Nerva hasn’t calmed down in the slightest. Walter’s little ‘declaration of war’ has gotten her riled up like I’ve never seen her before. She can’t sit down, she’s cussing nonstop, and she looks like she’s ready to commit mass genocide.

“Let me fight him now!” she exclaims, being held back by six members of Dragon’s Descent.

“You can’t!” Armstrong tells her. “We’re not fighting Griffin’s Nest anymore today!”

“I don’t care! Let me fight him now!”

Armstrong continues trying to reason with Nerva while the rest of us watch, unsure of what to do. I hear a whistle from behind me. Turning my head, I see it’s Jack smiling at the chaotic scene.

“Ain’t she a firecracker,” he observes.

He looks down at Adam saying, “Son, she reminds me of your mother.”

Adam glances back, surprised by the statement.

“H-how? Mom’s nice, and Nerva’s Nerva. They’re complete opposites.”

“Not when she was younger. Your mother was feisty back in the day. I remember I took her kill on a quest one time, and she was angry.”

Jack points at Nerva, who’s now being held down by ten members of Dragon’s Descent, her arms flailing everywhere.

“She acted like that. Attacked me in the middle of the guild in front of everyone. Those were good times. Pretty sure half my ribs were broken from that,” he remembers fondly.

“Makes sense. Nerva would break Adam’s ribs.” I concur.

“Indeed,” Akane deadpans. “Adam’s body is fragile.”

“Yeah one punch and I think Adam would explode.”

“I know how to do that. It’s a forbidden martial arts technique.”

“G-guys we stop talking about how easy it is to kill me?” Adam interrupts. “I’m already worried about dying.”

Nerva begins to shoot fireballs everywhere, the balls of light flying over our heads.

“I think if anyone is going to die, it’s going to be some poor bystander.” I realize. “We should probably do something.”

“I know what to do.” Akane declares. “If I show Nerva the child, the child’s calming presence will assuage her anger.”

Warren looks at Sophie, then at the ruckus Nerva’s causing. Now there’s 12 members of the guild trying to hold her back.

“We’re not doing that,” he decides. “Hold on.”

Warren gets out of his seat, bypassing us until he’s near the angry fireball known as Nerva.

“Nerva calm down!” he orders in a booming voice.

Nerva and the dozen guild members she’s fighting stop in their tracks. Nerva sees Warren, her fist raised in front of a guild member.

“You’re pissed right?” he asks her.

“You think!?” Nerva replies.

“Alright so you’re angry. What are you gonna do about it? Going to keep throwing a tantrum or are you going to use it for something productive? You fight next so you better take that anger and use it. Now sit down.”

Nerva finally calms down, lowering her arms, taking her seat. She leans far back in her seat, pouting as she stares upward, the anger still bubbling underneath the surface. Warren turns around, striding back towards us.

“Why can’t you all listen to me like that?” Azura questions Will’s group, in awe of what Warren did.

“I dunno,” Nazuko answers. “Warren has that presence you know? Makes you want to listen to him. You don’t have that.”

“It’s true.” Remi says. “Besides, we don’t need to be yelled at like that. We have self control.”

“You all have self control?” Azura sarcastically asks.

“Y-yes.”

“The same people that draw destruction wherever they go, have self control.”

“Not on purpose.”

“I didn’t say you did it on purpose. Are you really going to tell me this group doesn’t need to be better disciplined?”

Azura leans in closer to Remi, emanating a threatening aura.

“U-ugh, y-y-yeah.”

Remi turns to Lilith.

“Lilith help me out here.”

“Sorry you did this to yourself. In order to preserve my own well being, I will refrain from joining this conversation.”

“Ditto,” Nazuko adds.

While Remi is about to die, Warren rejoins us, taking his seat.

“Good job Warren, you have shown your leadership skills once again.” Akane congratulates.

“I wouldn’t call it that.” Warren replies. “I understand what she’s feeling. That’s all it is.”

Armstrong rejoins us as well, looking tired from the Nerva mess.

“That girl is too much sometimes,” he complains.

“Well that was entertaining! Glad you got it under control, Dragon’s Descent. I was about to call the guards,” Emperor Marcus says from his perch.

“The passions of a fair maiden burn bright! Literally in some instances.” Luther states.

“Well said my friend, well said. With that out the way, who’s ready for another fight?”

The audience erupts in cheers. Everyone is in a good mood again now that they are not in mortal danger. The audience’s excitement builds as I look at the schedule Warren’s holding. Dragon’s Descent only has one more fight for the day as expected. It’s against Angel’s Folly, the first group our guild fought.

