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Description
With not another thing left to say above the care of his pet, the man was carried out through the steel arena gates. He was never going to see his best friend again, nor discover if his sacrifice was worth it, but with a smirk on his lips to the end, it was clear he did not regret what he did. Whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire, and many faces reared their emotions upon the situation. Confusion, surprise, disgust, and the anxiety. Everybody was wondering what was going to happen now.

"Huh, well what do you know?" Luther said, rather quietly for his usual loud tone, "Somebody was actually trying to usurp the guy. If you ask me though, even if he did get me out of that pit and reunite us, it wouldn't have been beyond him to provide a fake- "

"Luther," Tsubaki hushed. Before her seemed to be a shaken young man, who had been hit by everything like a battering ram.
Seto stood straight and tall, seemingly confident and collected like always, but his face was solid red. This had to be the most humiliating day of his life. People from all around Escantha, had just cheered him on. Everybody had revealed what this 'great' guy he was to them, everybody knew now. Sure, he did some things here and there, but come on, he wasn't some gallant hero riding up on a glorious steed to save everybody. As much as he didn't like being around people, he was just a guy who couldn't leave innocents to suffer in front of his face. The only reason he wanted to become hero of Ulrien was to get his name out to find somebody. Nobody saw it though. To them, he was a noble soul, out to prove his worth. Then again, as he thought about it he snorted with small smirk, maybeâ€¦ maybe in a way he was. Slowly, he looked up at the crowd, and saw the girl he saved from bandits hugging her grandpa as she stared down at him, not far along was the owner of the pub which had it not been for his and Tsubaki's interference would have still been cowering before pirates rather than here, and finally there was the boy who had led the cheer, holding up the cloth that was once the cruel Ki'juani like a flag. There were more of course, littered throughout the amphitheater, littered throughout his travels. For hating people so much, it was oddly satisfying to bring justice to their troubles.

The baroness's voice echoed over the crowd, bringing hush to the whispers and emotions that befuddled them. "It seems to be, under this late discovery, and according to the wishes of the audience, the battle for Ulrien's hero will continue as planned. Combatants, please take your positions. As for everybody else on field, I would suggest you leave. That is, less you want to lose a limb."

"Let's go Luther," Tsubaki said, turning for the entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard," the cat said, beginning to bound ahead, but before he caught up with the owner, he took his time to look back at that face that annoyed him so much. For once though, that kill-on-sight look was not in his eyes.

"Hey, jerkwad!" he shouted over his shoulder. Seto just barely glanced over his own.

"Kick some butt."

With those lasting words, the cat joined his owner and together, they disappeared down the tunnel. To this, Seto only lowered his head with a 'humph'. Yep, even the fleabag was supporting him for having been a goody-two-shoes hero. However, he couldn't forget his goal, his reason for staying in the tournament in the first place. He was going to become hero of Ulrien, so the only one who ever believed in him when he was little would hear his name shouted from the mountain tops. So in the land as large as Escantha, she could find him.

Walking over to his position, Seto got himself ready. All stray thoughts were tossed aside as he got up to the plate and a strategy formulated in his mind. However, within seconds, his strategy was shattered and all confidence from before dashed. The fake stone fiasco he didn't give him any real chance to study his opponent, and now, he knew he was in for trouble. Seto knew exactly who the woman was before him, a knight of Ulrien, one who he ran into just days before the tournament, trying to look into his 'haunted' tower. Dame Lorn. She stood before him strong and sturdy as ever with disciplined eyes that one only got from years of training. Before him, was nothing less than what he would expect from a candidate for hero of Ulrien. Her stance was so solid a boulder wouldn't make her flinch, the sword in her grip glistened like gold in the setting sun, and her eyes were direct and forward, fired up for this battle.

"I'm glad to see all my training for this battle won't be for nothing," she said in a manner that could almost be considered friendly if she wasn't bound to a mission, "Aren't you the guy I met a few days ago, in the fog."

"Depends if you were the crazy knight going on about some haunted tower," Seto responded.

"Funny," she said. There was not a hint of humor in her voice, but neither was there irritation. The job was set before her, and Lorn had no time for frivolous irritations. "Listen, while I would have never originally thought it, I've seen you've gone through a lot over this tournament and done a lot of good for the people. So don't get me wrong, I respect your dedication and deeds this far. However..." She raised her sword, preparing for the final match in front of her. "Don't forget that as a knight of Ulrien, I've helped a lot of people too. There can only be one hero for each region, and I've trained hard for this fight. Don't think I'll go easy on you."

