"Was that really necessary?" Crystal asked Jack, who just shrugged at her.

  "Eh, might as well." She let out a sigh at his answer. "Well, looks like it's mine and Mari's turn. Are you fine with doing the countdown?"

  "Yeah, I can do it. But I'm not doing the voice."

  "Eh, your loss." She rolled his eyes.

  "Just enter the arena already. You should get going as well, Mari."

  "Give me a sec. Hey Alex!"

  "You don't have to scream, I'm right here." He groaned while swirling a flask that Jack assumed was filled with a Mana potion of some kind. "What's the problem?"

  "The chocker you gave me keeps falling off." Setting down the flask in his hand, he gripped the choker around his neck and, after a few twists, pulled it off.

  "I'm going to put mine on again, and you just follow along." Seeing her nod, Alex wrapped the choker around his neck once more. Once he confirmed she was following along, Alex continued demonstrating the correct way to secure the artifact. "Once the choker is wrapped around your neck, adjust it until it's as tight as you want it to be." He adjusted his own choker until it hung loosely on his neck. "Once you've done that, overlap the two ends and double-tap the end on top before gently squashing them together." Upon pressing the ends against each other, Alex felt them smoothly meld into one. "To remove it, all you need to do is twist the choker until the ends separate and at that point, it can just fall off." It took a few attempts, but Mari eventually managed to secure the choker.

  "Thanks!" Watching her run to her side of the arena, Alex removed the artifact once more and stored it away in his Storage pouch. Seeing both fighters take their positions, Crystal walked closer to the arena.

  "Are both combatants ready?!"

  "Wait!" Jack called out. He turned to look towards Alex. "Is it really ok for her to be wearing that?" He tapped on his neck. "I know it's fine with you due to your regeneration and healing spells. And the one you gave Mari has been modified to have a lower threshold, but what happens if something unforeseen happens?"

  "Hey! You know how long it took me to convince him to make me this?!" Mari butted in.

  "It's fine," Alex reassured, completely ignoring Mari's shouting. "You think I don't know how she gets in a fight? Trust me, I modified it so the arena's enhancements are restricted just enough to get her blood pumping, while not preventing it from interfering in case of any real danger."

  "Hey! That's not what you told me!" Mari whined while shooting him a glare.

  "I said I would make one for you so you can enjoy our fights more! I never said it would be just like mine! It's either you use the one I gave you or you don't use one at all! So which is it!" She deflated.

  "This one is fine, I guess," Mari grumbled while kicking the ground. "I'd better get a fight with you later!"

  "Only if you're still fit enough after your fight!" She perked up.

  "Hahaha! You can count on that!"

  "Can we continue?" Crystal asked in a tired tone.

  "Uh, sorry./ Ask them. / I'm ready!" The trio replied.

  "Good. Ahem, are the two combatants ready?" They nodded. Jack, with a lazy smile, one hand rhythmically tapping on his sheath attached to his side, the other tightly gripped on the sword's handle. Mari, with a savage grin, fists tightly gripping the practice knuckle dusters she had brought along. Unable to stand still, she kept hopping from one foot to the other while she waited for the countdown. "You may begin at the count of three. One, two," The two fighters tensed their bodies. Jack, with one foot forward, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on the sword handle. Mari, with her body crouched low in a boxing stance. "Three!" Immediately, Jack and Mari rocketed towards each other, colliding in the middle as the ringing of flashing metal rang throughout the arena.

  Mari shot a jab at Jack's face, which he deflected using the side of his sheath. He then countered with a slash aimed at her throat, only for the attack to miss when Mari ducked underneath the slash. She followed up the attack by smashing her fist into Jack's side. Ignoring the sudden drain in energy, Jack leaned forward and retaliated with a knee to her gut. Groaning in pain, Mari slightly curled her body up before springing forward to headbutt Jack's jaw.

  Stumbling back, Jack took a moment to catch his breath while Mari steadied herself. Locking eyes, the two combatants exploded into action, once more clashing with the ringing of metal echoing across the arena. Every punch and kick Mari launches is either blocked, deflected or countered. Every attempt Jack makes to slash or bash at Mari is either dodged or tanked, followed by a powerful counterattack. After ten minutes of this stalemate, during another clash, Mari found herself crouching down with Jack over her, with his sword raised high. Instead of rolling out of the way of his attack, like how Jack expected she would. Mari instead raised her arm and let his sword cut into her arm before lunging forward, tackling Jack to the ground.

