He growled "No one gets in between my alone time with Rami. NO ON-"

  "Naro."

  He turned back immediately "Yes my beloved, my moonbeam, my darling star, my honeybun, my dearest heart, my starlight, my heartbeat, my angel face, my moon-eyed darling, my heart-stealer, my little comet, my honeydrop,my starshine, my joy, my everything~?"

  "You can fight Khiel."

  "..."

  Naro turned his body around slowly, then walked measured steps toward Rami.

  When he arrived in front of her he smiled the sweetest smile he could manage "Who are you and how dare you possess my beloved fiancée?"

  Rami smiled back at him "It's just as I said, you can fight him with no worries. I was actually going to tell you that I was heading to Agir's place so he can examine the "communicator" Spike gave me three years ago when we moved to Almati."

  "...Where is it?"

  "It's back at home actually, I didn't bring it with me here. You know how many pickpocket incidents there are."

  'You can just throw a spell at em', though?'

  He closed his eyes and kept his smile "I see, this is definitely not out of revenge for not telling you that a big threat to Almati was coming, right?"

  Rami did the same expression "Oh, definitely not! And what you just told Khiel was definitely not an excuse to not fight with him. That blue dress actually exists, right?"

  "That it does! And if you want, I can buy it for you right after settling the score with that MECREANT."

  Her expression eased and her smile became genuine "Sure, we can also grab dinner at Gafore if you're not too tired also!"

  He did the same "I can live with that!"

  Rami put her hand forward.

  "Deal?"

  He took it.

  "Deal."

  She turned away but kept looking at him "Bye my love, my darling, my sweet star, my moonlight, my heart, my heartbeat, my favorite person, my precious, my dearest, my beloved, my treasure, my sweet pea, my honey, my honeybun, my sugar, my cupcake, my marshmallow, my soft cloud, my starlight, my bright spark, my sweet melody, my darling dove, my little comet, my golden heart, my joy, my light, my comfort, my happiness, my sweetest dream, my lovely, my sweetheart, my warm cocoa, my soft pillow, my sweet bean, my dearest starshine, my everything!"

  He waved at her with a warm smile "Byyyeeee!"

  "..."

  "You guys are disgusting." Khiel said with a frown.

  "Whatever. Let's end this quickly, Rat Khiel."

  Much, much later

  Steel rang across the training ground.

  Khiel slid back a step, his boots carved shallow lines into the packed earth as he guided Naro's blade aside rather than meeting it head-on.

  But Naro did not give him time to settle.

  He came in again immediately, this time from a different angle.

  His footwork shifted mid-step, his grip changed just enough to alter the weight of the strike. As his blade came down hard.

  Khiel adjusted without visible strain.

  'Even if he killed Paro, his physical specs are weaker than mine, it seems...'

  He had asked to spar with him to have his long awaited rematch, though it was an excuse. The truth is, Khiel just wanted to gauge his level again for the upcoming fight.

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  It had been three years since their last one, after all.

  The essence of Khiel's combat was control. He controlled the distance between him and his opponent, He controlled the rhythm of the fight. He controlled his breathing and, when possible, his opponent's options. His Authority responded to that mindset, His blades formed and dissolved at his will then, were reinforced just long enough to catch Naro's strike without shattering.

  'Still...' He grit his teeth.

  Naro twisted at the last second.

  The clash rang louder than before, the obsidian-black sword in his hand biting into Khiel's construct and spiderwebbing it with fractures. Khiel disengaged instantly, letting the blade dissolve before it could break completely.

  They circled.

  Naro smiled faintly, knowing damn well how annoying he was to fight. "You know, I can always just use one of your swords if you want, I feel like I'm cheating by using mine."

  "No need." Khiel replied immediately.

  The knight in front of him shrugged "If you say so,"

  If Khiel was "Control", Naro was the pure embodiment of the word "Murder". Despite such an honest fighting style on paper, it had no fixed shape. That was its defining trait. Every exchange rewrote the rules of the previous one. If an enemy adapted, he adapted again. If a pattern formed, he broke it himself.

  Naro could switch from defense to offense in one beat, going from decisive strikes to ones that instead wear your opponent down.

  'It was always like this when we were kids but...'

  "You know, I couldn't believe my ears when you said you repeated the same motion with that Storm Strike and Dash against Paro, you're too random for that bullshit."

