“Look, I brought you a present.” Diana kicked out at the landshark’s corpse, her leather boot bouncing from its feathered head with a dull thump. “Here, dinner’s on me.”

“I’m forever in your debt,” Christoph said with a flat look. Reaching down, he pulled the reptile’s mouth open, ignoring the wide-eyed attendant as she let out a small gasp. “You left the teeth in?”

“A-Ah yes,” the girl said, bowing her head. “D- Lady Diana said you could help me remove them.”

“Did she now?” Frowning up at the elf, he reached down and carved the crystal fangs free, leaving the plain teeth alone. Tossing them over towards the tournament employee as he worked, he sighed as she shuffled uncomfortably on the clay.

“Ah…” the young girl trailed off as he turned to look at her.

“Spit it out, child,” Diana said. “I’m sure he’s hungry.”

“As you know,” the attendant said, “the arena is providing this c-creature to you free of charge, but if it’s possible, we’d l-like to record your… meal.”

Christoph’s frown returned as he looked up towards his companion. “You set this up?”

“I have no idea what you mean!” Diana said, hair flinging out as turned away with a hurt expression.

“I’m sorry but I’ll have to decline,” Christoph said to both women, carving into the landshark with his knife. “Recorder crystals find it difficult to capture my image, in any case.”

“It’s not like we’ve exhausted every option,” Diana said, spinning back around towards him with a sigh. Crossing her arms, she shot a look towards the young woman standing nearby. “You going to watch?”

“Uh…” The attendant seemed unsure for a moment, her eyes widening further as Christoph wolfed down a strip of the reptile’s meat. Shaking her head furiously, the guild worker bowed down once more before rushing off into the coliseum.

“I’d thank you for the meal, but I’m sure you have an ulterior motive in mind.” Christoph sat cross-legged before the landshark carcass, knife working over the monster as he chewed. “Besides the recording, I mean. Well, what is it?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” Diana said. “Benvolio let slip the reward for the tournament. While I was sworn to silence, I can say that it’s something almost invaluable. You’d better win.”

“Is it better than the dragon?” Christoph asked. Given his recent success, he contemplated leaving the city to hunt down more of the scaled beasts.

“Much better,” Diana replied. “Just make sure you come to me before using it. It’s something that’d be easy to make mistakes with.”

“Sure thing,” Christoph said. “I can’t believe you’re still trying to monetize my eating. Don’t I make enough in rewards and loot to cover my costs?”

“That’s not the point,” Diana replied. “A record of a human eating a landshark? Such a violation of common sense would be worth a small fortune in the right hands.”

Christoph grunted past his mouthful of crystalline scales. “The exposure from the tournament is bad enough,” he said. “I don’t need everyone on the continent to be able to recognize me by my face alone.”

“Good luck with that,” Diana said, grinning down at him. “Your match tomorrow is against Gideon the Executioner, and if you continue on to win the tournament you’ll be the talk of the guild for weeks.”

“Ugh.” Christoph made a face. “I should have thrown it in the last match then, I guess. Well, it’s too late now.”

…

“Now here’s a face I’ll never forget,” Gideon said, taking a stance on the sand-covered clay. “I’m glad you survived the tournament so far.”

“You sound like I was in danger,” Christoph said, looking around at the coliseum stands. “Are you getting bored with this too, or is that just me?”

“I’m sure that’s just you,” Gideon replied. “Well, there might be one or two more contestants who share your thoughts.”

“Eh?” Christoph blinked up at the morning sun, shielding his face with an arm as he searched through the crowd for Benvolio’s box. Had he been sent through a different entrance this time? “I’m not really taking that much notice of the competition, though.”

“I’ll tell you this now, but I’m not here for the prize.” Gideon drew his hammer from his back, raising it into the air to the announcer’s delight.

“Rumors have it that these two men fought a duel once before!” The noisy man waited for the crowd’s astonishment to die down before continuing. “At that time, Gideon was serving as the Executioner of the Church of the Creator’s Blessed, while Christoph was a newly branded heretic!”

“He’s getting it wrong,” Christoph said with a frown. “A heretic?”

“The official story changed after you were recognized by the forest clans and the guild. I hear Saint Lucius in particular had something to do with it.” The former knight gave his hammer a practice swing, adjusting his armor before the match began.

“Remind me to thank him,” Christoph replied. “Actually I’m still not quite sure if he’s my enemy or not. First, he saved me, then, he tries to kill me, then he helps me again…”

“Lucius seeks to avoid unnecessary conflict,” Gideon said. “Although he’s not opposed to using force when need be.”

“Okay go!” Benvolio almost leaped from his seat as he yelled, bringing the announcer to a halt as Christoph drew his blade, Gideon following suit.

“So impatient,” Christoph said with a shake of his head. “Can’t we just talk about this?”

“You shouldn’t take me so lightly,” Gideon said, swinging out his sword. “I’m no longer the same person you fought in the past.”

…

“So this is the big match-up between your companions,” Benvolio said with a grin. “Are you excited?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Diana said. Leaning back in her seat, she turned towards where Leila sat staring down into the arena. “You know this isn’t going to end well for your little pet, right?”

“Shut your mouth, whore.” Leila didn’t even bother to return Diana’s look, a single ear swivelling towards the elf as she spoke. “It’ll be your turn soon.”

“You’ve hurt my feelings.” Diana’s wounded expression was wasted on the preoccupied beast-woman, and she straightened in her seat with a frown. “To think I’d hear such words from the head of a beast clan of all people.”

