"Who would have thought that there would be an arena inside of the castle barracks..." I muttered out loudly as I relaxed into my royal seat.

When I healed Katrins wounds in order to allow her to duel her brother, I figured it would happen someplace else and in a few days time, not the same hour.

"Your majestys father ordered this place built, as the previous king was quite fond of combat, both as an observer and participant." Asmodeus, who sat below me in an equally expensive looking chair, spoke clear amusement lacing his voice.

"I see..." A grimace formed on my expression as the entire arena was quickly filled up with spectators. Servants, nobles and hell, even slaves were allowed inside to witness this battle. 

Asmodeus smirked towards me. "As expected, a ton of people came to see the Terreltaits fight, even on such short notice."

"Terreltaits?" Offering him a questioning glance, I let out a sigh as Asmodeus smirked, likely pleased that I revealed my ignorance so easily. Right now, I'm a tad too annoyed to care. 

"Yes, the Tarreltait noble family. A great dynasty of knights who are said to be descended from dragons and one of the few families of warriors on Terravest that are capable of using the terrible power of Aura Avatra." Quirking an eyebrow at him, I waited for him continue.

When I didn't make a sound for a couple seconds, the grand wizard turned around to look at me with a flabbergasted expression. "Well? Speak!"

My annoyed tone caused him to blink in surprise and shock, but he recovered quickly. "Ahem, as I was saying, they are a family of great and ancient power that can trace it's bloodstained legacy all the way back to the ancient elven empi-"

Interrupting him with a sigh, I spoke. "Skip the boring stuff and tell me of their power."

He grinned and nodded. "As you wish, your majesty. Anyways, the Terreltaits would like the world to believe that the powers they use are just the hereditary powers they got from their Draconian ancestors, as it grants them great physical strength, speed, a regenerative capability as well as access to a strange energy they call Aura, I believe that they are nothing more than the result of dark elven experiments with creating artificial arcana."

Still going back to the dark elves and their sins, eh? Gee, I wonder why that is.

Truth, who was also part of our entourage, grimaced towards Asmodeus. "Hmph. I refuse to defend the ancients and their cruelty, but there is no physical proof that they used to perform such experiments!"

Asmodeus rolled his eyes with an incredulous expression. "There are dozens of archeological sites that have been proven to be ancient laboratories. Are you saying that none of these used slaves as test subjects?"

Truth remained quiet at that, despite the distaste etched into his frame, turning his head downward as Asmodeus rose his in triumph.

Before the conversation could carry on, the announcer of the arena shouted out loud for all to hear. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome! Welcome; to the arena!"

The crowds roared in unison, with no tact nor tile. "Today, we have been blessed with a very special match. That's right, my beloved public, todays duel has nothing to do with the usual knights fighting over damsels or damsels fighting knights in an effort to prove themselves!"

Another roar echoed before he continued, an ever-present smile etched onto his frame. "Today's match, is a rivalry between siblings! Yes, this is a fight of joint blood, each contestant eager to spill the others insides with familial fury!"

Taking a breath, he pulled on a lever as the northern and southern portculli slowly lowered themselves to reveal the two fairly nude knights, bearing only tightened cloth to cover their nethers and their personal swords.

It seems that they decided not to use any armour for this. How bold, especially from Katrin.

Even I couldn't stop myself from staring at her nearly naked body, especially since her shapely behind was in front of me. 

I'm sort of regretting letting her go now. 

Turning my head away so she does not notice me staring at her ass, I realized that the others were instead looking at Sebastian, whose fully exposed, sculpted flesh had the attention of nearly the entire arena as the people watched on, speechless.

Even I had to admit that it was a shame to waste their flesh on a fight and drench it in blood. 

"Ahem." The announcer cleared his throat, clearly aroused by the sight. "W-well, it seems that today's duel is indeed quite special!"

He let out a light laugh, dispelling the arenas currently overheated atmosphere with ease. "You know them! You love them! Today's contestants are both of legendary status within all of Exuperia!"

He turned towards Sebastian. "At the southern gate, stands the glamorous, the magnificent, the wild!; Butcher oooof the North, Lord Sebastian Terreltait!"

The crowds cheers shook the building and echoed through the stones of this indoors arena. The earthen depths quaked with their rising excitement.

It did not make for a safe combination of sound.

