Thea suddenly found herself standing next to the equipment racks, about five metres to the right of where Lan had appeared after the first round. From her past two years of Basic, she recognized that the tug at her mind had meant that she had just been reset after the fight concluded.
Going from near-unconsciousness and immeasurable pain to instant restoration and a severed emotional connection to the memory of said pain, left her feeling extremely disoriented. Though she appreciated the filter function, the instantaneous reset was jarring to experience without preparation. Her legs still shaky, Thea was caught off guard by a strong hand gently steadying her from the side.
"Fantastic fights. I bow before your skill and determination. I now understand that they really did pick someone very special for Alpha Squad in you. That last move, especially, was absolutely phenomenal. I didn't see it coming at all. Good fights, Thea," said Lan in a gentle yet firm voice, as he helped her regain her balance.
Taken aback by the kind attitude of her opponent, whom she had pegged as a generally dislikable guy from their first interaction, Thea could not help but look at him with a confused look on her face. His weird way of speaking did not do him any favours in that, either.
Seeing that, Lan tried offering a friendly smile, although it seemed somewhat forced to Thea and attempted to catch her gaze. Realising his intention, she quickly averted her eyes.
After what Desmond and Isabella had revealed the previous evening, she had decided to limit her eye-to-eye contact to avoid giving others any reasons to harass or provoke her, considering the challenges she already faced.
"Thank you, Lan. That last move was definitely a big gamble. If you had used your Ability for that swing, it would've cut right through me, guaranteed. I was simply betting that the System Abilities cost a lot of Focus or Stamina to use and hoped you would conserve those resources for more promising-looking swings. I got lucky with the guess," she replied, while slightly bowing to Lan as she stepped away from his steadying hand.
With a mix of confusion and irritation, Lan waved a hand in front of himself, as if trying to disperse Thea's words. "Nonsense! Luck had nothing to do with it. Don't downplay your achievements; it will just make me look worse! You won this bout fair and square, take the compliment. Your guess about the costs was accurate, by the way. I can only use it thrice… Actually… since we're done fighting, here you go."
He held out his right hand towards Thea, who immediately stared at him with wide eyes. In front of his right hand, a familiar blue box was projected, displaying his Active Ability to Thea, in a clear demonstration of trust and genuineness.
[Active (Copper) - Surging Strike - Level 0]
Description: Allows the participant to use up a certain amount of Stamina in order to drastically increase the momentum of their melee strike(s).
Cost: 60 Stamina - Factor: 10x - Effect Duration: 1 melee strike(s) or 1 second(s).
Thea studied the box intently, making sure to mentally note down every single word and the exact makeup of Lan's Active Ability. Karania and Thea believed there was a pattern among the System Abilities, and they wanted to be well-prepared for future encounters by examining as many Abilities as possible.
Uncertain when or if the UHF would grant them access to the internal System Ability Library, Thea needed to memorise the exact wording for Karania's notes. This would allow them to create their own library of System Abilities for reference. They had decided to collaborate on this project during the lunch break of their Systems 101 class, believing that it would benefit not only themselves but also the entirety of Alpha Squad.
"That explains why that one strike was so utterly terrifying… There was no way I could deflect or parry a strike with 10 times the momentum… That Ability is extremely powerful. How is it only Copper rank…? What even determines that…?" Thea muttered to herself, completely oblivious to the fact that Lan, standing just a metre away, could hear her every word.
With a polite clearing of his throat, Lan ripped Thea from her muttering and thoughts.
“Ahh…! I’m sorry! I got carried away…! Thank you for this, it’s really interesting! Let me show you mine as we—”, before Thea could finish the sentence however, Lan interrupted her.
“No. That won’t be necessary. You still have fights to win and having a member of Alpha Squad reveal their Ability just feels weird. Consider it a prize for winning the fight, how about that?”
He gave her a polite smile, before he turned away and walked towards the exit of the arena with a confident stride, leaving behind just a few additional words, “Great fights, Thea. Don’t lose to anyone else, alright? It’ll make me look bad if you do.”
“Great fights, Lan… And thank you!”
