Chapter 4.5

Tina was shaking in her boots as Lucy smirked. "So, are you regretting saying what you said in the hallway?" Lucy said, getting an arrow out. "W-Well, I was just joking! S-Some people even take cinnamon roll as a compliment!" Tina said, backing up. "Y'know what? Screw archer skills. I'll beat your ass with my goddamn hands!!!" Lucy said, sprinting at Tina with a fist. "H-Hey, waaaAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Tina said, getting uppercut by Lucy and flying off the stage. "Well, I guess that match is over with. The winner of the first match is Lucy!" Joana said, gesturing to Lucy. Lucy stepped off the stage proudly. "Okay, next up is me and Hanna. Good luck, Hanna." Joana said, getting onto the stage. "Ugh, why is this happening to me?" Hanna said as she went onto the stage. She drank the potion and got into position. Joana attacked first, using a fireball. Hanna dodged it, and she looked really shocked. "I-It actually worked! This time I'll finally be able to beat you!" Hanna said, rushing at Joana. "You're gonna have to try harder than that," Joana said, dodging her attack and hitting Hanna in the back with a fireball. This repeated about six times until Hanna conceded. "Geez, what the hell?! That crazy woman almost killed me! And she used the same frickin' tactic the entire time!" Hanna said, limping off the stage. "The next battle is Carlos and Raine," Joana said, walking off the stage.

Raine walked onto the stage, a little bit nervous. "Geez, I really don't like hitting girls, but I don't like losing either," Carlos said, taking out two battle axes. "Well, my luck isn't the worst, but this definitely isn't the best match-up," Raine said, materializing her sword. "Let the battle… Begin!" Joana said. "GRAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!" Carlos roared, leading with a heavy attack. Raine dodged and backed up. "Well, aren't you a fast one? That's fine with me!!!" Carlos said, dashing at Raine and using a rapid attack where he swings his axes around really fast. Raine got behind him in a flash and dematerialized her sword. She poked him on the shoulder and he swung his axes towards her. She ducked and then uppercut Carlos as hard as she could. He backed up. "You punch surprisingly hard. Well, since you want a fistfight, let's make it a fistfight." Carlos said, putting his axes away and getting into an offensive stance. "I guess we're doing this, then," Raine said, sighing and getting into an offensive stance as well. Carlos dashed at Raine surprisingly fast and Raine dodged, though she was a bit slow because the sudden attack scared the life out of her. She caught her breath and decided to be a bit more aggressive. She dashed at Carlos and elbowed him in the gut, knocking the air out of him. After that, she swept his leg and slammed his body onto the ground. She twisted his arm until he conceited. "I GIVE UP!!! I GIVE UP!!!!!!" Carlos screamed.

"Nice, I won," Raine said, letting go of Carlos' arm. "Raine wins," Joana said, flatly. "Good game," Raine said, helping Carlos up. Carlos smiled and gave her a thumbs-up."The last match is Lucy and Raine. The winner fights me." Joana said, smirking. Raine and Lucy walk onto the stage and Lucy taunts Raine by releasing some bloodlust. She didn't account for the fact that Raine is a hybrid and is very sensitive to bloodlust. Her eyes started glowing and she released her aura. "H-Hey, what is that?! That's the stuff you used to defeat the orc! That's cheating!" Lucy yelled. "Relax, Lucy. That's merely her mana. Not even that much, so calm down. Raine, keep in mind that this is just a normal match, not a life-threatening one. Let the battle… Begin!!!" Joana said. Lucy put some distance between herself and Raine. Raine was waiting for an attack. "Oh… you think you're all that, huh? Well, eat these!!!" Lucy said, shooting arrows into the air. She then rushed at Raine, getting ready to punch her. Raine dodged the punch and jumped out of the way of the arrows.

"Geez, you're way too fast!" Lucy said, turning around. Raine stayed silent, not knowing what to say to that. Lucy dashed at Raine and then dashed to the side of Raine. She was about to punch Raine in the side of the head but Raine ducked and elbowed her in the side. Lucy backed up, trying to find out what to do next. She took out her bow and some weird-looking arrows. She then started sprinting around the stage so fast the eyes couldn't track her. Raine then got hit with a bomb arrow. Next is a poison arrow. She stood still and remained silent. Lucy was laughing at this point and calling her pathetic. She was clearly having a good time. Lucy shot another bomb arrow and Raine caught it. "So that's how your attack pattern works. I guess it's time to finish this." Raine said, getting into an offensive stance. She didn't get her sword out because she knew that she probably didn't need it. She dashed at Lucy so fast that even Lucy couldn't keep up and she winded back and punched her in the arm, making her fall off the stadium. "Wow, you're strong… Well, I guess you are a hybrid. Good thing you're on our side or we'd be screwed!" Lucy said, getting up. "Thanks. If I was a human you totally would have beat me. You're incredible." Raine said, fist-bumping Lucy.

