As the hunter led Talon closer to the barracks, a distant voice caught his attention, shouting in distress.
Panic surged through him. 'It's coming from the barracks, what if Thorn is in danger?'
The worst scenarios raced through his mind, propelling him to rush straight into the barracks.
"NO!" shouted a white-haired boy, approximately Talon and Thorn's age. The boy flew through the air and crushed into the ground.
"At least put up a fight, if you're the only one here with the same stature as me!" laughed the victorious orc girl.
She had dark brown eyes and long braided dark hair, she carried herself with the same pride that defined almost every orc, she was muscular for someone her age, even by orc standards.
She, too, was the same age as Talon. Glancing around once more, everyone seemed to be around the same age.
"Ta- Talon, it's still strange to call you by this name, it's good to see you." Chuckled Thorn as he rushed to Talon's side.
"What's happening here?" asked Talon, gradually calming down as he realized his unnecessary panic.
"Oh, it's just Rokara. She makes everyone arm wrestle with her, ouch," winced Thorn, rubbing her now, swollen wrist with a pained expression.
"Oh, a newcomer! Come here this instant and arm wrestle me if you're not a coward!"
Shouted Rokara towards him. As Talon glanced again at Thorn's wrist, he became enraged. However, looking at the others, everyone had swollen wrists—thankfully, no one had broken theirs.
'This is a goddamn lunatic!'
"If that's what you want, then fine!" said Talon as he made his way to Rokara with a determined expression.
The two sat down in front of each other, locking their hands together, ready to crush the other.
Then, a blond-haired boy stepped in. His long, golden locks were tied back in a neat ponytail, and his blue eyes sparkled like precious gemstones.
The instant Talon caught sight of him, a heavy wave of jealousy crashed over him like a tidal wave.
'How is this fair that someone can look this handsome... well, I would probably look way better than him if I had both of my eyes... but still, this is just not fair towards me.'
Unaware, lost in thought, and consumed by the worst jealousy he had ever experienced, Talon found himself fixated on the boy, his gaze unwavering.
This caused Rokara to wait for him impatiently, while simultaneously making the boy feel somewhat embarrassed by the intensity of Talon's stare.
"Get to it already!" shouted Rokara in frustration, snapping Talon back to reality. The two were still locked in arms, waiting for the blond-haired boy.
As he placed his hand on top of theirs, they tensed their muscles, staring at each other with a serious expression.
While Rokara was naturally competitive, Talon was planning to take revenge not just on Thorn, but everyone in the barracks as he saw their injured hands.
"Three..." counted the boy. Rokara grinned at Talon, revealing her fang as an intimidation tactic.
"Two..." Talon grinned back at her.
"GO!"
The moment the boy gave his signal, the two contestants exerted every bit of power they had to push the other back.
To the shock of the injured crowd, Talon did not end up like the rest of them.
With a sudden push, Rokara managed to push Talon's hand, but couldn't exactly make him touch the table with his hand.
The two were at a stalemate, without activating their gift, they could not push each other back, no matter how hard they tried.
'No, it's not worth risking losing control for this. I can't activate it.'
"I have to give it to you, your strength is impressive!" grinned Rokara at Talon.
Just as she said this, her dark brown eyes slowly turned red, a hint of madness finding its way into them.
Her grip around Talon's hand tightened, and she steadily pushed his hand closer to the table. 'It feels like my arm could snap at any minute, but I can't activate it!'
At first, he thought he could handle the pain, but the more he struggled, the more unbearable it became.
His vision faltered as a red mist slowly oozed from his body, such a seemingly insignificant amount that no one noticed it, except Thorn.
"Concentrate, Talon!" The others in the barrack thought that this was her way of cheering for the boy as they instantly joined her, cheering him on, every one of them wanted to see someone beat Rokara in her own game, as she harassed them with this the moment they met her.
Their voice reached him, but only for an insignificant moment as Talon could not maintain his consciousness, as it slowly faded into nothing.
His blood-red eye became hollow, as his strength rose to a level that wasn't meant to be reached by someone his age, as his grip tightened even more on Rokara's hand, threatening to break it.
As they attempted to overpower each other, the only casualty was the desk they used for arm wrestling, which broke under the strain.
At that moment, both of them spiraled into a state of uncontrollable frenzy.
With the desk gone, they released each other's hands and stared at one another with a profound madness in their eyes.
Rokara was the first to move, as she rushed at Talon, throwing a feral right hook towards Talon's face, who just stepped into her obviously telegraphed attack.
Neither of them felt pain in this state as they wildly exchanged punches.
Talon had the advantage of speed, while Rokara was stronger than him, and this strength only grew as the madness grew inside of her.
Even in his feral state, Talon used his speed to his maximum as he began to circle toward Rokara, punching and kicking her in the process.
Then suddenly, Rokara shouted like a bloodthirsty beast, then stomped the ground with all her might, breaking the floor that they stood on, the planks that made up the floor were flying everywhere.
Yet, instead of getting caught in the stomp, Talon jumped highly into the air and unleashed a kick at Rokara's head with his right leg. But before the kick could connect with Rokara's head, she grabbed Talon's leg.
Began to wildly swing him around, breaking even more things in the barrack.
Before Talon could get slammed to the ground one more time, he spun his body and used his left leg to deliver a powerful kick to Rokara's ribs.
After receiving such damage, she let go of Talon's leg which landed on his feet.
This time, he was on the offensive, he started rapidly striking the same place, her ribs.
This caused too much damage as he broke more than 3 of her ribs.
However, in her frenzied state, Rokara couldn't care less. She unleashed a devastating right hook that sent Talon flying to the end of the barrack, close to the entrance.
Just then, the hunter who had led Talon to the barracks burst through the door.
"What the hell is happening, you goddamn freaks?!" he roared, demanding answers from the two.
It was evident to him that they were in a berserk-like state.
"What are you bunch doing? They're obviously out of it, yet you just sit there, doing nothing?!" The hunter shouted at the spectators.
In response, the handsome blond boy decided to answer the hunter's question with a question.
"We apologize, sir, but could you enlighten us on how we were expected to halt those two when one of them nearly shattered all our wrists without even resorting to their Gift?"
The boy's tone was unmistakably tinged with sarcasm, further fueling the hunter's anger as he unsheathed his longsword.
"Stand down, both of you or not even that rat, Damien, can stop me from killing you!" barked the hunter.
The two changed a blind glance, shifting their target to the hunter.
Talon, closer to the entrance, struck first with a leg sweep, causing the hunter to trip.
Seizing the opportunity, Rokara rushed to the hunter, building up momentum, jumped into the air, and unleashed a devastating kick at the hunter's abdomen, sending him flying out of the door.
Thorn, witnessing this from the sidelines, face palmed, unable to intervene.
Without the hunter to intervene again, the two rushed at each other yet again, their eyes filled with the same murderous madness, now even worse.
At this point, Rokara had completely lost control of her Gift, while Talon was almost fully covered by red mist, indicating the same.
But before they could collide once again, they found themselves unable to move toward the other. Looking down at their feet, they discovered their lower bodies were frozen solid.
Before they could attempt to free themselves from their icy prison, Damien appeared between the two and swiftly delivered a blow to the back of their heads, rendering them unconscious simultaneously.
"Sorry kids!"