There were two men in the ring now. I could identify their magical abilities pretty clearly. The large, muscular man, Taizoo, who had won several of Vaizel's previous fighting festivals, had mediocre power at best. He didn't have any definitive magical abilities, and his power didn't stand out too much from the crowd. His opponent, however, was a Holy Knight (the second to Griamore). He didn't seem to be a particularly strong Knight, but his powers were certainly noticeable. The man, whose name I believe was Hauser, had blonde hair that was

styled ridiculously, and was pretty muscular. He looked very confident in his ability to win.

"Hey King, looks like you're up next," Ban spoke, sounding bored. He turned to face the aforementioned fairy, who was laying in the floor with a large puddle of blood below his face that had leaked from his nose. Ban raised an eyebrow. "Huh? You're already dead?"

I turned my attention away from the fight as it began, and heard several punches being thrown. The Hauser guy is going to win- there's really no point to this fight, and thus no point in watching it. I turned to Diane.

"I really can't believe it's you," I smiled, "It's like a dream come true, but I think you're awesome at your normal size too."

"I know right!" She laughed, "It's really cool!"

"Where'd you come up with the name Matrona?" Ban asked, butting into the conversation.

"Huh? Oh, Uhm..." Diane spoke, furrowing her brows ever-so-slightly. "It's the name of an old friend of mine."

"Oh, cool," I hummed, turning back to face the battle. The big guy was wheezing, and Hauser seemed to be bored with the fight. I chuckled, shaking my head. "There's really no point to this fight- Hauser's barely used any of his power, and Taizoo's already on the brink of passing out."

"Yeah, the pairings have been pretty crappy thus far," Ban said, looking at the fight as well.

"I'm just waiting for your fight against Meli!" I beamed, facing him excitedly. He glanced toward me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged, causing me to laugh. I punched him lightly in the arm.

"Oh, come on! I'm counting on you to win!" I grinned, and he looked at me with slight surprise. "Remember? I said I'd be rooting for you."

He let his gaze linger on me for a few moments, then faced the battle once again. I frowned, facing the fight absentmindedly. What am I doing...?

Hauser threw his final punch, sending Taizoo flying upward and out of the ring. I sighed, shaking my head lightly to disregard my thoughts and focus on the fight.

"AND THE WINNER IS HAUSER!!!!" Shouted the referee, a short man who had a red cloth covering his entire body, which was connected to a metal helmet. His voice was particularly annoying.

"Alright!" Laughed the Holy Knight, flexing as people cheered around him. He hopped off the stage, joining the crowd. I stared at him for a moment. I could've sworn that I recognized him.... I didn't notice it until now, but he seemed very familiar.

He turned to face me, catching me gaze. My face turned bright red as he raised an eyebrow at me. I awkwardly held up a thumbs up in his direction, mouthing 'Good job'. It took a moment, but he grinned back at me, returning the gesture but mouthing 'Thanks' instead.

I turned away from him, facepalming at my complete awkwardness. I didn't really notice Ban glaring in the Holy Knight's direction.

"ALRIGHT!!!" The ref shouted, "LETS BEGIN ROUND ONE, FIGHT 3!! CAIN VS OLD FART!"

Diane snorted from beside me, making a face of disgust. "Who has so little sense that they came up with that name?"

"Meeeeeee~" Ban replied in a singsongy voice, causing Diane to roll her eyes. The corners of my lips twitched upward in a small smile.

"Of course it was you...." she muttered, shaking her head slightly. As King approached the ring, I couldn't help but quietly laugh. He looked like he was approaching his hanging. Diane seemed to noticed as well. "GO KI- oh, uh, I mean- OLD FART!"

King stopped dead in his tracks, turning around to face us. He changed form into his fatter version, flashing a thumbs up in our direction. I returned the gesture, and Diane whooped for him again. He floated toward the ring with a newfound confidence, landing on his feet when he was above the wooden fighting ring.

