Azaroth and Stallus were asked to stand; they moved to the fighting area with their weapons.

"You two will be fighting next," Kael said.

Azaroth had already got the gist of that. He put his hand on his sword’s hilt and relaxed his muscles. This was going to be a bit difficult since Stallus herself almost matched him in speed, but that was not what really made her a tricky opponent—it was her footwork.

Stallus drew her saber, barely making any sound as she pulled out the dark weapon. "This is going to be fun."

Her voice didn’t sound fun, though; it was hard and smooth with focus, and her blue eyes were the deep, deep blue of a hard gem.

Azaroth shrugged. "Either way."

Then he started forging essence on his body. First were his two hands, then he channeled it to his legs. He took some practiced swings, liking the way the blade fell with a whooshing sound—the blade fell faster due to his essence-forged hand.

Stallus did the same but in a different way. Essence pooled on her legs in thick translucent strands, way more than Azaroth was putting on his own. She only forged the hand holding her weapon—her right hand. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

So she’s planning on putting almost all her essence into her legs?

"Begin!" Kael said.

Azaroth immediately went in with light flicking of his sword, and Stallus danced back smoothly.

"Don’t go running, Stallus!" Alex shouted in glee.

"I’m not a stupid clown like you," Stallus shouted back without taking her eyes off Azaroth.

She won’t stop running, Azaroth thought. She would keep avoiding all his attacks. He had to find a way to force her into a direct attack.

Azaroth stopped, tensed, and launched himself forward with a blast of essence. He was lifted by the force and thrown towards Stallus like a released arrow.

Stallus’s eyes widened in surprise, and that was all she almost managed to do before Azaroth got to her. He brought his sword down in a slash, throwing his momentum against his blade.

Stallus almost didn’t bring her saber up in time as Azaroth’s sword clashed with hers with such force that the metals screamed and sparked. She was thrown back, slammed painfully against the stone floor.

She was up again, wobbling to the left and keeping Azaroth in her line of sight. She clearly hadn’t expected him to attack like that. Stallus gripped her right shoulder with her left hand and hissed as she massaged it.

Azaroth didn’t want to give her time to rest, but he knew the same attack wouldn’t work on her again. He had thought his previous attack should be enough to knock her out.

She had already recovered. "That’s really good, Azaroth. It was the least of any attack I’m expecting from you."

Alex laughed, mockingly and happily, slapping his hand on his thigh, then sucking in painful breaths as he hit his still tender leg.

"Moron," Stallus muttered. Then she pointed her saber at Azaroth. "Prepare yourself. This is one of the styles of saber fighting—Steel Rain."

Announcing when you want to attack? Not a smart move, Azaroth thought.

Stallus’s legs tightened, the muscles stiffened in preparation, and even the essence around her legs coiled together.

Then she exploded forward with terrifying speed that ate the distance between them in a great leap. When she got to Azaroth, he understood what she meant by ’Steel Rain.’

It was as if Azaroth was defending against multiple sabers. They came from above and below, from right and left. Azaroth had to increase the essence in his hand, leaving the one in his legs dangerously low.

Damn! Azaroth clenched his jaws as he was driven back from the onslaught of weapons. How was she doing it? It was almost as if there was an echo of her with real weapons attacking too.

Stallus laughed as she increased the tempo of her blows. Her eyes glowed with happiness, and she smiled.

Enough! Azaroth dug his feet in and jumped backwards with a burst of essence. Stallus followed him, sweeping over the floor like a butterfly.

This time, Azaroth met her on the way. He had given up on forging his legs and now focused on his hands, increasing the speed and power of each swing.

When they clashed, it was like meeting a toy sword with a hammer. Even though Stallus was fast with her saber, Azaroth’s blows packed power.

And with slow, steady slashes, he started pushing her back. Azaroth was matching her speed now, as each of his swings sent pricking vibrations through her hand.

With a swing that used all his upper strength to pull off, he sent her saber spinning.

Stallus put up her hands, breathing hard. "I surrender."

Azaroth himself was breathing hard, his body covered in sweat and his muscles still twitching from the fight. He nodded, moved close to her, released most of his essence forge, and punched her in the stomach.

She gasped, her mouth opening in a silent scream as the punch lifted her before she crumbled on the floor, twitching like an ant with its antenna cut off.

"Why do you do that!" Alex shouted, standing up and rushing to Stallus’s side.

"St..stop," Stallus whispered weakly as she pushed Alex away. She groaned and staggered back up, holding her stomach. "I’m okay."

Alex glared at Azaroth, but he ignored him and went to look for his sheath. He sheathed his sword before turning back to the room.

"Why did you do it?" Stallus asked. She didn’t look upset or angry. She looked tired and curious.

"Because I can." Azaroth shrugged.

It wasn’t, in fact, because he just wanted to. It just rubbed him the wrong way that he hadn’t managed to hit her during the fight. She was surprisingly hard to pin down with her footwork and speed.

Plus, it was good to hit somebody and feel them gasp in pain. It would have been a shame to waste all that energy without inflicting some kind of pain.