  Hitting the ground with a solid thump, Jack became disoriented, allowing Mari, who was straddling his waist, to start wailing on him with punches. Reorienting himself, Jack raised his right arm to block some of the punches while using his other to twirl the sword he was holding to point towards Mari. Tightening his grip, Jack shot the sword to the side to stab it into Mari's side. Noticing his movement, Mari threw her body to the side, the sword only grazing her side as she slammed into the ground. Clenching her teeth, Mari tightened the hold her legs had on his body before lifting her body, along with a confused Jack, into a handstand. Jack didn't have time to react before Mari slammed his body back down into the ground.

  She tried to do it again, only for her injured arm to buckle, resulting in her hold on Jack to weaken, causing both of them to fall onto the ground. Recovering first, Jack rolled a good distance away before pushing himself off the ground. Soon after, Mari recovered enough to jump off the ground and land on her feet. Glaring at each other, they didn't waste time and immediately charged. Moments before the collision, Jack dug his sword into the ground to forcefully stop his momentum before swiping it upwards, kicking up a cloud of dust. Momentarily blinded, Mari couldn't react when a sharp stabbing pain shot through her stomach.

  Mari, refusing to give Jack a free attack, tightened her core. Feeling something amiss, Jack tried to pull out his sword only to realize that it was stuck. Trusting his instincts, he tried to let go of the sword and retreat, but was stopped when Mari grabbed his arm. Ignoring the pain in her gut, Mari pulled Jack closer and headbutted him. Briefly dazed from the attack, Jack couldn't react fast enough to get out of Mari's grasp as she threw him over her shoulder. Pulling the sword out of her gut, Mari twirled it in her hand before gripping the handle and pointing the blade down at Jack.

  "Hahaha! What are you going to do now that you're unarmed!" Jack stared at Mari's wide grin, then at his sword, and finally at the blood-covered wound on her stomach.

  "Shouldn't the safety enhancements have triggered for my last attack?"

  "The wound must not have been deep enough! Also, even if it was, all it would have done was drain her stamina!" Alex yelled from the sideline.

  "Got it!" He yelled back, not really understanding how all these enchantments and artifacts work, but figuring that Alex must know what he's talking about.

  "Hey! Don't get distracted in our fight." He turned to look up at Mari, her grin having turned into an annoyed frown.

  "Ok," Lifting his legs and upper body, he spun around and sent a powerful kick at Mari's shin.

  "Gah!" Losing her balance due to her leg buckling, Mari tried to stab the sword at Jack as she stumbled to the side, only to miss him by an inch. The sword dug into the ground, and when Mari tried to pull it out, Jack kicked her wrist. Seeing her let go of his sword, Jack spun around one last time, grabbed the sword in his mouth and sprang off the ground. Landing on his feet, Jack took the sword out of his mouth and pointed it towards Mari, who was rubbing her bruised wrist.

  "Is this good enough for ya?" Mari's frown quickly morphed into a playful grin.

  "Could be better." Shaking her wrist, Mari cracked her hands into fists before kicking off the ground, rocketing towards Jack. Colliding with a loud clang, Jack held his ground as he used his sword to stop one of Mari's fists aimed at the side of his head and his sheath to stop the other going towards his side. "That sheath of yours is getting very annoying." She spat out at the fact that another one of her attacks failed to land.

  "I'm guessing Alex isn't one to block an attack?"

  "Yeah, like a true man should." Mari shifted her body and tried to grab his head. Only for Jack to swat her hand away with his sheath.

  "Hey now," He chuckled while slashing at her exposed arms. Mari leaned back to dodge the attack and countered with several jabs towards his body. None of them managed to land, with Jack either deflecting them with his sword or blocking them with his sheath. Eventually, the duo found themselves in the same position as earlier, with both of Mari's fists being unable to move any closer to their target. "Not all of us can heal life-destroying injuries like him." Jack then remembered something. "Or like your old man."

  "A true man also doesn't use excuses."

  "Hey now, no need for low blows like that."

  "How's this for a low blow!" Pushing him away, Mari lifted her foot and shot a powerful kick to his lower body. Jack's vision started darkening as a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him. Taking advantage of this moment of weakness, Mari pushed him back before sending a powerful heymaker at his jaw, sending him flying across the arena. Rolling across the ground, Jack used his sword to stop himself before lunging to the side, dodging Mari's axe kick.

  "Damn, I'm so glad the safety enchantments stop that," Jack said, shaking away the daze while he got up on his feet. "Hey Alex! Does she do that often!"

  "Only when she is annoyed!" Jack groaned at the answer before raising his sword to block another attack aimed at his face.