"Okay, so Raine won. That means that she goes up against me." Joana said, stepping onto the stage. "Tina, can you start the match for me?" Joana asked, turning to Tina. "Yeah, sure. AHEM! Let the battle… BEGIN!!!" Tina said. Joana took out her staff and Raine took out a dull sword she picked up earlier. Joana rushed at Raine with her staff, but that was to distract Raine from the fire spell beneath her. Raine got out of the way of the spell, but it burned a part of her left arm. She remained silent. Joana backed up, summoning a fire golem and a water golem to fight while she attacked from the background. "Hey, stop it, that's basically cheating!!!" Hanna said, trying to get on the stage. Carlos pulled her away. Raine got into a defensive stance, but she made it a little bit lower. This way she could easily dart from one place to another. Joana started casting fireballs like her life depended on it and Raine was busy dodging and fighting the golems. She was completely unaware of the fact that Joana was right behind her. Joana hit Raine on the head with her staff and Raine turned around. She got struck by the fire golem, but she still focused on Joana. She figured that since she can withstand this pain she'll just target Joana the whole time. Joana didn't think about this happening.

Raine dashed at Joana, ready to strike with her sword. Joana blocked the sword with her staff. Meanwhile, the golems are going to town on Raine's back. Raine started to attack faster and faster as time went on. It was a mix of fighting spirit and anger that fueled her attacks. Soon, Joana couldn't guard against all of Raine's attacks. Joana decided to make the golems go into overdrive. They doubled in size and they were very strong. Even still, Raine was only focused on Joana. She kept on speeding up and eventually, Joana was conceited. Joana was a mess since she had ripped clothes and little cuts because the blade was going so fast. She also used an incredible amount of mana, but she has equally incredible mana stores. "I'll… I'll go wash up. You win, Raine." Joana said, getting up and going to her room. Raine would have smiled, but the fact that half of her back had third-degree burns and half of it was really badly bruised, she just said that she needed to go clean up too. Raine got back to the rooms and she saw Joana standing in the hallway with a fresh pair of clothes on. "I'm sorry for messing up your clothes and cutting you. I got too into the match I guess." Raine said as she walked back to her room. Joana stayed silent.

When Raine got into her room, she couldn't help but shed a few tears. She was frustrated because Joana still hates her and is in pain because of her back. She didn't know how to treat it, so she just went to take a bath and get the blood and the stench of sweat off of her. She sobbed in the bath from the sheer pain of the water hitting her back. She finished taking a bath and putting on pants when she heard the door open and saw Tina on Hanna's back. "Are you okay?! Don't worry, I'll heal you!!!" Tina said, rushing over to heal Raine. She cast a powerful healing spell on Raine and it healed, but the burn scars remained. "Thanks for rushing over to help her for me, Tina. You're a lifesaver!" Hanna said, sweating profusely. "Geez, what are you saying? I would've done this anyway. Thanks to you, I could get here quicker." Tina said. "You guys didn't have to come running after me, y'know," Raine said, hiding her gleeful face with her hands and using the bedsheet to hide her chest. "What do you mean?! I know you think you're a demon but you're still half-human, y'know! Yes, your regenerative skills are good, but this still would've taken a month to completely heal for you." Tina said, looking very serious. "Also, you were crying earlier, weren't you," Tina said, leaning in close to Raine's face. "What?! Joana made you cry? I'll go speak with her right now!" Hanna said.

Raine got up and grabbed Hanna's arm. "Wait, you really don't have to. I'm completely fine now thanks to you guys and I think she'll just hate me more if you yell at her." Raine said. "Well, she still went overboard. I'm going." Hanna said. "Wait, please. I'm fine so could we please just not talk about it? It was just a sparring match anyway." Raine said, trying to pull Hanna away from the door. Tina pulled Raine away from Hanna and went to go find a shirt for Raine to wear. "Listen, once this is over, Joana will have more respect for you. If you want a good relationship with someone, you have to start from there. Let her go to Joanna, okay?" Tina said to Raine. "...Okay, you can go. Just make sure you don't fight with her." Raine said. "Yeah, I will. See ya later!" Hanna said, smiling and walking out of the room. Her smile turned into a scowl as she walked over to Joana. "Hey, Joana. We need to talk."