With the addition of Sapphire, the battle rhythm... Did not change in the slightest. Despite our attacks being flawlessly coordinated, Nerissa took both of us on with grace and elegance. It was like she was dancing around us, inflicting wounds and gashes galore with that massive axe of hers.

Sapphire had been cut up pretty bad, she had taken a great deal of punishment, acting as the main damage absorber. I tried not to let it rile me up, Both the chonk and I understood her role and she wasn't upset, she was actually elated to finally be hunting.

Still, after our twenty minutes of getting our asses handed to us, she was close to dematerializing. Her Physical form had taken too much damage for the Psionic energy that maintains her to keep her in real space. As such, she relayed her intent to me and a hasty plan was formed.

What will happen next will pain me, literally, but it was her decision and I was ok with it.

Dodging backwards, just barely evading the giant axe of death, I then charged in, no form I just needed to get close and provide the distraction. It was all or nothing. Slipping past Nerissa's guard, she dropped one hand from her axe and punched out towards my face.

It was then that Sapphire used her materialization teleport, something we had not yet used in the fight with Nerissa since the start and bit down on the extended arm. Her teeth both shattered and pierced the armour.

The golden blood on the tip of her tongue was the last thing she felt before she was suddenly back inside of her master's Mindspace. She manifested directly underneath the comforting Origin, before collapsing as being killed was exhausting.

Watching Sapphire's head separate from her body, followed by her sudden dematerialization engulfed me with a rage I had yet felt during this spar and with Nerissa completely exposed, her axe embedded in the ground, I took Zircon in both hands and with all the Gyrokinesis I could muster I struck downwards towards Nerissa's chest.

The tip of Zircon made contact with Nerissa's chestplate before both of her hands clasped onto Zircon's blade. Her Ichor began leaking from her hands as Zircon damaged the armour and the two of us entered a struggle.

"GRAAAAAHHH!" I let out a roar of effort as I gave everything into this downward struggle. My armour was in shambles. Deep gashes showing both its durability and effectiveness against the superior opponent's weapon had allowed for this moment.

Nerissa looked up at the large gash across Apollo's helmet. She could see his eye. The mortal injury of his pet had turned the spar into something more hostile. She didn't blame him, he was young, his emotions got the better of him. To be honest, she was glad he reacted this way.

Still, her hands were now injured and any more fighting could prove dangerous for him if her coordination was not at peak.

I continued to push down, my arms were screaming at me to stop, but I kept going, I could see Nerissa was struggling as well Or so I thought. With a burst of strength, she manoeuvred her body, pushing all my momentum to the side and as I fell, I felt something hot and cold pierce my stomach.

Nerissa caressed my frame as I dropped Zircon to the ground. She then supported me as I looked down. As I looked down as the sensation left my body, I spotted a stiletto dagger in her hand. It was long and thin, a simple steel colour compared to the grander weapons she had used.

"Ow." I declared before Nerissa rolled me onto my back. I wasn't in any danger, she had clearly chosen her target well. It was a simple wound only a couple inches deep. However, I was totally spent at this point and my body decided it was time for rest.

"Apollo, remove your armour, I need to make sure you are well." Nerissa simply stated. I did as she asked, it was barely holding together as is. I set it to standby mode and the chassis opened up. Nerissa then picked me up and placed me back down on the ground and then began to stroke my hair gently as she began to inspect my wounds.

Shallow cuts all over the body that the bleeding had already stopped and the recent wound she inflicted. The blade she used was small, even for a stiletto, so she knew Apollo would be fine. Still, he gave an excellent account of himself. He deserved a slight reward.

Nerissa removed her gauntlets, her hands were covered in a small amount of golden blood. Then, a green energy emerged around her hands and they began to heal. She wiped the blood off her hands now they were fully healed in less than a second before placing her hands against my abdominals.

I felt a strange sensation course through my body. My immediate automatic response was to fight the foreign invading energy as Jewel had taught me, but I let it do its work and the throbbing wound began to knit itself together.

As I allowed the process to continue, I stated. "Sorry, I lost myself at the end there. But other than that, how did I do?" A feeling of rejuvenation started to take hold of me with every word I said, whatever Nerissa was doing, was wonderful.

Nerissa removed her helm with one hand before going back to work. She was all smiles as her eyes locked onto mine. "You surpassed my expectations Apollo. I knew you were a decent warrior, but your battle sense is extraordinary. To think, you were able to make me bleed in our first spar? I clearly underestimated you and will not make that mistake again."

I felt my ego swell only a little, It felt good to be told by someone stronger that you were better than they expected. However, my newly formed ego deflated as Nerissa continued. "Next time, I will use a weapon I am adept in and not the axe. I haven't used that thing in a good eight? Nine thousand years? I will also use my Psionics next time."

I gulped nervously hearing that, but was also slightly delighted. I wanted to ask her for a run down of the spar, pointers etcetera, but something else took precedence. "So, you are a healer?"

Nerissa looked at me confused as to why I would ask that before realising she was healing him. "Oh, no. This is just life transference. I am using my life essence to heal you. Don't worry, I am not going to suffer drawbacks from this, the Psionics in the area are so dense and we are in nature, I am basically a battery with full charge."

Despite her casual remark, I suddenly felt deeply touched. The woman who just stabbed me and sent chonk to sleep was using her own life to heal me? I placed my hand tenderly upon the hands that were healing me and looked up into her eyes.

Nerissa took a cursory glance towards my face and looked away before doing a double take. Her eyes locked into my own as we looked into each other's souls. Something suddenly sprouted between us, metaphorically speaking. It wasn't love or lust. Nothing so simple.

There was a sudden understanding. A sudden depth between us had formed. It was like we fully acknowledged each other fully since our first meeting. Nerissa wasn't just fulfilling her intrigue and I was not just letting my friend tag along. No, we now had an understanding. We were a part of each other's lives now.

It seemed outlandish to Nerissa, such a small blip in her lifespan could have such an overwhelming effect on her. She knew it now. She wasn't following her goddess' namesake. She was Following Apollo Lambdason. Her friend. He had won her loyalty. The loyalty wasn't devout, but it was more than she had felt to anyone and anything since the incident.

No words were said on the sudden moment. No words were needed. They both knew what they just felt and their current relationship had not changed in the slightest. There was just this new respect and understanding for one another that ran deep between the two.

...

After Nerissa healed me, I felt like I had not just been sparring for however long it had been. I stood up in my half torn clothes and stretched. "Well, that was fun." I declared, prompting Nerissa to.

*Boop*

She booped my snoot before replying. " I think you are the only human I know that would call getting stabbed in the gut 'fun.' I also know that no other human currently alive would be courageous enough to agree to duel a Praetorian."

I chuckled to compliment off, it meant a lot more now than before. It did however prompt me into wanting a battle report.

"So, other than us totally agreeing to calling our spar a simple draw... How did I do? I want the deep dive version."

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