"Alright, it's finally time for me to fight again," I remarked, stretching my arms up as the door opened and Beatriz walked back in, looking pretty worn out.

Her arm had been restored, and while she probably had her stamina replenished, that fight likely wore her out mentally.

"That was a hell of a fight, you guys put on a great show!" Jaden greeted her with a grin.

"Yeah, that got intense as hell, really got my blood pumping...it's too bad I lost my weapon though, I'm gonna need to get a new one custom-made when I get back home," She sighed wistfully, before flopping onto one of the couches.

"You should have a spare or two made for you too," I suggested prudently.

"Yeah, I usually wouldn't have considered it because my blade's never broken before, but yeah, that's a good idea," She nodded as she gave me a thumbs up, slumping back in her seat.

The arena was undergoing repairs again, so there's a small delay before my next match.

"By the way, where's Iseul?" Jin asked her.

"Oh, she's out cold, she's resting up."

Yeah, that tracks, she did pass out instantly after she was defeated...actually, she might've gotten knocked unconscious even before she got teleported out.

"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just overwhelm her with a barrage of wide sound blasts that she wouldn't have been able to dodge?" Inquired Aria curiously.

"Hm? Yeah, I guess I could've tried that...but if it had worked, that would've been pretty boring. Plus, after fighting her, I'd say it's pretty unlikely that would've worked anyway...naturally, large-scale attacks take longer to charge up.

They may be more powerful, but I'm more vulnerable in the moments before unleashing them, and I seriously doubt she'd have just stood around while I charged my Spells, I would've gotten blasted to oblivion by her lightning," Pointed out Beatriz with a wry smile.

"On another note, her movements were a lot more unpredictable than before, alcohol definitely aids her fighting style. It must be tough finding the sweet spot of how drunk to get to maximize the effect of the alcohol, though.

If she drinks too much, she won't be able to move properly, and if she doesn't drink enough, she won't be at her absolute best," I surmised thoughtfully.

"It's quite the bizarre problem to have...ordinarily, drinking booze during a raid would be unthinkable, but she mentioned that she always carries a bottle with her in Dungeons," Recalled Jaden with a wry smile, before the door opened as someone knocked on it.

"Kaivel Intrix, Aarav Gill, we're ready to begin the next match."

"Got it," I nodded, as I hopped onto my feet and stretched my arms out, before glancing at Aarav.

"Okay," He muttered, a determined gleam in his eyes.

"Good luck, Kai," Smiled Aria, giving me a pat on the shoulder, before I ruffled her hair with a nod.

"Pretty sure you don't need any luck," Sighed Aarav, as we followed after the staff member and headed out of the waiting room.

Well, he's not speaking exclusively in jokes anymore, but this despondent attitude might be a bit worse than that.

"Just relax, man, I know that defeat must have sucked, but it's not the end of the world. You're not going to be able to fight at your best if you're all tense," I pointed out.

"I-...yeah, I guess you're right. But I can't help it...that was embarrassing, easily the most one-sided match of the day, so I've gotta redeem myself.

No, I have to redeem myself...like a voucher that's about to expire," He declared, a slight smile spreading out across his face.

Okay, that was a joke, sort of, seems his mood has improved slightly.

As we headed down the stairs and stepped out into the open, we made our way towards the arena, stepping onto it and taking our places as the barrier formed around it, the countdown beginning.

"Just so you know, I don't plan on holding back!" I called out, as I cracked my knuckles.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," He responded, as he spun his staff across.

Here we go, in...five.

Four.

Three!

Two!

ONE!!!

"<Enrage>," I chanted, a violent burst of purple energy erupting out and swirling around me, before settling right as a rapid bone spike came extending out towards me from Aarav's palm with immense speed, as I swiftly chanted, "<Ravage>."

I snapped the jaws shut as the spike closed in on me, consuming about a meter of it, before he detached it and fired out a barrage of bone bullets towards me.

Ai.

<Right, both Devour and Drain will be able to consume his bone attacks, and likely his blood attacks as well>

<They count as both physical and Magical, just like with Ice and Earth Magic>

Understood. In which case, I'll switch to Devour.

I retracted the Drain element of Ravage, the jaws turning shadowy black as I reverted it to Devour, before firing out a barrage of Negative Energy blasts towards Aarav.

He swiftly swung his staff across, firing out a slashing wave of blood, which collided against my blasts, dark streaks and a red mist erupting out as out attacks collided, before he aimed his staff and me and fired out a piercing beam of blood towards me.

I swallowed the beam up with Devour, before shifting my gaze up as he blasted himself up into the air with pressurized jets of blood from his feet, firing out another blood beam towards me while simultaneously hurling a bone boomerang down towards me.

I swiftly chanted to manifest Drain, using it to swallow up the blood beam before snapping the jaws of Devour shut as the boomerang zipped in within its reach, consuming it.

How convenient...since both my Gluttony Skills are capable of consuming his attacks, I can defend against attacks from multiple directions.

How unfortunate for him...it appears that I'm a bad match-up for him as well...

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