A flurry of activity began at the words spoken in the common tongue:

In a fluid motion, the nearest Monsterkin grabbed for the offending Monsterkin’s ears, only for the illusion to dissipate around Myles like a rolling fog.

Once he was revealed, it was second nature for the party to break their illusions to create a defensive formation around their leader, shields and weapons raised in support.

In the blink of an eye later, a second stage had already formed as a ring of Monsterkin circled the group on the lush subterranean grass under the artificial sun. Ignoring the battle stage behind them.

Then before they could overwhelm the group, an explosion of sound and the thunk of a concussed body hitting the floor stole the collected group's attention. Ashra’s chest still rippled like liquid metal under her armor as it recovered from the attack, and she unsteadily rose to her feet. Though she said nothing, Myles caught the meaning of her stare. Abject horror, annoyance, and a hundred other emotions danced in the twitches of her ears, eyes, mouth, and nose as she waited for the next move.

It was just like old times as the same, familiar chittering hiss from before filled his ears and become language, before stopping and switching to common. They both said the same thing, though the common seemed more polite.

“We recognize you from those that came before, but you have come unannounced and bearing weapons. This is against our agreement.”

Myles hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but he sighed and spoke from within the ring of warriors. “We’re not here for trouble.”

Mentally, he kicked himself. Why wouldn’t he say that when they had his team cornered and outnumbered. To be fair though, they didn’t want trouble.

“Calm down, Myles.”

Taking a breath, Myles tried to do just that as Mitchel spoke up next. “It’s a long story, but the long and short of it is that we’re here to help.”

A Monsterkin stepped from the crowd next to Myles’s right, closest to the stage and where Kendra stood at his guard. It was the announcer of the fight, and except for being more toned with splotches of brown across his features, looked like how Myles imagined a male version of Ashra to look. Myles watched the ears on the speaker twitch as he spoke curtly to Mitchel.

“Help is not required from your people, Mitchel of Sindra’s Seekers. This is a matter for our people. Our exile has returned seeking an audience, and we are providing her the chance to obtain the consul she seeks.”

“Afraid it does,” Mitchel said in his usual pleasant tone as he lowered his shield ever so slightly. Apparently, Sindra’s Seekers did have some sway here. “She’s one of them,” he made a motion to Myles behind him. “And they want to help her.”

Glassy, dark eyes narrowed slightly as the Monsterkin examined the group, and soon, Myles felt the eyes of hundreds of the Rabbitkin on him.

“Focus…”

The [Monster Tamer] clenched his half-staff tighter, the soft crackling of the crust bringing him a familiar comfort as he took a breath.

“We want to get her the help she’s seeking.”

The demeanor of the Monsterkin changed in an instant. “I see. Who among you will be attempting to help our exile in her mission?”

Myles didn’t even hesitate. “I will.”

The Monsterkin looked to the ceiling, and for just a moment, Myles thought the sunlight flickered like coals in a hearth before the Monsterkin looked back at him. “Very well.”

Myles, and the rest of his team, seemed taken aback as the Monsterkin surrounding them visibly relaxed and turned back to the stage. “That’s it?”

The Monsterkin nodded. “Your request has been granted. We’re not one to question the will of greater powers.” Then, the Ambush Rabbitkin took a few long strides to reach the stage once more before looking back at Myles. “Come.”

He looked to the others and starred at Silpha. Everyone wore the same mask of confusion as he did as if in chorus saying the same thing. This was all it took?

“Are they always this accommodating?” Will asked Mitchel quietly, despite the Monsterkin’s excellent hearing.

“No,” came the flat response. “No, they are not.”

“Thought so,” came the elder’s reply as he tensed slightly.

For his part, Myles kept his comments in reserve as he was led onto the staging area. Ashra stared at him with an unreadable emotion twisting her features as Myles studied her. She was sluggish still, bleeding, and concerningly, dented in places on her arms and legs. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ashra beat him to it.

