"Don't hold back. I won't be."
Warren didn't need to worry about that at all. He should have known better than to face Howl as he was, but unlike the previous week where their spar had been in kind-hearted fun, the miqo'te's expression was one of seriousness. Howl wanted a fight, wanted to prove himself, and the Grindstone had given them a venue to even things out. Warren took his stance uneasily and Howl readied his attack. The whole incident was over in seconds.
Warren spent the rest of the night bisected emotionally. Howl had preempted his every offense with a hard counter and prevented the highlander from getting off seemingly any offense. The tactics he'd used before had gotten him precisely nowhere; Howl had won the fight before they'd stepped off towards one another. The flipside of that was that his partner had observed and memorized enough of Warren's movements to know what he was doing before Warren himself knew, and that was exhilarating in a new way. His entire purpose for entering in the Grindstone was to better himself and to learn to achieve victory without his reliable weapons and armor. Two Grindstones past he had seemingly proven himself for the second time to be able to secure victory, and following that Howl had completely dismantled him.
It seemed fitting to him that the first night Warren won the Grindstone he had to go through Howl, and in the miqo'te's first victory at the event he had torn clean through Warren.
Howl followed up on that by winning Otto Vann's event the next evening. Otto pointed out that Warren had won the largest pot the Grindstone had ever offered, and likely would ever offer. Howl had won nearly as much from his victories in Vann's private version of the spectacle. Warren was beginning to be aware just how public he and his could possibly have become in recent history and the prospect was not one he relished.
Warren didn't need to worry about that at all. He should have known better than to face Howl as he was, but unlike the previous week where their spar had been in kind-hearted fun, the miqo'te's expression was one of seriousness. Howl wanted a fight, wanted to prove himself, and the Grindstone had given them a venue to even things out. Warren took his stance uneasily and Howl readied his attack. The whole incident was over in seconds.
Warren spent the rest of the night bisected emotionally. Howl had preempted his every offense with a hard counter and prevented the highlander from getting off seemingly any offense. The tactics he'd used before had gotten him precisely nowhere; Howl had won the fight before they'd stepped off towards one another. The flipside of that was that his partner had observed and memorized enough of Warren's movements to know what he was doing before Warren himself knew, and that was exhilarating in a new way. His entire purpose for entering in the Grindstone was to better himself and to learn to achieve victory without his reliable weapons and armor. Two Grindstones past he had seemingly proven himself for the second time to be able to secure victory, and following that Howl had completely dismantled him.
It seemed fitting to him that the first night Warren won the Grindstone he had to go through Howl, and in the miqo'te's first victory at the event he had torn clean through Warren.
Howl followed up on that by winning Otto Vann's event the next evening. Otto pointed out that Warren had won the largest pot the Grindstone had ever offered, and likely would ever offer. Howl had won nearly as much from his victories in Vann's private version of the spectacle. Warren was beginning to be aware just how public he and his could possibly have become in recent history and the prospect was not one he relished.
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
