Stella looked for the owner of the lipstick. The only suspects that she could see were as followed: Hwa Hae Ji, June Lily, Alexandra, Annabell, Phixa, Sora, and Violet. Shadow didn't count since dinosaurs don't use lipstick, unless she used an atom morphing device to shapeshift and Stella wasn't aware of. There was one way that she could think of to bring out the topic without raising suspition. Stella took out her phone to open a webpage of a make-up catalogue. NOVA, Stella's favorite cosmetic brand. Now for the interrogation.

Melon and Blade ate at a table together, the blonde goddess dipped the nacho chip on the guacamole while her boyfriend took a bite of a meaty taco. Felix had already disposed of the plastic cutlery to the trash before he went looking for a place to spectate, he took a wrong turn. The hunter had found an elf, strong built, cobalt blue eyes, and lots of mana. Ryo smiled as he found of what he assumed to be a new competitor.

"Are you one of the competitors?" Ryo inquired, Felix noticed that the pommel of Ryo's sword protruding from his shoulder.

"Well I sure am." Felix took out his musket. "I'm waiting for the Tryouts. My fingers are itching to shoot." Felix gave a devious smirk.

Scale had tried to comfort Annabell from her defeat. "Thanks for the support, you guys." Annabell said.

"No problem, what are friends for?" Faim replied.

"Who cares what baldy said? You did great out there." Herring encouraged her.

"At least you gave it your all, that's what matters." Scale gave her a smile his fangs peeking out.

"Is that a rifle?" Ryo asked, looking at Felix's weapon. The hunter took the firearm from its holster and cocked it.

"Wrong, it's a musket. I reload this baby using my mana, I transmit a small fraction of my mana to the caskets that are stored inside of it, I can change my mana to release a certain amount of damage depending on the target." Felix explained. "Observe." Felix pointed near the opening when Mirror entered into the room when Felix shot the mana bullet. It hit Mirror's bicep before he unknowingly deflected the mana, the casket fell to the ground but the mana ricocheted to hit Scale's tail.

"Ow!" Scale winced from the pain as he felt a sting on his tail before he grabbed it to check.

"You ok?" Annabell asked, before the Reptilian nodded.

"Wow." Ryo raised his eyebrows. "You really need to work on that."

"That was just a demonstration." Felix put his musket back in his holster. "You haven't seen anything yet."

"Everyone place your bets for the match against the fisherman, Herring Ja! And the Flaven, Faim!" Ratu announced where he was standing, which was not far from the other contestants.

"What are you doing, ya little runt?" Ruben II interrogated him, teeth clenched.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm promoting the fight." Ratu replied before he resumed announcing the match.

"As if anyone would be stupid enough to fall for that." The fat redhead muttered before he saw a wealthy woman betting on one of the fighters.

"4,500 ğ on Faim." Dirlu said as she gave three 1,500 bills. The currency had a yellowish color akin to a rupee but the corners of the golden brown bill had the illustration of the sun rays while the face imprinted on the bill had a face of a monarch which was none other than one of her ancestors. Then other guests chose to partake on the wager. Some betted on Faim, others on Herring.

"₩1106.26 on Herring." Hwa Hae Ji gave the won bill to Ratu. The boy looked at Ruben with a smug look on his face.

Ryan already paid for his lunch, he held a paper bag that had a hero deluxe sandwitch and a soda, before taking out a box full of chicken wings, barbecue sauce, onion rings and pulled out a strawberry smoothy for Felin. "Bon appetit." Ryan said before they sat down to eat. Felin already dipped the chicken wing on the barbecue sauce bit the meat down to the bone, her lips lightly smeared of the sauce.

Melon and Blade already finished eating by the time the commercials ended. "We gotta get back to our seats before Grim does something stupid." Blade reminded her, when he meant by something stupid, he meant causing trouble, or springing a terrible practical joke.

"I'll be right there, I just have to powder my nose first." The couple split up, Melon headed to the ladies' room while Blade returned to his seat. Violet and Alma had already exited the restroom long before Melon entered.