"Yeah, I'm sure not," Seto said, but for once, the cockiness wasn't there. As he stared into the girl's eyes, he could feel his insides squirm and throat close up. He could already tell he was in for the fight of his life.

He brace himself, but couldn't help the tension that was flowing through his veins. Then something white took it's stand next him.

"Snowy?" Seto asked, and the dog gave a confirming bark, readying itself into battle position. Lorn herself, was quite surprised. Was the dog actually planning to fight alongside him? At least, Samu wouldn't allow. "No, get lost Snowy. I can't have you getting in my way." The dog whimpered, refusing the leave but the teen was stern. He sighed, and nudged the dog with his foot. "Noâ€¦. Your owner asked me to take care of you, I doubt putting you on the frontline of battle is doing that." Finally, the beaten akita lowered his head and started off, looking back one more time. Seto lowered his head. "Go..." A smirk perked up on his face, "Hmph, if I can last a night with you, then I think I can last a final match." The dog raised it's head back up and gave a slight reassured wag of the tail, and then according to it's master's wishes, headed off in the direction of Tsubaki and Luther. Seto's smirk disappeared as he turned back to Lorn. Finally, it was time.

The baroness spread her arms, and the audience seemed to freeze his suspense. "Now... After a the long wait, begins Ulrien's greatest battle. The final battle to determine the strongest, the most noble warrior in the land of forest and greenery. Only one will erupt from this fight victorious. Let the battle for title of Ulrien's hero... BEGIN! "

"HAH!"

Not a second later, the woman was gone. No longer was Seto facing a female knight but a monstrous hurricane of steel, slashing and jabbing with speed not even the eye could follow. He was tripping backwards, ducking and dodging with every breath. There was no time to concentrate, no time to summon, and he didn't even have the luxury to turn and run. Lorn was stabbing, jabbing, slicing, and dicing with every blink of the eye and every step of the foot. Like Seto predicted, this girl was not the man he faced in the first round, she wasn't Ruin Girl, and she wasn't King Nothing. She was nobody he had ever faced before. This was the finalist for hero of Ulrien, and he was in her way. "@#$%!" he swore, as second by second he was forced closer and closer to the arena wall. The round had just began, and the clock was already ticking down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmph, I knew it," Seto said, with a grin as large as a bear's, "When there's treacherous terrain, there's no people, and when there's no people..." He chuckled to himself. The fossilized bones were everywhere, littered among the crevice like pebbles. Every creature, every mysterious being lost to time, were all sitting there below him, waiting for their secrets to be pried. Slowly, the mantis began to slip down into the crevice and Seto's eyes narrowed. He concentrated on each step and every ledge the steed hooked on to. Ledges wobbled and shifted under the golem's weight, and years of built up sand were sent spilling down into the the bottomless abyss, but he didn't dare let his creature slip. There were reasons this gold mine hadn't been picked, but alas, Seto was determined to be the first.

Slow and steadily, he reached his target, the skull of a great horned creature. Now nothing more than part of a sedentary collection, it's long, broken maw gaped from the wall revealing rows and rows of smooth, shark-like teeth. "Steady," he told himself, as he plucked through his belt for the right tools and began to work. He couldn't possibly liberate all these bones at once, let alone carry them through Escantha, but at least the skull would provide him with some research enjoyment for a while.

The work was dull and tedious, scratching the rock and dirt speck by speck out of the skull's eye socket, so after a few hours it wasn't new for Seto's mind began to wander. How did all these ancient animals die anyway? It's kind of funny to find so many different creatures lost to one area and to be found in a crevice, no less.Â Perhaps this was tar pit long ago, and a couple millions years later an earth quake or eruption split the earth? No that couldn't be right. Perhaps...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AH S@#%!" The tool fell into the abyss, and not long after, came the mantis and it's rider. Wind picked up around them as the light above grew farther and farther away, but the excavator wasn't about to become part of any fossil collection just yet.

SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK! The mantis dug all six limbs into the boney wall, scratching and damaging as it went, but it did it's job. The terror came to stop. "WHAT THE HECK!?" Seto yelled up at the crack of light above him. Having recovered, the mantis began to crawl back up, digging it's claws around the fossils bringing back up its furious master. The redhead swore he was going to kick the butt of whoever nearly killed him, and especially caused him to destroy all those poor invaluable specimens.

However, when the emergence of new voices reached his ears, his fury disintegrated for a small moment. There was scuffling outside.

"Please, leave my granddaughter alone! We're just poor lost travelers."

"Oh? Is that so? Heh, I have to say you wear some pretty fancy material for poor travelers."

"Grandpa! Help me! KYAH!"

"SHUT UP BRAT!"

The anger in Seto's stomach rose again, but this was a new kind of anger.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bam! Time was up, Seto's back hit stone, and he was cornered. Lorn loomed in front of him, sword held high, and then it came down like a bolt of lightning.

But Seto wasn't going to become a part of any fossil collection just yet.

CHNK! Metal met stone. Nothing was left from the skilled knight's attack except a large hole chipped from the arena wall. Seto had found a spare second. "HUH!?" Lorn looked over her shoulder to see the familiar red coat just a few feet off, waving wildly as the teen tried to figure out what to do. Looks like this battle wouldn't be over as quickly as she hoped. Such a pain, but she knew he couldn't have gotten this far on dumb luck. However, she did figure out one thing. Whatever weapon this guy had in store wasn't in the game yet, and it was up to her to make sure it never was. "HYAH!" She struck at him like cobra, just as quick and nimble as before.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is all I have," the poor old man sobbed, dumping his bag out on the rocky ground, "Please, let her go. She did nothing to you."

The chief bandit, slim, bearded, and decorated with a handkerchief around the neck, smeared the contents over the ground with the sole of his leather boot. The scrolls tattered, the tea cups chipped, and the rice cakes browned with mud.

"This? This is all you have? THIS IS JUST JUNK!" the items were sent flying into the air, and made further unrecognizable as they came back down ugly and broken.

'Some piece of work there,' Seto snorted, as he watched from behind a boulder. The bandits were carrying many various weapons on them, from clubs to daggers. Some more expensive than others, but there was nothing that was out of his league. He stood up from his hiding spot, preparing the mantis to charge but had to hesitate.

"Don't play dumb, you have to have something valuable on you, I can smell it. Or else... you know what I do to guys like you?" The man took out some silverware and began to juggle them in his hand. Soon, they began to mold and twist, growing together to form large dagger. No need for heat or tools. He was of the steel element, and skilled at it. The inventor swallowed, and turned to sit back down. His nose wrinkled and eyes gazed to the ground. Crud. That was not a good sign. This was a guy could play with his golems like putty. He looked back at the crevice, still filled with fossils, still filled with mysteries. Perhaps it was better not to get involved. These people were none of his business anyway, were they?

"Please! I really don't!" the old man said, dropping to his hands and knees.

"Hey Cron, I really don't think these two have anything on them," one of the thugs snorted, spitting on the ground.

"Huuuh... Yeah... Yeah, you know, I think you're right actually. Well, that's quite a shame, because we really don't go through all this trouble for nothing do we?" the leader bandit said. He strutted around the old man begging for mercy and the most evil grin stretched his face, "Hold down the girl."

"KYAAAHH!" the girl screamed, kicking as best as she could but the monster still slammed her to the wall of the cliff.

"Oh, oh no... Please no!" the grandfather bawled.

"GWAHCK!"

Suddenly, the girl screams quieted to strained gasps and the bandits dropped dead silent. Through the back of the thug holding down the girl was nothing less than the large sharpened claw belonging to a certain mantis.

"Do you know that people like you really tick me off?"

No matter the obstacle. No matter the doubts.

The teen stepped out from the dust, coat billowing in the wind as faced the group of a dozen brutish bandits.

When something needs to be done, it needs to be done.

The thugs brandished their weapons.

There was no running.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SHWIIING!

The woman shot back as two sharpened claws missed her blue robe by centimeters. Lorn slid backwards across the arena with her free hand and feet, eyes wide and teeth clenched. She looked up, and what she found sent her heart dropping and the first plan in her game to a crashing halt. It was too late for a quick battle now. A metal mantis was on the field, and Seto was ready to play.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to be backing up into walls anymore."