  "Hey, focus on our fight!" Mari yelled while trying to knee Jack's lower body, forcing him to block the attack with his sheath. Feeling himself getting pushed back, Jack redirected the pressure pushing towards him and slipped past Mari's body. Getting behind her, Jack dug his feet into the ground and shoulder bashed her away.

  "Any solutions?" Jack took advantage of the small breather he had made for himself to ask.

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  "Spill some blood! Either yours or hers!" It was clear which option Alex typically goes with.

  "Didn't I already do that?!" He side-stepped Mari's attempt to trap him by stomping down on his foot and countered by smacking her on the side of the head with his sheath.

  "That wasn't enough blood!" Mari caught Jack's right arm and sent a powerful elbow strike down on it. Enduring the attack, Jack countered with a deep slash on the arm holding him. Escaping her weakened grip, he pivoted his body and kicked her away. She didn't go far as she curled up in a ball in midair and shot her feet down, digging them into the ground to stop her momentum before rocketing towards Jack once more.

  "Isn't this a bit much for just a simple spar?" Crystal asked, watching Jack continue dodging Mari's attempt at a cheap shot.

  "Is it?" Unlike the spars that they have in their Combat class, Mari is more accustomed to the less restrictive fights she has with her family and recently with Alex, usually does. Fights that typically end with a few broken bones, bruises and at least one person spilling blood. As for Alex, he saw nothing wrong with how brutal his spars with Mari could get. Not only could he quickly recover from any damage he would sustain in the fight, making the fear of permanent injuries a non-issue. It's also a common excuse GMs can use to have players fight with each other, with them being able to recover any lost resource like health before the next event, as long as the GM doesn't have anything else planned.

  "I don't know what I expected from you." Crystal rolled her eyes.

  "Anything else?!" Jack asked, interjecting into the two's conversation while deflecting another one of Mari's attacks.

  "Make the fight more exciting! Get her blood pumping!" Alex shouted back, ignoring the concerned look Sera was shooting at the two fighters and the weirded-out one Cyrtsal was shooting at him. "Spill some blood! Either yours or hers!" Jack let out a tired groan while ducking underneath another punch, making sure to get in a few cuts as he did so.

  "Something that doesn't involve me maiming a friend would be nice!" Jack swatted away a punch.

  "She wouldn't care!"

  "I would!" Jack trapped Mari's arm with the flat side of his blade and his sheath before kicking her away.

  "Why didn't you stop her from putting on the choker then!"

  "I didn't think she would be this gun-ho about the fight?" Ducking under a right hook, Jack got behind her and pressed his blade against Mari's neck. However, before he could demand her surrender, he was interrupted when Mari hit his face with the back of her head, followed by stabbing her elbow into his gut. Feeling his loosen, Mari grabbed his arm and tossed Jack over her shoulder. Recouping quickly from the impact of hitting the ground, Jack rolled out of the way of Mari's hammer kick directed at his face.

  "Really? You didn't think Mari wouldn't be into a fight?" Jack can hear the clear disbelief in Alex's voice. Grapping a handful of dirt as he got off the ground, Jack threw it at Mari, blinding her long enough for him to make some distance between them.

  "Look, I know this is on me, I learned my lesson, and I'll make sure to do better next time. So, can you please give me a less blood thirsty solution now?!"

  "End the fight! Either endure or inflict enough damage for one of you to collapse."

  "-Sigh- That's mostly like the best solution I'm going to get."

  "Are you finally ready to fight me seriously now?" Mari asked, not having moved since Jack threw the dirt at her. She would admit that she wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about, but from what little she did manage to make out, Jack might finally stop holding back and fight her seriously.

  "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He asked with a sigh.

  "Nope!" She replied with a savage grin. Without wasting any more time, Mari immediately rocketed towards Jack, only stopping due to him blocking her attack with his sheath once more. However, this time, Jack countered with a more devastating attack, making a big cut on her forearm using his now softly glowing blade. Mari froze and stared at her injury before looking at Jack's sword. "When did you figure out how to do coating?"

  "Last week." He answered, his face visibly more pale. Mari looked down at her knuckleduster and, with clenched teeth, tried to push her energy coat it. Failing, she groaned, shook her stiff hands and glared at Jack's softly glowing sword.

  "-Tch!- I'll get it eventually!" She shouted, swinging a mighty left hook at him.

  "Maybe if you actually listen to Mr. Lanair's lectures, you'll get it sooner." Weaving to the side, Jack hit her extended elbow with his sheath.

