The group exited the archway in the same configuration they had before.

The gates slammed down into the dirt in quick succession, starting behind them and moving in stereo to the gate on the far side of the arena.

"LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND ALL OUR HAPPY FRIENDS," the announcer's voice blared, "FOR OUR SECOND CHALLENGER, PLEASE WELCOME…"

The far gate opened and a woman with short blonde hair walked out, wearing a very practical suit of leather armor.

Holy shit, Andy thought.

It was the woman they had encountered at Grubb's, complete with the hippo-skull shoulder patches and all.

"Oh," Andy said, "this is a twist."

"That's…" Arlene started.

"I remember her!" Kermit said.

"THE ONE AND ONLY MORWEN LARKSHIRE!"

The crowd cheered wildly.

"A MULTICLASSER WITH MULTIPLE LEVELS IN BOTH FIGHTER AND TACTITIAN, MORWEN WILL PROVE A SIGNIFICANT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE TO OUR NEW ARRIVALS!"

The crowd grew silent.

Andy couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"We beat the cookie witch, now they don't want to let us go any further," he muttered. "How are level zeros supposed to take on someone with all these levels?"

"Well, it was fun," Arlene said. "Maybe we'll get luckier on our next respawn."

Kermit grasped his frying pan.

"MORWEN, PLEASE ANNOUNCE TO US THE FEATS YOU HAVE EQUIPPED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, I KNOW THE CROWD IS DYING TO HEAR."

Morwen stepped forward, her figure simple. She had a katana strapped to her back, and a belt that seemed to be equipped with darts, throwing stars, and other miscellany.

"I am not equipping any feats," said Morwen.

Gasps sounded off around the stadium seating as the crowd grew hushed again.

"AND SHE HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR TOO," the announcer said. "NOW TELL US, WHAT FEATS DO YOU PLAN TO USE IN BATTLE AGAINST OUR NEW ARRIVALS?”

“I am not equipping feats,” she said calmly.

The crowd's hushed whispers grew into a loud grumbling.

For the first time since the arena event had begun, the announcer looked speechless. He looked toward the crowd and back again at Morwen.

His platform descended and he stepped off it into the sand, his red robe dragging behind him as he approached Morwen.

The announcer spoke in a hushed whisper, but Andy could hear a few fragments of the words they exchanged.

"... you must, though…"

"... not so noble after all … You expect me to just slaughter them? I don't think you understand how …"

"... I know no one wants to do this job, but you must leave your honor at the door if you want your paycheck…"

"... fuck a paycheck… I am not the nobility's whore … trained for decades … a fighter and a tactician. I fight with honor … If they can best me without … they deserve to move on …"

"What are they saying?" Kermit asked, tugging on Andy's sleeve.

"It looks like our opponent is exceptionally honorable," Andy said. "She wants a fair fight."

The far gate opened, and Knight Omega stomped in, brandishing his ax.

The announcer quickly scuttled onto his platform and took flight, maintaining a safe distance from the rapidly approaching knight.

"You will not sabotage this," the knight said clearly and forcefully.

Morwen's words came clearly, she had no intention of speaking in whispers with the knight.

"I am sabotaging nothing," said Morwen.

"Don't make me kill you," the knight said.

"You couldn't do that here," said Morwen. "You'd have to wait until no one was watching, like the petty coward you are, like the petty cowards ALL OF YOU are," Morwen said gesturing toward a booth that presumably held the members of the Noble Court.

"Rethink this, Morwen," the knight said. "You overestimate your value to the duke."

Morwen spit at the knight's feet and the crowd reacted, some with horror, some with booing, others with applause.

"WHO WANTS TO SEE THE NEW ARRIVALS SLAUGHTERED WITHOUT A CHANCE?" Morwen yelled.

Hushed whispers.

"AND WHO WOULD PREFER TO SEE ME FIGHT WITH NO FEATS!" Morwen cried.

The crowd roared.

"Your crowd demands it," Morwen said.

The knight stood there for a moment.

"This will not go unpunished," he said as he turned on his heel and exited the arena floor.

Morwen turned toward the group.

