Servi activated Soul Essence of Primal Combat and saw the afterimages. Holding her shield up, she walked slowly and carefully towards her opponent.

“Come on, Arty!!!!” A shrill voice caused Momo to glance to her right. It was Leeroy.  

Wasn’t he supposed to be unbiased because he’s the referee or something? Should I cheer for Servi? 

Momo’s mind race a kilometer a second before she opened her mouth.  

“I believe in you, Servi!!!” she hollered out, eyes closed and trembling hands down by her side, at the same volume as Leeroy. She eventually opened her eyes, and her precious face was bright red with embarrassment. Servi glanced back and flashed her a smile before getting back to the fight.  

“You know you can forfeit, right? I won’t have to embarrass you in front of that little kitty cat over there,” the very overconfident Arty tapped the butt of his spear against the ground. The noise produced by the wooden shaft echoed, but it was drowned out by the cheering. It seemed that most of the audience went for Arty, and only a few, including Momo, cheered for the girl with black hair.  

“…” Servi didn’t respond and made her way in. She raised her hand and feinted a leftward swipe. Arty fell for it and moved in response to the right, raising his spear for a downward thrust, but Servi dashed in and followed the afterimages to block the thrust with her shield.  Then she kicked him on his right side. The adrenaline in his body dulled the pain a little, but he still felt something.  

“Guh!” he reflexively exclaimed as he grabbed his side. With one hand on his side and one gripping his spear, Leeroy rushed in and announced that Servi had won the first point.  

“Go, Servi!!!” Momo adorably cheered for her friend

“Come on, I didn’t even kick you that hard,” Servi said as she slowly shook her head in disappointment.

“Arty, you good?”  

“Yeah, I’m good. Leeroy, she was trying to kill me!” whined Arty. He squinted his face as he let go of his side. His breath hastened, the immediate pain had disappeared, and only a slight thumping of heat remained.  

“No, she didn’t. It was a kick. Look, you’re the one who kept provoking her, and you didn’t have to accept the fight. I’m your friend, but you’ve been a giant dickhead since Yerue died.” 

Arty’s face flowed with anger. “She killed Yerue!!! How dare you take her side!!” 

“I’m on nobodies your side, but when we all signed up, we knew the risks. If what she said was true, then he really did attack her. We both know he had anger problems.” 

He pushed his one remaining friend away.  With a quick flourish of his spear, Arty turned his spear to the girl he believed killed his friend.  

“Dammit, Arty, keep this childish shit up, and you won’t have any friends left,” Leeroy got up and dusted off before announcing the current score. Then walked back and gave the start signal.

Filled with hatred, Arty immediately rushed forward with his spear and let loose a volley of thrusts that were deftly blocked by Servi. Sparks crackled as metal slammed and bounced off metal. Following the images, Servi rotated her shield hand and allowed a single one of her opponent’s attacks to pierce through her guard.  

“Got ya—What?!!” the look of victory was on his face, but that quickly changed. Servi twisted her body to avoid his thrust, dropped her sword, and grabbed the shaft of the spear with her free hand. 

“When using a spear, don’t just thrust wildly,” Servi calmly spoke as if she was giving a lecture to an unruly brat.

“Gah!! LET! IT! GO!” he pulled and pulled with all of his weight, but Servi’s strength was vastly more than anything Arty could muster up.  

“Is breaking weapons against the rules?” Servi asked Leeroy. He stared dumbfounded. Momo, meanwhile, was cheering her little heart out.  

“Not really, but…” he said after processing what was happening.  

Servi jerked back on her end of the weapon, forcing Arty to be pulled forward before suddenly pushing it away and back again. His arms couldn’t take conflicting forces, and he eventually let go and slammed hard on the ground. Arty slowly got to his knees and saw his beloved weapon pointed right at his neck. He nervously gulped and realized that if she wanted to, his life could end. Ending with nothing and nobody remembering him except for his one friend, Leeroy. Servi saw that fear right in his very eyes.

“I believe I win this round as well.” She lightly kicked Arty's chest. He fell back to the ground on his back, and Servi carelessly tossed the spear to the floor. She then walked over to her blade and picked it up.

“I’m not gonna break your weapon. Not yet, anyways. Now, get up.  There's one more round left.” 

