"Raiden—" Ayame began.

"It’s fine," Damon said, already standing.

He looked at Raiden with the particular calm of someone who had assessed the situation and found the outcome acceptable regardless of what it turned out to be.

Raiden, however, wasn’t as collected. He looked as though he could snap and attack Damon at any moment, his proud self unable to take even the tiniest hint of disrespect from an outsider.

He turned and walked toward the door without a single word.

Damon followed.

The woman with four tails rose from her seat, her intrigued expression having graduated into something considerably more entertained.

"This," she said quietly to nobody in particular, "should be interesting."

The two elder men exchanged a look that suggested they had served the clan for a very long time and had learned that some things were simply beyond their jurisdiction.

The courtyard sat at the cliff’s edge, open on one side to the canyon and the waterfall beyond it. Stone beneath their feet, the particular cold of high altitude in the air, and the sound of the water constantly present around them.

Raiden stepped into the centre of it without ceremony, four tails fanning behind him, his silver white hair catching the light.

He looked at Damon across the courtyard.

"I’ll make this simple," he said. "Survive one minute, and I’ll accept you."

Damon looked at him.

"That’s exactly what I was going to say."

Raiden’s eyes narrowed.

The woman with four tails leaned against the courtyard wall with her arms crossed, a grin still on her face.

Ayame stood beside her, composed on the outside, though the same couldn’t be quite said on the inside.

Then, just as she dreaded for what was to happen next, Raiden moved.

He broke the distance of several meters in a near instant, moving so fast no human other than Damon could’ve kept up.

He stepped between the shadows, disappearing at the last moment and barely avoiding Raiden’s fist.

He frowned. ’I missed?’

When he turned, Damon was already behind him, his blade cutting through the air at a terrifying speed.

CLANG!

But just when he was about to strike his back, Raiden turned and, with his hand coated in a veil of pure mana, caught the blade in the palm of his hand.

"Is this it—?"

He didn’t get to finish the question as Damon used his Lightning Manipulation in the same way he used black ice, directly onto his weapon.

Using his blade like a conductor, he sent a wave of lightning through the weapon, catching Raiden’s arm in the blast.

He pulled back, just a step, enough for Damon to wrench his sword free and move between the shadows.

Now, he mixed the black ice into the mix as well, sending shards of it as a distraction to hide the angle of his next attack.

Raiden’s speed at the same time picked up. His frustration grew to dangerous levels as he completely lost himself in his short temper, looking for more than just a strike on Damon’s, in his eyes, smug face.

But before he could find the opening.

DING!

A sound of a small bell cut through the courtyard.

"The minute is up," one of the elders, the man who had previously sat in silence, announced.

’What?’ Raiden frowned. ’I failed to find an opening? No. I can’t leave it—’

"That’s enough," Ayame said in a tone that demanded obedience. It was the voice she used to give orders that none dared to disobey, even her brother. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

He frowned before turning his back and storming off the courtyard, feeling as though even another second more in Damon’s presence could push him to do something he would later regret.

Near one of the walls, the fox-woman with jet black hair began to laugh at the outcome, finding even more amusement in the situation than she expected to.

Damon dismissed his blade and turned toward Ayame.

She was looking at him with the expression she used when something had exceeded her expectations and she wasn’t going to say so directly. It’s been a while since she had seen him fight and he was a lot stronger and more experience since then.

The woman with jet black hair pushed herself off the wall, still laughing softly, and crossed the courtyard toward Damon with the unhurried ease of someone who had decided she liked him before the minute was even finished.

"That was the most entertainment this courtyard has seen in decades," she said, stopping in front of him. Up close her four tails moved with a lazy independence, each one doing its own thing. Her crimson eyes, lighter than Ayame’s, looked him over with open interest.

"Yuki," Ayame said from behind him, the single word carrying the particular weight of someone reminding another person of their manners.

"I’m just introducing myself," Yuki said, completely unbothered. She extended a hand toward Damon in a gesture that was distinctly informal for this world. "I’m Yuki. Four tails, clearly inferior to my dear cousin, but considerably more fun at gatherings." she said with a wink.

Damon looked at the hand for a moment then shook it.

Yuki’s grin widened while Ayame frowned slightly.

Though he was not aware of it, physical contact between a male and female species in this world was mostly reserved to family or betrothed.

"Your brother," Damon said, looking toward the door Raiden had disappeared through.

"He will come around," Yuki said before Ayame could answer. "He always does. He just needs time to be furious about it first." She glanced toward the empty doorway. "He’s been protective of our clan from before I was born. You showing up and surviving a minute against him wasn’t what he pictured when he heard of a human champion."

Damon nodded.

He couldn’t really blame him. If an alien species showed up on Earth and deemed themselves as huamnity’s champion he wouldn’t feel great about it too.

"I believe it’s safe to say the meeting is over," Ayame finally cut in, slightly displeased by the conversation she wasn’t included in.

She grabbe Damon’s arm and turned to leave before Yuki spoke from behind.

"You know there is an S-Rank rift nearby..."

Damon raised a brow while Ayame turned just as Yuki continued.

"If you want to raise his level... there isn’t a better place."