Right where we left off

"LU!" Running over to check on the Elf was Blake. "Come on, buddy, be alive!" He hoped as he slowly and carefully turned Lu over onto his back.

"Ugh! Uak!" Lu groaned at first then suddenly started coughing up blood trying to catch his breath.

"Kukuku! Looks like he's tougher tha-OW! You bitch!" Greenbit was laughing at Lu clinging to life when Rena bit his hand. "You're not worth eating anymore! Buzz off!" He tossed her away before she took off some of his wrinkled skin.

"LUUUUU!" Rena sped off towards Lu's side and hovered over him and Blake as Fairy Dust fell around them with grass, flowers, and small saplings spouting forth. "Sanjeecovery!" She yelled, raising her hand to the sky, and the growing plants around Blake and Lu shot upwards instantly.

"Whoa!" Blake got tossed aside while Lu was laying in a large bush made out of those glowing leaves Rena uses to heal people which were wrapping themselves around Lu with his coughing and groaning slowly turning into soft breathing as if he was sleeping. "Phew! Good job, gnat." Blake breathed a sigh of relief, getting up to watch over Lu.

Rena didn't pay much mind to Blake or anything else only fluttering down to sit on Lu's chest, reaching a hand out to his face.

"I do hate to come in like this but as Greenbit pointed out that would be one win in our favor, Smith..." Weiss appeared, looming over Blake. "...and you used up two members to achieve that...quite wasteful if I had to say."

"Then, like I keep telling you; we just have to kick your asses out." Blake stood up, trying to get as much into Wiess' face as he could before leaving Rena to Lu. "Alright, Mordecai! You were ready to go earlier, so get out there!"

"Oh? You're starting to sound like a leader now, leader..." Mordecai waltzed onto the battlefield with his hands on his swords then turned to the Rainbow Knights who had Weiss standing next to them now. "Since the leader wants a try at Miss. Black and Mr. White's gonna be the main event that leaves you two!" He pointed at Azul and Geel. "Who's it gonna be?"

"Huh? What's that Geel you're feeling a bit shy? Okay, I'll handle this!" Azul walked up to face Mordecai, flicking his coin up and down. "And yes I know you didn't say anything, but I want my rematch with this guy." He smirked Geel's way with the yellow knight remaining silent.

"Rematch? What are you on about, blue boy?" Mordecai asked, trying to guess when he ran into Azul anytime before this. "Oh? When the muscle heads were arm wrestling, right? You should have gone with your gut like I did, friend." He padded a coin pouch with his winnings.

"Yeah, when you bet on something there's always the risk of losing it all." Azul caught his coin and made a fist that he held towards Mordecai. "Shall we get started?"

"Sure thing, leader?" Mordecai reached for his swords with his right hand going to the left blade while his left went to the right.

"The second match of our guild battle will begin! Just like the last one use everything you got you to win and try not to kill each other!" Blake raised an arm to the air, waiting to get nods from Mordecai and Azul before throwing his arm down. "Fight!"

"WAIT! HOLD ON!" Azul suddenly shot out his arm at Mordecai who was about to rush him down. "Sorry forgot to do my thing! It'll only take a second!" He clasped his hands together, then flicked his copper coin up high. "Dammit! I went over abroad again!" His eyes were fixed on the coin spinning in the air.

"Azul..." Geel tried to get the blue knight's attention, but Mordecai was beating them to it by running up to Azul.

"Fights already started, blue boy!" Mordecai drew his swords out and took a cross-slash at Azul with them. "Wha?!" But in the next moment, his arms were stuck in place with the blades of his swords held by Azul with nothing but the index and middle fingers of his crossed arms.

"Don't worry about it, Geel..." Azul looked over to the yellow knight as Mordecai tried pulling his swords free. "...here it comes..." He held up his right leg catching his coin on his thigh with it coming up heads. "...looks like it's my lucky day!" Once he looked at his result, he uncrossed his arms and then twisted both himself and Mordecai while swiping at the thief's feet.

"Huh?" The next thing Mordecai knew was him pulled off his feet and into the air, as Azul let go of his blades.

"Now we can Start!" While Mordecai was still falling Azul did an open palm right to the thief's chest launching him back until he hit the ground rolling. "Oh? A lightweight, eh?"

