Who's next?

The woman then asked, "What? You said you want to get this orb?"

And Lina said, "Yes. That's exactly what I said."

"It looks like this is your first time attending the event. So let me explain something to you. There is a rule that orbs are taken in the order in which the groups arrive. This is to avoid conflict between groups within the event and to be fair to everyone."

"Well, it's a very nice rule, but I don't have three days to wait for my orb. So I'll take this one."

"You don't know what you're talking about. You must not have heard what I just said because you hadn't arrived yet, but if you want to get this orb, you'll have to fight with all of us to get it."

All the other groups then looked at Lina, putting pressure on her as they did on the man earlier, and Lina said, "I heard you say that, but unfortunately, I'm in a hurry, so let's get this over with."

Lina then stood still, and the woman said, "Are you sure of what you're saying?"

"Yes."

"Do you really think you can fight over thirty people by yourself?"

"Well, I've fought over thirty monsters by myself, so I don't see why I couldn't do the same with people."

"It looks like you don't know your limit. You're going to regret trying."

"Okay, whatever. Stop talking, and just come right up."

"Okay. Don't complain later."

The group of people then started to surround Lina, and Briny said, "Let's help her."

And Gen said, "No need, Briny. Lina can handle them by herself."

Briny then said, "Are you sure? What if she gets hurt?"

And Raja said, "You should worry about her opponents."

Gen then said, "That's true, especially since Lina must be itching to fight since Raja and I fought those groups on the way down from the dome."

And Briny said, "Well, if you're saying so, fine."

The group then finished surrounding Lina, and the woman said, "Are you sure you want to do this? There's still time to retreat."

And Lina said, "Just come on up, and let's get this over with."

The woman then said, "As you wish.", and then signaled for two groups of four people to attack Lina.

They then started going at her, and one man came forward and said, "I'm sorry, pretty girl, but since you want to get in front of all of us, you're going to have to pay the price for that.", and then he threw a punch at Lina.

She then dodged the punch easily and said, "Thanks for your concern, but you should worry about yourself."

When he heard this, he used the arm he had punched with to do a horizontal blow towards Lina, but she dodged it by ducking and then stood up and punched the man in the chin, which made him fall unconscious to the ground.

Everyone was surprised by this and started looking at her with different eyes. The woman then said, "Looks like you're not all talk."

And Lina said, "Next.", and then the rest of the men who had gone towards her began to attack her.

The first one came with a sword and attacked her horizontally, and she then simply raised her arm to block it. Upon seeing this, everyone was surprised, even the man who was attacking, but he didn't stop.

Briny then said, "What is Lina doing?! That sword could very well cut her arm off!"

And Raja said, "Gen?"

Gen then said, "Don't worry. She has everything under control."

Seeing that Gen was not worried about her, Briny and Raja were reassured.

The sword then came towards Lina's arm, and as it touched her, the sword pushed her arm back a little, but for some reason, it didn't cut her.

Everyone was surprised, and Lina took the opportunity to hold the sword in her hand and use it to pull the man who attacked her closer to her. Right after that, she punched him in the stomach, and then, as he was ducking, she kneed him in the chin, which made him fall to the ground unconscious like the other.

Gen then said, "Hey, Lina, you don't have to take it so hard with them. You went overboard with that knee."

And Lina said, "I don't know if you saw, but he just tried to cut my arm off."

Gen then thought for a while and said, "You're right. Beat them up."

The other men were apprehensive when they saw what had happened to the last two men who attacked Lina, and the woman, realizing this, said, "Don't be afraid. Attack her together."

Hearing this, they began to reorganize, and then the six remaining men surrounded Lina in a circle.

They then started watching her, trying to find the best moment to attack, and Lina said, "Come at once. I don't have all day."

They then looked at each other, and then all attacked at the same time, causing Lina to be attacked from six different directions.

She then looked at that and said, "That's what I'm talking about.", and then she held out her hands like knives and went at one of the men who was attacking her.

Seeing her coming at him, the man stopped attacking and used his sword to defend himself against her attack, and the others took the chance to attack her without concern.

She then kept going towards the man who was defending himself with his sword, and when she got close enough, she struck him vertically with one of her hands.

He then used his sword to block the attack, but halfway through the attack, Lina's hand began to take on a slight red tint, and then, as she struck the sword, something that no one expected happened. 

Lina's hand cut the man's sword at the point of impact, and then it made its way towards his chest, where it left a large cut.

Everyone was amazed to see this, and one person said, "How did she cut the sword with her hand?!"

And the woman who seemed to be in control of all the groups said, "She has an essence, but don't be scared. Even if she has an essence, it's still not enough to fight all of us. She sure is using up a lot of energy to use the essence."

Upon hearing this, Gen and Raja giggled, and Raja said, "They looked like me when I had just met you guys."

And Gen said, "Hahaha, it's true."

"Now I understand why everyone in the bar was calling me crazy when I pulled that fight with Lina."

Briny then asked, "Is there something wrong with what she said? Lina is sure to get tired if she keeps using the essence for too long."

And Gen said, "That's the thing. She won't get tired. It's one of the characteristics of her essence."

"Really? What's her essence?"

"Desert Rose."

"I've never heard of it."

"I'll explain to you later how it works. Let's focus on the fight now."

"Okay."

They then looked at Lina and saw that the five remaining men were all hitting Lina with weapons. She then used her other hand, which began to take on a red tint, and then gave a horizontal blow, cutting off all the weapons that were coming her way. The men who were attacking her were shocked to see this, and Lina took advantage of the situation and went towards another of them.

She then pulled him by the shirt and gave him a horizontal elbow that hit him in the chin and knocked him unconscious. Lina then let go of him and went towards one of the other men, and they then joined in and started going towards her, too.

They then got close enough and tried again to hit Lina, only this time with punches since Lina had cut off their weapons. Lina then quickly parried and dodged all the punches thrown and, in the process, knocked them all unconscious to the ground.

Everyone looked at her, not knowing what to say, and then she said, "Who's next?"

Everyone was then silent, and the woman said, "You're very strong. How about this? You're second in line to get the orb. What do you think?"

Lina then thought for a moment, turned toward Gen, Briny, and Raja, and Gen then said, "Do whatever you want."

Lina then gave a smile and said, "No. I'm going to get that orb now."

And the woman said, "Okay. Let's get it over with then."