Nour had gotten out of the infirmary to go order an egg salad before the blonde receptionist took out a syringe containing a virus she concocted, and she found the right test subject for experimentation.

Patricia entered to the infirmary to check on the patient, Joon was still asleep with the EMcuff still attached to him. She injected him a small dose through the IV, the clear liquid turned into a lime green hue. The virus will take effect in a matter of hours. Patricia smirked as Joon's EMCuff checked his vitals.

Hwa Hae Ji looked at her EMCuff as she tried to find how to remove it. She turned her wrist to find an opening, a clip, anything. Hae Ji frowned under her mask. The Daiotu thief recalled Patricia's warning laced behind her introduction. You will be following my instructions if you want your brother returned safe and sound, unwilling to comply will result in an instant death for your brother. The same fate will also befall on you if your brother attempts to escape. Hwa Hae Ji glared at the device attached to her wrist like a shackle. Only the links that could restrain her was her brother's safety, and she doesn't know where he is or where she is keeping him hostage.

The hue-man warmed up to fight before he spotted Haeji.

"So," Haeji looked at Herring, "you better win or I lose some boba ok?" She warned before she grabbed her scythe in a comedic style. "Yah got that Herring?"

"I got it." Herring winked at her before Hwa Jae Ji walked out to take her seat amidst the crowd.

Felix tried to find where the bet was taking place though by the time he showed up Ratu was already gone. Damn, I missed it.

Melon had walked past Felix, her flowing forest green dress and curvy body swayed. When the hunter turned to look at her, he had no interest in her, though he had an intuition that he should follow her.

Hadn't noticed it at first, but she felt mana though she couldn't quite pinpoint it yet, she hiked up her dress to walke up to the second floor, she was sure that she felt someone follow her.

Eleanor and Johnathan returned to their positions as they had already ate a couple of cold cuts and crackers with cheese. Erica was waiting for them until they returned to their seat. "We're going live at any second!" She reminded them, irked.

Melon dashed to sit next to Blade, Felix finally caught a glance at the arena. So this where everyone is watching?

"Now we're back live in the Gladatorium to watch the fight between Faim and Herring." Eleanor started.

"That's right, Eleanor. We have two fighters from different backgrounds who have participated in a couple of fighting tournaments before. Now is their chance to prove their worth in the arena." Johnathan concluded.

Faim was the first to step out and walked near the railing before entering the arena.

"FAIM! YOU BETTER WIN THIS OR SO HELP ME I'M DISOWNING YOU!" Eimy shouted on the top of her lungs for her brother to hear.

"LOVE YOU TOO, SIS!" Faim shouted back at her. He knew she was saying that because she wants to pay off the debt, and to stop working for Dirlu as her servant. 

"WE'RE ROOTING FOR YA, KID!!!" Ximo shouted.

"Ximo, pipe down!" Uiwo yelled at his younger brother, though Ximo ignored him.

"KNOCK HIM OUT!" Ximo shouted even louder.

"YEAAAHHHHHHH! KNOCK HIM OUT!" Mewmi yelled out loud for the whole stadium to hear. Faim gave a double peace sign before Herring came out to join in the arena.

The two combatants stood on opposite sides of the arena, the referee stood in the centre of the arena. 

"Alright gentlemen, you know the rules. No magic, no killing. You have 5 minutes to defeat your opponent, if by then you're still standing. The judges will decide who will win based on your performance." Glen reminded them.

"Will do." Faim affirmed.

"No problem." Herring second it before Glen blew the whistle.

