Rika stood at the edge of the arena, positioning herself roughly between the seated audience so her voice would reach all of them. “Settling ideological disputes via duels is the adventurer’s way in Ignisvell! Today on one side, we have the prestigious fire mage, Kaara Henderhol! A gold ranking adventurer hailing from Hemholt!” she announced.

  Kaara raised a hand and augmented it with a vibrant golden fire in response to his name being called. The crowd hollered loudly, the loudest among which was the hulking barbarian from Kaara’s party, whose cheer sounded more like a battlecry and silenced everyone else near him. The rest of Kaara’s party seemed mellow with their confidence in comparison, with the rogue simply rolling her eyes and the ranger leaning forward as he focused on Nikolas.

  “-And on the other side, we have our very own mysterious bronze rogue, Nikolas!” Rika continued, leaving his description empty of embellishments for lack of knowledge. Nikolas had no eager responses, subtly shifting his arms under the cloak which hid what the mask didn’t. There were scarce cheers from the audience, easily attributable to the kind of reputation and lack of rapport Nikolas had built with them in his time at the guild.

  “The duel shall continue until either one of the combatants yields or is rendered unconscious!” Rika explained the rules, of which there only seemed to be a couple more. “You may not follow through with lethal force, or leave the arena until the duel is concluded. Doing either will result in an immediate forfeit!”

  “Oh, just get on with it already!” Kaara exclaimed, shifting his weight between both feet as he eagerly stood there, both wrists flaring with flames building around them. The proud pyromaniac seemed all too interested in establishing the pecking order between them, and their duel was simply a formality.

  Rika shifted her gaze to Nikolas for a final confirmation, who only graced her with a subtle nod, followed by crouching ever so slightly. “BEGIN!” She called out right as Felis came back out carrying a tray full of drinks, ready to quench the energized crowd’s thirst.

  Nikolas was the first to move – barely as the words left Rika’s mouth, he broke into a sprint towards Kaara with a leap, almost blindingly fast. The diameter of the arena turned out to be a false security in the wake of his speed, the edge of his cloak casting an afterimage as it billowed behind him.

  Kaara was no different in initiative, immediately bringing both his hands together in front of himself and gathering fire for a moment before it culminated in a burning stream headed straight for Nikolas at breakneck pace.

  Nikolas was evidently prepared for it, spinning to his right just in time to strafe out of the way of the blazing beam. His cape flowed around him in a quick swish as he did, disguising the launch of a wired dagger from under it which sped on a radial arc towards Kaara. Nikolas yanked his hand back to adjust the trajectory of the blade to try and catch Kaara off guard from range.

  Kaara quickly shifted his fiery beam towards Nikolas’s new location, but a glint of reflected light from his left warned him of an incoming projectile just in time for him to end the attack and withdraw his hands. He let out an involuntary hiss as the dagger sliced through his robes and drew blood from his forearms, speeding past after inflicting a pair of thin flesh wounds. His retaliation was immediate – he gathered golden flames in both his hands as he brought them together for a mighty clap, causing twin swathes of blistering heat to converge on Nikolas from both sides.

  Nikolas continued his elegant, unorthodox ranged assault, extending his right arm forward and pulling it outward to recall his wired dagger on its arc towards Kaara, this time arriving from the opposite direction. The walls of fire on either side were quickly swept out of his worries with a swift lunge forwards out of their reach, closing the gap further between him and his opponent.

  Clarisse was transfixed in place – this was not the pace she was used to seeing Nikolas move at during their training. The wire reminded Clarisse of when she had grabbed his arm in the marketplace, the chill she felt must have been some sort of contraption to conceal the dagger under his sleeve, she reasoned. Her heart beat faster as she watched the battle escalate and heard the crowd jeer, unsure what to expect but silently praying for his victory.

  Kaara’s eyes widened at his opponent’s unexpected agility and he raised his hands to summon a wall of fire right before him - he wasn’t aiming at the kitsune this time, but rather anticipating where he would be. In the back of his mind, he knew that the dagger was returning for him and jumped backwards right as the shine of his fire was reflected off it in the corner of his vision.

  The wire passed underneath Kaara’s legs by a leeway of a mere inch, but what was more surprising to the audience witnessing everything was Nikolas’s decision to go through the wall of fire Kaara had raised. The masked adventurer seemed unbothered by the prospect of powering through the blazing wall, which became more obvious after his armor shrugged off the heat. The seemingly meager leather armor and clothes worn by the fox managed to keep themselves from lighting on fire. His cloak wasn’t as lucky though, granting him an incendiary cape billowing behind him.