“You should not have come, Myles.”

Despite her flat tone, he felt the sting of her words and his mind ran through everything he knew, every feeling he’d ever almost been swallowed by, and shook his head. “I had to.”

As flatly as before, she spoke once more before shaking her head. “No, you did not.”

The words hurt, but they didn’t kill. Myles gave her a soft smile, a true smile, and denied her. “Ashra, I…”

Or tried to, anyway.

“To be given an audience with the monarch, the exile requires more prestige than this.”

Myles paused. What…

“As is the right of any of our kin that makes it to the proving grounds, her request has been taken and her achievement of prestige has been set at one-hundred tandem victories against our stronger warriors for such a right. The exile has earned ninety-nine.”

Oh, sket.

“Myles…”

“One of the outsiders, one of great power and prestige has come to offer himself as the exile’s final victory. So, it has been agreed to, so it will begin!”

Myles only had a second to process words before his team screamed from the sidelines and Ashra got into her stance. She eyed him, watching his stance stay in its unprotected state. Another moment passed, and Myles still looked at her, dumbfounded. There was no more hesitation as she moved, the explosion of kinetic energy behind her throwing up dust and pieces of the stage as she ran a fist into Myles's chest, stopping only a hair from connecting.

“Fight, Myles.”

The words were harsh, almost painful on her lips, and connected hard as she fell back, still in a defensive stance. The cheer of the crowd died as Myles stood there, dumbstruck and unharmed. He was about to say something, his lips had already parted before the sword of her words cut straight to the point.

“If you want to help me, fight me! I cannot lose here. Not now! Fight!”

Myles and Ashra had spent a lot of time together, nearly two weeks of being mentally connected to another made it seem like so much longer. Despite her metallic sheen, she still had the same tells. Nothing he could say would change her mind, and if he tried, he didn’t know how much that could hurt her standing.

So, there was only one thing left to do as his father’s words came back unheeded.

Fight, scrape, and do whatever you need to do to get to the top and come back someone you can be proud of.

Myles didn’t smile, but he was confident enough in himself to know that whatever he gave in this fight, he would be proud of what he did.

“Don’t be an idiot! There are other ways,” Mitchel yelled.

Myles shook it off. If he wanted Ashra back, if he wanted his best chance for survival for himself and his team, no, there was no other way. Another call came almost in tandem with his thoughts.

“Don’t die!” Kendra commanded.

“I’ve got thirty silver on you!” Lyna called back.

That, that was the team Myles knew, and it made him smirk. He had no plans on dying today. One way or another, he was going to come out on top.

Besides, he may have been an idiot for going one on one with an unknown force, but he learned. He learned from every encounter he’d had so far, and losing Ashra reminded him of an important lesson he’d almost forgotten.

If you’re at risk of losing someone important to you, you have to fight, you have to scrape, and by the Pantheon above and the Mists below, you have to do anything and everything it takes to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning.

As he raised his weapon and held the staff forward, a pair of slimes, one red and one blue, dropped from his sleeves where they hid in his jacket.

No one was going to say he didn’t put out everything he had.

“Fight well, Ashra.”

Myles gave her a nod, she returned it wordlessly, and the fight renewed.

***

“Are you really going to let him do this?” Mitchel asked, dumbfounded as he stood on the sidelines.

“We couldn’t stop him if we wanted to,” Tail replied. “He’d do the same if it were any of us. Why stop him when it’s his monster?”

Mitchel seemed to ponder that for a moment. “Does he act this reckless that often?”

“Usually,” Kendra said dismissively. “Though he usually has us to back him up.”

“He has a bad habit of getting himself into dangerous situations,” Will explained in much the same manner, “but he always seems to come out better for it. I’ll give him that.”

The [Armored Wall] just starred for a moment at the two before Tail chimed in again, nearly forgotten behind the others. “We trust him to know what he can and cannot handle, and I doubt Ashra will kill him. She cares too much.”

