“Good afternoon!” The announcer’s voice carried easily over the coliseum, and the crowd shuffled eagerly. “On this, the third day of the tournament, Cliff of the Creator’s Blessed was found to be the strongest warrior in Manitas City under the rank of platinum! As the event comes to a conclusion, there is but one fight remaining!”

Sweeping his arms wide, the man gestured towards the two women in front of him. “This is the event you have all been waiting for! Diana the Researcher versus Leila of the Greater Paw! Who will win?”

“A tad overdone, isn’t it?” Diana looked around the arena, frowning up at the shifty-looking man on the platform above. “I really wish they’d drop the ‘researcher’ title already.”

“Also known as Diana the Exile,” the announcer continued, “she was banished from the fae lands nearly a century ago for daring to study the cultures of the ‘lesser’ races.”

“Well, that’s just insensitive,” Diana said. “How about ‘Diana the Dragonslayer’?”

“Somehow retaining the blessing of the elf god Militia, she swept her way through the plains, striking fear into the hearts of every pirate captain in her service to the city!” The announcer paused to let the crowd’s roaring die down. Rather than excitement, many of those present still wished to express their anger at the elven woman’s actions. “Accepting a dragon subjugation request, she left the city five years ago, and had not returned until now, aiding the gold-ranked Crystal Eater as he slayed the dragon of the sand pits to the north!”

“It doesn’t sound nearly so impressive when you say it like that,” Diana said with a frown. “They sung songs about my adventures back then, you know?”

“Her opponent – Leila, Lord of the Greater Paw!” The announcer ignored the elf’s muttered words, turning towards the second woman instead. “Daughter of Saint Stellar of the Light, she rules over the feline clans with the blessing of the beast god Bastias!”

The beast-warriors in the crowd erupted into roars of approval, the general population following soon behind. Adventurers were a people who respected strength before all else, and even though Manitas was a trading hub, the regular citizens were not too different from the guild-members at all.

“Rising to become the ruler of the forest following the death of her mother, she has led her people in year after year of prosperity and safety. Her lands are, in fact, so secure that the guild has not received a request from the Greater Paw since she took to her throne.”

“How boring.” Diana glanced over to where Leila stood nearby. The beast-woman had crossed her arms in impatience, her ears flicking around each time the announcer spoke. Grinning in sudden inspiration, Diana drew her hands together in a single loud clap, laughing as Leila’s ears jumped to follow the sound.

“Okay, okay,” Benvolio said from his position in the stands. “Let’s begin.”

Gathering her mana, Diana summoned forth her wards and readied her spells with a grin. An air shield to halt physical attacks, reinforced by a layer of sand that would arrest any movement at all. Her body flooded with energy as she summoned her aura, the fighting spirit of a warrior allowing her limbs to move faster and strike harder, and most importantly inflict greater amounts of damage. Heating the ground below, she swirled the sand into the air in a maelstrom of flame.

In the time it had taken Leila to pick up the hammer her mother had gifted to Gideon, Diana had erected a series of defenses designed to keep the beast-woman at arms length. Leila’s answer to that was simple. Blazing with energy of her own, the warrior activated her weapon’s shimmering blade and charged directly towards the mage’s spells. Passing the net of suspended sand in an instant, her fur bristled as she forced her way through the layers of magic.

Leaping backwards, Diana narrowly avoided the massive blade as it sliced out over the distance. She’d overcome the barriers with her aura alone? Rising into the air, the elf stretched a hand out toward her opponent, channeling her mana down into the clay below. Leila hissed as she sank into the ground, disrupting Diana’s control of the land with a burst of energy and a stomp of her foot. Smashing down the spikes of rock that rose from the loose earth around her, the beast-woman glared up towards the floating elf.

“Get down here,” Leila said, hands twisting around her borrowed weapon.

“How brutal,” Diana replied. “I’m not sure I do want to come play with you down th-”

Her reply was cut short as a chunk of stone slammed into her wards, pausing before it fell to the ground. A barrage of rocks followed, and Diana grimaced in distaste, sweeping the rocks from the air as they flew. Leila’s blade was not brushed aside so easily as she launched herself from the ground, cleaving through Diana’s magic and passing over her head as the elf ducked backwards. Falling to the ground with her opponent, she blasted the beast-warrior away before rising to her feet, lightning crackling from her lithe form. Drifting slowly in the enclosed air of the arena, strands of blonde hair sprinkled down over the sand.

“How dare you?” Diana reached a hand up to touch at her newly formed fringe. “Do you want me to burn the fur off those fat legs of yours?”

“Have you decided to fight me seriously, then?” Leila said, striking out at the mage’s torso. Her blade was reflected with a flash as her opponent’s hand darted out to meet it, and she swept the weapon around for a reverse slash. Deflecting the greatsword once more, Diana flicked her other hand, a bolt of lightning shooting out to sear a portion of fur from the beast-woman’s thigh.