Thea was left behind near the equipment rack with a whole slew of thoughts swirling around her mind, ‘He’s completely right. I probably should not go around showing my Ability at the end of these fights. While we’re all part of the same Corps, right now, we’re competing against one another. Information is the absolute key in these fights, after all. If I had known what Lan’s Ability had been beforehand, the second bout would never have been this close…’
As Lan exited the arena, Thea could overhear some of the conversation from the spectating Marines waft through the, now open, barrier.
“Lan, what the fuck, dude? You lost against this mid-worlder? What happened in there?”
“What can I say… I gave it my all, she’s just really, really good. Even used my Ability in that second round and everything. Didn’t expect her to sacrifice her entire arm like that, not going to lie. It was a good fight.”
“Good fight? Good fight, my ass. I thought you were going to show her how inferior they are to us, as mid-worlders?! What happened to that?!”
"Listen Alex, I know everyone says they’re inferior to us, for one reason or another, but it's obviously not true. I went in there and did my absolute best. I even pulled out my System Ability in the second round, at the perfect time and could barely land a hit, much less a killing blow. You know just as well as I do, that I’m the better fighter between us. Basic showed that again and again and your Ability is also straight up worse than mine for this type of combat.
“At some point you have to stop, look at the evidence in front of you and accept it for what it is. If two of them being on Alpha Squad, the Major's demonstration during the graduation ceremony, and my fight aren't enough proof for you, then go in the ring and see for yourself. This constant blind repetition of what you think should be the case is just stupid."
“Pah! Sure! Guess you don’t really leave me any other choice now, do you, Lan? Can’t believe you’d go weak just because of a pretty face like that… What happened to the indomitable Lan that I knew, huh? Even conspiring with mid-worlders now…”
Overhearing their conversation, Thea thought to herself, ‘I did not realise they were "friends"… Seems like Lan is the more reasonable of the two, however. Sounds like maybe I’ll get lucky and Alex decides to try his luck, after all? That guy needs to be taught a lesson or two…’
Suddenly, the voices cut off, as the barrier closed shut behind a new contestant that had entered while Thea had eavesdropped on the conversation between Lan and Alex.
Looking over, Thea saw that a timid-looking girl had entered her arena.
Interested in seeing what the girl was going to choose for her equipment, Thea casually walked towards the centre of the arena, while keeping a close eye on her new enemy.
As the girl arrived at the equipment racks, donned her chosen armour, the same light version Thea herself was wearing, and grabbed herself two combat knives, Thea examined the girl more closely, intrigued by the fact that she had chosen the exact same setup as her.
She had delicate facial features, framed by shoulder-length, wavy auburn hair. Her large, hazel eyes seemed to continuously dart nervously around the arena and Thea, betraying her apprehension at the idea of having to fight her.
She was petite, standing a few inches shorter than Thea, with a slender frame that made her appear almost fragile, in comparison to the rest of the Marines. Despite her small stature and obvious apprehension, there was a certain determination and confidence in her movements as she stepped up to the centre of the arena, facing Thea.
The girl’s stuttered and overly loud greeting caught Thea off guard. "H… Hi, Thea!"
The Marines surrounding the arena started and looked over at the sudden outburst of noise.
Thea hesitated, thoroughly taken aback by the situation, before responding, "Uh... Hi?"
Obviously summoning up her courage as she closed her eyes for a second, Astra continued, "My name’s Astra! I’m from a mid-world too, you see… You’re kind of an idol for me… Eh… Us!”
‘Huh…? An… idol? What in the—Wait, who is “Us”? There’s more than just this strange one?’ Thea thought to herself, utterly confused by Astra’s declaration and the situation she had suddenly found herself in.
Not wanting to waste any more time, in case Lt. Eifang was watching, Thea said, “Uh… I appreciate it? I’m not… I’m not really sure what you expect me to say here… Can we just get started with this?”
Astra bowed deeply, her actions bordering on grovelling. “Ahh, yes! Of course! My apologies, Thea! Don’t go easy on me!”
‘I… never intended to…?’
As both fighters mentally signalled their readiness, the holographic countdown appeared between them.
Standing about 30 metres apart, each combatant was clad in the same light armour and armed with the same two combat knives, creating an even-looking matchup by most measures.
As the countdown began, Thea assumed the same low stance that she had been using during her fight with Lan.
Examining her opponent closely, Thea thought to herself, ‘Her Attributes should be lower than mine, pretty much across the board, based on her physique, so I should be mostly safe there. Just have to remember to watch out for whatever Ability the girl got. I hope there’s nothing like a flamethrower or something…?’
