The fight had just started and Dante was already shocked. It wasn’t just him—the entire crowd sucked in a sharp breath. The surprised even showed itself through Sai’s mask.

Kristina did not charge.

Dante watched a Kristina participate in a bunch of fighting tournaments. Sai had shown him clips of her fighting monsters, and in some cases groups of players, and in each one of them she had charged at the opponent straight out the gate. Rarely did a fight last more than a few seconds without either one dying.

A minute had already passed and neither party moved in. Both spears were about 6 feet tall with their heights being mostly level. Occasionally they would move, circling each other, but it turned into a starting contest.

Even with the lack of action, no one dared to speak.

Well, no one but Sai of course.

“She’s not stupid, you know,” he said, nudging Dante.

“The smartest person I know isn’t stupid?” Dante said quietly. He didn’t take his eyes off of them. They were within each other’s range. “You were just as surprised as me a moment ago, so don’t go acting like you knew better.”

“He’s a level higher with a skill and a better weapon. She’s gonna need something to even the odds.”

“Then why doesn’t Skan attack before she comes up with something?”

“Ts, ts, ts, Dante, I thought you knew better. Skan'san honorable man. He might not understand the mechanics very well, but he realizes he has an unfair advantage. He won’t at—”

Skan dashed in with a thrust, doing Dante the favor of silencing Sia’s smart-ass mouth. Kristina jumped back without counter-attacking. Each thrust came closer to her, nicking her here and there, but she kept direct contact to a minimum. She barely touched spears with him.

Sai perked up. “she’s waiting for—”

Skan took a giant leap forward, getting extremely close before he thrust. There was no stepping out of that one, and the attack was too low to duck.

Kristina jumped back, planting the butt of her spear against the ground. The Sloth spear bent with her, giving her more control than she should have had with a normal spear. With the spear to lean on for support, her kick sounded like a whip had swung up. She struck the tip of Skan’s spear-head, causing it to point Skyward.

An opening. Skan couldn’t bring his spear down in time. She had time to attack, but she still didn't. With the spear in between her armpit, Kristina jumped up, doing a backflip, and narrowly avoiding the upward swing of Skan’s spear.

Skan didn’t bring his spear down—he let it go up with the momentum and brought the butt of his spear up. He issued Kristina but he still had the advantage. The moment she landed there would be an opening.

Skan didn’t go for it, further confusing Dante. They stood staring at each other, catching their breath and letting the crowd get in their cheers.

“He thought it was a bait,” Sai answered. “Kristina’s movements are largely aerobic. Considering they’re superhumans, I don’t think Skan knows the limits of her movements.”

Well, someone’s mind-reading ability is useful. It made Sai quite useful for commentating.

“He learned from the first fight.” Seriously, who could anticipate what Nog did?

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“Oh I get it now,” Sai said, chuckling. “You sneaky girl. I was wondering what you were up to.”

“Yes? Go on?” Kristina and Skan were eying each other again. Seriously, what are they waiting for?

“Kristina’s not going to win—her aim was never to win. She’s a pro RPG player before she’s a pro fighter, the exact opposite of Skan.”

Dante placed on a friendly hand over Sai’s skull. “Explain.”

“Ow ow ow fine stop it! Think about it. Why would she use this precious time to spar? She wants to learn how to—”

Kristina charged in. There were no tricks, feints, or special movements. She just ran straight at Skan. The surprise on Skan’s face was clear. He stomped his foot down, preparing for her.

Sai was right—aerobics was Kristina’s bread and butter, but not even that could explain what she did next. She flipped her spear, struck the ground in front of her with its butt, and used it as a freaking pole vault to do a front flip. Once again its special ability to flex and bend gave her a bigger jump. She went up a good four meters up and dove down with her spear over her head held in both hands.

She was going to die. Kristina was on a fixed course. All Skan had to do was take a step to the side. He strike her the moment she landed. Dante thought of at least 6 different ways to win that fight, and Skan none of them.

Skan jumped back way out of her range. He wasn’t planning on attacking her—all he did was retreat.

A good second later, Kristina turned aflame. A dense layer of red flames covered her as she fell like a meteorite. An explosion resounded at her landing spot, sending Skan a good more distance back. In the midst of flames, Kristina stood up. “I-I, I was hoping you wouldn’t dodge,” she said, putting on a weak smile as blood dripped from her both. She wiped her mouth and dropped to one knee. The flames vanished, leaving behind only the smoke and dust. “Too strong. I lose.”

