Adam's eyebrows rose, as he clearly was surprised that his attack did nothing to the strange creature. To be honest, I also was surprised, because even the impact of the explosions didn't do anything, which was quite strange.

The fire mage's facial expression changed and became more serious. He started moving his hands and fingers again, to cast another spell, but this time the alien didn't just wait.

The creature leaped into the air and landed next to Adam, who quickly changed his moves, creating a barrier between himself and the two daggers, that almost dug deep into his body. Both of the blades hit the invisible wall, and the impact sent the creature's hands in the opposite direction.

Alien didn't try the same move. Instead, it dropped down and ran around with high speed, to attack from the other side. It created an afterimage, and the thing just popped on the other side, midair, with a strange position with hands far at the back, about to strike with the full force. Adam had maybe a split second to react, and he just threw his cloak at his opponent, while failing back at the invisible wall that disappeared.

He landed heavily on his back and tumbled to gain some distance as the alien hit the ground in an awkward position wrapped in the white cloth. It took some time for the creature to unwrap itself, which the fire mage used to just run and gain more distance. His hands were in constant movement as he kept casting a spell.

Magic circles with bright orange symbols were popping left and right all over the arena. It was like he was setting up landmines everywhere. The alien slowly picked itself up, and his eyes seemed to be fixated on the running human, but there was no other movement. The creature just observed patiently as Adam finally stopped, sliding on the sand for a short distance, and wrapped himself in a protective barrier.

I realized that the sides changed. Now we were on their side of the arena, while they were on ours. What was also quite interesting, the cane, jammed in the sand, was still in its place, where Adam left it. The sunlight was being deflected by the gem, which made it quite easy to spot, but with everybody so focused on the fight, I doubted that they noticed it.

I wasn't even sure if the creature did.

The mage's hands were in constant motion, with fingers playing the silent melody. He kept casting his spells, while the Alien patiently observed. It looked like the fight, so dynamic not too long ago, was put on pause. Then even Adam froze, waiting for his opponent to move. They stared down at each other.

One minute passed, then another...historical

- Are they gonna move? - somebody asked.

- I don't think so - said somebody else.

I used this short window again, to look at Ashal Kal Anur and Zor'xal. The imperial official looked quite focused, probably just because the fight was interesting. On the other hand, the emperor seemed quite bored, like he already knew the outcome. I didn't like that. He was simply too confident, which wasn't good for us because it meant that whatever this creature was capable of, we didn't even see half of it.

The staredown continued for couple more minutes, but the alien eventually gave up, relaxed, and slowly started to move towards Adam. It soon stepped on one of the glyphs on the sand and activated the spell, which caused the magic circle to erupt with flames, but when those vanished, there was no visible damage inflicted on the strange, stick-like body.

Soon after that other spells were also activated, but the flames didn't do any damage, but the shorter distance between the two caused the mage to also start moving. The spell he was holding got activated, and the cane left in the sand reacted with it. The precious gem started shining with a faint light that slowly got brighter and brighter, until a single beam of focused energy shoot from it.

The magic wasn't maybe as flashy as what Adam displayed on the previous day, but I could argue that the energy focused in this thin ray was similar. It shoots at the creature and hit its torso, burning a single hole inside. The mage moved his hands rapidly, causing the ray to go across the arena, burning a small crater on the walls. Then he realized something, just as we did.

He didn't actually land that spell. What he hit was nothing more than an afterimage of a rapidly moving alien. We realized it only when the thing appeared behind Adam, and all the glyphs on its way activated almost instantly covering the whole arena in flames.

For a moment we couldn't see anything, but then the fire vanished what we saw was the mage on the ground, with his rands slightly risen, and the creature with knives just a few centimeters from the human's neck. Standing, and not moving at all.

A second or maybe two passed. We had no idea what was going on there, but then the alien relaxed, and stepped back, letting Adam pick himself up.

The AI's head popped over the projection of the arena.

- Participant Adam Silvas lost his duel to him hiving up. Please select another participant to take his place in the arena - it informed us.

The hunters looked at one another, some with mouths wide open in shock. I, on the other hand, looked around to see if there was anybody willing to step out. My eyes landed on Will, who stood up and started moving. Boris cut him off though, by blocking his path.

- The fights won't be any easier. Let me go now - he said.

Will was surprised, but then asked:

- You think you can win with this one?

Boris smiled.

- I think I have a solid chance. I have one trick up my sleeve.

Will nodded, and returned to his spot, as Boris turned around to head straight to the door leading to the armory.