Blair chuckled to herself as they walked. "Man, she was too damn easy to fluster. I just had to do the bare minimum, and boom, she blushes like hell. She's adorable.”

  Nika chuckled in agreement. "I know, right? The girl was a stuttering mess. I don't think I've ever seen someone get flustered that quickly. It was kinda funny to watch.”

  "Yeah," said Rachel, with a playful grin. "But you gotta admit, she was super cute. I mean, did you see those cheeks? So red, it was like she was blushing nonstop.”

  "Oh, definitely," chirped Blair. "She was the definition of cute. The way she tried to hide her adorable little blushing face, it was just priceless. I almost feel bad for teasing her so much."

  "Almost," Nika teased with a smirk. "But come on, you couldn't resist. She's just too easy to fluster. It's like too much fun to pass up.”

  Rachel chuckled. "You've got a point. It was pretty adorable seeing her get all red-faced. But seriously though, she was super cute. I mean, have you seen the way she fidgeted with her hair? It was almost impossible not to tease her.”

  Blair laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I saw that. She was twisting those locks like a little nervous wreck. It was so damn cute. And let's not forget those puppy-dog eyes. I almost forgot that the next match of the tournament is about to start 'cause of how cute she was.”

  "Yeah," Nika replied, "I wonder who the next two fighters are gonna be.”

  "Me too," said Rachel, looking back at the arena. "Maybe we'll get another exciting match like the one between Akari and Guanqiu.”

  "Oh, I bet," said Blair, a smirk on her face. "And I bet it'll be just as fun to watch. Especially if we get another cutie to tease like how we got with Guanqiu.”

  Marco's voice boomed once again, "Our next match combatants have already been chosen! Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen?!"

  "Sì!" the crowd roared.

  Nika perked up at that, "Oh! Looks like the matches are about to begin again! Who'll it be?!"

  As if answering her question, Marco continued, "From the north corner, our fighter is...BLAIR!!”

  Blair was caught off guard as the spotlight was suddenly on her. "Say whaaaa?!”

  The crowd's cheers grew louder as they enthusiastically welcomed Blair to the arena. "BLAIR! BLAIR! BLAIR!”

  Slightly embarrassed, Blair chuckled weakly. "Uh...well. Guess that's my cue to head into the arena.”

  Nika laughed, amused at the unexpected turn of events. "Looks like you have some fans now, Blair.”

  Blair laughed nervously, clearly not expecting to be called up so early. "I guess I do...I wasn't expecting to be called up so soon.”

  Rachel chuckled. "Better get going then. You don't wanna keep the crowd waitin', do ya?”

  Blair took a deep breath and nodded. "Right...no time to think...just gotta do it. Don't wanna keep the crowds waiting. Wish me luck, girls.”

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  Rachel grinned and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, go get 'em, Blair! And break a leg! Not literally though.”

  Blair chuckled, her nervousness shifting to excitement as she stepped onto the arena, waiting for Marco to announce her opponent.

  Just as the words were said, Marco spoke up, "And the opponent of our newbie Blair is...from the south corner..."

  All eyes were on the south corner, awaiting the next name to be called out.

  "...KAITAN!!!!" announced Marco to the crowd.

  A platinum-haired dark elf walked onto the arena, donning a golden crop top and skirt that ended a few inches above the knees. The dark elf's gold high-heeled boots clicked against the stone floor with each step until coming to a stop, staring Blair in the eyes with a sly smirk.

  "Oh wow..." Blair muttered, eyeing Kaitan up and down. "Looks like I'm going against a dark elf. And she's hot, too...I'll admit that."

  Blair would regret assuming Kaitan's gender when she heard the dark elf's voice, which was deep and booming, yet smooth as silk.

  "And who might you be, young lady?" Kaitan said.

  Blair was a bit taken aback by the deepness of Kaitan's voice. "Uh, the name's Blair, pal," she replied, regaining her composure.

  Kaitan smirked, eyeing Blair up and down as well with those scheming forest green eyes. With a tilt of the head, Kaitan's Adam's apple showed. "Nice to meetcha, Blair."

  Blair did a double-take, realizing that the dark elf was a male. "Wait, you're a dude?! And how old are you, might I ask?”

  The crowd were just as taken aback as Blair was, with loud mutters being heard by Kaitan. He chuckled, clearly amused at the audience and Blair's confusion. "Yes, I am a man. And I'm 1,460 years old, if you were wondering. What about you, bella?”

  Blair's eyes widened at Kaitan's age. "1,460?! You look like you're in your early 20's! How?!" Blair was shocked, trying to figure out how the man in front of her was able to look so young for being that old. "And what did you just call me…bella…?”

  Kaitan, sensing Blair's surprise at his age, chuckled softly. "My, how bold of you to assume that elves age the same as humans, bella. As for what I called you...of course I would learn the language of this beautiful country. Bella means 'beautiful'. I was referring to your attractiveness, of course.”

  A light pink blush appeared on Blair’s cheeks at Kaitan’s sudden compliment, not used to receiving such compliments from men. "O-oh, is that so? I-I…"

  Nika and Rachel, not paying attention to the compliments, looked at Blair's face. "Is she....blushing?!?”

  "Did that dark elf just make her blush?!" Rachel exclaimed, clearly surprised by Blair’s reaction. "THE Blair...she's blushing? That's a sign of the apocalypse. The world must be ending.”

  Nika chuckled at Rachel's over-the-top comment, finding the situation amusing. "Or maybe....Blair has a thing for dark elves. And tall guys. And extremely old and wise guys. And the color gold.”

  Meanwhile, Blair kept her eyes trained on Kaitan, observing his attire once more. "You sure uh...got a sense of dress there, Kaitan...!”

  "Oh? Like what you see, hmm?" Kaitan inquired, a slight smirk playing on his face. "You have a thing for gold, I take it?”

  "A little bit..." Blair said, her eyes still scanning Kaitan up and down, taking note of his attire. "Though...it goes with your complexion. You got real nice tan skin. It looks...good on you.”

  Kaitan chuckled at Blair's comments, finding her words amusing. "My, you're quite observant, aren't you? Yes, gold does go well with my skin tone. But I must say, you seem to be focusing on my skirt quite a bit.”

  "Huh...what? Oh!" Blair shook her head, realizing that she was looking a bit too intently at his skirt. "Uh...I mean, not a lot of guys pull off the whole skirt look, y' know. It's pretty...bold.”

  Kaitan smirked, clearly amused by Blair's reaction. "Oh, darling...you haven't seen the whole picture. It gets much bolder from here.”

  Blair raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Kaitan's words. "Oh really? What could be bolder than that skirt?”

  "Ah, you'll see soon enough," Kaitan replied, a hint of mystery in his voice. "But for now...let's focus on the task at hand, shall we? We are here to fight, after all.”

  "Right, right, the fight," Blair replied, refocusing her mind on the task at hand. "So, how about we get this show on the road, huh?”

  Kaitan chuckled, amused by Blair's eagerness. "Eager to jump straight into the action, aren't we? I like that. Very well then, bella. Let's get started."

  With that, Marco raised his hand before shouting, "And now, let the match...BEGIN!!”