Hours passed like minutes. Too much was happening too quickly—Revelations on top of each other, Carmine barely giving any information, I really didn't understand how it all just came and went so easily.

Maybe it was because I still felt exhausted? Was that why I wasn't mad about everything? It didn't feel right, but it was the only answer that made sense.

In the last day, I not only learnt what my mother looked like, learnt her name, but learnt that if I won this one fight I could suddenly be elevated. In a single action I could move from being a nobody, being hated and despised for a name, to holding something truly unique as my own. I could be an Empyrean, whatever that fully meant—I'd have to ask Tulip later.

But it still didn't feel right, it felt like something was itching at the back of my mind, but I just couldn't find it. It was like a whisper through a thin wall, it was there but impossible to understand.

I let out a sharp breath, Carmine's blade clashing into the shaft of my halberd with a heavy blow. She wasn't holding back as much as she normally would, not for these warmups—She was now hitting exactly hard enough for me to feel, but just under what could actually cause harm to debilitate me for the fight.

"Keep your mind on me Kirin!" Carmine declared, kicking sand up from the pit as she pivoted around me.

"I'm trying!" I cried out. "I can't stop my mind from wandering!" As I spoke I twisted, planting the tail of my halberd into the sand while lightning surged through my body. With the slight kickstand I brought a leg around, faking low before spinning for a kick that nearly hit Carmine in the head.

Nearly however wasn't good enough, she leant back easily before turning and shoving. In a single motion she had me on the ground, her blade pointed inches away from my throat.

"Better than this morning," Carmine said as she brought her blade back. She spun it around and slid it into her sheath, it was a single, smooth motion that ended with a satisfying click. "How are you feeling?" She asked with her hand proffered.

"Exhausted, annoyed, drained?" I offered as I disheartenedly took Carmine's hand. "Can't figure out if I'm indifferent to multiple revelations right now because of the stress, or if my body just gave up on feeling emotions." I added with a groan.

"You'll be fine once it's done, I'm sure." Carmine said as she pulled me up to my feet.

"Do you need some water, Lady Kirin?" Panna offered a dish towards me—Several glasses of water waiting on top of it.

"Yes—Thank you." I looked at her with a thankful smile. Panna was an angel already, in the hours Carmine and I had been working she'd been at the ready the whole time. I took a glass, drinking from it slowly.

"She's only Miss Kirin until she wins, Panna," Tulip said with a soft smile. "And even then, it's her choice to go by 'Miss' or 'Lady.'" She added quickly.

"O-Oh! I'm so sorry, your majesty!" Panna said with a quick, overly courteous bow.

"It's fine, Panna, just trying to help." Tulip quickly said.

"How much longer are we training?" I asked, turning my gaze back towards Carmine.

"The fight's in just over an hour. Rest and focus on meditating, but keep your mana cycling so you don't get stiff," Carmine ordered with a calming gesture. "And I'm sorry about all of this, I wanted to give that to you and tell you in a better way." She added with a hopeful smile.

"It's fine—I just… I don't know, honestly," I sighed, flicking my wrist out to the side as my halberd disappeared into the depths of my ring. "I'm trying to just ignore it until this is all done." I said as I stepped off of the sand, easing myself first to my knees before crossing my legs.

When I closed my eyes, blocking off my other senses while focusing solely on my mana, I really was left with just my thoughts.

A deep breath of cold air filled my lungs, the heat that proliferated my body quickly getting chased away by it. My back slowly relaxed, releasing the pent up tension while I focused yet further inward.

Mana cycled like blood, pulsing with each unified beat of my origin and heart. My heart ached, it really did—Each reluctantly beat was like a last hurrah, not the pounding rhythm it should have been after sparring.

"Or is it my origin that aches?" I thought passively. They had grown closer together, somehow—When I had first gazed upon my origin, it lay just beside my heart. Now when I looked at it, they were close to being completely overlapped.

My origin was still a countless number of colors, greens, oranges and blacks. They all rotated within one another like the spiraling drain of a basin.

