"Wait a second... Why didn't the announcer... just say 'gentlefolk' instead of ladies and gentlemen?" Kira asked. 'Theydies and Gentlethems' sounded a little funny at first, but after thinking about it for a few minutes as the 'joke' rankled in her head, she realized it was quite rude.

It was painting nonbinary folks as an 'alternate version of male/female' instead of its own separate identity. It was intentionally dismissing the nonbinary identity while making it a joke.

"He was being rude on purpose," Dani said quietly as she stood and stretched her legs. She had been sitting on the other side of Brigit, and answered before the Drakke could. "He thinks it's funny."

"Being rude isn't funny. It's just mean."

"You're a good kid," Dani grinned, then left the bench area to approach the stage.

Kira balked at the sudden compliment considering Dani had been avoiding her gaze all morning.

Maybe she was feeling better...?

"The rules of Killstealing are simple! No fighting until the monster illusion is fully formed, no killing each other, but fighting is encouraged. If both people are conscious at the end of the match, that's one point! Only one person conscious? Two points!

"The person who lands the killing blow on the monster gets to keep the points, and the other person gets nothing! Team with the most points at the end wins it all!

"And our lovely prize for this Combat Trial? Why, it's a Bronze-tier Stat Boost elixir for every member who participated in combat! Gain three stat points in each stat across the board, ain't that wild?!

"Dani Blackrose and Gallan Recet, get on stage and get ready to rumble!"

Kira listened silently to the rules, and started to frown once the announcer finished speaking. "The format... Is unfair, right?"

A kill-stealing event just favored people who had high damage output. Tanks, healers, or people with low but steady damage-per-second wouldn't have a chance to win any points.

"It is un-unfair," Ribbon said softly. She clenched her paws, bunching up the skirt of her robe in the process. "B-but th-that's h-how th-things are."

"Most people want all-rounders for everything," Brigit said, giving Ribbon a sympathetic look. "Someone who can handle themselves if the rest of their party should fall or get separated. Combat Trials favor folks who can do everything themselves - healing or mitigating damage on themselves while doing damage to the enemy. They don't leave room for tanks, people who just attract hostile attention while their Party does the damage, or pure supports who heal and buff without contributing much damage."

"That's dumb, Teams and Parties should all work together to cover strengths and weaknesses, not just have everyone with an Only Me mentality," Kira grumbled, and her teammates smiled sadly but didn't say anything more.

Kira, frustrated, secretly blamed Ayn Rand. 'Ethical egoism my butt.'

Dani ignored the announcer's attempts to hype the crowd, simply crossing the arena and holding out a hand toward her opponent. "Fight well."

Her polite greeting was met with a snort, as Gallan Recet eyed her derisively from head to toe. The man was the very picture of an idyllic prince charming, an armored blonde demi-elf with bright green eyes and a haughty sneer on his beautiful face. "I always do."

Dani shrugged and retracted her hand. "We'll see."

"Ooh, sassy. It's always the little fat ones who are feisty, huh?" Gallan's sneer turned into a leer, as he drew his sword with an almost lewd suggestive pose. "Be a good girl and sit tight while I beat the bad monster, alright?"

Dani raised her heavy brows and decided the man really wasn't worth her damn time. But it'd be fun to freak him out.

The illusion of the Mossy Rock Golem was slowly appearing in the arena, particles of light forming a semi-transparent gray figure. They weren't allowed to fight while the monster was being formed, but they could prepare for the battle.

Dani held out her hands, splaying her fingers into curled claws. Her small body shifted, surged, and contorted alongside the sound of snapping bones and grunts of pain.

Pitch black hair rippled across her body, and her skull shifted from a humanoid face into a bestial muzzle. Her teeth sharpened, lengthening to resemble small daggers. Horns sprouted from her temples, curling up and forward like those of a bull.

In the few moments it took for the golem illusion to form, Dani finished her transformation into a nine-foot-tall 5,000 pound young Dire Bear standing on her hind feet. She roared a challenge at the illusion, then looked down at a very pale Gallan, who was staring in horror at the white rose-like pattern on her right shoulder.

He was around six feet tall and lithe, an attractive young man that made many people swoon in his presence. Next to the glorious Dire Bear form of Dani, he looked rather pitiful. Her whole body rippled with muscle, while the demi-elf barely filled out his armor.

