Smallins vs. Droctrus (1)

What I understood from the current situation is that one of the laws for obtaining an Awakening card through the "Summoning Method" is a battle where the soul of the previous card owner faces the individual seeking to obtain it. It is a fight to the death. If the seeker wins, they return to life possessing the "Spy Awakening."

 However, if the previous owner wins, they return to life inhabiting the body of the person who performed the summoning ritual, also possessing the "Spy Awakening."

Each warrior is granted the chance to choose an Awakening card to enable them to fight.

 These cards are among the components that form the main card. For instance, the Spy card consists of six Bronze cards that are distributed randomly. Each participant must choose one card out of three presented to them to enter the battlefield.

Among the cards displayed before me, there was one suitable for such direct combat. I am forced to fight and cannot withdraw; it is either victory or victory. I extended my hand toward the "Defender of the Lands" card. It was the only one with offensive characteristics and perhaps the best choice among the six. With it, the terrain of the battlefield—the earth itself—transforms into a cannon of lethal spears carved from stone.

 They are strong, sharp, and possess a devastating momentum. You can imagine that I could carve dozens of spears and launch them at the opponent; who would dare stand before me? Victory, for me, is guaranteed in the end.


As soon as I grasped the card, a bronze-colored light enveloped my body. A complete transformation began into the character depicted on the card: "Droctrus." That was the name. Upon completing the transformation, I appeared in a completely different form. It annoyed me that I would lose my handsome looks for a while, so I intended to end this quickly. In my new form, I had a light beard with long hair tied back, with some strands appearing messy. It was black with dark blue highlights. My attire consisted of armor blending silver and black, and both of my arms were wrapped in white bandages.

The door creaked open, emitting the sound of stones grinding forcefully against each other as light hit my face once more. I was fully prepared and excited to fight and topple my first opponent. Most likely, he was never lucky, and I had obtained the best card for fighting in such circumstances.

I entered the battlefield, which had a dirt floor and empty stone bleachers. Two people were there. I think one of them is... if I am not mistaken, he is not the "Madman Awakening." No, rather, the other person is the owner of the "Butcher Awakening." He had a thick beard with a gray apron and black clothes underneath; semi-bald, massive in build, and carrying a cleaver in his hand. Yes, that is him.

 Because during the selection process, the Madman card was one of the three cards that appeared to me; therefore, he is excluded. Most likely, he is the referee of the confrontation and the one who will determine who returns with the Spy Awakening.

"So, the two warriors have gathered," the Madman spoke.

The appearance of the Madman card owner, named Erkyld, featured thick, disheveled hair and large red eyes. He wore wide trousers with a long, tattered black jacket. In his hand, he carried a large-sized pistol with a unique appearance.

"This battle for the Spy Awakening is between the warrior Droctrus and the other, Smallins. I, Erkyld, shall be the referee of this battle."He took a cigarette from a pack in his hand and lit it. In that same instant, he finished it in a single breath, exhaling a large amount of smoke from his nose and mouth. Then, he smiled enthusiastically, raised his hand holding the pistol, and fired into the air, shouting:

"Let the battle begin immediately!"
I was calm at that moment; I knew my great ability and strength, but I was ignorant of his. I broke the stupid silence in the atmosphere and raised my hand toward him, saying with pride:

"I grant you the chance to bow before me and request a faster, less painful death."
He sighed before me and laughed softly."I do not know the reason for that confidence which made you, in your full mental capacity, request such a ridiculous thing. You are merely a narcissist who does not realize his own size."

I felt a great insult. A mere bearded man wearing butcher's clothes with a meat-cleaver for a weapon saw himself as superior and more capable of winning than me? Without hesitation, five spears formed in the soil, emerging from the ground. A part of them remained anchored in the earth while the sharp upper parts surfaced, aimed at him.

"You do not possess this capability. I am more powerful, and the strong are always on top, with the weak like you beneath their feet," I spoke as I opened my palm, ready to give the signal to attack.

I continued with a condescending smile on my face: "Any last words? I do enjoy hearing the regrets of others."

There was no reaction from him; he was very calm. His calmness made me anxious, yet I was completely confident in my victory. If I do not win, no one else will. I clenched my fist, a devious smile creeping onto my face.

The spears launched forcefully from beneath the ground at high speed, like rockets exiting cannon muzzles, straight toward him. He did not move and remained standing in his place. I thought he had accepted his end until my spears began to decelerate sharply the closer they got to him.

He moved with such great speed that my "great eyes" failed to track him accurately.With one strike after another, he shattered all the spears. He lunged toward me, and using his knife, he delivered a strike where the air pressure surged to its highest degree around the blade. With great effort, I formed a spear in the ground near me, pulled it out, and tried to block the strike. The spear shattered, and my armor took massive damage. Due to the force, I was hurled backward, crashing into the stone wall behind me.


I barely stood up while watching him stand calmly, smiling. I did this quickly despite the pain to avoid any sudden attack. I see him now belittling me after that attack I never expected. I suffered some scratches, and my head hurts, in addition to my chest—the spot where I received the blow.

"What do you think? Is this attack enough to silence your ego? I do not see you as an opponent worthy of any respect. You are just a person with the mind of a child trying to show off his silly toys. An arrogant person has never won in direct combat. All their talk about themselves stems from an attempt to fill the void in their loathsome personalities. You are all a bunch of losing cowards."

 Smallins spoke to me, looking at me with a gaze of indifference as if he were looking at an insect. His gaze annoyed me intensely. But the words he spoke were truly funny.

I took a step forward while holding the site of my injury, then let go so a spear could form in the ground. I plucked it out while laughing loudly. What he said was the joke of a lifetime; I could not hold myself back at all. I almost collapsed because of it, even feeling as if the battle might end with me dying from laughter.

 I tried to compose myself and stop for a moment to reply to him. He also seemed to want to know the reason for all that laughter.

"Who mocked you and told you that the arrogant is a coward and a loser? In fact, I thought you were someone with a degree of awareness, capable of distinguishing between things. However, your words suggest a miserable personality that sanctifies laws and society."

I raised my hand, pointing the spear at him, and said: "Arrogance is the foundation that makes a human capable of developing themselves.

 Whenever there are people similar in ambition and goals, your throne shall be above them. Unless you put everyone beneath your feet, you will be beneath the feet of someone else. In that case, you will be devoid of dignity and freedom."

"Human laws were created by them to restrict themselves. All those ideas that emerged from society are merely nonsense created to curb someone's momentum and place another at the summit. None of that means anything to me. I am above everything. My ambition is always to win, even if the opponent surpasses me in strength. I will convince myself that I am stronger and capable of crushing him, because there is only one path in my life that I know, and there is no alternative to it: Winning."

"And I know very well who the winner of this battle is before it even began. It was, and will be, me for all eternity." I said it as I erupted with enthusiasm and steadfast confidence, fighting while knowing the result.