Night look over his shoulder. Wait, did I- Oh. His gut twisted as he realized his error.

  He separated from Art.

  "So it's true, huh? They let a no-magic get in? Do you know when the last time that happened was?" Just a dozen feet in front of him, a girl clad in shimmering golden armour stepped forward. The plate mail glinted in the light, its intricate designs catching the dangerous glow of the lava. In her hand, she held a spear that seemed to hum with an ethereal glow, radiating a golden light.

  Light magic? Must be. Or maybe she's just an entitled rich kid. "Yeah, about that, eh, I'm not actually-"

  Her golden eyes seemed to flash. "Whatever. Point is, you seem pretty weak. You can't wield magic either, can you?" She scoffed. "Any combat training?"

  Why do they all care about fighting here? "Look, can we just go our separate ways? I've got a friend I need to-"

  "It's not about that. You're a commoner, right? No clan or family - of note - to support you. No patron. And that means you're going to have to rely on your allies to help you. Which means-"

  Night sighed. "You're saying I'm a liability?"

  "Yes-"

  "You've got to be kidding me, right?" He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You seem well off. Can't you just, like, buzz off?"

  The blonde-haired girl slammed the butt of her magical spear on the stone floor. "Excuse me, do you know who I am?"

  Night was fed up. "Well actually, no, I don't know you. So can you... Not?"

  In a heartbeat, the glowing spear appeared where Night's head had been less than a second ago, the girl jabbing it forward like a fencer, one arm outstretched, the other out behind her. Night jolted violently to the side, heart racing. BRO! GOD DAMMIT! WHY?! WHAT DID I DO?

  Shifting back to his feet, he tried to gain some distance. But when you're stuck on a round, stone platform with a crap-ton of lava flowing beneath it, I don't have much space to move.

  And yes, the girl clearly had combat training, too.

  So swift, silent, and calculated were her movements like that of a war-battered general in the heat of battle, that he couldn't help but think how effective she would be if she put all her effort and energy into attacking the bad guys, instead of wasting her time on him.

  Seeing her initial attack miss, she scowled as she twisted the outstretched spear mid-air with a flick of her wrist, and charged forward, the golden spear of light resting on her shoulder, the front in her hand, the tip pointing right at his face. But it wasn't the spear that made Night's stomach turn.

  This wasn't a bar fight.

  Of course, Night had never been inside a bar before. Well, not formally, at least. But every time he had gotten into a fight, it was brutish. About strength, speed, and how riled up you could get your opponent before the actual fight started. Here, it was all about skill.

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  And weapons, which he didn't have.

  ...Depending on what your definition of weapon is.

  Dancing to the side, he swiftly took off his hoodie, revealing the black shirt beneath, and dashed towards the girl- No, his enemy. Wrapping one end of the coat around his left hand, he held one arm of it in the other hand. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't stop.

  Just as the spear was about to impale him, he whirled the hoodie around the head of the spear, and summoned all his strength to yank the stupid glowing thing away.

  A rush of satisfaction surged through him as the spear left his attacker's hand.

  A feeling of annoyance bubbled up as, in a flash, it disappeared and reappeared in the girl's other hand.

  Well, shi-

  With a swift motion, she swapped her grip on the spear to backhand, launching the lower end of the weapon straight at Night's torso. He barely had time to raise an arm in defence as the spear struck him with a staggering impact, sending him rolling dangerously close to the edge of the platform.

  She returned to her neutral position, glowering with... Satisfaction? Night couldn't care. "This isn't a tavern brawl, y'know." She raised her weapon into a backhand stance. "You're name's Night, right?"

  Night put on his hoodie again. No point using it now. "Huh? No. You're looking for a guy?"

  Ignoring the question, the girl paused. "...What? But you're-"

  "DWEEB!"

  Art leapt over from the platform adjacent to Night's, wielding his metal rod like a madman. The girl was forced to take a step back as he took a swing at her, before she lifted her spear back up and snapped it forward, pointing it at Art.

  Night pushed himself off the floor. "You really can't say much, can you?"

  "Shut up!" Art backed away from the girl, before looking at him. "How the heck did you get into a fight with her?" Art hissed, putting himself in a pseudo-sword fighting stance. The rod was too heavy to manoeuvre as quickly as one, Night could tell.

  "What? I don't know!" Night threw his hands up. "I accidentally jumped on the same platform as her and she started spouting some crap about liabilities!"

  "Doesn't matter now." Art held still. "Wait, you do know-"

  "Who she is? Heck no."

  Art wavered. "How do you not know!?"

  Night shrugged. "I mean, if she's that famous, why haven't I heard of her?"

  Art nearly dropped his metal pole, seemingly trying to pronounce a word he didn't know, which there are many, before shaking his head and staring back. "Man, that's Chalice! Divinus's kid!"

  The hoodied boy stopped. "...Oh. Like, Divinus, the Master of Light?"

  "Really, if you don't know your history, then you shouldn't be here." The girl glowered, seemingly annoyed at being left out of the conversation. "Can you-"

  "Oh, I know my history." Night turned back. "I used to visit the library almost everyday. I just didn't read anything the Kingdom published about itself."

  Chalice suppressed a laugh. "Why not? Sounds like-."

  "Uh, bias?" Night sighed in exasperation. "Guess they don't teach media literacy-"

  "Mate," Art said, "Can you stop using those obscure terms? I know you like them and all, but-"

  "ENOUGH!" Chalice commanded. "You're getting in my way, Creation user. You shouldn't have made friends with a fool like him."

  With one quick motion, Art was sent rolling on the floor dangerously close to the edge, as Chalice dashed towards Night, covering the space between them in three steps. Night braced himself as the girl held her spear out in front of her, shoving forward with unprecedented speed.

  In a swift motion, Art was sent tumbling across the floor, perilously close to the edge as Chalice surged toward Night, closing the distance between them in just three powerful strides. Night braced himself as she held and thrust her spear forward, the weapon cutting the air with astonishing speed. Night was left to fend for himself as pebbles tumbled down into the endless distance before the roaring heat.

  A strange energy filled Night. It wasn't an adrenaline rush - he had experienced that too many times before - but something else. Something that coursed through his veins, surging, threatening to burst out of his body. He tried to use this to his advantage, his two hands on the glowing weapon, next to Chalice's, trying to push it back.

  "It was nice knowing you, Night."

  Chalice swung the spear up, forcing his hands off, sending him stumbling on the edge of the platform, Art just beginning to recover, grabbing the air behind him.

  "Goodbye."

  With a final blow from the spear, Night was sent falling into the lava.