Her black shoulder-length hair swayed as she walked to her starting spot. She waved at Momo, who waved back, before turning around and facing her opponent. He was still on the ground and, and he wasn’t moving. Well, his eyes were open, and he was taking in air and breathing it out, so he was still alive.  

Leeroy walked over and crouched down to his defeated friend. His hand, tan and with a scar covering the back of it, extended out towards Arty. He silently took it and pulled himself to his feet. A sharp glance later, at both Servi and Leeroy, he walked to pick his weapon.  

“You got zero points so far, and she needs one more to win,” he said to his friend. Leeroy knew Arty couldn’t win. Hell, he couldn’t win. Even if they both attacked, they probably wouldn't win.  

Arty sighed and took his weapon up before taking a stance. His memories of his destroyed home flashed through his mind.  

I’m supposed to be the hero! I’m supposed to be strong! Why her?! I was the one who survived my village being attacked by those damn bandits!!! This was supposed to be my story, and I deserved to be the protagonist. Why can’t I win?! 

Those kinds of thoughts filled his head. The life that Arty had led wasn’t a grand one. Nor could it even be called good. It was terrible and horrible as terrible and horrible could get. Watching his family and friends slaughtered in front of him did some real damage to his psyche. If he didn’t meet Yerue and Leeroy while wandering aimlessly, he probably would’ve ended up dead in a ditch somewhere with his neck slit. But that didn’t happen. He did end up meeting them, and he found the courage and strength to survive because he had two friends by his side.  

Once he arrived here and the three of them signed up for Warden, he immediately took out an extra loan to buy the best gear and weapon possible that he could use. He chose a spear because Leeroy had a bow, and Yerue had a sword. They were saving up to buy a good shield for their tank, Yerue, but he died before they even had a chance. Of course, they tried to take another loan, but Warden refused to give it to them.  

The night before he died, the three had a solemn talk. They each reaffirmed their goal to learn skills and become stronger than anyone had ever before. Neither of them was fortunate enough to be blessed, and in a way, they were like Momo. She had ventured to Canary to find strength and comrades, but there was one key difference between those three and her. 

Momo knew humility. She knew kindness, and even though she had to travel for six months to reach Canary from her village, she never once lost what made Momo, Momo. Not once did she thought she was better than anyone. She always thought she was the worst. If anything, she believed she was a supporting character in her own life.

It was a combination of that and meeting Servi, which caused her to grow mentally and rapidly.

Maybe if Yerue had a little bit more humility in his life and learned to keep his emotions underway, he would be alive. But it was that moment of anger and embarrassment that caused him to lash out, which in turn forced Servi to defend Momo. That, in turn, caused Yerue to pass out and eventually be killed by the rats and roaches. And that all led to this moment. The reason Arty lashed out at Servi and Momo was that he didn’t know what to do. Leeroy didn’t seem that upset, and Arty felt like he was the only one who cared. But the more he thought about it, if Yerue did do those things, he should’ve never been mad at Servi and Momo. Or maybe Arty should be upset at them. Arty really didn’t know what to do, who to blame, how to feel, or how to cope.

His mind raced faster than light in a complete circle of blame, and he didn’t have the strength to escape from that vicious cycle.   

Tears dripped from his eyes. 

“Don’t think crying will help you now. No, you’re not allowed to shed tears.” Servi growled through her teeth.

“Servi……” Momo whimpered. She was mad at Arty, but she also knew he was sad when he discovered his friend had died. But Arty had no reason to come after them so much when that guy planned to attack her because he was the one who lost focus. And he was the one who took the attack that led to him being unconscious. It was them who ended up saving him from certain death. He did nothing but turn on them, and he would’ve probably killed Momo if not for Servi.

Arty knew the following.  One: Yerue was dead. Two: he died after he supposedly attacked Servi and Momo. Three: Servi left him alone and passed out somewhere in the sewers. Four: she didn’t tell them where she left him at.  

From his point of view, he had an excellent reason to be mad. But from their point of view, they had a reason to kill Yerue. It would’ve been in self-defense.  

Arty said nothing, gritted his teeth and began his attack. He rushed in and thrusted, but just like before, Servi blocked all of them with her shield. Such intense movements forced his tears to intertangle with his sweat. He wasn’t even properly trained. He allowed his anger to guide his spear, but it was filled with such errors and widely erratic attacks that even a beginner could block them.  

