A brutal, all-out brawl that would make my blood boil was about to begin. It had been a long time since I’d felt this kind of tension. My heart felt like it was about to leap out of my throat. The only small comfort was knowing he was probably feeling the same way, but it didn’t make the tension go away.0

Of course, neither he nor I was completely new to moving or fighting at close range, but to put it bluntly, this was our first true duel with our lives on the line. 1

I wondered if he had experienced something like this, but I was certain it had been a long time since he fought on the front lines. He was probably the type who only rolled the dice when he was sure he could win.0

This kind of situation, where the odds of victory couldn’t be predicted at all, was likely a first for him, too. Just a few minutes ago, we had been doing some small talk, pretending to be relaxed, but at this moment, neither of us remained calm. 0

It would be difficult to suppress this tension through self-hypnosis. He knew just as well as I did that this tension would actually help in...0