Orchestra vs. Poda-Bruss

     "Well, then let us waste no more time"

     "Bring it on"

To Orchestra's surprise, the match began with Poda throwing his repaired wooden shield at her, causing her to duck. When she saw that Poda had closed the distance, it was already too late. With a loud thud, Orchestra was thrown back all the way to the edge of the field.

     "I'm sorry, but I do not wish to disrespect you by going easy. I will be fighting to win this time"

     "I- It's fine"

Orchestra picked herself up and shook the dirt off her pants. She did not expect him to be this strong. Where was all this power when they fought Kaizer?!

     "Why does it feel like you're so much stronger now than we fought Kaizer"

     "Well, I fought much more conserved for our safety. I was going to go all out though Reginn interrupted the battle before I could"

     "Yeah right..."

Orchestra finally summoned her sword and charged at Poda with her wings cutting through the air. She sliced multiple times but all were blocked with Poda's mana shield that he created in an instant. When she finally stopped, Poda took advantage by grappling her with one hand and slamming her down on the ground.

     "Are you alright?"

     "..."

Orchestra felt that Poda was being a little cocky with these remarks. While it was true that she had little to no training and miraculously defeated the demon lord, she didn't expect the gap in their strength to be this large. She supposed that this was less about physical dominance, but rather battle strategy as he seemed to be experienced in fighting opponents with greater physical capacity than himself. And she really thought that she was rescuing him against Kaizer...

Orchestra rolled back up and recomposed herself. There had to be a weakness in Poda's defence. She threw away her sword on the ground and took the Acosta stance, the national martial art of Avangarden originating from its shore areas hundreds of years ago. She put her left foot forward and braced herself. Poda was not familiar with the style but was still impressed that she was more confident with her fists than her swords. Orchestra knew that her fists may lead to weaker blows, but it would allow her to attack much faster and gain better control.

Orchestra once again took the lead by throwing a few punches. She alternated between left jabs and right punches as well as sweeping kicks to keep Poda on his toes. Blocking punches and kicks was different than blocking swords; while blocking a strike from a blade caused the wilder to experience a light knockback, Orchestra intentionally threw light jabs in order to balance herself and maintain control. Poda-Bruss wondered what she was going to do now as no one could beat him in a war of attrition.

Since she got Poda to block continuously, she could now use her skill. She hopped back a few steps before immediately throwing a straight punch directly on the shield. Poda was knocked back slightly at this punch but still maintained balance, however, a second invisible punch seemed to travel right through the shield and hit him in the stomach. This was her strategy, if she couldn't break the shield, she would just bypass it. This punch did have the downside of being easy to dodge, but when mixed in with a quick succession of attacks, it would be difficult to predict.

     "Truly impressive"

Kallen especially watch this match closely as he also practiced martial arts. However, he had never seen something like this before. He realized that martial arts had come a long way since the centuries past and it'd be good to catch up on what new techniques and practices were prevalent now.

     "...I concede," said Poda-Bruss as he laid down his shield

     "Already?"

     "I can keep going if you wish, but I believe that we got what we came for"

The two shook hands and rejoined the group. Reginn was impressed with how composed they were, but it was pretty clear that they were related to the royals as seen by their marks so he supposed that explained the attitude. More importantly, now there were only 3 heroes left to showcase their abilities.

     "Wait, if there's three isn't someone going to be left out?" mentioned Kaizer

     "I guess we could do a 1 v 1 v 1..." answered Kallen

     "If it is alright with you, I want to fight both of you at the same time"

Sivrit was surprised that Blodelshein was this confident in her strength. She was not the fittest person and she was even blind. The talent that she mentioned must've been one hell of a talent. Reginn smirked as he felt that Blodelshein had already prepared this. The true purpose of this exercise was to sate Reginn's curiosity and since he was already familiar with both Kallen and Kaizer, it'd make no difference if they were both instantly defeated as long as he could see what Blodelshein's deal was.

     "I'll allow it"

     "Huh?! Are you sure? I mean, she looks like a strong gust of wind could kill her"

     "...I accept," said Kallen

     "Thank you"

Blodelshein vs. Kallen & Kaizer

The three positioned themselves at the center of the field as Reginn watched in excitement.

     "Sorry, but I'll end this as soon as possible. I would like to take care of some important matters afterwards"

     "Fine by me"

     "Kallen, just make sure not to get in my wa-"

     "⌈Motor Control Lock⌋"

At her words, the two heroes fell to the ground, unable to move. They could barely reposition their eyes and looked at Blodelshein in shock.

     "If it wasn't clear. I have the ability to control all or parts of the mind. You'll have to figure out mechanism yourself if you wish"

Reginn knew that those words were directed at him. He believed that she had a gist of what Reginn learnt from the Goddess. This talent was a bit similar to Kaizer's ⌈Meta-Dichotomisierung⌋ as it had the ability to affect other realms. While the metaphysics and mechanics of this world were calibrated by The Abstract, the minds of this world were controlled by The Psyche. Since the thought processes of every single living being in this universe combined were massive, the actual process was controlled within the realm. While any living beings could unconsciously access this realm by sending inputs and receiving outputs, it was nigh impossible to directly access other's processes.

