When Marcus fell into his bed that day, he could not find sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Grace's glowing blade moving in front of his eyes. She had worked him even harder than usual and pushed herself to the limit too. She didn't say it, but Marcus could tell she worried about him. Her lessons were truly helpful, and if he was honest he felt better prepared for this fight than the Paladin one. Marcus finally fell asleep after two in the morning and woke up close to six. He made it to the kitchen in search of coffee, and to his surprise found Rian with a cup of tea. They greeted each other with a smile and he joined the Alchemist with some tea.

"How are you holding up?" Rian asked and Marcus just sighed. "You can always just stop everything and walk away from the fuss," the older man said and watched Marcus' reaction. "No not really, I understand the logic behind doing the duels right now in the way it is happening. And walking away does not really solve anything and leaves everybody hanging," Marcus lamented and Rian silently laughed.

"And that is why you are the leader. But if you understand the reason for the duels, why are you upset?" He asked and Marcus gave him a short smile because of the leader thing and then said, "The sad part is that it sends the wrong message. The Titan is not a stand alone class, or the top damage dealer. It is a tank and meant to work together with others. This whole "who is stronger" business is not helping anybody when it comes to confronting monsters or working in a team," Marcus sighed again and Rian thought for some time. "Maybe you should talk about that in your videos. Group actions, tanking and so on," Rian said and Marcus felt like he should have thought of this himself. "Thank you. I will."

Next, Marcus let out his frustration, that he had no time to really meet the rookies and the other squad members. In contrast to his expectations Rian had a different opinion, "Marcus, you can not make friends with everybody. Your duties to the clan and to the people around you will prevent you from doing so. You will have to accept that others will teach and guide them and it is your job to act as a role model to give everybody a direction." That hit Marcus unprepared and he watched his tea grow cold for a bit. "I need to trust you to do the right thing," he said more to himself than Rian.

Rian smiled and said "Correct, it is a reality of leadership throughout history. Once an organization grows to a certain size you can no longer have the same type of relationship with everybody. That is why command structures exist in the first place." Even though he got schooled, Marcus felt better after digesting Rian's words.

Listen to the man. This was a lesson I learned myself far too late.

About not trying to do everything yourself?

Yes, and about trusting others. If you only trust your own power, that is what you will end up with. Only your power.

The feeling he was failing everybody because he had not enough time slowly vanished. "We should meet more often for tea," Marcus said and Rian laughed. "That we should."

This morning, there was no time for a lavish breakfast and Marcus had to make do with just cereals, some fruits and some chocolate bars. The duel was set for 10 AM and everything had to be prepared until then. Singh showed up with a taxi around nine o'clock and pushed his way through the waiting reporters.

The man was a bear, over two meter tall and nearly as wide with unkempt hair and a full beard. He was not a man of many words and he was also alone, no team or extra cameras. He took a coffee and some food from Achara and prepared himself for the battle in silence. In good old Berserker fashion he brought a large two handed axe and heavy armor. Both of good quality, but light years away from the swagger Carver had showed off, the day before.

Marcus watched the man for some time and decided to talk with him before the match started. "Why do you want to fight?" Marcus went in without any formalities. Singh rose to his full height and stroked his beard. "You are strong and I need to fight strong people to improve myself." That was not what Marcus had expected. He nodded and started to walk away but stopped "Why are you alone?" He asked but Singh did not understand the question initially. After a moment he said "I don't know. I always fought alone and did my own thing, you have to be strong to survive," the man was clearly confused about Marcus' question and continued to warm up as a sign he wanted to be left alone.

Marcus walked away and then turned and walked back "But you are strong, why not join a strong clan? They could give you opportunities to become even stronger." Singh looked at Marcus with big eyes "What does it matter to you?" He asked a good question and Marcus had no answer. For a third time Marcus walked away and Singh called after him "Why are you in a clan?" And Marcus knew the answer to that question on the spot "Because this is home."

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Everybody gathered around the arena and they prepared the cameras for the duel. Marcus was ready when Arjun walked into the makeshift arena. The Berserker had not fired himself up yet, Marcus realized and when he asked Arjun he said "I was not sure this was allowed." Marcus showed him some big logs on the estate ground and let him get fired up. As he walked back he was in thought and called Janette to him "What's up boss?" She said with a small smile. "I want you to send everybody away and I want you to deactivate the cameras," He said and waited for questions, but she nodded and started to make everybody leave. Kim was also here, and to make him move was most likely the rudest thing he had ever done to his teacher. But right now this was the right thing to do, Marcus was sure. I can read your thoughts but you still manage to surprise me.