“How come we’re fighting the same guild again?” I ask.

“I’m not too sure how it works but if I had to guess, it’s based on random generation and how many guilds are still participating.” Armstrong explains. “If we fight a guild repeatedly, that means on later days we’ll be fighting the other ones. You also have to take into account that each loss results in a guild losing a representative. As guilds are eliminated, we’re bound to have multiple fights with who’s left.”

Looking at the schedule I see no guilds have been eliminated yet since it’s only the second day but some guilds are clearly doing better than others. Dragon’s Descent leads in total victories, followed by Unicorn’s Wonderland, then Griffin’s Nest. Only Dragon’s Descent has zero losses. Knowing us, that won’t last long.

“Dragon’s Descent, do I even need to ask who your next representative is?” The emperor inquires with a coy smile.

All of Dragon’s Descent points at Nerva. The redhead stops looking up, a scowl on her face. She stands up, says “Bout fucking time!”

She runs to the arena’s railings, jumping over them to land in the arena proper. She straightens up, cracking her knuckles.

“Bring them in here so I can kick their ass! I gotta vent!” she commands.

“You heard the young lady; Angel’s Folly, send out your representative!” the emperor requests.

The ground begins to shake, our seats rumbling. People are spilling their food, those that were standing up are falling over, and Sophie is bouncing up and down in Akane’s lap. A massive influx of aura erupts from Angel’s Folly. The man the size of a mountain stands up, his long curly black hair drooping down to his shoulders. He has a long curly black beard as well, it almost blending in with his head’s hair. A black tattoo of a lion is inscribed on his neck, his animal being unique amongst the animal tattoos the members of Angel’s Folly have. He reminds me of a young buff version of Santa Claus.

I remember encountering him before the tournament, this guy might be trouble. Seated next to him is the other member from their guild I encountered, the redhead with brown leather armor and the tattoo of a crow on his neck. All of Angel’s Folly points at the big man, making it clear he’s their choice.

“Tower buddy, you gotta wait until you’re down there before you can unleash your power,” the redhead tells him.

“The Tower must make his presence known. The Tower will crush the small woman.” the giant says.

“Don’t hurt her too much buddy.”

“Send. Tower.” their guild leader redundantly relays, looking like a ball of hair as their long hair covers their entire person.

As if he was the Terminator, the Tower robotically walks to the railings, crossing over them and lands below, causing the arena to shake some more.

“Oh my! He’s a big one” the emperor notes. “Almost the size of an Imperial shock trooper, and that’s without the armor!”

“He is large!” Luther agrees. “But you know what they say about large people. The bigger they are, the harder it is to find fitting pants.”

“That is true.”

Nerva walks up to the giant, looking up at him as he stares back with piercing brown eyes. Seeing them side by side really shows the difference in size. The Tower dwarfs her, her head barely meeting his waist.

“The Tower will not fall on this day,” he tells her in his low guttural voice.

“Pffft” she responds. “You’re not a tower dumbass. Where do they find you idiots?”

“You insult the Tower? The Tower will not let that stand.”

“Good cause I’m about to knock you on your ass.”

“Begin!” the Emperor commands, hitting the gong.

Nerva’s hands erupt in flames. She puts her hands on the Tower’s stomach, unleashing a massive fire blast that envelops him and most of the area behind him like a tsunami hitting a large building.

“Ha!” Nerva laughs. “How’d you-”

A massive fist hits her square in the mouth, sending her back like a rock thrown across a pond, her body bouncing off the ground. Surprisingly she’s able to recover midair, landing on her feet, skidding for about a dozen feet. With a smile she spits out some blood, wiping her mouth.

“What a blow!” the emperor says in surprise. “But then again, that’s expected from such a large man.”

“I am more impressed with the fair maiden! Many a man would’ve been knocked out by such a blow, even with aura,” Luther commentates.

The Tower begins to run to Nerva, his large feet stomping on the dirt, closing the distance in half the time it would take a normal person given his large legs. He stops in front of Nerva, winding up a large punch. He throws it with almost superhuman speed. Nerva rolls to the side, avoiding the blow. His fist hits the wall, creating a massive hole.

“I can hit harder than that,” she claims, forming a fire fist.

She jumps up, slugging him across the jaw with an inflamed punch. His head doesn’t move, it continues to look at the wall. Nerva curses, following up with another punch to the stomach but like before, it did nothing. The Tower moves once more, trying to grab Nerva with his right hand but she once again dodges by shooting flames at him, using the blast to roll away. Nerva goes on the offensive once more, peltering the Tower with fireballs as she runs around him, keeping out of arm’s length. The Tower remains in place, taking the blows but appears uninjured.