"I am not going to go easy on you," she said. "You may very well force my hand if you do not resign voluntarily. I will not hold back. But I am going to fight fair, and if you are skilled, if you can work together, if you use your feats well… then you have a chance to prove yourselves. The nobility deals in deceit, but at least for us fighters, we fight with honor."

Andy looked at Kermit and then Arlene. They all exchanged silent glances. They were going to do it.

"Kermit, you stay in the back, ok?"

Kermit nodded.

"I'll take ranged attacks, obviously," said Arlene.

There was a long pause. The chattering crowd seemed to create a soothing buzz in the calm moments before this coming storm.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"That will leave me to take her on, sword to sword," Andy said.

"Are you good with that?" Arlene asked.

Andy just nodded.

Morwen approached, extending a handshake to each of the three of them.

"OUR TACTICAL FIGHTER, MORWEN LARKSHIRE, WILL CHALLENGE THE NEW ARRIVALS TO COMBAT, UNAIDED BY ANY FEATS WHATSOEVER," the announcer said, trying to regain his enthusiasm as the crowd applauded.

"NOW… BEGIN!"

Andy drew his greatsword.

He was nervous, perhaps dangerously so.

I can't let my nerves interfere with my emotions, he thought. Too much is at stake, and I need to be able to access my feats.

Morwen approached Andy, drawing her katana.

Suddenly, the arena began shaking, as if an earthquake had begun tremoring.

Several structures began to rise out of the sand: large ramps, tunnels, and walls casting strong shadows onto the arena.

"Now that's more like it," Arlene said.

Andy turned to see where she had gone, but he couldn't find her in the shadows cast by the huge structures that had risen up out of the ground.

"Watch out, Andy, turn around and pay attention," Arlene's voice came to him as if she were right beside him. And perhaps she was. "I've got my Blend into Shadow activated… don't worry about me."

Andy turned around just in time to see Morwen's katana swinging for his neckline.

He dropped to the ground just in time. A few strands of his own hair, fresh-cut by Morwen’s blade, fell on his face.

Morwen isn't fucking around. That would've been my head, Andy thought.

"Fight or resign!" she bellowed. "Whatever you do, don't. fucking. freeze."

She was right. Even as she was trying to kill him, she was reminding him of the advice he had gotten just that morning from Bertha. In a way, she was helping him. She wanted not only a fair fight, but a good fight, the best fight, from both parties.

Andy was now prone, and Morwen was standing above him, readying her blade for a final strike.

Suddenly, an arrow hit her, with an attached glass vial, exploding into purple flame and sending her flying backward.

The crowd cheered.

"Covered you," said Arlene from the shadows. "Now get up."

Andy jumped up and lifted his sword with both hands.

About ten yards away from Andy, Morwen threw herself to her feet and let several throwing stars fly.

Andy reacted quickly, planting his sword in the ground in front of him and standing behind it like a shield.

The throwing stars made several clinking sounds as they bounced away to each side.

"Your reflexes aren't so bad," Morwen said. "And that's an interesting use of the greatsword. I'll take note."

Another arrow flew past Andy's head and toward Morwen, but she swung her katana with uncanny precision, cutting the arrow in half and sending both pieces flying behind her.

"What the fuck…" he heard Arlene mutter from the shadows behind him.

An enthusiastic round of applause.

"NOW THAT'S WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE, ISN'T IT FOLKS?"

Morwen bent down and exploded into a sprint, right toward Andy.

Another arrow shot past Andy and toward Morwen, but it missed.

"Do something!" Kermit yelled from the back wall.

Andy could feel it. He was freezing. Damn it if he couldn't shake this response, no matter how many times he had to repeat Bertha's lesson in his head.

As Morwen sped toward him, he lifted his sword into a defensive posture.

He attempted to swing, but she dipped to the ground, rolled behind him, and kicked his feet out from under him.

He was prone once again.

"Not gonna cut it, kid," Morwen said.

"Get up!" Arlene yelled.

Morwen drew a dagger, slamming it into Andy's back as she dropped to the ground.

Andy screamed in pain as he felt the dagger slice deep into his left shoulder. Luckily, though, his leather armor had provided enough resistance to prevent a piercing stab, which would have completely debilitated his left arm.

