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As the heavy wooden sword swung down at the Valeforian's head like an axe, Luen sucked a quick breath of air in through her teeth in a sharp sympathy wince. The poor boy. That was going to [i]hurt,[/i] wasn't it? She felt a ghost of a tug on her legs, an impulse from a hidden place in her mind that urged her to run out there [i]right now[/i] and stop the oncoming blow. Or at the very least to help the poor guy find a place to sit after he was so thoroughly trounced. And she actually [i]did[/i] shift like she was about to start running, though of course she stopped herself before he inevitably—

And then he had to go and surprise Keros with snow magic and knock him out of the tournament like the snap of a finger.

"[color=D0D4E5]Wow.[/color]"

The word slipped out before she could really do anything about it, and a little smile grew on her face.

[color=69D7CC]“Wasn’t expecting incantations this early. Especially not from commoners.”[/color]

"[color=D0D4E5]Neither did I, but I'm glad. This way nobody got hurt.[/color]" A moment passed before she realized how incredibly sappy and—and—and [i]womanly[/i] what she'd just said was. After a beat of quiet that she felt was far too long and a self-conscious cough, she added: "[color=D0D4E5]After all, a heavy waster like that could break, what was it? Ferros' shoulder, and a commoner might never be able to get it fixed properly. Failure and pain are one thing, but being permanently crippled is quite another.[/color]"