A wild Dhan Appears

"Huh, well I decided that the fight was a waste of time at that point. If we were talking about fighting for my life, in a real battle, I wouldn't give up so easily. If you have any issues with how I fight, how about we go for a round in the arena then? I sure hope you have what it takes to prove me wrong."

The ashen-haired elf, now standing beside them, seems to have heard Cedric's comment on his giving up.

Turning to face the newcomer, Cedric looks him in his purple-colored eyes. Giving the drow a big toothy grin, he says:

"Yeah sure, I was actually hoping to see how I stack up against my peers. Seeing as how I am currently very disappointed with your standards, I would gladly receive some pointers from you."

A solemn atmosphere seems to cover the group, but as Siegward moves to defuse the situation, the human and drow both snigger and begin to laugh loudly.

'Pfft, Hahaha,' they proceed to shake hands, introducing themselves.

"My name is El-Dhan, but you can just call me Dhan. I am a drow elf born unfortunately on the same planet as this talkative bag of roots."

"Nice to meet you Dhan, I'm Cedric Bladehart. Just call me Cedric."

As they exchange pleasantries, the ashen-haired drow turns to Siegward with a large smile painted all over his face.

"Sieggie, you found a real piece of work there. You're like two peas in a pod."

Trying to put on his best frowning act, Siegward proceeds to shake hands with the drow, a grin appearing on his face as he counters:

"Oh shut it, Dhan. We just both appreciate proper combat, not those circus tricks you were failing to deliver on."

"Well you can bet your ass my circus tricks are flashier than yours. Stick-pelter."

"I may be a stick pelter, but your kind can't even properly climb trees. What kind of an elf are you?"

"We may suck at climbing trees, but you can bet your ass we are watching you sleep at night, without you even noticing."

"Why would you even d-"

Looking at the two longtime friends, Cedric decides to interrupt the duo before their insult competition costs him the entire trip. Waving his hands, he says, "Guys, please. Just stop. You know we don't have too much time to waste. I want to go and start earning points first and foremost. If you would like to duel, Dhan, then let us duel now. Siegward still owes me an explanation on this so-called Holo-Arena."

"Ah, I see, so you're another potential victim. This villainous elf right here," pointing at Siegward, Dhan continues, "is simply a battle maniac. He has probably beaten everyone on this ship except for Evelynn. They haven't fought yet, but I hear she is mighty strong."

Siegward, reminded of his mistake, turns to Cedric to right his wrong and assuade any wrongful impression that darned drow was conjuring in the human's mind.

"This is it, the holo-arena. Simply put, you enter the arena after accepting an invitation to a fight and settling on a bet between yourselves using the consoles on the opposing sides of the arena. Then, you either choose to battle here or be taken into a random scenario on a randomly generated map, which I believe is much more fun than just standing here, listening to all these losers yelling."

"Umm, do I have to bet something? I don't really have any points to bet with."

Nodding in response to the anticipated question, Siegward states:

"You can also fight without betting on anything, which is what Dhan the weakling does. But I prefer to fight with something on the line. Seeing as how you get a virtual body generated for you, keeping you from harm. It feels more natural fighting for at least some incentive. Keeps you on edge."

Nodding, Cedric decides he would first like to duel both elves and then move on to other training rooms filled with apparatuses he took note of on his way to the arena.

"Alright, so who am I fighting first?"

Raising his hand, Dhan yells, "ME! You insulted me first. And now you must pay. I must pay you for the face-slapping that I endured!"

The crowd sitting on the seats surrounding the arena erupted with thunderous cheers at the proclamation made by the drow. Both of them smile and proceed to register themselves for the next fight. Before going off to register on the other side of the arena, Dhan tells Cedric that he only fights in the standard arena stage and doesn't like procedurally generated maps. He explains that there is only a one in ten chance of rolling a night-time scenario, and Dhan is not used to hunting during the day.

As they both choose their weapons of choice and set the bet to 0 points, they are teleported inside the arena, now facing each other. Cedric feels refreshed, as this is what he longs for: the thrill of combat.

A sword flashes into existence beside Cedric, floating to his right. Its design is different from the double-edged Federation swords he uses on a regular basis. Once upon a time, Rodrick introduced Cedric to an eccentric old enlightened beast already transformed into its humanoid appearance. The tiger, now an old man sporting animalistic features such as a white striped tail, was known throughout the Federation for his skill with bladed weapons. The man showed Cedric his weapon of choice, an odachi. Cedric, still young at the time, was mesmerized by the sword dance the beastman showed him. A fighting style of myriad choices, flowing like water in between motions. A weapon able to properly display the beastman's abnormal strength in a graceful dance.

Ever since then, Cedric has been training using the style he memorized from the beastman. The movements were centered around agility and anticipation, exploiting his opponent's weaknesses, which resonated with him. Although he has mastered every type of weapon sporting an edge introduced to him by his father and other people he trained under, the odachi has definitely made the strongest impression on Cedric.