Inside the viewers lounge, Jun had risen from the couch, watching Hydrus' victory celebration with distaste.

"That guy's going down next round," Jun swore.

Eric laughed, "Not worried about your fight against Seryllia at all then?"

"Maybe if she was more experienced. But after watching her fight against Griffin and Ryan, it's pretty obvious that she's inexperienced. Her untamed aggression is tough to deal with if you get sucked in like those idiots did. But against me, she's got no chance," Jun replied confidently.

"Poor Sery, she won't get a chance to have her revenge against me," said Eric, his voice tinged with mock sympathy as he glanced over towards where Seryllia sat.

"Get through your match against Grott first," Jun said with an annoyed look, ignoring Eric as he turned to leave for his fight.

Unfortunately for Seryllia, Jun's pre-fight prediction came true. Using his superior range, he refused to allow her to close in, dodging her aggressive charges and returning the favour with arrows. Whenever Seryllia overextended herself for an attack, diving in without care for defence, Jun would punish her for her unmitigated aggression, taking care to first avoid the frenzied a.s.sault, before returning the favour in kind as Seryllia's attacks came to an end.

However, it wasn't as if the fight was easy for Jun. Seryllia's attacks were akin to those of a raging bear, with a power that even tanks couldn't withstand head on. Every dodge saw Jun standing on the knife's edge, precariously balancing defence with offence as he fired back at the berserk fighter in front of him.

With an unwilling glare, Seryllia fell as Jun's final arrow pierced her stomach. Disappearing in a flash of blue light, applause filled the stadium as Jun simply stood there, as if the outcome had been predetermined and the fight had held no excitement at all for him.

~

"And Seryllia falls, Shin advances! Now, the Nova.n.a.lba Reclamation Group already has their first member through to the semis, can they get a second one in as well? Erick 'Kyp' Kystfyr, representing Riptide will attempt to prevent this, as he spars off against Bearan Grott, NRG's second partic.i.p.ant in the top eight. Fighters, to your places!" Halfthur shouted.

Making his way to the stage, Eric flashed Grott a c.o.c.ky grin. Grott frowned at this, his thick brow coming together as he stared towards the half-elf, as if he couldn't figure out why Eric was taunting him like this.

"Your boss made it through, I suppose N-G's lucky that they'll be getting one fighter through to the semi-finals," Eric said conversationally.

"It's NRG, and we'll be getting three through," Grott replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, is it? And here I thought you guys were just a bunch of lame nags, my mistake," Eric laughed.

"Hmph, we'll see how happy you are once I put a couple arrows in you," Grott sneered.

Eric smirked, "You think you're all that just because you're riding Hydrus' coattails do you? With your aim, I'd be more worried if you were shooting at the crowd for daring to boo your precious boss."

"As if we care about the opinion of Nova.n.a.lban weaklings. The opinion of the crowd doesn't matter, and you're about to learn that your opinion of your skill level doesn't matter either in the face of true strength," Grott said viciously.

"Nice line, did your boss come up with it? 'Cause you seem too stupid to come up with that on your own," Eric replied, his gaze growing cold.

"Keep wagging that tongue, I think it's about time you learned to respect your betters," Grott said, turning away as he headed for the opposite end of the stage.

Glaring at the retreating Grott, Eric made his way to his starting position, drawing his athame as he waited for Halfthur to start the fight.

Staring heavily at Grott, Eric flipped his athame in the air, catching it by the handle as he considered the best way to approach this fight. Grott's emphasis on the fundamentals meant that it would be difficult for Eric to earn a win by abusing his opponent's weakpoints like he had in previous rounds.

Maybe he would have to use that technique? Eric wondered to himself briefly. He'd originally planned to save this technique for his fight with Jun, but that was before these d.i.c.ks had arrived on the scene. If he could use this technique to embarra.s.s Grott - thus indirectly humiliating Hydrus - then it was worth revealing it early even if it did lower his chances to beat Jun.

Having made his decision, Eric stared impatiently towards the the announcer's booth, waiting for the fight to begin.

"For the third round of the top eight, we have Kyp, representing Riptide! This man has shown a plethora of different abilities, using new skills and techniques almost every round. Hopefully, he'll provide us with yet another strong showing against his opponent, Grott! Representing NRG, Grott looks to be the second member to qualify for the semi-finals as he uses his skill with the bow to take on Kyp. Fighters, are you ready?" Halfthur roared. Seeing the two fighters nod, he let out another roar. "Then let the fight, begin!"

Rushing forward, Eric gripped his athame tightly in his right hand, using it to draw a pair of runes which glowed brightly before disappearing. Seeing this, Eric smiled, absentmindedly casting an Arcane Strike with his left hand as he ran. If he wanted to win in a dominating fashion, then he needed to surprise Grott with his technique, like he'd done to Mikasa. He couldn't reveal it too early, or else Grott would have time to formulate a plan to deal with it. Engrossed in his thoughts, Eric almost missed seeing Grott's first shot, barely dodging out of the way as the arrow soared through the s.p.a.ce he'd occupied only a moment before.

