"Ladies and gentlecolts!" The announcer yelled; the boom of his voice echoing across the swarm of screaming fans. "I am know going to select the fighters for the next match-up!"

As much as Spike tried to be excited, he couldn't seem to shake his worries. While he knew his natural power was formidable, the fact that he only had at the least a few hours of training with Draven did not compare to the years of experience that the fighters beside him had, including Coba. Spike began gritting his teeth as the announcer plunged his hand inside the glass container in front of him.

"Our next fight will be... Armandura of the Crystal Empire, versus Galaeron of the Miriad Kingdom!" The eager announcer shouted out to the equally eager fans.

"Sorry if I tend to repeat myself a lot, but... what is a miriad?" Spike asked as he turned his head to face Coba.

"I enjoy the questions, Spike, honestly. I admire your curiosity! It's always good to know more about the lands you walk on! " Coba reassured Spike with a light chuckle.

"Ladies and gentlecolts! I present to you... your fighters!" The announcer cheered as the two brawlers lumbered out of the barracks.

"So, what is a miriad?" Spike uttered as he looked out to the arena.

"Wel, see for yourself," Coba replied, gesturing to the stallion taking his position on the right side of the arena.

The stallion was tall, and his complexion was sky-blue. In fact, his fur had a tint to it that differed from any pony Spike had seen before; it was almost pale. His eyes were a flawless emerald green that seemed to pierce your soul like and arrow, and his long blonde hair was braided tightly at the bottom. Spike noticed that his ears seemed longer, or rather, pointed, which was a feature alien to him. He was dressed in a silver armor that shone like the moon, and a dark blue cape stretched down to his feet. A strange weapon was in his hands, it was a crossbow no doubt, but it was unlike anything Spike had seen before. One of the most strange aspects of this weapon was the fact that he was not carrying any bolts or ammo of any kind.

"That is a miriad," Coba said as his too eyed the strange looking stallion. "They live in the northeast in a kingdom seldom seen by outsiders. The few who have been there speaking of those lands as nothing less than beautiful. A land bathed in light, always glimmering, whether it be night or day."

"Will I get to see it possibly?" Spike said in an unintentional coaxing-tone.

"We'll have to wait and see where this journey takes us, Spike," Coba stated.

Armandura stood tall on the opposite side; his eyes- although barely visible, were burning with anticipation. His demeanor seemed focused and demanded respect. In actuality, his thief-like attire greatly conflicted with his blatantly obvious hardy personality; causing strange feelings to stir within Spike, which Coba noticed right away.

"What's troubling you?" Coba wondered; seeing Spike's blank expression.

"Nothing Coba. I just... nothing." Spike trailed off as he shook his head.

"Now folks, if you will... count down with me now!" The announcer bellowed. "Three! Two! One! Fight!"

With that, Galaeron raised his crossbow, which then began to glow a blue light near the end. It fired a javelin-shaped energy shot that whizzed towards Armandura; who anticipated the attack, and dodged it easily.

"So that's what it does," Spike commented soon after watching the crossbow fire.

Armandura cast a spell quickly after coming out of his dodge-roll. In his right hand was a magical sword, and in his left was a shield, both glowing a purple light as they hummed; causing the air to crackle from the heat generated by the magical items.

"What on earth kind of magic is that?" Coba said; unfamiliar with the kind of magic Armandura was using.

"I know this magic! It's the kind Canterlot war-mages use in a fight!" Spike said; a little proud of himself for recognizing it so easily. "Hmm, that's strange. Crystal Empire mages don't use that magic I don't think."

Armandura summoned more magical swords around him hovering in a circle; forming a tight barrier as he charged towards Galaeron. His first strike missed, but in a flash the rest of the swords sliced at Galaeron. Galareon tossed the crossbow aside in a panic and drew the saber strapped on his waist. While he blocked the rapid strikes from the maelstrom, he was pushed back when Armandura gave him hard shield-bash; sending him flying backward.

"I don't think any normal Canterlot war-mage wields their magic to that extent." Spike commented; somewhat thrown off by Armandura's surprising talent with his Sword Magic.

After recovering from Armandura's first assault, Galaeron retrieved his crossbow. He began to fire it with focused precision; aiming for non-fatal areas. As Armandura began his next attack, a shot grazed his elbow. While he felt the pain shoot up his arm from the cut, he brushed it off; unwilling to let his foe have another chance to hit him again.

Armandura launched another attack, this time he cut his foe across the arm before his foe could draw his sword. To finish, he landed another shield-bash, this time a light one to stagger Galaeron. Once Galaeron recovered he quickly slashed low with his saber; cutting through Armandura's armor, but barely slicing beneath his skin. Regardless Armandura felt the pain instantly and gave Galaeron a hard shield-bash to the face; making a loud bang that echoed across the arena. Galaeron struggled to recover as he switched to his crossbow and began firing once more.

Galaeron's aim was hampered by the blow to the head; exactly what Armandura was counting on. Armandura uttered a magical phrase; summoning even more blades which then hurled themselves towards Galaeron. Dodging the attack, Galaeron made a shot just as Armandura lowered his hands to recharge. The shot hit him; embedding itself deep in his shoulder, and causing him severe pain.

In an adrenaline-fuelled rage, Armandura began a final onslaught. He uttered a long spell, and with that, many swords surrounded Galaeron. The swords raised as if ready to kill... but disintegrated, along with his weapons in-hand, just as they were about to dice him up.

