Elizabeth rolled her shoulders back a few times, her pain already beginning to subside as a soft green glow came from the hands of a nurse next to her. The exam officials had prepared nurses and doctors with affinities suited to heal, which gave Elizabeth a much-needed feeling of relief, as she wouldn't have to face the last phase of the exams exhausted and injured. Gabe had been taken to a room with many of the other contestants to have the next phase explained and to wait for those injured who passed the previous portions of the exam.
Elizabeth looked around her surroundings. A tiny marble room, much like those of the written exam, however much smaller, and now full of medical supplies and a raised cot for her to rest on as she was healed. There was a smell of sterility in the room that gave Elizabeth a similar feel to being in the hospital mere hours before this.
There was then a quiet knock on the door as another nurse walked in, ignoring Elizabeth's presence completely and making her way to the nurse who was healing her. They then shared a whisper for a moment, with the nurse healing Elizabeth nodding her head, and waving the other nurse away. The nurse, healing Elizabeth, then stopped, the glow being emitted from her hands ending.
"If you would please wait here," The nurse said as she grabbed a bag of medical supplies such as gauze, wrappings, and antiseptics. The pair of nurses then promptly left, opening the door just wide enough for Elizabeth to crane her neck and peer through the door. She managed to catch a glimpse of what looked to be the Archmagus of Medicine speaking to a figure she couldn't quite make out before the door closed.
Elizabeth's heart quickly began to race as the door closed. "Had she done something wrong?" Her mind frantically thought of all she had done since being in the capital. "Why would he be here, outside my room? Maybe he's here to congratulate me? Who was it that he was speaking to? Possibly a nurse or a doctor." Elizabeth thought to herself, feeling a sense of dread wash over her, before having a clear thought that she had no answer to. "Wait... why am I so afraid? He's supposed to be the Archmagus of Medicine, one of the kingdom's greatest protectors, a doctor, a healer. Yet, this sense of doom over me... I can't help but feel like something is wrong. It feels as if a monster is staring its eyes at me with the intent to kill me. Why am I having this feeling?"
Elizabeth's thoughts get interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. Two men in full Grand Infantry plate armor walk in. Their breastplates and midsections were covered in a cloth with the kingdom's insignia, their faces hidden behind the small slits of their helmets, halberds held by their sides staff to the ground. After they walked in, they both stood to the sides of the door, turned in a strict motion, and stood at attention to see who came in next.
The next man to walk in, she had seen before, and there was no mistaking the large build, the regal armor and cloak, the gauntlets with depictions of lightning, the Archmagus of War had just walked into the room. Elizabeth studied his facial features now that she had the chance. He had a sharp jawline and high, strong cheekbones. His hair was black, slightly longer on top and cut cleaner on the sides. He sported dark stubble on his face, though it didn't look poorly shaved, just a constant sort of facial hair that he continued to shave. Elizabeth couldn't read the Archmagus' expression, however, his dark eyes looked down at her. They seemed cold and calculating, a far cry from the voice of the man she had heard when he spoke to the crowded arena.
"So, you're Elizabeth?" Gaurav's voice rang out low. As his voice reached Elizabeth's ears, she felt cold, an odd yet familiar feeling for her. "The Archmagus of Medicine has spoken to me of you. Supposedly, you slew a Terra-Serpen in a single spell. Quite impressive, I must admit." His compliments felt hollow to Elizabeth, as if he didn't mean what he said. It wouldn't shock Elizabeth if he didn't think her feat was anything special; this was the most powerful soldier in the kingdom, and that was his position as Archmagus of War.
"Leave us," The Archmagus waved his hand, causing his Grand Infantry guards to walk out of the room, closing the door behind them. "I apologize for the formality. Guards are an outdated concept to me as well, but I'm not here to talk about the kingdom's formalities. I have to ask you to step down from the exams."
Elizabeth's heart leaped to her throat. In one sentence, something seemingly so small, her entire world felt surreal. She blinked rapidly in shock, unsure of what to say or do. Her mouth opened, for no words escaped her lips.