The fighters ran towards each other before they landed an uppercut against each other at the exact same time. "Finally!" Ruben shouted, getting the fight his blood-thirsty eyes were waiting for. Herring staggered back, grains of sand getting between his toes as he let out a disgruntled groan, Faim recoiled before recovering quickly and charged at the young fisherman. Just as the blonde fighter swinged in to punch him again when the Rubrum Pirian ducked to kick the blonde fighter by the back of his ankles to knock him off balance, but Faim jumped before Herring had the chance to do so. Herring stood up and kept kicking but his opponent kept blocking his attacks, Faim punched his opponent square in the jaw. Then he punched him again. Herring blocked the next punch then threw sand at Faim's face. The blonde fighter closed his eyes from the stinging sensation before he tried to wipe out the sand from his eyes when he felt his opponent put two of his fingers inside his cheek, Herring used his signature move to fish hook the fighter. Faim felt his opponent tug the inside of his right cheek while trying to hold back tears from the small grains of sand stinging his eyes. 

"That's cheating!" Faim snapped indignantly.

"It's fair game." Herring grinned darkly.

"C'mon, mama needs some boba." Hwa Hae Ji muttered while Mochi purred in her sleep.

"Looks like Herring has the upper hand. What will the judges say about that?" Johnathan said in a sultry tone.

"Unethical at best and sloppy at worst, but at least it was quick thinking so I'll give him that much." Adrian commented as he looked bored to be there.

"Oooh that's sneaky. I like it!" Lizzy smirked evilly as she gave her opinion.

"That's gotta sting." Marie scrunched up her nose as her eyelids creased at the sight of it.

Faim shut his eyes as he heard the roar of the crowd as he felt Herring's nails dig into the inside of his cheek. "Give up?" Herring asked, despite that he felt the pain as the young fisherman was lacerating Faim's vocal cavity, he wasn't going to give up so easily. 

"Ne'er." He responded with determination to fight back. The blonde fighter deliberately fell backwards so that Herring could cushion the blow. Undeterred by the fall, Herring latched onto him like a parasite.

"Geh ahh ee!" Faim protested as he tried to elbow his opponent, but it was no use until he dug his nails on Herring's leg, then headbutted him on the chin. The lanky fisherman winced from the pain as he let go off Faim to hold on to his bruised jaw. Faim finally free to move, he took a defensive stance with eyes closed. 

"You can do it Herring!" Piros cheered him on. Faim blinked as he saw a blur coming closer, then he felt him elbow his throat, constraining the airway of his wind pipe for a brief second before he skidded backwards as he gasped for air. The blonde fighter felt cornered, he was by the edge of the arena. The cacophony of the audience cheering was confusing him. 

"HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! MOVE OUTTA THE WAY!" Eimy shouted. Instinctively, Faim jumped as high as he could when Herring punched to where Faim was, and already the blonde fighter could recognize the scent of seafood on his opponent so he grabbed Herring from behind and grabbed him by doing a half Nelson.

"ATTA BOY!" Ximo hollered. 

"Get off me!" Herring shouted.

"You wish." Faim responded while everyone watched.

"BOO! I WANNA SEE BLOOD!" Ruben II protested. 

"BORING!" Grim also booed as he wanted to see some blood. 

"YOU CAN WIN THIS FAIM!" Mewmi shouted.

"How uncouth." Dirlu commented as she waved her fan as she fanned herself, Baci Llus was impressed that Micah was sleeping through all of this noise while she snored.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Zack shouted, thrilled to watch the show.

Herring did what he could to break out of the half Nelson, even if it meant having a dislocated shoulder.

The younger opponent turned to the side before elbowing him with his free arm and pinned him to the sand, though it didn't last long, the blond fighter stood back up again before they were punching each other. Faim kept pummeling his opponent in a barrage of attacks while Herring had trouble keeping up with his opponent's strikes.

"Boo! Hit harder, you lanky shrimp!" The fat Cinnabarian shouted at Herring before Faim punched him at the sternum. 

Shien focuses on repetitive swift and aggressive attacks, commonly used to overwhelm the opponent and shot-gut blows in hopes of triggering yamitzu strikes. Faim recalled Yin when he instructed him about the first form of Yamitzu before he hit Herring hard enough to fall on the sand.

Herring was running out of time, Faim loomed over him before he rolled out of the way, by the time Herring stood up Faim grappled him with a full Nelson this time, though Herring elbowed Faim repeatedly upside the head to let him go. The blonde fighter put his hand on the side of his head before Herring stood by the edge of the arena to taunt. 

