Thomas threw spears from the back of the cave per his usual routine when he was with the rest of the group. Whenever a salamander would go after him, someone would always get in front of him. Out of all the weapons, his spears had killed the most. Out of all the salamanders, he only ever went after the weakest; those that couldn't defend against him. 'I know I'm weak,' he thought. 'I thought I was ok with that as long as I was with them.'

After the daily hunt, they relaxed back at their new home and sparred. The next day of hunting was the same as the previous. His hands, covered in cuts from messing up so many times when witling away, launched dozens of spears. He hit almost every shot but he never smiled at his work, simply picking the spears back up. He waited for the rest to go ahead so he could remain at his designated position, at the back. 'They would be so much better without me,' he thought. He glanced down at his sticks. 'Is this what I wanted?'

After getting back and rounds of sparring…

"Just one more," Frey said as Thomas fell to a knee, coughing and feeling bile rise up at the back of his throat. "Keep your head up!" Thomas yanked his head upwards. The bile slowly went down the more breaths he took. He opened his water sac and poured the last few drops of lukewarm liquid onto his dry tongue. He tasted more sweat than water. His spear constantly shifted around in his sweaty grip and when he wiped his hands on his shirt, it only made the issue worse. Although they didn't use life essence in their sparring sessions, Thomas couldn't think of any other reason as to why that hulking giant of a man named Frey was still standing. He had tried everything: Stabbing, more stabbing, running around him and hitting him with combination attacks, but nothing he had tried so far had any effect.

"I think…" Thomas took a breath. Little rainbow sparkles invaded his darkening vision. He waited for a bit and they went away. His heartbeat pounded at the sides of his head. "It's time for a break."

"You can talk so keep going!" Doevm's voice rang out like an unending nightmare.

"Why aren't you fighting? What's your excuse?" Thomas sent a glare his way only to grimace at the salamanders' exposed organs. He knew that Doevm had a reason not to spar. It was simply an excuse for Thomas to catch just a few more seconds of sweet rest.

"Setting aside I'm the only one who can do this," Doevm gestured to the mess of organs at his feet with a hand covered in blood that was not his own. "Someone has to be ready in case something happens. Unless you think you can defend us from a threat?"

'You didn't have to put it like that.' Thomas cursed under his breath. He half-heartedly rushed at Frey only to be deflected and receive a kick to his groin. He groaned as he sunk down, catching himself on his knees. He didn't dare to look down, that feeling having returned. He unconsciously lurched forward, his lunch nearly escaping him. "Water."

A water sac hit the back of his head. "Get up!" Thomas emptied the contents into his mouth and threw it back at Doevm, who caught it and resumed talking to Elero, who was rapidly assembling and disassembling the outline of her braces.

Immediately after wiping the water from his chin, he rushed at Frey. In the beginning rounds, Thomas always lost, but at the later sessions, when even Frey's monstrous stamina was beginning to fade, Thomas was able to hit him. No matter how much he did hit Frey however, the giant never faltered once. His shield smacked into Thomas, who bounced to his feet, almost sliding back on the sweat-covered ground. 'Move,' he thought, his thighs feeling as though they had caught fire. His aching arms curled on the center, he took aim, and struck.

Frey just caught the spearhead with his life essence-covered hands. "Do you have anything new?"

"New?" Thomas pulled his spear back and leaned on it for support while he caught his breath. "I hit you with everything. Since I can't throw stuff, I just keep going to hit you, but nothing changes."

"Maybe that's because you don't do anything different," Elero's voice called over. "Thomas, you don't act like you're in a fight. You act like you're practicing move sets." She glanced at Doevm. "Just one round. Can you show him what I mean?"

Soon enough, Doevm was where Thomas had been, in a stance across the stage from Frey. Meanwhile Thomas sat on the sidelines next to Elero. She took out a water sac and handed it to him: "What do you think makes a fight different from a sparring session?"

"I guess," Thomas said after downing the contents and handing it back to her. "The amount of harm."

Elero paused for a second. "Shit I guess that's true. Let me rephrase my question. What makes practice different from sparring?"

Thomas rubbed his chin: "I guess you can do whatever you want?" Both of their gazes went to the two combatants, who rushed at each other. Their weapons clanged off of each other. Their shifting feet squeaked against the wet platform. Doevm's spear whistled just shy of Frey's cheek, nicking his ear. Frey rolled backwards and Doevm followed, kicking him clear off the stage. Doevm jumped down and stormed after him.

Thomas carried Elero out of the way as the chaotic brawl moved about the chamber. "Watch it you idiots," Elero cursed. "Please set me down now," she said, holding her wobbly legs. "I don't like to move in this state." Thomas gently set her down and brought his attention back to the fight.

When Doevm moved, he was so much slower than Thomas, yet he was hitting Frey, not just once, but time and time again. Frey brought his shield closer to his chest. Thomas could almost see the gears turning in Doevm's head as he halted his strike inches away from the shield and instead threw his body into it. Frey's back hit against the wall and he struggled for air. 'That's right. I should feint,' Thomas thought. The second Doevm alternated his stance for another strike, Frey pushed off the wall. His spear dug Doevm's shoulder, which flared with life essence.

Frey cursed. "Sorry that was too far." He didn't get out of his stance. Neither did Doevm, whose shoulder healed up in seconds under a small burst of life essence. "That's new."

"It's a work in progress." Doevm raised his spear overhead and launched it at Frey, who raised his shield to deflect. With his attention focused elsewhere, Doevm slid under his guard, grabbed onto his leg, and moved with his entire body. Frey's massive body turned and he slammed into the ground. That's what should have happened. Instead when Doevm twisted with his entire bodyweight behind it, Frey just laughed. "God damn you and your stupid weight." Doevm cursed as he got back to his feet. "Thomas, do you see what Elero's trying to tell you? Well it doesn't matter because it's your turn anyway." Doevm walked back over to the salamander corpses.

'What?' Thomas thought. 'That's it? No combinations? There was no pattern to that at all. Their moves were great regarding technique, but there was no follow up. It was like they kept changing how they fought throughout the fight without a plan at all. I think I just saw two animals fighting each other. What am I supposed to do after watching that? At first, I thought I had figured it out, but what am I supposed to pick up?' "Fine." Thomas took one last breath and with the last of his stamina, got into a stance at the stage. 'I'll just try it once and be done with it.'

He circled around Frey, who always turned to face him. "I'm waiting." Thomas flinched and stepped forward. Frey tensed up. In that moment, Thomas saw his own defeat. Frey's eyes had slightly widened and the side of his mouth had curled up a little. Thomas's foot had turned to fast, putting him ever so slightly off balance. Thomas retracted his foot and kept circling around him. 'No. Not like that. I need something different.'