As Austin awoke, he felt like his skin was on fire. Maya’s attacks had accumulated across his body. While he did have Essence to help heal the damage, there was still some lingering pain and discomfort. Despite his discomfort, he was very impressed by Maya. Her enhanced body pushed Austin’s Essence to the limit. He realized the massive difference in Beast and Champion techniques. Even though Austin was a Copper, the enhancing effects of her technique made it hard for him to keep up. He would have to learn to compensate for future fights with Beast technique users.
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“Finally awake,” Maya said with a cheerful smile. “I thought you were going to sleep forever.”
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“How do you have so much energy?” Austin groaned. “I figured our training would wear you out.”
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“Benefits of having a life affinity. I can recover so quickly. You jealous?” Maya teased.
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“Very,” Austin groaned as he stretched his arms and back. “It seems very unfair. I get a metal shield, and you get to be fast, strong, AND you can heal.”
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“You sound like Elliot. Complaining about things not being fair,” Maya laughed. “I could say the same about you. I’ve seen what you can do. You have way more destructive and defensive power than me.”
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“I guess that’s true. It just does not seem as useful when I can’t keep up,” Austin sighed.
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“Yeah, I can beat you up close. But you have more options,” Maya said. “Don’t beat yourself up just because I have something I’m better at than you.”
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“Fine, fine. You’re right. I guess I’m just jealous,” Austin laughed.
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“Yes!” Maya pumped her fist. “About time that I made you jealous.”
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“What’s that supposed to mean?” Austin asked with a raised eyebrow.
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“This entire time, I have watched you get stronger, and I’ve been jealous. Now, I have something that you don’t,” Maya grinned.
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“Ah, yeah, that makes sense,” Austin nodded. “And if you’re lucky, you could end the day with a pretty cool weapon.”
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“Oh, it won’t just be luck. I WILL end the day with a cool weapon,” Maya said.
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“Someone is cocky,” Austin teased as he wrapped his arms around Maya and pulled her closer.
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“Nah, I’m just that good,” Maya replied before she pressed her lips into Austin’s.
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“You can’t woo your way into winning,” Austin laughed as they separated.
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“Don’t need to,” Maya said as she released herself from Austin’s arms. “I’m gonna get myself ready for the contest. You should probably do the same.”
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“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Austin nodded. “If I don’t see you before we start, good luck.”
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“Thanks, but I don’t need it,” Maya smirked.
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As the pair separated, Austin looked for Natasha. He knew that they probably needed to prepare for the contest. Before he decided to join her, he decided to look for Elliot. If he was going to get caught up in work for the day, he wanted to at least get a little time with his son beforehand.
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Ava watched over Elliot and the other children. While the children played, she kept a calm expression and watched over them. She was like a careful protector of the children. Even when a child got far, she seemed to be completely aware of where the child was.
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“So that’s how you are so good at Essence perception,” Austin commented as he joined Ava.
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“I guess so. It works out that all the children ate Essence fruit. Even when a child gets far, I can tell where they are by their Essence,” Ava replied. “I spend a lot of time just watching the children and making sure they are safe.”
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“I do really appreciate you watching over them,” Austin said. “You make a great protector.”
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“At least you understand now,” Ava replied. As she spoke to Austin, she never lifted her gaze from the children. “Some of us have to fight, but others need to raise and protect the children.”
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“You’re right. I’m still sorry for being insensitive earlier,” Austin said.
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“No need to be sorry. We just need to understand each other. Now, if I may ask? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready with Natasha and the others?” Ava asked.
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“I thought I would come see Elliot before then,” Austin replied. “I figured it was a good idea to see him before I got caught up in preparations.”
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“Not a bad idea,” Ava nodded with a gentle smile before she addressed the group of children with a soothing voice. “Elliot, will you come here? Your daddy wants to see you.”
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Elliott was playing with the other children, but turned around to look at Ava almost immediately when she addressed him. His eyes grew wide as he saw Austin. As Elliot ran towards Austin in excitement, he almost tripped but was able to catch himself. He quickly dove into Austin’s leg and hugged it.
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“Daddy!” Elliot smiled.
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“Hey buddy,” Austin replied with a broad smile as he aggressively ran his hand through Elliot’s hair. “I have work to do, but I wanted to see you before.”
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Elliot nodded in understanding. He was used to Austin having to work and grew to understand what it meant. The big change for Elliot was that Austin had more chances to spend time with him before he had to work. Austin hoped that they could get to a place where he could spend even more time with Elliot, but it seemed like there was always more work to do.
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Austin pushed his feelings aside and tried to just enjoy the short time he had with Elliot. He lifted Elliot into the air and playfully threw him. Each time Elliot landed in Austin’s arms, he let out a deep belly laugh. Soon, Elliot could not control his laughter as Austin continued to throw him.
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After a minute or two of throwing Elliot, Austin playfully threw him to the ground and crouched over him. Elliot’s eyes grew wide as he realized what Austin was going to do. Before Elliot could react, Austin was already tickling him. Elliot’s laughter spread in a violent reaction as Austin tickled him for several more minutes. Until eventually, Elliot’s laughter turned silent as he lost his voice. At that moment, Austin took a break from tickling Elliot and allowed him to catch his breath.
