Nicholai stepped up before the tall man. His knuckles white from clenching his staff as tight as he could. His opponent felt like a more insane version of Ezra.

“You ready?” Grimm asked the sorcerer. Nicholai took a deep breath. His eyes closed and he tried to calm his thoughts and remember his training.

“Nicholai. Don’t let fear decide how you fight. Even if you lose. Make sure it was your doing. Not the fact you were scared. As mages we don’t need to get up and close likt many ” Irene’s words rung in his head. Back then he never expected to face such a foe in his life. He truly believed that the village would be where he spent the rest of his life.

Yet things were different now.

“Yeah. I’m ready.” Nicholai declared.

“Good. Let’s begin.” Grimm slowly started moving towards the young man. Nicholai refused to hesitate.

“Muse 1: Invoke. Fire!” Nicholai put his staff before him. The crystal began to glow, and fire emerged from it. Nicholai twirled the staff around in the air, and the fire began to form into a massive ball around the head of the staff. Grimm witnessed a large fireball formed before him.

“Impressive.” Grimm said, continuing his walk towards the young man. Nicholai swung the staff, sending the fireball at Grimm. He dodged to the left with a small leap, another fireball formed in front of him and was once again sent to him. A gorge of fire lay behind him. The young mage attacked more and more, yet his attacks continued to bypass his opponent. Then he thought of something else.

“Muse 6: Geometry!” Nicholai pointed the staff at the fire behind Grimm. It began to fly towards him, yet he then twirled the staff around. All of the fire lifted off the ground, leaving a black patch on the earth. Grimm stopped himself to look above him. A large mass of flames were overhead.

“Oh. The splash maneuver. But this time with fire.” Grimm said. The viewers all started to move back a little in fear. Nicholai swung the staff down, however instead of the whole mass dropping on Grimm, it branched out and started to form its own sphere around the tall man. Trapping him in a prison of fire. The crowd all gasped at the attack. Nicholai wanted to make sure his opponent was finished quickly. The sphere started to shrink in on Grimm.

Yet, on the side, a hissing occurred. Sparks emerged from the fireball and Nicholai grew worried. A large arm and hand rose from the fire prison. It was covered entirely in ice and dripping water from the heat nearby. Nicholai’s breath entered viciously as he grew scared. The hand then aimed for him and fired an ice projectile at him. Nicholai was unable to dodge, and the attack struck his arm. Once doing so the fire prison dispersed and Grimm was free again. He stood up proud of himself. The crowd cheered him on and he smiled at their applause.

Nicholai was straining over his frozen arm. He felt none of his energy in the frozen part. The rest of his body felt natural. His staff was on the floor. He tried to reach for it with his unfrozen arm. Yet it was snatched away quickly by Grimm. He looked up to see the man examining the staff.

“This is some good wood. And the crystal is rare. I’ve never seen any like this. Where did you get this?” Grimm asked.

“Don’t know. How about handing it over so we can continue?” Nicholai ordered.

“Come get it. You’ll have to move from that spot. If you want this staff.” Grimm said back to him. Nicholai quickly realized the situation. His physical abilities would never be enough to take him on, let alone get over and around him without losing all of his breath. Yet, he remembered Irene’s words. He dashed forward. His arm weighed heavily, yet he didn’t care. He was already losing breath.

His other arm reached out to grab the staff. Yet Grimm moved so slightly. Nicholai turned quickly to keep up, yet the larger man was able to outpace the young one.

Nicholai stopped, and was breathing heavily.

“Alright that’s enough.” Grimm said. He tossed the staff on the floor before Nicholai’s feet. The young man then dropped to his knees. There was no response from him. All he did was grab the staff, and use it to help him walk over to Ezra and Anabelle. He sat down, resting his back on the horse's body. Where his energy started to come back. Just from touching the mare.

Grimm looked over at the two resting. Then his attention went to Katreena.

“You’re next. Don’t pretend that you can’t fight. I know who you father is.” Katreena sighed after his exclamation. She slowly walked before him to fight, her hands still in her pockets. Grimm looked at the tall girl. She was just the height as he is. The one he grew into over time and here was this girl who has already achieved it. Her face conveyed annoyance. But a battle needed to be won, and to him. She would be an important asset to have. “When you’re ready.”

Katreena didn’t move at first. A few seconds past and everyone wondered who would make the first move.