"The fuck just happened?" Mordecai groaned, picking himself up to see Azul getting into some sort of fighting stance with his palms held out towards him while the blue knight's right leg was extended. "What are you going to do? Start dancing?!"

"Well, I guess you can call it that..." Azul muttered before letting his arms drop and shot off from where he was standing. "...So let's dance!" He pulled back for another palm thrust.

"Not this time!" Mordecai slashed at the open palm looking to cut off some of the blue knight's fingers. "Huh?" But Azul reacted to it by twisting his hand around so that he was able to push the sword away then drove the elbow of his other arm into Mordecai's gut. "Ack!" Mordecai gasped for the air that was knocked out of him, leaning forward a little to see the backhand of a fist coming up to his face. "Gagh!" That sent him sliding down on his back.

"Hah..." Azul breathed in and out then went back to the same stance he used before waiting for Mordecai to get up.

"Alright, he's fast, strong, and can fight barehanded." Mordecai thought while checking if his nose was broken. "He isn't coming after me...but that doesn't mean I should just go right at him." Then he put his swords away and went for Dantwen on his chest straps. "This should work a lot better!"

"Oh? Does he think a change of weapon is going to help?" Weiss commented on seeing Mordecai bring out a dagger. "Mind if I asked what that dagger is, Smith?" He turned to Blake for a word. "I promise not to tell Azul about it."

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

"Why don't you tell us about blue boy over there," Blake answered, keeping his eyes on the fight at hand which was now Mordecai inching his way to Azul while the knight held fast.

"I suppose that's fair..." Weiss remarked, turning back to the fight as well. "...you see Azul hails from a land far north, quite different from the land you and I know of, with its own people, monsters, laws, and customs. One of which happens to be a style of combat that only uses one's body. From Azul's words, it was mostly taught to humans allowing them to fight off the superior races around them...ah? I do believe they called themselves monks was it?" He explained, turning to Geel, who nodded in agreement. "Yes, masters of one's body and mind, the monks and their Way of the Fists."

"Monks, huh?" Blake dryly muttered while it sounded cool that someone was able to handle themselves without an item as a blacksmith he felt like it was wrong and stupid. "Hmm? Then again, there's my mom." He thought back to when Deller said she took his arm. "The dagger the thief has was made with Basilisk Ore one cut and your monk's done."

"Hmm? Quite the dangerous weapon...only if it hits." Weiss shot a side glance at Blake.

"Alright, blue boy here I come!" Mordecai dashed at Azul finally going for a direct stab at the knight. "Ngh!" But his attack got sent skyward when Azul kicked his arm up. "Well, take this!" Reaching around with his free hand, he went for one of his swords and slashed at Azul.

"Go with the flow." Turning along with Mordecai's swing Azul dodged the slash and then did a light jab at Mordecai's hand with a popping sound coming from the thief's wrist.

"What was that!?" At hearing that Mordecai quickly jumped away from the blue knight who didn't chase after him. "Don't feel anything." He moved his arm around, expecting some of his bones to be broken but oddly he didn't feel anything. "Huh?" He looked down to notice his sword lying on the ground next to him. "When did I drop that?" He asked himself, reaching down to pick it up. "Wha?" Only to find his free hand had gone limp and unmoving.

"Blue Block Set," Azul announced at Mordecai's confusion now slowly walking up to him.

"Ngh!" Once the blue knight got close, Mordecai slashed with Dantwen while Azul brought his arms up. "No, you don't!" Mordecai pulled his arm back to swing his leg out instead, landing it on Azul's side. "Got you!"

"Ya think!?" Azul smirked quickly hitting Mordecai's leg with two light jabs one to the knee and the other to the hip, leaving it to flop to the ground. "Blue Block Set," And like before he announced still smirking as Mordecai went down on one knee.

"The hell?!" Mordecai kept, trying to stand back up but no matter how hard he tried, his leg won't listen to him.

"Stopping a rolling boulder with a breath of air..." Azul stated with his hands behind his head. "...or something like that? My master always went off with his sagely knowledge and junk, but that only fills your soul and not the pocket..." He dangled his now empty coin pouch after losing it all a few moments ago. "...I'm not mad, or anything that's just how luck goes but I'm pretty sure if my team wins the little lady gonna give all of us a nice fat reward, so mind giving up and making this easy? I'll even throw some coin your ~way~?"