  "Hmp! He doesn't know what he's talking about!" Ignoring the numb static feeling in her arm, Mari continued to launch a flurry of punches. Already plenty drained of energy, Jack was only able to block some of the attack, deciding to let the less debilitating ones pass through. After a few dozen punches, Mari's attack started to slow, allowing Jack to counter. Forgoing all defence, he endured Mari's onslaught as he took a step closer and smashed his sheath into her stomach, followed by slashing across her chest with his sword.

  Stumbling back, Mari brought a hand to the cut on her chest. Looking at the blood-covered hand, Mari started to laugh. "Yes! This is what I'm talking about!"

  "Hey Alex," Jack called out, completely ignoring Mari for the moment. "Even with the chocker working, shouldn't the arena's enchanments have triggered for my last attack? Also, didn't you say drawing blood would calm her down? Because if anything, it looked like it pumped her up instead!"

  "If it didn't trigger, that means the injuries were far from lethal or permanently harmful! Also, I never said drawing blood would calm her down! I implied it would stop her from using cheat attacks, like hitting your groin!" Jack let out a groan as he brought his sword and sheath together into a cross to block a more powerful than usual punch from Mari. Undeterred, she continued launching punch after punch at Jack, slowly pushing him back. Feeling his arms start to buckle under the pressure, Jack slid his sword away and let one attack go through, using his sheath to redirect a majority of the force away. Stepping to the side, he groaned as the punch impacted his shoulder and immediately countered with a large slash down across her chest.

  Laughing through the pain, Mari grabbed Jack's outstretched arm and smashed it down over her knee. Before she could do it again, Jack leaned towards her and sprang forward, headbutting her in the face. However, when he tried to retreat, he realized Mari still had a strong grip on his arm. And before he knew it, Jack was being pulled towards her, right into a headbutt of her own. Through darkening vision, Jack managed to recover first and, though still a bit dazed, he tried to counter by hitting her with his sheath, only to realize it was missing from his open hand. With his other hand still trapped in Mari's hold, Jack did the first thing that came to mind. Balling his hand into a fist, Jack launched a powerful right hook straight into Mari's jaw.

  Hit by the sudden attack while still recovering from the headbutt, Mari couldn't maintain her hold on Jack's arm, allowing him to slip away. Looking around, Jack picked up his dropped sheath before retreating a good distance away. Regaining her bearings, locked sights on Jack. He was heavily panting, the soft glow from before now absent from his crack-covered sword. Glancing down, Mari noticed that her knuckle-dusters weren't in any better shape. "Look, we're both tired, so why don't we call this a draw?" Jack suggested.

  "Pa didn't raise a quitter!" Mari shouted, ignoring the growing fatigue slowly clouding her mind, which she wasn't sure was from the arena's enchantments or from the blood lost. Rocketing forward, the duo devolved back into the earlier pattern of Mari launching a flurry of punches while Jack either deflects or blocks the attacks before they hit him. During this, Mari was able to move fast enough to land a few hits on Jack before he could react. While Jack was able to sneak in a few slices with his sword or hits with his sheath during the times Mari couldn't pull back her punches fast enough. By the end of several dozen exchanges, Mari's arms were covered in cuts and bruises while Jack's complexion was noticeably paler, with his breathing growing increasingly heavy.

  Refusing to back down, Mari gritted her teeth and pushed her sluggish body to move. Winding up her arm, Mari shot a heavy right hook at Jack's face. Seeing the attack coming, he brought up his blade to block it. Only for it to snap upon impact. Breaking through the blade, Mari's punch smashed into Jack's left cheek. Seeing her chance, Mari caught the other half of Jack's weapon in the air and, while ignoring the pain of the blade digging into her hand, stabbed it straight into Jack's chest.

  Feeling the strong resistance of the arena's enchantment protecting him, Mari poured every last drop of strength she had left into pushing the blade as deep as she could with the intent to end the battle at that very moment. It was then she felt it, a small prick at her neck. Turning her gaze to the location, she saw the other half of Jack's sword right against her neck, a thin, transparent barrier being the only thing preventing it from drawing blood. "Looks like it's my loss. It was a good bat-" Was all she was able to say, before passing out from exhaustion, the arena finally draining what's left of her energy. Catching her as she slumped over, Jack carried Mari out of he arena and gently dropped her off with the others.

  "Good job, it was a well-fought fight." Alex congratulated Jack while patting him on the back.

  "A bit too intense for a simple sparring session if you ask me," Crystal added.

  "Is she going to be ok?" Jack couldn't help but ask, worry clear in his voice.

  "Eh, she will be fine. Health." Alex reassured while taking out a Health potion from his storage pouch. "We both had suffered way worse injuries in our past training session." He opened the potion and poured some of it over her injuries before pouring the rest into her mouth.

