Maximus stood opposite Ziven. They were in an arena, and there was no
escaping it. Only one person, or possibly none, would ever leave the coliseum arena alive. There sat only a few dozen in the many seats, for one
had to possess enormous wealth to witness this match, and many enormous
bets were made for the outcome. This battle would most likely be the greatest battle that any human being had ever witnessed. Most said Maximus would win, for he possessed great strength, but some said Ziven would win, for he had an incredible power of defense, and the minority of people were of the opinion that both of them would kill each other. Perhaps I should give an explanation why these two great figures were battling each other.
It would certainly clear a bit of mystery from this story:

Many years ago Maximus and Ziven had been friends, and they were great
adventurers. But unfortunate events had lead to this match. Maximus had
been paid an inordinate amount to destroy Ziven's hometown, and Maximus had, single handedly, and with great aplomb. This was the main cause that
the two old friends now stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. The owner of the coliseum had heard of their quarrel, and had paid them each a big sum to fight within the coliseum so that the fight may be witnessed. The owner also would receive an enormous sum of money from the spectators.
The winner of the match would become insanely rich, the loser, well, he wouldn't be around to collect any winnings, unless of course Ziven was the loser, in which case he might revenge himself upon Maximus later. But this
was unlikely. Perhaps I should begin at the beginning.

Years ago, in some god forsaken land, in a deep cave, Maximus and Ziven
had finally found what they had been searching for. After years of searching and adventuring they had found the ultimate treasure. For deep within that dark cave they found a long forgotten temple, and deep within
that dark, long and forgotten temple, it is said, that they met the god that the temple had been built for. The god had no worshippers, and he had not spoken to anyone for hundreds of years. It is said that he awarded each of them one single wish with which he would grant for them for finding his hidden temple. If he found their wish worthy, he said, he would grant it for them. Naturally both of them were eager and they each asked for what
they desired. Maximus asked for power, and he instantly received great power, both physical and magical. Ziven asked for life, and he was given
eternal life, which only could end by his own wishes.

Then the god told them that he had lost a good deal of power, and that nothing was forever. He warned them that Maximus' power might eventually
wane, and Ziven's life might come to an abrupt end. Then the god
disappeared and the two young adventurers left and once they exited the cave and went their separate ways, they eventually realized something was wrong. Both were unable to make any new friends. For their gifts were also curses. Great misfortune came to their families and friends and all died of misfortunes, within three months of the two adventurers meeting with the
god. So they were forced to abandon their old lives entirely. Any new friends they made all died merely days after they had met with Maximus or Ziven. For Maximus this wasn't much of a problem. Using his awesome powers, he quickly became the most sought out, and expensive, mercenary the world had ever seen. He had never failed a mission, and he also hadn't failed to burn Ziven's hometown to a crisp, with its inhabitants still within. He had massed wealth to himself over the years, and he had increased his magical
power in any way he could.

But Ziven grieved endlessly, for he knew that he would never see his wife or family again, and he traveled the world alone, trying to end the curse.
But a few months ago, it was said, that he heard of Maximus' deeds. He might not have any friends in his hometown, but he still loved it greatly. He then set off to find and kill his old friend. He once more had a reason
in life. So he traveled abroad, searching for Maximus, quickly making a name for himself, as he couldn't be killed. And while he tracked Maximus down, he grew steadily more skilled with the blade, using his immortality to great effect, until he was one of the most renown swordsmen in the land. The immortal searched the lands for nearly forty years, but he never found the great mercenary, who had prolonged his life through dark and terrible magic. So Ziven sent out a challenge. If the great mercenary did not come and fight, he would lose honor, and he would forever be known as a coward.
Maxmus had agreed to the challenge, and they had made the arena their battlefield. They were about to begin a fight the likes of which had never
been seen before.

