The realm Dorthaunzee was sent to, Tella Dohne, was one where the denizens had access to Status Magic, and where Class Levels measured their development in their pursuits. In other words, denizens of the world could see their parameters—physical, mental, magical, spiritual—modeled by numbers and descriptions and could see how far along they were in their profession or pursuit. Many spells and abilities in Tella Dohne worked in conjunction with the information the residents could access. Incidentally, when Dorthaunzee arrived and realized she could use Status Magic as well, she quickly wrote done all her information, thinking Fainn would pat her hea—err—would congratulate her for being so forward-thinking.

Hero Almac--the one designated as this realm's Hero—was a young man born with a unique ability. He could sacrifice his health, or as the locals called it, his HP to empower his attacks. This ability--%Exchange%--was as rare as it was dangerous. Being at zero HP in Tella Dohne meant being near the Reaper's Scythe. As such, everyone that knew about Almac's ability considered it extremely risky and not worth the trouble.

His ability was also unwieldy because consuming the HP required to empower an attack took time--so much time it wasn't useful on the battlefield. It was here where Almac was greatly assisted by his childhood friends.

Rolf, the young man wielding a war hammer and shield, and Faye, the elemental magic slinging archer, would buy Almac time with their tactics. Now, with Dorthaunzee in the mix, Almac would use his %Exchange% more liberally since Dorthaunzee could heal him. As long as they were careful to not let Almac get hit in the moments between his %Exchange% and Dorthaunzee's heals, the party would most certainly win their matches.

And win they did! The party cleared their first three matches with relative ease. With %Exchange% unrestrained and with a heaven-sent nun with totaly mastery over healing magic, they gave the audience the show of a lifetime. Then came their fourth match...

"This..." Almac was as pale as a sheet. "This isn't fair."

Rolf had his jaw clenched and teeth bared as he stared at his feet.

Faye was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe this... Why?"

Standing beside these three with depressing expressions was Dorthaunzee with her head cocked and with three meat kebabs in her hand. (She got them because she thought the kids could stand to snack more.)

Dorthaunzee studied the giant board with the tournament's matchups and studied the name of the person they would face next--Toldon Bismark. It looked like a normal name. Dorthaunzee didn't understand why the three had turned to a collection of doom and gloom. It was certainly a less frightening name than Dorthaunzee, the Dying Light Terrorizer, or Fainn, the The Nightmare Lord of Infinite Gnashing Teeth of Damnation. (Name one of seven holy names for describing her Savior. Length of name depends on Dorthaunzee's fervor.)

She looked to her left and found a tournament official--a nice woman in skimpy desert wear. She tapped on the woman's shoulder and, when she got her attention, innocently pointed at the board.

"Oh! You're the Almac party! Hmm? You're curious about your next fight?"

The official studied the board, and Dorthaunzee watched her smile die. She turned to Dorthaunzee and apologized. Dorthaunzee immediately cocked her head.

"Oh, you don't know... Poor thing," said the official to Dorthaunzee(who was still holding meat skewers). "Toldon Bismark, The Reviver--he's one of the four favorites. He's a big man and a master of hand-to-hand combat. They say his grip strength is so titan-like that he can crumple coins into balls and snap the ribs of man as if they were twigs... It's regrettable that you had to face him in your block..."

Dorthaunzee shrugged and went back to the group. They were still depressed and not receptive to her skewers, so she forcibly handed each member their greasy skewer.

"Miss Maiden..." whispered Faye as she stared at her skewer.

"This is..." muttered Rolf.

"This skewer and the way it pierces the meat..." Almac's eyes turned fierce as he stared at the board. "Miss Maiden is right!"

Who was right about what now? Dorthaunzee glanced at Almac as she wiped her fingers with a wet cloth. She was as perplexed as she was miffed that the skewers were so greasy.

"So what if that guy's legendary? He's just a hulking mass of meat. We've got to pierce through him and all who come after him!"

Rolf and Faye became more animated as Almac spoke.

"We can't give up! Our will can punch through all the adversity if we just focus it! All of us--together and with one goal in mind--we can tear through anything! Or pierce any meat!"

Rolf and Faye roared in unison, pumping their fists as they did. Dorthaunzee, meanwhile, hoped they wouldn't drop their meat with how vigorously they were shaking it around. She played many rounds of cards with the street children to earn money for those skewers too.

"Miss Maiden!" Almac showed her a thumbs-up. "Thank you! You always know what to say."

Dorthaunzee blinked at Almac multiple times. She said nothing. She just thought they were malnourished. She was certain that if she had said that, they would not have reacted well. Most people didn't.

"I promise! We'll definitely win!"

Well, it wasn't so bad. Seeing young people happy and healthy filled her heart with joy.

Then Almac's meat fell off his skewer and hit the ground.

"Oh..." he said.

Dorthaunzee whacked his behind with her staff.

"Ack--oww! What'd I do?! Ack--oww, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Miss Maiden!"

Faye giggled at the sight of the nun punishing the energetic boy. Rolf gave his own lighthearted chuckle.

"You shouldn't wave your food around so much," Faye said, her meat still on her skewer. "Miss Maiden doesn't like people who waste their food." Then Faye's meat fell off her skewer and her eyes went wide. The blood didn't have time to drain from her face--that was how quickly Dorthaunzee pulled the young lady up from her seat and whacked her behind.

"I'm sorry, Miss Maiden!" she cried.

Rolf laughed again. "Seemph? Thish ish why you gotta eash fasht. (See? This is why you gotta eat fast.)"

The young man was chewing through his food, delighted by the show. Dorthaunzee patted his head and smiled with her eyes--

"What a good boy," Rolf assumed she said.

--before returning to rain down strikes to the bum on the two wayward 'children.'