  "Uhm, Alex, I don't think th-"

  "I'm up!" Mari cut off Sera, her body shooting up off the ground. Blinking away her blurred vision, Mari looked around at her surroundings. "Oh, yeah, I lost." She shrugged. "Oh well, it was fun at least."

  "That worked?" Mumbled Jack.

  "Yeah/ why wouldn't it?" Jack and Mari answered simultaneously.

  "I was always told not to pour Health potions down an unconscious person, or it won't work."

  "It's not that it won't work," Sera interjected, her face scrunched up; from her expression, the trio could tell she was frustrated at them. "I don't know why anyone would say it like that. But the reason why you don't pour Health potions or any potions down an unconscious person's throat is that they run the risk of drowning, or, depending on the potion, choking. This is especially true if the person is lying flat against the ground, like how Mari was. What you're supposed to do is keep the person awake while you feed them the potion. If that's not an option, you should only generously pour the needed potion over the required area that needs it. Like, for example, pouring a Chill potion over a burn or a Heat potion over a frozen body part."

  "Wow/ Huh, it makes sense when you say it like that," Mari said in a soft voice, and Alex blurted out. "You know a lot about this." Mari continued, causing Sera's face to turn slightly flushed.

  "O-oh, it's nothing. Basic first aid is mandatory for an Alchemist."

  "Shouldn't first aid be something the daughter of a soldier should know?" Crystal interjected.

  "And I would have thought you, of all people, would know the proper way to use potions with how much you drink," Jack added while looking at Alex.

  "All I was taught was the basic stuff," Mari answered first. "Like how to clean and wrap a bandage over a wound. The closest thing to potion safety my parents taught me was to save potions for only severe injuries. And that you drink Health potions for overall body recovery, and you pour them over wounds for more concentrated healing."

  "That seems a bit irresponsible of them." Mari shrugged at Crystal's comments.

  "Eh, it worked for me so far, so I don't have any complaints."

  "I-if you want, I can give you the basic rundown on proper potion use and safety."

  "Really? Awesome! Thanks a lot, Sera!" She covered her flushed cheeks with her hands and looked away.

  "N-no problem, Mari." Sere briefly glanced at Alex before looking away. "H-how about you, Alex? Who t-taught you about potions?"

  "Mostly self-taught from reading books. Though, as you might have noticed, what I read might not be that, hmm, applicable to more recent developments. The books only described people drinking or pouring potions on people. None of them ever mentioned anything about proper, improper or safety precautions of potions." Sera stared at Alex with a perplexed look.

  "W-what kind of books did you read?!" She said right in his face, only to realize how close she was to him. She backed away as her face heated up. She softly patted her cheeks with her hands to calm herself down before continuing. "Because any potion or alchemist books are mandated to include instructions on proper use and safety precautions of the potions they talk about."

  "Basic ones when I was, er, younger. I never had a chance to read any recent books, so I'll make sure to do that as soon as possible. I'll also see if I can find my old books, but it's been a long time, so don't get your hopes up." She shook her head.

  "N-no need for that! I-in fact, I think it would be better to throw away the books if they're not that important to you. Misinformation about potions can endanger lives, so in my opinion, you shouldn't keep outdated books around unless absolutely required."

  "Hmm, I'll keep that in mind. Thank Sera for the info."

  "N-n-no problem! I'm just glad to be of any help!" With the conversation over, the five students took a brief break to rest before continuing their training.

  "Sooo," Mari started, getting up from the ground while cracking her knuckles. "Who's going to fight Crystal next, because if no one wants t-."

  "You still need to rest, and we already agreed she will either fight me or Sera." Alex interrupted.

  "Aw." She pouted, sitting back on the ground.

  "Oh, uh, y-you can fight Crystal, Alex. I used a lot of potions in our fight. So I won't be able to provide much of a fight if I go." He nodded.

  "Eh, fine with me. You ok with that, Crystal?" She nodded.

  "That's fine with me." Walking forward, the duo took their positions on either side of the arena. Alex lazily swirls a Mana potion while he adjusts the choker around his neck before downing the whole bottle. While Crystal started softly muttering something underneath her breath as she watched him.

  "Are the two combatants ready?!" Jack shouted, using his McGaron expression once again. The duo nodded. "Our next fight is Alex Alveron Vs. Crystal Waterbloom!" Alex stored the empty bottle back into his Storage pouch. While Crystal forcefully stopped herself from sighing. "You two may begin when I say go. Three, two, one, GO!"