“That’s a true woman right there,” Ignis Crust E. Eruptia shook his wineglass back and forth, sloshing the wine within and mixing it with the juices of the lemon stuck to the mouth of his glass.

Silently, he observed his niece from the high vantage point afforded by his seat on the balcony built inside the ballroom, she was the ideal Everlast, and should she not have fallen to her childish whims and asked the now deceased Hero to do a fetch quest- then there is no doubt that she would be the Crown Princess of her generation.

“She's perfect, don't you agree, Inferno?” He asked his son who simply nodded once. Inferno kept his eyes on the arena, on his prize, the way she fights, and the way she decimates her opponents and uses her versatile fighting techniques to her advantage. There's a scary mind behind that powerful strength and Ignis couldn't be prouder of having the same blood as her.

His son was obviously attracted to her, what man wouldn't? Her gorgeous face was magnetic and her long legs even more so now that she had shaken off her gown in favor of an elastic pair of shorts that stopped halfway through her milky thighs. Still, as magnetic as his soon-to-be bride may be, Crust could simply not act upon Inferno's willful ignorance of his father's question, so to save face, he had to scold him, “you will win and marry her, you hear me?”

He stomped the boy's feet so that he would face him, “You hear me?”

"Yes, father,” A nod, and Crust left him be, satisfied.

Crust waited for the round between his planted battler and his niece to start, he was shivering in his seat from anticipation and could not help but grow a grin as the girl took her position on the right side of the 12 by 12 arena, the referee who stood in the middle of the two combatants eyed her opponent with pity before raising his hand and calling the battle true.

Crust silently contemplated how long the battle would take, he knew that Neophyte was strong, but his seeded battler was an amazing defender, and with the two agreeing that they would simply fight without using Light, he knew that the boy would be able to block her attacks, as fast as they may be. Hopefully, his defensive fighting style would be able to exhaust her for the fight against Inferno, giving him an easy win.

And if it doesn't, then that's why there are backups, aren't there?

There were three of his little boys in total, and each one was paid a handsome amount in order to battle Neophyte and exhaust her, turning her into an easy picking for his son, who is also pretty strong but not as much as Neophyte, Inferno needed to fight an exhausted Neophyte, as Crust knew that the girl's fighting prowess and could simply not be underestimated.

Crust anticipated a battle with plenty of parries and a slew of blocks, one that is entertaining, long, and more importantly, tiring.

What he did not expect is for his niece to break the distance between her and her opponent in 4 long steps and kick the boy between the legs way before he could call upon his Pledge.

Every man within the ballroom winced as his planted seed curled into himself and started crying, he wailed the words, "my stomach hurts! My Stomach hurts!” Over and over again like a pathetic worm but just this once, Crust could understand because even he held back a shudder from the squishing sound that echoed amidst the silence.

He faced his son once more, “do not get caught off guard like that, you hear me, boy?”

Inferno faced him, “yes father,”

“I want you to win and earn the right to marry her without losing the ability to bear a child,” he said, “and I want her within our ranks by tonight's end and pregnant by the end of the week, yours and her child would be a powerful combatant and I hear she's also a great teacher with a well of knowledge far above those her peers,” the words- like you went unsaid, “which means that you can focus on your duties for Eruptia while she stays at home, care for, and teaches your child,”

Inferno looked down and Crust felt himself get irritated, that irritation turned to anger when he heard the boy's next words, “she would not like what you are saying about marriage should she hear it, father.”

He forcefully grabbed Inferno by the neck and dragged him until his breath brushed his son's nose, “I don't care about her opinion,” He growled out, “I want her to be a part of our ranks regardless of her feelings, do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes father,” Crust let go, satisfied that his son didn't slur his words despite being held by the jaw. Inferno went back to his seat and Crust took a sip of his wine, he smiled, this is why The Garden is a good choice, the damn butterfly den and the insects’ connection to the Eruptia family be damned.

The fight below soon unwrapped and Neophyte is free once more, she walked down from the ring and headed to a maid that held her dress, presumably so that she could wear it again, there wasn't a need for a shower because she hadn't even broken a sweat, but she will soon because Crust wouldn't let her take a break, he called for his other plant to go up to her and insult her in the worse possible manner to call for a fight.

