Gus and Uchronia locked eyes like gladiators in a coliseum—or at least, that’s how Alwin romanticized it in his head. Two friends destined to clash in an epic showdown. Reality, however, was a bit less dramatic. Gus looked indifferent to the situation as he chomped down on a second muffin that he had somehow smuggled into the room. Crumbs littered the floor as he gnawed away.

Meanwhile, Uchronia played her part in Alwin's little fantasy. Her eyes bore into Gus like a drill digging for treasure. Her leaf tail flicked in anticipation, tapping the ground as she waited for Milvus to give the signal to fight.

"If I win, I get your lunch," Gus mumbled, crumbs spraying as he spoke.

Uchronia rolled her eyes at him in response.

"Remember to introduce yourselves," Milvus reminded.

"Uchronia. Alternate History."

"My full name is Gulosus, but you can call me Gus for short. My Core Skill is called Devour." Even more crumbs sprayed out, adding to the mess on the floor.

Alternate History and Devour? At least that explains why Gus was always talking about food. Was it a side effect of his Core Skill or did his personality lead him into receiving the Devour skill? Either way, it didn't make a difference, just some mindless rambling to pass the time before the match started.

"Fight!" shouted Milvus.

"Thorny Leaf!" shouted Uchronia.

A layer of thorns erupted along her leafy tail. Uchronia sprang into the air, executing a somersault. As she descended, she channeled her momentum, driving her spiked tail straight toward Gus.

"Woah," Gus said, as he rolled out of the way of Uchronia's attack.

Her thorny tail smashed into the floor, the impact sending echoes reverberating through the room. Without missing a beat, Uchronia launched herself back into the air. She spun through another somersault, as her spike-laden tail came hurtling down towards Gus again.

"Chill out, Uchronia," Gus said, as he rolled out of the way again.

"No."

Changing tactics, she abandoned any acrobatics. Instead, she pounced at him like a rabid beast, her thorny tail flailing wildly. Uchronia's movements were unpredictable, at least to Alwin. Throwing caution to the wind she swung her spiked tail in any and all directions. The tail struck from above, then darted side to side as she attempted to whack Gus.

If Alwin was struggling to follow the motion, he could only imagine how difficult it was for Gus. Actually, he didn't have to imagine as Uchronia's tail smashed into his furry cheeks. Each strike sent him hurtling in the other direction, a trickle of blood leaking out of the scratches, as he let out a small yelp of pain.

"You don't have to give me your food! You don’t have to!" shouted Gus. "I'll give you mine!"

Uchronia’s tail whipped through the air like a frenzied windmill, and Gus dodged with all the grace of a drunk ballerina. His efforts, however, were in vain. A particularly vicious swipe sent him careening into the wall. He slid down in a heap, eyes spinning as he tried to make sense of what happened.

"Fight's over," Uchronia declared, the thorns on her tail disappearing.

Wow, Uchronia was brutal. Not exactly what Alwin expected—though, to be fair, he didn't know what to expect. Alwin had just met the girl the day before and all he could glean from their limited interactions was that Uchronia was one of those serious types. Meanwhile, Gus' personality could be summed up with one word: hunger.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Milvus.

Gus had picked himself up off the ground, his gaze locked onto Uchronia. His eyes, usually half closed and full of mirth, were now wide open. The hungry look in them had intensified, and his breaths were r breaths came in ragged gasps, like a starving predator scenting prey. If it wasn't obvious by now, something had changed.

"Food...food...FOOD!" he roared, before lunging at Uchronia.

"Thorny Leaf!" yelled Uchronia, leaping into the air. She spun around, her tail slicing through the air as it aimed straight for Gus’ face.

"LETTUCE!" shouted Gus, before opening his mouth wide open to reveal the endless void hidden inside.

Was Gus going to eat Uchronia's tail? Since they were both monsters was that considered cannibalism? But Gus and Uchronia were different species of monsters, so was it not considered cannibalism? Oh heavens, Alwin looked like a delicious helping of dark purple jelly. Gus might eat him for dessert after he's done with his main serving of salad.

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Gus' mouth was inches away from chomping down on Uchronia's tail. Alwin couldn't bear to watch, he sealed his eyes shut tighter than when Clavis sealed Phyll's strength. Considering that Phyll could still move, Alwin sneaked a peak of the horrors about to unfold.

"Alternate History!" Uchronia shouted.

A flash of light graced the room as Uchronia's words echoed in the background. Once the light receded, things were slightly different. Slightly. There was only one difference between now and moments ago.

Instead of just one Uchronia about to strike Gus, there were now two. The second Uchronia was behind Gus, her fur standing on end as sparks of electricity danced about the tipped edges. Why she had fur despite a Leafling being supposedly furless? It was because this Uchronia wasn't a Leafling, she was a Furball like Gus.

