So it finally happened, Ethan fighting his first proper duel. While he had challenging fights before, even against single opponents he wouldn’t consider them…sentient. The monster Marie became wasn’t even it's own being but more a guided flesh puppet and while the ghoul king and the fire giant could be considered intelligent they were cunning creatures but nothing more.

  In the seconds before the fight he studied the Brammgestir with the creative name Brakan. He would have rolled his eyes at him if this wasn’t a life and death situation. While his gaze wandered over his opponent he noticed the impressive physique, the horns that curved forward and ended in extremely sharp points.

  Brakan wasn’t even the diplomat, but Ethan believed they planned this from the start. If they found out that Ethan was strong they had someone to lead them, if he was weak they just got rid of an influential but useless figure in the Crocodiarii.

  Time seemed to slow down for Ethan when Kra’kulgar chopped downwards, Ethan’s aura bubbled under his skin just waiting to be released while an icy wind sweeped through his mind and the cold determination returned to the forefront of his being. It held his worries, his fears and everything that could interrupt him was locked up in a prison of ice.

  Ethan felt his breathing getting colder, the air leaving his lungs formed small clouds of frost that drifted slowly away. The second the words left Kra’kulgar’s mouth he unleashed his aura at the surrounding area, it started to cover more ground with each level up and now it surrounded Brakan, both delegations and him in a dome of multiple meters in diameter. His eye glowed in a frosty white and slowly a grin crept on his face, skin that got too cold broke from his face, exposing pale blue flesh and blood, thick as a slushy dripped from his chin.

  Brakan roared, a thick aura of red mist surrounded his arms and legs, his eyes glowing like molten metal as he tried to push against Ethan’s aura. Like wild animals they let go of all thoughts and just focused on their instincts and the lust of battle.

  The Brammgestir clashed his axes together, causing sparks to fly between them. Foam started to drip from his mouth and the muscles on his body bulged, thick veins pulsed with such intensity that they looked almost alive. The mountain of muscles lowered his head and sprinted towards Ethan. His frozen aura didn’t even slow the Brammgestir down and then he finally noticed his mistake.

  While jumping to the side, his staff dragging behind him to leave the ground frozen in its wake, he analyzed his opponent.

  [Brammgestir Berserker - Level 28]

  [A berserker is a warrior known for their fierce and frenzied fighting style. They enter a state of battle frenzy, characterized by a loss of sanity and self-control, which makes them seemingly invulnerable to pain and fear. Berserkers often fought in a trance-like state. Their legendary prowess in battle made them both feared and revered in warrior cultures.]

  Ethan cursed himself for not realizing it sooner, while his game knowledge from before was almost useless now. He should still have noticed that Brakan looked like a berserker, even if his guess was wrong he should have been cautious.

  Brakan barreled past him, in his mad dash he couldn’t really steer. The frozen ground left behind didn’t even affect him, his feet just slammed into the ground and cracked the ice. Ethan landed on his feet, the soft sand nearly making him slip, he forgot to power his boots with mana at some point, something he quickly rectified. He raised his staff and chains erupted from the ground, meat hooks made from crystal clear ice slammed into Brakan’s shoulders. The first one bounced right off after penetrating the skin, the second one managed to pierce deep enough into the muscle but to Ethan’s shock it just broke off.

  But as excited as he was that he could wound Brakan, he was bewildered the next second, the ice melted! Something that shouldn’t be possible this fast with his eternal ice! Still the amount of heat that Brakan gave off, combined with his boiling blood seemed to be stronger than expected. The ice just evaporated in seconds. But what shocked Ethan even more was the skin stitching itself together. Brakan was a berserker with a powerful healing skill!

  Two quick jumps bought Ethan more distance between them and he closed his eyes for a second to lay out a plan. His staff slammed into the ground and a field of ice spikes erupted all around him, what wasn’t covered in spikes was filled with snow, hiding some nasty surprises underneath, While the field of frost unfolded he used more chains than ever before on the berserker. Like snakes they sought out weak points in the Brammgestir’s body. Some bounced off like before but those that managed to find purchase in the armpits, the back of the knee and one even penetrated his…family jewels, the hook erupted from the ground right underneath him and...found a weakpoint.

