Crumbling farce

Khain couldn't believe what the Dojo Master said. He looked in disbelief at the Dojo Master before his gaze moved back to Nial.

"You…held back?" Khain asked in confusion and frustration. If the Dojo Master's words were true, it would be a great humiliation for Khain to have lost against Nial with such a big gap of strength at that.

Nial was not even tired and he could keep fighting even now for a much longer time if he wanted to.

"I wouldn't say that I held back because I gave my everything to fight you without my runic armaments and so on…" Nial said first because he added, "...but I cannot say that I went all out." 

Going all-out in a spar, or an entrance test was not worth the effort in his opinion. For Nial, going all out meant that he was ready to sustain serious injuries in a life-and-death fight against an extremely powerful opponent.