"So that's his game face, huh?" Ban said slyly, smirking as the boy stood in the ring, fists up so they defended his face. Across the ring, the old drunk man who had told us where the fighting festival was stumbled around, holding his fists up as well.

From beside Ban, Meli muttered as he fluffed King's sacred treasure; "This is an amazing pillow...."

"HEIGHT 5'4"! WEIGHT 5 POUNDS! ITS OOOOOOOOLLDDD FAAART!!" The announcer shouted, and I snorted, facepalming.

"Really Ban?" I asked, trying to contain my giggles.

"I dunno how much fairy boy weighs!" He protested, smirking his usual smirk. I rolled my eyes, but still smiled nonetheless.

"HEIGHG 5'1"! WEIGHT 108 POUNDS! ITS CAAAAAAIIIINNNN!!!" The old drunk man stumbled further, glancing around at the mention of his name. "THESE TWO STAYED QUIET IN THE PRELIMINARIES, BUT HOW MUCH STRENGTH ARE THEY HIDING? HOW MUCH OF A FIGHT WILL THIS BEEEE?!?!"

The crowd screamed in approval, cheering loudly as the announcer declared that the fight was started. King adjusted his arms, putting himself into more of a martial arts stance.

"I'm so excited!!" Diane grinned from beside me, practically bouncing as she watched King and the old drunk. "This is the first time I'll get to see King fight without a weapon!"

"I've only seen it one other time," Meli said, still hugging the pillow tight, "and I have to say, it's pretty amazing."

"Yeah, that's one word for it," I added, smiling as I watched the fight. He'd have to be a real pussy to lose against him.

"He's that amazing?" Diane asked in awe, staring at him as he ran awkwardly across the ring and toward the old man. I chucked, shaking my head as he threw the weakest punch I had ever seen. Even a child could hit harder than that.

"Yeah. Amazingly weak," I grinned, seeing his astonishment at how the old man had dodged. The old man threw a punch as well, knocking King across the head, who jumped back in return. He looked shocked that he had gotten hit, and seemed to be in a bit of pain. "He even lost a fight against a cat who stole a cracker from him once."

"WHAT AN INCREDIBLY LOW LEVEL FIGHT!!" The announcer shouted, and the crowd grumbled in agreement. I laughed as King shot a glare at the small man.

King outstretched his hand, obviously about to use his power. The old man widened his eyes, then darted forward, hitting King in the cheek with an open-palmed strike. One with pretty good form, I might add. Not too shabby for an old drunk guy.

It took a few moments before King shot back, flying directly toward us. Meli stepped in front of his trajectory, catching his flying body with the pillow. I laughed, seeing his shocked face.

"OLD FART IS OUT OF BOUNDS! THE WINNER IS CAIN!" The old drunk shoved a wobbly fist into the air, and people cheered half heartedly.

"Lame," chided Ban.

"Who's that grandpa?" Diane wondered aloud.

"That was boring," Meli grumbled.

"You okay there Old Fart?" I laughed, crouching down beside him. A comical tear leaked from his eye as he wiped the blood leaking out of his nose.

"Ho.... how cruel... I was just going to use to trigger his rheumatism a little bit," King whimpered.

"THE NEXT ROUND IS.... MELIODAZ VS BA'AN!" The announcer shouted, and Meli hopped up into the ring. Ban was just about to go up as well, but I tugged on his sleeve before he could. He raised an eyebrow in my direction.

I flashed him a wide grin, a small redness creeping onto my cheeks. "Knock 'im dead."

A smile tugged at his lips, but he quickly formed a smirk to cover it up. He winked. "No problem."

He jumped into the ring, him and Meli on opposite sides of the fighting arena, facing each other. The announcer shouted for the fight to begin, and they both walked toward each other.

"Well? Let's get this started~" Ban smirked as they met in the middle.

"Bring it!" Meli responded, staring up at Ban with a smile. His hands rested on his hips and his eyes shone with excitement.

"BA'AN IF YOU LOSE, I'LL HAVE YOUR ASS!" I shouted, before whooping loudly. I smiled widely, watching the two begin to fight.