The time was 12:56 PM, and the sun was blistering hot.  Seven people were traveling through the forest, followed the path they traveled only hours earlier in reverse. Some were happy, and some were sad.  Fisher Jin was at the front while his mentees were traveling behind him.  All six had the chance to fight, but did they all win?

Desperado was the fourth one to step into the ring. He won, barely, after being tossed to the ground. His opponent was a juncea bigger than the one Feral faced. Its powerful stinger rammed into the black Koena, knocking it to the ground. He wasn’t hurt, thanks to his tough scales and Protection, but he was in a precarious position.  

He had enough time to run over to the ring and leave, but Desperado chose to fight. Gripping the soft, brown dirt, mixed with sand, into his hand, he got to his feet and tossed it at the juncea in one swift motion.  The monster, now blinded, lashed out at random. Desperado took advantage of this and swiftly made his way behind the distracted beast.  

With a mighty yell, he raised his club just as the juncea figured out where he was at. He had to quickly raise his shield to block a series of rapid thrusts.  Even though the juncea was blind, it still had some fight left in it.  If it couldn't see him, it would hear him.

Desperado picked up on that and quickly backpedaled.  Staying completely still, he watched as his opponent did its best to locate its prey.  He turned back to the group of juncea and noticed they were completely still.  If they wanted to, they had the perfect chance to help their comrade. 

Desperado succeeded in sneaking around to the back of the juncea after tossing a rock as a distraction. He was finally in the prime position to finish this off for good.  With a Koena's strength and muscles fueling his attack, his opponent was none-the-wiser when he brought his brown club down. The exoskeleton that gave its body its rigid shape and overall defensive properties were utterly crushed, and the juncea collapsed. Its horrifying death cries were conveyed to its colony by way of its buzzing wings and clacking antennae.

'Brothers, I don't want to die.' It begged.  

Desperado turned around and saw that the other juncea were motionless. Not a single one made the tiniest hint of movement to assist their comrade. Their beady black eyes never blinked, and their arms or antennae never smacked against each other. Their rules were ironclad.

'Help...'

The buzzing wings slowly came to a stop when it realized its cries were being ignored.  For the first time in its life, the juncea was full of fear and fright.  The cold looming death that took the shape of a black Koena walked over.  He stood over the fallen beast, still twitching and barely clinging to life, and raised his club. 

A moment later, the juncea had lost its life.

A few seconds after that, the black Koena walked out with his prize. He was followed by a red soul that he couldn't see.  After the standard congratulatory congratulations, Riki hobbled over to the ring.   

His opponent was already inside, waiting for him. He glanced to the left and realized the two juncea that acted as janitors weren’t done disposing of the corpse. Not having enough time to do their job before the fight, the two impaled the dead body of their fallen comrade and dragged it out of the ring. He thought it was a vile practice.  

Cannibalism eh? Can’t say I’m a big fan of it. Looking down at his hand, he saw the flower that signified Protection. He still had some petals left, so he didn’t want to waste any Skill Energy to refresh it.  

The moment he pounded his axe into his buckler, the juncea darted ahead. As monsters, most juncea stuck to a single method of attack. It was almost like a set of instructions was engraved in the Skill Energy that made up their core.  

For the juncea, it was to be fast, sharp, and ruthless. Most took that to mean to charge ahead and tire out the enemy with repeated attacks. But then there were some who twisted those instructions and followed their own interpretation of it. For the juncea that Servi fought, it altered the command of ruthlessness into using deceit and feints. And it would’ve won if not for the fact that Servi was, by far, the worst opponent it could’ve fought.  

Riki held his shield up and stayed his ground when it collided with the incoming stinger of the monster. Thanks to a Dwarf’s stockiness and strength, as well as the training he received from Fisher, Riki wasn’t fazed in the slightest. The Dwarf swiftly responded with his axe, and his adrenaline kicked into overdrive. His face took on a neutral look as he approached with a raised arm.  

It’s like the world is slower. Or maybe I’m faster? Regardless, I can do this. Just remember the training! 

Keeping a careful eye on his opponent, Riki dipped down and picked up some brown dirt. The juncea took the chance to charge in but backed off at the last second. Riki fell for the feint and raised his shield, dropping all of the dirt.  

Ye won’t let me use that, will ye? Well, I can chant. Maybe I can even fake it? 

Riki followed through with his plan and began to chant. He didn’t plan on finishing it, so he wasn’t surprised when the juncea rushed in again. This time it wasn’t with a sword-like stinger but with the piercing antennae on its head.

The Dwarf didn’t know if it was going to be a fake charge, like the one with Servi or a real one. He had a 50/50 chance of guessing right.  

Maybe I can make it a 100 percent chance, eh? But this has a chance of backfiring. I don’t see any other way I can win, though.  

Taking a page out of Servi’s book, Riki put weight on his right foot and prepared to dodge. But at the same time, he had his axe in a reverse grip. Instead of having the axe's head face the ground, it was flipped and pointed to the sky while being hidden by his metal buckler.

The moment he realized the juncea wasn’t going to fake it, he dodged to the left. Concomitantly, he tightened his grip on his axe and forced his hand up as fast he could. It connected with the juncea’s mandible, slicing it, but it didn’t completely cut through it.  

The juncea was going too fast, and though the Dwarf did inflict some damage, he didn’t have a good grip on his axe. The moment it made contact with the monster’s mandible, the weapon was viciously torn away and landed not even 10 centimeters away. But since it was outside the ring, and he couldn’t get it without forfeiting the fight. But that wasn’t all. During the exchange of blows, Riki broke two of his fingers in the hand that gripped his axe, and he was in terrible pain. The adrenaline and endorphins flowed through his body, but they weren't helping at all.

