Kali struck like lightning, rushing Alarion with unforeseen speed and ferocity. The sudden weight of his charge forced Alarion back two steps before he processed he was under attack. Instinct saved him; he twisted aside, parrying with one blade and angling the haft of his mace to absorb the blow that followed. The clash sent him stumbling—but sideways, not out of the damn ring

Alarion's arm was almost numb from the impact, the mace drooping slightly as Kali pressed the attack. Strikes flew with effortless precision and preposterous speed. It was like fighting against a landslide, a crushing dominance that Alarion could not endure.

He could only evade.

He flickered mid-parry, reappearing a few feet to the left, well out of Kali's line of attack. The Sergeant knew the trick, but preparing for it—especially after hours of muscle memory—was another thing entirely. He was off balance and out of position, unable to deflect or counter. So he fled, forced back a hair's breadth away from Alarion's descending mace.

It was the first time Alarion had forced him out with anything other than a spell.

"Right for the throat?" Alarion complained, earning a bark of laughter as Kali paced at the edge of his reach. The initial surprise had snuck a few hits through Alarion's guard, but he wasn't foolish enough to keep up that pressure after the boy had recovered.

"I thought turnabout would be fair."

"You have been holding back this entire time." It was a statement, not a question, one that Kali did not even try to deny.

"I have not used my boosting skills, but then, neither have you," Kali pointed out.

"Skills?" Alarion asked, leaning heavily on the plural. What Kali said wasn't strictly true. Alarion had been using [Ebb and Flow] liberally, but others, such as [Last Stand] and [Guardian's Oath], were off limits not because Alarion didn't want to use them, but because he couldn't.

"Physicality and enhancement. You've picked up on it by now, surely. I don't use active skills. Masteries and personal enhancement skills," Kali held up three fingers and ticked them down. "One I won't use, because the drawbacks are far too substantial for a sparring match. One I can't use unless you bring me below half, which you can't. And now you've seen Battle Adrenaline, which I'd been holding in reserve."

"I do not like to be-"

"Half your kit doesn't work in the array," Kali pointed out. "I am not holding back now, am I?"

"I am going to defeat you."

Crowd Pleaser

Description: You have struggled hard against-

[Error – Duplicate Quest]

[Merging]

Give Better Than You Get (This time)

Description: The odds are against you, but you have never been one to quit. Especially in front of others. Show the Sergeant that you are more than a punching bag.

Success Conditions: Legitimately Defeat Sgt. Kali in the Three-Quarters Match.

Failure Conditions: Fail to meet the success conditions.

Reward: One Rare Champion Box.

Penalty: Gain the [Broken Vow] – Major, status condition.

The information flashed past Alarion's vision so fast he barely had time to parse it alongside the sudden rush of familiarity. He knew where Kali was. Not because he could see him, though he could, or even because he could sense him through [Unraveller's Sense], which he also could. This was a deeper connection, a firm, sympathetic link, not as strong as the one that bound him to Nessa, but far more focused.

The feeling was uncanny but also intriguing. He could fight Kali with his eyes closed, if he had to. He could sense him even if he were hiding or invisible, but more than that, it sharpened his awareness of the other man's movements. It was like he felt his sinew moving, the flex of each muscle, the position of each bone. The information was staggering and would have proven disastrous under other conditions.

But in a duel?

Alarion slipped one of Kali's punches by the narrowest of margins, the fist grazing past his cheek like a summer breeze. He ducked low, pivoting on his heel, and sensed Kali passing just overhead. He could feel the man frowning as he landed, and intercepted Kali's wicked backhand with the haft of his mace.

The new awareness guiding him was intoxicating, but it didn't last. His insight into Kali's physicality waned with each passing moment as the bond between them stabilized, his advantage draining away to nothing but the skill's stated effects and forcing him back on the defensive.

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"What was that?" Kali asked, insightful as ever, as they clashed and parted.

"I am not sure," Alarion said, though he could guess. "A Skill Circuit, I think."

Just saying the words brought a smile to Alarion's lips. Combining two or more skills to make something more than the sum of their parts, Skill Circuits were one of the things that set the truly powerful apart from the common Awakened. In this case, his [Orphan's Vow] seemed to be interacting with [Unraveller's Sense], giving him near total awareness of the target's physical movements for five seconds, before decaying rapidly.

If he'd been prepared for the sudden onrush of information, Alarion was certain he'd have beaten or at least grievously wounded Kali during that window of vulnerability. As it was, the advantage was spent, but better to learn of it here than during a life-or-death struggle.

"A good start. But we can do better," Kali nodded, before looking away. "Bergman!"

"Y-yes?!" the startled boy asked.

"You are going to regret it if he loses. Do you understand?"

"I… w-what?"

"And you? Do you follow?" Kali asked Alarion.

"The threat has to be real," Alarion told him. He'd discussed the possible loopholes of [Guardian's Oath] ad nauseam with ZEKE, hoping to find some way to trigger it more consistently, especially if he were on his own. It wasn't enough for an enemy to simply be aware of an ally; they had to be intending and able to do them severe harm. It had to be foreseeable, as ZEKE most often put it.