"Static Pounce!" the second Uchronia voiced out.

As she crashed into Gus, his mouth was forced out of the way of the original Uchronia's tail. A surge of electricity coursed through him, causing his fur to rise. The Furball Uchronia behind Gus had a triumphant grin on her furry face before she vanished in a bright flash of light, leaving the one and only Uchronia now charging at the stunned Gus.

Gus mumbled something about a muffin top. Alwin couldn't blame the guy for confusing a fashion statement for food. It had the word muffin in it, for crying out loud. What Alwin could blame was the guy who decided that the term ‘muffin top’ was apparently important enough information to warrant it being downloaded into his brain. In what world was it even relevant to a monster being trained to take down humans? Seriously!

"Thorny Leaf!" the sole remaining Uchronia shouted.

With a twirl of her body and a flick of her tail, she drove her spike-riddled leaf into Gus without fail.

"Hurgh," grunted Gus, as he was sent hurtling through the air toward Milvus and the teacher's desk.

"Fights over," Milvus said, catching Gus with two of his paper tentacles.

Uchronia hopped back over to where Alwin was. Intimidated didn't even begin to cover how he felt—this girl was downright terrifying. The way she mercilessly pummeled Gus was enough to make him shudder. Alwin couldn’t help but imagine himself in Gus's place, cradled by Milvus, about to be force-fed a red pill. Wait a second—what was Milvus doing to Gus?

Alwin looked up to get a better look at the situation unfolding. A third tentacle had reached under the desk, grasping a small red pill, red as the blood that soaked Gus' fur. If only the information download had provided him with more useful information, instead of something completely irrelevant like muffin tops.

Gus was passed out with his mouth wide open, a side effect of being knocked silly by Uchronia. Milvus hovered the red pill over to the gaping mouth before dropping it in. The moment the pill touched his tongue, Gus's eyes fluttered slightly then snapped open, his pupils dilated as he slurped the rest of the pill into his mouth. That tiny pill wasn't enough as Gus lurched forward trying to take a bite out of the tentacle that fed him.

"Hope you feel better," Milvus said, letting Gus down onto the ground.

"I'd feel a lot better after more food," said Gus.

"We’ll have lunch after all the battles, that ok?"

"Sure thing, teach," said Gus, as he hopped towards Alwin and Uchronia with a big grin.

Other than his dyed fur, Gus seemed to be in perfectly fine condition. No pain or suffering was evident in his happy demeanor, and definitely no cannibalistic tendencies. Thank goodness.

"Are you feeling ok?" asked Alwin.

"Other than being hungry? I feel good," said Gus.

"And are you ok, Uchronia?" asked Alwin.

"I didn't even get hit. Of course, I'm fine," said Uchronia.

"I know, but it's just that, maybe, you know. I was wondering if you kind of feel bad for knocking Gus unconscious or something like that," said Alwin.

"And I should feel that way because? Look, I like you guys. You two are the first people I've talked to since being born, but just because I consider you two friends doesn't mean I'm going to feel bad if I beat you in a fight," said Uchronia.

"I'm just more sad that I didn't get her lunch," Gus said with a sigh.

"Maybe if you actually fought back, you would've had a chance at getting my lunch. What did you even do besides pathetically dodging? Sure, you dodged the first few hits, but after that, I just kept hitting you! You didn't even fight back! At least, not consciously. The only time you actually fought was when your hunger took over! You didn't use any skills either! Why? Is it because I'm a girl?"

"No... I was just... I was hungry... and..." Gus said, struggling to find the right words to respond to her rant.

"And what? You can't just not fight because you're hungry. We're here to train and rid the world of those humans, not have a buffet. If you can't take this seriously, I don't think we can be friends anymore. I'll find someone who actually wants to use their Core Skill and help me change the world."

"But I need food to survive. You need food to survive. It's just that I need a bit more food than others," sniffed Gus.

Uchronia's eyes narrowed as she slapped her tail against the ground. "Fine."

Just like that Uchronia and Gus' friendship was hanging by a thread. All Gus had to do was hold his stomach together and not nibble on it. Now it was Alwin's turn to interrogate Gus.

"What was that red pill Milvus gave you? You took it and now you're all better," said Alwin.

"Don't know. Tasted like nothing, so it wasn't that important," said Gus.

"That was a Small Healing Pill," said Uchronia. "How do you not know this?"

"Don't blame me, blame that info downloady thingy," said Alwin.

"You know what? Never mind. The next fight is about to start and I want to pay attention."

Alwin let out a sigh. Uchronia was scary. Maybe he should just focus on the next match instead, that should surely take his mind off of things. That's what he hoped for at least.