“You do Sambo, right?”

Observing the spar with quiet commentary was Kazi alongside Marta. She was learning from every loss, getting pointers from both William and Nikolai’s mistakes. Although practically speaking, it was mostly William’s mistakes.

“You practice?” Nikolai asked.

“Not really. I participated in a Sambo tournament once, that’s all.”

Knowing Kazi, there was definitely more to the story than him simply participating. William would have bet his entire savings that he won that tournament.

“Hm. Nikolai squinted and tilted his head. “Hm. Hmmmm….”

“What’s up?” Kazi asked innocently. He and Marta were quite comfortable in the sleeping bags.

‘I should ask Kazi for one too,' William thought, eyeing the comfy portable bedroll.

“You’re strong, huh?” Nikolai seemed surprised by his own statement. “Hm. Hmmm. Would you accept a short spar?”

William whipped his head. That was a hell of a leap. But still, Kazi versus Nikolai? That sounded exciting.

Surprisingly enough, Kazi also seemed thrilled.

“Really? It's been a very long time since anyone has challenged me,” Kazi said, pushing himself out of the sleeping bag. Casually, he tossed a ball of fire into the campfire to blossom the light beyond their immediate surroundings.

Kazi was the same height as him, if not a little shorter, but Nikolai was a behemoth. In unarmed combat, the advantage went to the Russian male. How would he handle his grapples, William wondered, sitting on the ground adjacent to Marta. He almost considered stealing Kazi's sleeping bag. In the end, he went against it figuring that Nikolai might want to spar with him again. He was a veteran gym bro. His approval meant something to him.

Sambo—whatever it was—didn’t have clear stances like boxing did, or if it did, William wasn’t able to comprehend it.

“Let us begin!”

Grinning, Nikolai initiated the confrontation with a surge of speed. As he engaged with a decoy jab that Kazi found too easy to evade, his swift footwork allowed him to angle toward Kazi's left side. With a sweeping jab, Nikolai transitioned into a dive to drag the smaller male down to the ground.

Kazi remained cool in spite of the two quick attacks. He adjusted his stance, pivoting with an uncanny sense of anticipation, and bounced to the side. It was a total miss. A total read of his move.

There was an instant where Nikolai’s back was to him. Distance did not matter. Size did not matter. In this overwhelmingly dominant position, Kazi was king. He stepped forward, weaving under an elbow to the temple, and executed a picture perfect imitation of Nikolai's signature hip throw.

Slam!

Winner: Kazi Hossain.

“You read my move.” Nikolai blinked twice, his arm still locked. “How did you do that?”

“I told you, I’m pretty familiar with Sambo.”

“Don't tell me you won your little tournament?”

“It was a rigged tournament. But yeah, I took first place.”

“Hm.”

Kazi released him after that, dusting away the muck under his arm. The black garbs, while defensively worthless, offered flexibility that Nikolai’s armour could not. In that sense, it made sense why Nikolai was unable to match him.

A rematch was inevitable.

Correction: a rematch was unnecessary. Because not once did Nikolai touch Kazi. It was a mismatch.

Slam! Nikolai crashed to the ground for what must have been the tenth time. A small crowd of soldiers had gathered, curious and cheering Nikolai on. It was like the larger man was facing Goliath himself. Insurmountable odds that no one, that even himself, expected to triumph against.

“One last round,” Nikolai declared. “After that, I will bother you no longer.”

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“You can come at me however you like.” Kazi rolled his shoulders. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Magical energy teemed from every fibre of his being. It was like he was powering himself up. William blinked. ‘Huh. Is it just me or did Kazi get faster and stronger?’

Marta clapped her hands together, quietly cheering him on. Meanwhile, the soldiers yelled at Nikolai not to give up. To William, it was quite clear that Kazi possessed strength inferior to his own and Nikolai. What set him apart were his eyes. Those hazel eyes of his eyes were as beautiful as they were terrifying. After sparring with him so many times, William came to understand there was nothing Kazi couldn’t see through. Nothing, except pitch-black darkness.

Nikolai attempted to bring him into a hold. His attempt wasn’t clumsy either; the issue was that Kazi made it look clumsy in comparison. He countered instantly, unleashing a rapid flurry of strikes—precise jabs aimed at Nikolai's upper body, designed to disrupt the strength in his shoulders. From then on, there was a small weight slowing his shoulders and consequently his arms. No amount of System regeneration seemed to help.

As Nikolai attempted to close in for a clinch, Kazi swiftly pivoted on his heel, using Nikolai's momentum against him. With a calculated push, Kazi expertly redirected Nikolai's arm away and maneuveried out of the imminent grapple.