When Singh came back he was all alone with Marcus. "It is only the two of us," Marcus said and Arjun looked around for a moment and then nodded. Both men went into their fighting positions, about ten meter apart. The Berserker gave off a strong aura and Marcus decided to hold nothing back. They stayed in their position and without anybody to call a start it was a stalemate until Singh slightly moved and small stones crunched under his heel. Marcus Burst charged right into the Berserker, who was surprised and stepped back. The Titan smashed into the giant man trying to land a heavy strike, but Arjun used the shaft of his axe to keep Marcus at bay. The charge failed, and Arjun used his great strength to force Marcus back against the resistance of Carapace.

A quick exchange of blows followed but nobody managed to land a proper hit. Impulse Hammer caused some damage to the Berserker, but the man was tough. Marcus had problems moving because he had to keep the axe blade in mind. They danced around each other and eventually Marcus stepped in and the sharp edge of the axe glowed crimson, aiming for his legs. Marcus reacted by leaning back and using Burst to quickly escape the range of the deadly attack. Still in flight, he saw Arjun drop his weapon and lunge after Marcus. The men collided and went down to the ground, with the Indian on top.

The terrifying strength of the Berserker forced Marcus arms apart and he smashed his forehead against Marcus' face. Carapace prevented the worst, but Marcus still saw stars. Singh was thrown back from the backlash and landed on his back clearly dazed. Marcus scrambled back onto his feet, and sent a hammer strike to the chest of his enemy. He already saw himself winning but the moment he connected something changed. Singh's whole body and armor slightly changed color and Impulse Hammer was reflected back to Marcus disabling his whole arm. Rage Shield?! Berserkers only rarely use it, because it eats up the rage for their Rage Strike, but for a brief moment they become basically untouchable.

Aching from the sudden change of fortunes, Marcus took a second too long to focus and the Berserker came up and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing the life out of Marcus. Carapace resisted but the raw power of the attack was greater and Marcus could no longer breathe. Desperate, Marcus planted his still working left hand at the ribs of the Berserker and unloaded Jack Hammer without mercy. Wave after wave crushed into the body of the Berserker but the man did not let go. Only after twelfth bone crushing waves Marcus felt the strength in the steel arms vain, and the giant man dropped to the ground. Marcus took a deep breath and screamed "CANDIS, RIAN!" He went down to the fallen man but he could do nothing but wait until help reached him.

Stay calm, he is strong. He will survive.

Damn stubborn bastard! He forced me to go this far. Marcus was angry, but also relieved the fight was over.

Both healers worked fast, Healing Hands and some tonic was the first step but Candis needed access to the chest and so Marcus and Grace pulled the armor off as carefully as they dared. "What did you do to him?" Candis was aghast. The chest of the Berserker was completely maimed. She started healing the worst areas around the heart while Rian emptied several potions into the throat of the man. "I need to Link you or he will die." Candis took Marcus hand without another word, and Linked as much vitality as she could manage. Marcus could tell Candis had grown much stronger as a healer, and after a few minutes Arjun was over the worst. Two more hours Marcus stayed Linked, at that time the Berserker looked like new again. "That was a close one Marcus." Candis gave him a scolding look. "He was strong, it was the only way," he said to defend himself.

They brought the Berserker into the villa to rest, and Marcus sat down on a nearby spectator bench. He got congratulated by his friends and Janette let the world know Marcus had won. There was no video so everybody was upset and called bullshit, but Marcus did not care. "Was he strong?" The hooded man sat down next to Marcus. "Yeah, so strong I had to nearly kill him to win," Marcus said and looked at his hand. "He used Rage Shield at the perfect moment and I ate my own Impulse Hammer. Smashed my whole arm and caused all kinds of weirdness with Carapace." Kim patted his shoulder, "That is a good learning experience for you. I'm proud you won." They stayed silent for a bit and then Marcus excused himself.

Marcus found the beaten Berserker on the large sofa in the common room. "I lost, but I live." was his first reaction. "You stubborn idiot, I nearly killed you because you did not let go," Marcus said and the man shrugged his shoulders, "Same to you." and Marcus laughed. He watched as the tall man put on his clothes, and gathered up his few belongings. "What are you going to do now?"Marcus wanted to know. Arjun answered without stopping his work "Moving on. I learned a lot today, I'm stronger now than I was yesterday." Marcus watched him finish and he wanted to say something, but he could not find the right words.

Arjun bowed and then he quickly left through the front door. Marcus heard his heavy steps on the gravel outside and the reaction of the reporters. "I have seen eyes like that before," Grace said, leaning against the door frame. Marcus turned to her and waited for Grace to continue. "He can't stay still, needs to move on. Can't form connections… he is running from something, most likely his own past," she said and Marcus felt hollow. "But you can't outrun your own past!" He argued. "That is why they can never stop running," she said with a sad smile.

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