I sat on the cold stone floor, meditating. At least, that's what it seemed like.
The truth was, I'd already gotten what I wanted—separation in the mana flow between my cores. Not perfect, but close enough. Though strangely, only one was well-behaved. The other? Still a wild, uncooperative mess.
At least it gave me the perfect excuse to ignore Victoria. Facing the wall, though? Dumb idea. What was I even thinking? A self-imposed timeout—staring at a wall for an hour. But I'm stuck here. If I move, I'll lose to Victoria. Never.
She thought she'd punished me by benching me. Hmph.
The door opened behind me, and an official's voice announced our next matchup. "Aegis Academy vs Valmor Military Academy!" The silence turned to commotion as Victoria and Kael started moving, signaling the end of the break.
"Alright, let's go. Luna, get up."
"Mhmm," I grumbled in response.
I trailed them to the tunnel entrance, arms crossed the entire way.
"Luna, you're still benched."
Instead of arguing, I just turned my nose up at her and leaned against the wall.
Victoria stood cool and collected. She didn't even acknowledge me. "Kael, you're up first. Be careful, they're skilled, not as good as Astaria but better than Tidesword... despite their score."
"Got it. Careful."
I closed my eyes. Okay, back to it. My cores. Why are they different? Why is one of them still so stubborn?
The arena grew louder, pulling me from my thoughts. I cracked one eye open.
Kael was on the field. His opponent was across from him. An elf, light armor, two short swords.
Huh. An elf.
Don't see that many elves around Aegis. Big sis never talks about it much, but I know her kingdom, her village, her people... most of them were from Seraphia. And Seraphia is gone.
The signal sounded.
The elf vanished.
I blinked—he was already on the opposite side of the arena. Whoa. How'd he do that?
Kael panicked, barely managing to throw up a wall of wind before two swords met him.
The elf didn't try to break it; one stomp and he changed directions, darting around the barrier.
Kael scrambled, trying to cast a quick lightning spell, but the elf was already on him. Forcing him to use his staff to desperately parry blows. The elf didn't give him a single second of space to cast.
This was the first time I'd ever seen Kael so rattled.
He moves fast, but... his attacks are kinda slow. Why?
My eyes snapped fully open. Trying to figure him out.
He moved again. Dodging one of Kael's haphazard wind blasts, and I finally saw it.
His mana. The haze around him. His chest and arms were scantily covered in the thin glow. Unremarkable. But around his legs, it was dense.
Damn. He's focusing it. Starving his upper body to feed his legs. That's so cool.
Wait. Why did nobody teach me that? My memories flashed. Instructors, Elara, Victoria, even Cedric.
Oh. Right... they did. I was just lazy. What was it called again?
Aura... Aura... Ah! [Aura Technique]! But which one is that?
"Hey Vicky, what's that called that he's doing?"
Oops. Shit. Why did I say that?
My mouth snapped shut, heat rushing up my cheeks.
Victoria kept her eyes locked on the fight, but I saw the hint of a smirk touch her lips. Dammit.
"It's a basic [Aura Technique]," she answered. "[Aura Channeling]. He's sacrificing his defenses to maximize his leg speed. It's a common tactic for overwhelming mages. But you already knew that, correct?"
I... I definitely knew that. For sure.
Victoria sighed after catching a glimpse of my face.
"You've seen me use them for months, Luna. In our duel, in our training. Asher Deylin used quite a few of them against you as well. You'd have noticed if you ever bothered to look past the end of your own blade."
"Tch. Shut up."
I thought back on my fight with Asher. The way he moved, how he somehow blocked and parried everything I had. I guess he really was using them, I suppose. Gods, I'm so stupid. What the fuck have I been doing this whole time?
A loud bang and a shout grabbed my attention. I looked up just in time to see Kael go flying. A snicker escaped me, seeing Kael getting his ass rightfully kicked for once was just too much.
Kael tried to get to his feet and reset, but the elf kept up the onslaught. Each time he raised his staff, a blade was there to meet it.
Out of the corner of my vision, I could see Victoria biting her knuckles. A crack in her normally confident demeanor.
Kael was losing.
The elf feinted left—blinked behind him in a burst of snow and dust. Kael spun, tried a counter spell without his staff. Too slow.
A blade nearly sliced off his fingers as another came for his shoulder. His wind barrier flashed as the attack broke through.
My chest tightened. [Aura Channeling] again. He moved faster than any other stage four I'd ever seen. He was effortlessly flowing almost all of his mana to his legs. How... how is he doing that so easily?
He has to be controlling it from the source.His core. Wait. That's what I've been doing. Just with two. And I can control them. Sometimes.
My mind was racing. What if I just did what he's doing, but with both?
The realization made me restless. I pushed off the wall I was leaning on without thinking.
On the field, Kael was doing everything he could just to block.
The elf finally broke through. One kick to the chest, and Kael hit the ground, yielding with a pained cough.
A wave of shocked gasps washed over the arena. Thousands of people reacting to the upset.
Even the announcer's voice was cracking in surprise. "And Valmor takes the first point! One to zero! For the first time in this tournament, Aegis Academy is on the back foot! An incredible upset!"
"Heh..." I snorted at the announcer's words, and at Kael's pitiful shuffle toward us.
He limped back to the tunnel, frustration oozing off him, slamming the butt of his staff on the stone floor.
