I know that. I'm something else. But…" He looked over to Vessid. Trying to please the crowd. Bragging to them about his strength. Isen just stared at him for a moment, gritting his teeth. "That doesn't mean I'm weaker than some meathead who only things to please a crowd!" He clenched his fist, and as he did, he felt it. His arcanic force. The magical power he kept hidden for so long. The ace up his sleeve that he never let anyone see. Growing up in Demacia taught him not to use it publicly. He had to pretend like he was just an ordinary guy with nothing to him. But that was wrong—he wasn't ordinary. He had a unique power, something most people could only ever dream of. And, in Noxus… that was strength. It was something that the people could respect… And most important, it was exactly what Isen needed to use in order to survive the ordeal.
After a while, Vessid looked back toward Isen. He was genuinely shocked to see him standing—not only that, but to see the ferocious look in his eyes. "...So you can still stand. I'm impressed! I didn't think you'd get back up after that." Vessid began to laugh. "No matter! If it's a death on your own two feet that you want, then I'll oblige!" He began charging forward one more time, but this time… Isen wasn't running. This time, he was ready. "NOXIAN STRENGTH!" He yelled, as he finished closing the distance and was about to attack.
"Now!" Isen snapped his fingers just as Vessid was going to attack, and as he did, a blue barrier instantly appeared around Isen's body, completely blocking Vessid's attack. His face was completely dumbfounded—he never saw this coming.
"And a SHOCKING development has been made in the arena! Our contender, hailing from the kingdom with countless laws against the use and practice of magic, has revealed his own magical prowess to his opponent! Will this be the key factor in deciding his fate!? Get on the edge of your seat folks, this match might not be as one-sided as we all thought!"
"More where that came from!" Isen started concentrating his magic around his hands, forming purely magical gauntlets. He let the barrier drop, and before Vessid could react, got in close and punched him right in the gut, sending an arcanic shockwave throughout his entire body. Vessid coughed from the pain and got sent flying across the arena, keeping his feet planted in the ground.
"You think your magic tricks will save you…!?" Vessid was getting angry. Someone of Isen's side just completely turned the tide of battle against him—completely humiliated him. "You CAN'T defeat me!" Isen got rid of his gauntlets, and used his hands to get some of the sand off of his scarf.
"Watch me!" Then, he did something Vessid expected even less than before. He began charging forward, coming in close. That just seemed like a death wish, but Vessid didn't care. He started running forward too, ready to pummel Isen into the ground for embarrassing him. But little did he know… Isen had something planned for him. All of the sand that Isen seemingly dusted off of his scarf… he had kept it hidden in his hands, waiting for this moment. So as soon as the two of them were close enough, Isen stopped in his tracks, and threw all of the sand directly into Vessid's eyes. It worked just as Isen planned, and stopped Vessid in his tracks completely. He started covering up his eyes and screaming out, unable to see a single thing.
"You…! You dirty little brat! What the hell did you do!?"
"Isn't that much obvious?" Isen concentrated his magic into one of his hands… and created a long, thick staff of magical energy. An artificial blunt weapon. "I WON!" Just as he yelled that, Isen took the staff and slammed it down against Vessid's head. The impact alone created a sound that echoed throughout the entire stadium. The entire crowd fell silent as Vessid felt the force of impact. The sensation of magic hitting every single pain receptor in his entire body. The agonizing feeling of defeat… A thorough defeat by someone who was weaker than him in almost every aspect. After just the one attack, he fell to the ground with a loud thud, causing a huge cloud of sand to rise up from around his body.
And then, the crowd exploded. A collective explosion of applause at the upset victory that nobody saw coming. Isen couldn't explain it, but… It felt good. People in his corner, rooting for him… and celebrating his victory. It was a feeling that he never really had before… and he loved every bit of it.
"I can't believe my eyes, folks! Defying every single expectation, and potentially even defying his own fate… our contender displayed a talent that none of us had ever seen before, and emerged victorious in the battle that we all thought would be his doom! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up! Our winner is… ISEN!" The applause continued. He did it. He survived. He won. The constant screams from the crowd were his reaffirmation. His first trial in Noxus was over… and he survived it.
Writing fight scenes is actually really fun.
In case anyone reading isn't aware, "Vessid" isn't a character that I came up with myself-he actually exists as a card within Legends of Runeterra, and I just borrowed him for this. But anyway-thanks for reading! I'm starting to enjoy writing this a lot more now, and hopefully that doesn't stop anytime soon.