"I'm only saying this because you aren't ready for combat. Personally, after what I saw out there, I don't think you ever will be." The Archmagus' voice was deadly calm, which shook Elizabeth to her core. "You barely managed to stay in the fight, had it not been for that wind affinity user alongside you, you would've gone home like the others. You can't perform under pressure; that much is clear to me. The Grand Infantry isn't just guard duty or law enforcement; it's the force that protects the kingdom at large. Even with the power you wield, you're not Grand Infantry material. You don't have the nerve, nor the will to act in combat. You'd be nothing but a liability on the battlefield. You even let yourself get grabbed by an opponent much weaker than yourself, and heavily injured. Those kinds of mistakes could cost you your life."
As the Archmagus continued, Elizabeth felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her mouth went dry, her throat closed. The air around her felt thin, and the sounds around her began to dull. Her mind kept playing with the things Gaurav was saying, over and over. Mere seconds began to feel like an eternity, with Elizabeth's head becoming a complete mess in an instant.
"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this. I'm sure this was your dream, but some people aren't made for this job. I promise you, this is for your safety. I cannot willingly allow you to join the Grand Infantry and get yourself killed." The Archmagus of War bowed his head sullenly for a moment. "If you truly wish to compete, I cannot stop you, but once again, it is in your own best interest to return home at once. Lapidus could always use you there once again." Gaurav then turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
The second the Archmagus left, Elizabeth began clutching her knees and bawling. Her tears flowed like streams, pouring solid tears down her cheeks until they fell off her face, her sobbing echoing around the room as it was the only noise. Her heart felt a sort of pain that she could not describe. Her mind fell to the misery, thinking of countless things to say and do, yet being unable to do anything or say anything through her wails.
"Why me? Why me, what have I done to deserve this?" Elizabeth asked herself over and over once she could form clear thoughts. "He's wrong, he has to be, I'm not done yet. But that's ridiculous. Nobody in the kingdom knows what it means to be a member of the Grand Infantry than him. He had to be right..." Elizabeth wanted to deny everything she had been told, but couldn't get herself to do so. The man in a position she had looked up to her entire life, the pinnacle of combatitive magic in the kingdom, telling her she wasn't good enough, made her inclined to believe it. The room spun around the sobbing girl, her head feeling faint, on the verge of passing out.
Elizabeth's mind wandered to her mother, Jessa-Belle, and it felt as if she could see her. The room felt like it faded away into a black void, with her mother mere steps from her. Elizabeth could feel herself reaching towards her mother, hand outstretched, as her mother turned, her voice ringing in Elizabeth's ears, "You can't give up now, Elizabeth... remember how I taught you to be... remember..." Then, as quickly as the vision appeared, it vanished without a trace.
Elizabeth blinked, her crying subsiding. She drew her hand back towards herself and stared at it in shock. "What... what was that?" Elizabeth couldn't fathom whether or not what she saw was real or not, but it seemed like some sort of vision. Her mental state began to change, seeing her mom in front of her like that, even if it was all a hallucination, she knew that she couldn't call it quits here. Even if the Archmagus of War was right, she would still try, still fight to protect the kingdom. She knew it was what her mother would've wanted, and she couldn't let her down.
With a wipe of her tears, Elizabeth slid off the raised cot and walked out the door of the small quarters to join her peers, regardless of what the Archmagus had to say. She ran down the hall, trying to find the room that the rest of the applicants were in. She passed door after door looking, but with none of them marked, the coliseum felt like a labyrinth with no end. She began to worry they had already left for the next event without her when she heard a familiar voice.
"Elizabeth!" Gabe shouted from down the hall, and behind him walked the rest of the applicants. "Glad you decided to join us at the last second. What took you so long?" Gabe asked as he jogged over to meet her further down the hall, the officials and the rest of the examinees walking the opposite way.
"I... got caught up with something." Elizabeth looked away from Gabe, deciding that explaining everything to him, especially as soon as they met, would be more trouble than it was worth. "The nurses took long to heal me, that's all. Anyway, though, what's the next phase of the exam?" Elizabeth asked in a solemn, more serious tone.
Gabe gave Elizabeth a weird look after her responses, "Caught up, huh?" Gabe probed, clearly suspicious. "Well, still glad you made it. The next phase is a standard tournament, one-on-one, until they declare an official winner. What they explained to us is that unless we perform particularly terribly, we're all next to guaranteed spots, even if we lose out on individual matches. They did say that it could affect our rank going in, and that it's mainly for entertainment purposes, so, should be an easy last phase for the two of us if everything goes well." Gabe explained as Elizabeth and he began walking in the direction of everyone else.
