Greondo Daromar

"The quarter-finals will now begin!"

Aeneas waited for his name to be called. As per the bracket, he would be against Alistair for the opening match of the quarterfinals. The thought of having another match against the same person who defeated him at his first official tournament made Aeneas both nervous and excited. He wanted to show everyone, including Alistair, how much he grew as a warrior.

When Alistair's previous match was occurring, Aeneas could hear the commentator announce how Alistair took great hits and damages from the match. It gave him a bit of relief, but, he shook his head and muttered to himself, "Thoughts for the weak, I should wish to fight him at his best."

"The first boman to have won against a Zeal-bearer in our coliseum, again, let us all welcome, Aeneas Caspius!"

Aeneas appeared from the left side of the arena. His confidence was boosted after defeating Khersis in the preliminaries. The people's chants and cheers added to his already-raised conviction. He stood at his side of the arena and waited for his opponent.

"The young warrior who many predicted to win, please welcome, Alistair!"

Alistair went out of the opposite entrance. His stride showed no sign of being hurt from his previous match. Aeneas felt his unrelenting gaze, which he fought as he didn't avert his eyes.

The commentator left the arena, and like before, the mediator stood at the center of both the contestants. He looked at Aeneas and asked him if he was ready. Aeneas assumed his stance and replied with a nod. Then, he turned to Alistair and asked him the same question. Aeneas expected Alistair to remain nonchalant as he did in their first match, but, to his surprise, Alistair assumed his stance, his eyes focused on Aeneas as he nodded to the mediator.

Realizing that Alistair plans to fight him seriously from the start sent shivers of excitement to Aeneas's spine as his mouth formed a grin.

"Match start!"

Without wasting a second, Alistair charged at Aeneas the moment the start of the match was announced by the mediator, and Aeneas did the same for it was his plan from the beginning. 

The audience became silent, waiting to marvel at the exchange of blows between the two young warriors in the arena. 

Alistair's Zeal glowed, its golden light far brighter than before as the sun was approaching its peak. But, in no way it would discourage Aeneas from fighting him head-on. The moment their wooden swords collided, Aeneas felt the strength behind Alistair's swing. He was overpowered. His hand holding the wooden sword was blown away. It gave Alistair an opening to strike. 

As if time slowed, Aeneas managed to dodge Alistair's slash which would've ended their match. He leaped backward, but Alistair continued his attack. Thrusting, slashing, punching with his left hand, even kicking with both of his feet. Faced with the unyielding assault of Alistair, all Aeneas could do was evade. Everyone was surprised to see the young boman dodge every attack of Alistair when some of it was even hard for the spectators to follow.

To Aeneas, Alistair's attacks appeared to have become slow. And as he observed his body's little movements he was able to predict the next move. But, he couldn't find a window to counter. Alistair didn't show any sign of stopping his barrage. At some point, Aeneas felt tired, and after falling for a feint with Alistair's attack using his wooden sword, Aeneas was hit with a left hook.

Staggered, Aeneas tried to back off to regain his balance. But Alistair didn't give him any chance to recover. Then, after more than two minutes of fighting, it was lights out for the young Caspius.

***

Aeneas's eyes were still closed when he heard familiar voices. He recognized one belonging to Konon asking his young lady to behave, and the other belonged to Tiriara, laughing and teasing the knight guarding her.

When the boy's bed shook, he started opening his eyes. He rubbed his hands on them and blinked again and again till he gained full control. The first thing he saw was Tiriara sitting at the side of his bed. She was looking at him while eating bread with tomato and egg stuffing and holding an iced drink in her left hand.

Tiriara smiled when she noticed that Aeneas was awake, "Aenie!" she yelled. Some of the bread from her mouth fell to his bed. Konon was standing beside her. He was scratching his head as he noticed that his young lady had dirtied the white sheet.

Aeneas sighed, his face became tired again as he decided to close his eyes and pretend that he didn't see Tiriara.

"Silly Aenie, I know you're awake," Tiriara said. She placed her bread on the bed and her drink on the floor before she started shaking Aeneas by the shoulder. While doing it, the girl was letting out an annoying laugh. Aeneas gave up, suddenly sat up, and went to pinch the girl's cheeks, "Stop already! You're going to break my bones," he said.

"See, I know you're awake," Tiriara said. Her voice was a bit muffled due to Aeneas pinching her cheeks.