Both contestants stood opposite one another, both armed with but one sword.
This they both drew and then faced one another. First they saluted, for
whatever the outcome of this mighty battle, they respected one another deeply. Although they were hated enemies now, they still remembered their
old friendship. And then the fight began. The first few seconds were incredible. These words are nothing compared to actually being there. As Maximus and Ziven ran towards one another I felt a shiver down my spine. I knew that there was great power at play here. Maximus raced past Ziven, and his blade swept straight through Ziven's neck. Maximus then swung his sword
and cleaved straight through Ziven's torso, then he turned and slashed right through Ziven's hips, then with another mighty sweep he severed his legs. Then he raised his arm and sliced straight through his old friend. Then with a final jab he struck straight through the heart. With a rude kick the ten sliced pieces of Ziven landed on the floor. At first I though
the battle over, a matter of ten seconds, when suddenly Ziven's remains disappeared. Then, suddenly, Ziven rapidly grew back upwards from his feet, sword and all. He was unharmed. Maximus was not used to people coming back
after he had killed them, so he was slightly surprised even though he
should have known better. Then Ziven used Maximus' momentary pause and swung his sword straight at him. Maximus blocked and then swung savagely at Ziven's sword, in an attempt to destroy the weapon. The powerful blade went straight through Ziven's sword and the piece of metal fell to the floor.
Then it disappeared, and just as Maximus' sword was as powerful and unbreakable as he was, Ziven's sword regenerated and was complete again.

All of this happened in no more than fifteen seconds. It is unimaginable. These two titans were amazing. I knew then that this fight wasn't going to
end anytime soon. Maximus raised his sword and then plunged it straight into Ziven's heart. Ziven, with a sword through his chest, then lunged at Maximus, only to have his sword chopped in half once again. Maximus gave a
roar as the sword regenerated and he swept his blade straight at the
immortal. Ziven sprung back and narrowly missed the blade, then he countered with a bold jab. Maximus parried and Ziven's blade was pushed far
aside by the power of the blow, and Maximus attacked once more. Ziven ducked and then tried to hamstring his opponent. Maximus cleaved straight through the sword, and then through Ziven. Both regenerated a moment later
and the fight continued. Maximus managed to plunge his blade into Ziven
and, as his opponent fell to his knees, Maximus danced behind him and raised his sword for another killing blow. Then the unexpected happened. Ziven's blade, driven by his own hand, went straight through his stomach, then out his back, where it then sliced Maximus' leg. Maximus gave a roar and staggered back. The cut wasn't all too deep, but Maximus was outraged.
He rested his sword upon the floor, and spoke. "That is the first time since I have received my power, that I have bled." Then he smiled cruelly.
"And it will be the last." And so, what I name "Stage 1" ended. Stage 1
simply consisted of the two dueling with their sword, and it ended with
Maximus being cut.

Maximus roared a word of power and instantly his sword seemed to grow longer and larger. Soon it had doubled in width and tripled in length. It
looked more like a gigantic pole than a sword, and must have weighed an
inordinate amount. Any normal person, or persons, would have trouble
carrying the huge beast of a sword. The sword turned black and it then became encased in flames. And so Stage 2 began. Maximus smiled wickedly and
swept his awesome sword at the startled Ziven. The sword sliced cleanly through him from 3 meters away. Ziven regenerated and stood up. His sword
seemed tiny compared with Maximus'. A mere toy. But this didn't seem to deter him. He rushed at Maximus, ducked his monstrous blade and leapt at
him. Maximus cleaved his sword in half, yet Ziven bowled right into
Maximus, and the pair fell to the ground in a heap. The huge sword was
rather clumsy in close quarters, so Maximus punched Ziven with his remaining, left hand. And, although Maximus was right handed, and he didn't
have much distance with which to swing his fist, Ziven was flung clear
through the air and he landed roughly in the dirt, his chest completely destroyed. Several ribs had cracked. His organs had been pulverized. Yet his chest regenerated as did his sword. He smiled and said "You can't kill
me, no matter what you do." Maximus grinned and said "I think I will attempt and prove your theory wrong." Then he added "And so that you will keep your distance, and leave me alone, I shall do this!" Then he swung his
huge sword with all his might and it struck the earth, which cracked!