"Ngh!" Mordecai finally got up by balancing himself on one leg while the other one hung to his side. "Tempting? But I got this thing going with those guys..." He pointed over at Blake's group. "...and I need to start pulling my weight, so you're gonna have to give up while you can, or I might kill you...heh," He chuckled lightly with Dantwen pointed at the knight.

"Fine, I'll just take your other arm and leg." Azul got back into his stance. "But if you flail around too much, I might miss and hit your body, and there's no telling what I might stop. A lung? Or maybe your heart? So many mistakes that could happen..."

"Well, then you appear to be in quite a dire situation, thief," Valac's voice suddenly rang out in Mordecai's head.

"Ah! The fuck!?" Mordecai whipped his head around, trying to find where Valac was but not only was the Demon nowhere in sight, but everyone else was giving him a confused look. "Wha?"

"Please do not waste your time. I can only keep this link up for so long..." Valac said, appearing as a mass of darkness in front of Mordecai that only he could see as the others didn't react to him. "...But could you at least clue me in on the situation?"

"It's a guild match and right now if I lose we're done, mind helping?" Mordecai asked, keeping his eyes on Azul so as not to give away that he was talking to Valac. "If I pull through it might get me on Blake's good side in other words closer to the girl."

"Ah, you play your cards well...so be it, I shall lend a hand to you," Valac's shadowy form twisted around then went to Mordecai's hand holding on to Dantwen, and gave it a dark misty greenish aura. "There, now win." With that, Valac's presence left Mordecai's mind.

"That's it?" Mordecai muttered under his breath, expecting some kind of explanation from the Demon. "Whatever...come at me, blue boy! Or are you worried about getting beat by a disabled fighter?"

"Well guess it's gonna be one of those days." Azul shrugged before dropping his arms down and dashed forward. "Blue Block...!" He pulled a fist back before punching at Mordecai's arm holding Dantwen.

"P-Slasher!" At the same time, Mordecai tried to swing at the knight with his dagger's blade turning green, leaving a trail of green behind it. "GRAAAAK!" But was met with a punch aimed at his arm going to his chest followed by that popping sound as it felt like something went through his chest and out his back.

"Se-!" Azul was cut off by the shock of Mordecai's still-swinging arm coming down on him. "Why can he still move?" He tried, jumping back and held his arms up to block the dagger. "Ngh!" But even with his gauntlets, Dantwen went through his guard and left but a mere scratch on his arm. "Damn..." But that was all it took to put him down as the poison did its work.

"Hah! One all!" Mordecai threw his arms up with only one of his hands actually working then fell on his back because of his useless leg. "Hope, you got a good cleric with ya..." He held up Dantwen the aura slowing leaving it and his hand. "...two more guys!" He twisted Dantwen around to hold up a thumbs up to his guild earning him a few smiles from them.

"Hmm?" Except for Nathan who was giving him an examining look then he tapped on Risabeel's shoulder.

"Yes, Sir Nathan?" Risabeel turned to him, and at seeing his face, she added. "Yes, I was able to tell as well...is it something foul?" She asked, having felt something from Mordecai's last attack, thanks to the magic training Nathan was giving her she was able sometimes to tell when mana was used.

"I am not sure but for now think little of it..." Nathan told her having lost all traces of whatever power their thief used a moment ago. "...The last time I sensed something like that was with Os taking on that Demon's form..." He thought back to the time in Nenil's library.

(Stroy Fact: Only Blake, Mari, Risabeel, Saffire, and Mordecai have met Valac in person everyone else only knows what he looks like thanks to Os. *See chapter 13*)

"Well then, Azul you lost the match, and it looks like you're losing your life." Weiss appeared, standing over Azul, and looked fairly saddened by the outcome.

"Yep, looks like it, and what a way to go out, huh? Getting eaten from the inside out by some poison, heh," Azul chuckled with a green rash working its way up the right side of his face. "So? Uh, I guess I can't pay you back for all those loans and the little lady too."

"Hmm? I can't have that now can I?" Weiss held his spear up high, and after spinning it above his head, he plunged it into Azul's chest without a hint of hesitation.

Chapter End