He shifts his feet apart, entering a stance of some sort. His feet are about 6 feet apart, his arms raised like he’s about to catch an incoming ball. He abruptly shifts his right foot to the left. Nerva trips, her body slamming onto the ground. She curses at the sudden fall, quickly getting back up. She puts her hands together, slowly forming a very large fireball between her palms. She sprints to the Tower, ready to unleash the blast when he shifts his foot again, which somehow causes Nerva to trip again, causing her to shoot her blast into the sky like a firework.

“What the fuck is happening!” she shouts, springing back up.

She doesn’t get an answer. All she gets is a mighty kick to the stomach, shooting her across the arena like a discharged cannonball. The audience collectively winces.

“Nerva!” Adam calls out, worried.

Nerva is laying on the ground, looking like a dying dog. The Tower slowly makes his way to her.

“Foolish little woman. The Tower can’t-”

He stops in place, seeing that Nerva is getting back up.

“Here we go folks! I was worried this was going to end too quickly,” the emperor comments. “Then again, his foot is the size of her body and that was quite the kick. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was done.”

“You underestimate the fair maiden,” Luther replies. “She may be small but her spirit is large.”

“That’s all you got bitch!?” Nerva yells, stumbling a bit.

“This isn’t good.” Warren expresses. “She can’t keep taking hits like that.”

“Yeah his fist is literally bigger than her head.” I perceive. “Nerva’s tougher than Adam but she has her limits. Hell, pretty sure I couldn’t take those blows either.”

“The solution is simple.” Akane states. “She can’t get hit anymore.”

Akane’s right, one more blow like that and Nerva’s done. Nerva is moving once more, hitting him with massive streams of fire and is really keeping her distance now. Once again, the Tower is taking the hits like they were mere gusts of wind. This fight reminds me of the fight against Archer, where Nerva’s blasts didn’t inflict any damage, making me worried. Nerva’s gonna have to switch things up.

“Nerva, think!” Jack bellows, making Nerva stop in her tracks.

“Fuck! I hate thinking!” she curses, but realizes Jack’s right.

She stands still, furrowing her eyebrows. Smoke starts to come from her head, letting everyone know her brain’s on maximum overdrive.

“You wish to outthink the Tower? You will fail in this,” the Tower says, becoming motionless as well.

Smoke starts to emit from his head too. Oh god, they’re both idiots.

“Oh no,” his redhead ally groans. “Tower buddy, stop thinking. You’re not good at it, please stop.”

“The Tower will outthink the small woman.”

“Not if I outthink you first dumbass!” Nerva yells.

Thus began the weird ‘thinking’ part of the match. The two combatants stare each other down, trying to come up with a strategy despite the fact one of them is already winning.

“Are we sure this is a good idea? Thinking isn’t Nerva’s strong suit,” I remind everyone.

“When I told her to think I didn’t mean for her to stop,” Jack says, leaning forward in his chair. “She’s trying too hard.”

“Trying too hard?” Adam inquires.

His father nods.

“That noble has gotten to her head. It’s interfering with her combat flow. Her mind is somewhere else right now.”

“But isn’t she thinking about the battle right now?”

“Yes and no. She’s encountered a wall, trying to figure out how to climb it, but is focusing on the wall so much she’s ignoring the ladder placed in front of her.”

Nerva is the first to move, launching herself forward with a blast of fire. She flies through the air until she’s in front of the Tower. She wraps her legs around his neck, and with her arms, begins to wail on him. She punches him again and again with her flaming fists. Each punch makes the Tower turn his head to the side but his face remains expressionless. While taking the assault, the Tower grabs her head with one hand, holding it like a grape. Instinctually, Nerva whips out her weapon, and plunges the small scythe into his wrist. It barely goes into his skin. Without hesitation, she ignites the blade, which allows the blade to finally insert itself.

The Tower grunts, letting Nerva go. She falls to the ground, trying to run away when he shifts his foot again, causing her to trip. He raises his foot, prepared to stomp her through the earth when she fortunately blasts away again, using the fire as a means to gain momentum. She makes a distance of about 40 feet between them. She gets up, panting heavily.

“What was that?!” Jack hollers.

“What!?” she yells back. “You told me to think! I made a plan! My plan was to go for his face! Attention to detail right!?”

Jack shakes his head in disappointment.

“Wrong detail. Your priorities are mixed up” he grumbles. “Figure out what his power is!”

“Shit! Right!”

Nerva takes a step forward when the Tower raises his arm into the air, palm exposed to the sky.

