Marcus finally finished eating, slowly enjoying the last bites of his meal, which Edward, at some point, thought he was definitely doing on purpose. After a moment, they stood up and left the cafeteria.

Ed was planning to visit the hangar he used for his training previously, but Marcus insisted on going to his spot. Since he wanted to drop by his room for some reason, which happened to be along the way, Edward didn’t argue.

When the duo stopped in front of the door, Marcus approached the keypad.

“Just wait here for a second, I’ll be in and out in a second.”

The young man didn’t even wait for an answer, disappearing behind the sliding door. Ed just shrugged his shoulders, waiting patiently.

Indeed, after less than a minute, his friend popped back out, now wearing a satisfied smile, and holding a small sheet of metal in his hands.

Edward recognized the object as the unusual narrow shield Marcus wore during the last battle.

“Oh, that’s right! I was gonna ask you about this too… What is this thing? I’ve never seen a shield that small.”

“Excuse me? I like to think it’s of perfectly average size…” The brown haired youth took an offended expression.

Edward coughed a bit. “Ekhem, yes of course, perfectly average…”

“Alright, alright… I’ll stop messing with you. I wanted it designed this way to fit my fast paced combat style better. Since us Marked, can vary greatly when it comes to our powers, and preferences, customized equipment is actually not that uncommon.”

“Hmm, that makes sense I guess.” Ed nodded.

“It’s a similar case with Layla. She can be considered somewhat of a master with every type of sword, as much as I hate to admit it. But she still prefers her weird thin greatsword. A rather uncommon structure for this type of weapon.” Marcus shrugged his shoulders, walking next to Edward.

They continued with the small talk, until they finally reached some kind of wide round room.

Marcus stepped in front of Ed, spreading out his arms in a grandeur gesture.

“Feast your eyes, and admire my humble training facility.”

The young warrior ignored his friends' antics, slowly scanning the room from one side to another. Some odd structures stood lined up on the right. They vaguely resembled training dummies from back in the House, but these ones were made out of a random assortment of equipment, and wrapped in thick steel padding. Their surface was ravaged by a number of holes and tears, no doubt after some intense target practice.

Edward’s brows were already slowly distancing themselves from his eyes, but then something in the middle of the room caught his attention.

A large circle, loosely outlined by some boxes and construction lamps. Very rudimentary, but a great place for a duel indeed.

Ed passed his friend, who was still waiting for some applause, and entered the outlined area in the center. He turned around, ready to pull out his sword, but that’s when he remembered…

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He didn’t have his sword with him, actually Marcus didn’t have one either. They weren’t supposed to use real blades for a spar either.

His friend seemed to quickly notice his stupor. He walked to the side of the room, looking into one of the crates.

“Wow you really are unprepared. Did you even think of anything before asking to fight?”

The man shook his head, and pulled out two long steel pipes from the container. He started approaching Edward, and threw one of the improvised swords to him. Ed swiftly caught the flying object, testing its weight in his hand. With a subtle grimace, he took his stance.

Marcus started attaching his shield or arm brace, Edward still wasn’t sure what to call it, but after taking a look at Ed, he stopped mid-motion. He looked around looking for anything he could create a makeshift shield from. Seeing no solutions, he reluctantly threw the piece of equipment on the ground.

“Fine… Let’s have a clean duel, swords only…” The young man sighed, approaching the arena, the steel pipe swung lightly in his hand.

The two warriors eyed each other calmly. The tension built up, growing in the fighters’ abdomen. A feeling surprisingly resembling having butterflies in your stomach, maybe if you replaced butterflies with something a bit more rowdy. Something like moths, or perhaps bees?

Before a new saying came to existence, both men launched forward in unison, as if reading each other’s minds. The steel pipes crossed, creating a loud clang.

As the metal grinded against metal, and their faces neared, Marcus nodded lightly in acknowledgment.

“I think I might have an idea of why you asked for this duel.”

“Oh, do you?” Edward pushed harder, separating the two weapons.

“Yes, it’s about what happened after killing that Marked, isn’t it? I forgot it’s the first time for you…”

The duo relaxed slightly, circling each other.

“Yes, I've heard Valhalla’s announcement again. Does that happen every time?”

“Everytime you kill another Legend candidate? Not necessarily, but it happens quite often, it’s one of the reasons why we need battles to grow.”

“Hmm… So what about…” A quick strike interrupted his words. Ed quickly covered himself with the improvised sword. What followed was a series of slashes, each one producing a ring, when Edward’s pipe appeared in their path.

“You even managed to get used to the changes in your body already. Well done!”

Marcus turned serious, when the piece of metal thrust next to his head. He barely managed to move in time. But since the opponent's weapon was already next to him he stepped in, kicking Edward in the chest. The young warrior flew across the arena, landing painfully on his back, losing his breath for a moment.

“But you’re not my level yet.” Marcus walked over to Ed, with his arm reached out.

Edward pretended to slowly rise up, only to suddenly turn sideways, sweeping his leg across his friend’s feet. The shocked man fell over right next to Ed.

“Oh just wait. You won’t even know when I’d left you far behind.”

“Haha, I’ll hold you to that.”

The two warriors stood up, brushing off the dust from their clothes. Wide honest smiles bloomed on their faces.

“Hey! I finally found you two…” Another familiar voice called out from the entrance.

Layla walked in gracefully. “I’ve been taking a moment to relax, but none of you invited me to the fun? I’m disappointed to say the least… Can I at least join now?”

Edward and Marcus looked over the metal pipes, still held in their arms. The steel was already bent in several places after the exchange. Both of them wordlessly threw them to the side and walked over to the crate to exchange their janky swords.

“Of course you can, here you go, Miss Swordmaster.” Marcus threw one of the steel pipes towards Layla with an amused expression.

The woman nimbly snatched the pipe from the air, and looked it over.

“Ugh.. that’s an insult to all swords… I already feel dirty just holding it. But alright, let’s start…”

She made several circles in the air, already perfectly used to the weapons balance, after just a short moment of holding it in her hand.

Edward’s body shuddered slightly, feeling her ominous gaze on his soul…