16 Marionne and Telmano

"Incapacitate your foes or have them concede."

Myrene said as she stood in between the couple and the two platinum adventurers.

The Guild's very own training ground located at its back might well be considered a small arena due its size. 

There were curious adventurers watching from the sidelines, some wanted to see if the couple truly had the strength to jump straight into platinum while some wanted to see them fail, proving their view that their confidence is nothing more than hubris - dragging the couple into their level. 

The two platinum adventurers mimicked the sentiment of the former, if the newcomers that stood before them truly are worthy then they would gladly judge it for themselves. 

Telmano, the centaur welding a battle axe with both his hands, spoke. His deep voice befit his tall and large stature. "I'll take on little miss eye patch over here. Tell you what, survive two hits from my battle axe and I'll let you pass. Sounds good?"

The centaur's smile was confident as he issued his challenge. Ellamir, however, looked like she was about to fly into a rage.

"The fuck did you just call me!? You overgrown mule!"

Telmano's flippant demeanor vanished, his kindness doesn't extend to those belittling his centaur heritage, "Ease up on the attitude, you'd have no chance of passing if I took this seriously."

Listening to their spat, The Amazon grumbled, why does Ellamir have to be always so difficult? 

Myrene, their examiner, was right in front of them. A person that could easily bar Ellamir from becoming an adventurer if she deemed her antics to be too problematic.

Antani elbowed Ellamir's side, followed by the sternest look she could muster, just to let her know that she's pissed as hell. 

"Ellamir, Calm down."

Ellamir's heart sank. Antani only looks at her like that when she's ran out of patience. She couldn't stand it. The dark elf clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Tsk. Fine, you don't have to stare at me like that." 

Ellamir's angry pouting face immediately filled Antani with the desire to wrap her arms around her had they not been in public. Antani wanted to coddle Ellamir whenever she could, maybe she wanted to make up for the lack of affection that Ellamir received from her childhood. Maybe she just really wants to spoil Ellamir. 

One thing is for sure, they really need to work on Ellamir's temper, but for now they should focus on their rank test. Antani put her hand on Ellamir's shoulder, her stern look from before is now replaced with a benevolent one as she assuages her partner, "Let's just finish this so we could both celebrate, okay?"

Ellamir gave Antani a weak smile before she nodded. 

"I would try to win first before having any thoughts of celebrating." Marionne, the wood elf, cut in with a grin. This earned him a death glare from the couple for trying to ruin their moment. He was so terrified by how in sync the two were that the grin on his face disappeared.

"Enough of this, let's begin." Myrene announced as she gained ample distance from the two fighters alongside Ellamir and Marionne. 

+++

Shadows condensed around Ellamir, forming into obsidian armor. Spider legs stretched on her back like ominous wings.

Telmano gripped his battle axe tighter. He was a bit taken aback by the malaise exuded by Ellamir's armor. Yet it wasn't enough to dim his mood for battle. They were dubbed as gladiators, heavy cavalry, and natural born fighters. He will show the dark elf whelp before him what it means to fight a Centaur. 

Ellamir raised her fingers into a V sign.

"Peace be with you too, missy." The centaur said. 

"No, you donkey! I'm giving you two free hits before we begin the fight. Make it count."

Ellamir remembered his remark earlier about her winning if she withstood two of his attacks. She wasn't going to play by his rules, he will play by hers.

 He seems to be confident with his strength and it just so happens that she is confident in her armor's sturdiness. Time to put the two to the test. 

Telmano galloped towards Ellamir, stopping once he was in striking distance. The centaur grinned when he realized that Ellamir was actually serious. What a madwoman. 

He raised his battle axe up high, like an executioner delivering his final verdict. 

"You're going to regret this." Telmano's battle axe ominously hung above.

Ellamir's voice echoed under her armor, "Do you have any plans of swinging that down or are you just going to pose like a statue all day?"

Telmano couldn't see it but she was actually wearing the same cocky grin underneath her shadow armor.

*Boom*

His axe slammed down on Ellamir's spider legs. Its impact nullified. Had she not insulted him earlier this feat would have been enough to make him concede. Now he has to teach her humility. 

"Is that all?" Ellamir questioned. 

"Hardly." Telmano gripped his axe as tight as he possibly could, a prerequisite for his next strike. His first strike was just a test, to see if Ellamir could handle his full might. She passed. 

He raised his axe again, only this time his entire body went with it. Standing on his hind legs, a rearing centaur with his battle axe raised upon the heavens was both majestic and foreboding to behold. 

Instinctively, Ellamir huddled her spider legs tighter in anticipation. 

"Now yield!" 

A sound akin to an explosion shook the training ground. His battle axe came crashing into Ellamir, along with his entire weight. 2300 pounds of raw power….Horsepower?

The impact made Ellamir a bit groggy but that was mostly it. The dreadful feeling Ellamir experienced reminded her of the time when Antani punched the shit out of her with a mana infused fist. The centaur before him managed to put a dent in her spider legs with his strength alone.  If she wasn't using her armor she would no doubt be split into two by now. 

