The air between them sharpened like a blade. The mood in the bunker turned from quiet to heavy, as if the walls themselves could sense what was about to unfold.
Vera, who had been standing silent the whole time back straight with eyes low; trident glinting in the dim lamplight finally spoke. His voice was calm, but his words sliced through the air.
"Tom," he said, his tone steady as still water, "I challenge you to a duel."
Everyone turned toward him instantly. Even Elior looked up from the closed chest.
Tom blinked. "A duel?"
Vera gave a small nod. "We've trained, fought side by side, and argued more times than I can count but I still don't know your limit and neither do you." His eyes lifted — dark, focused, unreadable. "You've grown fast, but you don't know how much your hands can really take. Let's find out."
Rosario raised an eyebrow, rubbing his temple. "You two gonna break the bunker this time?"
Elior exhaled slowly. "If they're doing this, take it outside andd remember to use no Faces."
Tom tilted his head, half a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You're serious?"
Elior didn't smile back. "Completely."
Elior crossed his arms, his tone suddenly firm. "Tom, remember that he can't see your Face. You're officially registered as a bearer in the system. That means, if your Face slips out even by reflex, this gets ugly real real quick."
Tom nodded. "Then I promise to make it not happen to make it fairer."
He took a deep breath and reached into his inventory. A flash of light shimmered briefly before fading and in his hand appeared the Kakin Kingdom's Yari, the long polearm glinting with silver steel and gold-threaded engravings near its base.
The weapon had history in its shape
something built for noble duels, for soldiers who never came home.
Tom spun it once in his hand, the blade slicing the air cleanly.
"Alright," he said. "No Faces. Just us."
Vera stepped forward. His trident caught the pale reflection of moonlight from the cracks in the ceiling. With a short gesture, he turned his free hand upward and water began to swirl around his palm, short at first, then forming into a solid, shifting shield.
The movement was elegant, rhythmic. The same way Vera always was in battle, quiet precision wrapped in deadly control.
Tom took his stance taking one foot forward, Yari tip angled low, his breathing calm.
Rosario whistled lowly, stepping back. "Alright then, boys. Try not to destroy the planet."
Elior smirked slightly. "If they start smashing the planet, don't worry, I exist."
Tom's grip tightened around the Yari. "You can watch." he said without looking back, " Don't take any action until it is necessary."
Vera lowered his trident, the tip drawing a faint ripple through the sand-coated floor. "Then let's begin."
Both moved at the same time, quiet, like a whisper before a noises.
The water around Vera's arm rippled outward, condensing into droplets that hovered midair, orbiting him like glass beads. Tom felt the wind shift around his Yari's edge, the air vibrating with tension.
A duel, no Faces allowed, no magic outside the basics. Just control, focus, instinct.
It was kind of a fight where one burst or planning could decide everything.
The night hummed with stillness before the clash.
Outside the bunker, the air shimmered with desert heat that never truly faded, even after the sun went down. Pale moonlight spilled across the sand, making it look like silver glass. The wind was quiet — as though the whole world leaned closer, waiting.
Tom and Vera faced each other.
Bang!
Vera moved first, faster than the blink of a thought. His trident swiped upward, dragging thin lines of water from the air itself.
In an instant, those droplets formed into liquid threads that floated around him, twisting, spinning, linking together into a glowing web.
Tom ducked back, sand crunched under his boots. He swung the Yari in a smooth arc, cutting through one of the threads, but the strand split and rejoined like mercury. The web didn't fall but it multiplied.
"Starting with traps, huh?" Tom muttered, sliding low.
Vera didn't answer. He never did mid-battle. His eyes were steady, scanning, reading, calculating, avoided any kind of talk during the battle.
The trident spun once in his hand, sending a wave of sharp water darts straight at Tom.
Tom spun the Yari around, the polearm blurring like a propeller, deflecting most of them. One dart grazed his shoulder, leaving a cut. He winced but smiled anyway. "Nice. You're faster this time."
A flash of movement. Vera appeared right in front of him.
Their weapons clashed. Sparks of steel and drops of water burst into the air. Tom twisted his grip, hooking Vera's trident shaft, trying to disarm him but Vera used the motion, flipped backward, and with one hand snapped his fingers.
The threads reacted instantly and hundreds of them swiftly shooting forward, tangling around Tom's Yari, his arms, his legs.
Rosario whistled from the sidelines, chewing a carrot. "Ooooh! Look at that, folks, we've got an Australian spider web moment! Wait.... what the heck is Australia?"
Elior, sitting beside him, leaned back against a crate. "Vera's not gonna hold back today. He's using the Aqua Thread's Formation."
Tom's teeth grit as the threads tightened. They weren't just strong, also they moved like they had their own minds. Every time he tried to go away, they curved and webbed, drawing him closer to Vera.
"Even if you break out," Vera said calmly, "I'll close the gap. You'll lose more ground each second."
Tom exhaled, sweat barely running down his face. He's right. Even if I escape, it leads me to more downfall.... that's the point.
He smiled. Guess I'll just have to make this uglier.
Tom suddenly slammed his Yari into the ground hardest he could. Sand exploded upward, clouding everything. In that brief moment, he spun his weapon with both hands, forming a small rotational barrier of air and pressure. The water threads tangled around it, warping into each other.
From Vera's side, he could feel the pressure shift. "A rotation technique?"
Elior smirked. "That is Tom's thing. He is using rotation even without his Face. Still weaker than the Face, obviously."
Inside the swirling dust, the threads snapped in several places. Tom burst out, rolling across the sand, Yari raised up. His coat was torn, blood running from his arm cut, but he had escaped with less damage than expected.