“No, no,” Skan said, shaking his hands. “Girl scary. I keep far.” He struck his fist into his palm, bowing his head slightly at her.

“Oh please, I wasn’t even close,” she said, dropping to her back.

It signaled the end of the fight. The silent crowd couldn’t have been louder. They shook the ground with their voices.

“Yahoo, Dante?”

“Huh?” Cold sweat covered Dant, and his heart was drumming in his ears. What just happened? “Oh right.” Dante walked after Sai. They stood next to Kristina, both extending a hand.

“You alright,?” Sai said,.

She took their hands, pulling herself up and Sai into the ground.

“Better now," she said, as she watched Sai whine as he got up.

“That…was amazing. Dude your awesome” Dante said. That was the extent of his vocabulary at the moment.

“Stupid, if you ask me,” Sai said, sticking out his tongue.

“No one asked,” she said, sticking back her tongue at him.

“Yeah yeah, get off my stage. It’s my time to shine now.”

Dante offered a shoulder. Kristina answered by shaking her head. “Why are you sweating more than me?” she said, looking Dante up and down. “Were you running laps while I wasn’t watching?”

Dante didn't know. Seeing them fight made him…scared? Excited? Frustrated? Whatever she did, Dante wanted to be a part of it.

Ki. That was the only thing that could have done that.

“Graymays! Are you not entertained?” Sai yelled, fetching a few laughs and groans from the crowd. It had grown larger—the size was nearly just it was early this morning. There were even a few Orc Officers watching.

“The winner is without a doubt Sir Skan The Sage,”

Kristina turned towards Dante. He immediately shook his head. “Nope. He made that on the spot,”

She shrugged. “Fitting. It felt like how Sai reads your mind, except Skan could read how you moved.”

“But as some of you have realized, what the Bloody Hound showed us is Ki—our secret in conquering these deadly lands. Might Graymays, there is no shame in admitting it—we were slaughtered out there. Boars with thick hides our petty wood can barely puncture, raccoons that act like bars, and jagers that roam the woods, hunting us."

Groans could be heard from the crowd. The lucky few that survived held their words with mumbles and curses.

“Fear not, however. We are not humans—we are not petty idiots. Our purpose is not to conquer each other’s lands—we have no lands. There aren’t thousands of us raging for prestigious roles—we have no roles. There is no competition between us--there is only competition between other tribes, and other races!"

Dante was split between amazement and fear. A hundred orcs chanted their tribe's names as if they were truly orcs. Either they were really into roleplaying, or Sai had learned magic when Dante wans't looking.

“I do not stand here to lead you. I only implore you to remember we are Graymays before we are orcs. Without the tribe, without blacksmiths to forge our weapons, and without healers to restore our limbs, we will not succeed. For that, I offer all my knowledge to you, and I only ask you to do the same!”

And here it comes. In the end, Sai wanted what he always wanted: intel. He handed out information for a website, that he no doubt made, and encouraged people to form parties, and report Graymays that PK each other.

Some of them broke away, though a majority stuck around.

Incredibly enough, no one asked how to use Ki. After thinking about it, the character screen did say orcs can awaken the ability to use Ki. It was something that was probably learned naturally.

Kristina nudged him. “Let’s go hunt,” she said as she began to walk.

Dante coughed. “Let's take a break. I need to feed Fiesty anyway. Is that good with everyone?”

Skan walked over. He extended a hand to Kristina. "Good fight. I need break."

"Wasn't a fight," Kristina mumbled, though she still shook his hand.

Before Pistil had his say Sai called him over. With a grimace he said goodbye to everyone.

“Fine, let’s meet in an hour. We should be fully recovered by then. We have to get a boar before the end of the day. We'll also start hunting for real."

Skan left, leaving Dante and Kristina. She turned towards him with a thumbs up. “Setting aside your stupidity, good work. See you on the other side,” she said as she burst into particles.

Dante looked at his fists, studying the words he had already accumulated. The crater that Kristina created dragged his eyes to it. Her flying, magnificent figure as the fire exploded from her stuck in his mind.

He wanted Ki.