Free Web NovelChapter 110: Kai vs. Mara ( 1)
On the morning of the tenth day, Kai walked out of his tent and went straight to the field.
Without anyone calling him.
Without Mara pointing him there.
He just went.
---
The Orcs saw him arrive and formed the circle on their own — the same instinct as the day before and the day before that, the circle that formed when combat was real.
Kai reached the center of the field.
He stretched.
Not the functional stretch of someone preparing their body for combat — the full stretch, his arms arcing over his head, his torso twisting one way and the other, his knees bending and extending with the time of someone who has all the time in the world.
One hop.
Another.
His knuckles tapping gently together.
The usual smile.
---
[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI ON THE FIELD ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Chris_Murray: That stretch. That smile. Kai has been waiting for this for days.]
[Warwolf: KAI!! KAI!! KAI!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ] frёeωebɳovel.com
[Per_Sundin: The hops. The smile. Kai is happy. Genuinely happy to be here.]
[Kalgarth: Team Mara always. Though Kai looks very relaxed for someone about to fight an SSS without a right elbow. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Drakeking: KAI!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ TODAY IS THE DAY!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[TheDeadDragón: Urgo watching Kai warm up. First time I’ve seen Urgo look at something with something other than assessment.]
---
Mara reached the field from the other end.
Without the bandage.
Kai saw it first.
Then Lira.
Then Serah.
The right arm without bandaging — moving with its full range, without the delay of a damaged elbow, without the leather protection she’d worn all through the previous morning.
Mara stretched it completely.
Then the left one.
Then her torso.
No stiffness. No careful movement of someone with accumulated damage.
She turned toward the three.
The smile.
---
Serah looked at the right arm.
Her markings pulsed.
Lira looked at the right arm.
She put on her sunglasses.
Both watched Mara stretching with the ease of someone who slept well and has no damaged elbow because she never had one.
---
[DraconicLegacy: (°ロ°)(°ロ°)(°ロ°) THE ARM IS FINE (°ロ°)(°ロ°)(°ロ°)]
[Chris_Murray: SHE FAKED EVERYTHING. THE ELBOW. THE BANDAGE. EVERYTHING.]
[Warwolf: (°ロ°) SINCE WHEN??? THE WHOLE TIME???]
[Per_Sundin: Serah and Lira staring at the arm. Both realized it at the same time. (°ロ°)]
[Kalgarth: MARA!! MARA!! MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง I KNEW IT!! I ALWAYS KNEW MARA HAD NO REAL DAMAGE!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Drakeking: Serah and Lira fought for two full days giving Kai an advantage that doesn’t exist. (°ロ°)(°ロ°)]
[TheDeadDragón: Lira put on her sunglasses. That’s the reaction of someone processing they were tricked by a 340-year-old Warlord. (°ロ°)]
---
Kai looked at Mara’s arm.
Then at Mara.
Kai’s smile grew wider.
Not from annoyance — the opposite. From someone who just received confirmation that the coming fight has no advantage on either side and that’s exactly what he wanted.
"Good," Kai said.
"Aren’t you upset?" Mara said.
"Why would I be upset?"
"Because your companions fought for two days believing they were giving you an advantage."
Kai looked at her.
"If I had needed the advantage I would have asked for it myself."
---
[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "IF I HAD NEEDED THE ADVANTAGE I WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR IT MYSELF" ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Chris_Murray: Kai didn’t get upset. He got happy. Because now the fight is real.]
[Warwolf: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Per_Sundin: Serah processing that. Her markings changed temperature to something different.]
[Kalgarth: Mara tried to upset him and Kai got happier. That’s also what Mara was looking for. (ง’̀-’́)ง REAL COMBAT!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Drakeking: The two best responses on this stream are "eventually" and "if I had needed the advantage I would have asked for it myself". Kai.]
[TheDeadDragón: Mara smiled when Kai said that. Both smiles at the same time. The whole field felt it.]
---
Serah went toward Lira on the perimeter.
She stopped beside her.
Both watching the field where Kai and Mara were preparing.
"She used us," Lira said.
"Yes."
"Both of us."
"Yes." Serah watched Kai. "Are you upset?"
Lira considered it.
"I should be."
"And?"
"And tomorrow when I process all this I probably will be upset." Lira watched Mara’s right arm moving with full range. "Right now I just want to see if Kai can handle her without the damage we thought we’d given her."
Serah looked at her.
She returned to watching the field.
"He can."
---
[DraconicLegacy: Serah and Lira together on the perimeter watching Kai. No tension between them. The fight unified them.]
[Chris_Murray: "tomorrow when I process all this I probably will be upset" — Lira being honest. That’s character arc.]
[Warwolf: "he can" — Serah about Kai. Without hesitating. Without additional context. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Per_Sundin: The clash between Serah and Lira disappeared during two days of combat. Mara unified them without meaning to. Or meaning to. With Mara you never know.]
[Kalgarth: Serah said "he can" with that conviction. Lira didn’t contradict her. (ง’̀-’́)ง though I’m still with Mara (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Drakeking: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Serah and Lira supporting Kai together. First time in the arc. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[TheDeadDragón: Mara achieved in ten days what weeks of training hadn’t finished resolving. These three people.]
---
Mara approached the center of the field.
"Do you know how many have made it here?"
"To the field with you." Kai looked at her. "Many."
"And how many lasted more than three minutes?"
"No one."
"And you?"
Kai looked at her.
"We’ll see."
Mara tilted her head.
"One thing first."
"What?" freewebnovёl.ƈom
"Your companions fought very well." Mara said it seriously — without the provocation, without the angle. Just direct acknowledgment. "Both of them."
Kai nodded.
"I know."
"Did you tell them?"
"They know."
Mara smiled.
"Good."
---
They lunged.
---
The first exchange lasted two seconds.
Mara with her right fist straight to the chest — no visible initiation, no pattern to read.
Kai read it anyway.
Not the movement — the weight. The moment Mara’s weight shifted forward before her arm came out.
He went to the side.
The fist passed through where he’d been.
Kai counterattacked — elbow to Mara’s side.
Mara absorbed it without stepping back.
---
[DraconicLegacy: (°ロ°) KAI’S ELBOW DIDN’T MOVE MARA]
[Chris_Murray: Kai read the weight before the movement. But the counterattack had no effect. The mass difference is real.]
[Warwolf: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI DODGED THE FIRST ONE!! KEEP GOING!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Per_Sundin: Mara absorbed the elbow without stepping back. That establishes the difference in the first exchange.]
[Kalgarth: (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA!! SHE DIDN’T EVEN MOVE!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Drakeking: Kai read the weight. Not the movement. That level of initiation reading is what made him last eight minutes with Keth. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: Kai’s elbow against Mara’s side. Mara didn’t move. Kai processed that. I saw it in his eyes.]