And it was Katreena. She leapt forward and spun. Landing one of her kicks to Grimm’s arm. He quickly blocked with his forearm. She quickly let it down and delivered another kick. This one much stronger. It made Grimm push along the dirt. The crowd, as well as Ezra, Nicholai, and Anabelle gasped.

Grimm let his arm down, yet Katreena was already in for another move. She was above his head, a downward kick prepared. Grimm doubled his block with both arms. The impact made a small crater beneath his feet.

Katreena had bounced back and was already going for her next move. She continued with a flurry of kicks. Moving around Grimm and over to keep the momentum going. The scythe wielder had no problem with this. For he was still faster than her.

For once. She let out one of her fists, and went for his stomach. She landed a direct hit, and Grimm was pushed back heavily. Yet not making it too close to the g=crowd. Everyone gasped again.

“Excellent. Seems you’ve been taught well.” Grimm said. He let out his hands. A frosty mist summoned from them. Katreena noticed quickly and dashed to him, both and out of the pockets. Grimm placed one foot forward, freezing the area before him. Katreena rolled forward, her hand reaching the ground before the ice did and propelled herself to Grimm, foot first.

He blocked with just one hand. And her foot was beginning to be frozen solid. She used her last second to launch backwards off his hand. Away from him and the surrounding frozen field. Same as Nicholai. She felt energy leave her leg. However she had her solution. She raised her leg above her head and smashed it back into the ground. Dust kicked up all around her.

Once it had settled. The ice was no longer covering the foot. Nicholai became distraught by her achievement.

Katreena stepped before the line where the ice began and the grass stopped. She put one foot over the ice, then crashed down onto it. Making the whole icefield crack instantly. All of the ice chunks rose up to the height of Katreena and Grimm’s ears.

The green haired girl dashed through the ice. Grimm stood unfazed as she did before the fight. Katreena’s fist began to light up with a grey energy. She sent it flying into the side of Grimm’s face, causing all of the ice to blow away and towards the crowd.

Her fist was rested on his cheek, pushing it up near his eye. Grimm grabbed the hand and let it down.

“Good. That’s enough.” Grimm said aloud for everyone to hear. “You three have potential. Especially you girl. Kinda surprised my boys got to you the way they did.”

Katreena scoffed at his words. She turned tail and started walking back towards the village.

“Alright the rest of you. Sun’s going down. Time to wind down for the day. Get supper ready for the family and don’t stay up to late!” Grimm ordered the town. Everyone began to scramble about, heading back to their homes and shops. Ezra and Nicholai stood up, planning what to do next. “You two. Come here real quick.”

The party walked to Grimm for his words. For they didn’t have the energy to try and run.

“You two are Ezra and Nicholai. Gotta hand it to you. You two know your stuff, but there is still a lot for you to learn.” The two young men sighed in their minds.They realized that he was more than right.

“Ezra. You remind me a lot of myself. You have strength, speed, and you can use magic pretty well. But you rely too much on your sword.” Grimm scolded him.

:”Well, I’m one of the few who can hold it. Don’t see the problem with that.” Ezra responded.

“Your opponent will realize that, and try to keep you away from it the moment they make you drop it. You need another form of combat. Have you ever tried hand to hand combat?” Grimm asked.

“I did once. But when I got my sword things became easier.” Ezra confidently answered.

“You shouldn’t be looking for something easier. You should be looking for efficiency. One day you’ll lose that sword. What will you do on that day?” Ezra couldn’t respond to the question. Grimm turned to Nicholai.

“Nicholai. Your use of magic is impressive. Yet you fall into the same problem as Ezra. However there is something lacking with you. Muscle. All I’m gonna say is that you need to put on some weight. Especially if your going any further.” Grimm quickly put down Nicholai. The sorcerer looked at himself.

“He does have a point.” Anabelle playfully said.

“See even the talking horse agrees.” Grimm laughed.

“What about Katreena?” Nicholai asked to break the laughter. Grimm stopped his joy. He then sighed and thought of Katreena.

“Her physical strength is incredible. If I didn’t protect myself from her last attack. There’s a chance I'd be unconscious. She reminds me of another girl I once knew…..could she be? No.” Grimm rubbed his chin, thinking about the girl. “Turn in for now. If you guys go out don’t cause any trouble.”

Grimm left the two young men to enjoy the rest of their day. He felt as if he finally found someone that took him back to his old days. For now, the battle was all that matters, yet he wondered if he could face it. But before the day was over, he had to speak with his boys.