“This isn’t gonna be enough to win,” once again, she allowed a thrust to bypass her shield and gripped the wooden shaft before the metal tip touched her face. It was millimeters away from piercing her cheek.  

Arty was aiming to kill. He didn’t want to stop at simply winning the fight.

“Arty! That was an illegal move! I said no going for lethal hits!” Leeroy yelled 

“Servi!!!” Momo cried. She had a horrified look on her face.

Using all of her strength, Servi crushed the wooden shaft into two before kicking Arty away. The broken pieces of his spear laid broken near his body, which came to a halt a few meters away.

That was a lot of power behind that kick. Itarr commentated from within Servi’s soul.  I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.

“Three rounds. I win. You better take the mentorship and training seriously, or you’ll be gone in the first fight.” After coldly speaking to the sobbing man in the slightly too big metal armor who no longer had a weapon, Servi turned around and walked to Momo. A few tears flowed from her eyes. She still hadn't calmed down from the nearly lethal attack.

“See, told you I’ll win. Now, let’s go,” Servi smiled ever so calmly at her friend, who stopped crying.  

The crowd that hooted and hollered went deathly silent when it looked like they would witness a death.

Momo's blue eyes shined through her tears, and she whimpered a single word.  "Okay..."

Leaving the base and the silent crowd behind, the two walked through the long tunnel and opened the door.  Once outside, the pair of friends walked up the stairs and glanced around. The sky took on a reddish hue that once again reminded Momo of Servi’s eyes. The sun was going down, and night would soon be upon them.  

“Servi?” Momo's emotions had calmed down, and she was in more control of them.

“Yeah?” she glanced over to Momo.  

“You were so cool! I've never seen someone fight so cool! But I was scared...Arty really tried to hurt you.” 

“Thanks, but I knew he would try to take my head off. He was angry, and after losing the first two rounds, he would most likely try the same thing again. I figured he would probably want to hurt me. But I’m sorry if I made you worry. I really am.” A slight frown appeared on her face. The very last thing she wanted to do was make Momo worry about her. Even though that’s far easier said than done.  

“No, I trusted you would win, and you did. I guess I’m just a worrywart. But good job! I hope I can fight like that one day,” even though you said you didn’t want to be dead weight, you’re always so much better than everyone else. Momo internally asked the last part of what she wanted to say. She knew there had to be a reason, and if she asked, she was afraid of the answer.  

“Thanks. And you will. Nothing is impossible, and I’ll be there to support you. Besides, aren’t you the one who wanted us to get strong together? So let’s do it. We can motivate and help each other.” 

“Yeah!” smiling brightly, Momo took a cloth and wiped her tear-stained face. “Cause we’re friends, right?” 

Ever since she was little, Momo wanted a friend. She had her grandpa, but she wanted an actual friend of around her age. Someone to speak and laugh with, or even maybe to get into an argument with. That was probably the reason why she often ended sentences with the phrase ‘That’s 'cause we’re friends, right?’ and other variations of it.  She just wanted to be sure, doubly sure, and triply sure.    

“That’s right. We’re friends.  Now, let’s go and see how much that red pelt is worth.” 

“I’m right behind you!” 

The two walked to the cash shop while talking about the fight. Momo had asked why she broke the spear, building up a lot of courage in the process to even ask, and Servi replied that she wanted to make a point to Arty.  

“I needed to teach him that going around and antagonizing people for the death of someone they didn’t cause had consequences. Hell, everything has consequences.” 

“I see. I hope that this calms Arty down somewhat. Who knows, maybe we could’ve been friends if things were a bit different.” 

“Probably, but that’s in the past. But it would’ve been nice, I guess. There’s always the future, though.” 

They walked the rest of the way in silence, listening to the chirping birds that acted as a natural soundtrack.  It was nice.

---

“Ya got a red for me? Hmm…”  

The two friends were inside the aptly nicknamed building called the cash building. Such a name was given by the Members of Warden as a way to shorten the official name. Warden’s Monster Parts Exchange was the proper name, but it was only used in official documents.  

