Sako stood roughly at the same spot Kiyomi had stood.

Folduin was around his spot too where he had been in Kiyomi’s match.

Sadly, she couldn’t Evolve yet like Kiyomi because she didn’t have a naturally high intellect for her class, but it was fine: she was more used to using her fists and feet than spells. And she didn’t have many useful spells unlocked anyway. Maybe I should’ve gone with another class that would’ve fitted my martial arts… What a mistake. Too late to change it now.

She took her combat stance.

“Begin,” Elora mumbled from the sidelines.

“ROB!” Folduin shouted. It was the same trick he had used on Kiyomi.

The same hand flew towards Sako, but she couldn’t care less. She barely had a handful of skills at her level that she didn’t even intend on using. She would wait for his next move.

The hand reached into her and retreated, leaving her with a slight chill.

After a moment, he was dumbstruck. “WHAT IS THIS?! IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE?!”

Sako grinned. “Yep! And for a Guildmaster, you sure are uncouth. Shouldn’t you be setting an example for your adventurers?”

“And what do you know?! I never wanted to be Guildmaster!”

Elora cracked a smile with tired eyes. She found the whole thing funny.

“Why not quit then?”

“BECAUSE!”

“Because…?”

“Don’t ask me questions, girl!”

“So… you love your job then?”

“DON’T BE SILLY. I CAN’T JUST QUIT.”

Wow. Issues… Sako remained steady and focused, waiting for him to make his next attack.

Folduin eyed her carefully.

Silence…

He realized Sako was waiting, so he began, lifting his hands. “Rippling waves of chaos, I summon. Bring vanquish to all obstacles! Burn!” First, there was purple electricity zapping around the sky, then it all concentrated directed above the field, coming together and merging. The streaks formed a ball, and bit by bit, the ball expanded until it became a massive ball of dark purple energy—so large and bright that it could’ve been mistaken for the sun.

She was impressed: the magical energy it contained was incredible.

“Sako!” Kiyomi called from beside Elora. “That’s Void magic! It’ll eat any physical matter, so don’t touch it!”

Sako nodded. Throwing her fists at it was out of the question then. Unless…

The field had an invisible barrier over it too, so there wouldn’t be any collateral damage.

“Guildmaster, isn’t this a bit much for her?” Elora projected her voice with something like a microphone so that it reached across the entire arena.

“Nonsense! She simply needs to forfeit. But even if she doesn’t, I don’t intend to kill her.”

“Alright then!” Sako pulled her right arm back, having a plan in mind. “Do your worst!”

“I like your spirit! That’s the spirit of an adventurer!” He grinned.

He threw it at her. The sphere came down quick as falling raindrops.

She threw her fist up with every bit of her strength. The resulting shockwave from her fist scattered the condensed energy, blowing it apart completely. There wasn’t even an explosion but instead a harsh, sharp SWOOSH of wind.

Everyone’s jaw dropped, except Kiyomi’s. She was the only one smiling.

“How…” Folduin started.

“Let’s see your next attack!” Sako went back into her combat stance.

“Fine then.” He pointed his staff at her. “Alval Risio!” His staff shot out a dark purple beam—enough to envelope a whole dragon.

Sako sidestepped it, letting it strike the wall behind her.

Folduin turned his staff and swept the beam along the wall towards her.

She skipped along the wall to avoid it. When the beam stopped, she stopped.

“Sword of the Night God, perish my enemies!” A portal formed in the sky and a vast sword came out—pure black and surrounded by an aura. It could easily crush her. “A long time ago, this very sword was made by the powerful hands of the Night God! He used it to wipe towns, countries, even continents. This is the genuine deal!”

Sako looked up at it. She blinked.

“DODGE THIS!” The sword came down at her. It emanated tremendous power. The air was thick, almost stifling. Even the air was affected: it turned dead cold.

She lifted a hand and caught the point between her two fingers then tossed it aside as if she had grown bored of it. It hit the ground with a THUD, turned to light particles, and scattered. She looked back to Folduin, frowning “Hey, Mr. Guildmaster, you’re not holding back on me, are you?”

Folduin froze and turned pale. It was hard for him to speak, but he managed after a moment in a small tone. “…Of course I am… I wouldn’t want you to die or anything as I said earlier...” He forced a short laugh.

Elora and Kiyomi stared at him, unamused.

“Oh don’t look at me like that!” He scowled. “I said I wouldn’t, so I didn’t.” He turned to Sako. “And you, you haven’t landed a hit, so we’re not done yet.

“Just one hit?” Sako asked.

“Yes, if you can land one hit, I’ll forfeit.”

Sako appeared in front of him and swung her fist, but he leaned his head to one side just in time to miss the blow. The shockwave from her fist left a large, deep hole in the wall behind him.

He jumped away, eyes wide. “ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!”

“Of course not. I thought you’d be able to handle it.” She grinned.

Folduin cleared his throat and recomposed himself. “Well, yes, as you can see, I handled it just fine. That’s enough.”

“But I didn’t land a hit.”

“That’s fine. You’ve demonstrated your abilities enough already.”