Under an orange scorching sun situated at the back of Gustav's alchemy shop, Tristan and Jin were getting ready to face off. Exchanging glances at opposite ends of the field, they both eagerly awaited the uncle's return with their weapons of choice. Though Tristan had been brandishing a sword and round shield since arriving in Fanrir, the same couldn't be said for his traveling companion.

Jin had taken minimal things out of Sanctum in terms of resources and food. Enough for him was the meal for each night, and anything else was thought as superfluous rather than a need. Thus, such was the way he regarded the armor Tristan Loriat donned at the time. A compulsion for protection. Looking back now, he didn't remember seeing Tristan in cotton clothes since they'd met.

"Sorry for the wait, I made sure to bring a good one." Said Gustav as he pointed the handle towards Jin.

Jin grabbed the hilt of the blade and deftly twisted his wrist. The blade naturally responded to movement and slid smoothly in a circular fashion. Coming from a close battle against a minotaur on Disciple Step, he couldn't be more confident. After a few seconds of holding that long sword in his arm and confident smirk on his lips, he finally considered himself warmed up and ready to face Tristan the moment Gustav gave the command.

"Are the both of you ready? I will be monitoring the duel between the both of you and will not interfere unless someone is gravely wounded."

Tristan raised his round shield to shoulder height. The sword sheath on his right leg no longer occupied his blade, but that was nothing to worry about. Jin just needed to pay attention to the hidden hand his opponent kept hidden behind his shield.

"I'm ready." Uttered Jin, confident.

"Same here." Agreed a focused Tristan.

"Start!" Gustav shouted, as they both clashed at the middle.

With the initiative was Jin, his sword being wielded with the ease of a feather. Even before first contact had been made, Tristan's vision was found overshadowed by the parting sun. In front of him, a shadow relentlessly attacked him from above. His longsword being used like a hammer that descended with enough force to make a distinct dent in the corner of his shield.

As the blows descended, each one being firmly blocked by the shield that steadily held, Jin began to notice the distinct difference between the last combat he had participated in. Of course, there were several factors that could change how combat proceeded, such as the area in which it is being fought and the styles each warrior is proficient in. But even so, some classical principles could be established even before sheaths were replaced by steel.

No matter the enemy or the race of a foe, certain principles must needs be respected, especially when it concerned the offensive and defensive aspects. The existence of right times for offense was no contradiction of times for defense, and naturally the one who did both better than the other would come out victorious.

But as attacks were being thrown at Tristan, Jin began to notice the contrast between the minotaur he had faced and the Tristan that was in front of him. While the minotaur attacked every time it noticed a slip in Jin's offensive advances, looking to end the battle as quickly as possible, Tristan Loriat did practically the opposite. Covering himself with his shield like an impenetrable turtle, Tristan kept advancing despite the constant bumps with his dented and emblematic shield.

That calm determination that kept his shield tight and strong proved essential in the opening seconds of battle. Sweat was starting to trickle down Jin's face. Fatigue was beginning to undermine his attacks. The light, smooth sword movements he was able to make at first began to become slow, almost predictable.

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"I cannot find any weak spots on his defense!" Jin thought as Tristan’s defense hardened blow after blow.

"Shh!"

Between heavy breaths, Jin's confidence shook. He didn't have the preparation or the physical condition to stay on the offensive for much longer. It would be disastrous if he wasn't even able to trigger a threat for his nucleus to pump the confined affinity.

And it was at the moment that Jin began to doubt himself that Tristan went on the offensive. Pushing his own shield forward, Jin was thrown back as if a horse had crashed into his body. Crawling across the yard, his knees scraped until he could regain ground. But the pain he had grated on could be easily ignored, for what had really shaken him wasn't the physical pain but the sheer fact that he didn't seem able to pose a challenge to Loriat's prowess.

"Alright, I'm done holding back." Jin turned his gaze to Tristan's uncle and demanded, "Make sure to stop me in case I go too far. I don't want to hurt your nephew."

Gustav Loriat nodded, a smile on his face. Everything that was happening here in Gustav Loriat's eyes were similar to a flashback to the past. In the back of his house the frequent duels he'd had with Tristan's father, back when they'd started to cultivate elemental techniques together and were still struggling each other. His nephew had found a rival, strong enough to push him forward.

『Isabella Bahaerys - Give me strength 』

—!!!

Tristan's shoulders tensed and he barely had time to process what was coming his way.

"So fast!"

The second stage of the battle had started and Tristan was starting to deliver heavy blows that were hard to read. Hiding the sword with the corner of his shield, the range of time Jin had to figure out where the attack was coming from until the moment he needed to make a decision was very small. But the smaller margin available for him to dodge still proved enough.

Where is Jin finding the stamina to keep this rhythm up?

Tristan had noticed the sudden change in Jin's movements, moving unlike any other time they'd fought together. It was almost as if his fighting style had changed in a matter of weeks, and his body had suddenly found vigor. Dodging his quick attacks without even needing to look where his shoulders threatened to strike. Left or right, he escaped anyway.

At this rate…

Alternating between offense and defense, Tristan continued to fight back as much as possible, but that exotic fighting style seemed unlike anything he had seen so far with Jin. And it didn't sit right with him, such that he was losing space and his shield didn't seem to be able to hold Jin for long. Seeing Jin's openings quickly close to his surprise attacks, he mustered all the forces he had saved up in the early stages of the battle for a well-aimed blow that could incapacitate Jin. Then slashing horizontally to find an end to the fight, Tristan saw a red trail of blood leave the underside of his elbow.

He found my weakest point of contact in the armor!

Every time Tristan blocked attacks from above, his armor shifted a little lower. A very important detail that Jin had seen during his travels to both Ferris and Fanrir was that his companion needed to keep adjusting his garments from time to time, pushing it up and covering again. And as he raised that right arm to fend off the blade's shocks, everything had become clear to Jin. It soon became clear, the weakest point in his bronze cuirass was located under his arms where the protections were thinner and soft to the blade.

"How did you find the gap in my heavy armor?" Asked an incredulous Loriat youth at the sight of blood leaking through his bronze-plated armor.

“I was aware that I could never hit you as long as that shield remained up. And only I needed to lower the frequency of each consecutive breath. The lesser frequents drawing of breath led me into an opening. All because you thought I was too tired to be on par with you.” Was the spirited response coming from Jin.

The elemental energy flowed intensely inside Tristan, and he realized that it had become very potent especially now that the sun had stopped heating the battlefield. The fingers on both of their arms were beginning to lose the sense of what they were touching, so cold was he. That cold that ran alongside her veins like an ocean that was accompanied by blood. Throwing both the scratched shield and sword to the ground, Tristan reached forward and a pale blue sphere manifested in his hand as the elemental extension of his own body.

The cold he felt was not external, it came from within his inner nucleus and spread to his extremities. He now was certain what had awakened inside him.

And although blood still ran down his thigh, the boy smiled.

For on that same dawn the Loriat House welcomed a new elemental warrior to their household.