  With a deft motion of his wrist, the wire began retracting back under Nikolas’s sleeve, and he was holding the dagger in his palm by the time he closed the distance and got within melee range of Kaara. Unyielding in his approach, he lunged towards the pyromancer with the same vicious momentum which had let him fly across the arena.

  The pyromancer was thoroughly taken back to say the least, only finding time to cross his hands in a blocking motion before Nikolas was already right in front of him. His pride wouldn’t let him accept it, however, and Kaara let out a guttural battlecry as he unleashed a continuous searing wave in front of himself from his arms to punish the rogue for daring to get close to him.

  Nikolas seemed unfazed by Kaara’s sudden tendency for attrition, instead taking the challenge head on. With the edge of his dagger poking out from between his fingers, he balled his fist into a powerful strike at the core of the pyromancer’s defense. With a quick flick of his left hand, it too had a dagger lodged between its fingers and joined into the fray.

  The audience reveled in the back-and-forth, cheering despite being mostly unable to decipher the intricacies of tactics between the two fighters. Even though he took the brunt of the flames directly, Nikolas showed no signs of backing down and continued hacking away at Kaara’s wall of flame while his clothes and armor began burning. Kaara showed the same resolve, keeping his arms up through the constant assault slowly pushing him back towards the edge of the arena against his will.

  Clarisse gasped when she realized Nikolas wasn’t planning on dodging the endless blaze thrown at him, his hands shaking slightly as she covered her mouth. “He’s still playing around…” were words the redhead didn’t expect to hear in this situation, but they came from the doll floating next to her anyway.

  “Kaara’s trying to drag it out…” Sera rolled her eyes with a disappointed tinge in her voice. “There’s no winning against Nik in a war of attrition.” she continued to complain, though cognizant enough to keep her volume at a level where only the girl beside her could hear.

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  “W-what do you mean?” Clarisse asked in disbelief, it was hard enough for her to believe that Nikolas was pushing a gold rank back, much less that he was holding back while doing so.

  Before Sera could respond, Kaara crashed into the arena’s short wall separating the field from the audience, his barrage of flames now reduced to mere embers as he fell forward onto one knee. The greaves which protected his forearms thus far had been reduced to rags, and a myriad of cuts wet the ground in front of him with both fresh blood and lost pride.

  Nikolas stood a few meters away from the fallen pyromancer, slowly retracting his leg from the kick which had sent Kaara flying into the wall and returning to a casual stance with both hands down. There was evident damage on him as well - both his gloves and sleeves had been burnt to shreds by Kaara’s flames, along with the edges of his ears and locks of ashen hair which now glowed a bright orange as they died down to a simmer. His leather armor and the shirt underneath were on the verge of burning down as well. The contraptions from where his wired daggers originated now lay bare for everyone to see on either burnt hand, and the rest of the fox’s attire was lined with soot and signs of light damage, but even so it was abundantly clear who was in the advantage.

  “That’s bullshit!” Came a surprised remark from the rogue in Kaara’s party, visibly bothered by the outcome of their scuffle. “There’s no way that’s just some random bronze rank!” she yelled out, only held back by her ranger companion raising his hand in a gesture for her to stop.

  “H-how…?” Kaara muttered under his breath, shaking with anger, nay, rage as he looked up at the masked rogue - he was just supposed to be some overconfident bronze ranked rookie, but now stood above the reputed adventurer. “You…” Kaara heaved, desperate for breath as he stumbled his way to standing upright.

  “Ready to give up?” Nikolas asked calmly, letting the wires pull his daggers back into their sheaths naturally and flexing his fingers. Layers of burnt skin peeled away from his digits, and what didn’t break off had been singed and seared. His decision to use the daggers had been akin to wielding a piece of metal while it was still being worked into shape by a smithy. He shifted his gaze towards their audience, choosing to address both their cheers and protests with only a blank stare.

  “No…” Kaara sputtered out, his arms shaking from their numerous wounds as he reached into his collar and pulled out a necklace with a large red gemstone, letting it rest outside his robes. In front of him, he no longer saw a petulant rookie deserving of a lesson, but a genuine threat to his reputation. The gemstone let out a soft glow as he slammed his left foot forward, sending a powerful tremor which tore through the ground and homed towards Nikolas’s location. “You lying piece of shit!”

  Nikolas was alarmed at the sudden change of pace from Kaara and leapt backwards, but found that the tremor continued to follow him as he retreated. He continued to step backwards for a few more meters, before letting out an annoyed grunt upon realizing that it was only going to keep following him.

  Kaara intended to capitalize on his first threat immediately, forming massive plumes of golden-red flames around both hands. The gem around his neck was glowing brightly now, shaking slightly to the point of beginning to levitate up from his chest. “BURN!” He declared, directing his hands below to launch himself towards the fox like a projectile.