Elizabeth looked down, wearing her emotions on her face. Anyone could tell something was troubling her, as she began to think of what would happen now that she refused to back out of the exams. "I might have a chance to prove myself, but will it matter? Will the Archmagus of War truly change his mind if I do well enough?" Her thoughts wandered.
"Hey, Elizabeth?" Gabe's concern was strewn through his voice. "You feeling alright?"
Elizabeth snapped back into what was happening, looking to Gabe and answering, "Y-yeah, I think so... just nervous is all."
"You've got nothing to be nervous about, given the power you showed off during the second phase, you'll be able to secure a spot, easily." Gabe encouraged, his confident demeanor oozing in the way he walked and spoke. "Even if you don't win, you just gotta show 'em what you can do. Don't go all out or anything, they don't want us killing each other, but you can show off here, that's all they wanna see." He nodded to punctuate his comforting words.
Elizabeth nodded, sighing heavily, "Yeah, you're right, you're right. Still, though, I wanna be sure they know I should be a member of the Grand Infantry. I need to be certain they see that." The group walked out into the arena once more, now drawn with white lines, outlining what was most likely the bounds of the tournament. Elizabeth put her hand up to block the sun's rays, now right above the coliseum. As Elizabeth's eyes adjusted, she looked towards the official's platform, the cheering crowd becoming a dull sound in her ears, as she looked up to Archmagus Puerbia.
The plate-armor clad man looked down, the smile on his face fading ever so slightly as he saw Elizabeth looking up to him. The pair locked eyes, Elizabeth's defiance sending the message, she was strong enough of will to fight.
The officials then began sorting the thirty-two participants into pairs, preparing them for their matches. "You there, contestant seven hundred fifty-one, please, step up, you'll be fighting first," a male official pointed towards Elizabeth.
"Good luck, Elizabeth!" Gabe cheered as he was brought over with the others to a set of stairs connected to a small section of seats for the examinees to wait before their fights.
Elizabeth nodded, taking a deep breath as she let the official guide her to her half of the painted bounds. The crowd was so loud around her that she could feel the earth under her feet vibrating in response. The officials tried to tell her something before walking over and getting her opponent ready for the duel. Elizabeth couldn't make out what they had said, the adrenaline causing her to be unable to process anything other than what was right in front of her. Her heart raced, her mind was blank, her mana already pouring itself to her fingertips, ready to be utilized at a moment's notice.
The official who seemed to be moderating the match walked between Elizabeth and her opponent. Elizabeth could tell he was speaking, and the crowd went quiet for a moment, but the noises around her were just that: noise. She couldn't hear any individual sounds, nor had time to think what they meant, she only knew one thing. She would win, no matter what.
Elizabeth saw the official in the center of the arena raise his arm, five fingers outstretched. He brought one down every second, and Elizabeth knew he was counting down before they started. The official took steps back as his count continued, until he stepped out of the drawn bounds, and Elizabeth counted along in her head, her eyes focusing on the person before her, never leaving her opponent for a moment.
"Five...
Four..." Elizabeth's eyes narrowed on her opponent as the clouds above the arena began to swirl with a menacing aura, causing the crowd's cheers to become concerned murmurs. Elizabeth's feelings began to boil over, her vision and body shaking with irritation, with rage. Rage towards the exams that made her doubt herself. Rage towards the Archmagus of War, who tried to tell her she wasn't good enough for something she wanted her whole life. Rage towards the Order of the Blue Flame, which threatened those in the kingdom, and made the Archmagus of Medicine interrogate her personally. The rage at the sickness that took her mother, that left her without her only real family. Elizabeth's mana began releasing itself in her anger, her currents flowing ferociously around herself, covering the entire arena.
"Three...
Two..." Elizabeth's stance changed; her feet moved underneath her, preparing for combat. The Archmagus of War stood suddenly on the platform above, his face covered in shock. Snow began to fall, the arena growing colder with each second. Even her opponent looked scared, taking a step back before the fight even began.[1]
"One..." As the count ended, the fight set to begin, suddenly, the crowd gasped in shock, snapping Elizabeth from her state of focus and looking towards the onlookers. She saw their gazes staring up, and as she did too, she saw a figure flying through the sky.