It was the same sight I had before—An incomprehensible level of detail, one that as far as I knew, I shouldn't have been able to see. The colored swirled within each other, all spiraling that black epicenter.

But it was the same thing again when I focused on it. The black spec begged to be observed, like it whispered sweet promises to me, like it wanted to give me answers. But it didn't, the harder I tried, the further it got until my focus faded completely.

With a sigh I opened my eyes—Blinking in surprise when I saw Panna sitting with her legs crossed in front of me.

"Panna?" I asked, looking at her closed eyes which soon shot open.

"Oh! I'm sorry Miss Kirin! I just—Wanted to see what you were doing!" Panna blurted out quickly as she shot to her feet, bowing with nearly every word she spoke.

"That's fine—" I said with my hands raised placatingly. "—Just, little personally space, yeah?" I pleaded a little as I pushed myself back. Panna had placed herself so close that our knees were nearly touching before she stood.

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"Oh! Of course!" She stepped back several paces, letting out a quick, flustered breath.

I exhaled slowly as I stood, looking around the room. Carmine and Tulip were looking over from where they sat, both looking… Well, as they normally did.

"So, why Panna?—I hope you didn't force her into doing this." I looked at Carmine as I spoke.

"You two have a good chance to get along and you'll need someone you can trust to be by your side," Carmine said simply. "I'm just being prepared for your victory is all, and as an Empyrean, you'll need it," With a deep breath she also added; "And Panna accepted it. If she had refused I would've still found her a home."

"I'm glad to serve someone who saved me!" Panna said with surprising forcefulness. "Besides, it is a true honor to be offered something like this. But I understand if you want someone better for the job…" Panna added, her shoulders sagging forwards as she spoke.

"Oh—No, that's not what I'm worried about at all," I looked at Panna with a reassuring smile. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't forced here." I added.

"What do you take me for?" Carmine asked with a slight smile.

"The type of woman who never says what she's actually doing?" I retorted with a little more venom than I intended to.

"Ouch…" Carmine muttered, surprisingly reacting without any hostility.

"How long until the fight?" I asked, aiming the conversation elsewhere before the air could get stale.

"Should be…" Carmine started, just to be cut off by the rolling wave of pressure made by the heartbeat of drums. "…About now." She finished with a soft sigh.

"Shit…" I grunted out, my gaze turning to the far wall where another passageway sat.

"Just step out when they call your name, we'll be watching from here," Carmine said as she, Tulip and Panna moved towards the entryway. "You've got it, Kirin." She added a reassuring smile on her face.

"Alright…" I sighed softly, my gaze turned away from Carmine, landing firmly on the passageway.

Tulip and Panna both gave me their most reassuring looks—Panna looked more hopeful of the two—But both smiled widely as Carmine ushered them away back towards the seats. As she did so a glowing image slowly carved itself into the air, igniting with a spark of lights that flattened into a glass-like panel. Upon the panel was a perfect reflection of the arena floor.

"It's only forwards from here." Carmine said with an ushering gesture of her hands, pushing my gaze towards the passage once more.

"Only forwards from here…" I parroted, taking my first step forwards as I did. My Halberd cleanly formed in my hand once more, landing in my grip with comfortable ease as I strode into the tunnel.

It only took a few steps before shadows were pressing in around me. The tunnel was entirely unlit, covered in deep shadows that choked out the motes of light that managed to pierce from either end of it. After a few dozen steps I could hear the cacophony of voices, alongside the same far too energetic announcer's voice. This time though, he seemed to be having a much better crowd.

Cheers rumbled the stone walls around me, pounding into the air with enough force to be felt. I could hear the band pounding on their drums with beats that could likely be heard even outside of the arena proper. It was an almost familiar melody, the same one I had heard a year ago now.

"Welcome, Welcome!" The announcer shouted, his voice casting with uncanny ease even this far into the stone hall. "Welcome one and all to the single greatest event of the year! The always awaited Skyliner Tournament!" He shouted with jovial ease.