I couldn't help myself. "Wow, Kael, I've never seen someone so good at parrying with a stick. Really impressive. Don't let this loss get to ya."
He shot me a venomous look, brushing dirt and snow off his robes. "He was just a bad matchup."
"Uh-huh. Sure. You only got hit, what—ten times?
"Eight."
"Oh, I'm sorry, eight times."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see you do better. But I can't, because you're benched."
"Please. I can beat anyone, and you know tha—"
"Enough, both of you," Victoria said, her voice cutting through our bickering. Her eyes were locked on the opposing tunnel, on the grizzled man I'd seen at the briefing. The Valmor Leader.
"I'll take the next duel."
Victoria stepped out.
"Aegis Academy sends in their leader, Victoria Vaelstrad! Will she be able to avenge her team's loss?"
I watched the older man on the other side of the arena. He had a confident smirk on his face as he turned and said something to the massive man beside him. The other man nodded, and the leader clapped his shoulder, nudging him forward.
What stepped onto the field was a giant made of armor. Somehow taller than even Lucian and carrying a tower shield big enough to be a door.
Speed for Kael and Defense for Victoria. Interesting.
The signal for the second duel sounded.
Victoria surged forward to engage.
This should be over quick. I thought. No way Victoria loses. She'll just run circles around this guy.
Victoria was a streak, but the defender... he wasn't slow.
He effortlessly swung the hulking shield with a grace that didn't match his size. Metal clanged, Victoria's precise strikes, at his shoulder, his knee, his back. All blocked.
She pivoted, feinting low, then high. The size of his shield made the opening so tiny that it closed in an instant.
Victoria's strikes were flawless. Technique precise. But strength? Not enough. Every hit was absorbed.
If I were out there, I'd just smash through that stupid shield.
Victoria's thought must have been similar. She disengaged, took a breath, then lunged with all her force—a full-power, aura-enhanced thrust aimed right for the shield's center.
Then I saw it. The man's hazy aura suddenly shifted, just like the elf's. But instead of his legs, it all rushed into his shield arm and torso.
Victoria's blade smashed into his shield, the impact whipping up a cloud of frost and debris. The defender slid back from the force but didn't drop his guard.
He just took that. Focused his power just like the elf. [Aura Channeling] used for defense.
Victoria frustratedly swung again, actually hitting his exposed shoulder. But his aura shifted again. Condensing in an instant into the exact point of impact. The blow was harmless.
I'd been fighting all this time, ignoring the movement of my opponent's auras. But now it all snapped into focus. I could see every detail. Gods, I've just been fighting with a handicap this whole time. I have to learn [Aura Techniques].
I leaned forward, my mind buzzing. Okay, what else can he do?
I watched him. He didn't attack. He wasn't even trying to counter. He was just... blocking, parrying. Enduring.
Minutes stretched. She moved like a whirlwind, cutting arcs through the air, but the shield met every attack.
Wait.
My eyes flicked back to the Valmor tunnel. To their leader. He was standing there, with that same infuriating smirk.
Oh.
Oh, this asshole.
My eyes widened. He's not trying to win. He's just stalling.
I finally saw the whole strategy. They knew Kael would lose to the elf. They knew Victoria would fight next. And they correctly guessed that I was benched.
They were just draining her before the final duel.
The fight dragged on. Ten minutes. Fifteen. The crowd was getting restless. Victoria was visibly panting now, her movements losing their perfect Vaelstrad edge.
Shit. She's spent for sure.
With a final, furious scream, Victoria poured every last drop of her energy into a desperate, messy flurry. The defender, finally overwhelmed by the raw desperation, stumbled. Victoria's blade was at his throat. He yielded.
"Aegis takes the win! Victoria stands Victorious once again!"
A hollow victory. Victoria lowered her blade, chest heaving. Even from here, I could see the trembling in her arms. She gave a faint nod toward the crowd before turning, hobbling back toward the tunnel.
She reached the tunnel entrance and leaned on the wall to catch her breath.
Kael stepped forward. "You took your time on that one, Captain. You alright?"
Victoria just nodded, not looking up. "He was... stubborn," she panted, voice strained.
She turned her head up at me, but I immediately looked away. Keeping her from seeing any concern from me.
"Here's the final duel! Send in your fighters!"
The grizzled leader finally stepped onto the field. He looked fresh, rested, and confident.
Victoria, still gasping for air, looked at him. Then she looked back at me, her pride warring with her exhaustion.
She sighed. "Luna."
I looked up, trying to hide the fact that I was nearly bouncing with anticipation.
"Your punishment is over early. Get out there."
About. Damn. Time. My new theory. New techniques. So much to try.
I went to grab my greatsword from where I'd leaned it against the wall.
—It wasn't there.
Shit.
Itching heat crept up my face. Victoria closed her eyes and let out a groan, pointing a finger back down the tunnel.
I bolted.
I sprinted to the staging room, grabbed my sword, and sprinted back in seconds. Out of breath before the fight even started.
Kael, who was now leaning against the tunnel entrance, nursing his ribs, had the audacity to chuckle. "Try not to get hit eight times!"
I didn't even give him the satisfaction of a look. I just stuck my tongue out at him as I stormed past Victoria.
I stepped onto the field with my eyes locked onto the Valmor leader. He was waiting for me, that annoying smirk still on his face.
Okay, time to try some new moves.