Bam! Crash! Slam!

The sounds of fighting echoed throughout the area, shattering the tranquil atmosphere surrounding Hadok's three story tall manor as two figures came bursting out its large front doors. On the inside of the homes spacious main room, one could see busted tiles, upturned furniture, and shattered concrete walls, pure destruction having been left in the wake of the two mids ensuing spar.

At this point, Jak and Mako had been fighting for around five minutes, five minutes of nonstop combat in which both fighters gave it their all. Neither one of them look even remotely tired as they rocketed across the length of Hadoks large front yard, attempting to hit each other along the way. The neatly trimmed, lush green grass was blasted apart with each missed hit, every blow causing small chunks of earth to be dislodged and concrete pathway to be broken off. Nothing was held back as the two went back and forth, each striving to get the upper hand against his opponent.

"Come on Jak," Mako called out as he backed up, attempting to gain some more distance from the pursuing redhead. "I thought you were better then that."

"Say that after you win," Jak shouted back as he struggled to keep pace with the retreating blue haired youth. In terms of pure speed and reflexes, Mako had him thoroughly beat, of which made it difficult to get in close and land any sort of solid hit. "All I can see is your talent at retreating."

"And all you do is attack," Mako countered as he sidestepped another of Jaks punches. Using the reach of his staff to his advantage, the blue haired adolescent followed up the dodge with a hard swing of the strong metallic weapon, whacking Jak in the side of the head with all of his strength. "The only thing you ever do is rely on your overwhelming physical abilities, pushing forward without utilizing any sort of skill or finesse. It's what you've always done!!!"

The two of them exchanged another series of attacks, teeth clenched and fists tightened as they moved further away from the manor, leaving a small trail of upheaved earth in their stead. Mako continued to evade Jak whilst striking from a distance and the redhead continued to pour on as much pressure as possible, tanking the blue haired youth hits one after the other.

"Who cares about how I fight?! I've always done things this way!! This is how I deal with my challenges and it's always worked for me before!!" Jak put on a burst of speed, attempting to close the small gap betwixt him and Mako. Taken by surprise, Jaks opponent barely had time to raise his staff to block before receiving a full powered punch from the redheads small fist. Mako was sent flying backwards, only stopping when his back slammed into a nearby tree. "You dont get to criticize me when you still have yet to prove that you're better then me."

"I.....am.....better than you," Mako coughed out, prying himself off of the tree and pulling himself back onto his feet. "At least, I'm not the one wallowing in my own damned pity."

"What?"

"You heard me. Dont pretend you didnt." Mako wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, once again taking a fighting stance. However, this time, he did so without his staff. "You're pathetic. At the rate you're going, you wouldn't even be worthy of a having second rate guild, let alone standing at the top."

"When faced with a setback, you usually push through it and knock it down with that brute strength of yours. You've always been stronger then me, always been the better warrior, and have always been the one I strived to beat." Mako darted forward, now aiming for hand to hand combat as opposed to his earlier fighting style. "So why. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ACTING LIKE A DAMN LOSER!!!??"

Jak was too offput by Makos words to prepare in time for the up close battle the blue haired adolescent had just initiated, barely having enough foresight to raise his own guard. His mind was clouded with thoughts and emotions that were now spilling out, causing his brain to stall as Mako let off a barrage of hit. Hit after hit rained over the redhead, pushing him back and into a more defensive stance as Jak struggled to remain on his feet.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You lost your exams!! You have an enormous debt!! You have to wait 3 years before becoming an adventurer!! I understand what you're going through!!" Mako twirled on his feet and slammed the heel of his foot into Jaks side, finally managing to break through the redheads unshakeable defense. "But doesn't mean you get to throw your own pity party!! Push through!!! Like you always do!!"

With a final kick, the young man sent Jak flying backwards, slamming into the ground three times before coming to a standstill. The night became quiet once more, a relatively peaceful silence in which even the crickets had ceased their constant chirps. The only noise was the sound of Mako's ragged breathing as he made his way over to the collapsed youth, blood still pouring from his busted lip.

"Now get up," Mako muttered, nudging Jak with his bare foot. "And dont ever let me catch you with that same defeated look I saw at the dinner table. If I see it again, then next time, I wont be so polite."

"Pft."

A small noise escaped from Jaks lips, a sound that slowly turned into a small giggle. The amused chuckle increased in volume bit by bit until, finally, the young redhead burst out laughing, a joyous peal of laughter that surrounded the area. Genuine emotion could be heard behind each and every laugh as Jak placed his arm in front of his eyes, shielding a part of his face from view. It was now Mako's turn to be confused as he watched Jak go from a downtrodden adolescent to a joyful child all in the span of half a minute.

"What's so funny?" Mako asked, feeling slightly offended, quelling the urge to kick the boy in the leg.

"Eh heh, you really thought I would stay depressed about such small things?" Jak asked between gasps of air, his laughter echoing through the yard. "You really think I wouldn't want to be #1 anymore? THAT HILARIOUS!!!!"

Mako let out an embarrassed chuckle as he waited for Jak to finish, standing to the side with a smile on his face. "Well, you cant really blame me for thinking so. You're not as mentally mature as I am so I figured your failure would've hit you pretty hard."

It took nearly a full minute for the redhead to calm down, for the laughter to slowly dissipate into small, occasional chuckles. When the amusement finally cleared, Jak had to admit that he did, in fact, feel much better then when he had been lying in his bed, sifting through the events of that day. While he knew he would've been able to get over it eventually, it was thanks to Mako that he had managed to get out all of the pent up negative emotions in such a short amount of time.

"Also, what did you mean by 'next time I wonr be so polite'?" Jak asked as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "You got a darker side to you that I dont know about?"

Mako smiled slyly as he held out his hand, offering to help the redhead to his feet. "I guess you'll have to test and see. Though I wont reccomend it."

"Pft, even if you did, you couldn't beat me easily at my best," Jak rebuttaled as he took the hand, pulling himself up. "Today doesnt count towards our sparring totals."

"Ummmmm, yeah it does," Mako stuck out his tongue, making a face. "The total is now 8,906 total battles, 7,812 draws, 547 wins, and 547 losses. Just accept your loss for the day."

"But I wasnt even at my best," Jak complained, completely forgetting about his earlier depression. "Surely that means it doesnt count."

"It does." Mako said, crossing his arms with a smirk on his face.

"Doesn't," Jak stated firmly.

"Does!"

"Doesnt!"

"I'm genuinely glad to see the two of you are getting along, I truly am," A soft voice cut in, one that the boys knew quite well. "However, which one of you is gonna take responsibility for all the destruction?"

Neither of the boys dared to move, frozen in place with their eyes locked on each other. Sweat poured down their faces, sweat that hadn't been there, even when they had exerted themselves to the fullest. The intimidating aura that had hid itself so well now appeared behind them, causing an irrational fear to appear deep within their cores.

"I guess you guys want to go through my training again," Hadok said, a sadistic grin on his face as he lifted the two kids by the collars of their pajama shirts. "Dont worry. I'll train you all up right."

"No, I'm good," Mako muttered softly, eyes glancing away from the towering Rift Hunter.

"Yeah, I'll pass," Jak mumbled.

"Too bad," Hadok said gleefully. "Ill show you what the consequences are when you break something of mine. I'll work you to the bone, my dear students."