When the countdown finally reached zero and a loud buzzer rang through the arena, Thea kicked off the ground with force, dashing towards Astra at incredible speeds.
As Thea closed the distance between them in mere moments, Astra seemed to struggle to keep up with her explosive speed. Despite her best efforts to seemingly mimic Thea's combat style, Astra's movements were noticeably less polished, her footwork lacking the finesse that Thea displayed.
Barely dodging the first stabs of Thea’s vicious knives, Astra stumbled backwards. Before she could fully recover, Thea was already in the process of slicing at her neck once again.
Astra's eyes widened in panic as she narrowly avoided the lethal swipe, her own knives clashing against Thea's in a desperate attempt to block the incoming attacks.
Thea's superior skill and speed were evident, as she effortlessly danced around Astra's clumsy counters, continuously probing the girl’s defences for openings. The relentless barrage of slashes and thrusts left Astra increasingly overwhelmed and disoriented.
However, Thea remained vigilant, unwilling to fully commit to an attack, as she anticipated the possible emergence of Astra's mysterious System Ability at any moment. Having been burned badly by Lan’s Ability, Thea made sure to keep an extra bit of distance between herself and Astra, while maintaining her offence.
Despite her best efforts, Astra's defences quickly began to crumble under the pressure of Thea's relentless assault. With each passing second, it became more and more apparent that the gap between their technique and Attributes was simply too wide for her to bridge.
As the battle wore on, Thea couldn't help but wonder when, or if, Astra would finally reveal her elusive Ability.
Inevitably, Thea managed to connect with one of her attacks. Skillfully contorting her upper body around one of Astra’s counters, she plunged her knife deep into Astra's right shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain from the girl. Remaining vigilant about Astra's potential Ability, Thea was satisfied with the successful attack and quickly retreated by a couple of metres, bracing herself for any possible countermove from her opponent.
Astra, clutching her injured shoulder, gritted her teeth and tried to regain her composure. The pain and shock seemed to fuel her determination, as she adopted a more aggressive stance, dropping the imitated version of Thea’s combat style entirely.
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Thea watched carefully, searching for any sign of Astra's Ability, as well as any change in her fighting style that might indicate a newfound advantage from the change in stances.
However, as Astra launched herself towards Thea in an attempt to retaliate, it became clear that she was still struggling to keep pace with her more experienced opponent. Her attacks were wild and uncontrolled, lacking the precision and finesse that Thea had demonstrated throughout the fight.
In response, Thea easily evaded Astra's desperate swings and quickly countered with a series of controlled, accurate strikes. Recognizing that Astra's Ability had yet to manifest, but her opponent was struggling, Thea capitalised on the situation and disarmed her with a well-timed move, sending one of Astra's knives clattering to the ground.
In a sudden move, Thea exploited the newly created opening in Astra's defences, swiftly closing the gap between them. She expertly deflected Astra's desperate attempt at a final counter, driving her knife deep into the girl's throat. Blood splashed violently across Thea's armour and hand as the arena fell silent and the simulation waited for Astra's life signs to cease.
In that intense moment, Thea locked eyes with Astra, the weight of their wordless exchange conveying the brutal reality of their situation. Despite her dire circumstances, Astra's eyes were filled with awe as she looked up at Thea’s.
Although Thea felt uneasy looking into someone else’s eyes after the revelations of the previous day, she couldn't help but be captivated by the eyes of the dying girl before her. A deep-seated emotion hidden deep within the girl's eyes, one Thea had never seen before, intrigued her beyond measure.
Before she could attempt to decipher the other girl's thoughts and the origin of this emotion however, Astra's eyes glazed over, and her body slumped to the ground, releasing Thea's knife with a wet squish.
With a buzz, the arena signalled the end of the first round, declaring Thea as the winner.
Unsure of her feelings about what had just occurred, Thea stared blankly at her blood-covered hand and knife. While she had undeniably won the first round, the outcome left her feeling hollow and unsatisfied.
Something about Astra's attempt to mimic her own style, rather than using her own, unique combat approach, combined with Thea's inability to decipher the emotion in Astra's eyes in their final moments, left a sour taste in her mouth.