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  Ethan shuddered, while he controlled them he couldn’t direct them all at the same time. He prayed to Ouroboros that nothing like that would ever happen to him. While chunks of meat got ripped from Brakan’s body he didn’t even seem to notice it. He was stopped in his sprint by the ice chains, his body already working on melting the chains. While Brakan waited he turned around and threw an axe at Ethan’s head. The second the chains dropped uselessly to the ground he sprinted towards Ethan again.

  With an embarrassing yelp he ducked down and evaded the weapon but those precious moments were enough for Brakan to reach him, he simply ran through the field of ice, even stepping into a snow covered hole which trapped his foot…for a moment. The sudden drop and the sharp spikes in the pit managed to break his ankle but he just moved forward like nothing happened, the wound healing in the time it took him to reach him. Ethan jumped back up, the moment his eyes focused back on Brakan he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, his jump had brought him not far away enough but still he managed to get high enough so that his chest wasn't penetrated. Then, before he could even react, the whole world turned upside down. Brakan took him on his horns and roared in victory.

  Still under the influence of his berserker status he looked around for more enemies but couldn’t find them so he started to destroy the surrounding area. While he did this Ethan was stuck on his horns, his body getting twisted and turned from Brakan’s rapid movements. He could feel his pale blue lifeblood dripping down his legs and the cold it carried spread out over his own body as it soaked into his robe.

  With not much time he needed to come to a decision, but the white hot pain that radiated from his wound was making his thoughts slow and erratic. The cold determination he felt was interrupted, fear was slowly building behind the wall of ice that usually kept all of his emotions locked up.

  He didn’t dare to look at his health points but he could still feel the waiting lake of mana in his inner self. Screaming in pain and frustration he grabbed Brakan’s other horn and pulled himself not away from it but farther down so his other hand could reach the broad neck of the Brammgestir. He felt his entrails spilling out as he ripped the wound open but he didn’t care.

  Survival was his one goal and the moment he grabbed the fur covered neck he pumped it full with mana, but not only that. The white glow around his hands was infested with black streaks, pure, undirected plague magic was pushed into the Brammgestir. He didn’t give it purpose or directions, he just willed it to do what it was designed to do. Infect and kill.

  It started slowly at first, the thick fur Ethan held in his hand became white and Brakan stopped moving for a moment before his frenzy jumped to a whole new level. He screamed and clawed at his neck, trying to get out whatever caused the pain, because he could feel pain again. Ethan was lucky that the Brammgestir was consumed by rage right now or he might have tried to rip Ethan away from him instead.

  The infection spread rapidly, flesh started to decay only to freeze solid the next second, black pus cracked the ice and it froze again. The circle continued all over Brakan’s body. Decay followed by frost only to break open again in a mix of blood and black pus followed by more frost.

  It took time, but soon Brakan’s body wasn’t recognizable. Big icy grows that were filled with black ichor covered most of his body and drained most of his blood from the muscular body, his supreme healing skill keeping him alive even after every drop of blood seemed to be gone and the ice stopped breaking apart.

  Brakan was bloodless but his heart was still beating, all of them could hear it, like a vibration in the air but slowly, it got weaker. The decay and ice fighting over the last bits of uninfected pieces only to split his heart in the middle, one side a frost covered chunk of flesh, the other a dripping mess of decay.

  Ethan grabbed the the base of the horn that impaled him and froze it, covering not only the horn but also his wounds before breaking the now brittle bone off. He dropped to the ground, his legs so weak he could barely stand, his hand resting on Brakan’s deformed body to keep him steady. His voice was heavy with the weight of the season of Winter.

  “Kra’kulgar, a healer…now… and you!” His shaking hand pointed at the horrified Brammgestir. “I won and you better listen to what I have to say!” He took one last breath and sank to his knees, his arms wrapping around his body, holding his entrails together before he fell unconscious. Nora will kill me the moment I wake up…another near death experience...maybe death would be better.