Galaeron was confused by Armandura, he wasn't sure why he had halted the final attack which would have won the match. "What is this?"

Armandura raised his now empty hands to his head and formed fists. The crowd cheered as he went down into a hand to hand fighting position.

"You wish to fight as equals then?" Galaeron said to his foe. "I accept your challenge Equestrian."

"I don't believe what I'm seeing!" The announcer said; shocked by what was before him. "It appears Armandura wishes to fight in hand to hand combat!"

"Wait... why would he just give up victory like that? Wouldn't it have been easier to finish him off with his magic?" Spike muttered to himself quietly.

"Simple... to be fair. The way the tournament picks fighters in matches is through chance, not arranging them by skill or experience. That's what makes Round One unfair." Coba answered; interrupting Spike's train of thought. "Armandura here clearly could see that his magic skills surpassed Galaeron, so he decided to fight him on equal ground."

Armandura readied himself; planting his legs in the ground and going into a deep back stance. Galaeron displayed various acrobatics in his approach towards his foes such as front flips and back flips, which were all impressive considering the fact he was wearing heavy metal armor. Armandura didn't seem phased by Galaeron's display, however and dodged the first attack. Galaeron threw a jumping side-kick, but Armandura dodged and immediately followed up by strafing to the left and landing a spinning back-kick straight onto the bridge of Galaeron's snout; causing him to fly backwards and crash onto the ground. He got up again and wiped away a trickle of blood from his face as he tasted it on his tongue. Now aware of is opponent's skill, Galaeron held back for a moment to wait for an attack.

Armandura knew what Galaeron was planning, and attempted to fake him out; switching his stance position multiple times from his left side to his right. Just as he stepped into Galaeron's range he backed out; causing Galaeron to miss as he attempted to strike at his face. Just as he stumbled Armandura stepped in but was greeted with a hard back-fist to the side of his head. He shook it off quickly and gave a hard side-kick to Galaeron's rib-cage; winding him briefly. As Armandura stepped in again, Galaeron gave him a strong jab just under the ribcage up through his diaphragm.

Armandura lost his breath for a moment, almost choking after feeling the hard impact hit him like a ton of bricks. He dropped to one knee to catch his breath, but also to lure Galaeron inside the range of his legs. As Galaeron walked towards him and threw a punch at his lowered head, Armandura caught it and jumped up to give him a devastating kick to the jaw; making Galaeron step back. Galaeron's vision blurred for a moment. He expected Armandura to land a final strike, but to his surprise Armandura instead sat down on the ground with his legs crossed.

"Are you... waiting for me to recover?" Galaeron said; struggling to push the air from his lungs to speak.

Armandura said nothing but nodded slowly as a sign of both agreement and respect. As Galaeron came-to, Armandura stood up. He put his fist straight out in front of him so Galaeron could see it.

"A fighter's salute..." Jhettei whispered under his breath; watching the fight closely from the sidelines.

"What is it? What are you doing?" Galaeron asked as he stared at the fist pointed at him.

Once again, Armandura said nothing, but he gestured to his fist; nodding as Galaeron raised it slowly. He nodded again as Galaeron's fist made light contact with his.

"You fight honorably Armandura. Such a trait is hard to come by in a world such as this." Galaeron stated; Armandura nodding again in agreement. "Now, shall we finish?"

The two backed up and lowered themselves back down into their fighting positions. They charged at once and began to attack each other once more; their fists blazing as they stuck each other again and again with no let-up. Even with his sturdy armor, Galaeron could feel each piercing blow from Armandura as if the armor was made out of paper. Galaeron could clearly see Armandura's fists; bloodied and bruised, yet he fought on as if he either didn't realize or didn't care.

Galaeron tried throwing a roundhouse kick but failed. Armandura saw this coming and struck his kneecap with a paralyzing palm-strike. He brought his leg back and automatically clutched it in response to the pain. After a couple seconds of deep breathing he launched a strong punch to Armandura's face; who staggered for a moment, then defended with a thrusting kick just as Galaeron tried to step in. Armandura's hoof went under the gap in Galaeron's armor; penetrating his defense. He felt the full force of the impact crunch down on his lungs and deflate them like a popped balloon. He fell to one knee and wheezed frantically. His strength finally left him, and he could not rise to his hooves again. Armandura saw this and approached him slowly. He tried putting his hand out to help him up, but Galaeron refused; knocking it to the side.

"I cannot... fight... any longer..." Galaeron coughed. "You have proven... to be... the better fighter... and you must finish it..."

"If it is what you want." Armandura said softly; his voice muffled by the shroud blocking his face.

Armandura jumped up and threw a kick that landed right between Galaeron's eyes; knocking him on his back, and rendering him unconscious.

"The tense battle has ended my fellow fans! Armandura wins! Armandura wins!" The announcer screamed; the crowd's cheers almost drowning him out.

"That was awesome!" Spike said with childlike excitement.

Spike's excitement dissipated as he looked up to see Twilight across the arena; wearing the same face he wore when Armandura walked past him for the first time. While he tried not to think much about it... something bothered him, not just with Armandura, but Stín as well. For some strange reason, it just didn't sit right in his stomach. However, his stomach grumbled more when he heard the next words spoken by the announcer

" Ladies and gentlecolts...our next fight will be... Spike, of the Equestrian Canterlot team versus Sigrid, of the Changeling team!"