Clarisse woke up to the faint scent of minced herbs and vapors of varying odors floating through the room. With just one eye open, she pushed her blankets back and peeked past them to make out a vague figure of Nikolas standing on the other side with his back to her.

  “Nik?” Clarisse called out groggily, gradually slipping out from under the sheets and sitting upright. As she stretched her arms and yawned, the sight of the completely untouched bed placed a few feet apart from hers took her by surprise. Of course, Nikolas hadn’t slept. For some reason, that upset her enough that she decided to get up and check what he was up to.

  “Morning,” Nikolas casually greeted her, his ears twitching to acknowledge the subtle shift in the air with each step she took. “Slept well? I hope I didn’t disturb you when I returned.”

  “Yeah, good morning.… I didn’t hear you.” Clarisse yawned, claiming an arm of his and leaning on his shoulder. Before them lay his entire alchemy kit, bubbling with vials at various stages of brewing and glass bottles and pouches of ingredients meticulously organized for efficiency. “Were you up all night working on these?”

  “Mhm. I think they’ll be useful in the tournament.” Nikolas replied, shifting vials and ingredients back and forth with practiced ease despite being an arm down temporarily to her grasp. “You can go back to sleep, we have time.”

  “You should sleep like a normal person…” Clarisse complained, followed by an attempt to tug him back towards the pristine sheets. “What if someone sees your bed untouched and gets suspicious?”

  Nikolas let out a sharp exhale, something akin to a snort or laugh, but not quite there. “Smart. I do have a better idea though.” He only gave a slight warning by gently pulling his arm free from Clarisse before picking her up in a bridal pose and carrying her to his bed.

  “Nik!” Clarisse exclaimed, alarmed by his sheer confidence in handling her. There was a lot to be conscious about for her in the moment, least of all that he was able to carry her without the slightest effort even when holding himself back.

  “Rest up,” Nikolas loosely yanked out the edges of the blanket tucked under the sides after letting her down onto the bed. “You have a long day ahead, and I need to finish brewing this batch.”

  It felt strange to be tucked in by Nikolas of all people, but Clarisse accepted it. The pillow was still cool, and she was still far too flustered by the way he had carried her to resist. “Wake me up whenever we have to go.” She muttered, before turning over and closing her eyes from the rest of the world once more.

  The Elorean coliseum was more a testament to the forethought of its architects than a work of art, serving as Mystogann’s primary training grounds for both magical and non-magical talents in abundance. The lack of care put into its once admirable composition of limestone with embedded marble carvings was a deliberate decision on part of the city, electing to keep it as a reminder of the bloodsports it bore witness to over the years. The tightly boarded windows and layers upon layers of reinforcements next to every entrance were remnants from the war, and yet no one had thought to undo them in days of peace.

  “A noble structure,” Noir thought aloud, running his fingers across the irregularities in the limestone. “It served as a stronghold during the war. Even after the walls were breached, it was rumored to have never fallen. When Ombraevus’ horde swept through Mystogann, they found nothing meaningful to plunder, and were forced to continue on weary feet.”

  “Aye!” Valeri chipped in, apparently an avid appreciator of art akin to that which they were walking under. “You can still spot some of ‘em sneaky murderholes where they rained burning oil from on the outside… Elore must’ve had her work cut out for her though. Can’t imagine it would’ve been easy to defend against salamandrake trebuchets. Bloody pioneers of engineering, those lads.”

  Clarisse, Berry and Nikolas followed in tow to the two older men, with the girls beholding the massive structure side by side and the hollow staying far from attention by sticking to the back. Crossing the rows upon rows of fortified bleachers, under which lay a labyrinth of storerooms, they stepped into the light of the central field. The massive open area had been neatly organized into sections by temporary wooden walls, separating it into sparring rings, a spellcasting range, and an array of desks next to the entrance.

  “Claim a sparring ring, Berry. We can handle registration later in the day.” Noir stepped to the left, letting the rest of them go by. “Clarisse, I am to assume this other gentleman will be your teammate?”

  “Nikolas,” The kitsune elucidated himself briefly. “I’ll scope out our competition first, you can go ahead.” With the brief sendoff to Clarisse, he wandered off into the field. Besides a brief glance towards the golden-armed elf, he chose not to interact with the man and closed his eyes, letting the world shift into the deep end of greyscale.

  “Why the long face? Surely the presence of a mere crowd wouldn’t hamper an Atraxian prince…”

  “These people… too many holy mages here.”

  “Ah. To be deep within enemy lines… I find it quite exciting!”