"No, they're not flying... they'releaping?" Elizabeth tried to make sense of what she was seeing, a human leaping over the outer walls of the coliseum, a building that towered over anything from her home village, and hurdling towards the center of the arena. Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock as she turned to run from the center of the arena, out of a mere instinctual feeling that she needed to run from whoever was about to land.
As Elizabeth dove out of the way, the figure crashed into the ground, landing on its feet. The landing shook the arena, sand blasting as she created a massive crater in the ground. The force of the figure's landing caused Elizabeth to be pushed back even further, and sent the official and Elizabeth's opponent flying back to the opposite end of the arena. Elizabeth herself only got sent a few feet further than where she had run, saving her from experiencing the same force. Elizabeth landed lying sideways, causing her to roll an extra meter before coming to a stop.
The dust settling kept Elizabeth from seeing everything right away, but the first thing she could see was that the kneeling figure was a woman with flowing platinum blonde hair. As the woman stood, Elizabeth's eyes widened at the imposing presence she saw. The woman stood to reveal herself and the silver mask she wore. The mask was the face of a dragon, with horns that protruded past the top of her head, with blue gems shining in the eye sockets.
As the woman stood, what seemed to be tree roots began growing around the top of the coliseum, winding and twisting to create thick walls of wood that began heightening the barriers and making the coliseum an enclosure. Several roots woven together branched out from the new, heightened walls, each with different humanoids standing on flattened out portions to make makeshift platforms. Elizabeth struggled to see any of them due to how high up they were, but she saw the sheen of silver masks on all of their faces.
Elizabeth focused her vision back on the woman standing in the arena. She wore a white pencil dress that flowed down to her ankles, along with a part that started above her right knee. She looked regal, almost as if she were from a noble family, sporting silver heels with blue gemstones and designs Elizabeth couldn't make out.
The only other thing Elizabeth noticed was perhaps the most important thing. The mana she felt exuding from this woman was immense. "She feels just as strong as one of the Archmagi... but... why does her mana feel so different? It feels like her mana is animalistic... no, not that. Like a monster's..." Elizabeth's senses screamed to run, to escape, to flee, but she couldn't get her legs to move. She was stuck in place, but not out of fear; this was a new feeling, something she had never felt before.
Elizabeth could do nothing but watch as the woman inhaled, causing her chest to rise, before she began to speak, loud enough that everyone in the coliseum could hear. Her voice was serious, yet it rang out sweetly, higher than Elizabeth thought it would be. "People of Rege-Uptus! I'm sure by now, most of you know of us! You've heard lies, deceit, and misinformation! We are the Order of the Blue Flame!"
Elizabeth's face contorted, "The Order of the Blue Flame? Why would they decide to attack here, now, during the exams?" Elizabeth began to feel beads of sweat on the sides of her forehead, her face flushing. The hairs on her arms and neck stood up as the woman continued to speak.
"You have been told, we are terrorists! Cultists! But I'm here to tell you, none of that is true!" The woman raised her arm and pointed towards the official's platform, and toward the Archmagus of War. "That is simply what he, and those like him, wish to call us! Those who fight for the people of the kingdom, rather than for those who run it, are simply called terrorists and criminals! It is we who fight for the good of the kingdom, for the good of humanity, and yet history, the very same history that they write, dictates that we are the villains!"
Elizabeth began to stand up, barely able to do so given the intense feeling keeping her from moving. As she found her arms beneath her and her hands planted, she began to push herself upwards. Her teeth were gritted, jaw clenched, as she fought through the feelings that controlled her. "I-I have to get up. I can't let her just stand there and do nothing. Even if I lose, I have to get up and fight. I have to protect the kingdom from this lunatic." Elizabeth told herself as she began to plant her feet underneath her, her back slumped initially as she rolled her shoulders upwards and stood straight, facing the dragon-masked lady.
The woman then turned as Elizabeth stood, cocking her head to the side. "Don't mistake me! We're not here to fight with any of you! We're merely here to tell you the truth, to show you who we are!" The woman placed her hand up towards Elizabeth, in an attempt to try and get her to stop.
