Chapter 152: Guiding lights

"What… What do you mean?"

Lemuel widens his eyes since he is just seeing two people at a standstill again.

"Federline's main advantages… the opponent also has. Both agility and speed. However, that half-elf also has explosive power and an incredible amount of experience with many fighting patterns. Federline has landed on a hard one in the first round…"

"Then… What should he do?

"He should disarm his opponent."

Federline hisses at the pain but tries to take his mind off of it. The spear has become his obstacle because it prevents him from entering a certain distance to the opponent, making his attacks harder to go through before the spear thrust to a vital point. Now the spear burns with scorching flames, which means that Federline would have to use more energy to dodge. 

Most daunting is that the opponent's fighting style is not some decorative style that looks good but aims to kill in the cruelest and fastest way. Osiath has definitely killed people before and in a nondiscriminatory way. 

No wonder the half-elf has called him a youngster. Peace has watered down many martial arts teachings over the years, and without the threat, people grow complacent. 

Osiath runs his tongue over his teeth, "It would be rather disappointing if the holy paladin is also at your level…"

Federline frowns at the comment, "You have spoken too soon, half-elf. He isn't someone you can compare to!"

Federline slaps his forehead to help him focus, and he imprints the blood from his hand to his forehead. It causes some laughs from the audience, but the serious expression on Federline's face quickly quiets the audience up again. 

Soon, they propel toward each other. Federline uses his sword to swing away from the spear while Federline pushes condensed air particles towards Osiath. Osiath clashes with Federline with flames on his hand. They land, sliding away. 

Federline widens his eyes and quickly turns his head towards the VIP room. When he has collided with Osiath, a blink of light guides his eyes to a certain part of Osiath's body. He remembers the marks on Lemuel's emerald eyes and the kiss on his forehead.

Federline tries again, cutting the distance between him and his opponent within seconds. The light appears again, and this time, he slams the half-elf on the abdomen when he quickly dodges the spear. The flames glance past his neck. The half-elf narrows his eyes from Federline's sudden bold move. If Federline is just a centimeter off, Osiath could have sliced his neck open. However, even if he does dodge the sharpness, Federline knowingly lets the fire glide through his skin. Osiath does not see this coming since Federline has been playing safe.

Osiath regains balance, but Federline sees the blinking light again. With the advantage of getting close to the opponent, he pushes Osiath's arm up, dislocating the arm from the shoulder. He grabs where the light has moved and twists the dislocated arm, putting it on Osiath's back unnaturally. The half-elf screams in agony. 

Kyrie lifts his eyebrows, surprised at Federline's bold but dangerous move. Federline has changed the flow of the fight with three moves in a matter of seconds, shocking everyone sure that Federline is at a disadvantage.

Federline steps back and glides his hand on Osiath's dislocated arm until his fingertips feel the spear. He takes the weapon away and quickly swings it towards Osiath. Federline stops once, reaching the opponent's throat. 

The battle has concluded so fast that the audience seems to just stare at the magic panel with their jaws touching the floor. 

"I lost." Osiath declares finally, which wakes the host from his splendor.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The winner is Ernest Federline from the phantom guild!"

The audience stands in ovation, flowers getting thrown to the platform. Federline relaxes, and suddenly something hits him from the audience. He takes the thing off and sees that it is a women's undershirt. He quickly takes his hand off and blushes, making the entire female audience receive an arrow shot to the heart.

"Marry me!!! I have loads of money!"

"I can carry a son for you!"

"I volunteer as a bride!"

Federline pales while receiving overwhelming amounts of marriage proposals. The team of healers runs to the platform to check on Osiath, but just a few steps away, they see Osiath relocate his own arm in a single push upwards. The healers jolt from the crisp sound, but they discover that the arm has been correctly reattached. 

Federline looks up to the room again and smiles at it. Lemuel blushes when encountering the smile and steps back from permanently gluing himself to the window wall.

'It seems like asking for the blessing saved me some pain…' Federline smiles.

"Youngster…"

Federline turns back to the half-elf, who is getting surrounded by healers busying to cast healing spells. 

"Nice going, but next time, I will not let you off so easily!"

Federline bows to Osiath, "Thank you for the lesson."

Federline quickly turns to walk away from the platform. He looks up again at the room and fastens his pace. However, he gets swamp by women as soon as he tries to walk out of the participant area to get to the VIP room. 

Lemuel goes out to receive Federline since Kyrie has tasked him to do so. He sees Federline blushing and nervously laughing with the new fans. Federline catches Lemuel's glimpse from far away, but before he could voice SOS, Lemuel turns away. He lets go of his smile and politely pushes the fans away. The female fans pout seeing the male figure quickly disappearing to the VIP area.

"Lemuel!"

Federline catches up to Lemuel. He watches Lemuel fast walking away without the intention to let him catch up.

"Lemuel!"

Lemuel does not respond.

"Hey!" Federline holds Lemuel's wrist, stopping him.

Although Federline does not know what he did wrong, he quickly reaches into his pocket to get a caramel. He frowns when he feels the candy's shape. The caramels must have melted in his pocket since he was in close proximity with fire in combat. 

His attention quickly turns to his hand holding Lemuel's wrist. Lemuel is shaking. He quickly turns to face Lemuel to see if something is wrong. His eyes widen when he sees Lemuel hiding his flustered cheeks and teary eyes.

Federline shoves the flowers to Lemuel's chest, "They are quite pretty… You can have them."

Lemuel glances down and pushes the flowers back, "So keep them... "

He takes Federline's hand off and walks away. Federline doesn't stop Lemuel since Lemuel's expression turns pale for some unknown reason.