“You’ll have to try harder than that,” Leila said as she disengaged, easing the stunned muscles of her thigh. “Bastias is with me always.”

“You have your god,” Diana replied, a storm of sand and mana beginning to swirl around her feet. “I have mine as well.”

…

“I offer my apologies for the… incidents that transpired over these past few days,” Roethus said with a small bow. “The tournament matches were never meant to be to the dea-”

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” Benvolio gulped down a mouthful of wine, leaning forwards in his seat to better watch the duel. “Nobody died, right?”

“Even so, my lord…” Roethus made a pained expression, but fell silent.

“I’ll forgive you,” Christoph said, “but I have a request. Please stop this duel before either of them die, as well.”

“Hmmph.” Benvolio dropped his goblet as he crossed his arms, a frantic Roethus barely managing to catch the object before it landed on the boards below. “I wasn’t going to let them die anyway.”

“I’m thankful,” Gideon said from his seat nearby. “Leila is very dear to me.”

“She’s quite strong, isn’t she?” Lucius asked, tilting his head. Turning in Benvolio’s direction, he leant around the little lord to where Roethus and Christoph sat on the other side of the box. “Diana, too, although I’m not sure she’s using her full strength right now.”

“She’d better not be if she wants to win,” Christoph replied. “If this was her full strength, she’d be in real trouble pretty soon.”

“On the topic of requests, has your companion decided what to do with his reward?” Roethus asked.

“We should settle that matter after the duel,” Lucius replied. “Just to confirm, the reward is a single gift from Lord Benvolio?”

“That’s right,” Benvolio said. “I can get you anything. You can’t ask for favors, though! It has to be something real, something you can touch.”

“I see.” Lucius nodded, pushing up his glasses with a grin. “In that case-”

“Shhh,” Benvolio said, cutting him off. “I’m watching the fight.”

…

The two women danced across the clay, sand blasting at the arena’s wards as they clashed. Lightning strikes and bursts of flame were destroyed by slashes of a glimmering greatsword, the smell of burnt fur and misted blood permeating the dust-filled air. Panting softly, Leila shook the sand from her fur with a scowl. That elf… rather than fight in melee, Diana had been trusting in her magic, focusing on defense and only retaliating when she could spare the energy.

She meant to wear her down, claiming victory after Leila had exhausted her strength. There was no way that Leila would allow that to happen. Although she’d been conserving mana until now, the beast-woman allowed her spirit to rise in full, energy coursing through her body until the air around her grew still, smothered by her very presence. Taking a hand off her weapon, the beast lord slammed into her opponent.

Diana reacted instantly, cutting off her spells to concentrate on the close combat she had been forced into. Channelling more energy into her limbs, she increased her strength to match Leila’s bestial fury. Deflecting the greatsword with bursts of mana, she dodged away from her opponent’s kicks and swiping claws, moving backwards across the bare clay as sand splashed around the edges of the arena.

“So weak!” Leila stepped forwards with every blow, advancing on the elf with a manic grin. “Can the elves really claim to be the strongest race with such pitiful performance?”

Stifling her reply, Diana forced more mana into her body, ignoring the surging pain as her muscles protested. This body of hers was still so frail! Retreating further to minimise the weight of Leila’s blows, she shifted around the beast-woman’s next attack, pushing her off-balance with a blast of mana. Closing in on the warrior before she could recover, Diana cut out at the beast lord with a blade of hardened air.

“Is that your best?” Breaking away from the elf, Leila looked down to where a stream of blood was pouring from her abdomen. Diana’s attack had struck her on the left side of her stomach, continuing up diagonally under her right breast. “This isn’t even enough to warrant a bandage. Is this the strength of the elf god Militia?”

“Militia?” Diana began to laugh, shoulders bouncing with each note of hilarity. “I served Militia faithfully for decades, and what do I get? Banished from my home and my people for what? For choosing to study some dragons?”

Rising up into the air once more, the elf mage blazed with energy. “Lesser races, they said. As though they stood with the gods themselves! I left the forest, and for years I relied on nothing but myself! Chosen by Militia? Blessed by the Milwood? That power was mine alone! And then, five years ago I met another god.”

“Another god?” Leila’s face contorted in anger. “If Militia abandoned you, you should have just accepted your death with grace. If you can’t even serve your god then what use is your pathetic little life?”

Light began to cover Diana’s body, the arena wards cracking open above her. “He didn’t ask me to serve, or obey. He didn’t rule over me or his lands. He just bestowed upon me his strength.” Diana closed her wings and began to fall, scaled feet touching down on the earth as the light grew faint. “All I had to do was kill a dragon.”