Pokey jumped up with a large grin on his face, brandishing the spear as he walked a little circle for the crowd. Then, ignoring the losing goblin completely, Pokey looked at Lukas and bowed.
'It was an impressive comeback but...' Lukas shook his head, 'couldn't you show a little more respect?'
With the first round over, there was a small 10-minute intermission. The four remaining goblins stood off to the side, each of them practicing swings with their weapons. Three of the losing goblins stood alone, not even bothering to hold their weapons or interact with the other goblins.
However, there was one of them who took the defeat in stride. The one who had lost the very first match.
As Lukas noticed this, he thought, 'I should really get to know their names. That way I can congratulate those who earned it.'
Every successful leader he knew followed at least one rule: showing praise for a job well done. If they liked him, they would be more willing to fight for his army.
With that, he would be able to get the chalice and return to his brother.
'Assuming that's possible,' Lukas thought for a second before shaking the negativity away.
Today was going to mark the birth of his army. There was no reason to assume his plan would fail.
Even if he had to sacrifice this new life, where he was adored and had a chance to maybe do good, he couldn't just leave his brother behind. Especially not with the life they had.
That's why he knew his plan would work. Just like Pokey, he wouldn't accept defeat.
...
"Round 2, begin!"
Pokey circled around his next opponent, this time being careful to maintain proper distance. Since his opponent's weapon of choice was a club, it was clear Pokey was at a significant advantage.
'He fixed his mistake very quickly,' Lukas noticed, nodding with approval.
Making mistakes was inevitable, no matter how good someone thought they were. It wasn't making them that defined somebody, but whether or not they continued making the same mistakes.
Those who learned from failure were successful.
"Gyah!!" The other goblin yelled, charging forward.
Pokey maintained his distance, using his spear as a buffer. As much as the goblin tried, it could never get nearly close enough to strike him.
Smiling, Pokey said, "Me is leader."
Swish. Swish. Swish.
"Next!"
"Next!"
Once again, Pokey did his little circle for the crowd, throwing his hands up triumphantly.
'He's quite the showboat,' Lukas lamented. Though, considering the goblin's recent performance, he decided it was earned.
"Next! Next!"
As the next two goblins entered the ring, Lukas studied them. One used a sword while the other a club. Both of them had ended their match in one series of strikes, so he had no idea what the upper limit of their skill was.
However, he knew that no matter who won, Pokey would have a tough match. Both of these opponents should be at the pinnacle of goblin fighting.
"Begin!"
As soon as the horn sounded, the club goblin charged forward, hoping to score easy points.
The sword goblin shifted his stance, causing the entire arena to gasp.
"I- is that?" Lukas stammered.
"Yep," Alara said with a bright smile.
After all, the sword goblin was using a very basic version of her stance.
Unfazed, the club goblin continued marching on. Even if his opponent was using such a stance, one that flattened many of the goblins with minimal effort, it didn't matter.
Stopping in his tracks out of fear wouldn't win the match. Only clobbering.
Swish.
In a blinding flash of light, the sword struck the club out of the goblin's hand. Defenseless against such an opponent, the club goblin quickly fell to two more slashes.
Everything ended so quickly that the crowd was still surprised about the stance. Very few realized the match itself was already decided.
After a few seconds, realization spread through the crowd. Slow chatters turned into a thunderous uproar as they screamed, "NEXT!! NEXT!!"
'W-what was that?' Lukas thought, wondering if Pokey could even stand a chance.
Sure, he had grit and made up for his mistakes. But was that really enough for... whatever that was?
As he looked at the battlefield, Lukas shook his head. No, it wouldn't be possible. There was no real substitute for raw strength, for the skill to cut down an enemy before they knew of your existence.
Not grit, not manipulation.
The world lived by the sword even if it was moved by the voice. If he couldn't wield the sword himself, Lukas knew he had no chance at survival.
'Unless Pokey proves me wrong...'
...
[Pokey's PoV]
Gripping his spear tightly, Pokey focused all of his attention on the swordmaster.
Even before the arrival of their new god and the scary lady, the swordmaster had been the greatest goblin warrior by far.
Now that he was learning the scary lady's battle styles, Pokey could only imagine how much better he had gotten. It was enough to win the last two matches in a single instant.
But this fight wasn't going to end that way. Pokey wasn't going to lose like he had in all their earlier spars.
Because he didn't have his chief deity cheering him on before.
"Begin!"
Making sure to maintain his distance, Pokey watched the swordmaster's eyes for any tell. Although the scary lady's style was unreadable, that didn't erase the years they had fought together.
Step. Step.
Both the goblins circled each other. Each of them knew that whoever took the first move was going to determine the outcome of the fight.
Either they struck the opponent fast enough to end the match, or they would give them enough of a tell to counter.
Still circling, the swordmaster smiled at Pokey and whispered, "I'm leader."
Lunging forward with the reflex of a cat, the swordmaster sliced through the air. At the last second, Pokey jumped up, extending his spear at the same time.
Clack!
Sparks flew in the air as their weapons connected. The force caused both weapons to vibrate uncontrollably.
Pokey grimaced, feeling his balance lessen.
Because a sword had more surface area, it absorbed more of the impact. For now, that wasn't a factor.
But Pokey knew it would ruin him before long. He had to find a way to minimize that risk.
After the initial clash, both of them circled each other, making soft feints as if going for an attack before retreating at the last second.
All around them, the goblins began clamoring with impatience.
"Fight!"
"Stick him!"
Doing his best to ignore them, Pokey studied the swordmaster. His stance, his footwork. Even his breathing.
He studied the habits the swordmaster had formed over the last several years. And then he wondered why he wasn't incorporating any of the scary lady's style into his own.
In every previous match, the swordmaster had seemingly abandoned all of his previous training.
However, here and now, he was merely using all the tactics Pokey already knew, the stances he had struggled to dissect after hundreds of spars.
Swish!
The swordmaster swung again, leaping through the air as he twisted his hand at the last second. Just as Pokey raised his spear to block the strike, he changed the direction of his sword once again.
Now it was heading straight for Pokey's exposed midsection.
For just a moment, an intense fear passed through Pokey's being. His one chance to make it up to the Chief Deity failed. It failed to the same enemy he could never defeat.
Then in the next, a miraculous thing happened. As if it had a mind of its own, his spear changed direction just as quickly so that the sword struck its stone handle.
After all the years of defeat...
'No!! Me wins this one! Me wins this fight!' Pokey roared in his mind as he lowered his expression.
His mind entered complete focus as he pushed the sword further to the left, away from both of their bodies. Using the force of the sword pushing down on the spear, Pokey lunged forward and struck the swordmaster directly in his chest.
In just a moment, defeat turned to victory.
All he needed to do was—
Swish!
"Ack!" Pokey groaned as the swordmaster quickly returned the favor, slapping his midsection with the flat of the sword.
His vision blurred a little as black specks dotted his vision. As his breathing slowed, so did his world.
The goblins screaming, his god's watching, even the swordmaster.
Then everything sped up. Suddenly, he was running on instinct, dodging just before the swordmaster's second strike would hit.
Never keeping his eyes off the swordmaster, Pokey rolled and dodged through several more strikes. He had to trust himself not to hit the crowd because if he took his eyes off the swordmaster for just a second, he'd lose.
Continuing to dodge every strike, Pokey looked for any possible opening. Until today, not a single one had ever existed in the swordmaster's guard.
However, he had already gotten past it once. Just two more times, just two—
Whack!
A searing pain engulfed his entire right arm. Somehow, the swordmaster had caught up to him.
And now, he was leading 2 to 1.