Van and Luna were sitting on the stands, watching the fights below as people spared each other in the early morning. There were training sessions, as well as instructors for those who paid for it.

“GO! GO! GO!” Luna cheered as she watched two women beat the shit out of each other with their bare fists.

On the other side of Van was Adela who was hugging his other arm. Since this morning she had practically become inseparable, following him around like a love-sick puppy. She squeezed his arm and occasionally would take a whiff of him and sigh in contentment. No doubt very happy that she got herself a loving and very understanding lover.

“Whoa! Did you see that! She practically went flying!” Luna exclaimed, pointing out two sparring partners who were fighting against each other very hard. The two having multiple bruises, thought neither side seemed to be giving in. the one sent flying already getting back up to continue the bout.

“Kinda reminds me of you and Thea… and you and Karmine…” Van said teasingly, pointing out the reference.

Luna looked at Van, definitely not amused…

He chuckled at her expression and defensively said he was just joking.

She gave a “hmph!” And turned back to the fight. Already it looked like she was quickly forgetting what Van said before, all her interest being taken up by the two combatants below as they went at each other.

“She really has taken a little after her mother…” He couldn’t help but think. Though he didn’t think it was such a bad thing. She was so timid and frail back then, now she seemed happy and outgoing, making friends wherever she went. In a way, he liked this Luna a lot more, even if she seemed to have a few… kinks…

The two watched the match below with great interest. Luna for the joy of it, and Van studying what he can learn from it. They were soon joined by Seral, the friend they made yesterday, taking a seat behind them.

“Hey Van, hey Luna. watching the Mercenaries train?” Also taking in the sights of the fighters below. This time though, he was joined in by a beautiful woman wearing a dark maid outfit.

“Young master, I really do insist you leave this to me. This is no place for a gentleman such as you.” the maid said, scanning the area for any potential dangers to her master.

“It’s okay Samira. These people are not as bad as you think. And I just wanted to meet with my new friends.” Seral said, giving an understanding look towards his maid, yet at the same time making it clear he wasn’t going to budge on this.

He then turned back to Van. “Hey Van, I’ve been wondering this since yesterday, when I saw your fight. But.. would it be possible for the two of us to spar? It’s all I've been thinking about.”

Van was surprised by this. They had just met each other yesterday. He wondered why Seral would ask him such a thing. But figured it must be the swordsman inside of him, Seral did give off that kind of impression…

Thinking about it, Van couldn’t really see an excuse to refuse other than the fact he wasn’t ready, nor did he really want to fight. He wasn’t like Luna, always looking to throw fists with someone. Not to mention he had used most of his spells and reserves of mana, and only recovered a little bit since yesterday…

But…

A part of him did want to accept Seral’s challenge…

“Young master! I insist that you desist at once! We can’t have you being injured before you go to school. You should know better than to play around.” Samira said in a disapproving, but also worried voice.

Seral frowned. “Do you really think so little of me, Samira?” He gently placed his hand on his sword, rubbing it almost subconsciously. “I’ve trained myself for years… and I think I’ve finally found someone who just might be my equal who is also a male… I want to see for myself how far I’ve come, and where I stand amongst others…” His voice filled with determination and resolve.

At that, Van’s fires were also stoked, and he couldn’t help but agree. The opportunity of fighting against another male of similar level wasn’t one that came by everyday. He should take advantage of this chance now that he has it.

“I agree,” Van said, getting up. “An opportunity like this doesn’t present itself everyday. If you have the time, I would be glad to have a friendly spar with you.”

Seral smiled, his eyes alight, happy that Van accepted his invitation. He also got up and agreed to spar with Van, much to Samira's displeasure.

Luna looked excited, while Adela frowned, also looking greatly displeased that someone took her hugging time with Van away, and might hurt him.

After coming to an agreement. The two went down to an open ring below. Already they were gathering some attention. They may not be the only males in the whole of the mercenaries guild. But it was still rare to see two males fight, some of the onlookers already joking about a cat fight and taking bets on who would win.

Van and Seral entered the ring and stood on opposite sides of each other.

Van was still very tired from yesterday, and last night, but in his mind that was no excuse. He was going to give it his all, no matter what. It was then, now that he was analyzing Seral a bit more, that he noticed the sword at his waist was that of a katana shaped blade… not exactly like one would find in the east… but similar enough, with runic symbols covering it’s surface.

Seral slowly brought out his sword in front of him, one foot forward, the other back, taking his fighting stance.

Van did the same, bringing out his two sabers and charging himself up with aura, getting ready for the fight to begin.

Karmine was there, and she joined them down on the ring. She looked at the two males and told them she wanted a good clean fight and that she would intervene should things go south. Once she saw that the two were ready, she gave the signal to begin the bout.

Seral disappeared.

Van was in shock for a split second, then kicked his brain into gear, defending himself at the last moment from the blade coming for his face. Blocking it with his two swords just in the nick of time.

Seral Vanished once more, and this time Van did the same. The two both using the flicker step at the same time. Thankfully, Xan’s teachings meant that Van’s flicker step was above Seral's, though that didn’t mean that he could find his opponent so easily…

The two had to bring their senses to their maximum, just to get an idea of where the other was. They mostly struck empty air or shadow afterimages of each other one after the other.