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“More play?” Elliot asked as Austin stood up.
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“Later, I have to work for now,” Austin frowned. When he played with Elliot, he almost forgot his responsibilities. But he knew it was time that he got back to them.
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“Oh,” Elliot lowered his head at Austin’s response.
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“Go play with the other kids,” Ava gently rubbed Elliot’s back. “Your dad will play with you later.”
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Elliot nodded with a frown on his face. Ava was able to comfort Elliot a little bit. As Elliot ran back towards the other children, Austin was impressed by Ava. Sometimes, it was difficult to get Elliot to accept that Austin had to leave, but Ava was able to get him to go back to play with ease.
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“Wow, you got him to go back so easily,” Austin said to Ava.
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“Sometimes they need a firm but gentle push,” Ava said. “It also helps to have an outside party give them that push.”
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“I’m still very impressed,” Austin nodded. “It sometimes feels like I can’t tear him away from me.”
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“He will act that way. You are his father, and he just wants to spend time with you,” Ava explained.
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“Yeah, the balance is hard. I want to spend more time with him, too,” Austin frowned.
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“That’s why you make the most of the time you do get with him,” Ava suggested.
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“I’ll do my best. Thanks again for watching over him,” Austin said as he began to walk away.
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Now that Austin spent some time with Elliot, he was ready to get to work. Once he turned towards Natasha’s direction, he saw that the rest of the group had already gathered around her. Realizing he was the last to join up, he started to jog towards the group. Natasha had handled most of the preparation for the contest, but Austin did not want to be late in finalizing the preparations.
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Austin was almost near the group when he felt a tight grip around his arm. Austin was caught off guard as he was pulled. Austin spun around and saw Josh standing in front of him. The young man intensely glared at him.
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“What happened to training with me?” Josh’s voice was filled with anger. Austin was not sure if he was caught off guard more by being grabbed or by Josh’s tone.
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“Sorry, I just sort of got busy,” Austin apologized as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
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“Yeah, sure. Busy. You had plenty of time to train with Maya,” Josh spat. “I thought you would make time for me, too.”
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“I understand how you feel, but Maya is my wife,” Austin explained. “It only makes sense that I would help her.”’
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“It seems like you can help everyone but me. You gave Gavin special treatment, and he is not your wife,” Josh pointed out. “Ever since we got here, you have ignored me.”
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“Look, I’m sorry. I have just been pulled in so many directions. It’s nothing against you,” Austin said. “How about we do some training after the contest?”
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“Too late, I’ve probably lost my chances at a weapon because you didn’t want to help me,” Josh said.
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“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way,” Austin still tried to apologize.
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“Whatever, I just see how it is now,” Josh said before he walked away.
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Austin knew there was no point in trying to continue the conversation. Josh already made up his mind on how he felt, and Austin could not change it. He just hoped that they could somehow smooth things out in the future. Austin did feel bad for making Josh feel ignored, but he wished that Josh could see it from his perspective. He had to look after his family first.
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Austin quickly turned around and jogged to join the group. As he joined the group, he said, “Sorry, I’m late. Just had some stuff to do.”
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“Perfectly okay, we understand,” Beth smiled.
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“You aren’t even that late,” Mike said.
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“But what was that all about?” Jess asked. “Lover’s quarrel?”
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“Ha. Ha. Really funny,” Austin sighed. “Just a friend thinking that I’m ignoring him.”
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“So it is a lover’s quarrel,” Jess teased.
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“Moving on,” Natasha said in a commanding tone. “We have some last-minute things to go over before the contest.”
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“Right, I’m sorry, Nat,” Jess said. “What do we need to do?”
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“We will have a total of four games. The first will be a run through the forest. Each of you will be stationed at various points for safety purposes and to prevent cheating,” Natasha explained to the group. “Next, will be target practice using Essence blasts. This game will be timed and point-based. They have to destroy as many targets as they can during the time. Austin, you will handle this part. I want you to create constructs of various durability and distance. Of course, another one of you will do this during Maya’s turn.
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“The next game will be an elimination-type challenge. Each participant will create a knife construct and clash. The ones whose knives don’t break will make it to the next round until there is a winner.
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“For the final challenge, I need to explain how rankings will work. Each challenge will eliminate a total of three people. The top person of a challenge will not participate in future challenges and will get a reward. The bottom two will be eliminated. The final challenge will be a point-based tournament. We are looking for clean hits with the first to three points in each match.”
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“Sounds good to me,” Beth nodded.
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“I just have one question: how do we make sure it’s fair? Won’t people with techniques have an unfair advantage?” Mike asked.
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“Right, I forgot to mention. Techniques will be banned,” Natasha said. “Everyone will only be able to use the most basic of Essence manipulation.”
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“Then I have no problems,” Mike said.
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“Agreed,” Jess added.
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“Yep, I like it,” Austin smiled. “Doesn’t even sound like it’s too much work for us.”
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“Let’s have a good and fun contest,” Natasha declared.
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“Yes!” The group agreed in unison.
