Ash managed to stumble back to his feet and felt the side of his face. The flame that stuck onto Tibaut’s gauntlet quickly left the pool of metal it sat in and returned back to his side. He took a moment to catch his breath and watched as Tibaut glared at him while clutching that, now, nasty-looking hand of his.

He rubbed the side of his face that had been burnt and winced before pulling his hand away. Thankfully it didn't seem to be anywhere in the same category of damage as Tibaut’s fist.

He stumbled backwards and quickly used his sword as a cane to keep himself on his feet.

(“Bloody hell, I don't think I've felt a punch that miserable before. She was quite skilled with her magic so her strength wasn't anything to write home about and that short bastard would always hold back when we trained.”)

He looked to Tibaut, as if pleading with him to let this go. If this fight went on any further it wasn't likely either man would survive the aftermath. So please, young man, give up already and let this re-youthed man go to the furthest reaches of the world and fade into obscurity. It's foolish to continue any further-

Tibaut coldly stared at him before bringing up his only good hand. He signalled for him to bring it on and stood his ground.

(“You're not gonna get away with this shit you old bastard. I nearly lost people I've grown to love to your bullshit. I won't be happy until your face looks like mincemeat.”)

(“Do think suddenly mentioning love is gonna give you some boo-”)

(“Oh screw it.”) Ash tiredly thought. He had this battle in the bag with what he had in his pocket. It wouldn't hurt to go further with this whole thing and see how far he could bring Tibaut into ruin without using it.

His knees were uncontrollably shaking from his damage and he slapped them in an attempt to pump himself up. He looked at Tibaut with a smirk that slowly faded to a more serious glare.

He sent the flames towards Tibaut. It wasn't until they were within range of fists that Tibaut jumped over them and ran towards Ash.

Ash lifted up his sword and stood his ground. Tibaut held his hand behind him to keep it out of harm's way as it was fragile enough currently and missed a flying kick aimed at Ash.

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(“Hmm?”) He thought as he observed. In addition to other differences, he could tell Tibaut’s burnt hand was forming skin over it.

(“That bastard, was he stalling for time? I thought you had a backbone, you teething brat!”)

He quickly swung his sword and slammed his fist into his head after Tibaut blocked the sword. Now that Tibaut was no longer using his other hand, Ash no longer worried about being grabbed or worse if he attacked with his free hand.

Tibaut missed with a kick as he backed away and dodged a sword slash that aimed to cut everything below his knee off.

Ash exploited his momentum and tried to close in on Tibaut with a punch that was blocked by a jumping knee from Tibaut. Ash pulled his fist back, as his body no longer was able to take these blows like nothing. Tibaut grabbed his head hoping to smash his head with a knee strike but quickly let go when he noticed the two flames quickly approaching.

Ash managed to slash his chin with a quick slice but its width was far greater than its depth and, to be frank, it was the least serious injury he gave Tibaut. Tibaut parried it with his one hand and tripped Ash before pushing him backwards with an absurd amount of force.

He moved his flames upwards and landed back on his feet.

(“Trust me, boy, burning me with my own flames is a fluke that I won't allow to happen again.”)

He dodged a jumping back kick from Tibaut and attempted to cut him in half the moment he landed, from the bottom up.

Tibaut punched down the sword and both landed glancing blows with another kick from Tibaut and a punch from Ash respectively.

Tibaut quickly rolled forward to dodge the flames coming down and the old man watched in contemplation.

(“He's lost a hand yet he doesn't feel any more manageable…”)

He soon witnessed Tibaut take his shoes off and fling them at him. He batted them away and could only shake his head at such a pathetic display.

(“And I thought we were taking this seriously.”) He thought as he looked back to the guild building.

(“That girl better make sure to keep to herself. I'm in no mood to deal with her after this boy. Tch, I should have known better to let that boy get close with people like her with the dealings we usually ma-”)

His eyes soon turned back to the shoes on the floor. He noticed they had various holes where the toes were supposed to be.

And within a moment, Tibaut cleared the distance. He sighed thinking the boy had just thrown himself into another wall but he nearly had his heart fly out of his throat when he realised Tibaut quickly stopped himself and landed a blow to his stomach. He had only held his sword over his stomach by chance. If it weren't there, he was sure the fight would have ended here.

He quickly tried to reach into his pocket but it was like the boy had gotten a second wind. With only a single fist, he was overwhelmed. He even dodged the flames and continued to overwhelm the old man.

(“What chang-”)