Dani snorted derisively, turning her attention back to the golem.

"Well ain't that impressive! Dani Blackrose must be an Ursine Pooka, and a Druid to boot! That allows her to complete a full bodily transformation starting at 5-F, what a surprise! Was General Class 1-9F hiding a treasure all along?!"

"You're one of THOSE Blackroses?!" Gallan whispered, his eyes flicking from the rose marking to Dani's impressive horns.

Dani chuckled, a hoarse rumbling sound that was somehow more threatening than a normal growl. She could have answered, but he threw away his opportunity to have her be polite.

"Combat, start!" The ref yelled, stepping back and activating a Barrier-type enchantment that protected her while blocking out announcer chatter.

Dani roared and charged forward on all fours, her sharp claws tearing gouges from the arena floor. Gallan was only a step behind her, reacting quickly despite his initial shock at Dani's identity.

The Mossy Rock Golem roared to life, shaking its massive bulky limbs comprised of numerous boulders all packed together. A bright green core pulsed in the center of its chest, too high to hit casually yet providing an appealing target to aim for.

The golem pried an illusory boulder from the ground and chucked it at the two charging opponents with enough speed and force that even Kira in the audience was impressed.

SWISH!

Dani dodged to the side easily, but Gallan sliced the boulder in half with his sword as it sailed safely to the side, a cocky smile once more on his face at having showed off in such a flashy way despite the fact it would have missed him by a generous margin if he simply stood still. Dani rolled her eyes and kept charging forward, slamming her shoulder into the golem's leg.

The golem was fifteen feet tall, large enough to dwarf the transformed Druid even when she was on her hind legs, but Dani was undaunted. She locked her horns around one of the smaller boulders forming its leg and twisted her neck, leaping backwards to pull the stone away.

At the same time Gallan leapt, using Dani's back as a launching pad to slice at the golem's arm with his sword. He severed a large chunk, which flew off and nearly hit Dani. "Whoops, sorry!"

Dani didn't hesitate.

With an irritated roar, she whipped her head around and grabbed the man's leg between her sharp teeth as he was landing on the ground. He shrieked in pain, then fear as she swung his entire body and launched him back at the golem. "Whoops, sorry!"

Before he could recover, Dani lowered her head and charged right at Gallan's back. Her horns were too far apart to pierce his body, but he got pinned between her head and the golem's leg.

"【 Vine Snare 】!" Dani shouted, and thorny vines erupted from the ground to entangle both the golem's foot and the demi-elf.

"【 Heat 】!" Gallan said, his armor turning bright red. The vines around his body burned away, forcing Dani to leap back to avoid a retaliatory sword slash from the infuriated opponent.

The golem, annoyed at being ignored, slammed down its fist between them to send shards of illusory stone flying in all directions. They bounced off Dani's hide, but shredded Gallan's face.

He shrieked in pain, then pointed at Dani. "That's not fair!"

"Shoulda worn a helmet," Dani chuckled, tapping a claw against her head. Gallan's bleeding face turned even more red, which only served to make the wounds bleed a bit faster.

Dani charged the golem's other leg, rearing back on her hind legs to put the full force of her weight behind a claw swipe. Rocks tore apart, and the golem tilted to one side as it lost one of its main support pillars.

Then it was Dani's turn to cry out in pain as a sharp sword buried itself a few inches deep in her shoulder.

"Like I'll let you get any points!" Gallan shouted, clearly enraged at having any difficulty against someone in the General Class.

Dani, however, just chuckled again. She swung her head around, slamming her horns into the man's side and sending him flying. Before he could recover, she charged over and slammed her full weight onto his body, crushing him within his armor.

Gallan groaned in pain, twitched one hand, then passed out. Dani snorted in satisfaction and turned back to the golem. "【 Vine Snare 】!"

More vines erupted from the ground, stopping the golem in its tracks. With surprising agility, Dani jumped on its fallen leg, dodging a swipe from the golem's massive arm, then leapt upward to smash her horns into its exposed central core on the chest.

The arena was silent for a good thirty seconds.

Aside from Kira cheering on the sidelines, and Brigit clapping. The rest of the class joined in right away, their excited cries echoing in the oddly quiet coliseum.

"W-well I'll be darned! Dani Blackrose is the winner! Two points to General 1-9F!"