Van felt himself strain and push his body and senses even further. This was far different than when he first fought Karmine and Ashina. The two were practically invisible to each other… and yet… he still lost to Karmine and Ashina… so that means…

He saw the pattern… and immediately sent a slash of aura outward in a wide arc in the hopes of catching Seral in it.

But Seral somehow was ready for it, sending out a crescent slash of his own that negated Van’s attack perfectly… the kind of skill to do something like that made Van’s hairs stand on end…

But he wasn’t done, taking a quick moment. He sent dozens of fireballs into the air that slowly began to rain down onto the ring.

Seral easily dodged them, though was taken by surprise when they actually didn’t do anything when they landed, just staying there in ball form. Which made him wonder if they were just to trip him up and make him reveal himself.

How wrong he was…

Seral stepped too close to one of the balls of fire and it went off like a miniature explosion! They were mines!

Van tried to capitalize on the mistake, sending homing magic missiles that would follow no matter how much Seral ran. Even if he could outrun them, they will never stop following him…

But Seral slashed at the magic missiles from a distance, as well as the fire mines on the ground. Waves of aura slashes coming out of him over and over again, setting off explosions one after the other on the ring. After clearing up enough of the ring, he clashed with Van, their swords dancing.

Van was pushed back, he had never before had to face someone with such skill in swordsmanship other than his father. Seral was clearly better, his jabs and slashes were always on point, and it was clear he learned proper martial arts for his techniques than just the basics.

Van was constantly on the back foot, but he created tendrils of shadows from his back. Which became like spears and blades that attacked Seral alongside his own two swords.

Now Seral was on the back foot, having to dodge and block not only Van’s dual sword style, but the four shadow weapons that also attacked him and tried to trip him up. But that didn’t mean he was out of the fight just yet… quickly taking a jump back, he put his sword back in its scabbard and took a low stance.

Van had watched Ren watch enough anime to know where this was going…

A split second later, Seral was behind Van, blade out of his scabbard, and the shadow tendrils used to block the attack vanished into nothing.

It was like being hit by a wagon at full speed. A huge chunk of the aura that protected Van’s body went away with the attack, depleting his reserves of power immensely. Even his two swords were nicked badly by the attack, though that’s probably to be expected since there was nothing that special about them…

Van almost fell to a knee, the damage done to him no small thing. But he quickly turned around, knowing that Seral must have also greatly used a large amount of aura. Sending lightning through his now chipped blades, he began to fight once more. Pumping mana through his veins, the tribal tattoos formed once more onto his body, his sclera turning black and his eyes red.

But Serals’ eyes were also red and sclera black, his purple aura spiked to compete with Van’s blue.

The two went at it like they had something to prove. Moving at speeds that were hard to track, they struck at each other with reckless abandon. Not wanting to kill each other, but definitely wanting the other to concede defeat using any means necessary.

But…

Van’s body was slowly giving out… he was just too tired… and Seral didn’t seem to be slowing down either. If anything, he was increasing in speed and sharpness of moves…

Their blades clashed over and over again, sending mini shockwaves of air in all directions as they vanished and reappeared.

But Van’s blade finally cracked and broke. They couldn’t handle the electricity running through them, nor the constant hard hitting attacks by Seral.

What was at first meant to shock Seral with every attack, helped Seral break Van’s blade in the end…

But Van wasn’t done yet. He tried to take control of the air around him, pushing Seral away and flinging him around. Seral then used his aura to stick himself onto the ground and used his speed and power to close the distance.

Van’s power finally depleted… A sword to his neck… thoughts of how he would have won if he wasn’t so tired from the day before… or if he had better blades to work with, ones that wouldn’t break… but he shook his head, figuring that was how losers thought, and instead congratulate Seral on a match well fought.

“Good fight Seral… you're really strong…” Van said, though it hurt to say… so far, it seemed he was losing to everyone… not something he liked to think about.

Seral panted alongside Van, both of them out of breath and a little sweaty. He shook his head at what Van said gently, putting his sword away. Hands numb and tingling. “If you were fully rested, and had better swords on you. Things might have gone differently… but yes… good fight.” Giving a smile, and offering a shaky handshake.

Van was surprised by how similar their thoughts were, but also returned the smile and shook Seral’s hand.

Cheering was then heard from the crowd. They had almost forgotten that there was an audience for their fight. The two blushing a little in embarrassment.

“Wow! That was amazing, Van! That was even more intense than when you fought with Ashina yesterday!” Luna said, running down the steps to be with him. Adela did the same, giving Seral a slight glare as she passed him by and began to worriedly check Van for any serious injuries. Using her magic to help heal him up.

Samira also came down, looking relieved that Seral wasn’t to hurt, but her expression turned back into a disapproving one. “Now that you’ve played your game… perhaps we can return to the hotel… you have appointments to keep…” As well as a list of other duties Seral had to do this day.

Seral looked embarrassed by how Samira was acting. Turning around he addressed Van once more. “I have to go… Let's meet up again sometime. Just to hang out… if you want that is…”

Van nodded happily. “Yeah, sounds like fun. I have another friend I can introduce you to. I’m sure you two would get along.”

“I look forward to that.” Seral said with his own smile.

The two parted ways after that, promising to meet up again.

Luna, after seeing Van and Seral fight, also began challenging others to the ring.

It was an interesting morning to say the least…