"Magnificent!" Telmano exclaimed. In his eyes Ellamir had already passed. It's a shame about her attitude though. 

His amazed grin turned into a mischievous one. He's going to give the Dark elf a congratulatory gift. 

While she was still recovering from his strike, Telmano quickly turned around, his back legs facing Ellamir. 

The next thing Ellamir saw were two horse legs about to implant into her abdomen.  There was another boom as Ellamir was sent flying out of the training ground, scattering the onlookers. 

Once she recovered, Her eye burned with anger as she charged the centaur - but before she could close in…..

"I concede."

"Alright, victory goes to Miss Ellamir." Myrene announced. 

The confusion made Ellamir stop in her tracks.

"What!? But I'm not done with you yet! Get back here and fight me!"

The centaur galloped back to his wood elf friend, not even sparing Ellamir a backward glance. He was over with her shit. 

Telmano chuckled, "Oh, but I am so done with you. Take your victory, you earned it."

Ellamir returned to Antani's side.

Frustration was apparent in Ellamir's face, making Antani sigh. Was she still mad about being horse kicked off the stage?

"Hey, you won. Cheer up." Antani consoled Ellamir. 

Antani held Ellamir's hand, dousing her anger with a simple touch. Ellamir clasped harder as her expression softened. If only she didn't play around.

"I wanted to show the result of our training together." 

Antani wanted to laugh at her childish reason but went against it not because it would upset Ellamir, but because she saw the sincerity in Ellamir's eyes when she said it.

"It's okay, you'll have plenty of opportunities to show it in the future." Antani reassured Ellamir as she let go of her hand, making her way into battle. 

Before she got too far Antani heard Ellamir's voice making her turn around, "Don't you dare lose." 

"As if I'd ever. Watch me, and don't blink, alright?"

The two exchanged a heartfelt smile as Antani proceeded to face her opponent. 

+++

Marionne was grinning at Antani as they faced off. He wasn't making fun of the amazon per se, it was just his natural disposition to be a friendly tease.

Antani returned his grin in kind, followed by a question.

"Shall we begin?"

The wood elf emitted a mischievous laugh, "ᜋᜋᜌ ᜈ"

"I have absolutely no idea what you just said. I'm just going to take that as yes."

The amazon rushed forward, with a slash. Marionne was quick on the retreat as Antani hit nothing but air.

Antani took her stance, readying for another offensive as she observed her foe.

In an open field devoid of trees one might think that a wood elf is at the disadvantage, however, forests and trees aren't their only allies. They're also blessed by the wind itself, letting their arrows fly true to their target.

His bow at the ready, its strings taut. At first glance he was pulling his string with no arrow, but upon further inspection, it was there. An arrow made out of wind.

*Fwip*

The arrow was released, with terrifying speed it was about to hit its intended target, Antani's head.

Be that as may, if it was constructed from mana then Antani could cut it with her own mana infused blade. With a swift slash she severed his wind arrow in two, a testament to her swiftness.

Her expression was of absolute focus while Marionne's grin remained unfaded. He was still amused, after all, she deflected his warning shot with ease.

Antani charged again, she didn't want to give the wood elf another chance to draw his bow.

Her slash didn't connect again, once Marionned gained enough distance he readied his bow once more.

He wasn't as lenient as Telmano, he could see the promise within the amazon but if she wanted him to concede then her victory must be decisive.

*Fwip**Fwip**Fwip*

He released a barrage of wind arrows, each time he would change her target to different vital parts but the amazon deflected it without fail.

*Fwip**Fwip**Fwip*

He was unrelenting. In between his flurry of arrows he wondered, which would give in first, his mana pool or her stamina?

Minutes later their breathing started to become ragged. He paused to take a breather but the moment he did so Antani rushed forward with her sword yet again, naturally this prompted Marionne to evade again. 

Others might call his hit and run tactics unfair, but to Antani it was part of a bowman's strategy, she knew it well because their patron goddess' weapon is a bow.

How is she then planning to scale the distance between them?

Now that she has acclimated to his movements all she needs to do is deliver a strike before he could evade. 

Fast approaching, Antani brought her sword low enough to etch the ground.

Marionne anticipated that she was planning something, right as he was about to jump backwards - with an arcing swing, the amazon launched a handful of soil excavated from the tip of her sword straight into his eyes.

In his momentary moment of blindness, the amazon translated her arcing sword swing into a roundhouse kick straight into the wood elf's temple. Second form of Amazon swordsmanship, "Crouching Lion".

Marionne's world spun from the impact, right after he gathered his bearings the Amazon's sword was already pointed at him. Graceful in defeat, Marionne regained his grin.

"Victory goes to Miss Antani!"

+++

Uncharacteristic of her, Ellamir ran towards Antani, ending their Guild application with an Embrace. 

Ellamir was overflowing with joy that she didn't care, she just had to hug Antani now that the first part of their dream together was finally realized. Finally, they could both start walking the path of an adventurer, hand in hand.

They both stared at each other's eyes, their smiles ear to ear.

Their lips were about to lock when a voice interrupted them.

"Easy there lovebirds, Time, Place, and Occasion! Come with me, I know the perfect place to celebrate."