As they watched a fight unfold, we began moving into a circle of people.

Their swift and agile punches were a testament to how much they had trained since childhood.

The blows that landed on each other were out of this world. They used their whole bodies to attack their opponents rather than simply using their fists or legs.

The soldiers roared excitedly, cheering their brother-in-arms until only one stood.

Nath began to applaud the fight. One by one, they all looked at him with such utter respect and saluted him.

"Now." Nath smiled and looked at everyone. "Christof." His voice brimmed with command.

"Yes?"

"Step in front."

Christof nodded.

He was one of the few taller guys in the group, but one thing was sure: he would be the one to watch in a room full of people.

His eyes stayed the same, never with an off expression.

It always looked as if everything was disinterested, almost as if nothing mattered, but the scars on his arms showed something else: a warrior.

If I had to describe him in a word, Christof would be a warrior.

"You've been chosen to pick who you'd like to fight."

Christof nodded, looking at the three of us and examining us.

"You, " he pointed at me. I want to fight you."

I nodded, accepting his challenge, as I took off my armour.

"You do not need that; I'll still beat you either way."

I could hear Lusan snorting out a laugh.

"Okay. . . If you so." I clenched my fist as if I was going to let some random person disrespect me like that.

He was confident that he could still beat in a hand-to-hand fight without any protection and be my guest.

His hair flowed to his shoulders, meaning he had a couple of victories under his belt; I would not underestimate him in any way possible.

I raised my fist, ready to begin our fight.

"No killing." Nath declared, "It's only until the other opponent gives up. Is that clear?"

"Yes." We both stated in unison as Nath nodded.

"Then you may begin."

The crowd began to cheer, with Christof's friends cheering him on, as we began to circle one another.

Still, not a slight facial expression was to be read on his face.

I didn't know what to feel in this situation, but I would have to re-

WHOOSH!

When I felt a breeze pass my ear, my eyes widened ever so slightly.

So fast

I barely managed to dodge that attack, and before I knew it, he had kicked my legs, trying to get me off balance, but I managed barely to regain my balance.

The crowd cheers grew even louder—almost deafening—which didn't help my performance much.

My brain was on overload, thinking of what I could do to take on him successfully.

Fight

WHOOSH!

Don't think

He threw venomous punches to my face, but I blocked them with my forearms; the searing pain had begun spreading throughout my body now.

I didn't know how many more hits I could take before it would be too much.

"Come on, Tara! You got this!" Lusan shouted, his voice victorious, outshining all the distorted shouts and cries of the others.

I nodded, a renewed confidence surging through me.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

I attempted to overwhelm him with my punches, trying to tear down his defences until they ceased to exist, but as expected, he managed to dodge them without a care in the world.

He slipped under my lunch, leaving me vulnerable to the meanest attack. . .

GUH!

I coughed out spit, tumbling backwards as I was forced to take a knee.

How could someone punch so hard, especially when I was wearing armour?

Everything around me had faded to black. At this rate, I knew that continuing this battle would be useless.

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I gritted my teeth, knowing what must be done in this situation.

I looked up at Chirstof's numb face, and I wanted to tear it badly, but no. . . It wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Tear him into pieces.

"I. . .Give up," I muttered in defeat, waiting for the aftermath of it all.

He continued to look at me with the same apathetic face, but to my surprise, there was no snarky remark; instead, there was an extended hand.

"You fought terribly. . . But you fought."

I didn't know whether that was a compliment, but I just accepted his hand, standing up from the ground.

Christof eyes quickly diverted from mine as he landed on Lusan, who had suddenly stopped smiling altogether.

A smug look grew on my face as I knew he would be getting the beating of his life.

"Any tips before I go in there?" Lusan whispered nervously in my ear.

I chuckled, placing my hand on his shoulder. "Go, luck, pal. This is what you get for laughing." I pushed him into the front, and it didn't take long for the crowd to start cheering again.

I could see why Lusan was chuckling. Now that I think about it, watching your friend lose in a fight was funny from his perspective.

As expected, despite Lusan putting up his best attempts at fighting back at Christof, there was no use in that.

I could tell that Christof was more inclined to attack him aggressively. At one point, I could've sworn that he was manhandling him and throwing Lusan around as if he were some rag doll.

Soon enough, the fight ended, and Lusan admitted defeat.

Lusan grumbled, "That was not a confidence booster."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Tell me about it."

Lusan sighed, looking at me with a small smile. "I deserved that beating, didn't I?"

I crossed my arms, giving him a grin, "Oh, you deserved it for laughing at me."

He let out a pity laugh at my remark, "Remind me never to be too cocky when it comes to fighting someone."

I nodded as we watched Christof remove the dust from his shirt.

"One thing is for sure. . . These people are seriously skilled at hand-to-hand combat." I muttered.

"Yeah, they are."

