Once more, Rowan stepped into the arena. This time, he felt an unusual calm wash over him, and his focus sharpened. The huge warrior shot towards him just as quick as usual, but Rowan was ready. He sidestepped the first attack. As the massive weapon swung toward him, he stepped inside of Gundyr's reach and sent the back of his fist slamming into the warrior's wrist, the abrupt change in momentum causing Gundyr to stagger.
Rowan slammed his dominant foot forward into a vicious stamp kick directly to his opponent's face. This time, it was Gundyr who was sent flying, slamming into the opposite wall of the arena. Rather than celebrating his accomplishment, Rowan remained vigilant, waiting for the giant warrior to pick himself up off the ground.
Hate flared in Gundyr's eyes, and he let out an inhuman roar and charged towards Rowan. Rowan slid his foot under the halberd that lay next to his feet, launching it into the air with a slight spin by flicking his ankle as he kicked it up. As the blade spun towards Gundyr, Rowan executed a spin kick, slamming his foot into the pommel of the weapon and sending it shooting like a missile towards his opponent mid-charge.
Gundyr twisted his body to one side and snatched the weapon mid-air. He then let the weight and momentum of the weapon twist his body into a vicious, tornado-like cut aimed at Rowan's side. Rowan bent back as far as his spine would let him, with his head almost touching the floor, as the weapon sailed over him.
Gundyr, still locked into a charge from the forward momentum, kept charging until he was right under Rowan. Picking his moment perfectly, Rowan put both his hands on the ground and shot his body up with his feet together, throwing a vicious full-body kick directly into his opponent's chin. The warrior's head snapped up, and he once again staggered back.
The rebounding momentum from the impact pushed Rowan back towards the ground, so he executed a controlled fall backwards. As his back hit the ground, he tucked his chin and allowed his lower body to flip him a few feet away from Gundyr, landing on all fours. Rowan tensed his body from that position and exploded forward, shooting at his still-dazed opponent like a cannonball. He rode the forward momentum in mid-air to align his body into a vicious dropkick, hitting his opponent directly in the chest with both feet.
Gundyr crashed to the ground, and Rowan backflipped using the rebounding momentum to gain more distance, landing on his feet facing his opponent, who was flat on his back for the first time in all their fights.
Rowan got the sense that he should not be complacent. Sure enough, after a moment, Gundyr let out a roar of rage and slammed his fist into the ground so hard it caused a shockwave that threatened to throw Rowan off balance. Rowan jumped back out of reach of the shockwave, which unfortunately gave his opponent enough time to get up.
Scooping his halberd up off the ground, Gundyr rushed Rowan and began a brutal assault with his weapon from every angle. The assault was too fast and too vicious for Rowan to mount a counterattack. A vicious overhead blow made its way towards him, and he sidestepped it. Just as quickly, another blow came—this one aimed at his ankles. He jumped over it, and just as his feet hit the ground, another slice came towards his waist from the opposite side.
He launched himself over the weapon, somersaulting as he hit the ground and using the momentum to get back to his feet just in time to parry a vicious kick—a move which finally threw his opponent off, stopping the assault.
Now with his back to his opponent, opening himself up for a critical strike, Rowan seized his chance. He aggressively exploded towards his opponent's exposed back, drawing his knife for the first time in many engagements. He kicked his opponent's legs out from under him, forcing him to his knees.
Gundyr attempted to swing the halberd at him backwards in a desperate attempt to shake him off, and Rowan calmly intercepted the attack by stabbing his blade into the back of the warrior's arm between the chinks in the armor just at the elbow. Gundyr's arm went limp, and he dropped the halberd, roaring in pain.
With ruthless efficiency, Rowan grabbed his opponent's head, forcing it to one side, exposing a chink in the armor near the neck, and drove his blade into it to the hilt, twisting before he pulled the blade out. At last, Gundyr let out a final desperate roar as the light slowly faded from his eyes.
Rowan let go of his opponent as his cries faded, and at last, the seemingly invincible warrior slowly toppled forward, his mighty frame shaking the arena as it slammed lifelessly to the ground. Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a roar of triumph—for he had finally conquered the insurmountable odds.
Rowan was teleported back to the beginning, where he found Sora, Nikolai, and Bancho holding up scorecards again. This time, they all had the number five on them. Rowan frowned.
"Shouldn't that be a ten?" he asked.
Nikolai shook his head. "No. You were told to complete the obstacle course in five minutes or less. Gundyr is part of the obstacle course. You went over five minutes. It took you a total of eight."
"You're not serious," Rowan said, incredulous.
With an evil smile, Nikolai replied, "Oh, but I am. Run it again."
Rowan wanted to cry out in frustration, but he held it in, took a deep breath, and ran the obstacle course again.
After several more tries, he found himself back at the beginning, this time with the trio holding up scorecards that had perfect tens on them.
"Finally. It's over," Rowan sighed in relief.
Sora walked over and patted him on the back. "You did good, boss. You did good."
The scene shifted, and they were back in Rowan's front yard. He sat down at the table and promptly passed out.
"Let him rest for a bit," Nikolai said. "I need to prepare the next stage anyway."
After a couple of hours, Rowan woke up and was greeted by Sora.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, boss. Now that all that's over, here's your reward for clearing the first stage."
"I thought there was only a reward for completing all of the training, like the quest said," Rowan replied.
"Initially, yeah," Sora said. "But Don said that seemed too heartless. So now, you'll get rewards for each stage. Don made that decision after he saw the brutal things Nikolai has in store for you."
Rowan laughed. "Well, that scares me. I'm scared—and I don't usually get scared."
"In this case," Sora said, "it's an appropriate reaction. Anyway, here's your reward."
System Notification — Reward Granted: One-Time Use Bonfire
Item Description: A single-use version of the bonfire from Dark Souls. Will perfectly resurrect Rowan one time, restoring his body to full health should he perish.
Warning: Bonfire will not work if not set up somewhere in advance.
After seeing the reward, Rowan said, "That's neat, but... haven't you been resurrecting me this entire time?"
Sora smacked him on the back of the head. "You idiot. That was in a simulation. All of that may have felt real, but it wasn't. All the deaths you've experienced were real—but you didn't really die, if you know what I mean. I don't have the power to bring you back in reality. So no more safety net, Rowan."
"I figured," Rowan said. "I just thought I'd ask. Wasn't planning on depending on it anyway—that would make life too boring."
Sora nodded. "Good. I'm glad you understand."
Rowan stood up and stretched. "I'm going to grab something to eat before the next stage starts."
As he walked away, Sora ran after him. "Wait! Make me some too, I'm starving!"
Rowan shook his head fondly. "Yeah, yeah. I got you."