"What do you say, Galarion? Think we got this?" I asked.

He grunted and slammed a tentacle through my brain, triggering a sequence of flashing images. They rapidly scrolled through my thoughts and I slipped forward as my vision vibrated. Piece by piece, the scene played together with a new shard of fragmented memory inserting itself into place.

With every new addition, lines appeared across the images. Faint at first, they weren't noticeable not until they multiplied thick enough to introduce burning chaotic lines to obscure the scene.

They weren't all the same color, where red touched orange the line would shift to blues and green and the opposite would follow.

Criss-crossing, they swerved in scratchy etches that became too erratic to stand. Then another shift, a faint click, Galarion pulled his tentacles to the side and the lines froze.

For a moment, the orbs appeared and inside them came a budding awareness. They stared at me. Accompanied by a squiggly, yet jagged-squirming sigil!

Click.

The image drained away as psychic tendrils tore the vision to shreds. One by one the scraps were cut into smaller fragments and then suctioned into the void by an invisible force. As the memory fragments slipped into the hidden mouth at the edge of my mind, the world returned and my senses unfurled from their singular focus.

I leaned forward and clutched my head as I blinked away the phantom remnants of the burning dots. Galarion murmured something inaudible but I felt him compress his size. The lingering pain faded and I stared at the floor–rather, Arturous' fuzzy paw.

Collapsing atop the broad appendage, I snuggled against Arturous' side and accepted the grazing lick against my cheek. I summoned a honey-flavored bribe and he left me alone.

I'll never understand how he is both soft and bristly at will. Surely that's not normal. Maybe a passive? Meh.

The others glanced my way but they were still in the middle of their conversation from before. Without me doing anything outright suspicious, they ignored me–most ignored me at least. Teddy's gaze lingered longer than the rest but he simply smiled and turned to answer something Khrem asked.

No time passed. Interesting. Well, Cyrus… You messed with something crazy again, and you're already cracking the glass by holding in your emotions. Yay.

A probe to Galarion returned with no response. The jiggly spirit had compressed himself into a ball and sent thoughts of consuming something hot. What made a 'burning' memory, I didn't know, but it appeared like specks of a dying sun through the thought-speech.

I left him to it while my thoughts turned and failed to reimagine the lines I had seen. By the fourth time and with an angry grumble from Galarion, I let the mental image combust.

Okay, no ignoring yourself. Runes. You've seen them before, hells, you've recognized them everywhere. Nothing crazy about that, and whatever insanity caused the reaction has to be minor. I don't have to deal with this. Just got to let Galarion eat his fill, talk to Zog-no scratch that. Ignore Zog, for now. Focus on the tournament. Experiment while being a good boy who doesn't destroy the arena. No more diving into the crazy pile.

Yeah, let's go with that.

The booth's door opened and Sereza walked in. She scanned the room and cocked her head when she saw me lying down.

"Did you lay down before my fight or after?" she asked.

"After. I watched your fight, you did great. Had the noble scared shitless using his skill like that."

She crouched and ran her hand along Arturous' fur. "Wasn't the smartest noble. Only a minor house but I suppose it's to be expected. I'm not sure how he's made it as far as he did, but he wouldn't have stood a chance against you or Zog so probably for the best."

"I'm touched. Except, you compared me to that maniac," I said. Her eyebrow raised and I stuck out my tongue. "I'm not like him."

"Hey, I didn't say anything."

"Uhuh. So what took you so long?"

"I eh." She glanced away but I caught a faint smile as she did. "Some fans wanted to talk and a few asked for my autograph. It was sort of nice being able to experience that for a bit."

"Losing yourself to fame already? Didn't expect that from you."

Sereza shook her head. "Hells no. It was nice. Then a creep asked to touch my tail. His fingers were wet!"

I chuckled. "So who's fighting now? I wasn't paying attention after you won."

"The only one we really know is my would-be hero. The rest are adventurers and I maybe-kinda-sorta-know one of them. Wait no, I recognize her. She's the jerk who stole a quest sheet from my hands back when I was a pearl. Now I hope she loses."

I sat up enough to peek at the screen displaying the only woman in the match. She was a smaller girl, with basic features and coppery hair. She would have looked entirely too innocent to do such a thing if it wasn't for the unnerving smile she maintained while attempting to spear her opponent.

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When she managed to pull off a dodge that twisted her body far past what it should do, her opponent flinched. With a quick flick, her spear slashed a line against his throat and secured her win.

Sereza deflated, and the woman strolled toward the pillar while Vincent and another man wrestled on the ground. She almost reached it, going so far as to place her boot against the stone before Vincent pulled off the unexpected.

He had been struggling on the ground. His opponent kept him pinned and used an animated staff to secure his limbs. What he failed to do was watch Vincent's fingers. In an instant, he managed to activate his shield skill and push the man away.

Vincent shared a brief moment of surprise with his opponent before grabbing his shield. It took three double-handed slams to the throat to change the other man's bracelet.

Teddy whistled. "Looks like he managed to modify his skill. Too bad he's in the middle of a fight."

"He did? Why is it bad that he's in a fight? I'm pretty sure I do most of my modifications during one," I said.

"You're an anomaly. Discovering a new way to use your mana during combat isn't entirely uncommon, but not preferred. It would have been best if he was able to take a moment and reflect. It would save him time in relearning how to enable the change again. He risks letting the modification slip if he cannot anchor the change."

"Huh. Maybe he's not so weak after all. It might actually be fun to invite him over for din-" I shook my head. "Nope. Cut that."