Like clockwork, the events from the entrance repeated themselves nigh perfectly; a boy with brown skin walked up to her, said some words, and Neophyte looked offended before grabbing her gloves and slapping him with it.

Another fight, another chance to tire her out.

“Make sure that you're prepared for cheap tactics this time around,” He called and saw a nod of acknowledgment from his plant disguised as a sportsmanlike gesture towards his opponent, “I want you to tire her out,”

He didn't nod this time around but Crust knew that his words passed through and so, without fanfare, the fight started once more and this time, his plant called upon his Pledge two steps into Neophyte's dash, causing the girl to take a step back gracefully and call upon her own weapon, a beautiful rapier that glistened white under the spotlight, much like the ornaments that she wore on her ear; a pair of tear-shaped earrings that hung from a small chain attached to her lobe, her namesake was at the bottom of the drop, a pure white orb that didn't glisten among the reflective Holy Silver.

The fight started in earnest when Neophyte charged and went for a quick and precise slash toward the boy's face, which his plant blocked using the blunt side of his own Pledge; a scimitar that glowed a toxic yellow.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Neophyte became relentless after that, pulling out her much lighter rapier before proceeding with a whirlwind of attacks that never faltered, her steps were as graceful as her slices, using her soles as a starting point that eventually caused the rest of her body to move, it was like she was dancing- no wasted movement and each one connected.

She was good at improvisation as well, seen when after Crust gave his plant a tip- “Saqwil, let the blade hit you and break her streak with a heavy hit directed at her body and force her to block,” - that his plant followed, letting the rapier's edge strike the left side of his chest and draw blood.

It looked painful but Saqwil could take it, that much Crust knew. The boy is enduring to a fault, as seen when he practically walked through the flames of Blaze, another one of his sons. Blaze won in the end but he was bedridden due to exhausting his Light while Saqwil was running around the city of Everlast the next day as though nothing happened.

Crust held back a curse when he saw that Neophyte dodged Saqwil's slash instead of blocking it, well, the girl probably knew that the scimitar is heavier than a rapier, which makes blocking pointless but even then, he expected her to block, like always, she's hard headed like that. An Everlast.

After the dodge, she pushed forward and her stream of attacks continued, over and over again she kept slashing relentlessly and Saqwil could only weather the storm of blades while holding his scimitar up in front of him in a wide guard, he kept moving the vertical blade to where he thought his opponent would slash next and as beads of sweat formed on his brow, Crust knew that Neophyte would start hitting through his blocks soon.

It didn't take long for the first slash to connect to Saqwil's skin, and more continued to hit after that until eventually- the boy's body was beet red, yet he kept standing, gritting his teeth and exhausting her, Neophyte didn't look tired but Crust hoped that she was at least feeling the strain.

Saqwil defended to the bitter end and when he finally fell, cheers erupted across the ballroom.

“That was amazing! I can't believe the Redeemer can move that fast!”

“She really is amazing isn't she? I think she already amended for her sins but she said it herself, she's not gonna stop working hard until she defeats a Demon Noble all on her own,”

“Saqwil's fucking durable huh? See? I told you he can last!”

“Do you think the Redeemer is gonna accept to be wed at some point? You think I can predict it? I wanna see when's the perfect time I can ask her for marriage-”

Hm. A rival to Inferno. He would be disappointed by the end of the night.

“Boy, this is the last one, but she should be exhausted plenty already, so I hope that you make the literal sweat and blood of my plants count,” He didn't look at Inferno and simply nodded at his final plant, the son of someone under his wing, a vassal, and one that is loyal to him.

The boy- Clast, - is powerful too, one that is a physical monster. It is rather unfortunate that he didn't have a Pledge because Crust would've adopted him, trained him, and turned him into a formidable warrior who can fight toe to toe with the best of them.

Clast, for one reason or the other, didn't provoke Neophyte and instead politely asked her for a battle before she even left the ring and the girl, not looking winded whatsoever, shrugged and agreed readily, and soon, cheering started as her new opponent entered the ring.

Clast was already wearing his typical martial arts attire and had his favored chains wrapped around his arms, he nodded at the referee who looked uncertain to start their fight but he eventually did, from the encouraging words of Neophyte of all people.

