EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 97: Crowd (Dis)Pleaser

The audience reaction to seeing Hydrus enter the stage was immediate. Where before he had been greeted by cheers and applause as a crowd favourite, now he was showered with boos. However, rather than shrinking back, Hydrus seemed to enjoy this new reaction, cupping his hand against his ears as if he couldn't hear the crowd.
Naturally, this only encouraged the crowd to boo louder, and the resulting wave of sound nearly bowled Halfthur over. Astrid was similarly affected, looking around nervously at the jeering audience members.
Leaving the two fighters onstage, Halfthur and Wavesun made their way back to the announcer's booth, where Halfthur reactivated the voice amplification magic.
"Ahem. Well, those were certainly some interesting interviews. It seems we have quite a few colourful personalities in the top eight. Luckily for all you viewers, the most colourful of those fighters is here on stage right now. Please give it up for Hydrus!"
This prompted another wave of jeers, as Hydrus raised his arms and roared back at the crowd.
"Facing off against him is our beautiful Sniper, Astrid! Which of these two fighters will advance and which will taste the bitter draught of defeat? We're about to find out!" Halfthur shouted, doing his best to stoke the flames of pa.s.sion that Hydrus had ignited within the crowd.
Regarding each other warily, Astrid and Hydrus took up their positions. Nodding towards the announcer's booth, the two fighters gripped their weapons tightly as they waited for Halfthur to begin the fight.
"Let the fight begin!"
The words had barely left Halfthur's lips when Hydrus surged forwards, his greatsword trailing behind him as he rushed towards Astrid.
Nocking an arrow, Astrid sighted on the charging fighter, loosing a shot which tore through the air towards Hydrus' face.
With a sneer, Hydrus brought up his greatsword, the long blade cleaving the arrow aside as he continued his rush.
"And Hydrus deflects Astrid's first arrow! Will this fight be a repeat of Hydrus versus Tanix?" Halfthur speculated, causing boos to rise from the stands.
Not panicking, Astrid began to retreat, moving backwards as she sent arrow after arrow soaring towards Hydrus. Unlike Halfthur's prediction, Hydrus was not able to deflect every arrow Astrid sent his way. Learning from her first shot, Astrid varied her arrows, sending some high and some low, forcing Hydrus to either take the shot, or pause as he awkwardly swung his greatsword at the projectiles.
Hydrus' enormous sword worked against him here. Unlike the shorter, lighter swords preferred by Eric and Ryan, Hydrus' greatsword was huge, causing him much more trouble when he had to move the blade quickly to block an oncoming blow.
Astrid used this to her advantage, aiming her arrows in such a way as to force him to move the greatsword the maximum distance possible if he wanted to block. As such, Hydrus was forced to expend much more stamina blocking Astrid's arrows than he had Tanix's spells.
Spying an opening, Astrid activated a skill, a blue light swirling around the tip of her arrow as she loosed it towards the opening Hydrus had provided.
"And Astrid lands a Frost Shot! Hydrus' charge is slowed - this should give Astrid time to get more damage in, and perhaps even eliminate him!" Halfthur shouted excitedly.
"Hydrus allowed that shot for a reason, he's close enough now that he can simply corner Astrid should she try to hit him with any more arrows. It's imperative for Astrid to reposition now if she doesn't want to meet the same fate Tanix did," Wavesun a.n.a.lyzed, watching as Hydrus closed in on the blonde archer.
As Hydrus' healthbar decreased past the halfway mark, Astrid's breathing began to quicken. At this point in time, Astrid's concentration had reached its peak. Drawing more arrows from her quiver, she loosed arrows as fast as she could nock them, backpedaling steadily to keep Hydrus from reaching her.
As Astrid loosed arrow after arrow towards her foe, aiming carefully to avoid letting Hydrus deflect them, the crowd began to cheer, chanting, "Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!" as Hydrus' health continued to fall.
So engrossed was she in her grim task, that she failed to realize she had almost reached the edge of the stage. Taking a step backwards, her foot encountered the raised stone lip at the edge of the stage. Windmilling her arms quickly, she managed to regain her balance, but the damage was done.
"I caught you, little scrub," Hydrus said, giving Astrid a vicious smile as he descended towards her, his sword glowing a baleful red.