"I hope you're all as excited as I am, because this year may just be one of the most unbelievable matches in my lifetime!" He let out a soft, almost nervous laugh at his own words.

"In one end we have someone everyone should have expected to arrive here," He began, giving a few moments of dramatic pause. "An heir to the Golden Mistress herself, the destined next High-Priest of our dearest golden church. Kendrick Amester!" At his proclamation the arena lit up into unbelievable cheers. For a solid few moments I was worried the cheers could grow so intense that the walls may cave in around me.

"Yet, to the other end of the arena is someone no one would have expected to be here today," The announcer's voice trailed off, giving a hint of unease or even fear to his tone. "A young woman chosen by the second greatest mage alive in our Nation, one who escaped the noose only a mere year ago." He took in a deep breath, his next words coming out like the announcement of an execution.

"Kirin Vulender, the profane daughter of Alexander Vulender." Cheers fell away into murmuring immediately. The light from the arena was intense, like a barrier that wanted to stop me from taking another step forwards.

Yet, with a steadying breath I moved. I stepped out from the shadows of the tunnel, letting the golden rays shine upon me with incredible intensity. The glass ceiling of the arena magnified the light, making it seem like there was a never-ending sunrise for the combatants.

The crowds didn't cheer when I stepped out into the light, in fact they didn't even whisper. There was nothing there but shocked silence and thousands of eyes upon me. The silence was oppressive, pressing in on me with a weight that wanted to crush my fragile being.

I settled my gaze forwards, blocking the silent ringing in my ears as my eyes met Kendrick's. His golden eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed into a glare while on his face there was a self-satisfied grin. He didn't wear any armor, in fact, he wore the exact same school uniform as me.

In his hands he held a greatsword, it was an absurd thing that was longer than I was tall. Frankly, all it did was tell me how difficult a close range fight would be. His muscles were taut, carved like a statue as he stood there.

"Without further adieu, let the fight begin!" The commentator shouted, his voice raising as he took in a deep breath.

"On my count!—Three!" Mana surged through my body, the earth rumbled around Kendrick.

"Two!" I could feel the tingling energy, begging to be let out.

"One!" Kendrick's grip tightened on his greatsword. I subconsciously did the same with my halberd, leaning in slightly while the pressure built even further.

"Fight!"

—

"Miss Carmine?" Panna asked as she sat down on the couch. Kirin had walked off into the tunnel only a few moments ago, leaving the three girls to speak amongst themselves.

"Hm?" Carmine grunted, her gaze turning onto Panna. That simple action nearly made the girl flinch back—Carmine really was a scary woman.

"Wh-What do you think Miss Kirin's chances of winning are?" Panna asked quickly.

"I'm honestly not sure, Panna," Carmine's voice was filled with uncertainty, honestly, it was easy to tell the woman was worried by her posture alone. "Kirin is a generational talent with how quickly she learns magic. But her skill with it?..." Carmine trailed off.

"Kirin's skilled enough to beat Kendrick." Tulip said with surprising certainty.

"What makes you so certain?" Panna asked, turning her head to her opposite side in order to look at Tulip.

"Once you're around her enough, you'll know why," Tulip answered with a smile. "She's just… like that." Tulip sounded nearly as uncertain as Carmine, yet her uncertainty seemed to almost lay in reasoning rather than outcome.

"So, she's special?" Panna pressed on, her head tilting with confusion.

"Kirin is quite special, Panna," Carmine answered with a chuckle. "It's about to start." She added with an anxious sigh.

Panna's eyes snapped forwards, settling on the incredible magical construct before her.

Indeed, the fight was about to start. The announcer had scurried away to the edge of the arena, hiding beside a door while dust was lifted into the air in the areas around Kirin and Alexander. They both looked ready to explode at one another, tension was nearly visible in the air between them.

"Fight!" The screen reflected the commentator's voice, in an instant dust filled the arena.

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