  “Even this ‘Noir’... I can smell the stench of Thened’s blessing on his soul. This is… not ideal.”

  “Oh please! You think these miscreants could pose a threat to us?”

  “Nah, I’d win.”

  “Even without an intervention from me, you could wipe this stadium off the map if you stopped holding back.”

  “I could, yes. That doesn’t erase the consequences of it after.”

  “Consequences are sufferings of the weak.”

  “Are we not weak, in the eyes of gods? Angering Thened is not on my bucket list.”

  “Today, yes. But in the future…”

  “You’re taking after Clarisse’s naivete, I see.”

  “Bah! It is an eventuality we must reach if we are to survive.”

  On the other end of the field, Clarisse stood next to Berry and the sparring ring Valeri had secured for them. It was similar to the one she had seen in Junnhaven, and it felt exciting to be the one entering it instead of watching. “Don’t hold back just because we’re friends!” She called out to Berry as she stepped across its threshold.

  “Oh, I’m definitely not going to,” Berry grinned, readying the silver flute at her lips and staring down the pyromancer from the other side of the ring. “Valeri, be our ref!”

  “Right, right,” Valeri nodded and pumped his fists, apparently just as invested in their friendly rivalry as they were. “The conditions for victory are: push your opponent out of the ring, make them submit! No lethal actions. Begin!”

  Clarisse ignited her hair immediately, forming a pair of fireballs in her hands. Ever since she had been practicing with Nikolas, they had grown from just being throwable firebrands to projectiles she could launch far farther and faster than her arms could manage. She watched for a moment before making any attempt to attack, trying to get a handle on what Berry was going to do first.

  The musician was playing a slightly repetitive tune, each time building up to the end of a sequence which caused a shining golden note to appear, floating around her head in an arc. It didn’t seem like she was actively attacking in any sense, but she was certainly preparing something big.

  Clarisse took the initiative, launching both fireballs at Berry in quick succession before creating new ones in her hands. The incendiaries sped to their target, consuming their own energy to propel themselves across the ring.

  Berry gripped the silver flute tighter but didn’t move, standing perfectly still as both fireballs arced towards her. Right as the first one was just about to explode on contact, she broke her pattern to play a shrill note, which created a transient golden cocoon around herself and absorbed the fireball’s impact with a loud ding, similar to striking a bell. The second fireball was dealt with in the same way, followed by a serenade from Berry.

  As if the reflective bubble wasn’t enough news for Clarisse to deal with, the musical notes which had been building up around Berry twirled into a sequential scale and flew towards her. She spun around to create a temporary flame barrier using her hair, but it only caught the first two of five notes. Yet again, Clarisse found herself relying on muscle memory from training with Nikolas to block with her arms just in time for the last three notes to hit her. The first one felt barely noticeable, but each subsequent note then had a stronger impact and almost pushed her over the edge of the ring.

  On the other end of the ring, Berry was already preparing another stave of notes with Kaylin to throw at Clarisse. She stayed close to the edge of the ring, pacing within its circumference to maintain her distance from the pyromancer, where she had a clear advantage.

  Clarisse let out sharp breaths, trying to calm her heart. Combat, even if only sparring, still excited her pulse more than she would’ve liked. There was Berry’s steady stream of notes to deal with and the inevitable finale they were no doubt building up to. More concerning to the redhead, she had no clue just how strong the cocoon which had tanked her fireballs really was. The leeway in space between them felt abnormally freeing, but she had yet to grow comfortable for it. Usually by this point in her training, Nikolas would already be breathing down her neck, telling her where she had let her guard down before knocking her off her feet to drill in the consequences.

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  Another volley of notes danced towards the pyromancer, a sequence snaking from side to side to cut off her avenues of approach. Clarisse combined both hands to launch a hastily-made fireball in the middle of the ring. The impact fell too short to garner any concern from Berry, but that wasn’t its purpose.

  “Improvise, cut line of sight.” Clarisse spoke to herself, using the brief explosion and smoke from her wide blast to close the gap. She cut close left of the impact, confident in her gear’s resistance.

  Even before she knew what the other side would look like, she threw a small fireball in front of her. A shrill ding soon after told her all she needed to know. Berry was more or less in the same spot from before her advance, making it that much easier for her to emerge from the smoke swinging. “Track, narrow and strike.”

  Berry’s eyes widened upon seeing Clarisse rush at her with confidence unbecoming of her, a completely different person than the childhood friend she had grown up with. Adjusting her grip on Kaylin and widening her stance, she braced for the incoming gauntlet.