Then the announcer turned around and beamed a grin at Katrin. "And standing as his opponent is the man's own sister, Lady Katrin Terreltait!; the legendary Scarlet Whirlwind herself! Champion of the Innocent, protector of the meek, the very woman who is the incarnation of our knights code of honour!"

Hmm...

An interesting way to introduce the fighters, that's for sure.

And it sure got the crowd riled back into a frenzy, while the duo of knights continued to silently stare at their opponent with an unearthly amount of hatred.

"Your majesty?.." A meek voice broke me out of my musings as I turned my head to the left to find a well dressed man cough into his fist lamely. He was quite young and seemed to be ashamed of himself, carrying a rather awkward expression on his face.

With a sigh and a quirked eyebrow, I replied. "Yes?" 

He swallowed down with his expression quickly turning into one of fear, shielding his face with a book. "I -errm, uhm. My name is P-Percival C-c-chance! Uhm, your majesty."

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Quirking an eyebrow at him, I asked. "And?"

I could have bullied him a bit, but I felt pity for the boy. "I uh, have been assigned t-to handle the d-duties of your Steward, your majesty- a-a-as my father had fallen ill yesterday.."

He finished with a pitifully sad tone, causing me to sigh. "I assume you have something urgent to bring to my attention other than introducing yourself?"

Nodding slightly, he replied. "Y-yes, your majesty! ... You ordered my father to go look into the current status of Lord Osterhart." He cleared his throat and smiled. "We are pleased to inform you that the old lord is physically healthy and clear of mind."

Oho.

That's a good change in attitude.

With a nod of my own, I replied. "That is good to hear. Send the lord a letter inviting him to the castle."

He saluted me before bowing lightly and making himself scarce.

I snorted at the probable sixteen year old and turned my head back around, focusing my senses just in time to hear the announcer begin the duel.

"-let the battle, begin!" His exclamation send the crowd into yet another spree of cheers.

*clang*

A tremendously loud sound ruptured through the arena, quieting the crowd as steel tore itself against steel.

Glistening flesh glowed with an orange power as the two pushed harder against one another, seeming equally matched as their superhuman might caused the earth and sand beneath their feet to twist and contort with insane force.

Pushing each others blade aside, the siblings then sent their fists aimed at the others face, blasting each other a few meters away before instantly rejoining the melee.

"Hmm.. quite durable, aren't they?" I heard myself mutter out, causing Asmodeus to smirk again.

"Indeed. A regular person, even wearing armour, would have had their heads explode from those punches." He spoke with reverence as we watched the siblings continue to try and tear into one another without a sound, apart from the echoes of clashing steel and impacted meat.

Their public, once enchanted by their astonishingly good looks, was now slowly becoming horrified.

Truth summed it up quite nicely. "I.. I was not aware that that bare flesh could make such a sound when h-hit..." He seemed to become sicker and sicker as he watched the fight.

It was too fast for me to follow, as their bodies seemed to turn to liquid with every blow, only to seemingly reform as they continued to fight.

"I assume this powerful defense is where the theory of them being dragon descendants comes from?" They both nodded to my question.

Letting out a sigh in disappointment, I continued. "So they aren't using the shaori technique? It's just physical defense?"

The two continued their fight as they leaped backwards, with Katrin slicing through an iron pole, taking the upper half and then flinging it like a spear at her brother, who skillfully deflected it, grabbed the thing in mid-air and sent it flying back at her, only for Katrin to barely dodge it, causing a slight cut to appear on her left cheek.

Crimson, wondrous blood flowed out of her wound as I was distracted by the sheer amount of energy contained within it. It was as if the blood itself was filled with life.

"Shaori?.. is that a warrior technique from your previous world, your majesty? I have never heard of any such thing here." Truth broke my rising hunger for blood.

Wiping the drool from my mouth, I coughed into my fist and replied. "Y-yes. It is a technique that allows a fighter to take the blow of his foe and then redirect it back at them in combination with their own power."

Asmodeus quirked an eyebrow at me in confusion. "And how does one achieve this great power?"

"Perfect muscle control." I shrugged at him. "Have you ever heard of stories that claim men have broken their bones by jumping but a babe thrown off a balcony lands on the ground without a single wound?"

"Such tales are surely the work of motherly goddesses looking out for the children of their devoted." Truth quickly added onto my tale with a smirk.

This caused both Asmodeus and I to grimace. "Yeah, sure. While I won't deny that the gods may save destined children, not every child that survives such an event will be chosen by fate." 