Elizabeth shook her head, planting her feet and swallowing hard. "I don't care why you're here!" Elizabeth shouted, digging into the depths of her soul to find enough courage to even stand. "From what I've been told, you're nothing more than a threat to the kingdom and its people, and all I've ever wanted was to protect them from people, no, things like you! I can tell, I'm not strong enough to beat you, but I can't watch you threaten those I swear to protect and do nothing!" Elizabeth felt her anger swelling up once again, mixed with something else: the desire to protect those around her, no matter the cost. The storm clouds overhead began to darken even further, mimicking Elizabeth's anger. The entire coliseum began to get even colder, so much so that the woman facing Elizabeth started to breathe out frost. "So even if it kills me... I'll stop you, right here and right now!"
Elizabeth raised her hands in the same way she had done in the battle royale, chunks of ice formed, this time larger than before, and began flying down towards the draconic masked lady. They flew as fast as Elizabeth could move them, so fast that even Elizabeth saw only blurs of blue ice. The first icy meteor sent flying came within mere inches of the strange woman, before all of a sudden, crashing into the ground behind where she once stood. The woman was now standing a meter away, and yet, Elizabeth hadn't seen her move. The ice blasted apart into shards that then disappeared into nothing soon after.
Snow began to fall, even if only slightly, enough to be visible. The crowd began running for the exits, but jade walls appeared suddenly blocking them all off. Elizabeth turned her head to see this, and when she turned back to the masked woman, she was suddenly in Elizabeth's face, arm pulled back, about to strike. Elizabeth's eyes went wide in fear as she tried to bring one of her hunks of ice down, but she could tell she was too late. Elizabeth could sense the mana in the woman's fist and knew that being struck would mean certain death, to which her life flashed before her eyes.
"Huh... I guess that it already... everything feels slow all of a sudden. I can't believe how fast she is, or perhaps it's how slow I am... doesn't matter now though, I'm going to die, and I couldn't even protect one person." Elizabeth's perception of time slowed as she felt herself about to die, closing her eyes and bracing for it. Yet, as she felt another surge of mana, the feeling of a gust of wind, and the sound of a crash in front of her, Elizabeth's eyes opened to reveal one of her ice boulders shattered in front of her, and the masked woman leaping back, landing gracefully as she jumped meters.
"Keep your eyes up, Elizabeth!" Gabe's voice shouted from above as he floated with his wind currents. "We gotta stay sharp, or she's gonna tear us apart!" Gabe threw his arms out, his visible array of condensed air blades appearing on either side of him. They began flying toward the masked woman with incredible speed, yet she kept moving faster than Elizabeth could see, dodging each one with elegance.
The woman began flipping, kicking, and striking the blades as she moved, moving through them with a level of precision so high, Elizabeth couldn't believe what she saw. Elizabeth then looked down at the ice shards by her feet that slowly vanished, and her eyes went wide with an idea.
"Gabe, I have an idea!" Elizabeth shouted up to him, "Keep her busy for a second!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Gabe shouted from on high, creating another volley of blades the second he ran out of his first.
Within moments, Elizabeth began folding the magic that made her chunks of ice differently, trying to make the splinters last longer after they shattered, thinking back to the man she had faced in the battle royale, who used a similar technique but with a metal sphere. "It might not be the best, in fact, I'm sure what I'm making is a far cry from perfection, but, it might just be enough to land a hit," Elizabeth admitted to herself before she sent the other three pieces of ice hurtling towards the masked woman as she continued to dodge Gabe's attacks.
As the first ice rock flies towards the masked woman, she dodges it and nearly gets struck by one of Gabe's aeroblades. The ice shattering where it landed, but this time, the magical ice shards remained. Then the second orb of ice flew, this time, catching the woman right after she dodged a blade of wind, forcing her to jump back further from the elemental duo, with the ice shattering, and again having the shard remain. The masked woman then ran towards Elizabeth, the third chunk of ice flying straight for her. This time, however, the masked woman pulled back a fist and struck the rock as it got within range, shattering it with ease. Shards of ice flew in the air surrounding the masked woman, which caused Elizabeth to grin maniacally.
"Gotcha!" Elizabeth shouted as she raised her hand up outstretched, feeling the shards of ice she made with her mana, and closing her hand into a fist. The shard of ice in the air then flew towards the masked woman, moving even faster than Elizabeth's previous attacks. "Gabe, help me keep her there!" Elizabeth shouted, as she raised her other hand and began raising the shards of ice from the other two crystals, and bringing them towards the mysterious lady.
