Drazaria’s third attempt at stealing Swordheart was… trying.

At first, it seemed like accidentally triggering the Companion could be a boon - it seemed Jax and the Companion had some kind of argument because the creature remained outside the battlefield and facing away from the Guardian. It had shrunk to the size of an average fox and curled up as if asleep at Vasskr’s feet.

“Having trouble with your pet, Guardian?” Drazaria taunted as the barrier around the challenge arena fell.

“He’s not a pet,” Jax mumbled, then cleared their throat, “I mean, by the might of the cosmos, I accept your challenge!”

While the Guardian armor did form, it flickered and looked dimmer than before.

Drazaria grinned, “If you say so.”

Then he charged, teal enhancement shields already around his arms and legs.

Jax brought up their hammer - more sure of their combat skills as they blocked the blow. Except the hammer cracked as Drazaria dug his magical claws into it.

He could feel the weapon straining under his grip - with a good amount more force, he could break through it. It made him grin wider.

Jax seemed to realize the danger at the same time - leaning back to kick one hooved foot into the sorcerer’s unprotected middle.

It took Drazaria by surprise, and he stumbled back, quickly healing a bruised rib and putting up a full-body shield. It wasn’t as powerful as a full woozhi kick, but it certainly did the job.

One of Jax’s six eyes looked over at the Companion, but the other five stayed trained on Drazaria as they took a better stance. Kid was learning fast, but then, he’d have to. With a green Guardian, someone was coming after Swordheart at least once a week - though Drazaria waited a few weeks between his own attempts.

The sorcerer didn’t give them more time to recover - charging again and aiming for the hammer. If he broke the weapon, it might demoralize the teen into giving up - and if not, it would make it easier to take them down regardless.

Jax parried and dodged back, realizing they didn’t have the same protection as usual. They were still uncertain but not panicked the way Drazaria would have expected.

It made him feel a little regretful that he was going to completely destroy their confidence with his next blow. But only a little.

Drazaria ducked low and came up under the woozhi’s guard, landing a controlled punch to their jaw that sent them stumbling back and blinking, losing their grip on the hammer with one set of hands so it fell to the side. The sorcerer pressed his advantage by putting one foot on the hammer and aiming an open-palmed push at the teen’s chest - his goal being to separate them from their weapon before crushing it underfoot.

He was waylaid by a surprise burst of attack magic right in his face.

Drazaria stumbled back himself - more from shock than anything else. The burst had been too weak to get through his shielding and do any damage, but it had enough kick to push him away. He swung around in surprise to see the bug-armed human - Tedi - standing in a corner of the ring.

The young sorcerer looked as surprised as Drazaria felt, hand falling as he backed up against the barrier with a weak, “Uh… oops?”

Drazaria froze, mind sliding to a halt. This was not in his calculations. Fighting Jax without doing permanent damage was hard enough - but some unprotected, undertrained sorcerer? What was the kid even doing in the ring?

“What are you doing, Tedi!?” the other human yelled.

“I was running late and got caught on the platform when everything started!” the quickly panicking Tedi yelled back, throwing up a wobbly blue barrier, “I thought if I just stayed in this corner, no one would notice!”

Drazaria realized he was still staring at the kid, which probably looked a lot like glaring. He was told he always looked like he was glaring, not that it bothered him.

“By the wrath of the cosmos, I heed the call!” Jax yelled, and it was all the warning Drazaria got before turning and finding a red hammer slamming into his head and sending him flying into the barrier.

So anyone in the ring can participate, not just the Guardian and challenger, he thought, picking himself up with a groan. His head felt fuzzy - likely a concussion from the blow.

“Can you get out, Tedi?” Jax asked, positioning themself between Drazaria and their friend.

“No, the barrier won’t let me,” Tedi lamented, looking relieved and terrified at the same time.

“Everything will be fine!” the nankin called from the sidelines, “Probably!”

Drazaria staggered to his feet - Jax certainly hadn’t pulled their swing at all that time. The sorcerer’s vision cleared as he healed the concussion, glancing at the spectators.

The Companion had jumped up from his lying down position, growling and tensed. Apparently, Drazaria had put the Guardian in enough danger to warrant a break from whatever had pissed it off in the first place.

Vasskr had his hands held before him - but they were gripping each other tightly as he watched his brother.

Their eyes met, and Drazaria looked away. There was concern there, and he pretended it was only for Jax and Tedi. Or that any of it was for Jax and Tedi, really. Vasskr knew his brother wasn’t going to harm the kids, but the kids didn’t know that - and didn’t have any reason not to permanently harm Drazaria themselves.

“... until next time, Guardian,” he said, the platforms breaking apart at his yield. He waited for it to drift up a bit before dodging around and jumping to land in front of Tedi faster than Jax could react. He supposed it was good he’d set a precedent of leaving immediately after yielding - it gave him the opportunity he needed.

Tedi shrieked and stumbled back, landing on his ass.