"Cyrus?"

I waved him off. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting too cocky, that's all. Forget it. I was about to say something stupid."

"If you're sure," Teddy chuckled.

I watched as Vincent recollected his sword and threw himself at the woman. She had displayed freakishly inhuman abilities to twist her body but I hadn't seen anything that might give him trouble. Within moments, the woman was on the defensive, unable to penetrate Vincent's defense while slowly wearing her down.

A drip slipped away inside my chest and Galarion bubbled lightly. I checked in, but he was still lethargic and only half aware as he continued to devour his food.

Okay. No more stupid shit. Focus. Stop tempting fate; it hates me enough as is.

Vincent's fight took awhile but he managed to win by sheer endurance. He outlasted his opponent and caught her with the edge of his shield. After another minute, he forced the bracelet's color change and climbed the pillar.

I stopped paying attention after that and stood up.

"Good luck beating my time," Sereza teased.

"We'll see. I'm trying to keep things normal this time," I replied.

"Normal?"

I shrugged and exited the booth. A few fans spotted me, grabbing the attention of their friends, but no one approached. They seemed excited, but hesitant.

That sprouted a conflicted feeling in my chest that I quickly crushed before it rooted. Enough wasting time, I wanted to finish the fight and be done with it.

When I saw Myol's glaring figure I turned away and headed for the tunnel. She held out her arm before I could pass.

"What are you planning now?"

"Would you believe me if I said nothing?" I said.

"Not in the slightest."

I cracked my neck and summoned Sturmrorex underneath my hood. He materialized long enough for Myol's eyes to narrow before I activated Spirit Lord's Invocation.

"I want to get this fight done with. No tricks, no insanity. Is that acceptable?"

She studied me. Eventually, she grunted and lowered her arm. "Don't touch the runes. Don't rip holes into the shadow plane. Follow the rules, don't commit crimes."

"Deal," I said as I started walking.

"They'll gang up on you. They're two noble bastards and a lap dog," she called out.

I paused. "That was almost kind of you. Why tell me?"

She grunted and turned away. "Don't break my arena."

I smirked and continued walking. Maybe she didn't hate me. Who would have guessed it?

While walking I threaded mana into my ring and lowered the sound to a near mute. My steps were silent and all I could hear was my own heartbeat. It was oddly erratic, rising and falling at an odd tempo, but I didn't feel anything wrong.

My breathing held, and my gait was steady. Soon, the pillar came into view as did my fellow competitors.

One wielded a sword and a small buckler strapped to his arm. A full brown-metal helm covered his face, obscuring his features. In terms of equipment, I sensed the enchantments bundled around his arms and shield.

A defensive fighter, then.

The second opponent was slimmer and of a more agile build. Perfectly curled blonde hair stuck out of his hood. Across his hip was strapped a ornate rapier made of silver metal. A large, but dark red gemstone adorned the end, adding to the near-filigreed lines carved into the weapon's basket. Like the first, enchantments scattered across his equipment. Except, where the first held an equal number inside his shield as his gloves, the rapier radiated in my senses. None of the runes were visible, with an almost hazy static of mana obscuring the metal inside its sheath.

Interesting. Definitely dangerous.

And the fourth…

"So we finally meet!"

The fourth man–the tallest and simplest looking of the bunch–shouted across the arena. His muscular rivaled that of even Zog's. Across his back hung a large spiked hammer and over his skin was only the barest of leather gear. His hammer held nothing runic, and neither did the scant pieces of armor across his body. But…

I licked my lips and almost shouted 'lap dog.' Instead, I shook my head and stopped inside the red corner. "Do I know you?"

The open-faced noble glared while the first remained silent. The muscular brute grinned wider.

"Haven't seen me fight at all? Surely you've watched one of my matches!"

"Can't say I have."

His smiling continued.

"I see. Shame. Here I was hoping to convince you of my prowess and secure an alliance against these bastards."

The nobles shifted their eye-daggers toward the man but he shrugged them off.

"Know your place sellsword," spat the rapier wielder.

The man pointed with his thumb and shook his head. "I understand why they hate you, but these ones are extra nasty. What do you say, Mordred. Feel like teaming up with me?"

"Typical. A fool pleads with the other," the helmeted noble rumbled.

"Ignore him. What do you say? Temporary truce?"

"What's in it for you? Wouldn't you rather I lose?" I asked while spinning my spear lazily through the air.

"Oh for sure," he admitted. His grin exposed pearly-white teeth. "But if I help gang up on you, they'll gang up on me. You know what they say; a noble dog sticks with its pack."

"Insult me again, and I'll make you regret it," Blondie yelled.

I almost clapped. It was almost believable of a performance. The noble got the facial expressions right, his snarl was perfect. Except, his eyes glanced my way before speaking, and they held none of the bite to back up his bark.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Chadsworth Merkela-"

"Not you." I pointed to the brute. "You. You know my name, what's yours?"

"Peter. My parents didn't love me as much as my siblings," the fourth fighter joked.

I nodded and let a trickle of mana across my claws. The spark of electricity snaked up my arms and down the shaft, scorching a spot across the sand.

"Alright. I agree. Take the helmeted one. Blondie is mine."

"Deal!" he laughed.

Blondie sent over a few lines of insults, with a couple thrown my way. Helmet-head stayed silent but his body stayed tensed in my direction.

As for my temporary ally… I could practically taste the mana inside the device in his back pocket.

Simple Cyrus, simple. Just need to beat Sereza's time. That's all.

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