Lyna shrugged. “Honestly, I thought they were dating for a while there.”

Kendra laughed. “Like he’d have a chance. She’s got too much pride for that.”

“I already paid you the gold for that.”

She just smiled, turning to Mitchel, rubbing her fingers together with a smile. “Putting a wager in with us?”

Mitchel looked from the party, to the stage, then back to the party. “Mists, put a gold on him getting his ass knocked out of the ring.”

“Minimum for a bet like that is five,” Kendra argued.

Mitchel looked like he was about to argue but sighed in defeat, materialized, and handed over the five gold. “Fine.”

Kendra smiled and slipped the gold into her pocket.

Despite the attitude of the party, Silpha was silent. There was more going on than they knew… more than anyone knew… as she felt the old magics begin to move once more.

“Be careful, Myles. We don’t have time for you to be comatose.”

The feeling of Myles's confidence met her words, but she didn’t smile as the first move was taken.

***

Normally, Myles wasn’t one to be caught off guard by something. Even as a child, he’d been quick to adapt and learn, but even now with the Keen Eye Trait, he’d forgotten how fast Ashra could move when she was determined.

He got a reminder in every missed step as he was forced back from a near miss, but even that was teaching him. Ashra was fast but not as fast as she used to be. He could feel the wind rip as she tried to strike, dodging at the last moments as his body responded to his will, moving like fresh dough as it was twisted into shape.

He swung his staff as he fell back, the wobbling ball of dough missing her by a hair as she jumped back and appraised the situation. “You have been training still.”

Myles took the moment to get back to his feet, but he didn’t waste a breath on the answer. He needed everything he had to focus on the battle. The world seemed to melt away as he narrowed his focus and launch a dough bola with its crushing force towards her legs.

Dough: 72/100

She dodged, bounding into the air with her High Jump Skill. Myles kept moving, strafing to the right as he continued to fire dough bolas into the air as he tried to predict her arc.

Dough: 70/100

Dough: 68/100

Dough: 66/100

Dough: 64/100

He was getting better, but it still wasn’t a perfected art as shot after shot missed its mark and plastered itself on the ceiling or fell back to the stage or into the din of noise that was the audience.

Once she hit the ceiling, her full weight came crashing back to the stage as Myles ran, then remember the last crater he’d seen, rolled to avoid the strike. His instincts were getting better it seemed as the stage cracked as her fist collided with the hard stone. For a moment, the [Monster Tamer] [Succulent Magician] looked on, seeing her body ripple with the force as it absorbed and distributed the force.

As the force rippled through her, Ashra didn’t, or couldn’t, move.

Come.

Myles could and did.

Topoff has bonded to you.

You and Topoff have gained the Status Effect - Symbiosis.

Your mana regeneration has been increased.

You have gained the passive Trait - Mana Meld.

As he felt the slime bond to his flesh, he shivered slightly. The familiar feeling of the slime melted into his flesh and rushed to his soul, pulling in the dungeon’s ambient mana, and making it his own as he felt the new surge of power. Like a bonfire re-ignited, he felt his mana surge, and a sphere easily four times as large as the last launched from his half-staff and flew for Ashra.

Dough: 44/100

As if in slow motion, the Monsterkin looked to the sphere, picked up her arm, and jumped again, the force of it sending up pebbles and dust from the cracked stage as the glob impacted the stone, wobbling slightly as it settled in as Ashra was skyward once more.

Dough: 40/100

Dough: 35/100

Dough: 29/100

Dough: 22/100

Myles was feeling the mana drain now as he kept his Glutenmancy active, sending another and another bola flying, each one heavier than the next as the force of the socketed elemental core drove the powerful strikes.

None connected as Ashra began to show the full extent of her symbiote-empowered body, bending in ways that couldn’t be done by someone with solid bones. That at least made sense to him. She was bonded to Squishy, how else was she expected to move?

But then again, he’d already expected that much.

