--- [Alex’s perspective]

“The score is now two to one for team Shin. One more win and their victory is all it takes. But I’m sure it’s not going to be that easy. The person from team Leon who is participating in this match will be the person who finished first, last round. With all these strong F-rank hunters around, that is certainly impressive!” – Leanne

Lett vs Lily…

Although I’m closer to Lett than Lily, Lily is on my team.

This is the one match I’m not sure who I want to win.

From a neutral perspective, this could be a very interesting fight.

This is the only match where both fighters know SDM.

Lett didn’t want to tell us what hers was, but it must be something good.

She had already returned with a flag just moments after the round started.

What could possibly let her do that…?

Lily shouldn’t be underestimated either though.

Her ability to absorb moisture is extremely deadly.

She doesn’t need to be strong to win, all she needs to do is touch you.

I don’t think Lett is aware of her ability either, which makes it even more dangerous.

This could go either way…

“Anyways, time for the fourth match to begin. Lett, Lily, get into the ring.” – Leanne

--- [Lily’s perspective]

I’m fighting the one who returned first…

I’ll need to stay on my toes.

What makes her so special?

How did she return first, and how did she do it so incredibly quickly?

Is she exceptionally strong?

Exceptionally fast?

Does she know SDM like I do?

Or could it just be dumb luck?

Alex taps me on the shoulder just before I jump down into the arena.

“Be careful, and please don’t kill her. She’s our friend.” – Alex

“I’ll try my best.” – Lily

I jump down into the arena; Lett is already there.

‘Be careful’…

He sounded so sincere.

He wouldn’t have said that if she didn’t have something up her sleeve, right?

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“Let the fourth match begin!” – Leanne

She’s standing still, waiting for me to make a move.

I slowly approach her while staying on guard.

I just need to get one good touch on her, and I win.

I get within attacking range, and I throw a right hook.

She blocks with her left arm and throws a punch of her own.

I can’t use my ability yet.

My right hand is touching her shirt, so if I used it now, it would just absorb the moisture from her shirt, and leave her unharmed.

That would let her know what kind of ability I have.

I block her punch before it hits.

She’s weak…

I haven’t worked a lot on my attack power after learning SDM, but I’m still stronger than that.

She’s not that fast either; we’re about even.

Assuming she didn’t finish first because of luck, that only leaves one option.

She knows SDM too…

I need to finish this quickly…

Who knows what her ability might be…

I continue to throw punches at her, but she either dodges, blocks, or the attack hits her clothing.

I could try to grab her face, but that’s not an attack that would usually be effective; meaning that if it doesn’t land, she would know that a touch is all I need.

I need to make sure that I know my grab will connect before I go for it.

This is a battle of information.

She’s keeping her specialty a secret too…

We continue to throw punches and kicks at each other for a little while until I finally see an opportunity.

As she threw her punch, she stepped forwards a little and leans towards me.

I can take a few of her hits, so I just ignore it and move in.

I reach my hand towards her face, and I activate my ability.

I feel the tip of her nose in my palm, it’s draining her moisture.

Finally, now my victory is guarant-

What?!!

She just disappeared!

Where did she go?

“Gueh!” – Lily

Suddenly I get kicked in the side of my head, and I stumble over a little.

“That was a close one.” – Lett

I look over at her, she’s touching her nose.

“The skin on my nose is all messed up. You only touched it with your palm for a moment… Had I let you touch me for any longer, I would have lost. But now I know your ability; I can’t lose anymore. I won’t let you touch me again, not even once.” – Lett

Tsk.

She may not know exactly what my ability is, but she has a good enough idea.

I won’t hold back anymore.

Even if I just touch her clothes, I’ll still use my ability to make them wither away; it’ll make it that much easier to touch her skin the next time.

Even if she has to be stripped completely naked before I manage to touch her skin, I’ll do it.

“You really think you can avoid every single attack?” – Lily

“Yes.” – Lett

“You sure are confident…” – Lily

But her confidence might not be totally ungrounded…

After I touched her, she just disappeared.

That must have been her specialty, but what exactly did she do?

I’ll have to figure that out if I want to win this.

I dash towards her, reaching my right arm forwards and aiming for the biggest target, her torso.

Right before I touch her shirt, she disappears again.

I turn my head to the right to look for her, and before I’m able to react, I get hit in the face with a kick.

“Gueah!!” – Lily

She’s in the air; she must have jumped.

I can’t let her land and get away.

I try to grab her leg, but yet again, she just disappears.

Although she isn’t very strong, I can’t just let her kick me in the face repeatedly.

The damage is already starting to accumulate.

I duck down in anticipation of another kick, but suddenly I’m hit with a leg sweep and I fall over.

Did she kick me in the face after disappearing every time to condition me into thinking that’s what she would do now too?

She tries to stomp me on my chest, but I roll to the side before it hits.

She just looks at me while letting me get up again.

“I used to be weak. Really weak. The only reason I passed the F-rank exam was because of Shin and Alex. On our first mission together, that was when I saw how pathetic I really was. I couldn’t do anything. There were monsters they were beating entire groups of with a single hit, yet I could barely even win against one of them.

I mean for God’s sake, they had to carry me to the dungeon because of how slow I was… After that I promised them, and I myself, that I would change. And I did. I learned SDM, and I improved my BDM a lot too. I’m not going to let you beat me here. If I did, how could I ever face them again?

I heard from them that you helped them out before the exam started, and I’m grateful for that, but that doesn’t mean I will go easy on you. I’ve finally gotten strong; now it’s time to prove that I’m worthy of being their ally. I’ll do that by beating you.” – Lett

“Nice speech princess, but you’re not winning this one.” – Lily

“…” – Lett