Fight The Edge.

All right. I need to think about my options. If he has magic, I do have Tol'vuus, but I might want to keep that for the rest of the tournament if it's all happening in one day. My sword Lauo doesn't do anything helpful, but it's a sharp, strong blade. I have four spells, and innate skills with weaponry. My levels growing have increased by abilities further, from my talents with a sword, to my stamina and speed. It seems like his tactic is to slash me with those claws. I've dealt with similar monsters before.

The announcer shouts into his horn from above you. "Let the battle begin!"

I'll try this first. You reach out your hand and whisper, "Entangle," to place a trap in the middle of the ring.

He's smiling at me. Either he's insane, or he knows what I'm doing. Let's see. My sword might be short, but it's longer than his weapons. Mend? That doesn't help here. Oh I'm definitely not using Pleasure.

"I can still hear their screams," he says. "When I was but a child, my entire village was raided. The monsters were green, with pointed tusks, and they destroyed everything and everyone. I was the one survivor."

Wait. What is he doing? God damn it is this his backstory again?

He continues. "But my father's blood flows in my veins. He was a demon, you see. I'm the third son of his lineage, and though he was killed, his power lives on inside of me. That's my dark secret. I have an unquenchable thirst for blood. Sometimes it leads me to saving people's lives, but I totally do it by accident. It's so annoying, all those girls that thank me, and say I'm a hero. I'm no hero..." He starts pacing around the ring in a clockwise path.

Shit. He's missing my trap. "Just stop already!"

"If you don't want to hear my tragic story, then I'll drink your blood too!"

"I thought you said demon, not vampire!"

The Edge sprints towards you with his claws ready. As he nears, he plants his foot into the dirt and his left hand forwards. The blades graze the side of your torso, tearing the fabric of your tunic and drawing a tiny bit of blood. He's faster than you expected. Quickly, you dash to the side and slice with your sword. However, he deflects the blow with his other hand before retreating a couple steps back.

I just need to ring him out. I don't even need to bypass his defenses, if it comes to that.

He unleashes a barrage of slashes. His eyes widen, and his tongue extends his his mouth as you continue stepping backwards, either dodging or deflecting his strikes with your own weapon. Finally, you find an opening. You spin to the side, and swing Lauo horizontally over his torso. The shirt tears open and you see a bloody gash open across his chest.

The Edge groans and steps back. "Blood. Isn't it beautiful?" he mumbles. "It reminds me of the rest of my story."

I hate this so much.

You step backwards and over your Entangle trap. "Your story sucks."

"Excuse me? Are you insulting my backstory?"

"Nobody wants to hear it. Just fight me already!"

The Edge snarls. "You bastard... Fine. If you want to die, then be my guest. I look forward to seeing your body run cold!" He then sprints at you full ****, and you slowly step backwards. As soon as he passes by your trap, you activate it.

"Aha!" You raise your hand and blue tendrils burst up and around his legs, immediately causing him to trip and slam his head against the ground.