Xiaobo's fireballs shattered Seth's shields, forcing him to dodge backward. The attack still singed his robes and hands. Not needing to wait for his shield to lower, he fired a hail of ice shards, his normal technique supplemented by a small ritual. The ritual ate power greedily, but he was rewarded by Xiaobo's eyes widening as he tried to dodge to the right. He couldn't get out of the way in time, and shards sliced into his left arm and hip.

  Xiaobo charged forward, not giving Seth the time he needed to reactivate his shield. He dodged a flurry of strikes from his friend. When he punched back, it was like punching iron.

  Xiaobo feinted a punch before launching a kick into Seth's chest, launching him back twenty feet. Seth launched a couple of ice shards while flying through the air, forcing Xiaobo to dodge, again to the right. When he landed, he kicked off to his left again, dodging a now glowing punch from Xiaobo, feeling deadly heat coming off it. Scrambling, he threw his shield ritual up using his own qi, barely blocking the next strike that forced him backward.

  Seth cast light in Xiaobo's face while firing ice shards to his right. Xiaobo dodged to the right, realizing the trap too late. He blocked with his arms, which were sliced by the shards. Xiaobo's grin turned manic as he made another series of hand signs.

  "Feel free to surrender. I won't look down on you... too much," Xiaobo said.

  Seth cast a barrier fortified with two bound spirits. Xiaobo's confidence gave him a bad feeling, and he decided to be cautious.

  A glowing circle with intricate runes appeared behind Xiaobo. Seth threw himself to the right. Ten flaming arrows shot forth from the circle. They crossed the distance faster than he could blink. His barrier held up against the first four arrows. After the next four, it shattered completely.

  One arrow missed, but the other smashed into his left arm, spinning him around like a top. His robes caught fire, and the scent of burning meat wafted from the wound. Not wasting time putting out the fire, he tore the robes from his body just in time for Xiaobo to slam a side-kick into his chest. It sent him rocketing back, and he definitely heard a couple of his ribs crack from the force.

  He was already preparing ice shards as he slid to a stop. Xiaobo was charging, though far less energetic than before. Firing the shards, he forced his enemy to keep dodging as he charged. Getting up close, he slipped under a punch and went for a double-leg takedown. Xiaobo tried to strike Seth and jump back, but reacted a second too late, and was taken down to the ground. On the ground, Seth started channeling his ice shard qi while taking control of Xiaobo. When the shard was formed, he held it for a second, giving his "friend" one chance to surrender.

  "I surrender." After those two words, Xiaobo vanished from the room. Seth looked at the other side of the room where Therus and Aaron were fighting. Aaron utilized his reach advantage, keeping Therus out of range. Seth pulled one of the bound spirits and started to heal himself with it. He focused on the burns on his torso, but couldn't stop the tumor near his lungs from feeding. Waves of pain shot through him as it pulsed and crept toward his dantian. It took him two minutes to finish. His skin felt as though it would tear at the slightest nudge. He put his fingers on the tumor. What had been a faint bump was now a large bulge over stretched skin.

  He took a couple of deep breaths and sank to the ground. Seth watched the fight while he rested. No longer in melee, they exchanged volleys of magic. Therus fired both fire and ice at Aaron, who dodged while returning fire with blades of wind. He dodged and deflected the blades before charging in to make the fight close again.

  Aaron fired a couple of wind blades to slow Therus' advance while preparing his hammer to smash down the line Therus was using to attack. The wind blades slowed him down for a fraction of a second, but that was all Aaron needed. His hammer was already in motion by the time Therus reached him, leaving him no choice but to jump backward. Aaron gave chase with a couple more wind blades. Therus leaped to dodge. He was just landing when the hammer came hurtling toward him, forcing him to block with his staff. The staff held, but it sent him flying backward.

  Therus stopped sliding about forty feet later, already preparing a mix of fire and ice to fly at Aaron. Aaron was charging forward, trying to use his momentum to end the fight. A couple of wind blades forced Therus to dodge, but he fired his own barrage close to the ground, forcing Aaron to jump away.

  Therus was pushing in again, and Aaron was ready to intercept the strike. Therus swung his staff high, and Aaron raised—Therus' staff came from below, and Aaron's hammer was out of position to block the strike. He tried to scramble backward, but the blow caught him hard on the side, forcing him up and back. Therus didn't relent, firing ice shards at the flying man. Aaron didn't react quickly enough, and ice shards slashed into his arms, blood flying out across the room.

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  "I... surrender," Aaron's voice sounded defeated. It was a good showing, though, and Seth was glad he forced Therus to show his trump card.

