Perren’s surprise kick to the abdomen cut Victor’s breath for a moment, but he only needed another moment to recover from it; eating a small mushroom that spawned at the top of his pinky helped as well. The reptile helmeted warrior swung his poleaxe and struck the ground between them with the hammer part of the weapon; he followed by taking a step forward, getting closer to Perren and quickly swaying his weapon and hitting the ground again, this time with the other side of the poleaxe.

-” What…what is he aiming at?” asked a confused Lian, who wasn’t familiar with the two’s abilities. By the time she put the question, Victor missed for a third time, aiming his strikes at a target invisible to the rest of the public. While the lumbering firbolg was looking straightforward, the public could see his opponent somewhere else.

Perren stood on his left side, carefully watching Victor’s moves, waiting for a moment when he would leave his guard down. He kept three fingers clutched in his left palm, with the fourth following right suit.

Victor -'' You're getting sloppy Perren; we’re already on the fourth illusion and you haven’t done anything so far. What, scared that your little knife might miss?” Victor yelled as hard as he could just to be sure that his foe would hear him. He was stuck in an illusionary spell, but after years of experiencing this veiled tactic, he developed his way of counters. 

-” Is he trying to bait me into attacking or is he just restless?” Perren didn’t want to admit it, but Victor’s fighting senses far outclassed his, and attempting an attack now might actually be what the large fighter is waiting for. “And no matter how I hit him, he can spawn one of his annoying plants to heal the damage…tsz, he’s so annoying sometimes”, thought the teacher while taking a sprinting stance.

-” Oh, those are some seriously heavy blows to the ground”, said Giol with his face glued on the arena while passing some snacks along to the whole group. Except for Finley, who received something extra-“ As for you, we brought popcorn and two lovely ladies”, he said, looking towards Ogda, who was gently dropping the coral sisters in front of the teen. Just like that, all the irritation and ire he felt while arguing with Maci disappeared at once.

The water firbolg then turned towards Lian, who didn’t even acknowledge his presence. He wasn’t sure now if he should greet her, slowly stopping his left hand from waving. The girl was red-faced, pretending to pay attention to the fight, while in her mind question after question fired rapidly one after another. “Shit, what do I do? Did I miss my opportunity to say something? Should I act angry? Upset? Disappointed? More times passes and I’m still missing-”

Announcer -” And we have another miss from Victor! He’s absolutely phenomenal at fighting the dirt, but the same can’t be said in his attempts to connect his weapon against his opponent!” yelled an overly excited Krass, who seemed more than happy to trash-talk Victor, but his commentary was also on point. The poleaxe user swung and trashed around endlessly, leaving craters in his wake, but neither of his attacks had the desired results. In the meantime, Perren started his counter-attack by using his rapier to leave some small stab wounds into the arms and joints of his foe; Unfortunately for him though, Victor’s endurance and physical resilience were otherworldly, and easily replenished by his plants.

Perren -” How many are you up to right now, three growths? You sure you wanna burn through them like that, I’ve still got my right hand loaded” Perren tried to goad Victor to reveal how many herbs he could still create, as the last time they fought, he wasn’t aware that Victor raised his counter. “ He likes to boast about his direct approaches, but the sweet prick knows how to fight strategically as well.”

Right then Victor stopped and took a knee. He put his hands on the ground and a vast field of blue and gray grass sprang over the entire arena. “ True; last time I won because I learned how to use deceiving tactics; but that’s not me. So, here, I used the entire stock to create this.”

Perren looked around and could already guess what his plan was- “ He can probably find my real location by where the grass gets stepped on”. So, he gambled- Perren then threw his knife towards Victor's face, but stopped its flight by yanking the chain attached to it. Victor blinked during that moment, and when he opened his eyelids, the first thing he saw was the tip of the rapier, which he barely dodged.

-” Big mistake”, remarked Victor, a bit lofty, who tried to grab Perren's hand, but it went right through it. Just then, from the corner of the eye, he noticed the rapier’s point coming from behind him. 

Kira, the eldest of the coral sisters, greeted everyone with a hasty curtsy and didn’t even wait for some small talk before using her trump card. “ My dear little sister helped me get out of that horrid clinic; still, I overcame my condition with gusto, to the healers' no doubt surprise. Faster than anyone else, they said.” Her sibling, Mincha, carried behind her a light bag of medicine, filled with empty bottles, as the other instructed her to do. 

Finley -” Kira, are you certain you should be moving on your own? MIncha, why did you leave her to walk like this?”, Finley admonished the little sibling, before slowly and gently showing Kira to her seat. The display annoyed everyone, with Maci, Brigit, and Zinc being the least subtle about it. Brigit then asked Mincha if she wanted to sit near them, but the coral firbolg shyly refused the invitation- “ I should…be near my sister. In case she needs help with something.”

