There was a short exchange of looks among us as soon as we lost our view of Martin. Hailwic just started sobbing, but Boris was there to take care of her, and he immediately started calming her down.

I noticed Adam coming our way from among the ranks of other hunters. With his white suit, and gloves he was looking like from another tale. Like he didn't belong among us.

- I hate to be the guy to say it, but this awfully looks like some kind of final goodbye - he pointed out.

- It's not - assured Will. - Martin is returning victorious.

He then looked at the rest of us.

- Oh come on guys.. Seriously? You really don't believe in him? - he added.

- I'm a realist - said Sanders and shrugged his shoulders. - If he has to face the thing from yesterday, he is not returning. So let's hope that was just the best that fucking frog could throw at us.

- It's definitely not. He would give up if that was the case - Adam pointed out.

- Shit... - escaped Nil's mouth.

A moment of awkward silence fell among us, and we walked away since the conversation was too grim to continue. We remained in this uncomfortable mood for a while, since Martin needed some time to put his armor on.

I decided to use this short window, and left the room, seemingly heading to the bathroom, but instead, I shadow walked to the armory and surprised the German giant who was sitting on a bench, assembling his armor.

The room was filled with equipment resting on the ground and had only that single piece of furniture to sit on.

- What's going on, Peter? - he asked me.

- Nothing. Just wanted to give you my blessing - I replied and came closer to put my hand on his shoulder.

I dumped 'Blessing of Power', and 'Blessing of Vitality' with quite a bit of manna in those two into him.

- Go and win - I added, and he nodded.

Then I shadow walked back, used the bathroom, and returned. Just in time to see as Martin stepped outside, into the arena. We saw everything on the holoprojection.

The hulking figure of the German giant in his spiked full plate painted black and red, holding the massive morgenstern, resting partially on his shoulder, with a helmet, dangling from his belt, still not put on.

The view was quite powerful. He looked like a hero from the movies who defeats a dragon, which gave us a bit of reassurance. Since we assembled around the projection, leaving enough space for the rest to be able to watch, we glanced at one another. Nods and smiles appeared here and there. People gained back their lost confidence. I kept my poker face on.

Hailwic watched with her eyes wide open, crumpling the bottom parts of the simple shirt she was wearing.

But our elevated mood didn't last for too long, as from the other side of the arena emerged the enemy. The grey, humanoidal figure, measuring over six meters, with metal bolted straight to its skin, covering the arms. A familiar view, since we already had an opportunity to see it yesterday. Its head was also hidden under a metal helmet with multiple pipes connecting it to some kind of device on the back.

- Fuck - said Sanders, and Hailwic reacted by sobbing.

- Fuck indeed - somebody agreed with Nil.

- Shut up you fuckers! Shut the fuck up! - suddenly a loud voice grabbed our attention from the deeper parts of the waiting room.

It was Gavriil Semenov, standing on his feet, leaning a bit forward and yelling with all his might.

- You pathetic stupid morons! One bump on your road, and you are ready to give up?! I've never seen somebody this pathetic in all my life! You are disgusting and weak! He is going o win! Some stupid alien is not going to best him!

I was simply speechless by this show of faith. Even Hailwic was. She immediately stopped crying.

- He is fucking right! - Will picked up the speech. - You pathetic losers! Martin is winning this! It will be the easiest win of his life! Easy like your mothers!

The last words made me want to grab him, and slap him. He had to see my intentions, as he smiled at me awkwardly.

- Watch your mouth - I just said, squinting my eyes.

And he laughed shortly. This little bit of theatre was enough for people to regain their confidence in Martin. He was there, fighting for us, and at least we could do for him, was to believe firmly.

In the meantime, Martin put his helmet on, and the creature made its way to the correct position, and the start of the duel was announced by the gong. It cut all the discussions among us and basically silenced the whole waiting room.

The two large figures slowly started moving towards one another, marching to their rights to circle around each other, looking for the opportunity to attack.

The alien was the first one to spot some opportunity, as he leaped forward in the fracture of a second to deliver a nasty blow, but to everybody's surprise, Martin was faster. He swung his morgenstern with such a power, that it put even yesterday's performance of strength to shame.

The goliath got blasted across the arena, straight into the protective wall, which stopped him, but a small crater got created.

- YES! GET THAT MOTHERFUCKER! I ALWAYS BELIEVED IN YOU! - yelled Sanders, with such a power, that he scared everybody around.historical

The sudden display of power took everybody by surprise, but only a few realized that something was going on, and they immediately looked at me. Will, Nobuo, and Boris. People who knew me really well.

I did my best to not show that I meddled in the duel in any way. Their looks were noticed by Adam, who also suddenly found me very interesting.

But the duel didn't end with that one powerful blow. It was still too little to take the alien down. He shook himself. Some of his bones popped back to the right sockets, and he leaped into the air again.