Eris vs Nina

"Beat the North God!? Wait... you don't mean... do you know the Magic God!?"

"Hmph. I do. Not that it's any business of yours!"

...Silence.

Timothy stood in silence as his mind tried to process this unexpected information. All of the disciples in the room remained silent as well. None of them dared to speak. Everyone here, with the exception of Eris, knew about Timothy's embarrassing history regarding the Magic God. He considered it the one blemish on his otherwise spotless reputation.

After about five seconds of awkward silence, Timothy snapped at Nina in anger.

"Nina! What is the meaning of this? Is this some sort of prank? Is this your idea of a joke?"

"Uncle! No! Believe me, I had no idea! I promise you!"

Eris, still throbbing from the beatdown she had received, looked between Nina and Timothy in confusion.

"Are we still doing this or what?"

Timothy directed his attention back towards Eris and began interrogating her.

"Who put you up to this?"

"Huh!? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me! Who was it? Who sent you here?"

"It was Nina, I suppose", Eris said while still unsure what was going on.

"What!? She's lying!", Nina yelled back.

"Who are you calling a liar!"

"You. Obviously!"

"That's it! Draw your sword!"

"I thought you'd never ask!", Nina said as she picked up a training sword. "It would seem that the only thing you learned from Ghislaine was her poor manners. Let me be so kind as to teach you how to respect your superiors."

"You've been acting like you're better than me ever since we met! I'll be happy to finally put you in your place", Eris said in a mocking tone.

Timothy watched the two girls fight with intrigue. 'Hmm... maybe Nina really didn't put her up to this after all? In that case, it might be worth questioning her about what she said. Even if she was lying, I'll need to find out who put her up to trying to humiliate me.'

Nina walked into the combat ring and Eris got into position on the other side, ready to start an official match in the same fashion that she had just started with Timothy.

Timothy didn't seem to mind the interruption in his match as he exited the ring and volunteered to judge their bout.

"Begin!", he yelled as he signaled for them to start.

Right off the bat, Nina led with a Longsword of Light against Eris. She had practiced this very same attack tens of thousands of times. Her execution was flawless. Her anger and determination made this swing even swifter than usual. She was going to strike down this impudent red-headed girl for insulting the honor of both her and her first master, Timothy.

From Eris' perspective, Nina's attack seemed much slower than Timothy or Ghislaine's. Even still, this level of speed was greater than she could match. Thankfully, her training with Ruijerd allowed her to instinctively react to parry the attack before Nina had even launched it. The moment Nina's muscles tensed Eris had already begun to move.

*THWACK!*

Their two swords met with a loud crack as Eris barely managed to parry her attack.

'What!?'

Nina, who was fully prepared to revel in her victory, was shocked. She couldn't believe her attack had been parried. For only just the briefest of moments, she hesitated.

It took everything Eris had not to let go of her sword. Despite parrying the attack to the side, so much force came with the blow that Eris had to clench the hilt of her training sword with everything she had to prevent it from flying out from her hand. Intense pain shot through her fingers as her muscles strained.

The momentum of Eris' sword sent her spinning around clockwise. Eris' keen instincts kept her focused and she used the rotational momentum to her advantage. As Nina stood in her form-perfect pose after her longsword of light, Eris spun behind her and cracked her blade against Nina's back, sending her flying out of the Dojo just like what Timothy had done to Eris.

'W-What!?'

Nina couldn't comprehend what just happened. She... lost? How? No! She can't lose to someone like her.

Nina sprung up from the pile of snow she was laying in only to be pushed back down before she could get up.

Nina's shoulder blades had been pressed back down to the ground as Eris held her down with her knee against her chest. She didn't have time to breathe let alone reach for her sword before punches began raining down on her face.

By the time Timothy's disciples had pulled Eris off of her, Nina's nose was bleeding profusely and several of her teeth were broken. A puddle of steaming liquid spread out and dyed the pile of snow beneath her yellow.

"How... How dare you!"

"Coward!"

Several of Timothy's disciples began to hurl insults Eris' way but Timothy saw things differently. Regardless of what Timothy thought of Ghislaine or this redheaded girl, the fact is that Nina had insulted Eris' master and entered this duel of her own free will. As much as Timothy had been rooting for his niece, he of all people realized that you have to accept the consequences of your own actions.

Despite his humiliation that derived from his search for the Magic God, after he had time to contemplate what had happened, he managed to accept his mistakes and move forward. (That doesn't mean he'll let it slide if his students bring up the past, however.)

"That's enough!", Timothy yelled out, chastising his disciples.

He looked towards Eris who matched his gaze with ferocity.

"You ready to finish our match?", Eris said as she spit out some blood.

"No. Let's put a pause on our match."

"What? You saying that you're giving up?", she retorted, trying to goad him.

"Hahaha!", Timothy burst out laughing. "You really are just like Ghislaine!"

Eris sneered at him, assuming that he was mocking Ghislaine just like Nina had been.

"Personality aside", Timothy continued, "I'm not so boorish to pretend that Ghislaine wasn't talented."

Eris' sneer relaxed as she looked on toward Timothy in surprise.

"Very well! I acknowledge your skill. Despite not knowing the Longsword of Light you managed to defeat a fully fledged Sword Saint fair and square. I'm willing to honor you with the title of 'Sword Saint' yourself."

"What? Really!?"

Eris' demeanor changed drastically as she now had an excited grin on her face as she dropped her cracked training sword.

"That means... I can train with the Sword God, right!?"

"Well, it means that you will be permitted entry to his Dojo. Whether or not he bothers to take the time training you is to be determined."

Eris clasped her trusty sword that she had been given by Roxy's parents and smiled, proud of what she had accomplished.

"May I make a suggestion?", Timothy asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sure."

"Train here at my dojo. Just long enough for me to teach you the Longsword of Light. I shall instruct you personally. Everyone else in the Sword God Style Dojo has mastered this technique and they may look down upon you if you don't know it."

"Hmm...", Eris thought deeply. "Yes. I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you!"

She bowed to Timothy respectfully in the same Sword God Style bow that she had seen others here performing.

"Perfect! Follow Bernard here. He'll get an empty room prepared for you. Make yourself comfortable for tonight. We'll start your training tomorrow morning."

Eris obediently followed the student Timothy had pointed to.

"Well?", Timothy asked the rest of his gawking disciples. "What are you all waiting for!? Go help Nina up and get a healer for her!"

"Yes sir!", they all yelled out in unison.

'It seems like that girl is the earnest type. Is it really possible she was telling the truth about the Magic God? One way or another... I'm going to find out!'