"Try it anyway."

Alarion stepped in, taking two swings at Kali, who retreated just as quickly. Seeing that his opponent would not engage until he was humored, Alarion looked to Bergman. "I promise I will protect you."

A Friend in Need

Description: Proving to be a monster of the highest order, Sgt. Kali has-

[Error – Duplicate Quest]

[Merging]

The quest that followed was identical in all but name to [Give Better Than You Get], but Alarion could barely read the notification amidst his outright horror. "You…"

"Don't lose," Kali warned him as he launched a new assault.

The Godborn was done talking, and he was done testing. He threw everything he had at Alarion with the same steadfast resolve that the young man had come to hate. [Battle Adrenaline] had made Kali stronger and faster, but the dual combination of [Orphan's Vow] and [Guardian's Oath] had more than made up the difference.

On the attack.

Neither of the skills provided an ounce of power when Alarion was on the defensive, meaning he had no choice but to be more aggressive than usual. He swung wider and more often, battering Kali's defenses and pushing the man onto the back foot whenever [Ebb and Flow] reached its offensive zenith, before giving ground as it swung back toward the defensive.

The predictability of that skill was his biggest weakness in this case. After ninety-seven victories, even an idiot could grasp the timing. Kali knew when Alarion's pressure would falter, and when he'd lay on the attacks; there were no surprises between them, and that worked heavily to the advantage of a man who seemed to value consistency over all.

Slowly but surely, they settled into their old rhythm. Echo and [Dimensional Evasion] provided him with a tangible advantage over their usual clash, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

"Empowered Solar Burst!" Alarion shouted, already bearing down on Kali as the man withdrew in the face of Alarion's counterattack. It had been his second empowered spell, and it would have to be his last. Each ate up a considerable amount of his HP, and Kali had done him no favors with his punches, kicks, and elbows. A third casting would push him below the limit, regardless of how many times Kali hit him in the interim.

So he attacked, putting everything into a desperate barrage. Echo grew and shrank between attacks, flowing in and out of different temporal states while Alarion's mace acted as an anchor for his fury. [Void Crush] spells, accompanied by attempted [Lucky Strikes]. He punched, thrust, and smashed—wielding every tool in a final gamble.

But it wasn't enough.

Kali was no fool, no novice. He saw the danger and the strategy as clear as day. Alarion was forcing him back, pinning him toward a corner. It was the obvious move, given their difference in strength. And it had an obvious counter.

If Alarion wanted to swing, Kali would swing.

The big man planted his feet and attacked, exchanging strike for strike in a trade that Alarion could not afford to make. The boy landed one clean hit with his mace, a blow powerful enough to make Kali grunt in pain, then the Sergeant made him regret it with a strong hook. They exchanged a few blows in close quarters, but not even Alarion was stubborn enough to try to stay there.

The end was predictable.

"Empowered Solar-"

Kali was already moving to the side when he recognized the odd cadence, the unfinished incantation. It was a cheap trick, a chance for distance that relied on Kali's familiarity with Alarion's tactics. But it also laid bare the reality. If he could have, he would have.

"That's all of them, yeah?" Kali asked.

"Mm."

"Do you want to forfeit?"

Alarion's shoulders sank. "How close?"

Kali shrugged, then immediately seemed to regret it. "Thirty-two."

Alarion swore under his breath.

"Still the best you've done," Kali said, touching his bruised shoulder. "I need to hear it."

"Can you heal that?" Alarion asked.

"We have healers right there," Kali said with annoyance. Then he saw something in Alarion's eyes. Defiance, perhaps. Whatever it was, his fists clenched and his stance shifted. "Last chance."

"You cannot fly," said Alarion, his greatsword shrinking, as if wilting in the face of his defeat.

"What are you-" Kali made the connection half a second too late to stop Alarion throwing his dagger into the sky.

"Empowered Mend Body," he said as he appeared high above. Then he drew back his arm and threw again. A few seconds later, he appeared yet higher in the sky, followed shortly thereafter by the sudden crash of his mace striking the ground.

"You have got to be… get down here!" Kali shouted.

"No."

"Orphan!" Kali snarled with the raw fury only a sergeant could muster, demanding his return.

The onlookers made the connection like an avalanche. A few people started chuckling, one here, another there. Then small groups, in twos and threes. Then all at once, an uproarious cacophony of hooting and hollering, of laughter and furious arguments over disputed wagers.

"This can't be legal," Kali complained, looking toward Bergman and Lily.

The former was doing his best to keep a shit-eating grin off his face, but the latter had no such compunction as she delicately replied. "A Three-Quarters match has no upper boundary. Vitrian duelists are expected to have a ranged attack in their arsenal."

"But…. But I beat him!" Kali shouted, picking up a loose stone from the ground and hurling it toward Alarion, who flickered out of the way just before impact.

"Hmm. Not if he heals enough before the duel expires," Lily said with condescension so thick it wrapped back around to a sort of genuine sympathy. She fished a watch from her pocket and smiled. "You still have a minute and a half. Perhaps he will run out of mana before you run out of time."

"Or r-rocks," Bergman added.

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