As she returned to her starting spot in the middle of the arena and waited for Astra to respawn, Thea could not help but think to herself, ‘Just what in the void is this girl’s deal? Why did she even come in here, she’s clearly not a hand-to-hand combat oriented build? Did she just want to chat with me…? While I’m not exactly opposed to someone being kind right from the start for once, it does feel very odd…’
Finally, Astra appeared next to the equipment rack, swaying slightly, before getting used to her newly reformed body. She stared at the two combat knives in her hands, looked over to Thea and then nodded to herself with a new-found conviction.
Turning towards the equipment rack, Astra switched out her two combat knives for a single sword. Seeing that, Thea smiled inwardly, expecting a better performance from Astra in the second round of their fight.
Thea recognized it immediately as a crescent vibroblade, a type of curved sword that relied on high-frequency vibrations for highly enhanced cutting power.
The crescent vibroblade featured a smooth, metallic surface with a slight iridescent sheen that seemed to change colours under the arena lights. The blade's curve was reminiscent of a crescent moon, tapering to a razor-sharp edge, while its handle was designed with a non-slip grip, adapting to the contours of the user's hand for optimal control and precision. Along the spine of the blade, intricate circuitry patterns glowed softly, hinting at the advanced technological component embedded within the weapon that granted it its name.
Vibroblades were distinctly different from their chain-variants in that they did not rely on the user's Strength whatsoever. The high-frequency vibrations were more than enough to punch through even thick, layered armour without requiring the additional assistance of the wielder’s own Strength.
Where they excelled in pure penetrative ability, vibroblades fell behind in terms of destructive power. As they gained virtually no benefit from the user's own Strength and did not feature the devastatingly sharp, bladed chains of chainswords to rip and tear their enemies apart, they were exclusively precision-based weapons, designed for combatants who surgically removed enemies from the field, rather than slicing their way through swathes of them.
‘Perfect choice of weapon, although the crescent shape isn't something many Marines used during Basic… I'll have to be careful in the second round. There's no way she'll keep her Ability secret when she breaks out her real style,’ Thea thought to herself, closely watching Astra's movements.
Astra moved back towards the centre of the arena, opposite Thea, with her new sword in hand. When she arrived, she lowered her head to Thea once again, "I apologise for the poor showing in the first round… I really wanted to see if I could emulate your super cool style!"
Thea, unaccustomed to this constant grovelling, felt markedly uncomfortable as she replied, "Uh… sure. Yeah, no problem... Just do your best in this next one."
Worried that she might've come off as stand-offish for no reason, she quickly added, "And don't try to emulate a style. You can't win against an opponent who's more experienced and has better Attributes by using a style that isn't your own or isn't tailored to your specific abilities."
Astra's eyes lit up with excitement at Thea's words, clearly awestruck to have received specific instructions from her idol. "Yes! Thank you so much, Thea! I'll be sure to keep this in mind going forward! Thank you!"
Cringing inwardly at the reaction, Thea sighed in exasperation. 'Being hated might not be the worst thing, after all. At least I wouldn't have to deal with this weird, cult-like behaviour if she simply hated my guts…'
When the countdown suddenly appeared between them, Thea felt a surge of excitement rush through her body, saving her from the inward agony that Astra's behaviour had caused.
As Thea returned to her low-crouching stance, the arena around her once again became quiet and invisible to her senses, as her focus narrowed to the opponent before her.
The moment the buzzer initiated the second round, Thea shot forward with her usual speed. But this time, Astra was prepared for it. She fluidly moved into her own, unique-looking combat stance, wielding the crescent vibroblade with confidence and ease.
Thea noticed the difference in Astra's movements immediately. Gone were the hesitant and awkward attempts to mimic Thea's style. Instead, Astra's movements were agile and graceful, showcasing her proficiency with the curved blade as it moved around her body in fluid motions, reminiscent of a snake enveloping its prey.
Their weapons clashed as Thea’s knives reached Astra, and a brief exchange of strikes followed. Thea deflected the vibroblade with one of her combat knives, intending to open up Astra’s defences for her second weapon. However, Astra's proficiency with the curved blade was astounding. She managed to quickly transition from one of Thea's attacks to the other, successfully deflecting both with a simple flick of her wrist.
