The battle ended with Dribb flat on the ground, bloodied and exhausted, a grin still stretched across his face as Kharos stood over him with his axe lowered toward his neck, breathing heavily enough for everyone nearby to hear it.

For a moment, nobody moved.

The entire crowd had gone silent, stunned by what they had just witnessed.

Even Caius’ followers, who had clearly expected Kharos to dominate from the beginning, now looked shaken by how close the fight had actually been.

And Kharos himself didn’t look satisfied in the slightest despite technically winning.

The reason was obvious.

Dribb had only lost because he ran out of mana first.

Kharos was stronger overall. Higher level, deeper reserves, and in the end, that difference decided the fight. But everyone there could tell the outcome hadn’t come from superiority alone.

If the battle had dragged on even a little longer, Kharos would have been the one lying on the floor instead.

And he knew it.

That realization sat visibly on his face, irritating him more than the victory itself.

Because warriors like him didn’t want conditional wins. They wanted dominance.

Still, despite the frustration written across his expression, something had clearly changed in the way he looked at Dribb now.

Recognition.

Not the shallow kind given out through words, but the type earned only after forcing someone to acknowledge your strength firsthand.

Dribb had done exactly that.

Kharos stared at him for another second before finally lowering the axe completely. Then, after exhaling deeply through his nose, he stretched a hand toward Dribb to help him up.

That surprised me a little.

After everything that had just happened, I’d expected him to turn around and walk away without saying a word.

Dribb stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, breathing heavily as blood dripped from the side of his mouth, before finally grabbing it. Kharos tightened his grip and pulled him back to his feet in one rough motion.

The moment he did, the crowd erupted into cheers.

The atmosphere that had been tense only moments ago completely shifted as goblins from both sides roared excitedly, some still talking loudly about the exchange they had just witnessed.

They had enjoyed that fight far more than they’d expected to.

Even I found myself rising to my feet before clapping slowly alongside the others, my eyes remaining on the arena.

That had been entertaining.

And more importantly, useful.

Strength was one thing, but seeing how people fought, how they reacted under pressure, and what kind of mentality they carried when pushed to their limits told me far more about them than simple ranks ever could.

The two eventually stepped out of the arena, with Dribb still grinning despite barely being able to walk properly.

Kharos, on the other hand, headed straight toward Sheera before dropping down onto the ground in front of her.

Sheera let out a small sigh, clearly already used to this sort of thing, then leaned closer and activated her innate skill.

A faint hum spread from her hand as energy flowed into Kharos’ body, and the wounds covering him slowly began closing one after another. Torn flesh pulled itself back together gradually while the bleeding started to stop.

Kharos occasionally narrowed his eyes and tightened his expression; the process clearly wasn’t painless.

Which honestly made sense.

Forcing damaged flesh to regenerate that quickly was bound to hurt, no matter how good the healing ability was.

Still, it was impressive to watch.

And apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought so, because a good portion of the crowd had begun staring in their direction now, their attention shifting away from the arena and toward Sheera’s healing ability instead.

Even I found myself watching closely. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As soon as Kharos was fully treated, Sheera turned toward Dribb.

"You too," she called while gesturing toward herself. "Over here."

Dribb immediately lowered his head before walking toward her.

And I blinked.

...Was this idiot blushing?

I stared at him for another second just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.

To think I’d actually live long enough to witness something like this.

This was the same goblin who had just fought like a crazed demon in the arena moments ago, yet now he suddenly looked awkward because a female goblin called him over.

Pathetic.

Dribb sat down in front of Sheera while trying to act normal, but the moment the healing process started, his expression twitched almost instantly.

A low hiss escaped his mouth as the energy spread through his wounds, and before long, he was squirming uncomfortably while trying—and failing—to suppress a few pained sounds.

The crowd burst into laughter at the sight.

At one point, he snapped and barked at a few of them to shut up, but Sheera immediately hushed him without even looking up from what she was doing.

And he listened.

But he still kept twitching now and then whenever the healing energy passed through a deeper wound, and despite clearly trying to act tough, a few embarrassing sounds escaped him from time to time.

Which naturally made things worse for him because now even more goblins were laughing.

The entire scene was ridiculous.

Still, the atmosphere around the arena had completely changed after that first fight. And whatever uneasiness had existed earlier was quickly being drowned out by battle-hungry excitement as more goblins began calling out challenges toward the newcomers.

I allowed a few of them to step forward.

Snib went first.

Then Krosh.

Then Zox.

But all three lost.

Not because they were weak, but because there was still a very obvious gap between them and Caius’ people. The newcomers were more experienced, better trained, and most importantly, many of them already possessed developed skill lines.

Snib and the others didn’t.

Unlike Dribb, Gobbo, Zarah, and a few of the stronger members of my clan, they still hadn’t reached the level required for me to guide their growth more effectively

And honestly, that was mostly on me.

I had already promised them they’d receive skill lines once they reached the necessary level, but with everything that had happened recently, I still hadn’t found the time to help them level up.

Watching them struggle now only made that failure more obvious.

"As soon as possible," I said to myself. "I’d handle it as soon as possible."

One goblin, however, already possessed a skill line despite not doing much lately besides eating, sleeping, and shamelessly chasing after female goblins.

And naturally, I called him out.

Partly because I wanted to see what he could do after slacking off for so long.

But mostly because I still hadn’t forgotten what he’d done earlier.