FOUR

"Let's see what you two have got," Alice's voice was filled with her normal arrogance as Kon and Diur stalked toward her. Both of them had been dragged into the arena by the red head in the early morning before they were to leave. She hadn't said a word about what they were to do, but there hadn't been a lot of options that Alice would have them marching toward the fighting pits at the crack of dawn.

"Hit me," Alice said as she stood stock still. Diur started the fight, darting forward and kicking hard toward the taller woman's leg. Alice stepped back and let Diur's heel shoot through the space her knee had been before casually jabbing her with a straight. Diur's head rocked back, but at best it was a stinging wound.

A flood of heat filled Kon as he looked at his first mentor and remembered the first time they had fought. The casual way she had beat him, over and over without thought. Things had changed though, his body was nowhere near as weak as it had been, partially thanks to her but mostly through the use of the powerful body cultivation he'd been undergoing since they'd split.

He shot toward her, ground erupting from under his feet as he crossed the distance in a heartbeat. Alice's eyes widened fractionally at the burst of speed, but she didn't retreat. She met him head on, dodging under his hook and crushing his ribs with an uppercut that drove his breath out of him with a grunt. His ribs didn't give though, his breath rushed out of him but nothing broke.

Kon smiled as he took a half-step back, foot sliding in the dirt, but he stayed in striking range rather than getting thrown backward. Diur didn't hesitate as she stepped forward, keeping the range close as she threw a furious combination at Alice. The two of them worked together, their time fighting Benny coming into use as they penned her in with alternating strikes, never giving her time to breath as they slowly pushed her back.

Neither of them had landed a clean hit, all of them blocked, dodged, or deflected, but the time was coming. Kon could feel the flow of the fight how it pushed him forward to finish it as Alice's back touched the stone edge of the pit. They didn't slow as they flew at her, controlled violence that left few opening for Alice to counter with.

"You two are little brats, you know that?" Alice said with a laugh as Kon's fist connected with her chin. Even with his reinforced bones he thought he felt something break in his hand and when she turned to look at him there was blood smeared across her teeth as she smiled widely at them.

"My turn." She didn't accelerate or pull deeper from her own powerful pools of energy to activate runes that would give her an advantage. Kon didn't have time to understand how suddenly she was inside of his guard, stomping on his instep as the crown of her head hit the bridge of his nose.

Pain, tears, and blood mingled as he staggered back, each step sending a pang of pain through his leg as broken bones screamed in agony as he put weight on his foot. He blinked tears free to look around, but Alice wasn't in front of him anymore, she was dueling Diur in a ferocious blitz of strikes.

Kon knew Diur was better in hand to hand than he was, she'd had years more of training than he had. It was now watching as she weathered the storm he realized that while his own growth had been meteoric, that Diur's had been equally as impressive.

Her clan's fighting style had blended well with the striking and wrestling Alice had taught them and even better with Benny's locks and throws that were meant to even a fight against a stronger opponent. Alice was just better than both of them.

She slipped a joint lock as if she was boneless, ducked a roundhouse kick, and retaliated by sweeping Diur's plant leg with relative ease. Kon charged back in, knowing that if Diur was finished off now, then he wouldn't be far behind.

Alice spun, falling low with her hands outstretched in front of her and Kon had a sinking feeling right before she bolted forward. Her shoulder planted itself in his waist as her hands grabbed behind his knees and she drove him up and off his feet. Kon hammered elbow strikes into her shoulders and neck, but her head was hidden as she'd tucked it into his side and back.

They fell, Alice driving him into the dirt with all of her weight. Pain and pressure smashed into him, but he kept his focus, slamming another elbow into her jaw as she pulled up to get the full mount. Laughter bubbled out of her bloody mouth as she knocked one of his arms away and then red hot pain exploded across his body. His vision flashed red-white, the world dissolved and spun wildly as stars danced across his vision.

"That's it! Keep fighting even while you're broken!" Alice's voice crowed in triumph somewhere far away as Kon felt flesh under his knuckles. Just as his vision began to clear and the world grew still, another concussive blast sent him spinning. He fought against it, hitting and thrashing as he tried to pitch her off of himself while trying to figure out where he was, body moving through muscle memory.Weight disappeared and the repeated blows that had kept his head swimming stopped as the sounds of curses and flesh hitting flesh happened not far away.

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Warmth filled his mouth as he rolled to his side and blood and bile rolled out of him as he continued to blink away the stars that filled his vision. Slowly the world came back into shape and he looked over just as Alice threw Diur into the wall of the pit. Stone shattered in a spray of shrapnel as the Ulmna girl was buried half a foot into the side of the ring.