Crust could barely make out her words due to the distance but he nevertheless managed to read her lips, and what she said certainly surprised Crust, ‘he can fight me even without using Light,’

Did Neophyte know about Clast's insane physical aptitude? The boy certainly had the physique of a powerful Pledge Bearer but… to be known by the Redeemer herself? The workaholic who only cared about her own training? That's new. He should ask his brother about that later.

As he mulled over the possibility of Neophyte searching for other men, the fight between her and Clast soon started, with the boy going on the offensive by unshackling the chain on his right arm and using it as a make-shift mace that moved across the entire ring, sweeping it with a sideward swing that Neophyte simply ducked over.

Then the actual battle started and everything turned way too quickly for Crust to fully comprehend from this distance- what little he did know is that the two combatants constantly shifted positions, like when Neophyte stepped to the right and Clast countered with a quick weave to the left, circling the girl before pulling on his chain and using it as a knuckle that'll amplify the damage from his punch.

Which Neophyte blocked with the bladed edge of her rapier, and the weapon cut halfway through Clast's chain.

In response, the boy didn't panic and quickly pulled the chain towards himself and started to spin it around, pushing Neophyte back. Slowly, the chain spun at the top of the arena and when he was about to bring it down towards Neophyte- the girl slashed upwards and with a surprising use of accuracy, pushed the tip of her blade in the middle of one of the chains before reangling the attack to the side.

The chain struck the ring and a loud thwack! Echoed across the silent ballroom before the girl dashed forward and like a raptor, started an assault of slashes, all aimed at Clast's vital spots. So she knew that he could defend, then, because she wouldn't have risked killing her opponent if not.

Crust hummed in consideration as the girl attacked over and over again and without hesitation, using her momentum to put weight behind her slashes and strike with heavy blows despite the lightness of her weapon.

Her assault continued until Clast was forced to surrender, raising a hand wrapped with damaged chains to indicate that he didn't want to fight anymore. Neophyte stopped and immediately, her exhaustion was evident, she was panting, and Crust grinned, he patted his son's back, “go, challenge her.”

“Of course, father.” He stood up and gave him a respectful bow before leaving to fulfill the task.

His son went down the balcony, talked to Neophyte, who narrowed her eyes at him, then nodded in acceptance of the challenge. Crust smirked as they both went into position and whispers of her defeat and marriage rang across the crowd, a lot of the Redeemer's secret admirers glared at his son but that didn't matter, Inferno is about to win the princess’ hand and his family would become all the more better because of it.

The referee's hand raised itself.

And so did Neophytes.

Crust furrowed his eyebrows as the girl was given an amplifier for her voice, she held it on top of her mouth and declared something that exceeded Crust's expectations, “I want the fight to allow the use of Light,” Crust met his son's eyes and shook his head, deny it! He silently voiced, there is a reason for why she's considered the strongest Pledge Bearer of your generation!

Neophyte's next words left Inferno no other choice but to accept, “Unless… family Eruptia is scared that my unique applications of Techniques will win over their traditional ones?”

So she's making it political, then? Crust gritted his teeth and nodded at his son. Inferno has no choice now but to fight a battle that he cannot win. Damn Neophyte and her wits.

The referee looked excited as he raised his hand, and when it went up, a barrier came over the ring, protecting everyone from the devastating battle that was about to occur.

When the hand went down, Neophyte's hair started to fly violently as the power of her Light flared to life, then, her body glowed red for a brief second and her rapier soon followed- and that was it, she crossed the distance between her and Inferno before anyone could blink, and Crust's son, who was still preparing an AOE Technique that would've turned the Ring and everything within the barrier to ash, with the exemption of himself, sighed in defeat as his blood ran down his neck, his supposed lover glaring at him defiantly.

He surrendered and the rapier went away from his neck.

Neophyte grabbed the amplifier once more, “you think you can win me over with your cheap tricks?” She spat, “If you do shit like that, Inferno- I'm never marrying you.”

Crust bit his cheek, just casually announce Inferno's cheating, will she?

Inferno looked like he wanted to say something but Crust's glare stopped that from happening.

Neophyte walked out of the ring and out of the ballroom with the maid who carried her gown tailing behind her.