Oda watched the entire exchange go down without interruption. He was not particularly fond of the two always bickering, but he also strongly believed that something positive would come out of it. That was why he did not try to stop the two kids and instead led them down to the training ring. Usually, it was kept for training, but every once in a while, mainly through Let dragging more than unwilling opponents down there with him, it turned into a sparring match. This time, however, both contestants seemed more than willing to fight each other.

When the party of three arrived at the training ring, people who were already there began to move out of the training space. The fired up look on Let’s face was more than enough to scare even the toughest of fighters. Nire looked around at the people quickly scuffling away and noticed two familiar faces in the crowd as Let’s goons from earlier. The girl called out to them and waved, and they waved back, reluctant at first, until Let’s scowl turned them away.

“Alright, New Girl, step into the ring,” he said as he threw off his coat outside of the ring. “It’s just some simple sparring we’ll be doing. Show me what you're capable of.”

Copying the boy, Nire took off her coat as well and handed it nicely to Oda. “I’ll be alright,” she said reassuring herself.

“You’ll be alright,” Oda reassured her.

She smiled up at Oda and nodded her head. “Alright, how is this going to work?” Nire entered into the ring warming up and stretching with Let doing the same on the other side.

“Take out your Quip,” the red haired boy said as he materialized his black greataxe through a big show of flames. “As a treat, I’ll personally introduce you to Fenrir, my Quip, and tell you my element. Though if you’re smarter than you look, you may already know I’m a fire elementalist.” He then slung the large greataxe easily over his shoulder with one hand and crouched in a sitting position. Nire wondered if she could summon her Quip by bending an element and pulling off something flashy like that as well. She put her left hand out in front of her and to her surprise, in a burst of dark shadows that was soon dispersed by scattered rays of light, she summoned her Quip, Zaj, the black longsword. The girl looked proud of herself, but the boy only glowered at her even more. “If you’re ready, let’s go.” As much as he disliked the girl, he was not willing to start the fight until she was ready.

Nire tried hard not to let her happiness show and nodded at the boy. “Just waiting on you to get up.”

In response, the boy growled as he stood up. “Last one standing in the ring wins.”

“Gotcha.”

The two immediately dashed towards each other readying their weapons to be the first to strike the other. When they met in the center of the ring, they swung at each other with unbelievable speed. The sound of their weapons clashing and echoing could be heard all throughout the underground cavern. As the intensity of their fight grew, the people who originally planned to leave ultimately decided to stay and watch how the fight would unfold.

The two swung at each other in a deadlock, both parties refusing to give up what could be the upper hand in the situation. After a few more moments, both Let and Nire jumped back from the center of the ring, panting and trying to catch their breath. “I didn’t expect you to be able to match my speed,” Let said, huffing loudly.

“Yeah? Well, I didn’t expect it either.” Nire’s red eye flashed for a second and the girl began to attack once more. Thankfully, Let’s reflexes kicked in and he was able to avoid the deadly thrust from the longsword. He knew he had to take the fight seriously now. His green eyes lit up and he unleashed a fireball towards the unsuspecting girl. Nire was a second late to dodge, as the fireball burned at the sash tied around her waist. She frantically untied it and threw it to the ground, stamping out the flames.

“You can feel free to leave now,” Let called mockingly, motioning his head towards the exit.

“Oh, no,” Nire replied as she recovered from the surprise attack. “I think it’s about time I get serious too. Serious about this training I’m about to go through with you as my practice dummy.”

Let did not like that the girl was still so confident. Her attitude only fueled his rage even more as coated his greataxe with flames and dove in for another rush of attacks.

As the fight continued, more people filed into the cramped training space to see the ever fiery Let and the Carrier of the Eye of Fortune in action. Among those many people were Kei, Corda, and Doro.

“Ah, I knew I heard Let’s loud voice from up there. He’s pretty serious about taking down the Eye of Fortune, isn’t he?” Kei said aloud to Doro.

“He is,” Doro replied quietly. She soon became anxious looking on into the fight and observing Let using his fire magic on Nire. He never uses his magic in training fights.

Corda silently walked up to Oda who had been observing the two fight this whole time and asked why he had not intervened yet, to which Oda replied with, “Let needs someone who can keep him on his feet so he can grow stronger. He was starting to grow complacent with where he was at. With Nire around, I expect to see lots of growth in the two of them.” That was one of the longest replies Corda had ever received from Oda so she decided to believe in his words. She smiled at the man who seemed like a proud father of the two kids, then turned her attention towards the ongoing fight.

It looked like Let was completely taking over the fight with his magic. He unapologetically hurled fireballs from all directions and attacked with his flaming greataxe all while Nire could only dodge. While Nire dodged, she could see the boy smiling. Was it the look of a sadist? A pyromaniac? Nire could not tell. It was then that the voice in her head spoke to her. “Why don’t you try using fire as well?” Tub spoke up again after being silent.

“Gee, you really like to just come and go as you please, huh?” Nire jumped and twirled out of the way of the incoming barrage of fireballs.

“Use fire against him. See how he likes it.”

“I would if I could, genius.” Nire was not exactly mad at Tub, but it was frustrating to be so powerless when she accepted the challenge.

“I’ll teach you a little something to make up for being absent. Just stay where you are and let the fire come to you.”

“What are you, crazy?” Nire shouted out loud and surprised Let. The girl froze after realizing she had shouted at the voice in her head out loud and Let launched the biggest fireball yet expecting this to be the end of their fight.

“Not me, but you’d be to not let that thing hit you.” Without having to say anything, Nire knew that Tub had disappeared again. As the fireball approached her, she heard Let calling her from the other side of the ring.

“What’s wrong, practice dummy?” Let used the term she had used previously on him to see if it would anger the girl. She did not look phased, but she did turn the corners of her lips in a slight smile.

“Alright, I’ll trust you, Tub. When have you ever led me astray?” With that, she dropped her Quip and as it fell, it melded into the ground before her. The fireball collided with the girl who did not even try to dodge it and she burst into flames. A spire of flames erupted and the audience gasped out loud in horror as the girl burned before their eyes. No one dared move, however. Let fell to his knees, out of energy after that last magic attack and shocked to see that the girl was not only stupid, but suicidal as well.

The flames burned a bright red and orange for a few more seconds before they went out instantaneously, the girl still standing there, but completely charred. The audience looked on with even greater surprise and horror. What was happening now? Black shadows emerged from the ground where the girl stood like little wisps of smoke. The lights in the underground cavern flickered.

“What--” Before Let could say anything else, the spire of flames returned, only this time, they were twice as big and completely shrouded in darkness. The boy’s eyes widened as the flame erupted and flew right towards him. I’ve seen something like this before, he thought to himself. Only this time, I’m not going to make it out alive, am I? He closed his eyes and listened to the people in the training hall scramble with their lives. He was spent on energy. He could not dodge this even if he wanted to.

“Hey, practice dummy!” Let snapped out of his thoughts and opened his eyes immediately before being tackled and rolling out of the fireball’s trajectory. As he lay there on his back, he could hear the training grounds be absolutely demolished. He turned his head over to the side to find Nire laying next to him, but unconscious. No one needed to tell him a thing as he already knew. I was saved yet again by this girl. The Carrier of the Eye of Fortune. He closed his eyes and grunted, letting the feeling sink in for the second time that day. He did not particularly dislike the way the thought settled in his mind. When we get out of here, I’ll make sure The Boss gives her hell. And then I’ll declare her as my rival.