"Damnit Alice," Kon groaned as he spat out another wad of blood. Something white floated in the mix of blood, spit, and vomit and his tongue ran over the empty spot his tooth had previously occupied.

"You two are finally worth fighting," Alice said, her voice joyous as she turned to look at him. Her nose was crooked, lips smashed flat, hair sweaty and matted with a long cut running down her scalp while one eye was already blackening. She looked alive, radiant as she stood around the pit with a big smile showcasing her red stained teeth.

Kon managed to get to his feet, put his hands up in a guard, but then Alice was in front of him. She smashed through his guard, grabbing him by his shoulders as she dragged him toward her as her knee crashed into the apex of his thighs. Pain.

Kon threw up on her as he buckled in half, knees hitting the dirt as he grabbed at himself as twisted, knotted pain clung to his guts and sent daggers of pain through his body.

"You have to get ready for that when the fight is for takes," Alice said coldly. Kon looked up at her through watery eyes just as Diur tackled her, the two of them falling to the ground and rolling over him. A stray fist hit his temple and his view turned black for a moment, but his new improved body wasn't letting unconsciousness take him yet.

The two girls rolled off of him, still grappling for advantage until Alice's foot got planted in Diur's gut. Then the girl was flailing through the air as Alice shoved her into the air. Alice rolled to her feet just as Diur crashed face first into the spot Alice had just been.

"I was hoping for more," Alice said, chuckling nasally through her broken nose.

"Not done yet," Kon growled as he got to his feet. His guts were still twisted up in agony and that next step was breathtakingly exquisite agony, but he still did it.

"Lot more durable now, I'll give you that. Haven't seen much extra offensive power though," Alice said as she started to walk forward. She didn't bother to put up a guard and Kon felt a blaze of anger at that. Even after all of what they'd been through, he wasn't a challenge to her. Diur had landed more blows, fought harder and longer, and still he was so far below Alice.

"That looks promising," Alice muttered. Kon didn't listen to her, he was attacking. He didn't let that shame and anger drive him into being sloppy, but he stopped pulling his punches.

Alice tanked the first punch and Kon thought he felt her sternum crack under his already busted hand. That or was more of his own bones breaking. It was just more pain to add to the laundry list of injuries that were slowing him down. A hint of shock crossed Alice's bloody face, but she responded in kind, her own punch hitting the same place on his ribs she'd already hit. This time bones did crack.

"Much more durable," Alice said just as Kon hit her in the face. He aimed for her broken nose and the crunch of cartilage and spray of blood was rewarding. Alice didn't retreat, she just responded with her own strike. Back and forth they traded blows, Kon digging deep into his resolve to stay standing as they continued to batter each other.

Punch after punch, neither of them backing down. Kon felt his consciousness begin to fade, blackness tinting the edges of his vision until the only thing he could see was Alice's face. Blood, cuts, contusions, all of it mangled her normal visage, but as he stared at her he had the realization that this was what she was. This fight, this moment, was where Alice Roose lived and every other moment she simply existed.

Alice's face disappeared as the ground rushed up to meet him, comforting in its attempt to let him sleep. The black edges held for a moment, threatening to overcome him, but then they started to fade as he slowly breathed in and out through his mouth.

"That was a good scrap," Alice said panting from somewhere above him.

"We still have a ways to go to match you," Diur said off to the side. Kon couldn't turn his head to look at them, his entire body was drained, empty of all vigor as he stared up at the rough rock ceiling.

"Not bad at all. Little shit has a sting when you piss him off," Alice said. Kon knew they were talking about him but was too tired to do anything but lay there.

"Steel body can take a beating. Going to have to do something about offensive power." Some part of his brain was still functioning, taking notes to be observed later when he wasn't a ruin.

"Alright, gather round and I'll heal us up," Alice said. Kon didn't move, couldn't move, and he finally heard the girls shuffle over to stand by him.

"Damn, I did do a number on him. Got a bit carried away," Alice said, not sounding regretful at all. Purple aura spilled around them and Kon felt the healing tinges of Regrowth start to prickle at him. Bones snapped back into place as fresh skin grew over cuts, a tooth wiggled its way out of his gums and a new surge of energy had him groaning and getting to his knees.

"Travel safe now. Daniur is a bit insane, but she knows her shit. You'll have to find a few good fights but when we get back together we'll hunt some real dangerous prey," Alice was saying to Diur. Thin, strong fingers gripped his elbow and helped him stand straight. Diur was looking at him with a hint of concern, but it disappeared in a flash.

"I won't be there to watch your blindsides anymore. Swivel your head more when you fight," Diur said, patting him on the arm before turning and walking away without another word.

"She does have a way for words," Alice said after a moment of silence.

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