Asmodeus laughed as Truth harrumphed and replied. "And how else do you explain such miracles?!"

"When people are about to get hit or attacked in general, their bodies tighten, their muscle constricts by instinct but this is in no way a good idea." I coughed into my fist as the duel in front of us continued.

Seemingly distracted by something in my general direction, Sebastian was slashed by Katrins sword across his right arm, the thin cut drawing an unearthly amount of blood.

Grunting loudly, he sent a standing roundhouse kick straight to her side, causing his sister to spit blood as she was sent flying by the blow, but not before slicing up the skin of the offending foot as well.

Hmm... "Seems like it's difficult for blades to cut deeper than skin." 

Chuckling lightly as I regained my attention, I continued my tale. "The reason why men break their bones by jumping is due to a variety of factors, but in accordance to Shaori, what causes it is that their constricting muscles restrict the bone inside from moving, thus applying too much pressure to a single area and causing it to shatter."

"And the babies?" Truth raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me, seeming genuinely interested in what I was saying for some reason.

"Well, children of those ages do not yet have well developed bones, which causes them to be soft and easy to break, but also easy to relax." Clearing my throat, I continued. "So as the children fall down, they unknowingly relax themselves completely as babies ofted do, thusly allowing their soft bodies to absorb the force of their fall without causing major damage."

"... Okay but I must admit I find it very hard to believe these conceptual techniques could be applied to melee combat. I mean, a sword cuts. It has no force!" Asmodeus blinked and I had to stop myself from correcting him as I contemplated his words.

"Well that I can't properly answer as I am not a fighter myself. However, I figure that if the blow came from a weapon that does apply force and the one receiving it had enough control over their own muscles, they could absorb the blow and instantly transfer it's power back onto their enemy without much trouble." My two compatriots looked shared looks of complete disbelief.

But before we could continue our conversation, the sounds of clashing steel caught our attention as we realized that Katrin was pushing her brother into a corner with a flurry of blows.

Just then, all of us looked on in shock as we saw Sebastian close his eyes as his sister sent a fist straight into his chest, the inhuman might digging into it as he relaxed his entire body.

I grasped the edges of my seat as I leaned forward in order to see this better.

Sebastian seemed to let out a breath before reopening his eyes, pivoting on his heel and sending a left hook straight at his sister's cheek, blowing her a couple meters away as he looked at his steaming fist with wide open eyes.

I felt myself grin. "You just used it, didn't you?"

There wasn't much point in asking how he heard us talking, given his bloodlines superhuman nature.

Sebastian nodded absentmindedly. "This power.. the warrior who master's it would become unstoppable!"

Then he grinned as the steam ceased flowing from his fist, revealing ruptured skin and visible bone. Wounds caused from channeling both his and Katrins might through the fist.

Katrin herself wasn't faring much better, having had the skin on her jaw blown off, sickeningly hanging off of the opposite side, which she instantly ripped off, giving her a rather monstrous appearance as she was covered in her own blood and spat on the ground. "So it isn't a fluke technique?" 

Katrin questioned her brother as she rubbed her flayed jaw with a shark like smile. 

He nodded towards her with a grin that defies all of their pain. "Can you perform it as well?"

She seemed to ponder something for a few moments, then nodded and let go of her sword, allowing it to fall to the ground as she relaxed herself.

As soon as it touched the bloodied earth, her brother charged straight at her with his fist raised high.

The fist struck hard, causing Katrin to twist her body in mid-air, swirling much like a leaf struck by wind.

Then, her right hand grabbed hold of her fallen blade as she redirected herself, sending a slash straight at her brothers undefended, exposed chest.

The blade seemed to cut deeper this time, eventually breaking apart as the tip she used to slice him with was sent flying away from the top of Sebastian's shoulder.

Katrin smirked, her flayed jaw granting her expression an abhorrent aura as she spoke. "Well? Are you satisfied with my performance, brother?"

His wide-eyed expression twisted with glee and joy as spurts of blood roared out of his sliced chest. Then, after a loud laugh, he finally replied. "Incre... dible!"

And with that, Sebastian fell on his back.

With a stammering tone, the announcer awoke from the collective trance which had the crowd spellbound between horror and awe. "L-lady Katrin is the V-victor!"

They burst into cheers just as Katrin slung her brother over her shoulder and walked into the shadows behind the northern portcullis.