The high-frequency vibrations of the crescent vibroblade hummed menacingly each time it closed in on Thea. Thea's knives screamed with a high-pitched screech whenever their weapons met, as the metal was slowly but surely sheared off of them, a constant, jarring reminder of the cutting power that she needed to avoid at all costs.
After a couple more, similar exchanges, Thea came to a conclusion on her preliminary analysis, ‘I can beat her, no question. But I haven’t seen her Ability yet, either… What is she waiting for…?’
As the fight continued, it quickly became apparent that Thea had seen through Astra's defences, as she managed to successfully hit the girl with stabs and slices with increasing frequency. While none had seriously injured a major part of Astra's body, enough to reduce her efficiency and close out the match, it was evident for everyone involved that it was only a matter of time before Thea would secure the win for the second round.
However, in a sudden shift, as Thea went in for another precalculated, safe attack, Astra's movements changed entirely. Instead of using her vibroblade to deflect all of Thea's incoming attacks while retreating as she had done so far, this time, Astra moved her body towards Thea's knives.
Not willing to take any chances, Thea activated her System Ability.
'Sensory Overdrive.'
The world slowed down around Thea as her perceptive capabilities skyrocketed. She intently watched Astra's every move, analysing every exposed muscle, her facial expression, and the direction of her vibroblade's swing, attempting to decipher Astra's plan behind the sudden change in her style.
Thea's eyes darted back and forth, meticulously examining Astra's movements. In that slowed-down perception of reality, she finally noticed a subtle shift in Astra's footwork and an almost imperceptible tensing of her muscles. It dawned on Thea that Astra was attempting a risky gambit, using her own momentum against her in order to create an opening for a devastating counter strike.
With only a split second to react, Thea pivoted on her left foot and twisted her body painfully, narrowly avoiding Astra's crescent vibroblade as it whooshed through the air where she had been just moments before. Astra's eyes widened in surprise at Thea's sudden change of direction, and she struggled to regain her balance, momentarily exposing her flank.
Seizing the opportunity, Thea lunged forward, her combat knife aimed directly at Astra's exposed side. The tip of the blade grazed Astra's ribs as it pierced into her slender form, but before it could inflict any further, more serious damage, Astra managed to twist her body in response, minimising the impact of the strike.
Just as Thea's heightened perception was about to run out, she caught a glimpse of a fleeting smile on Astra's face. Eyes widened, Thea attempted to back away from Astra, taking the smile as a potential warning sign for having overlooked something crucial in their exchange.
Before she could, however, Astra's free, gauntleted hand, which Thea had mostly ignored in their fight so far, since Astra used the vibroblade with both hands for the most part, struck her across the face from an angle that Thea had not anticipated.
In her heightened state, Thea felt the exact moment of impact for what seemed like an eternity, as her cheekbones cracked and finally broke under the intense stresses of the hit. When the effects of her Ability wore off and her head rapidly snapped to the side from the impact of the slap, Thea found herself even more disoriented than usual.
Stumbling away from her opponent, Thea did her best to put distance between herself and Astra while spitting out pieces of her teeth, pooled blood, and saliva onto the arena floor to clear her mouth. Despite the pain and disorientation, Thea knew she had to remain vigilant and adapt to Astra's unexpected counterattack, as well as the inevitable follow-up that was sure to come.
The expected follow-up from Astra, never came, however.
Thea, having successfully created a good half-dozen metres of distance between herself and Astra, looked on in confusion, as Astra slowly walked towards her, instead of pushing for a quick follow-up.
‘Just… What in the void is this girl doing…? This was the perfect opportunity to try and get me with a follow-up attack, was it not…?’
Confused and feeling severely threatened by her opponent’s odd behaviour, Thea continued to back away slowly from the incoming Astra, unsure as to how to react.
Thea’s eyes moved rapidly across Astra’s form, trying to identify what her most likely course of action would look like, but Astra simply walked towards Thea in a non-threatening way, making any combat-specific analysis that she attempted moot.
‘What is her play here…? I can’t just back off forever, that won’t end the fight. I got a decent stab in, but she won’t bleed out from that for a long time…’
Feeling like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, Thea made the decision to simply trust her gut. Her instincts had done a good job keeping her moderately safe from harm so far, so she ultimately decided to bet the rest of the second round on her instinctual danger-sense.
With a start, Thea dashed towards the incoming Astra, who seemed surprised at the renewed, sudden change in their fighting dynamic.
