Unsure if he just forgot for a moment where he was; or if it was a cry for help, everyone heard Ogda’s confession about the voice. And quickly followed the concerned looks and concerned whispers and concerned questions.
-” Do you hear it now?" Giol asked, biting his lower lip with worry. His friend’s weird behavior from the past few training sessions made some actions made sense now. Especially how quiet and distracted he was most of the time.
Ogda -”...No, it talks during set intervals, every 1 hour, except between midnight and 8 clock turns later. It gives me some respite to sleep then…”
-” Should we lock him up or something? Isn’t he dangerous?”, asked Kira with a dull expression, waiting for the rest to see her point. Brigit clenched her fist, wanting to refute her but couldn’t find the words; Lian, Arim and Giol ignored the comment, and asked the water firbolg to tell them everything the voice was saying: “to lie and cheat”, “to hold only one thought in mind. Anything is disposable in exchange for Lian’s safety”, even Ogda himself.
-'' Holy…pal, that sounds awful”, tried Giol to comfort him. Arim could only think of patting him on his slippery back, while Tommen shared his drink with the water monster. “You’ve done great”, added the bearded human. This helped Ogda feel a bit better, but the one he excepted to hear more from stood silent, brooding. “ Lia…”, but she jumped on her feet before he could say anything.
Lian -” Finley, do the girls have to do anything to help you with removing the strain from the powers?” The teen mumbled a bit, taken by surprise by the sudden question;
Finley -” Usually, the totem extracts the…pain and transforms it into energy. Like photosynthesis, of sorts. But Kira and Mincha can relieve small parts if they touch the dot. At least that’s what the catman said. We never tried it though because I rarely use my ability.”
The girl smiled, and in that moment exuded an aura of determination on her entire being. She finally found a way to gain a win, for both of them. She lifted the hair on her back to show off something she found recently: a gray dot, with signs of discolorations, marking her as someone in a pact. The reason why the two failed to make the one from a few months ago.
Lian -“ Ogda!”, she then snapped her fingers in his downtrodden looking face. “ Do you fear the voice?”
He nodded slightly, in all directions though.
Lian -” Do you fear that it has control over you?”, which he denied through another silent nod. The girl then grinned once more. “ Do you fear that the desire to be my familiar is not yours?”
This time Ogda became flabbergasted, while his diamond eye tried to avoid direct visual contact; he was trembling and losing control of his body. A sudden smell of burned clay started to fly from the seats and the area around the water firbolg became more torrid.
Ogda -”...Something like that…Lian, I’m afraid of what the voice might be. Why do I have it? Where did it come from…Why do I hea…”, he tried to ask in a flourish of panic inducing questions, until he felt her calming palm on his head. What was she so sure about?
Lian -” All of those are good questions, which we’ll resolve in time…even if we’re not pact partners. But before that, let’s settle one thing for once and for all, ok?”
…
The two fighters were caught in the middle of their final attempts at victory, while the rain of dust and pebbles hid their presence to both the audience, and themselves. Perren’s illusionary clone disappeared from his opponent’s mind the moment he could no longer concentrate on it because of the shockwave Victor created. Moreover, the teacher somehow lost sight of the two meter behemoth, and by the time he landed, he started feeling like a prey stalked by a hunter.
Or so Victor wanted to think of himself, but the large stomps his running feet made alerted Perren a while ago from where he’ll attack; From a dust veil tearing itself apart, the large firbolg appeared, thinking he got the upperhand by attacking from the left side- but his poleaxe shattered the ground once more, and this time it worked to his disadvantage. The blast sent Perren back a few steps, but before he could fly back even more, he impaled his rapier into the ground.
Perren -” You’re not the only one who can act rashly, sunflower!”, the teacher cried out, before throwing his shining dagger right next to where Victor stood. Before the giant could even react, Perren’s light attack blasted another hole into the arena, a smaller one than what Victor was capable of, but for the dual-wielding firbolg it was never about the firepower, but the time it bought. Before Victor could even open his eyes and rub the dirt next to them, his exposed neck felt a cold touch.
Perren was huffing and panting like a dog, and his hands were quivering like crazy, but he could hold steady enough to keep the rapier at his opponent’s neck.
Perren -” It’s my win!”, he blurted out after a while, which the giant tested out by trying to grab his arm, but the second a finger moved, the cold metal punctured the skin and drew a bit of blood. Not deep enough to hurt him, but to convince him.
Victor -” Fiiiine”, the giant exclaimed with a shrug and dropped his weapon to the ground. “ I guess you could add this one to the list. Where are we, by the way? Fifty-fifty or somewhere near?”
Perren glanced at him with a frown, and murmured at a very low tone. Victor didn’t hear him, making him repeat it. “ You still have 3 wins over me”, the teacher huffed and finally replied.
-” Yeaha! Victory still belongs to Victor! Get on my level you…”
Perren -” Finish that and you’ll sleep in Masso’s office tonight.” to which the giant immediately cuts to blank silence. “ By the way, lunch?” Perren asked, reaching for Victor’s shoulder to help him walk.
Victor -” Yap. I prepared a feast for our recovery afterwards. Knew we’ll go a bit overboard.”
Perren -” Sunflower, we never go overboard. It is simply called having a fighting spirit and…”
Victor -” An exchange fueled by a healthy rivalry?”
-” Exactly!”, Perren winked.
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