On the morning of the eighth day, Mara sat down beside Serah at the central fire.

"How does it feel that your alpha now has a vampire to satisfy his needs?"

Serah took the hot water.

"I don’t care."

"Really?"

"It was obvious that Lira wouldn’t be able to resist my beloved’s charm." Serah stared at the fire. "It doesn’t surprise me."

"Any other woman would be jealous."

"I’m not. Kai could have a hundred more and he’d still be mine."

Mara smiled.

"And if Lira has Kai’s first child?"

"That won’t happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I’ll be the first. The mother of his first child. Always."

"And what if I jump ahead of you?"

---

Frost burst from Serah’s feet in an instant.

Crystals covered the stones of the fire pit. The air dropped several degrees in a second.

The markings turned absolute white. Her eyes without silver — completely white.

Mara smiled.

Serah stood up.

"Training field."

Mara was already walking.

---

[Stream active]

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SERAH VS MARA ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Chris_Murray: the threat about the first child. THAT was the button. brutal Mara.]

[Warwolf: LET’S GO SERAH!! SHOW HER WHO’S NUMBER ONE!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Per_Sundin: white eyes. I hadn’t seen that before. Mara touched something deep.]

[Kalgarth: team Mara. 340 years of pure Warlord versus SSS primordial. my money is clear. (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Drakeking: MARA!! MARA!! MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[TheDeadDragón: the Orcs have already formed the circle. this is official.]

---

The field emptied in thirty seconds.

The three hundred Orcs formed a tight circle.

Kai at the perimeter beside Urgo. Lira on the other side.

Serah in the center with frost still rising from her feet. Her primordial aura active.

Mara at the opposite end. No magic. No amplifiers. The two meters ten and three hundred forty years.

She smiled.

---

Serah didn’t wait.

Structural ice in full radius — concentrated, dropping the field’s temperature in seconds.

Mara felt it on her skin.

She kept walking.

---

Serah shifted — the ice to the ground between them.

Mara stepped onto the ice without pause. Her feet adapted, weight redistributed, her stride unchanged.

"Ice on the ground is the first thing we learn here."

---

[DraconicLegacy: (°ロ°) SHE WALKED ON THE ICE LIKE NOTHING]

[Warwolf: SERAH CHANGE IT UP!! DON’T GIVE UP!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Kalgarth: TWO YEARS IN THE NORTH!! THAT’S HER TERRAIN!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Drakeking: MARA DOESN’T STOP!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[TheDeadDragón: the Orcs on Mara’s side are already shouting. Serah’s side silent but firm.]

---

Serah threw her right claw with concentrated ice at the tip.

Mara deflected it with her forearm. The white mark stayed on her skin.

She looked at it.

"It hurts a little. Good."

Her fist reached Serah’s shoulder before she processed that the deflection was the start of the counterattack.

Serah a meter to the right.

The markings absorbed. They stayed white.

---

[DraconicLegacy: SERAH HOLDS ON!! THE MARKINGS STAY WHITE!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Warwolf: YOU ABSORBED THAT SHOULDER!! KEEP GOING SERAH!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Kalgarth: "it hurts a little. good." — Mara is enjoying this. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Chris_Murray: the deflection was the start of the counterattack. Mara wastes no movement.]

[Drakeking: MARA!! MARA!! MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[TheDeadDragón: Kai still on the perimeter. just watching. the way he looks at Serah says everything.]

---

Serah recalibrated.

The aura at maximum cost her. The ice too. Mara had no magical limit.

’If I keep spending energy and she doesn’t, time works against me.’

She closed the distance — the step from the treacherous floor room, SSS speed without the ice ahead.

She reached Mara’s radius in a second.

Mara raised her arms to block.

Serah didn’t go for the front.

Right flank — Kai’s Flank Evasion, with legs instead of arms. Her body passing through the uncovered angle.

Claw to the side. Ice concentrated directly on the skin.

Mara stepped back half a pace.

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA’S FIRST RETREAT!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Warwolf: SERAH USED KAI’S MOVE!! LET’S GO!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Kalgarth: (°ロ°)... okay I didn’t see that coming. but Mara recovers. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Per_Sundin: half a step. the first time in the whole fight. the entire perimeter felt it.]

[Drakeking: the Orcs on Mara’s side silent for a second. Serah’s side ROARED.]

[TheDeadDragón: Kai nodded. just once. I saw it.]

---

Mara touched the white mark on her side.

"That was different."

"I learned from someone." Serah repositioned. "He has good methods."

Mara looked at Kai on the perimeter.

She looked back at Serah.

"Alright."

---

She stopped advancing directly.

She circled — looking for the angle where the Flank Evasion would have less space. Serah circled too, her aura at seventy percent.

The markings dropping from the absolute white of the start.

Mara saw it.

She attacked.

---

Three quick strikes. Serah blocked the first. Took the second on her left forearm. Dodged the third.

The markings dropped two points.

Serah counterattacked — claw to Mara’s neck.

Mara tilted her neck. The blow landed on her shoulder.

She absorbed.

She grabbed Serah’s arm.

---

The grip had three hundred forty years of concentrated SSS strength.

Serah read the angle.

There was no direct way out without escalating.

’I can. The aura at absolute maximum would break the grip.’

’And it would cost the rest of the markings.’

---

Mara waited.

"What are you doing?" Serah said.

"Waiting."

"For what?"

"For you to decide."

---

[DraconicLegacy: Mara doesn’t finish by force. she waits for the decision. that’s another class of combat.]

[Warwolf: SERAH ESCALATE!! YOU CAN!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Kalgarth: THE GRIP IS PERFECT!! MARA HAS CONTROL!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Chris_Murray: escalating would cost everything. Mara calculated this from the start.]

[Per_Sundin: the perimeter in absolute silence. three hundred Orcs waiting.]

[Drakeking: (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA!! MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[TheDeadDragón: Lira on the perimeter. still. watching the grip.]

---

The markings at sixty percent.

Serah looked at Mara.

Mara smiled.

Serah raised the ice from her claws — not to break free, to attack again.

The ice concentrated on the point of contact between Mara’s hands and her arm.

Mara felt the cold directly on her fingers.

She squeezed harder.

---

[DraconicLegacy: SERAH DOESN’T GIVE UP!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SHE KEEPS ATTACKING FROM THE GRIP!!]

[Warwolf: THAT’S SERAH!! DON’T YIELD!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Kalgarth: Mara squeezed harder. the cold doesn’t make her let go. TWO YEARS IN THE NORTH!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Chris_Murray: Serah found a third option between yielding and escalating. attack from inside the grip.]

[Drakeking: this isn’t over. neither of them is going to give in easily. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[TheDeadDragón: the fight continues. Serah’s markings dropping. Mara’s side with the white mark. both paying the price.]

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