These people were a different breed of fighters; they weren't just any average fighters; after all, they had been training since they were kids.

Christof was the perfect example of Nath's statement being true.

"And you." Christof pointed his finger at the last person on our team. "I'm sorry. . . I forgot. What was your name?"

"It's Kassie." She smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

Christof began analysing her, "You seem more energetic and happier than the other two."

Kassie shrugged, "Just excited to be here."

He slowly nodded.

There wasn't a single sense of fear etched on her face.

It was almost as if she was welcoming the challenge. No. . . Not just that, it looked like she was taunting him as well.

Kassie stretched her arms out, twisting her body, "Are we ready to fight?"

Christof stared at her briefly, nodding, "Let's begin then."

WHOOSH!

Without hesitation, Christof had already punched Kassie in the face; it was evident that he wouldn't take her lightly compared to us.

Even he felt that she was a lot different.

However, Kassie dodged the attack with a simple smile that said everything that needed to be said.

"Oh? We're getting already that aggressive, so soon." She chuckled.

Christof still had that same apathetic look on his face. I had to give it to him; if it were me on the other side of this fight, I would surely be pissed off at Kassie's remarks thrown at me.

Out of nowhere, Christof threw a powerful kick towards her face.

If I were her, I would've slipped under that kick and looked for a counterattack, but from Kassie's smile, she had no intentions of doing that.

Instead. . .

WHOOSH!

She had caught his kick instead with such ease.

She stared at him, "Wow. . . That kick is powerful for a person like you. Try again."

Kassie pushed him away with such force that all he could do was prepare himself for his next move.

"Lenin wasn't kidding when he said she was stronger than him."

I chuckled in disbelief as I watched the fight unfold: "No kidding. . . We get the honour of seeing it in person."

If someone had told me that there was someone stronger than Lenin, I would have laughed at their face.

But now it was seeming to become more believable.

"Hey, if Kassie is as strong as Lenin, if not more, does it mean she was also born naturally with Solum?"

That was a question that I had forgotten entirely to question about.

"You make a valid point. . . She has to have no?"

What I witnessed with Lenin when he used Solum, let alone Purpura Solum, was the strongest Solum a person could use.

It was magic to witness someone use Purpura Solum as he did.

It was a generational phenomenon; rarely was there anyone with stories of people who could use Solum.

They were most likely lying about their encounters with it, but I can safely say that the myths about Solum were true.

I had only heard stories about people being inherently born with it; it was taboo to hear about. I thought the only way to intake Solum was by drinking it, and that alone; you would only have it for a limited time, not permanently like them.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Despite Christof's attempts at trying his best to land a punch at Kassie, she was always two steps ahead, being able to dodge the attacks with ease.

"I'm seriously bored." Kassie jokingly yawned, "Is that all you have to offer?"

Even the crowd of people had died out simply watching this fight intensely.

Nath also examined every single bit of the fight; everyone at this moment was captivated by it, but more specifically, with Kassie.

The way she taunted her opponent was the exact opposite of her movements, almost like a dance.

She was elegant and fought with such grace that I couldn't take my eyes off her; it was enchanting.

So much so, like a Venus trap, I had fallen into the same demise that Christof was about to have as well.

GUH!

Like that. . . It had taken me back to reality, a reality where I had witnessed a devasting punch to his chest.

The same attack that Chirstof had landed originally at me.

But this time, instead of coughing spit, he was coughing blood.

He dropped to the ground in defeat as the blood in his mouth trickled to the ground.

I was more surprised at how he didn't react but stayed calm and composed throughout the damage he had done.

In the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that Kassie had a smile on her face, not a gentle one that would touch someone's heart, not a soft one that would melt someone into pieces.

But a sadistic one where she had been yearning for so long and could finally let loose.

She extends her hand out to Christof.

Christof had to accept her hand, standing from the ground.

He wiped the blood off his face.

"Thank you for fighting me."

Kassie reverted to her soft and gentle smile, saying, "It was an honour to fight someone with your strength."

Christof nodded one last time before merging with the crowds of people.

Nath approached the three of us, clearing his throat, "That was surprising. I've never seen someone beat one of my best warriors that quickly."

Nath paused momentarily, looking at us, "Perhaps you can help us fight this Plantea beast and vanquish them once and for all."

Kassie nodded, "It would be a pleasure for us to do our best to help you."

A smile reached across his face as it seemed that everything was going our way.

"I'll leave it to it then." He nodded, leaving.

Kassie smiled at the two of us, "So that was a pretty good warm-up, don't you think?"

Lusan chuckled lightly, but there was also a hint of nervousness.

Probably because of how ruthless Kassie was when it came to fighting Christof.

That was precisely why I needed to ask her something I had constantly thought about.

"Say, Kassie, do you too, inherent Solum?"

Kassie grinned a bit wider as she placed her finger on her lips.

That was all we needed to know about her answer.

She, too, had Solum.