Dough: 9/100

Another miss, another wet splat against the ceiling, and Ashra was catapulting towards him again with the force of a screaming bolt.

Myles didn’t move.

Dough: 0/100

A barrier infused with his will and a preservation enchantment materialized to block her impact, bending, straining, but not breaking as the dough took the impact as well as Ashra had from that [Enforcer]. The force rippled across the viscous material like waves across a pond, but then calmed on his side as Ashra pulled her fist free. Though he couldn’t see her, he could hear her words well enough.

“You have been training.”

Myles smiled as he called nearby dough to reinforce the barrier and expand it. “I’ve been lucky.”

For the first time since he’d found her again, Myles heard Ashra’s ice break and pride slipped through the steely chill to warm her words. “I am glad.”

The dough tore as a set of sword-like fingers ripped through the barrier, and a glimmering nightmare of steel and fur glared back through the gaping hole. Ashra shaped her hands into a pair of ripping claws that not only rivaled the Wolven they’d fought days ago but dwarfed them, as her words attempted to rip at his heart.

“But I will not let it end here.”

Dough clung to the blades as she slashed again, and Myles nearly fell back, only catching himself with the additional Will he’d gained from Topoff. He could feel his mana straining, aching, but he couldn’t lose it. He couldn’t let go as Ashra approached. He reforged his construct, only for it to be cut to finer ribbons, flying here and there as she spoke again.

“Yield, Myles.”

Myles spat blood and pulled back, giving the Monsterkin a moment’s pause.

She’d not touched him, had she?

A hot fear rose in her gut, but she was sure she hadn’t dealt a fatal blow. Her eyes followed as Medic rushed to his side, sliding up his body and force-feed him healing slime.

She did not expect what came next.

“You will yield,” Myles coughed again as Medic retreated from him to the safety of the sidelines.

Ashra stopped, looking at him, then to her hands, then back to him. Her fists were hers again, and she shook the other thoughts away. “I will end this quickly then.”

Myles looked like he was about to speak again, but Ashra never gave him the chance.

She lept.

Myles didn’t move.

Ashra could feel the air whipping by her, feel her ears fold back from the velocity, her fur ripple in the wind with her flesh. It would all be over soon. Soon, she’d have her answers and help. He had to understand that. It had been a good fight, but she couldn’t let it end here. A quick strike to the gut and a hard push would be all it would take for a quick, clean win.

She couldn’t…

Snap!

She stopped halfway through as her world slowed to a stop as if someone had grabbed her.

Class Complexity Increased!

[Succulent Magician] Class increased to Apprentice 4!

Glutenmancy’s channel cost has been decreased.

Phantom Oven’s operational cost has been decreased.

New Trait obtained - Mana Efficiency

Mana Efficiency

Trait - Succulent Magician

Cost: None

Description: Your dedication to improving your connection to a greater power has been refined. Mana from your chosen domain(s) flow more easily through you, making your mana more potent per point than another class of similar power. This Trait will only apply to your currently active mana types, regardless of your soul alignment, if any. This Trait will be modified as your control over other mana types and sub-types grows.

Domains Affected: Creation, Fire, Beast, Air, Dungeon, Water, Holy

Ashra looked at Myles in utter confusion as his eyes seemed to flash with mischief as she halted. “What…”

… was all she got out before the lashes went taunt. Ashra’s body lurched backward as a tension twanged her entire body, slinging her around like a rag-doll until she came to a stop.

As her head stopped bouncing, the Monsterkin looked from side to side and realized what had happened. Myles had never been trying to hit her. Well, he had been, but he knew that he still wasn’t strong enough to take her. The dual Classed tamer knew he didn’t have a soufflé’s chance in a busy kitchen of overpowering her.

So, he’d set a trap.