Eluard and Donos came from the entrance of the infirmary, they brought food and drinks with them.

"Oh, so you're up," Donos said. Both he and Eluard approached Aeneas's bed, which was at the end of the room close to the windows. It was the same one he was in when he got knocked out in his first tournament. Similar to that time, he was the only one in the room, and the orange light from the setting sun had made its visit to the windows.

When Aeneas smelled the food they carried, his stomach grumbled. Eluard gave him bread with swine meat stuffed inside and his favorite iced drink with the flavor of red mango. Konon also received his food and they ate in silence for a few seconds before chatter and laughter started because of Tiriara.

"Where's brother?" Aeneas asked.

"Your brother has visited the lord of Pergis and returned home as he has matters he needs to attend to," Donos replied.

Tiriara butted in the conversation, "You were knocked out for a long time, you know," she said.

Aeneas didn't say anything, but it was clear to everyone how he felt as his face turned gloomy. Inside his head, he thought that Arsen must've been disappointed in him. He lost much quicker against Alistair than in their first match. And this time, he couldn't land a single hit against him. All he did was dodge till he became exhausted and fooled by an obvious feint.

"What's with the expression, Aeneas," Donos smiled and waited for Aeneas to look at him before he continued, "I've never seen your brother as proud." 

Eluard tapped Aeneas's shoulder, "I even heard some of the townspeople congratulate lord Arsen for your victory," he said.

Their words managed to uplift the boy's saddened mood.

"Ah. I forgot to ask, but… who won?"

Tiriara stared at Aeneas, "That boy, Alistair… lost." she answered. 

"Huh? Then who won?" Aeneas said with a loud voice, he was curious to know who defeated Alistair.

Eluard discussed with Aeneas how the entirety of his bracket went after he got knocked out. The two who made it to the finals were Alistair and the white-haired girl from the kingdom of Akrisia, Kynna. Yet, fortune didn't side with Alistair, as the sun was blocked by large clouds and he couldn't use the power of his Zeal to the limit. Still, it was a close match. No one knew who would win till one of them did. And it was Kynna.

Then, Tiriara stood, she had her arms crossed, "Gronda Dromar," she said with full confidence.

Aeneas's eyebrows furrowed, "What in the Lion's mane are you saying?" Aeneas responded.

Donos cleared his throat and whispered to Aeneas, "Language," with a smile. As a reply, Aeneas mouthed the word 'forgive me' to him.

With a grin, "You don't know that? It's an old Panteran saying. I guess you're not that smart." Tiriara began letting out a forced hysteric laughter.

Aeneas snickered, "Stupid. It's 'Greondo Daromar'" he said.

Tiriara turned to Konon. She saw him nodding at her. It is a saying every knight in Pantera was expected to live by.

"W—well it's the same," the girl said.

"Why did you even say that? Do you even know what it meant?" Aeneas said.

Everyone enjoyed their food and listened to the unfolding bickering of the two.

Tiriara stood proud, "A Panteran needs to hunt," she answered.

Aeneas placed his palm on his forehead. He whispered that he shouldn't have thought that Tiriara would know. The girl wasn't happy with his reaction, "Look at you acting smart again. I bet you also don't know," she said.

Aeneas told her that the old Panteran saying translates to, 'A lion that cannot hunt, is a dead one'. He said that when he turned thirteen, his older brother said it to him before he hunted his first prey. When they returned home, he looked for a book with the same saying to check if his brother's explanation was correct. And it was.

"How can it mean that when it's only two words," Tiriara argued.

"The old language was far different to our own," Aeneas said. He broke down the term and explained to Tiriara what he had read from the book.

After finishing his food and drink, Donos clapped, "Okay, why don't you two continue your conversation on the way home?" he said.

Donos asked everyone to clean up first before leaving. Meanwhile, Konon approached a staff of the infirmary and apologized for the mess his young lady made. The female staff smiled at him, said that he didn't have to, and that he was a kind knight.

The Coliseum was almost deserted at the time. It's as if the thousands of people and the noise they made earlier were only from one's imagination. The only people that remained at the building were Aeneas's group and a few staff of the coliseum.

As they walked outside and towards the stables of old man Thalis, some people were calling Aeneas's name, telling him how much they enjoyed his fights. Such compliments gave a relieved smile on Aeneas's face as they traveled back home.