[… Hm. This might be tough.]
Knuckles crashed into flesh and bone up ahead. The fights were underway, and the drasen crowd cheered the day's warriors on as they punched and kicked each other. Liri and Arisa stood a small distance away, spectating with a pair of slightly worried expressions.
"One of them has a Soul Rating of 2100," Liri whispered. "The other one, the one who's losing, has a Soul Rating of 1900."
"I see… That's quite close to me," Arisa replied just as quietly. "That is surprising to hear."
"Really?" Liri asked, turning toward her.
"I... I had always assumed they were far stronger." Arisa's eyes remained fixed on the bout as she spoke. Every word that came out of her mouth was laced with a strange sense of shame. "I… I have not won too many fights against others. Though, I have not participated in many either."
The more she spoke, the more Liri came to understand that, although she looked the way that she did, the culture this woman was raised under had instilled terrible insecurity in her.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much Liri felt she could do about that. Right now, they had something pretty important to get through first. Regardless, in the future, she still wanted to try.
[Wait, in the future?] She asked herself. [I'm leaving this place once this whole thing is done. We're probably not gonna be talking for much longer, right?]
Shaking her head, Liri forced herself to focus on the current event. She responded then to Arisa with:
"Well, raw numbers are one thing, but it doesn't mean too much if you don't know what to do with them, right?"
"What do you mean?" Arisa asked, finally taking her eyes off the fight for a moment.
Liri tried to put forth a confident smile. Just so she looked like she knew what she was talking about, at least.
"I'm saying, isn't skill still a factor? Even if they're stronger than you, if you fight smarter than they do, you can still win."
"Fight... smarter?" Arisa asked, arching a brow.
"You know... Use a variety of techniques. Stuff that doesn't necessarily have to do with how hard you can punch."
"Oh," Arisa replied. "I'm likely worse in that aspect as well." The drasen gave a fairly self-deprecating laugh upon saying that. Liri gave her a confident smile in return.
"Thankfully, you're not alone today, are you?"
Arisa's eyes widened. Her lips went into an "O" shape as she looked back at Liri. The sight made the ven giggle.
"Right! Are you-" she lowered her volume, "are you a skilled fighter? I mean, I know you are strong, I have seen it, but, do you know many techniques?"
"A few," Liri shrugged. "One of my mothers was a soldier, after all. She did teach me a thing or two."
"Liri," Arisa said, with a deep sense of warmth and adoration, "you truly have been quite the blessing. I do not know what I've done to deserve your kindness, but I will try to ensure it is not misplaced."
"It's nothing," Liri replied, turning just a little shy at the praise being sent her way. "But, yeah, let's go over a few things."
---
Two hours passed, and although that was more time than Liri had felt they'd get, there was only so much she could talk about. The time in between each fight was, of course, due to the fact that the winner needed to take a break before engaging their next opponent. The ven was thankful, as turning an inexperienced, slightly cowardly, amateurish fighter into a proper combatant was impossible, but she had to try, for Arisa's sake.
So, she went over some of the things Alma had taught her back at Elmira. Remembering the conversations she had with her mother almost brought a tear to Liri's eye, but she tried to focus on the matter at hand as best as she could. By the time that it was finally Arisa's turn to fight, it seemed like the woman had a slightly better chance of winning than she did before.
Even if she still appeared just as nervous.
"I will try to do as you suggested, though… I must admit, I am afraid of making a mistake somehow."
"You might, but what matters is that you try," Liri told her. She reached over, held onto the woman's right hand, and squeezed it a little. "I already told you. Whatever happens, how I feel about you is going to stay the same. So, get out there and do your best, alright?"
Arisa's black lips curled up at the corners. She flexed one of her arms as she looked down at the ven.
"I will do just that."
Eventually, Arisa's opponent was ready.
Inhaling slowly, Arisa's smile faded and a serious, determined expression found its way onto her face. The woman stepped forward. The eyes of every drasen nearby landed on her, following her all the way to the ring.
The challenger, the one who'd bested all the other romantics and made it to the final stage of this little tourney, was one of the three women. Her bandaged knuckles had a few red stains caused by the blood she'd drawn from her previous opponents.
As Arisa stepped up, she gave a cocky smirk.
"You're actually fighting? I would have rather you didn't even bother with the formalities and just let me have her," she stated, pointing a finger lazily at Liri. "Ah, but don't worry. Since you bothered to show up, I'll do you a favor. I'll let you listen in from another room as I fuck her."
The crowd liked that one.
At that moment, Liri couldn't help but think that if they were in Elmira, the only thing they'd potentially be fighting over was who would get to screw Liri *first*.
And, even then, it would only be a fight because they'd both insist the other should go first, not them.
"You shouldn't celebrate your victory just yet," Arisa replied.
"Nah, this fight is already over. You and I both know that. But, hey, come on. Give me your best shot."
Arisa took a deep breath and nodded.
With that, she stepped into the ring and, finally, the fight was about to begin.