The Savage Brawl [Round 5: Battletopia]

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Ziirphael climbed to his feet and made his way across the rocky cavern. He considered the nature of the contest, his competitors would have to die if he wanted to live. Therein lay a problem; Ziir was uncertain whether or not he wanted to live. He had lived for a long long time, moving from one human host to the next. When a body died he was just ejected from it, free to carry on living. He'd never considered the possibility that death might be an option for him before. He'd spent years living a normal life, like a normal person might. While it had been better than his old life that he had long since grown tired of, the difference had been marginal. He wondered whether that was really something worth fighting for.

Ziir found himself approaching the mouth of a cave, as a spiky haired man, fled from it's entrance around to it's back. This was the one that 'The Cultivator' had referred to as Diego Red. Ziir watched him for a minute or so, before walking on to the cave entrance. A set of steps descended underground in front of him encrusted with old red blood. Ziir paused in his progress, bent down and placed a finger into the blood. Some of it was still usable. He daubed a rune on his left palm and after a second his arm began to change. His hand folding in on itself and replacing with a shaft of bone, protruding at an angle from his arm. After a second the bone set alight with a blood red flame; making a passable torch. Ziir straightened up, and descended the steps, his flame the only thing illuminating the deep darkness.