"And Hydrus lands a Power Blow! Astrid can't take many more hits like that, she needs to escape now!" Halfthur commented urgently.
Unfortunately for Astrid, Hydrus did not give her that opportunity. Whirling, he brought his sword across in a horizontal sweep, catching Astrid as she attempted to dodge, throwing her backwards.
Scrambling to rise, Astrid was halfway to her feet when Hydrus' foot lashed out, catching her and sending her flying across the stage. Instead of following, Hydrus simply watched her in amus.e.m.e.nt as she jumped to her feet, his greatsword hanging loosely in his grip.
"I think I've figured you out now, little scrub. Your aim might be amazing, but in terms of combat experience, you're just a newbie. You said there are many strong fighters in Nova.n.a.lba - well why don't you try taking a few more shots before I end this fight? I'll let you see just how wide the world really is," Hydrus told her with a sneer.
Astrid's face froze as a look of rage slowly began to form. "You're despicable," said Astrid.
"The weak always despise the strong for their strength, rather than blaming themselves for their weakness. Come, let me show you a good time."
"I'm going to kill you," Astrid vowed angrily.
Hydrus smiled coyly, "You're going to try."
Skipping back a few steps, Astrid nocked another arrow to her bow. Aiming carefully, she loosed the arrow towards Hydrus' left shoulder, far away from where his greatsword currently hung.
With a deft movement, Hydrus dodged the arrow, allowing it to soar harmlessly past. Taking a step forwards, he smiled towards Astrid, a terrifying smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Try again."
Astrid seethed, grabbing another arrow from her quiver. This time, she loosed the arrow towards the center of Hydrus' chest, aiming to prevent him from dodging. Raising his sword slightly, Hydrus used the pommel of the greatsword to block the arrow, causing a tinging sound to ring through the arena as the arrowhead bounced off the solid metal pommel of his sword.
"That's two," Hydrus sneered, taking another step forward. "Your shots are so predictable, how did so many Nova.n.a.lbans lose to you?"
This last line was shouted loudly, piercing through the shouts and sounds of the crowd.
"Hydrus seems to be toying with Astrid. Is he merely playing with his prey? Or is he attempting to prove his statement from earlier?" Halfthur commented with an annoyed voice.
Wavesun glared balefully towards the tall fighter below as he blocked another arrow, taking another step towards Astrid.
The crowd was steadily cheering for Astrid, but the cheers had grown weaker as Hydrus blocked arrow after arrow. However, Halfthur's words revitalized them, as if they hoped that maybe their cheers would give Astrid the strength needed to put an arrow through Hydrus' smug face which currently filled the projection overhead.
"If you outmatch your opponent then just end it, don't put on a farce like this," Wavesun said angrily to Halfthur, who nodded mutely in response.
Hydrus continued to advance towards Astrid, blocking or dodging every arrow she sent his way. Even her Frost Shot and Charged Shots couldn't make it through his defenses, merely forcing Hydrus to put slightly more effort into blocking when Astrid activated these skills.
Finally, after more than a dozen arrows had been blocked or otherwise avoided by Hydrus, he arrived in front of Astrid.
"Sorry, little scrub. But it's too soon for you to leave the nest," Hydrus said, flashing Astrid a smile similar to a lion observing its prey.
As the crowd watched, Hydrus' blade descended for the third time, heralding an end to the fight at last.
With a great sigh, the audience abandoned their chants of "Astrid!", watching sadly as the blue light enveloped Astrid, whisking her away as Hydrus smirked defiantly, as if asking what they planned to do about it.
Seeing this, a man in the crowd began to boo, a sound which quickly spread throughout the entire arena as Hydrus laughed jubilantly.
"And Hydrus wins! Astrid Feathershot has been eliminated, and Hydrus Mortang moves on to the semi-finals. Up next, for our second fight of the top eight, Shin Zedzir will attempt to avenge his teammate as he takes on Seryllia Vespin, the last woman standing! Will Shin be able to do what his teammates couldn't? Or will Seryllia eliminate her third member of Riptide in a row? Fighters, to your places!" Halfthur shouted, straining to be heard over the boos of the crowd.