“Ugh Tower buddy, don’t you think doing that is a bit much?” his redhead ally asks, clearly knowing what’s about to happen.

“The Tower must teach the small woman not to assault the Tower,” The Tower growls.

His ally sighs, as a giant warhammer materializes in his hand in a bright light. The weapon is black and gold, consisting of a black shaft and handle with a gold top. He begins to step toward Nerva as she brandishes her own weapon.

“Ok if Nerva can’t take another punch, she definitely can’t take a hit from that” I announce.

“Looks like both combatants are getting serious.” Emperor Marcus says with glee.

“What an exciting turn of events,” Luther proclaims. “How will this exchange go?”

“Armstrong, you know what she needs to do right?” Jack asks.

“Yup.” he answers. “But maybe making her fight so soon after getting riled up wasn’t a good idea.”

“She’ll figure it out.”

Nerva charges at the Tower, but once again she is forced to trip. She immediately recovers, entering a back and forth with the giant. With blade in hand, she attempts to chip away at the obstacle before her. She cuts him repeatedly across the legs, using her acrobatics to jump over and under the man. Meanwhile, the Tower swings his massive hammer, hitting the ground with massive force, causing the ground to crack. Nerva appears to have the upper hand but like before, she’s not appearing to be dishing any real damage. It’s like she’s a lumberjack that cannot chop down a tree. In the midst of her attacks, the Tower brings his feet together, which causes Nerva’s feet to sink into the ground, like she had stepped in quicksand. The ground then hardens, forcing Nerva to remain in place.

“The Tower cannot crumble,” he declares, transferring his aura to his hammer.

Nerva looks down, realizing “Oh shit! You can control the earth!”

I hear the audience collectively facepalm. The ground begins to shake once more. The aura concentrated in his weapon became more and more potent. Nerva tries to move but can’t.

“Fall before the tower,” the Tower orders.

He swings his warhammer in a wide arc, the hammer hitting Nerva’s side. She’s launched from her spot, flying through the air as blood spurts out of her body. It’s like her body got hit by a bullet train. The audience gasps as Nerva slams into the ground, looking like the life got knocked out of her.

“Nerva!” Adam wails, jumping up and running to the railings.

He tries to jump inside but is blocked by the arena’s barrier meant to protect the audience. Warren joins him, trying to pull him back. Nerva’s body stays on the ground, looking like a carcass.

“I think we just got our first loss,” Armstrong concludes. “The difference in strength was too much. We’ll-”

“Wrong,” Akane inserts. “It’s not over.”

Armstrong solemnly shakes his head.

“I’m sorry but Nerva is done. There's no way she’s getting up.”

Adam continues to call out to her but she doesn’t move.

“Our friendship is too strong for her to fail now,” Akane argues. “We are all bonded together, therefore we cannot lose.”

“Is that really what we’re going with right now?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“What next? You’re gonna ask us to share our energy with her?”

“How did you know?”

Akane lifts her arms into the air, Sophie following suit.

“Together we can give Nerva the strength to continue. Quincy, raise your arms.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Oh come on, give it a chance.” Jack requests.

He has his arms in the air too.

“Really?” I question, surprised by the display.

“Hey, it's worth a shot.”

“Everyone, share your energy with Nerva,” Akane appeals to Dragon’s Descent. While most are confused, they do it, raising their arms into the air. In the very back, I can see Ice Cube do it as well despite getting looks from the nearby nobles. Will’s party joins in, with Nazuko trying to climb atop Remi so she can raise her arms higher in the air. Even Luther, the living god himself, has raised his arms.

Meanwhile Adam continues to holler to Nerva. The emperor sees all this but shakes his head.

“Sorry Dragon’s Descent, but your representative is out for the count. The winner of this match is-”

“Adam shut up!” we hear from below.

We look down, seeing that Nerva has gotten up, her body bloody and ragged. Blood drips down her outfit in long streams. Her legs wobble, her arms slack.

“You can’t let me rest for five seconds can ya?!”

“You dare stand before the Tower once more?” The Tower asks, making the ground rumble.

Nerva exhales loudly.

“Yeah! And this tower is about to fall!”

The Tower runs to her, his hammer raised in the air. When he gets to her he slams it into the ground but Nerva dodges it by sliding in between his legs. She stands up then twirls around him, striking at his wrist once more with a fiery blade. She aims right for the wrist, causing a cut similar to the one that freed her before. The Tower tries to hit her with an elbow but misses. She strikes again, making the wound open up even more. Jack smiles at the display. After hitting him in the wrist four more times, his grip on the weapon is completely loosened, causing him to drop his hammer. Nerva reaches for it, grabbing the large weapon. The weapon is too heavy for her to carry, being only able to pick up the end of the handle. Seeing her struggle, the Tower shifts his feet once more, locking her legs into place.