Grabbing her crescent vibroblade with both hands, Astra prepared to receive the incoming Thea.
Just before Thea reached Astra however, her danger-sense flared up. Instinctively, she activated her System Ability once again.
'Sensory Overdrive.'
Accompanied by the usual perceived slow-down of time, was a weird chime that Thea had never heard before.
[System]: “Sensory Overdrive has reached Level 1.”
Raising an eyebrow in surprise at the sudden System message, Thea quickly dismissed it. She would check out what exactly that meant at a later point in time. Her life was on the line here, after all.
Thea once again analysed Astra's every move, scrutinising every inch of her body for potential signs of movement or primed action. However, this time around, she failed to detect anything out of the ordinary. As her knives closed in on her opponent, Thea felt genuinely threatened for the first time in her match against Astra.
'Where is this danger coming from?!'
Just as Astra's vibroblade was about to connect with one of Thea's knives, Thea spotted a change in Astra—she closed her left eye.
'What in the—'
Before Thea could finish her thoughts, Astra's eye fully closed. At that exact instant, Thea's vision was suddenly split, as two entirely different points of view were superimposed on top of each other. Startled by the sudden change, Thea's mind reeled, trying to figure out what had just happened.
'What just happened? This must be her Ability, but what exactly is going on? Is this some kind of illusion? Wait... Is that me?'
As her brain slowly processed the superimposed points of view, Thea realised that she was seeing herself from Astra's perspective. She tried closing one of her eyes, but the superimposed vision simply defaulted to Astra's perspective, instead of her own.
'This is disorienting as fuck... Thankfully, I have my Sensory Overdrive to give me time to adapt. No wonder my danger-sense was screaming at me. This is an utterly absurd Ability to have in the middle of a fight!'
Thea felt slightly bad for Astra in that moment, realising that she would be able to adapt to the changed perspectives before their weapons could connect. It truly felt to Thea that her Ability was the perfect counter to Astra's.
'If she was fighting Lan, I bet she'd win a round with this... maybe even two, depending on the exact conditions to activate this thing.'
As her accelerated mind finally worked through the kinks of the two superimposed viewpoints, now displaying a bizarre amalgam of both but somehow managing to provide Thea's body with the information it needed to properly move and react, Thea slightly shifted her weight. She altered her attack's trajectory towards Astra's arm instead of her shoulder.
At this moment, Sensory Overdrive ran out.
As the effects abruptly disappeared, Thea was forced to rely on her instincts and the adaptability she had gained in the brief moments of heightened perception. Despite the disorienting visuals, coupled with the backlash of using her Ability, she managed to maintain most of her focus and control over her body.
Thea's combat knife slashed towards Astra's arm, and the girl let out a gasp of surprise as she realised her Ability had not given her the advantage she'd hoped for.
The vibroblade faltered in her grip as she attempted to deflect the redirected strike, the weapon's hum dropping in intensity for a split second.
Capitalising on the momentary weakness, Thea lunged forward, her second knife poised for a decisive strike. In a swift, fluid motion, she aimed straight for Astra’s exposed neck.
Thea had decided early on, after hearing Lt Eifang’s rundown of the exact rules and how the arena setup was going to work, to always go for instant-death attacks. While targeting the neck or the head in general was quite a lot tougher than simply aiming for something like the heart, kidney, or lungs, which would similarly result in the rapid death of her opponents, they would not result in an instantaneous disabling of them.
With no way to heal or recover between rounds, aside from a very short recovery period using her Meditation Focus, she had decided that it was not worth the risk to allow her opponents any time to retaliate to a lethal strike, however small the chance for a retaliation might have been.
Astra, realising the gravity of the situation, attempted to counter the incoming attack with her vibroblade. But her disorientation and the difference in skill between the two fighters meant that her counter was too slow, and Thea's blade found its mark with a wet crunch, as it pierced through the skin, shattering the underlying bones in Astra’s neck in an instant.
Astra immediately slumped down onto the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut, as a result of Thea’s successful, lethal strike.
Breathing heavily as her vision finally cleared from the disorienting view, Thea smiled at the body of the fellow Marine before her as she muttered to no one in particular, “That was a damn good attempt… Well done.”
The buzzer rang moments later, declaring Thea as the victor for the second round and the winner of their overall fight…