---
The first clash rang through the circle like a struck gong.
Steel kissed steel; sand jumped; banners snapped as if flinching.
Kai felt the shock run through his arms and down into his legs. Vorak's first thrust had not been a feint. It had punched in with the kind of confidence that assumed anything in front of it would either die or get out of the way.
Kai had done neither.
He slid his lower hand on the haft, angling the shaft so the force bled along his spear instead of straight into his shoulder. Apex Plus made his frame heavier, denser, his plates humming under the strain. His muscles burned in a good way, the way they did when they remembered what they were for.
Vorak's eyes flicked once, noting the choice, then narrowed in approval.
Then they both moved, and there was no more room for appreciation.