Rakkire made the move to pick it up, but Fisher stopped him. “If you toss it in, it’d be considered helping.” 

“But he doesn’t have a weapon!” Rakkire tried to pick it up, but Fisher grabbed his arm, stopping him again.

“He does. Just watch.” 

The juncea was in obvious distress, with half of its mandible missing. So Riki took advantage and used his trusty buckler as a weapon to attack it while it was writhing in pain.  

After that exchange, I'd say I came out on top. 

“That was a dumb move on my part, but at least I still have my shield. Good thing my broken fingers are on my other hand. This is the end, juncea,” Riki solemnly whispered in a voice that wasn’t like him. The moment this fight started, something that made up Riki's core fractured. It allowed new thoughts and feelings that never had a chance to thrive or exist to appear within his soul. 

With a mighty swing of his buckler, the juncea lost its life. It was none the wiser of the impending shield slam, and Servi gained another soul to add to her collection.

With a Dwarf’s strength, he bashed the fleshy part of the juncea’s stinger until it broke off, and more blood deluged the already soaked arena.

Riki almost looked something like a villain as he quietly walked back to his group. Sweat poured from his tan face, which heaved for air, and a brutally busted stinger was his victory prize, but it didn't feel like he won.  

“Here you go, cousin." Rakkire handed Riki his axe.  “Good work,” he added. 

“Aye, thank you, cousin,” Riki replied.  He tossed the singer in the ever-growing pile and sat down.  Taking his axe from his cousin, he rested it on the ground in front of him as he waited for his mentor to heal him.

“Good work on using your shield as a weapon. I saw what you were going for with your axe, and it wasn’t a bad idea per se, but you didn’t have the strength to back it up. Regardless, you turned that around and didn’t let it affect you,” Fisher prepared Remedium Lux.  "Nice stuff."

“Thank ye, Fisher, for the kind words and the healing. To be honest, I have your training to thank. If this was me from a month ago, I most likely would’ve died,” Riki clenched and made a fist with both hands to test out his fingers.  They still hurt, but he could endure the pain.

“You never act this serious, cousin.”   

“Rakkire, when I was out there, I realized that I truly could’ve died. If I would’ve made just one wrong move, and I did when I went to cut off that thing’s mandible, I’d be dead. I don’t think I could’ve made it out of the ring to forfeit,” Riki spoke his heart out, and the five mentees and one mentor paid close attention.  

“If you were to fight again, do you think you would win?” their mentor asked. 

Riki shook his head. “I honestly don’t think so. I think it was a combination of luck and my opponent’s inexperience. It looked like the juncea I fought was young.” 

Fisher nodded. “I see. This is a good thing. You’ve stepped into the ring, and now you know your limits.” 

“Then, I guess it’s my turn,” Rakkire got to his feet and pulled his axe from his belt while spinning it around his finger. It was the spitting image of the one that Riki cradled in his lap. 

“Remember, cousin, standing in the heat of a battle is different than just imagining it. I don’t know how to describe it.” 

“I’ll be careful,” Rakkire made his way to the ring, where he had to wait a minute or two for his opponent to be chosen.  It was smaller than the one his cousin had fought, and that instantly led him to falsely believe it was even more inexperienced.  

While Rakkire waited, Servi took this chance to speak about something that bothered her. “Other than Protection, not many skills are being used.” 

“I tried to use some, but I couldn’t block and chant,” Silverado said. “It’s difficult. And it’s even harder to learn pre-casting.” 

“That it is. Most people don’t even try to learn it until they hit Rank 6 or 7. Some do learn it at Rank 8 or 9, but it’s a bit rare to find a Rank 10 who can do it,” Fisher explained.  Thanks to his God of Combat, he never had to spend the effort learning.  The information and know-how were present in his mind from the moment of his birth, but it didn't materialize until Fisher became serious about fighting. He glanced at Servi when he ended his sentence. “It’s immensely helpful for a tank to learn it, though.” 

“So that’s the reason you put us through hell?” Servi asked.  She didn't want to speak, but knowing more about the things she didn't know would only help her in the future.

“Yes. That’s why I pushed you all so hard physically for the first week. It’s so your bodies can get adapted to the pure stress it’s going to receive in the coming weeks or months. At this Rank, you all mainly have to rely on your physical strength and reflex until you learn how to chant and block at the same time and understand the mechanics behind pre-casting."

Each mentee that was present, except Servi, looked at their mentor with newfound respect.  

Feral didn’t think it possible for a Human to care so much about a Demi. He knew he didn’t care about Humans that much. Up until he met Servi and heard about Fisher, he thought that Humans were weak bags of flesh and bone that couldn’t stand up to the might of a Kobold.  

I was wrong. Servi and Fisher Jin are worthy of my respect, and Fisher Jin thought about us from day one.  Perhaps other Humans are deserving as well...

Silverado was mentally beating himself. He thought he had brought shame to Fisher because, so far, he was the only one who had failed.  Fisher, please forgive me for not passing the exam. I promise I’ll work harder.  He almost brought himself to tears from the mental abuse he inflicted upon himself, but a quick nudge from Desperado stopped him.  

Meanwhile, the black Koena reflected on the harsh training he endured and how it helped him win.

Riki closed his eyes and reflected on his fight in slow motion.  His grading was harsh, but he couldn't see any way to give himself a passing grade.  I need to do better.  I must be better. Sounds of combat broke him from his trance, and he turned his head towards the arena.  What kind of cousin would he be if he couldn't spare the time to watch his cousin fight?