However, similar to Kaizer, this skill was also limited by the difference between the user's mental strength and their opponent's. Seeing that she was able to instantly seize control of both Kallen and Kaizer, she proved herself to be a formidable ally, though Reginn was confident that he still had the stronger mind.

     "⌈Motor Control Release⌋"

With that, the sun was going down and the group made their way back home. The heroes decided to stay at Siege's abode for the night and Blodelshein offered to bring Sivrit home. It began to rain heavily after they entered the city so Sivrit bought a large umbrella to share. This was the first time in a while that Blodelshein was back in the city. She was resurrected in the middle of the forest and found Siege's abode which he graciously provided shelter with. Since she had a delicate constitution, it took a few days for her to fully recover, but thankfully, by the time Sivrit and the others arrive, she was perfectly fine.

The raindrops sounded like music to Blodelshein's ears. She was truly grateful that she was able to see humanity thrive once again.

     "Sivrit, what's the population of this city?"

     "Umm... I think it's around 15 million?"

     "Wow! That's more than 10 times from my days"

It almost seemed like a dream to Blodelshein. She was born and raised in a tough time after the kingdom was completely annihilated. Most died or were taken to be slaves while only a handful banded together to survive. It was only after she became the hero and received the blessing that was her talent that things began to turn around. However, even in these trying times, human passion was enough to keep them warm. From the looks of it, now basically no one would have to starve or beg in the streets. No one would need to sell themselves to provide for their family. No one would suffer as she did again.

...

Before she knew it, Sivrit was already back to her home.

     "You live in a mansion? Are you royalty?!"

     "Well, no, but I am from a noble family. Please feel free to come in and stay the night. I'd feel bad to let you walk in the rain all alone"

The two made their way into the mansion as the butler opened the large wooden door. Sivrit guided Blodelshein to the kitchen since she looked hungry and encountered Sivrit's father looking for a snack.

     "Oh, Sivrit, where have you been? And who is this young lady? She looks half-dead! Come, come, let us provide you with some hostility, you poor soul"

Before Sivrit could answer any of those questions, Blodelshein was already taken to the tea table where lay an assortment of desserts as well as a variety of tea to choose from.

     "Here, pick anything here you'd like while I have some maids make a meal for you, I assume you haven't had dinner yet? Remember Sivrit! Welcomeness is the spirit of the Belmovs!"

Sivrit took the seat next to Blodel and placed two plates in front of them. She took just a few macarons since it was already almost nighttime as well as a glass of milk provided by a maid. When she saw that Blodel did not take any, she wondered if she was overwhelmed by Sivrit's father.

     "Sorry for my dad, he always acts like this. He clearly watched far too many films"

     "Oh no, don't be. I am grateful for the hospitality. It's just that... I've never seen any of these foods before"

Sivrit realized that her guest was in fact, born tens of thousands of years ago and obviously did not know these modern delicacies that she took for granted.

     "Let me pick out some good ones for you"

     "Thank you"

Blodel took a few bites of the sandeshs and her face immediately brightened up.

     "These are delicious!"

     "Yeah, those are one of my favourites as well, here have some milk with that as well"

After the two enjoyed the desserts to the fullest, as well as a hot stew for Blodelshein, they made their way up to Sivrit's room.

     "I've never been to such a large house before"

     "I guess this mansion is pretty large"

Blodelshein's reactions reminded Sivrit to not take things for granted. Since she was born into a life of luxury, it was easy to forget how fortunate she was. She believed that since she received so much from this society and this world, it'd be wrong to give anything less in return. That was one of the core reasons why she decided to attend the Royal Gladitorial Academy against her parent's will. Though her father did soften up to the idea after seeing Sivrit's work in the council.

     "Thank you again Sivrit for your hospitality"

     "No problem, it is an honour to shelter a hero"

     "I hope I can meet again later not as a hero, but as a friend"

Sivrit felt a warm happy feeling from these words. She never really cared about making friends and had only a few growing up but now she realized that what she thought was her duty actually brought her many companions along the way. Attila, Reginn, Blodelshein, she was glad that she had the chance to meet them and was happy that she chose to attend the Royal Gladiatorial Academy.

     "Oh, also, just a piece of friendly advice, since you're a companion of the hero, you may get into dangerous situations. Never try to fight, just shout my name, Reginn's name or any other hero's name and we'll help you out. You are our precious comrade now after all"

     "Okay, have a good night"

     "Have a good night too"

Sivrit left for her room and Blodelshein left for the guest room. This was the start of an unexpected friendship neither could've guessed, but they were glad their fates crossed paths and entered the night, dreaming of the future.