Dove POV

“To be honest, I don’t really care about winning the Silver Sword.” Stated Hawk.

“Want to surrender?” I asked jokingly.

“Of course not. A win is a win.”

Hawk had cheered up since he lost to Kin. My victory helped a lot in that regard. After discussing my plan against Kin, we returned towards the plaza.

On our way there, we ran into Liza by chance. She first approached Hawk and said, “You can lose after all.”

“Yeah. It sucks.”

“You would’ve won if you had double Icebrande’s”

“Probably. Not like there is another Icebrande though.”

There was still an aura of awkwardness between the two as they spoke; however, their relationship had improved since the last time they met. Compared to the time when Liza avoided talking to Hawk, this was far better.

We continued together towards the plaza along with Liza. Liza intentionally kept to lighthearted topics so to not distract us from our match.

Crimson Swords had already arrived before us, even though it was half an hour before the call time. Both of us decided not to exchange words and simply waited for the time to pass.

As we waited, Hawk shooed away many Players who attempted to talk with us for one reason for another. Many were below-average Party-less Players looking to join us. What surprised me was that Hawk knew most of them.

“Not interested in having anyone else join?” I asked.

“Aside from Crow, there are no Players left in Naut City worth noticing.”

Finally, the time arrived for Hawk’s battle. As we cheered as he left for the battle, Hawk left with a thirst for victory. Not only was he confident in winning, he needed to win in this moment. If not, he’d tilt and I would have to bring him back.

“You’re Party is super strong. Dove defeated me and you almost defeated Kin.” Stated Blitz before the Duel began.

“I excel in pre-battle preparation so we do have a strategical advantage in that regard. For convenience, what’s the name of your new Ability?” Said Hawk bluntly.

“Meltdown Strike.” Replied Blitz.

Snowflake Paradise signaled the beginning of the battle. Hawk, with both blades at hand, waited for the fast approaching Blitz. Blitz swung Flametongue at Hawk fully expecting him to evade; however, Hawk instead blocked the attack. A split second later, Blitz activated Meltdown Strike and broke through Hawk’s sword. Hawk lost slightly less than half his Health while Blitz lost 15%; however, before the attack fully swung through, Hawk had already counterattacked with Icebrande for 18% as well as transferring a Snowflake.

Hawk swung again; however, he leapt up immediately before their swords even connected. For the first time, Blitz activated Flare Blitz while at close range before the swords connected instead of the usual on the moment of contact. Hawk’s preemptive movement allowed him to avoid a deciding strike. Not only that, Hawk only jumped as high as necessary to avoid Flare Blitz and landed such that he could immediately rush after Blitz.

Hawk landed two more strike for 30% Health with Skadi’s Caress. Hawk exploded the three inflicted Snowflakes and won the Duel with ease.

Blitz POV

“I got completely destroyed.” Said Hawk.

“Guess so. To give you some credit, I couldn’t drag out the match to long. As confident as I am with my predictions, I cannot dodge Flare Blitz forever.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks. I couldn’t let myself lose this. I would tilt if I did, which would trouble Dove more.”

“You really love her don’t you.”

“Yes.”

“Then treasure her. Protect her at all cost. I may lose to you in battles; however, I believe my experience in loss of life exceeds yours.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to lose the person I care for the most again. I felt it once. I think you did as well. I do not want to feel it again.”

“What do you know about me?”

“You are of mixed descent since it is quite difficult to discern your race. Not just two, but three or more. You are experienced in a recent war despite being of young age. Not to discriminate, but it heavily suggests an Islamic country. You immediately gathered a high quantity of Players in Reality, heavily implying you lost an important battle because of the lack of numbers. You also likely lost someone important. Since you compared it to Dove, probability points at an older sister, or an older sister figure at the very least, but I can’t deny other possibilities. You attribute the loss to both yourself and the lack of numbers, meaning you could have done something about it. No idea what happened during the loss however.”

It took me a while to process Hawk’s thoughts, which were clearly of a different level from my own.

“It’s not an older sister. It’s my mother.” I told Hawk the truth.

Hawk kept quiet, clearly shocked but for what reason I did not know.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Of course it’s the mother. Now, I deducted most of the events.” Replied Hawk with a grin.

“Then why were you so shocked then?”

“I realized why I didn’t realize it was your mother.” Said Hawk before he left back to his Party.

Hawk and Dove were amazing. Their ceiling was far higher than any other Player in Naut City. My battle instincts told me that. Hawk had definitely surpassed me. Dove, without Hawk’s assistance, was already at least equal me. ARF would definitely go long ways in Reality if their emotions to not best them.

Even so, I refuse to go down without a fight. I will make sure to keep up as long as I can. I have to train more and more and more.