A deep furrow spread forwards in a straight line straight at Ziven, who stepped aside just in time. Maximus' raised his hand and struck the ground
once more. His sword strokes where actually altering the environment in
which they fought! He struck the ground once more, and then again. And again and again and again. Soon the battle field was filled with cracks, forming dozens of little islands from which one had to spring from to reach
the next. In other words, the field was now covered in large stepping stones. But this did not simply affect the battle field, the force cracked the walls of the coliseum and caved some areas in. This fight was rapidly becoming more complicated. Then Ziven leapt forwards and attempted to spear Maximus on the end of his blade. The mercenary roared and struck him in mid flight, sending two halves flying backwards onto separate islands. Maximus
then leapt towards one of the halves and struck the ground on which it rested. The island disappeared in a cloud of dust and the half disappeared. Fortunately, for Ziven, this half had disappeared, and reappeared upon the
other half, so that Ziven was whole once more, and standing upon a
different island. "Is that all you've got!" He shouted. Maximus grinned wickedly once more and calmly opened his mercenary vest. It seemed that he had deemed his sword to be rather impractical in this particular area of
the fight, and was now resorting to other means. Specifically, throwing knives. And there, hanging from his belt was a total of ten knives. This
did not bode well for Ziven. Maximus drew the first one and threw it straight and true, straight into Ziven's chest. He barely regenerated when another thudded straight into his forehead. When he got up, the next knife came and struck him straight in the heart. Ziven "died" another seven times
in this manner, before Maximus ran out of knives, and the immortal then leapt towards Maximus once more. The huge sword then cut Ziven's clean in
half. Ziven hesitated for a moment and then tossed his sword at the surprised mercenary. The throw seemed bad, and it looked as though it would pass over Maximus' shoulder. He too saw this and gave a hearty laugh. Then the end of the sword regenerated and the sword lengthened and struck him deeply in the shoulder. It then fell of and clattered into one of the deep chasms that now divided the battlefield. Maximus gave a roar and fell to
his knees. He had now been struck twice since he had received his
endowment. It was then that Ziven made his move. He leapt straight at Maximus, tackling the mercenary and sending Maximus' sword to the depth of the pit it had created. This marked the end of "Stage 2" and the beginning of "Stage 3". I then realized that the fight had become much more serious.

The two warriors were entangled within each other, and Ziven was punching
Maximus in the head. It took the mercenary a moment to realize what had happened, and then he grabbed his opponent and flung him clean across the battlefield. Ziven managed to grab hold onto the edge of one of the islands and he clambered up, panting. Maximus stood up and raised his hands to the sky and shouted at his immortal opponent. "Twice now you have cut me, and now you have thrown both our blades into the pit! You have brought about
our own doom, for now I must rely upon a much deadlier weapon!" The sky darkened instantly and lightning flashed across the sky. "Prepare to meet thy doom!" He shouted and lightning struck Ziven in an explosion of light. The immortal was thrown, scorched and "dead" into a wall where he slumped down and regenerated. Barely was he alive again when Maximus tossed a huge fireball at him, which exploded with a blast of fire and instantly killed Ziven again, as well as scorching the coliseum wall. Maximus then shouted
an arcane word and instantly his hands flared with light. He grinned
maniacally and hurled the twin balls of light, that he had created, at Ziven. They exploded with enormous power, vaporizing the wall, and with it, a considerable amount of seats. And of course, Ziven. The immortal appeared
with a pop a second later upon another island. Maximus raised his index finger and his middle finger into the air. Both glowed a deadly red colour.
With a shout he brought his two fingers down in a swishing motion. The areas where he pointed with his fingers glowed red, and then the coliseum split asunder. Maximus grinned evilly and then he slashed at Ziven with his
two fingers from a distance, cutting that part of the coliseum into ribbons. What ever he pointed at, was instantly cut. His fingers became a blur of motion, and Ziven was cut into pieces in a matter of seconds. All the people in that particular part of the stands were shredded to bits. I
cowered in my seat, fearing that Maximus would turn his dreaded cutting
power upon my side of the stands. I realized that I had greatly underestimated this fight. I looked back at the destruction that had been caused. Ziven arose once more. The people in the stands didn't. It was then that I decided that I had had enough, and I left the coliseum. My life was
more valuable than this fight, I decided.