  "Shall we take five minutes?" Therus asked, his usual grin on his face.

  "Sure."

  "... any chance you'll simply surrender here?" Therus looked down and away after he said that.

  "You know I can't."

  "Then I won't go easy on you. I treasure our friendship, but..."

  "We can sort this out later," said Seth.

  They sat in silence for another four minutes, resting and recovering. It was nice, in a fucked up sort of way. Despite everything, he was looking forward to seeing how far he had come. Over the last few years, he had forgotten the joy that getting better could bring. Sure, he wasn't exactly thrilled about being thrown into fights for his life. At the same time, Seth struggled to remember the last time he had felt so... excited.

  Five minutes passed in silence. They took their positions close to the center of the room, taking up fighting stances. Seth thought having a familiar opponent would relax him. It didn't. Therus' smile and curiosity were replaced with a hard, determined gaze. Seth matched it with his own. He loved Therus like a brother, but he was going to win. His own survival might depend on the reward from here, after all.

  They both nodded, signaling the start of the fight. Seth rushed forward, preparing ice shards to fire from up close. Therus' eyes shot open, and he jumped backward, launching darts of flame. Seth launched ice shards, then activated iron arms to fight off the flame darts. He dodged what he could and blocked others, dashing toward Therus, who had danced between the shards of ice and was in a defensive posture.

  Throwing himself forward, his off-hand met Therus' staff, pushing it to the side. With a leap, Seth swung brass knuckles at him. He jerked his body at the last moment, taking the blow on his shoulder. He absorbed the blow and flew back a couple of feet, then re-engaged. Seth tried to use this opportunity to slip past his guard without success, who redirected the force into a vicious counterattack.

  Seth deflected the staff with his brass knuckles and rushed in. He started swinging for an off-hand strike when he felt something blast him in the gut. Therus' staff, now shorter, slammed into his midsection, sending him flying back. While flying, he grabbed a bound spirit with a hand and hastily erected a shield. A moment later, the shield shattered, and blazing heat licked at Seth's back.

  Seth landed and rolled back to his feet, and immediately threw himself to the left. Two bolts of fire streaked through where he stood. He sprang forward and flung shards of ice at Therus. I'm losing at range; need to close the distance. Therus deflected them while continuing long-range pressure with fire. Seth had re-activated his iron arms, so was blocking the bolts of fire without too many issues. Within seconds, he closed the distance to melee range once more.

  They tested each other's defenses for about ten seconds, a tense game of attack and counter. Neither had gained the upper hand, and Therus grinned a cheeky grin. He put his hands together, and a wave of force slammed into Seth, throwing him back. Bolts of fire followed that he deflected, though the energy drain had caused his iron arms skill to falter. A spell he didn't recognize missed to the side. He landed twenty feet away from Therus, desperately trying to create some breathing room.

  Therus was gasping for breath, but not as badly as Seth. He needed to do something, or he was going to lose this fight. He was still lacking in combat abilities; something he would fix after this fight. Without any better ideas, he launched himself forward. He didn't have the qi to re-activate iron arms. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Therus intended to fire more. Instead, he charged at Seth, a grin still plastered on his face.

  They once more did their dance of attack and defense for a few seconds, before Seth parried a wide blow—his brass knuckles hit air. Pain erupted in his left knee as a staff slammed into it, followed by a loud crunch. Seth let out a yelp of pain and leaped back with his one good leg, scrambling to pull another bound spirit to fuel iron arms, except on his leg. The technique took hold, but now flaming bolts flew his way. He crouched as he landed to absorb as much of the blow as he could with his reinforced legs. Pain slammed into his mind, along with the smell of burned hair and flesh.

  Adrenaline had kicked in, and Seth charged Therus, ignoring the pain. The only thing he could hear was the beating of his heart thundering in his head. His lungs and muscles burned, but he tuned those out. He was vaguely aware of bolts of fire flying at him, but he blocked those with his arms as well. Therus' eyes went wide as he defended himself with his staff. They did yet another back-and-forth dance, with Seth charging ice shards to use, trying to keep visible manifestations to a minimum. Therus went for a high strike. Seth leaped backward, firing shards of ice at Therus.

  Therus had gotten wrapped up in their rhythm, so was a second too slow to react. He threw himself left, but shards still tore into his right side. Blood flowed freely from a couple of particularly nasty gashes.

  They looked each other in the eye.

  Therus fired some ice shards at Seth and to the right, forcing Seth left. A jolt of electricity slammed into Seth, freezing his muscles. Opening his qi sight, he found himself standing on a spell of some kind. The one that he ignored earlier, he realized. He could only look on in horror as the bolt of fire hurtled toward him.