He stood, smirking through a depo exhale. "Still here and standing...."
Vera didn't react, but his trident lowered slightly not out of pity, but recognition. "You used my own pressure to turn the web against itself."
"Yup," Tom replied. "Didn't expect it to work either."
The Yari and trident met midair, their weapons clanging in flashes of silver. Tom swung low and Vera blocked. Vera countered upward and Tom ducked.
Their movements were fluid, almost rhythmic, like two pieces of the same storm.
Rosario munched another carrot loudly. "And there it is! The classic weapon ballet, folks! Ten out of ten for style, zero for mercy!"
Elior, arms crossed, muttered, "You're enjoying this way too much."
Vera reformed his stance. His feet glided across the sand like water. He thrust his trident forward, then twisted it, launching a spiral jet of condensed water.
Tom leapt back, the stream slicing past his chest, leaving a thin line across his shirt. He retaliated with a quick thrust, sending the Yari's blade spinning like a drill.
Vera sidestepped, the strike grazing his cheek. A drop of blood fell, then instantly healed.
For the next few seconds, their fight turned blinding.
The air's weight was turning heavier unnaturally under the speed of their swings.
Tom fainted left but Vera predicted.
Vera swept low but Tom vaulted over him, landing behind.
Tom spun but Vera's trident handle caught his ribs mid-turn. Tom gasped, stumbled back, blocking just in time to stop the follow-up.
They locked weapons again. The Yari against The Trident.
Tom grinned through gritted teeth. "You've turned a lot scarier, you know."
Vera's voice was steady. "You're still talking too much."
"Yeah," Tom said, pressing harder, "but that's why I win."
He feigned pressure to the right. Vera held his own balance instinctively. Tom immediately reversed, dropping low and sweeping the Yari across the ground.
The pole caught Vera's leg, making him stagger. Tom followed up, thrusting toward his chest but Vera raised a wall of water between them in an instant. The impact shattered the wall but killed the momentum. Vera countered with a palm strike, a burst of pressurized mist blasting Tom backward.
Tom slid across the sand, leaving a trail. He planted his weapon into the ground and pushed himself up.
"You're still holding back," Vera said. "Why?"
Tom smirked faintly. "Because…. I still have a cheap trick in my inventory."
He lowered his stance, Yari pointed downward. The air started to hum. Some small daggers appeared at the blade's tip almost like invisible. Vera sensed it before he saw it.
A pulse of energy shot outward, Tom's gambit. Tom swiftly spins the Yari clockwise creating rotational force.
Sand lifted. The rotation multiplied, creating several invisible pockets of compressed air. He'd set them earlier when he slammed his Yari into the ground.
"Pre-set traps," Elior muttered, impressed. "He was laying them mid-fight."
Vera's threads are still connected through moisture in the air swiftly twisted back toward him. The blades and threads clashed against one another. For a split second, the field between them collapsed, sending both fighters tumbling in opposite directions.
The explosion of air pressure flattened the sand around them, leaving a circular crater.
Vera somehow barely managed to tank the attacks.
Something behaved unnatural.
Tom's heartbeat skipped. His grip loosened for a second and from his back , almost unwillingly — his Face manifested.
A translucent aura shimmered, invisible to normal sight, but Elior saw the distortion in the air.
"Oh no," he muttered.
The aura flickered then burst out.
From Tom's side, a rotating invisible blade shot forward, cutting through space itself. A defensive reflex from his Face, sensing mortal danger even when he didn't command it.
Vera felt it even though he couldn't see the invisible blades. Every instinct screamed.
He spun his trident in front of him, and from its tip erupted a shimmering rainbow trail of water, a refracted veil of colors twisting together.
The invisible blade met the trail and slipped.
The water's refraction scattered the rotation's trajectory, bending it away harmlessly.
Tom's eyes widened, realizing what almost happened. His Face flickered and vanished instantly.
Elior stood up, raising a hand. "That's it."
"Time's up," Elior said firmly. "Face involvement. Fight's over."
Tom straightened, exhaling deeply. Vera nodded once, breathing slow but heavy.
Rosario clapped his hands lazily, still chewing a carrot. "Well, that was a symphony of destruction, folks. Ten points for creativity, twelve for mutual attempted murder."
Elior walked closer, looking between them. "Alright. Let's evaluate."
Rosario grinned. "I'll take deception, strategy, and comedic timing."
"Vera," Elior said, "excellent control, adaptability, and flow. Your battlefield manipulation is top-class."
Rosario nodded. "Yeah, dude is a water demigod. Tom…. oh man." He pointed with the carrot. "The moment with the traps? That was wild. Improvised in mid-pressure, fully read the situation."
Elior crossed his arms. "Both performed well. But…." He looked at Tom. "You triggered your Face instinctively. That's a technical loss."
Tom sighed, rubbing his neck. "Yeah. I figured."
Vera, still breathing steady, looked at him with a faint nod. "You're getting there."
Rosario leaned forward. "Winner — Vera, by stability."
Tom smiled faintly, offering a hand. "Good fight."
Vera took it. "Next time," he said quietly, "no limits, wait for me till then alive."
Tom grinned wider. "Deal."
Elior exhaled, a rare smile tugging at his lips. "Alright, enough breaking physics for tonight. Everyone go inside before I start charging rent for destroyed dunes."
Rosario tossed his carrot stick aside. "Fine, but next time, someone's buying snacks for the commentators."
The tension melting into the cool desert night, two warriors stronger than before, and a bond forged sharper than any blade, moved on.