“The Tower won’t be toppled! You don’t have the strength!” he barks, winding up another powerful punch.

“Yeah you right! I don’t have the strength!” she acknowledges. “But I don’t need it! You assholes are gonna learn it’s a fucking mistake to look down on me!”

Jack leans forward, saying “Wanna know how you defeat an opponent stronger than you?”

“How?” I ask.

“You use their own strength against them.”

Nerva lets out a warcry, making fire come out the back of the warhammer’s head as her opponent closes in for the kill. The warhammer swung, colliding with the Tower’s head as soon as he was about to throw his punch. His cheek becomes indented, teeth fly out of his mouth as his head is knocked to the side. He remains in place, which allows Nerva to bring the hammer back around with another swing. The other side of his face is hit, knocking him senseless. His ability becomes undone, freeing Nerva’s legs. With her newfound freedom, she jumps up, forcing the hammer to come up with her. In the air, she summons even more fire behind the warhammer’s head, and throws it down on the Tower’s skull. A loud crack reverberates throughout the stadium as his head is knocked into the ground.

Nerva stands over her opponent, dropping the weapon. She continues to breath heavily. The audience looks on, still processing what’s happened. Unceremoniously, she spits on her opponent.

“Bitch,” she insults.

Everyone erupts in applause.

“I told you Quincy, the power of friendship always prevails,” Akane brags.

“Pretty sure it was not that but ok,” I respond.

“Guess we know who the winner is eh?” Marcus slyly says.

The cheering continues as the healing mages jump into the stadium to provide medical care. Adam watches on, now silent. I get up, joining him and Warren. I lean on the railing as Adam stands between Warren and I.

“Why does she fight?” Adam asks out of the blue, watching her argue with the medical staff.

“Because she likes it?” I guess.

“Does she really? I used to think the same but….I think there’s more to it. Getting hurt like this, I can’t bear it. I don’t know how anyone can enjoy this.”

“It’s how she copes.” Warren says. “Nerva’s dealing with complicated problems, problems that don’t have simple solutions. She’s made a world of gray become black and white. If she fights hard enough, she thinks all her problems will be solved.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah but I could be wrong.”

“So what? Nerva’s trying to fight the world?” I propose.

“That’s a good way of putting it. Nerva thinks the world is her enemy.”

“If Nerva’s trying to fight the world,” Adam says. “I think she’s gonna win.”

Nerva looks up, giving us a bloody thumbs up. All three of us return the gesture. However she immediately scowls at Adam.

“What’d I do?” he asks us.

“You did plenty,” Warren tells him.

“Indeed.” Akane adds. “It was your friendship that brought her back. The bond between you two is strong.”

I look to my left, seeing Akane had joined us at some point.

“When did you get here?” I ask.

“I came here with you.”

“Oh. We need to put a cowbell on you.”

“Another time. Now it is time for a friendship high five to commemorate Nerva’s victory. It happens in all the comics.”

Akane raises Sophie into the air.

“Ms. Nerva! Please join us!” the little girl solicits.

Nerva looks up, blasting her way up to us.

“What’s happening?”

“It is time for a friendship high five.” Akane informs her.

“B-but Nerva needs-” Adam tries to say but is immediately shut down by Nerva with a kick to the shin.

“Friendship high five go!” Akane orders, putting an open palm into the air.

No one does anything.

“My apologies. I did not explain how it works. You see we must all give a high five simultaneously.”

“I’m going back to my seat,” Warren deadpans, beginning to make his way back.

“But Mr. Warren, I want to celebrate Ms. Nerva’s victory” Sophie begs.

He stops.

“Warren, you cannot disappoint the child. Look at her small face.” Akane mentions.

He sighs, whirling back around.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Akane puts her arm in the air once more.

“Friendship high five go!”

We do it but mess it up. Adam completely misses, Warren barely puts any effort in, Nerva is too short so she only hits our wrists, and I accidentally do a fist bump.

“Oh my god that was heinous,” I react.

“Nonsense. It was beautiful. Our bonds are strong.” Akane concludes.

I shake my head in disbelief and head back to my seat. The five of us sit side by side, looking worse for wear. That was the final fight of the day for us and I could not be happier. A lot has happened, a lot to go over. I discovered that this tournament is not a simple tournament. There are many moving parts in this machine. Originally, I only wanted to make sure I could keep my books but that doesn’t seem to be a luxury for me anymore. Nothing’s ever simple for us, I shouldn’t be surprised.