— Krax and Oberon stood face to face, glaring defiantly at each other; Kaelen was the only one watching from his seat, as if he were about to witness a spectacle.
Taking a single step, Krax closed the distance between himself and Oberon, attempting to strike him with the hilt of his sword, Obi didn't let him get away with it, dodging the blow spectacularly, leaping to his right to quickly draw a knife and throw it at Krax. It was a poorly executed throw; the knife spun instead of going straight, was slow, and barely grazed Krax's sword —
"I thought it would go better,"
— Oberon said with an almost comical pragmatism, while Krax looked at him somewhat disappointed. He sheathed his sword —
"I'll fight with my sword sheathed; it'll be better if I take it easier with you."
"Don't say that—it's my first time throwing a knife, and…"
— Pausing his sentence, Obi quickly reached into his pocket to pull out two balanced blades and throw them swiftly at Krax. —
"Balanced blades."
— Krax didn't seem surprised; Obi's action seemed as slow to him as the steam rising from a hot cup of tea. Besides that, his throwing technique was odd—he didn't seem like a complete novice; he had good aim, but his throws were erratic, as if he were trying to find the right way without it bothering him. Krax deflected the blades with a single movement of his sheathed sword; the ease with which he'd done it was almost elegant —
"You're going to have to try harder if you want the money"
— Hearing those words, Obi got up from the ground, but this time he grabbed the axe from behind his waist and pointed it at Krax as if to challenge him —
— 'I thought you were smarter,' is surely what Krax is thinking. Obi couldn't make big movements; his injured body wouldn't allow it, but even so, he challenges Krax face-to-face in hand-to-hand combat. Krax, looking annoyed, lunged at Obi again, delivering a heavy downward strike with which he intended to end the fight, but just as he seemed about to touch Obi, the latter managed to swing his axe quickly and precisely enough to deflect the attack, following up with a diagonal upward strike. Krax anticipated it in time, stepping back just in time to position himself right in front of a tree. Obi gave him no time to breathe, throwing his axe with all his might, the blade pointing toward himself—a move that seemed to have hurt Obi, but it was futile; Krax easily dodged it while quickly advancing toward Obi—
"Watch out, look behind you,"
— said a carefree Kaelen to Krax, who, upon hearing his warning, saw that the axe Oberon had thrown was about to hit him. Obi had thrown it on purpose with the blade facing himself—not for safety, but so it would ricochet off the tree behind Krax. Krax had to turn to deflect the attack, leaving his back exposed to Oberon, who held a knife in his hand. His eyes were wide open, his breathing steady and intense; he wasn't just watching Krax—he was analyzing all his openings, all the points where it would be difficult for him to defend himself. He lunged at him, but in a calculated move, Krax planted the tip of his sword on the ground for leverage, dodging Obi's attack just as the blade touched his face and delivering a powerful kick to his liver that, rather than just pushing him, knocked him to the ground —
"Looks like I won,"
— said Krax, standing in front of Obi, who was clutching his liver area. The mercenary sighed before noticing his opponent's smile and feeling something wet on his cheek —
"Haha, no, I won."
"You managed to corner me; that last move is what made me lose. You impressed me."
— Krax reached out his hand to Obi, who was on the ground, helping him up —
"Even if you flatter me a lot, you owe me money, loser. If my memory serves me right, that makes two wins for me."
"Are you still counting the one on the twelfth floor?"
"A win is a win—why wouldn't I count it?"
— Somewhat exhausted, more by Obi's mocking personality than by his defeat, Krax handed him the rest of his money in a bag as they'd agreed. Obi reached into the bag, pulling out a white stone that seemed to reflect a hint of a rainbow's colors; he examined it from all angles, looking somewhat confused —
"Oh, it has a weird shape. Why does it look like a misshapen pearl?"
"Just take it. You're never happy,— he sighed—, I'm exhausted. Let's go to sleep."
— Kaelen stood up at Krax's words, setting off with the group. Krax led the way, walking calmly on that night when he felt so safe. They walked for a few minutes until they found Elena standing in front of a tavern door —
"You're finally here. Why did it take you so long?"
"Obi wanted to practice a bit with his weapons, and I was also able to buy some gear for Kaelen."
"Even so, this is ridiculous. I've been waiting for you for almost two hours."
"I'll warn you next time."
— With Elena somewhat annoyed, the group entered the tavern; Elena had already prepared two rooms —
Great, this time I won't be sleeping on the floor; my body will thank me for it.
— They went up the stairs after picking up the keys; Kaelen and Oberon were going to take room number seven, while Krax and Elena would take number nine. With that settled, each went to their room and said good night.
Krax made some space between himself and the only bed there, sitting down on the wooden floor —
"Are you going to sleep there?"
"Yes, I'll leave the bed for you; I don't mind."
"How chivalrous."
— Elena made the bed after changing, then sat down to open a book and read. The book was titled… —
"The Chronicles of the Last Wizard. I'm surprised you like that kind of story."
"I find them interesting to read. A wizard who uses knowledge from other worlds to revive magic is…"
"Childish."
"Yes, but childish isn't necessarily a bad thing. We all had a childhood we'd like to go back to, but it's true that you don't really like talking about your childhood."
— Krax didn't respond to Elena's words, drawing his sword to begin polishing it. As he did, Elena could see Krax's scar now that the area where they were standing was lit up —
"But tell me, how did your little skirmish with Obi go?"
— A question that made Krax smile —
"Oberon isn't very talented. He doesn't know how to throw objects properly, for example, and he isn't very strong. Even so… he managed to impress me."
— Those words made Elena close her book to focus her attention on Krax's words —
"He's not someone to be underestimated. He managed to defeat a powerful beast on the twelfth floor, defeat an alpha wolf on this floor, and achieved transcendence by becoming a Malkuht in a fairly short time. He doesn't have many talents, but he uses the few he has very well."
"Even so, that could be due more to luck as well. Could he be of use in Fantasis?"
"He certainly will be, because I could feel it. Obi has a weak body, badly wounded and with a punctured lung, yet he was able to make me feel, for an instant, a pressure upon me. His eyes… his eyes didn't see a human life before him, but a target to be reached, and it's because of that mindset that he managed to corner me and cut me slightly. It's true that his throwing technique is that of a novice, but his accuracy is good, and his use of the axe is at a fairly advanced level. If you work on it, he'll be a great help to you."
"All right, I'll trust your words. I can see you have a lot of respect for him."
— Meanwhile, in the other room, Kaelen and Obi were already on the bed, but only Kaelen was asleep; Obi was awake, examining the pearl he held in his hand —
"— Sigh —, This feels strange to me; it tickles a little when I touch it. Well, I'll talk to Krax about this tomorrow."