  A flaming volley of punches and kicks followed, each of which were immediately juxtaposed by the reverberating cocoon practically becoming a static glow around Berry. While it successfully protected her, each below pushed her ever so closer to the edge of the ring behind her.

  Exhilarating. It was the best word to describe the way Clarisse felt at that moment. Her mana flowed freely in each strike, each point of contact, every minutiae of her body. Just like it had in Old Atrii’s mineshaft, she felt the burning sensation of mana overflowing from her. The redhead welcomed it more willingly this time, awakening a hidden aspect of her arcana once more.

  So far Berry had been parrying every blow, but the arcana awakening brought forth a new issue, a ring shape made of two concentric circles with four triangles diverging in the cardinal directions along the circumference had spawned inside her barrier, right in front of her face. The mark was barely larger than the size of her closed fist, and yet the way it rippled with energy frightened the musician.

  The mark was just as unfamiliar for the pyromancer, a brief intermission in her adrenaline-fueled assault. “Berry- watch out!” She warned her friend, backing off to give her some space.

  The mark glowed brighter for a moment, before spawning an explosion within Berry’s barrier. The brunette was lucky enough to barely escape the brunt of its impact by ducking, for her barrier had burst open right behind where her head had been just a moment ago.

  Both Areane girls were left stunned by what had just happened – Clarisse, by the idea that she had both unlocked a new facet of her magic and that it had nearly taken her friend’s head off, and Berry, by a profoundly painful ringing in her ears and the realization that the blast had broken through her barrier.

  “HALT!” Valeri called out well before the dust had fully settled around the ring, rushing in to separate the pair. “What the hell happened to no lethal actions!” He barked, helping Berry up to her feet and glaring at Clarisse.

  “I– I’m sorry. That’s never happened before! I didn’t mean to-” Clarisse took a step back, unsure of her own capabilities. Met with Valeri’s rage, her fingers began to subconsciously tremble.

  “Val, I’m okay, it’s alright,” Berry freed herself from the guitar knight’s assistance and approached Clarisse with raised eyebrows and an inkling of a smile. “That… that was pretty impressive. I haven’t found anything else that’s been able to break my shield yet.”

  “Y-you really think so?” Clarisse stuttered, second-guessing herself for a moment. It was only when Berry took her trembling fingers within her grasp that she calmed down. “I don’t have the hang of it yet, but I’ll train. Sorry again for almost blowing you up…”

  “No biggie, Kaylin would’ve protected me if she’d felt I wasn’t going to make it out of the way in time.” The brunette in green smiled reassuringly, bringing Clarisse’s spirit back up. “You’re very different from when I last saw you. I wasn’t expecting you to get up close at all.”

  “Yeah, I have Nikolas to thank for that.” Clarisse smiled, rubbing the side of her arm. The kitsune himself was nowhere in proximity, but she could still feel the faint link between them replenishing her mana.

  “Geez, don’t just pull something you’ve never done before in a friendly spar, kid,” Valeri let out an exasperated sigh, letting honed paranoia fade back into the depths of self as he meandered out of the ring. “Did you see that, Noir? Crazy what the youngins can do nowadays…”

  Noir hadn't moved from his comfortable vantage point in the bleachers since the start of their bout, yet he seemed entirely reassured of everything taking place. “They are gifted, as is the nature of successive generations,” he glanced over the field full of mages of varying skills and arcana, taking it in with the same admiration as a farmer would have for a crop ready to be harvested, before losing all his luster to a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. “If only there were more of us here to appreciate it.”

  “Do you wanna keep sparring? I want to see what all I can do with this new mark thingy,” Clarisse asked Berry, flexing her fingers in the air to see if she could manifest it once more, to no avail.

  “You bet!” Berry grinned, raising Kaylin to her lips once more as she assumed her stance a few steps away. “I have plenty of other skills to show off too~”

  Both aspiring heroines resumed their training, although their bout resembled a long overdue reunion more than mages fighting to prove they held an edge over the other. Berry’s natural talent and Kaylin’s assistance matched the steady stream of mana Clarisse received from Nikolas, letting them embellish the sparring ring with their arcana to the fullest. As noon passed them by overhead, the crowd slowly subsided like rain dried by the star’s glorious silhouette.

  Nikolas joined Noir and Valeri at the bleachers, both of whom languished in false luxury while training in their respective musical skills without disturbing the other; Valeri with his makeshift guitar and Noir humming an unassuming tune into his golden gauntlet.