  He frowned "It's not like I had a choice at the time, those were my only strong options to fight off enemies, and I thought it would've been disorienting for a Guardian."

  Naro sighed "Turns out, even with a mind gone, he could somewhat predict where I went. That and my mind couldn't keep up with the flow of information."

  "That's how I lost my arm, actually."

  He advanced again, then abruptly switched to defense, letting Khiel press forward for once. The shift was deliberate. Khiel felt it immediately and slowed, refusing to be baited into overextension.

  They traded a dozen strikes without either committing fully.

  Khiel's sword flowed like an extension of his will, intercepting blows before they could build momentum. Thin metal shards formed briefly in the air to redirect angles, then vanished.

  'Overpowering never seems to work, all I can do is limit his options.'

  It never worked for long, though.

  Naro changed tempo again, stepping inside Khiel's guard, then pulling back, then striking low, then high, then twisting the blade mid-swing in a way no formal style would ever teach. The rapid turns made the uneven white strands of his hair sway and fall briefly across his face before bouncing away again. Khiel blocked three of the strikes and narrowly avoided the fourth by leaning away instead of parrying, the movement making the rat tail whip lightly behind him.

  Their swords locked.

  Naro leaned in, teeth bared in a grin that was half amusement, half challenge. His stance shifted again, weight moving unpredictably, his posture changing as if he were a different fighter with each breath.

  Soaring Blades disengaged with a sharp twist of his wrist, forcing space between them. Three thin blades formed in the air at his side, hovering with perfect stillness. With a flick of his fingers, they shot forward, not aimed at Naro's body but at the ground around him, cutting off angles and escape routes.

  Naro laughed and rolled through the narrow gap that remained, his shoulder scraping the dirt as one blade sliced close enough to shear cloth.

  He came up swinging.

  Khiel parried, then parried again, then again, his Authority tightening as he tried to force the fight back into structure. The air around his sword felt heavier and tried to resist Naro's movements.

  It did not work.

  Naro's pattern shifted once more. He stopped pressing, suddenly backing off, then lunged with a thrust that lacked commitment but forced Khiel to respond. As Khiel countered, Naro's blade snapped sideways, striking Khiel's sword near the hilt with brutal precision.

  The conjured metal cracked.

  A fracture spiderwebbed across the blade, glowing faintly before the sword dissolved into motes of light.

  Khiel sighed as he dismissed the remaining constructs and stepped back, raising a hand.

  "Stalemate," he said, more tired than frustrated.

  Naro lowered his sword and stretched his shoulders. "Again? Aw you almost had me!"

  'Oooooh I want to slap him so much...'

  "How generous of you." Khiel replied dryly.

  He continued evenly. "You change every time I adjust, would it kill you to wait if something works?"

  Naro shrugged, "Well if I do that, you have time to take control of the fight and flip the odds against me."

  He pointed at Khiel with his clawed hand "Not only that, but you haven't used your Authority to reinforce your physical strength, which is a huge boost compared to mine."

  "Why would I use that on 'swordmanship only' training?" Khiel asked with a confused expression

  Naro smiled dangerously but his voice only held contempt. "Because that's what you did earlier."

  Khiel did not answer because he knew Naro had him. Around them, the training yard was scarred with shallow cuts and scorched lines from previous sessions.

  Naro had used the Dash ability and his Earth-magma Authority to get away from Khiel's swords AND him for an hour, after all.

  'He deserved it for using that weird "Molten Sword" thing.'

  Khiel dismissed his blade and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

  They stood there for a moment, breathing steady, sweat darkening their clothes.

  "Still, You fight like you are expecting everything to go wrong." he said at last.

  Naro nodded. "It usually does, doesn't it?"

  They stood in silence for a moment longer, the sounds of the city faint beyond the training ground. The wind stirred dust along the edges of the yard.

  Naro finally sheathed his sword and looked at Khiel sideways. "You never told me what happened in Zyr with Hama, why are there so few refugees?"

  His eyes narrowed "Where's my horse?"

  Khiel's posture stiffened.

  The control he carried so naturally in combat faltered, just slightly. His hand tightened, then relaxed.

  "We did as much as we could," he said, while looking at the ground

  The sound of steel seemed to echo again, though no blades were raised.

  And the world shifted.