Description
With not another thing left to say above the care of his pet, the man was carried out through the steel arena gates. He was never going to see his best friend again, nor discover if his sacrifice was worth it, but with a smirk on his lips to the end, it was clear he did not regret what he did. Whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire, and many faces reared their emotions upon the situation. Confusion, surprise, disgust, and the anxiety. Everybody was wondering what was going to happen now.

"Huh, well what do you know?" Luther said, rather quietly for his usual loud tone, "Somebody was actually trying to usurp the guy. If you ask me though, even if he did get me out of that pit and reunite us, it wouldn't have been beyond him to provide a fake- "

"Luther," Tsubaki hushed. Before her seemed to be a shaken young man, who had been hit by everything like a battering ram.
Seto stood straight and tall, seemingly confident and collected like always, but his face was solid red. This had to be the most humiliating day of his life. People from all around Escantha, had just cheered him on. Everybody had revealed what this 'great' guy he was to them, everybody knew now. Sure, he did some things here and there, but come on, he wasn't some gallant hero riding up on a glorious steed to save everybody. As much as he didn't like being around people, he was just a guy who couldn't leave innocents to suffer in front of his face. The only reason he wanted to become hero of Ulrien was to get his name out to find somebody. Nobody saw it though. To them, he was a noble soul, out to prove his worth. Then again, as he thought about it he snorted with small smirk, maybeâ€¦ maybe in a way he was. Slowly, he looked up at the crowd, and saw the girl he saved from bandits hugging her grandpa as she stared down at him, not far along was the owner of the pub which had it not been for his and Tsubaki's interference would have still been cowering before pirates rather than here, and finally there was the boy who had led the cheer, holding up the cloth that was once the cruel Ki'juani like a flag. There were more of course, littered throughout the amphitheater, littered throughout his travels. For hating people so much, it was oddly satisfying to bring justice to their troubles.

The baroness's voice echoed over the crowd, bringing hush to the whispers and emotions that befuddled them. "It seems to be, under this late discovery, and according to the wishes of the audience, the battle for Ulrien's hero will continue as planned. Combatants, please take your positions. As for everybody else on field, I would suggest you leave. That is, less you want to lose a limb."

"Let's go Luther," Tsubaki said, turning for the entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard," the cat said, beginning to bound ahead, but before he caught up with the owner, he took his time to look back at that face that annoyed him so much. For once though, that kill-on-sight look was not in his eyes.

"Hey, jerkwad!" he shouted over his shoulder. Seto just barely glanced over his own.

"Kick some butt."

With those lasting words, the cat joined his owner and together, they disappeared down the tunnel. To this, Seto only lowered his head with a 'humph'. Yep, even the fleabag was supporting him for having been a goody-two-shoes hero. However, he couldn't forget his goal, his reason for staying in the tournament in the first place. He was going to become hero of Ulrien, so the only one who ever believed in him when he was little would hear his name shouted from the mountain tops. So in the land as large as Escantha, she could find him.

Walking over to his position, Seto got himself ready. All stray thoughts were tossed aside as he got up to the plate and a strategy formulated in his mind. However, within seconds, his strategy was shattered and all confidence from before dashed. The fake stone fiasco he didn't give him any real chance to study his opponent, and now, he knew he was in for trouble. Seto knew exactly who the woman was before him, a knight of Ulrien, one who he ran into just days before the tournament, trying to look into his 'haunted' tower. Dame Lorn. She stood before him strong and sturdy as ever with disciplined eyes that one only got from years of training. Before him, was nothing less than what he would expect from a candidate for hero of Ulrien. Her stance was so solid a boulder wouldn't make her flinch, the sword in her grip glistened like gold in the setting sun, and her eyes were direct and forward, fired up for this battle.

"I'm glad to see all my training for this battle won't be for nothing," she said in a manner that could almost be considered friendly if she wasn't bound to a mission, "Aren't you the guy I met a few days ago, in the fog."

"Depends if you were the crazy knight going on about some haunted tower," Seto responded.

"Funny," she said. There was not a hint of humor in her voice, but neither was there irritation. The job was set before her, and Lorn had no time for frivolous irritations. "Listen, while I would have never originally thought it, I've seen you've gone through a lot over this tournament and done a lot of good for the people. So don't get me wrong, I respect your dedication and deeds this far. However..." She raised her sword, preparing for the final match in front of her. "Don't forget that as a knight of Ulrien, I've helped a lot of people too. There can only be one hero for each region, and I've trained hard for this fight. Don't think I'll go easy on you."