Kira -” Oh, that’s sweet of you!...And now that you mentioned, I could use something to drink. Could you be a dear…”, Kira then paused, waiting for her sister to comprehend her request immediately.

Mincha -” Another? SIs, are you sure you’re fine? This would be the sixth time you’ve-”

-” Now…please, Mincha”, Kira demanded while maintaining a honeyed tone.

…

This situation turned around on Perren when Victor used a wonky backkick to miss him but it still forced the teacher into a short flip to avoid it. During that flip, Victor turned around, pivoting into a devastating blow- A front kick that finally connected! The impact lifted Perren off the ground and sent him flying backward for a few meters. 

The kick lost some of his strength because of how quickly the large firbolg used it while pivoting around, but it still packed enough punch to shatter his opponent’s front plate armor. Perren’s knees quivered for a second, and he had to use his rapier as a crutch to lift himself. “ Always…” cough”...full of …” whimper”... surprises, huh?” the teacher tried to spit out through the pain panting and coughing. 

Victor, who now thought that he gained the upper hand, was ecstatic at the sight of Perren’s next move: the chain and dagger spun around, while a blue line started to move around the weapon, which slowly drained its color. “Oh, we’re at that point, huh?” murmured the poleaxe user responding by fist bumping his gauntlets, summoning a similar blue streak that lost its color into the armaments. 

The wounded firbolg stopped the rotation, achieving his aim. The next second, he launched a streak of white energy towards Victor, who didn’t do anything to stop it; a gamble that worked in his favor, as the attack was another fake one, while the real and a fake Perren jumped in the air, both preparing to use the light attack from before. Victor’s preparations worked differently, as the colorless light moved from his gauntlets to his poleaxe, with which he summoned an earthquake and an explosion just by slamming the weapon into the ground.

Tremors and shakes were felt all throughout the city, while debris from the explosion covered the arena; Fortunately for the visitors, the other Union members expected this, as each jumped to the occasion and destroyed any piece of rock that threatened the safety of the public. 

In the meantime, the two fighters couldn’t stop paying attention to one another, following each of their moves, trying to guess how the other would act or react. They were slowly approaching the apex of their spar, with both attacks canceling each other out. Both smiled gleefully.

…

Arim nudged Lian once, then twice, and then the girl finally realized that something was happening outside her mind. The boy nodded his head in Ogda’s direction and the girl peaked to see the water monster looking downtrodden as well. Arim then insisted and started furiously pointing his thumb in his direction now.“Fine…you win”, Lian whispered, defeated. She scrunched her orange hair, then took a firm stance, followed by slow, robotic walking paces. Giol and Tommen tried to keep a straight, supportive, straight face, but the rigid walk was a real challenge to their funny bone.

Lian -” Ogda…hello”.

-” Lian…hi”, he replied, not looking back at her. 

The girl took a deep breath through her nostrils-”…Right. So, how have you been? Haven’t heard from you in a while.”

Ogda -” I’ve been…fine. I’ve actually been training in the arena with Giol and Arim for most of my time…Uhm, you?”

Lian -” Working, doing some research, stuff like that.”

An awfully long awkward pause between the two made the tension palpable. Lian was looking for help in Arim’s direction, while Ogda did the same to Giol; both of which relayed the same message: just say something.

Ogda then took the initiative- “ Lian…after the failed pact, did you get any of your memories back?”

The girl was a bit surprised by the question but took the bait. It was an easier topic to discuss and she felt more emboldened to speak about that than anything else. “ Yes, a few parts. I think I’ve got a sibling….You?”

Ogda -” Something similar. I remembered someone from when I was smaller? Someone brave, I think…”, he then told her about the two pairs of feet. “ I think you came to this world a long time ago…and you weren’t alone…”

-” I see…Huh,” Lian took a moment to ponder about it, fixing some blocks into place.” Thanks, buddy. And I’m sorry for being…evasive since the pact…I’m still not sure what happened, but I’ve gained some ideas I want to figure out…Do you want to hear them?”

Ogda then stood silent, fixated on the sky. It was like he didn’t listen to a word she said. “ Lian..there’s another reason I didn’t want to see you…There’s a voice…”

Lian froze in place. “ What voice? What does she sound like?” she hastened her questions.

-” He…My voice, but deeper. It’s been talking to me, trying to order me what to do. Mostly, to keep you safe…”, he then stopped and slowly turned around to meet her paralyzed face. “ No matter what.”