Match start

"I'm back." Marina said as she led their guests to the backyard. Raul was sitting at the table trying to unlock another page of the sealing book when he heard her.

Though the interruption caused him to fail, he didn't mind so much as he was feeling guilty about not giving his all in the combat training.

"Look Marina, I'm sorry I." The rest of his words died in his throat when he saw the two people behind her.

While Ellen was always a pleasant sight, the same couldn't be said for the man next to her. Just seeing him brought Raul back to that night in the alleyway. All his fear, anger, and resentment came back in full as he glared at him.

Jason, the one who'd almost killed Raul before, for his part, looked scared as he trailed behind Marina and Ellen. It was only when he looked up and caught sight of Raul that he couldn't stop derision and hatred from showing on his face.

"I see you recognize each other. From today onwards, he's going to be your sparring partner for the day." Marina said calmly.

Ellen looked between Raul and Jason in confusion. Tai managed the procedures for Jason and Matthew's punishments personally, so Ellen never knew of their altercation. But seeing the mutual hostility she finally understood why Marina said Jason was the best choice.

Jason immediately lowered his gaze when he noticed Ellen looking at him, scared of drawing her ire. Marina clicked her tongue upon seeing that.

"You don't have to worry about holding back. Feel free to attack him with everything you have, Ellen will step in before it gets deadly. Even if an accident happens you won't be punished for it in the slightest, you have my word." She told Jason assuringly. He'd be useless if he was too scared to fight seriously.

Jason calmed a bit hearing that, but he still couldn't help glancing at Ellen for confirmation.

Ellen turned a worried look to Raul and asked, "Are you ok with this?" She'd thought it was just going to be a regular spar, but now it looked like some sort of grudge match.

"Yeah, I want a fair fight with him." Raul nodded without hesitation. He couldn't forget that helplessness and fear he was made to feel in his own house. Jason almost killed him, and Raul wanted revenge.

But it was no good to just beat him while he stood there like a scarecrow. That would only prove the words Jason said before right. He wanted to crush him in a true one vs one, to make him have to look at the back he despised and recognize he'll never be able to catch up, he wanted to drop him into despair.

He subconsciously glanced at Marina, feeling as if he suddenly understood her more.

"Ok, then on my authority, I order you to fight to the fullest Jason. If anything happens, I shall take full responsibility." Ellen granted permission with a false confidence.

They moved to the front of the house where Raul and and Raul was standing across from Jason with his sword drawn. Jason held a short spear in each hand and alternated between looking disdainfully at Raul and worriedly at Ellen.

Ellen looked concerned as she kept glancing at Raul. She was confident she could interrupt the match in time, but she felt it was too early for Raul to be having a serious spar.

It'd only been a couple weeks since he broke through, and he couldn't have more than a handful of days of combat training. She worried this might be a bigger blow to him mentally than physically.

"Hey, how about we make a friendly wager on the match." Marina suddenly proposed.

"A wager?" Ellen looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, just a small one, to keep things interesting for us watchers."

Ellen thought for a moment before nodding. "Ok! In that case I bet ten jerky sticks on Raul winning!" Even if Ellen had her doubts, she couldn't bring herself to bet against him.

Marina's lips twitched upon hearing the stakes. Raul did mention that Ellen always carried snacks on her…

"In that case, I'll treat you to one of my homecooked meals if I lose." She offered her own stake, but then she looked a little hesitant. "Only…"

"What is it?" Ellen bit the bait.

"Well, as his wife, it'd be pretty cruel of me to bet on his opponent, don't you think?"

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't even think about that. Guh, in that case, I'll bet on Jason." Ellen said reluctantly.

"Thank you for your understanding." Marina nodded while smiling internally. With this bet she loosened Ellen's nerves so she wouldn't call the match early and got an excuse to invite her to dinner to strengthen their relationship.

She knew perfectly well what the outcome of the match would be. She considered Jason to be dregs since he only materialized three meridians at his age, but Raul's current combat performance left her certain he would lose. In fact, Raul was the only one here who thought he would win.

"You may start." Ellen gave the go ahead.

Electricity started to spark off Jason's shoes as he bolted forward. He didn't want to be here. He'd just finished going through basic training again and now he was involved with this bastard again.

As angry as he was, he didn't dare go overboard and just planned to knock him out quickly so he could leave.

A lightning snake crawled across his body and snaked down to the edge of his spear.

Devouring lightning! He stabbed out with his spear as a big lightning snake opened its fangs around it.

Jason's aura washed over Raul in waves and brought back memories of that night. That time he could feel his entire body screaming out to surrender in fear as it had no way to defend, but it was entirely different now.

Raul's heart pounded in excitement as every inch of his body screamed out for carnage. A wild grin that brought out the sinful charm of his features spread across his face as he brought his sword up.