Nikolai shook his head, panting and laughing. “Ahh, devil! You got out of it again. How are you reading my movements with such ease?”

As if knowing he wouldn’t attack, Kazi relaxed and shifted his feet together. “I can say the same for you. That's not purely natural talent; someone taught you.”

Light-heartedly laughing, Nikolai nodded. “Spectre Forde has been personally training me in unarmed combat! But let me ask: what does a man as great as you seek from this? From this, I mean the Heavenly Games. What is your wish? What is the desire that fuels your talents?”

Kazi didn’t hesitate and said, “My dream is to bring total peace to the world.”

‘Total peace?’ Had he mentioned that before? That was…quite the dream. He exchanged looks with Marta, who also seemed surprised. ‘Didn’t Azrael say that the wishes couldn’t be too whacky? World peace, I mean…that does sound like something that would upset world balance.’

Although maybe Kazi had asked already and she approved of it. In that case, then maybe…?

“Haha, interesting! Very interesting, Kazi Hossain!” Exhaling through his mouth, Nikolai also dropped his guard. “Do not expect me to give up! I will defeat you one day!”

“Giving up?”

“One must know their limits to break them. Someday, I will return and challenge you again. You have my word.” Overcome with exhaustion, Nikolai fell on his butt. “I dislike players with no ambitions. It is such a waste of humanity. All of us died. Some horrifically, some sorrowfully. But it doesn’t matter—we have all left behind our old world. It is the past. I believe we should all seize this change, this White Abyss, no matter how our old life ended. We all now know there is an after in life and we should pursue it to the end! Don’t you agree!?”

Another small look between William and Marta. Neither of them quite agreed with that sentiment. It seemed too encompassing. He wasn’t sure how Kazi or Marta or Nikolai died, but he refused to believe they didn’t have some regrets. Everybody had regrets. Everybody would want to restart their life with the knowledge they had now, no matter how much they lied that they wouldn’t.

William knew he did.

Kazi wore a small smile. “Maybe,” he said.

‘Is it just me or does he look…sad?’ William shook his head. ‘No, I must be imagining it.’

He couldn’t begin to imagine Kazi failing tremendously like some normal person. He was above all that. Too smart, too well-composed, and too kind to experience hardship. William was sure if he had met Kazi back then that his life would have gone very differently.

So differently…

***

Morning arrived. He slept surprisingly well. The bruises Nikolai gave him withered away by the time Kazi handed him a sleeping bag. The local soldiers were astonished by the entrapment—and no, he wasn’t referring to their ability to get stuff from their ability, it was the sleeping bags. They didn’t dare lay in it but they were curious about it. Poking it and checking to see what it did.

It was hilarious. They thought it was a power-up station. A place where the magically-inclined slept in to maintain their connection with God.

Thirty minutes remained till the next battle. Jules and Matty, who had secluded themselves away from them, reintroduced themselves as part of the group.

“I'm worried,” Marta said. “A one v. two? It's too good to be true.”

When Goliath declared he was worth two men, he meant that literally. He challenged them to fight him with two people. The question was: who would be fighting?

“I'll go!” Kazi said.

“Yeah, let's send in Kazi,” William said.

“Agreed,” Ksenia added.

Kazi blinked. “Wait, that was a joke, why is no one trying to stop me? Are you not worried for me?”

“Nope.”

“Not really.”

There was a bit of a chuckle, yet some sincerity too. Ksenia might have had a grudge but everyone else truly believed he would be okay. Why wouldn’t he? So far, he hadn’t lost a fight.

Kazi laughed it off. “Okay, but seriously, let’s exclude me. I think if we want to maximize for future rounds, we should send—”

“Is there any among you longing for a worthy battle!?” Goliath’s roar burst into the world. The Israelite soldiers tensed and the front lines were once again filled. The players didn’t have time, they needed to talk to King Saul.

“Warriors sent by God." King Saul's voice rumbled upon their appearance. “What have you decided?”

His royal eyes lingered on Marta, as if expecting her to volunteer. She didn’t. The one to come forward was—

“I, Nikolai, will serve!”

William smiled at his enthusiasm. Of course he wanted to fight. He was a man of hopeless improvement. A man that, in all honesty, William admired. He didn’t seem to hide his frustration. He didn’t fake himself or what he wanted. He went for it without looking back.

Ksenia was the same. “I will fight—!”

William wanted to be like that. He wanted to show off his powers with pride. He wanted to be proud of himself. He summoned his axe and interjected Ksenia. “No, I want to fight,” he declared to the king. “My name is William Martin, sir. I will be the man to defeat Goliath.”