I had left not a moment to soon. I have been told by reliable sources that
Maximus raised both his hands into the air and a great shining ball of
white light appeared above his hands. He gave a shout and the ball flew straight into the air. It flew directly up into the heavens and I gave a
shout as I saw it from outside the great arena. The giant ball then
exploded with titanic fury, and a cascade of smaller, equally deadlier balls rained down on the coliseum. They were about the size of a fist, but
when they struck, they did infinitively more damage. As the first one
struck it exploded with a white flash, destroying a large chunk of the ground. Then the rain of death came down. In fifteen seconds all twenty of the small white balls had combusted, and they had taken the entire arena with them! I had escaped just barely, and I saw with disbelieve that only two islands of the battle field had remained. The entire coliseum had been
destroyed, and only a handful of people had escaped the white blasts. Around the two islands was a huge gaping hole. It seemed to go down for an eternity. Upon one of the pillars stood Maximus, and on the other, Ziven. The two towers were about 5 meters apart. I crept up closer and what I saw next was nothing short of amazing. Both warriors seemed greatly drained and
I wondered, if perhaps their powers did had limits. Maximus shouted a magical word and the sword he had used at the very beginning of the fight
appeared magically in his hands. He then shouted "Prepare to meet thy maker!" and he leapt high into the air, clearing the five meter distance between the two pillars in a second. He then struck Ziven straight through
his heart.

Now for a moment I will stop my narration and explain something. This latest blow was the 50th time Ziven had died in 10 minutes. 50 times! Now, as you may have already guessed, Ziven wasn't completely immortal. Nothing,
but god himself, is truly immortal, and everything had a limit to its power. It was just as the forgotten god had warned the two adventurers, at the beginning of my tale. Every time Ziven was killed, he lost a portion of
energy. Over time he his energy would slowly replenish, but if he was killed several times in a short time, as he was, then his energy ran out before it could regenerate itself. In which case, he does what everything on this earth does. And that is to die. Maximus had also almost exceeded his limit of energy. His "comets of death" magic stunt had burnt up a lot of his energy, and he too was nearing his end. And now I will continue my recount of what actually happened. As Ziven was killed for the 50th time in
10 minutes, he died.

Ziven did not simply die as you or I do. He went with a bang. As the sword pierced his heart, he exploded with a white flash. And what happened next I
am unsure of, for I do not know what exactly happened. I can only
speculate. Some say that when Ziven died, the explosion sent the sword embedded in him straight into Maximus' brain, killing him instantly. Others
say that the explosion itself engulfed Maximus and he died so. And some others believe the explosion, or perhaps the sword as it flew from Ziven's chest, managed to push him off the island and into the chasm he himself had
created, killing him. Some believe Ziven is still alive, others believe
Maximus is still alive. I do not know. But I this is what I believe
happened: The explosion sent the sword embedded in Ziven straight at
Maximus. This did not kill him. It merely violently shoved him off the
cliff where he fell to his death. All that I know is that there was a flash, and Ziven, Maximus, or their swords, were never found. I am the sole
witness of the battle, where even the spectators where slaughtered. I managed to question a few wounded spectators of what had happened when I had left the coliseum before it was struck by the white comets. They all
later died. I have been asked to write this story by many eager story seekers, and I have now done so. And now you too, my dear reader, know of the titanic struggle between two of the most gifted warriors the world has
ever known.