Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

As soon as Anna activated her spirit technique, the somewhat shy and nervous hareling they'd come to know her as disappeared. Instead, she roared and charged with her glaive pointed forward. Her face scrunched up and focused.

Her shoulder-length, strawberry-blond hair was done up in a braid, and her tall bunny ears were flattened against her head, so as to create a smaller target.

As a hareling, Anna's legs were naturally powerful, increasing both her movement speed and jumping height. Thus, her charge against Luna, supported by a combination of her existence as a hareling, her fourth rank blood core, and her spirit technique, was nearly as fast as Kane could be in his beast form.

But Luna didn't need to match that speed, she just needed to not get hit.

Fortunately, she manged to change her stance just in time. As soon as Anna's glaive was within reach, Luna used both swords to deflect the glaive. At the same time, she turned to dodge, which caused Anna to pass her by, before continuing her turn until her blades flew towards Anna's back.

Realizing the danger, Anna flipped the glaive to her back and blocked the swords without turning around, something she only managed due to her superior physical power.

Yet, Luna was not deterred. She began a flurry of attacks that Anna was only barely able to turn around in time for. Through brute force alone, the hareling managed to defend herself by the swinging the glaive wildly.

It quickly became clear that Anna was used to keeping her opponents at a distance, and was even less skilled in the usage of her weapon than most of the others. Likely because, as a technus, her value to the gang was far too high to have her fight at the front lines, despite her core ranks.

But Luna was an expert in sticking close to a target and continuously harassing them. If the earlier matches were warmups, then this one was the first true battle between skill and power.

Unfortunately for the catling, she still needed to end this quickly. Her arms were already starting to hurt from just barely parrying and deflecting Anna's powerful, yet uncoordinated attacks.

The echoes of their clash reverberated throughout the training room, and everyone was on the edge of their seats.

This was quickly becoming the longest close-quarters engagement during these challenges so far, and excitement was building among the crowd. Some cheers even started rising, with most directed at Anna, but a few excited beastlings also began to support the newcomer.

Kane smiled softly, as the main goal of this event had already been achieved. The bandits now knew who Luna was, and they respected her skill.

Meanwhile, the fight continued, and Luna wasn't the only one approaching a breakdown. Anna wasn't wounded or physically tired, but her mental focus was quickly eroding.

She was only barely able to use her physical superiority to defend herself against Luna, but she had to be constantly aware of both sword's positions at all times. Especially because Luna's handling of them made it seem like they were everywhere, all at once.

Truly, if this continued, the match would be decided by comparing Luna's physical, with Anna's mental endurance. Yet, mental focus was mainly attributed to the soul core, which meant Luna was at a disadvantage.

This caused Luna to curse inwardly when she realized that Anna might not show a gap in her defences in time. Her swords remained a flurry while she thought to herself, 'I was hoping to save this for Aelia, but I guess I have no choice now.'

Crimson lightning began to flicker on the edges of Luna's body, but Anna barely noticed. The hareling's entire focus was on those two blades that never stopped coming from every single angle.

Yet, that would prove to be Anna's downfall. Suddenly, crimson lightning flashed. Luna disappeared, and Anna blinked in surprise. Then, the familiar ting of a breaking barrier followed, and two lights came down from the ceiling, one red, the other green.

Silence descended on the room. No one had expected the fight to end so suddenly, yet Luna was now standing behind Anna with a green light illuminating her, and a slight pout on her face.

Unlike these bandits, who'd only had about half a day with their new techniques, Luna had been studying hers for a few days longer.

Because of that, she'd been able to learn two new skills from the Sanguine Spark technique, with one being the lightning wave, and the other being a burst of speed that she'd used one time earlier.

Now, despite her victory, she was a little disappointed, because she'd been planning to try and surprise Aelia with this skill. Her next battle would now be that much harder.

As for Anna, she was still surprised, when she barely noticed the specks of light dissipating below her chin where a small barrier had just prevented her from losing her life.

The hareling gulped when she remembered how short life could be for people like them.

But after a few moments, cheers started rising from the crowd. Not everyone was convinced yet, but many of them were now chanting Luna's name. They'd never seen someone hit above their station so effectively, and it felt like an inspiration.

Not only that, but the news that Luna might become their weapon's trainer only increased the enthusiasm.

Anna was finally pulled out of her thoughts by those cheers, and wryly turned around to face the victor. "I'd completely forgotten about that speed skill," she smirked softly.

But then, Anna suddenly smiled brightly, "But that's my fault. You truly are worthy of being a Valkyrie!" She bowed a little, "Please accept my congratulations, and I hope to learn a lot from you!"

"You're pretty good, too, little Anna," Luna grinned mischievously. "And I'm definitely looking forward to teaching you a lot…"

Exactly what she meant by that was clear only to Kane, Aelia, and Mira, yet seeing the glint in Luna's eyes caused the hareling to unconsciously gulp a little. She didn't feel any lust towards Luna currently, but that glint still made her feel a little strange.

Regardless, she quickly nodded and left the stage, where Luna quickly sat down to recuperate until her next and final match.

As soon as Anna stepped of the platform, she was received by a rambunctious crowd who all wanted to talk to her about the match. Unfortunately, in their enthusiasm, they'd forgotten about Anna's problem.

But just as she was about to panic, Kane appeared behind her. Touching her shoulder, he quickly brought back the previous situation where all her lust was focused on him. At the same time, he whispered in her large bunny ears, "Come see me when you've made a decision."

Then, he disappeared again.

Anna breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Kane in her mind. Then, the crowed reached her, and she couldn't help but smile brightly at their attention. Before Kane, a scene like this would have only made her anxiety and stress spike, but now she actually felt relaxed and happy.

Suddenly, she wondered if she was actually considering to accept Kane's offer.