Then he heard a cry come from the shadows as an alchemically enhanced arrow exploded behind him, sending Morwen flying even further.

Wild applause.

"WE LOVE TO SEE IT FOLKS, DON'T WE? RIGHTEOUS WRATH HITS LIKE A CHARM EVERY TIME."

Morwen got up, more slowly this time. Her shirt and armor were partially burned off of her back, the purple flame gradually extinguishing around boiling skin.

"Very good," said Morwen, spitting at the ground. "I didn't protect my back and you took advantage of that. Good for you."

Andy gathered himself and rose to his feet.

He needed to access his spirit, his will to fight, his hatred, his rage… and he needed to access them fast.

He summoned the picture of his 12-year-old self.

"What are we doing?" his image said to him.

Enough playing around. Let's hit 'em back, he thought with a smirk.

His image smiled.

Andy dug deep. He found it. The fighter in him.

Energy rushed through his feet, up through his chest and into his arms.

Andy began to run toward Morwen.

She raised her katana in a defensive posture, the first defensive posture Andy had seen from her yet, but after Arlene's devastating Alchemy Bomb, she simply did not have the strength to deflect a direct attack from a great sword.

Andy bellowed as he lept and brought the sword down in a forceful arc. It broke through Morwen's defenses and cut into her left thigh.

Wild applause.

"NOW THAT WAS A POWERFUL HIT, RIGHT FOLKS?"

Morwen screamed in pain as she leapt back against a large stone block, leaning so that she could take some weight off of her leg.

"Well done," she said between labored breaths. "That was a good, clean strike. I'm impressed."

Andy couldn't help but well up with pride at her words, but he caught himself.

Don't get cocky, he told himself.

He was going to need all of his feats to survive this battle, much less emerge victorious. And for that, he would need a clear mind.

He needed to take advantage of Morwen's wounded state, he needed to get as many hits as he could, and fast.

Andy closed in on her and allowed his spirit to well up in his chest, the spirit Sammi had taught him to access.

He raised his great sword with a wide, agile grip, and lunged.

Time slowed… he had become fluid.

He swung his sword across her chest, slashing from shoulder to opposite hip. The cut was not deep, but it was significant. At least in the places not protected by Morwen's leather armor.

Andy then used his momentum to spin 360 degrees, bringing his sword around for the second fluid strike.

Andy locked eyes with Morwen, who was still moving in slow motion relative to him. But to his surprise, she seemed to see him. She seemed to be smiling at him, even.

And, perhaps more impressively, she had anticipated his spin attack and, despite his fluid speed, had set herself up to dodge it.

Just because Andy could move fast didn't mean that he could swing a great sword any which way he wanted. The laws of physical momentum still applied, and he wasn't terribly strong. His sword continued its arc until it hit the ground hard, becoming lodged deep in the sand and dirt.

Time sped back up as Morwen's boot connected with Andy's face.

He fell backward, attempting to roll. But he found himself exhausted.

I shouldn't have expended so much energy at once, he thought.

Morwen came down with the hilt of her katana, striking him in the face.

Andy spat blood.

Three more strikes with the katana hilt, left cheekbone, crunch, left cheekbone again, bigger crunch, head moving, katana hilt connecting with left ear, softer crunch.

The crowd ooo'd.

"NOW HE IS REALLY GETTING IT TODAY!"

"Hit her," Andy said hoarsely, calling in the direction he thought Arlene might be.

"You're too close!" Arlene called.

"I'll admit," said Morwen, "you were far more challenging than I anticipated."

Andy didn't have any special feats or boons applied to his physical health, so it wouldn't take much to kill him. He needed to use Drain.

He reached inside himself, looking for his hatred. He attempted to picture himself hating Morwen, wishing destruction for her.

But he couldn't. Before him stood an honorable fighter who refused to act as the executioner for a corrupt nobility. She was likely about to kill him, but it was in the context of a fair fight.

"Andy, use Drain!" Arlene called.

Andy tried, but he couldn't hate Morwen. All he could find was respect.

"Sorry, kid," Morwen said as she lifted her katana.

Andy smiled, breathed deeply, and closed his eyes.

"Good game," he said.