They were chatting with an older man who sat behind a glass window. The gap at the bottom of the pane separating them was big enough to slide a meter and a half object. Anything larger than that would have to be judged and valued outside.  

“Yeah. We came across it in the sewers below. Is it worth anything? Oh, we also have sixteen claws, too,” said Momo. She took them out of her bag and slid them through the window.  

“Hmm… Let me ask my manager. I’ll be right back.” 

He was gone for but a moment and came back with a smile on his face.  

“Good news! It appears that the rat you two found was a rare variant. As its name suggests, it’s a monster that’s not often seen. I imagine you two have heard of Black Croc?” 

“Is it a rare variant?” Momo asked.

“Yep. When monsters spawn, there's a chance for it to be a rare variant." 

“Wait, spawned?” Servi suddenly said.  

“You didn’t know?” 

“No. What does it mean?” 

Momo subtly puffed out her chest. It wasn’t that often she had a chance to teach Servi, and such an occasion had only happened a few times over the past month. Usually, it was Servi doing the teaching.

It's kinda funny. Servi knows a lot about fighting and stuff, but she is almost clueless about other things.

“Spawning is the term used when a monster appears in the world. For that to happen, two things need to happen, but I only know of one. After a certain amount of Skill Energy is gathered in the world, a monster pops out.  There's a second condition, but I don't think anyone knows what that is. That’s why we can still find rats and roaches in the sewers.  But with so many people, we were lucky to find them as soon as they spawned.” 

“I had no idea. This is good to know.” 

Neither did I. How interesting. I guess I’m not really absorbing souls but the Skill Energy that made them? But that can’t be right. You told me people are born from sex between a man and a woman, and we absorb their souls. So is it possible for monsters to have no soul? Or does the Skill Energy create the soul, which in turn produces the beasts? As Itarr debated internally amongst herself, Momo smiled and was happy she taught Servi something she didn’t know.  

“With the sixteen claws and the red pelt from the rare variant, it comes out to 84 dupla.” 

“Wow! That’s a lot.” 

“Yes, ma’am, it is. But a rare variant is always worth more than a non-rare. Congratulations! Would you like me to put that into two pouches?” 

“Yes, please. If you wouldn't mind,” replied Servi. “Just curious, how much would Black Croc be worth if someone brought you his corpse? I’m not sure what would be the most valuable for a crocodile.” 

“Pretty much everything is valuable. The hide would go towards making armor, and it’s a big thing too. The meat would be edible, and depending on how it’s cooked, it would be pretty tasty. The claws would be carved down and attached to spears. As for the price, it all depends on the condition it’s brought in,” he spoke as he counted out and divided the 84 dupla.  

“Perfect condition.” 

“952 dupla. That’s if it appears to have died from a heart attack or something. No cuts or burn marks or any kind of blemish on the body, and if it still has all of its legs and claws,” he replied. In his hands sat two equally distributed pouches. He slid them through the window, and Servi and Momo each took one.  

“Is there anything else I can do for you two?” 

Momo looked at Servi, who shook her head before saying no. Wishing him a good night, the two left the shop overcome with joy.  

“952 dupla!! Servi, that’s….” Momo looked at her fingers, closing and opening them as she did the math.  

“476,” answered Servi.  

Huh, maybe I was good at math? I mean, it’s just a simple division problem, but I was able to answer it quickly enough.  

“476 dupla each. It’d be nice if we were the ones to take it down,” Momo's mind thought back to the brief encounter. Even though she wanted to fight it, Momo was scared, and she knew she wasn’t up to the task. If she wanted proof, she had to just look at what she did when they encountered it today.  

Maybe I should hold off on it? I don’t need to kill it right away, Servi thought. 

“It would. Maybe when we get stronger, we can go and try to fight it.” 

“Yeah!” cheerfully replied the Singi with a swooshing tail, proof of her happy state.

Making their way through the streets and to the Warden building, they saw that the long line that was previously there had gotten even longer. In addition to snaking around to the left of the intersection, it nearly reached the end of that street.

“Wow…it’s gotten even longer. Look, it goes all the way to the next intersection.” 

“I can’t believe they’ve been standing here all day,” Servi glanced at the line as they were walking and saw a familiar crying face holding a broken spear. The moment she made eye contact with him, he turned his head so fast that it hurt him.