  The friendly rivalry before them had attracted other familiar faces to the audience as well, Nikolas noted in the presence of a certain draconewt-hybrid sitting in the stands alongside a well adorned youth. Seeing them eyeing Clarisse and Berry intently, curiosity naturally bubbled forth in the hollow. He closed his eyes to tune out the rest of the world so he could pick up their whispers from the plethora of noises around them.

  “She’s gotten so much better since ribbit last time!”

  “We’ve been training too, Duce. Don’t discount that.”

  “B-but you only fully recovered three days ago! Look, she wasn’t able to do that!” the draconewt muttered, gesturing to the plumes of fire following Clarisse’s heels, augmenting each kick with an additional incendiary blast. “Maybe we should’ve stayed back at Junnhaven…”

  “Hnn? The hell we should’ve, Duce-!” His companion, who undeniably hailed from a noble lineage from the way he dressed, protested with a burly grunt. “No way I’m showing my face there again after what happened last time…”

  “We were only able to save you thanks to her…”

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I bet I can still–”

  Nikolas’s focus broke when he noticed Clarisse and Berry’s souls returning from the ring. He got up to meet her, but his advance was interrupted by the newcomers in the audience. The nobleman approached first with a brisk stride, and the draconewt clumsily ran behind him with his icicle staff in tow. “Ris!”

  Drenched in sweat and yet happier for it, Clarisse was dumbfounded for a moment by Reginald and Duceus’s abrupt arrival and the use of their crude nickname for her. “Duce? And Reggie…? What are you guys doing here?”

  “We’re here for the Kurestral Scoutings, too!” Reggie declared with characteristic pompousness, not even waiting for Duce to catch up. “The tournament allows teams of three each, if you didn’t know. As team leader, I thought I’d extend an invite to you, seeing as we’re acquainted already.” The blonde bragged, much to Duce’s abject panic as he finally caught up. There was little the cryo mage-in-training could do but awkwardly wave to Clarisse and Berry.

  “Do you know these two?” Berry asked the redhead, with exhaustion paving the way for an air of skepticism to loom around her.

  “Unfortunately…” Clarisse frowned. She still had the courtesy to return Duce’s wave, but that was all they received for pleasantries. “Why would I ever want to team with you? I already have my teammate.”

  “Welc– What!?” Reggie coughed halfway into a congratulations, already having assumed that Clarisse would have been grateful for the invitation. “What do you mean, you already have a teammate? Who is it!? Is it her?” He pointed at Berry with visceral indignation in his eyes.

  “That would be her business,” Nikolas spoke up, appearing behind both coppers with a firm grip on either of their shoulders and glowing eyes boring right into their souls from a step above in the bleachers. “She’s got her team sorted out, so I only have one piece of advice for you two. Scram.”

  “Ribbit!!” Duce let out a startled yelp, like an animal whose tail had been stepped on. The brief memory of his previous encounter with Nikolas flared, and the draconewt’s life flashed before his eyes as he stumbled backwards. “Yes sir, Mr. Nikolas sir!”

  Reginald yanked himself free from Nikolas’s grip, but it was clear that terror had captured his pride as he looked up at the fox with a slight tremble in his breath and unfocused eyes. “Freak.” He whispered aloud, ruminating on further words but deciding to leave before uttering any. As he stepped off the bleachers to follow Duceus, the nobleman spat on the ground with a cursory glance back at Nikolas, it was certainly meant for him.

  “I am so sorry–” Clarisse apologised to both Berry and Nikolas, letting her shoulders droop in frustration as she watched the pair leave the arena hastily. “They’re not friends. I just got stuck doing a quest with them once.”

  “At least one of them was polite…” Berry muttered, before turning to Nikolas. “I would’ve let him have it if he’d been that rude, calling you names like that.”

  “Skin him, flay him, string his innards across the barricades outside… that’s the only appropriate response there.”

  “Maybe for you. He wasn’t that far off in describing us.”

  “Bah! There you go again, reduced to a doormat. Such agony…”

  “People tend to fear what they don’t understand,” Nikolas replied in an empty, resigned tone. “And some people understand very little.”

  “I don’t think you’re a freak at all, if that’s any consolation.” Berry muttered, confused by his thought process but deciding not to dwell on it. “Clarisse trusts you, and that’s good enough for me.”

  “Thanks, Berry,” Clarisse replied for Nik this time, happy to see at least one person other than her saw him as relatively normal on the outside. “I need to change out my armor before we hang out and I’m sure you do too… how about we meet in the inn’s lobby?”

  “Don’t keep Kaylin and me waiting!” Berry returned a thumbs-up with a grin before heading off to join Noir and Valeri.

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