“You better be prepared the next time you interrupt someone else’s fight, kid,” Drazaria warned - though he supposed threatened would seem more apt. He wasn’t going to harm the kid, but that didn’t mean no one else would - better he be afraid of the consequences now. They were already plenty afraid of Drazaria.

Then he was up and away again before the young sorcerer had time to respond and wondered if the enchantment for the platforms could sense malicious intent. Maybe that was why it hadn’t stopped him from doubling back.

In any case, he made his usual stop in the forest to heal. He found a secluded glade this time, and sat for a while thinking.

There was no guarantee the Guardian’s friends would stay out of the fight now that they knew they could join in - the blue-haired one, in particular, seemed ready to assist and damn the consequences. He would have to come up with new contingencies for them. 

Drazaria’s fourth attempt at stealing Swordheart showed a new face.

“You’ll face me, Eyestealer,” the teen woozhi with black scales and blue eyes growled, crouched down in a proper woozhi fighting stance, “It should have been me all along.”

Drazaria rolled his eyes - looked like someone was mad they got passed over for Jax. Someone who actually trained for the role of Guardian - but really, they weren’t going to beat him, especially not without the Guardian magic.

“Don’t be a jerk, Nen!” the blue-haired human called out, “It could have been me, too, you know!”

“Shut up and let me prove how much better I am, Ken!” the woozhi yelled back. The platforms weren’t properly forming an arena - probably because the contender had jumped in before Drazaria actually issued a challenge.

Drazaria held up three fingers, catching everyone’s attention, “Three minutes.”

“Excuse me?” Nen demanded, growling uncertainly.

The sorcerer huffed, “I’ll give you three minutes, fake Guardian - any more is a waste of my time.”

That seemed to piss the kid off, and they jumped up one platform to charge, “Then you better be ready for-!”

Sloppy, too direct, Drazaria thought, powering up enough to jump with advanced speed and land an open-palmed strike to the kid’s jaw. He’d aimed it so there would be a platform ready to catch them and dug his green magic claws into the underside of another.

Nen shook his head as he rose, head staying still as he looked around with just his eyes.

Drazaria kicked off with force, holding his forearm before him and charging it with a reactive barrier to give it an extra kick - but still not enough to do permanent harm. Just because they were a well-trained kid didn’t make them less of a kid.

Nen looked up at the last minute and would have had the time to dodge - but instead tried to set up for a kick. They didn’t have the leverage to get into position for it and ended up slammed into the floor of the platform.

Drazaria rolled forward and onto his feet. He looked over his shoulder at the kid - hadn’t even cracked the tiles with the impact; they’d be fine. When he looked forward, he had just enough time to doge back from Vasskr striking at him with a spear.

The kradreen positioned himself in front of Nen, driving the spear into the platform, “I believe this exercise is over.”

Drazaria snorted. He knew how fast his brother could be with that spear, and the strike at him barely qualified as a warning.

“I’m not… done!” Nen panted, struggling to get their feet under them.

“Yes,” Vasskr sighed, “You are.”

“They’ve got two minutes, Mentor,” Drazaria grinned, backing up towards the end of the platform.

His brother - unseen by all the teens - rolled his eyes at the jab, “And he is not the one you are here to face, challenger.”

“True,” Drazaria said and let himself fall backwards over the edge of the platform. He flipped at the last moment to land on the platform below and turned, “Guardian! It’s time we settled this!”

As the platforms moved together, the human sorcerer watched his brother carry the defeated woozhi teen over to the sidelines. The blue-haired human attempted to check on him but was rebuffed as the woozhi stormed off.

Teen drama, Drazaria thought to himself, then tossed the thought away as the real fight began.

It wasn’t anything particularly remarkable - Jax managed once again to back him into a corner where he would have to fight for real if he wanted to continue, so he left rather than do so. The Companion was still an issue, as well.

When he jumped from the platforms to the top of the gorge, he found himself face-to-face with Nen again.

“We’re not finished,” the woozhi growled, digging his claws into the ground.

Drazaria held back a groan - this again? He stuck his hands in his pockets, “Look, kid, you’re not going to win this, and I’m only interested in Swordheart. Go home.”

“I will prove that I should be Guardian!” Nen shouted and got ready to charge-

Only to be thunked on the head with the ball end of a weighted staff by the blue-haired human, who said, “Stop before you get yourself killed, you jerk!”

“Kendra?” Nen asked in confusion.

Drazaria scoffed in a bit of amusement and gave the human kid an ironic salute before going on his way.

“I didn’t do it for you,” they insisted, sticking out their tongue at him.

Drazaria just chuckled rather than replying - but lost his amusement soon after walking away. He had no interest in getting caught up in the petty squabbles of a bunch of teens - but if this kept going, he was sure to learn something. Might ask Vasskr next time he came around so he at least knew who the kids were - it was easier to plan for known variables, after all.

And exploit weaknesses like whatever the bond was between Kendra and Nen.