"I need to step out for a bit, feel free to rest here, I'm sure you're at least a little bit fatigued. I'll let the event staff know to come get you before the final," Remarked Cameron, as he headed for the door.

"Sure, thanks," I nodded as he stepped out, before glancing to my left as a slight mutter echoed out as he shut the door.

"Hm...? Where am I...?"

"Hey, rise and shine," I greeted Ariella as she sat up with a groggy look on her face.

"Huh...? Hey, morning...," She muttered, looking like she was still half-asleep.

"It's late in the evening, actually."

"Wha...?" She responded, rubbing her eyes before tensing slightly.

"Uh...you good?"

Her eyes opened wide with a slightly frantic look on her face, before her gaze darted towards my arm. She paused for a moment, before relaxing and letting out a sigh of relief.

"I-I'm sorry...I thought you'd get teleported out with my last attack, I didn't expect you to block it. Is your arm alright now?" She asked me with a look of concern on her face.

"Mhm, good as new. Well, literally new. And you don't have to apologize, we both agreed we wouldn't hold back, so one or both of us getting badly injured was always a possibility," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but still..."

"How are you feeling, by the way?" I inquired, as I glanced at her.

"I think I'm all healed up, though I am pretty tired. I used up all the Mana I had left in my last attack, and my stamina is pretty much shot too," She replied as she stifled a yawn, before adding, "Hey, I thought you said you get all emotionless when you use Enrage!

I mean, you were definitely less expressive and more focused, and I felt this chill whenever I met your gaze, but you weren't, like, merciless or whatever, like you said you'd be."

"Yeah, that surprised me too. I guess the suppression of my emotions in that state isn't strong enough to completely shut down all my emotions. Or maybe emotions that are especially strong don't get fully suppressed?" I suggested uncertainly.

"Huh? W-Wait, then that means...you really meant what you said? I-I kinda thought maybe you only said that to throw me off or something," She muttered as her face turned red.

"No, I meant it. You are important to me, no one's as close to me as you are, and yeah, I find you really cute too. Pretty sure you already knew that," I replied with a wry smile.

"I-I, um-...don't you feel embarrassed saying stuff like that?" She responded quietly, averting her gaze.

"I mean, a little, I guess."

"Just a little, huh?"

"Mhm. On another note...looks like I finally beat you," I smiled smugly.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess you did. Really thought I was going to win with my last attack...but once you blocked it and my Blaze Ignition wore off, it was all but over for me," She sighed wistfully.

"I barely survived that last attack, I thought I was done once you dodged Ravage. I definitely would've gotten teleported out of I hadn't blocked your attack with my arm.

If you'd struck my torso or head, the barrier would've activated for sure," I surmised, shuddering slightly as I recalled the sensation of her concentrated flames boring into my hand.

That seriously hurt, not sure if I would've been able to bear that pain in my normal state.

"It sucks that I lost, but that was so much fun. I felt so giddy when we stepped onto the arena, I was looking forward to this for a while. I won't lose next time," She smiled with a determined look on her face.

"I mean, you've got a pretty overwhelming winning record against me, so I'm going to have to beat you plenty more times to even that out," I pointed out.

"Heh, bring it on. If you join the Diva Guild, we'll have plenty of opportunities to go at it," She grinned eagerly.

Not how I would've phrased that, but yeah, I share the sentiment.

"Yeah, I am leaning towards joining the Diva Guild, it'd be great to see you more often. So, if they make me an offer, I'll join up," I replied with a smile.

"Awesome, I'm so glad! Don't worry, I'll speak to my Guildmaster and make sure the Guild reaches out to you with an offer no one would refuse," She declared with a gleam in her eyes.

"Wait, how exactly does it work at the Guilds? Like, when you say make an offer, does that mean a big one-time payment, or a big monthly salary or something?" I asked her.

"The former. They pay you a large sum and then have you sign a contract. After that, the only way to make more money is to go on raids.

The Guild takes a twenty percent cut of the proceeds from the raids, including the money made off of Monsters Cores.

Oh, wait, actually, it's not just a one-time payment, the initial payment covers the contract period, which is usually one year. Once the contract expires, they'll make you another offer if they want to retain you," She informed me.

Huh, so that's how it works.

"I see...with Freelance Hunting, we keep all the proceeds from the Monster Cores we gather, so the twenty percent cut the Guilds take is a significant difference.

But that probably still means more money that you'd make freelancing, since the raids are of higher Threat Levels," I mused thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't know if it's the same in the other Guilds, I can only speak to how it works in the Diva Guild."

"Hm, you probably shouldn't tell your Guildmaster or any of the other members that I want to join your Guild, they might try to lowball me or something.

While I have no intention of demanding an extortionate amount of money, I won't let myself be taken advantage of either."

"Yeah, that's fair. I'll just tell them that I want you in the Guild and that you told me you're not picky and plan to just go with the highest bidder," She suggested in response.

"That could work. But I'm not sure I want a reputation of being a money grubber," I grinned sheepishly.

"Good point...I'll have to put some thought into it."

"Also, it's not like you to lie, looks like you've changed," I smirked teasingly.

"H-Hey, it's not like I want to lie! But it's a small price to pay if it means I get to see more of you," She replied with a conflicted look on her face.

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