“Bastias should have dropped you off with the wolves,” Leila said. “Although a litter of pups is more than you deserve.”

“See?” Diana said, tapping Roethus on the arm. “It’s a given that her people would lay with anyone who sets foot in their territory, and somehow I’m the whore here?”

“Ah.” Roethus opened and closed his mouth several times, but didn’t reply.

“I meant actual wolves,” Leila said with a snarl, turning to bare her teeth at the elf in a wicked grin.

“Oi.” Diana’s face went expressionless as she stared back at the beast-woman. “Mind your tongue, little girl.”

“Anyway,” Roethus said, glancing over to where Benvolio had begun to frown. “You said Gideon would have trouble with this match, Diana?”

“That much is obvious,” Diana said. “That man is used to fighting cautiously. Taking the high ground, wearing down his opponent until he can go in for the sure kill.”

“That won’t work with Christoph!” Benvolio said, looking up at her. “What’ll he do?”

“He’ll fight,” Leila said, cutting off Diana’s own reply. “My Gideon won’t lose to such useless trash as my little sister’s slave.”

…

Christoph grunted as he caught Gideon’s strike on his sword, throwing the blade of light aside just in time to dodge the knight’s follow-up kick. Slashing out at Gideon’s armored leg, he stepped forward as the knight retreated, pushing Gideon onto the defensive for a moment before backing away again.

“You’ll have to try harder than that,” Christoph said. “I know you were watching my match yesterday. A kick, was it – are you going to try take me down like that too?”

Gideon responded with a sweeping diagonal slash, his blade leaping forwards as he loosened his grip on the handle. Stepping backwards to avoid the blow, Christoph ducked away as the greatsword seemed to grow in length, the shimmering blade passing over his head to cleave a furrow out of the sandy arena floor. What had just happened? Gideon had let the his hands slide down to the end of his weapon’s handle, but even so…

“So yours can change length too, then?” Christoph asked. “I had this thought the first time we met, but it really is unfair when you’re on the other end of that technique.”

Shortening his blade, Christoph gripped the handle with both hands. The crystal might be physically attached to the bones of his left hand, but it quickly became unwieldy as the length increased. For now, he’d reduce the length so his opponent wouldn’t be able to judge his reach, letting it grow with each attack. Darting forwards, Christoph met Gideon’s blade with his own, the two swords flashing around each other in a dazzling display of coloured lights.

“You’re good at this,” Christoph said. The knight wasted no movement, making the most efficient actions in the most optimal speeds. He might not have the raw strength of Christoph or the beast races, but his weapon, his skills and his fighting spirit allowed him to level the field. Last time they’d fought, Gideon’s mana had been on par with that of a human, but now his body was clad in the aura of a beast-warrior. He’d heard that the Executioner had been made into one of Leila’s slaves, but what had caused this change?

Alternating between attacking and defending, Christoph let the duel play out for a while. His opponent was almost defensive to a fault, and he couldn’t get a good feel for Gideon’s true strength as a result. Closing the distance, Christoph moved into a series of rapid one-handed thrusts with a shortened blade. If he could push the knight into a reckless counter, then-

Christoph’s attacks were brought to a halt as Gideon’s greatsword slammed into his chest, the blade sliding in over his ribs until it had reached his sternum and spine. Bouncing off of the massive sword, Christoph stumbled backwards with a spray of blood. Dodging Gideon’s next thrust, he was too slow to deflect the knight’s following horizontal slash. Catching the massive blade on his right forearm, he let the knight launch him away across the sand.

“Crystal bones?” Gideon made a face as he swung the blood from his sword. “I’d hoped to finish this duel with that attack.”

“Don’t fuck with me,” Christoph said, blood pouring from his mouth as his wound began to close. He swayed as his hunger soared, a massive amount of mana being used to repair the damage Gideon had caused. Even something like a pierced heart was child’s play compared to this. “You nearly cut me in half.”

“That was my intention,” Gideon replied. “I’m confident that not even the guild could save you then.”

That bastard! Christoph glanced down to where the bones of right hand lay exposed to the dust-filled air. Gideon’s attack had severed all the way through his flesh, and the entire top of his forearm had been sliced clean off as he turned the blade away. His wrist hung uselessly, and he snarled as the knight stepped over the chunk of flesh that lay on the arena floor. So he had been aiming at Christoph’s life from the beginning? If he attacked him now…

“Is this how the church handles their business?” Christoph asked through his clenched teeth. “Or is this Lucius’ doing?”

“The saint disapproves of my actions, I’m sure,” Gideon said, striding over the sand towards him. “Do you have any last words?”

“Go fuck yourself.” Christoph hissed as he spoke, blood bubbling out from between his teeth. Retracting his sword, he urged the crystal to flow up over his arm until it had sealed his wound. He couldn’t move his wrist, but the makeshift cast would still serve well as a gauntlet of sorts. “Should’ve finished you off back in the Paw.”

“It’s unfortunate that it came to this,” Gideon said. “I’m sorry.”

Rushing forwards, he deflected Gideon’s attack with his right arm, the blade of light sliding dangerously close to his vulnerable elbow before the knight kicked him away. Leaping back towards him, Christoph kept the knight on the defensive for a moment before Gideon smashed his guard wide open, the greatsword gleaming as it prepared to cleave though his unprotected neck.

“I’m sorry too.” Christoph grinned up at the knight as a sword appeared in his left hand, the crystal blade flowing up to pierce into Gideon’s torso with a dull thud. “It really is cheating, isn’t it?”