Chapter 17

After Renon left, Cornell had a few minutes to rest peacefully, though found out that he couldn't sleep. Ada was here somewhere and was going to be sacrificed. In these last few days, everything seemed to be amiss. No, he couldn't sleep. Not until Ada was safe and they were both out of this forsaken castle. By early afternoon, Cornell had climbed to his limit and reached an elevator that took him down into another tower. By far, this tower was the sanest out of the other places he had been. He deemed this tower to be the Tower of Art. As its name suggests, it had the look of a museum and it was filled with the arts. It was also filled with maid and butler vampires, and possessed knight armors.

Next was the Tower of Ruins and then Duel Tower. Duel tower was the most challenging, physically. Each duel involved Cornell becoming trapped in a dueling cage and fighting some were-animal, bred to fight.

The first duel was with a were-cheetah. It bounded up and out of the entrance pit in the floor and came to a stance with its fists up. Cornell stood on the other side of the fairly small cage and examined his opponent: Scrawny and inexperienced with fist fights. Cornell could see it already. Obviously intimidated by its opponent's icy glare, the were-cheetah exposed its sharp teeth in a menacing grin and charged. Cornell fell before he could react. What the cheetah lacked in strength, he made up with speed! Cornell was still victorious. As he defeated his opponent, one side of the cage fell, allowing Cornell to move on before the cage's ceiling fell over the area. Next was a were-wolf, then a were-bull. Cornell could tell that his opponents were getting tougher.

Finally he had come to what he believed to be the last dueling area and fight. The arena was empty. As he came closer to the pit in the middle of the arena, a massive beast jumped out and took a slash at Cornell's shoulder. He leapt back, and held his wound.

"What the devil?! What are you trying to do, Ortega?"

Ortega came closer to the beast and Cornell.

"This is just a warning, from one friend to another. Look at him..."

Cornell looked at the beast Ortega nodded to. Now he had noticed that it was a were-wolf of some sort, but it was so large... Twice his or Ortega's size. Its grey fur smoothed over its muscular body. Cornell also noticed that one of its arms was much bulkier than the other. The large wolf looked daggers at Cornell and bared its fangs. It was not afraid of Cornell like the other were-beasts were.

"Unlike you, this creature could not break the seal placed by the man-beasts." Ortega continued. "That seal was broken for him by Dracula."

"What?! How could anyone else break the seal?"

"After all, there is a limit to the benefits of ascetic training. Yet... Dracula has exceeded that limitation of the were-wolf. Perhaps if you could also find the power to exceed that limitation, hmm?"

Ortega had begun to leave. He turned back to Cornell. "I'll be waiting for you, Cornell. You're not the type that would lay down and die after coming this far."

Cornell's mind was beginning to fill with questions. However, he pushed them aside. He didn't care how this were-wolf gained uberpowers. He didn't care if Dracula existed and was strong enough to break the man-wolf seal. Yet there was one thing he was concerned about that surprised Ortega and nearly Cornell himself.

"Wait! What about Ada?!"

Ortega didn't answer. What did Cornell care for the girl anyway?

After Ortega had left, the battle begun. The arena gates closed, locking Cornell in with the beast. As if it weren't enough, lava pits surrounded the cage edges in four large triangular shapes. Like all the others, it was a fight to the death. The wolf beast lumbered over towards Cornell. With each step, the ground vibrated. Cornell readied his axe and kept his eyes on the beast, holding his ground.

The beast jumped high. Cornell leaped out of the way and rolled just in time before the body slam. The floor shook mightily with the wolf's weight, sending vibrations through Cornell. The warrior didn't waste time. Cornell was back on his feet and took the opportunity to hack at the beast's back. It snapped around and grabbed Cornell by the leg, suspending him high in the air. Blood rushed to Cornell's head as he saw the ground from a different angle. Before the beast could slam Cornell into the lava, he swung his body up and hacked at the beast's hand that held him. The beast dropped him and Cornell was back on his feet by the time he touched the ground.

Unfortunately for the beast, Cornell was very agile and flexible, even without his wolf form. The man-beast ran circles around the beast and hacked him with the battle axe at the same time. To any speculator, it was an interesting sight. By the time the beast grabbed the leg that Cornell was attacking, Cornell had already darted up the beast's back and began attacking the shoulders. Blood started to come from the axe wounds and Cornell knew his efforts weren't in vain.

The wolf beast roared angrily; he wasn't too delighted with Cornell's game of speed. The beast lashed its claws out at Cornell. This time, the man-beast wasn't so lucky. Cornell was knocked clear of his opponent's back and crashed into the opposite side of the cage. His axe was lost during the incident and reclaimed by the beast. It had no need to the weapon and slung it into the lava pool besides Cornell. The battle axe was destroyed...

ROooooar!!

The beast was in pain. The axe wounds had done their job.

GAaaargh...!!

Cornell took the opportunity. Summoning every bit of strength he had and his wolf form, Cornell charged the beast with an almighty roar.

ROOooogh!!

The beast was knocked off his feet and fell into the lava pool to his demise. Lava splashed everywhere from the beast's plunge, but Cornell had left the arena the moment the cage gate fell in his victory.