"Yeah, I'm sure not," Seto said, but for once, the cockiness wasn't there. As he stared into the girl's eyes, he could feel his insides squirm and throat close up. He could already tell he was in for the fight of his life.

He brace himself, but couldn't help the tension that was flowing through his veins. Then something white took it's stand next him.

"Snowy?" Seto asked, and the dog gave a confirming bark, readying itself into battle position. Lorn herself, was quite surprised. Was the dog actually planning to fight alongside him? At least, Samu wouldn't allow. "No, get lost Snowy. I can't have you getting in my way." The dog whimpered, refusing the leave but the teen was stern. He sighed, and nudged the dog with his foot. "Noâ€¦. Your owner asked me to take care of you, I doubt putting you on the frontline of battle is doing that." Finally, the beaten akita lowered his head and started off, looking back one more time. Seto lowered his head. "Go..." A smirk perked up on his face, "Hmph, if I can last a night with you, then I think I can last a final match." The dog raised it's head back up and gave a slight reassured wag of the tail, and then according to it's master's wishes, headed off in the direction of Tsubaki and Luther. Seto's smirk disappeared as he turned back to Lorn. Finally, it was time.

The baroness spread her arms, and the audience seemed to freeze his suspense. "Now... After a the long wait, begins Ulrien's greatest battle. The final battle to determine the strongest, the most noble warrior in the land of forest and greenery. Only one will erupt from this fight victorious. Let the battle for title of Ulrien's hero... BEGIN! "

"HAH!"

Not a second later, the woman was gone. No longer was Seto facing a female knight but a monstrous hurricane of steel, slashing and jabbing with speed not even the eye could follow. He was tripping backwards, ducking and dodging with every breath. There was no time to concentrate, no time to summon, and he didn't even have the luxury to turn and run. Lorn was stabbing, jabbing, slicing, and dicing with every blink of the eye and every step of the foot. Like Seto predicted, this girl was not the man he faced in the first round, she wasn't Ruin Girl, and she wasn't King Nothing. She was nobody he had ever faced before. This was the finalist for hero of Ulrien, and he was in her way. "@#$%!" he swore, as second by second he was forced closer and closer to the arena wall. The round had just began, and the clock was already ticking down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmph, I knew it," Seto said, with a grin as large as a bear's, "When there's treacherous terrain, there's no people, and when there's no people..." He chuckled to himself. The fossilized bones were everywhere, littered among the crevice like pebbles. Every creature, every mysterious being lost to time, were all sitting there below him, waiting for their secrets to be pried. Slowly, the mantis began to slip down into the crevice and Seto's eyes narrowed. He concentrated on each step and every ledge the steed hooked on to. Ledges wobbled and shifted under the golem's weight, and years of built up sand were sent spilling down into the the bottomless abyss, but he didn't dare let his creature slip. There were reasons this gold mine hadn't been picked, but alas, Seto was determined to be the first.

Slow and steadily, he reached his target, the skull of a great horned creature. Now nothing more than part of a sedentary collection, it's long, broken maw gaped from the wall revealing rows and rows of smooth, shark-like teeth. "Steady," he told himself, as he plucked through his belt for the right tools and began to work. He couldn't possibly liberate all these bones at once, let alone carry them through Escantha, but at least the skull would provide him with some research enjoyment for a while.

The work was dull and tedious, scratching the rock and dirt speck by speck out of the skull's eye socket, so after a few hours it wasn't new for Seto's mind began to wander. How did all these ancient animals die anyway? It's kind of funny to find so many different creatures lost to one area and to be found in a crevice, no less.Â Perhaps this was tar pit long ago, and a couple millions years later an earth quake or eruption split the earth? No that couldn't be right. Perhaps...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AH S@#%!" The tool fell into the abyss, and not long after, came the mantis and it's rider. Wind picked up around them as the light above grew farther and farther away, but the excavator wasn't about to become part of any fossil collection just yet.

SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK! The mantis dug all six limbs into the boney wall, scratching and damaging as it went, but it did it's job. The terror came to stop. "WHAT THE HECK!?" Seto yelled up at the crack of light above him. Having recovered, the mantis began to crawl back up, digging it's claws around the fossils bringing back up its furious master. The redhead swore he was going to kick the butt of whoever nearly killed him, and especially caused him to destroy all those poor invaluable specimens.

However, when the emergence of new voices reached his ears, his fury disintegrated for a small moment. There was scuffling outside.

"Please, leave my granddaughter alone! We're just poor lost travelers."

"Oh? Is that so? Heh, I have to say you wear some pretty fancy material for poor travelers."

"Grandpa! Help me! KYAH!"

"SHUT UP BRAT!"

The anger in Seto's stomach rose again, but this was a new kind of anger.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bam! Time was up, Seto's back hit stone, and he was cornered. Lorn loomed in front of him, sword held high, and then it came down like a bolt of lightning.

But Seto wasn't going to become a part of any fossil collection just yet.

CHNK! Metal met stone. Nothing was left from the skilled knight's attack except a large hole chipped from the arena wall. Seto had found a spare second. "HUH!?" Lorn looked over her shoulder to see the familiar red coat just a few feet off, waving wildly as the teen tried to figure out what to do. Looks like this battle wouldn't be over as quickly as she hoped. Such a pain, but she knew he couldn't have gotten this far on dumb luck. However, she did figure out one thing. Whatever weapon this guy had in store wasn't in the game yet, and it was up to her to make sure it never was. "HYAH!" She struck at him like cobra, just as quick and nimble as before.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is all I have," the poor old man sobbed, dumping his bag out on the rocky ground, "Please, let her go. She did nothing to you."

The chief bandit, slim, bearded, and decorated with a handkerchief around the neck, smeared the contents over the ground with the sole of his leather boot. The scrolls tattered, the tea cups chipped, and the rice cakes browned with mud.

"This? This is all you have? THIS IS JUST JUNK!" the items were sent flying into the air, and made further unrecognizable as they came back down ugly and broken.

'Some piece of work there,' Seto snorted, as he watched from behind a boulder. The bandits were carrying many various weapons on them, from clubs to daggers. Some more expensive than others, but there was nothing that was out of his league. He stood up from his hiding spot, preparing the mantis to charge but had to hesitate.

"Don't play dumb, you have to have something valuable on you, I can smell it. Or else... you know what I do to guys like you?" The man took out some silverware and began to juggle them in his hand. Soon, they began to mold and twist, growing together to form large dagger. No need for heat or tools. He was of the steel element, and skilled at it. The inventor swallowed, and turned to sit back down. His nose wrinkled and eyes gazed to the ground. Crud. That was not a good sign. This was a guy could play with his golems like putty. He looked back at the crevice, still filled with fossils, still filled with mysteries. Perhaps it was better not to get involved. These people were none of his business anyway, were they?

"Please! I really don't!" the old man said, dropping to his hands and knees.

"Hey Cron, I really don't think these two have anything on them," one of the thugs snorted, spitting on the ground.

"Huuuh... Yeah... Yeah, you know, I think you're right actually. Well, that's quite a shame, because we really don't go through all this trouble for nothing do we?" the leader bandit said. He strutted around the old man begging for mercy and the most evil grin stretched his face, "Hold down the girl."

"KYAAAHH!" the girl screamed, kicking as best as she could but the monster still slammed her to the wall of the cliff.

"Oh, oh no... Please no!" the grandfather bawled.

"GWAHCK!"

Suddenly, the girl screams quieted to strained gasps and the bandits dropped dead silent. Through the back of the thug holding down the girl was nothing less than the large sharpened claw belonging to a certain mantis.

"Do you know that people like you really tick me off?"

No matter the obstacle. No matter the doubts.

The teen stepped out from the dust, coat billowing in the wind as faced the group of a dozen brutish bandits.

When something needs to be done, it needs to be done.

The thugs brandished their weapons.

There was no running.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SHWIIING!

The woman shot back as two sharpened claws missed her blue robe by centimeters. Lorn slid backwards across the arena with her free hand and feet, eyes wide and teeth clenched. She looked up, and what she found sent her heart dropping and the first plan in her game to a crashing halt. It was too late for a quick battle now. A metal mantis was on the field, and Seto was ready to play.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to be backing up into walls anymore."