"Is that all you got?" Faim heard as he cleared the sand from his eyes. "Even Ruben can fight better than you!"

"I HEARD THAT!" Ruben II bellowed as he angrily stood from his seat. Some of the spectators kept their distance from him. Faim's dark brown eyes darted around, "I know what you're trying to pull and it won't work on me." Faim said as he gave a lopsided smile.

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I look around." Herring walked to the edge of the arena near Faim's range of sight. "The blonde girl that was cheering for you earlier looks really attractive--" Faim agreed to Herring's statement, Mewmi was attractive, a pretty girl with a nice curvy body that many men would lust over. "--the girl with the headscarf looks pretty too." Herring trailed on.

"That's my sister you're talking about." Faim's lopsided smile dropped.

"I know. She's really something." Herring displayed a devious smirk as he looked at where Eimy was seated. He had no intention in flirting with anyone whatsoever, though he did get a kick out of riling Faim. "Though she's not really my type. I'm not into the typical domineering housewife."

"Watch it." The blonde fighter glared at Herring as he took a step closer, though the young fisherman's nonchalant expression riled him up even more.

"Good point, standing by the edge of the arena is not really a good idea." Herring stepped down. "I don't blame you, I'd be overprotective too if I had a beautiful sister like her." Herring walked closer. "If this was a duel for her hand, I'd have no problem taking her off your hands." Faim charged in to beat Herring senseless, but before he could land a punch on him. He heard the blow of the whistle when the time limit ended, though that didn't stop Faim from trying. Glen blew the whistle again before he got in the way to seperate them.

"It's a tie ladies and gentlemen. Now it's up to the judges to determine the winner." Eleanor announced.

Marie looked at both competitors before giving her verdict. "Faim did a great job giving a combo move against his opponent. He also did a good job in avoiding a ring out when he jumped at the last second. So I give him 10 points in perseverance." Marie said before she looked at the hue-man, "Though Herring tried to do the same, but it backfired on him so he gets 6 points in defense." Marie doodled a number 6 on her blank sign with a little swirl to make it look like a cinnamon roll.

"I liked the fighting moves like the Nelsons, and the swift attacks in rapid succession though in the beginning you were kind of clumsy so you get a 7 in accuracy." Lizzy showed the sign at Faim. "Herring, you were kinda fishy when you were latching onto your opponent like a leech and you resorted to cheating by blinding your opponent. I like your quick thinking, but when you tried to provoke your opponent by the end of the match you ruined your performance. You get 5 points in ingenuity." Lizzy commented when she outstretched her hand for emphasis on giving Herring his score.

Faim and Herring looked at the head judge, Adrian's bald head giving a sleek shine before he gave his critique. "Faim, you made a decent performance, to put it mildly. If it wasn't for the outside help, you wouldn't have perceived your opponent's presence when you were cornered. Without it, you would've lost by a ring out. Now that I'm reconsidering your performance in terms of speed, defense, accuracy and evasion. You would get a 7.8 in total, 2.3 points in speed, 1.4 points in defense, 2.1 points in accuracy and 2 points in evasion on my part. The only thing that I could say to you is that you remained firm to the end, so congrats. Not many fighters last long enough to get a tie. Since you also signed up for the Gladatorium Tryout, I hope that you stay in shape for the exhibition match tomorrow." Adrian then glared at Herring. "I can't say the same for you Herring. You came close, but not close enough. Despite being equally matched in the beginning, your defense declined, same as your evasion. You were quick on your feet though you wasted a good opportunity to take down your opponent when he was blind. Furthermore, your final attempt at provoking your opponent was pathetic and I'm not saying this as a judge, I'm saying this as the eldest of seven siblings, I find your silly taunts of poor taste. You get 5.6 points in total; 1.8 points in speed, 1.4 points in defense, 2.1 points in accuracy and 0.3 points in evasion. Meaning that Faim is unanimously declared the victor of this match." Adrian picked his clipboard to organize his notes.