"Winner, Flint Ardent, First year."

The announcer finally said after a moment of silence. This match had been an intense one, maybe even the most entertaining to watch.

But such an end was completely out of their expectations.

Rhett let out a heavy breath, as he finally allowed his armor to fade and he slumped to the ground, looking at the barrier above him.

He did it, he had proved that he was not a failure, and even though he had lost, he didn't mind.

All that mattered was the fact that he had managed to use the golden knight technique for a while, even though it drained him completely.

He let out a groan as he sat up, before getting to his feet, he needed more training if he wanted to use that technique for as long as he desired.

He then turned towards Flint who was laying flat on the floor, also looking up as he offered, "need a hand, friend?"

Flint looked up at him and then at his extended hand.

"Why do you talk like that?" He finally said as he took Rhett's hand and got to his feet.

"I fail to understand the meaning behind your words, friend," Rhett said, confused, "is my manner of dialogue abnormal?"

"Yes," Flint replied with a deadpan expression.

"Forgive me then," Rhett said, "as I am not well versed in Solari."

Flint frowned at his words as he asked, "You're not from Solara Prime?"

Rhett shook his head. "No. I was born in the outer zone. Vale territory, yes, but far from the capital."

That earned a quiet hum from Flint. It explained the accent, the stiff phrasing, the way Rhett spoke like he'd learned Solari from books instead of people.

"Huh," Flint muttered. "Figures."

Rhett tilted his head, "Does it?"

"What zone?" Flint asked out of courtesy, it wasn't like he would recognize what Rhett's original language was, since he never paid much attention to anything that wasn't fighting related.

"A small zone closer to Thalassar," Rhett responded, "Vale territory granted by the king himself."

"I see," Flint nodded and just as he thought, he had no idea what Rhett's original language was, so he just switched the topic.

"Why didn't you attend the academy at Thalassar then?" He asked.

"My family would rather not have a failure so close to their county," Rhett said , "so I was ordered to come here instead."

His words caused silence to fall between the two as Flint wasn't sure of what to say, so he just remained silent.

Rhett broke the silence first.

"You're… difficult to read," he said. "You charge like anger drives you, but your strikes aren't careless."

Flint muttered, "I get that a lot."

"You held back," Rhett added, not accusing, just stating it. "At the end. You could have finished me sooner."

Flint looked away. "Didn't feel right."

Rhett blinked in surprise, "…why?"

"'Cause you weren't weak," Flint said bluntly. "And you weren't looking down on me."

That made Rhett pause.

Then, slowly, he let out a laugh, "that may be the first time someone has said that to me."

Flint looked at him, "you should hang around better people."

"I will try," Rhett said earnestly.

A medic suddenly approached, glancing between them. "Both of you, infirmary. Now."

Yeah, they both definitely needed to go to the medbay, Flint's head was still bleeding while Rhett looked like he could fall over any second now.

"Alright, friend," Rhett said with a smile, "I will see you in a while."

"Sure," Flint nodded as Rhett was ushered away by the medic. His SE pathways were messed up right now so he needed more care than Flint did.

Flint, on the other hand, just walked into the waiting room with the medical staff, who tended to the cut on his forehead.

He sat down on one of the benches in the waiting room as a medic dabbed antiseptic against the cut on his forehead.

"Tch," he hissed, pulling his head back slightly. "Warn me next time."

"You moved," the medic replied flatly, unimpressed. "Hold still."

Devon plopped down on the bench opposite him, hands behind his head, grin wide as ever. "Damn, short stack, you really went all out on him."

Flint shot him a glare. "Say one more word about my height."

Devon chuckled, "Relax. I'm praising you."

Nox, on the other hand, was still sitting where he had been previously, deep in thoughts.

Mostly about what he had seen Rhett do.

He was wondering if he could achieve the same but in a more subtle manner.

Rhett had managed to skip a rank, increasing his SE control without any wastage.

Nox wondered if he could do the same, but without the armor, just so the Vale family wouldn't claim he stole their technique.

"Maybe if I try compressing it," he muttered, without realizing that he had said it out loud.

Not until Devon commented, "compress what?"

"Nothing," Nox shook his head, "just some unnecessary thoughts."

"Right," Devon muttered before turning to the third year who was still sleeping and back to Nox, "you think you can win?"

Nox was silent for a while as he thought about it, he had seen the third year fight, and he hadn't used anything other than just his solar tech.

All Nox knew what that he was fast, extremely so, but if it was just that, then he'd be able to handle himself.

The only problem was what other tricks he had under his sleeve.

If Nox was fighting as the Grey Warden, then he would've been sure that he would be able to handle whatever was thrown at him,

But fighting while holding a lot back? That was going to be an issue.

"I'm not sure," Nox shook his head, "after all, I haven't seen the full extent of his abilities."

"Aight," Devon nodded in understanding before muttering, "give it your all though."

"Hmm," Nox nodded and as if on cue, his watch let out a ding, informing that it was his turn to fight.

He looked towards the third year who was finally waking up before standing up and muttering.

"Guess it's my turn."

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