If Myles could have felt her realization at that moment, he would have been proud. In a single command of ‘bind,’ the fight had screeched to a halt. From every angle, the dough projectiles exploded to life and snapped to her limbs and torso with a preternatural speed that, while suspended in midair, Ashra couldn’t dodge, catching her like a fly in a web as his power guided the strands.

Ashra’s face broke into a sad, but proud smile as pride radiated for just a moment from her.

For his part, Myles paled despite the healing draft of slime he’d eaten, the new Trait, and his Skill’s lower cost. He still needed more power as he fed his spell everything he had to keep her trapped and lowered her into striking distance.

As she lowered, Ashra’s face changed, replaced by the respect he’d earned.

His knife, the +1 piece of metal he’d been grown so comfortable with, was gripped in his hand as he willed her position to a more prone position suspended her above the sharp edge. It was a simple move, but one that ensured his control of the situation. Myles knew his slimes, and they were durable. Slimes of any kind could take a pounding since their bodies resisted any kind of blunt force trauma, but blades? Blades were something altogether dangerous if applied correctly.

Doughnut had taught him that.

He held it out, blood dripping down his lip, and the words he spoke next held no pleasure.

“Yield.”

Remembering herself, Ashra thrashed, and her voice rang with vibrating steel as the restraints constricted.

“I will not yield,” she explained, her voice now as still and calm as her body. “I know you, and I know that you cannot keep this up. You are not strong enough to do this for much longer. I just have to wait for you to fail to strike me.”

He couldn’t deny that truth.

He spit again, and more blood painted the floor of the arena. Myles could feel his life force feeding the spell again as Topoff pushed to bring him more power. It made the world cold, it made his body tremble like he was back in the tundra naked, but Myles smiled all the same.

Like his body, it held no warmth, no light, no joy.

He’d never had to keep feeding his power to Glutenmancy for so long, but he knew the result from the start if he didn’t. There was only one way to win this fight, and it was going to take all the heart he had.

“Then I’ll die trying,” Myles explained just as calmly, as coolly, as the Monsterkin. “You’d the same for me if you were in my shoes.”

He watched her face tweak at the unfamiliar expression, opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. His muscles were twitching violently again as Medic wrapped around his shoulder, force-feeding him healing ooze and nearly diminishing its form to nothing.

It was already over.

He would black out before he would die, Ashra could tell that already. It was written on every feature of his face, every movement of his head, every twitch of his dagger arm.

He didn’t have the strength to finish this. All she had to do was wait, and it would all be over.

All she had to do was wait, but would that be right? Would it be what a warrior deserved?

The first days of their journey together rose to her waking mind. The way he’d saved her at great cost to himself and potential allies for a chance. Then later, how he’d rushed a region boss and fought without her, proving himself every part a warrior.

Their daily training sessions…

The way they worked so effortlessly together as a team…

The way she looked out for him as he looked out for her…

As she looked at him, standing in front of her kin and having nearly bested her, Ashra felt something move within her, and she realized a new, important truth.

Ashra missed it, missed him, missed all of them.

She missed the closeness of being part of his team. She was always treated as an equal, as a warrior should treat another. It was something the status of royalty had taken from her for so long. Then, she’d made a mistake and nearly lost everything. Then, Myles showed her how, despite the consequences, he’d do what he felt was right.

Her attention snapped to Myles again as he wavered before catching himself, and the restraints tightened around her arms and legs, bringing her attention back to his word.

“Yield,” he repeated firmly.

The knife wavered again under her, but her thoughts continued to weigh her down more than her liquid metal body could.

Why did she hesitate to accept his help?

Could he really help her?

What if he couldn’t?

What if this was the new her? What then? Would he accept her still?

What if she was giving up her only…

Her thoughts dropped from her mind like a rock in a lake as gravity took an unwelcome hold of her once more. The restraints binding her lost their strength and fell apart in an instant, and Ashra fell atop of Myles, the knife already off to the side from where he had fallen moments before.

Before she could even stand, Ashra was declared the winner of the match a moment later to the fanfare of all.