Winds howling, fur moving ever so slightly in the wind, the early suns rays shine down upon the land, lighting up the beautiful world as a certain Wolfian looks to the landscapes. Her expression was stoic. Unmoving. Although, if one looked closer, they could see a slight glimmer of uncertainty within her eyes. Her mind filled with countless thoughts. Experiences. So on and so on.

  "Lyra!! Why are you looking at trees!!! That's lame!!!"

  "...What?" She shook her head, looking to Kak-Yak. "Can't believe I agreed to this...but whatever. So. Are we doing this or no?"

  "Definitely hehehehe." Our hero enters a fighting stance. "I'll show you the new style I was taught!!"

  "The one by Aza-riel?" *head shake* "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what you've told me. Before we begin sparring, let me recap. You met Aza-Riel, god of your people. You fought and talked with him as he helped you with your powers...and now you just have access to this random mysterious realm?"

  "Yeah!!! Cool huh!!! Man, it makes me feel all giddy!! Hehehehe."

  "..." She sighs, entering a fighting stance. "Whatever, c'mon, let's fight."

  "Yes!!! HAHAHAHA."

  In an instant, the two began to spar, the sounds of their clashing being heard throughout the valley they fought in. Both were on the offensive, yet unable to land a solid blow on the other.

  "Man!!! You're pretty fast Lyra! Hehehe, it's gonna make landing a blow all the more rewarding!"

  "Keep thinking that."

  Kak-Yak ducked under an attack, using a sweeping motion to try and knock Lyra off balance. Already seeing this, the wolfian jumps, kicking Kak-Yak backwards.

  Seizing the advantage, she rushes in, ready to attack. Reacting quickly, Kak-Yak charged forward, feinting an attack before moving in an elegant motion, landing a fast and steady punch to Lyra's stomach. Brushing it off, she jumped backwards. "Unique way of punching someone...I guess."

  "Yeah!!! Cool huh?! It's not all that I learned though."

  The two resumed their sparring, although Kak-Yak made it more interesting with all his talking.

  "Lyra! Ever tried wrestling an alligator before? Crocodile?!"

  "What are you even talking about?" She says, ducking under one of his attacks. "Look, focus on fighting instead of another one of your weird stories."

  "Oh cmon! I'm sparring WHILE talking! I can do both! Ok ok, so this one time during this storm right-"

  Lyra stayed quiet, listening to Kak-Yaks stupid and absurd story as they sparred for minutes. She used a fast, rushing attack to close distance, quickly attempting a fast jab of attacks. Kak-Yak does the same, the two constantly parrying and blocking one another's attacks with perfect motion.

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  "So I'm in the water right? I see the gator. So I gets to thinking. Hey, we can't exactly have a gator just roaming in the waters, someone's gonna get chomped down on or something. So I gets to thinking right? Using, like, one hundred percent of my brain power, I climb on-top of nearby light pole, then jump right off and land right on the gator and begin wrestling it!! Mind you, it's surprised right?! So then i do this!"

  As he explained the story, the sparring continued. Lyra breathed deeply for a moment, closing her eyes and entering a stance. In under a second, she re-opened her eyes, parrying an attack Kak-Yak had used. The Suxarine is sent flying across the field, colliding with a nearby tree. She quickly rushed over to him.

  "Are you ok?"

  Kak-Yak quickly stands up. "Mhm!! Nothing but a scratch hahaha! You hit pretty hard Lyra!!"

  "...Thanks?" She quickly shakes her head. "Let's get back to it."

  The two resumed sparring. The time is spent honing each other's skills against one another, Lyra becoming more and more impressed by Kak-Yak's fighting ability.

  The two clash into one another, Kak-Yak and Lyra locking eyes for a split moment.

  "Hehehehe, you have pretty eyes Lyra."

  Blushing, she jumps backwards, quickly shaking her head. "...You too..." Hands on hips, she looks to the sky. "Let's take a quick break."

  "Ok!!"

  Lyra sits cross legged, breathing slowly and calmly. "You know, if you would have stayed in the school of the warrior like you said back then, you could have probably been an A rank hero by now. Well...going off you're fighting anyway."

  "What?! Oh. Probably. Pfft, ranks are dumb!"

  "..." She sighs. "It's not just about ranks. You could have learned and honed certain skills, of your choosing mind you, as well as have a better understanding of monsters. I'm sure you glossed over some of the lesser monsters, but you probably didn't even read up about the more severe monster threats, examples such as Warpers, Shades, you get the point."

  "Never heard of those monsters!! Could you explain them to me!!"

  "Sure." She digs into her bag, taking out a book dedicated to monsters. "This book has most known monsters recorded within. Look."

  She turns to a certain page, showing a drawing of the monster known as a warper.

  "Ewwwww!! It looks creepy and nasty."

  *nod* "It's a very dangerous monster. While true, it's not an immediate danger to anyone, if provoked and annoyed, Warpers can reduce anyone it sees as a target to a mere memory. Its high knowledge of both arcane and magical arts makes it a challenging opponent to fight both in physical combat, as well as the mental game."

  "And what about Shades?! Those things sound cool!!"

  Lyra turns to another page, going over the monsters known as Shades. "Hmmm, Shades. These monsters are only seen when there is darkness, never during the day or where there is light, of any source. They are very dangerous creatures, having razor sharp claws that can reduce anyone to shreds. However, a weakness they have is that they are weak to magic...so that's good."

  "Hmmm...wait, so we can't see them during the day?!?! Or when there's ANY light?! That's kind of scary."

  *nod* "Luckily Shades are rare monsters, so encounters with them are very rare."

  "Hmmm...so what about dragons?!?!"

  She narrows her eyes, a look that reads "are you serious." "Dragons aren't monsters anymore. Well, they once were classified as one, but are no longer. They are extraordinary, intelligent creatures. You seriously thought they were still seen as monsters?"

  "...Well, umm..."

  *sigh* "Whatever. Cmon, let's get back to sparring."

  "Ok!!!"

  And thus, the two resumed their fighting, Kak-Yak still going on about his absurd stories mid spar. Despite her rather annoyed look, Lyra had to admit that she was definitely amused by his stories.