Focus, Eric, he told himself, launching an Arcane Strike towards Grott as he continued his mad rush forward. Ignoring the Arcane Strike that struck him in the abdomen, Grott lined up another shot, taking careful aim at the half-elf as he steadily retreated.

Paying attention to the distance, Eric gauged that he would be in range to use Dashing Cut after a few more seconds. All he had to do until then was to continue dodging Grott's arrows as he advanced.

"And Kyp avoids another arrow! He's certainly not as domineering as Hydrus was last fight, but the effect is the same. Grott can't land a shot on his opponent! However, Kyp hasn't dealt much damage to Grott either," Halfthur commented.

"Kyp's Arcane Strike lacks power. It's great to disrupt his opponent's spellcasting or aim, but he won't deal too much damage only relying on Arcane Strike," Wavesun a.n.a.lyzed.

"And Grott lands his first shot! Kyp fails to dodge out of the way completely and takes an arrow to the shoulder, but at least he avoided taking it in the neck," Halfthur said with a wince.

On stage, Eric gritted his teeth, ignoring the arrow in his shoulder as he finally closed the gap enough to use Dashing Cut. Activating the skill, he accelerated forward, his athame ready, still glowing with the spell he'd prepared earlier.

Sighting towards Eric, Grott took careful aim. From this distance, he couldn't miss, and stuck in the middle of his skill, Eric wouldn't be able to dodge either. With a cruel smile, Grott activated a skill, a red glow appearing on the top of his arrow as he aimed at the rapidly approaching figure of Eric.

"Kyp uses Dashing Cut to close the distance. As the signature move of the Elite Nova.n.a.lban Scout units, Dashing Cut is a great skill, but Kyp might have made a mistake here, he's exposed himself to Grott, there's no way he can dodge this next shot!" Halfthur shouted excitedly.

Loosing his arrow, Grott watched in antic.i.p.ation as his arrow flew towards Eric. As the arrow flew, the red glow wrapped itself around the entire shaft, turning the arrow into a red bolt that streaked menacingly through the air towards Eric.

With a gasp, the crowd watched in horror as the glowing streak of light closed in on Eric who was still dashing forward with his athame held high.

Just before the arrow could slam into his skull, Eric smiled, swinging the athame towards the arrow, he unleashed the spell he'd prepared at the beginning of the fight. With a roar of wind, a Wind Blade coalesced in front of Eric, meeting Grott's arrow only a metre in front of him.

As the arrow and the spell collided, the spell structure collapsed, two halves of the Wind Blade continuing on for a few metres before dissipating, while the arrow was driven off course, shooting narrowly over Eric's head as he continued to dash towards Grott.

Face paling, Grott attempted to backpedal, but it was too late. With a vicious stab, Eric slammed his athame into Grott's chest, using his momentum to bring Grott tumbling to the ground.

Not giving Grott the chance to recover, Eric bashed the hilt of his athame into his temple, stunning the man as Eric went to work with his blade. Recovering from the stun, Grott attempted to fight back, but in close quarters, he was no match for Eric's martial arts.

As Grott struggled to reach for his dagger, Eric used his free arm to restrain him, using the other to continue to strip away Grott's healthbar one stab at a time. As Grott roared in frustration, Eric grinned.

"You should be honoured, I was originally saving this technique to use against Jun. Feel privileged to be the first to experience it firsthand," Eric said with a grim smile, as his dagger descended into Grott's exposed neck.

With an unwilling gurgle, the blue light enveloped Grott, whisking him away as Eric jumped to his feet, his athame raised in triumph.

With an enormous roar, the crowd surged to their feet, showering Eric with cheers and applause.

Allowing the crowd a few moments to cheer, Halfthur smiled, turning to Wavesun.

"You must be happy, NRG's lost their first fight."

"Any Nova.n.a.lban would be happy, I was tempted to chop them all to pieces then and there in the viewing lounge," Wavesun replied, before turning to Alistair. "You're not really going to allow those three to join us in the elite platoon are you, Alistair?"

"They'll be given the opportunity same as everyone else. It might do them some good to see how weak they are compared to true powerhouses right now. Perhaps they'll learn some humility," Alistair responded with a sigh. "But I hope they'll decline. The other members who make it in might tear them to pieces if given the chance. And it's not like there's a lack of strong fighters who were eliminated earlier on. Soren Gunnarson would make a great addition, as would a few others I have my eye on."

"I half hope that they do accept. They can be a part of the vanguard, even the archer," Wavesun said dangerously.

"Mmmmh," Alistair responded, giving no comment.

"As an announcer, I'm supposed to be unbiased. But I really hope that Kyp and Fogs both defeat the remaining two members of NRG so badly that they return to wherever they're from and never return. Nova.n.a.lba doesn't need their type," Halfthur added, echoing Wavesun's earlier sentiments.

"So long as they can be used to Nova.n.a.lba's benefit, I'll allow them to partic.i.p.ate. But should they work against Nova.n.a.lba and her people?" Alistair asked, looking both Halfthur and Wavesun in the eye as he spoke. "I'll show them no mercy."