  Most of the crowd seemed ecstatic at the turn of events, much to the guild’s profits since they kept picking up as many drinks as Felis brought on a platter each time he walked by. Clarisse was still just as nervous. Despite Seraphim’s disinterested whims, she realized why Kaara was a gold rank - it wasn’t just down to the raw power or practice, but rather the fluent combination of techniques which made him effective. The shine of the gemstone captured her attention as well, but a collective roar from the crowd at the next event brought her back to Nikolas.

  The tailless kitsune had been struck by the pyromancer as he rocketed towards him, landing in a cloud of ash and dust. The tremors following him from under the ground also converged on them, causing a large explosion where they landed. For a few seconds, no one could make out what was going on in the chaos.

  “DON’T YOU DARE LOSE, KAARA!” The gold rank party’s rogue shouted, visibly disturbed by what had become of something they had expected to be a one-sided beatdown. Despite her reaction, the party’s humongous barbarian seemed to be enjoying the duel, while the ranger remained just as apathetic as ever. Kaara suddenly appeared from the dust, still propelled by the stream of fire under his hands and feet as he swiped his limbs either side to launch incendiary waves into the settling cloud.

  Nikolas appeared on the far side of the dust cloud separating them, noticeably more burnt than before. Somehow, the extent of his injuries were not affecting the speed and proficiency with which he moved, eloquently dodging and weaving between the waves of fire being thrown his way.

  “Go on, end him! You can do it with just a singular strike. You’re strong enough.”

  Nikolas shook his head, trying to keep the other voice from messing with his composure. He was acutely aware of the audience’s reaction to how he was faring. As much as he disliked it, he was forever going to be held to the standard that he showed them within this duel. He used precious leeway between approaching waves of flames to check himself. His seemingly meagre armor was holding up longer than expected. Somehow, minor parts of it which the audience had witnessed burning away had reverted to their original state now, and the same could be said for his gloves and sleeves.

  The entire ordeal had been a rollercoaster of emotions for Clarisse, but she felt the lump of doubt stuck in her throat settle down as she noticed Kaara’s gemstone begin to wane in its shine as he fired off reckless attacks in quick succession. “Is it going to end soon…?” she aired her thoughts, though they were easily drowned among the enthusiasm of the crowd.

  “This was over long before it started…” Sera sighed, placing a hand on Clarisse’s shoulder and patting her reassuringly. From the cadence of her voice, there really was a lot more that the redhead had yet to learn about her companion. “It’s still entertaining to see him fight, though.”

  Kaara flew forwards at Nikolas once more like a burning stake, barely giving him time to react. The fox instinctively reached for the broken sword resting in his hip, stopping just shy of unsheathing it.

  “B???????????????????l??????????????????O?????????????????????????????O??????????????????????D?????????????????.?????????????????????? W?????????????????E????????????????????? Y?????????????????????E???????????????A???????R??????????????????????N???????????????????????? F????????????????????????O??????????????????????R??????????????????????? B??????????L???????????????????????????O??????????????O??????????????????????????D??????????????.?????????”

  Nikolas decided against using the broken blade upon hearing the myriad of voices scream in his head, instead grabbing something from his potion bandolier and bracing as Kaara flew at him. Their impact was pronounced by an explosion of black gas as the vial shattered, forcing both combatants to inhale its contents. With his pride on the line, Kaara refused to back down from the potion’s field and began assaulting Nikolas with emblazoned strikes of his bare fists.

  Nikolas seemed to be deftly parrying with his arms and punishing Kaara all the same with his sleeved daggers despite the blazing enhancements of the latter, although their exchange would soon see a noticeable change.

  Kaara saw the change before he could mentally acknowledge it - his strikes became duller, weaker. His movements were sluggish, as if an assault on his perception was afoot. His eyes felt dry, his throat sore. Every muscle in his body wanted to protest in agony against his will. The fox-eared lad was moving comfortably fast enough to stop his every advance, but had stopped returning attacks at him. There was a moment of pause as he reeled back from a punch, and looked down to see the pair of mismatched eyes terrifyingly close to himself, well underneath his defenses.

  “Enervation.” Nikolas spoke decisively as he slipped under Kaara’s guard and grappled him, picking up the pyromancer over his shoulder. In a single swift motion, the golden-clad mage was thrown towards the center of the arena, slamming down on his back and rolling to an unconscious rest as the dust settled. His gemstone became hollow of power as the final remnants of fire magic wafted up and dissipated into the air above the knocked out pyromancer.

  “HALT DUEL!” Rika called out at the top of her voice, fidgeting with her glasses as she sought to confirm what she had just seen. She paused before making her announcement, though it seemed to be just a formality judging from the reaction of the audience “We have a winner - NIKOLAS!”

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