The masked woman continued to dodge the shards of ice with what seemed to be ease. However, Gabe's use of his air affinity allowed him to circulate the winds around the ice shards, causing them to change directions even faster when they missed. Elizabeth kept moving her magical ice at frightening speeds, keeping the masked woman from being able to do anything other than dodge.
"This is it, all we have to do is hold her in this until we get... help?" Elizabeth realized that there was nobody else in the arena other than the masked woman, Gabe, and herself. She then looked up to spot the Archmagus of War fighting on his own. The officials were seemingly knocked out on the platform, their mana giving that much away to Elizabeth, but there was a man in a jade suit of armor, with a spear and shield to match, facing off against the Archmagus. The pair was moving so fast that Elizabeth could barely see their movements; she could just see lightning bolts flying, and a shimmering green blur somehow capable of dodging. "Who are these people?" Elizabeth wondered in bewilderment before once again focusing on the battle with the masked woman.
Elizabeth felt like the fight was taking a small eternity; however, in reality, the battle was one mere second. Her shards were flying faster than the eye could see, boosted by both her focus and magic, and Gabe's winds propelling them to move faster. With the amount of shards and wind, they began to create a whirlwind of icy shards that should've been impossible to dodge by Elizabeth's understanding. Yet, without a doubt, the masked woman was moving through all of it with ease. The woman's mana was enhancing her movements to a level Elizabeth couldn't fathom.
"G-Gabe, we just gotta hold her back before help gets here!" Elizabeth's teeth were gritted, sweat beginning to pour down the sides of her forehead, her breathing becoming labored. Elizabeth had thought that creating smaller shards would've been easier, but with the focus on keeping them all maintained, and each one moving at the speeds they were, it was exhausting her faster than she expected.
"I-I'm not sure how much longer we can do this for, Elizabeth!" Gabe's voice was strained, the winds keeping him afloat, beginning to weaken, causing him to descend slowly to the ground. "Have you ever seen anyone this fast? It's inhuman!"
"We don't have time to think about that now, we gotta-we gotta keep going!" Elizabeth's eyes began to feel heavy, it felt as if all of the oxygen in her lungs was being used up faster than it came in, no matter how hard she breathed. Her head felt dizzy, her limbs were on fire, but she refused to stop.
"H-hey," Gabe starts to ask as he lands next to Elizabeth, clearly just as spent as she was. "I-I don't have the firepower you do. My magic works better to hold someone or keep someone at a distance. Compressed air hurts... but your ice would hurt a lot worse. I think... I think I can hold her long enough for you to hit her, but whatever it is, it has to be big, and it has to be fast. You got anything like that?" Gabe's chest heaves through his question.
"Y-yeah, I think I got something like that, but it'll take everything I have left." Elizabeth thinks back to her ice spear she summoned to kill the Terra-Serpen in a single shot, and wondered if it would even work. This lady, whoever she was, seemed far stronger, and she hadn't even used her affinity yet. "I'm not sure it'll even work."
"Well... It's either we try it and it doesn't work, or we keep going like this, our mana reserves get depleted to nothing, and we die anyway..." Gabe's eyes droop just as much as Elizabeth's own, the fatigue beginning to show.
Elizabeth knew he was right, and that if she didn't try, she and Gabe would most assuredly die anyway. "Alright... if you hold her, I'll put everything I have left into this, and I won't hold back, but make me a promise. Save enough mana to get yourself out of here, to fly away, and if I die, go back to Lapidus and tell my family everything." Elizabeth knew if she failed, she would have to at least protect Gabe, and couldn't let him die on her account.
Gabe paused for a moment before nodding his head, "You have my word. Now... drop your ice and do whatever you need to!" Gabe shouted as he brought his hands up by his sides and clasped them together in a quick motion. "Inescapable Tornado!" Gabe shouted as the winds surrounding the masked woman began to pick up speed in opposite directions. A visible layer of wind began to form a cylinder around the woman, thickening quickly and stretching up to the clouds. The winds became so powerful that the masked woman completely disappeared behind the trapping winds. Gabe's body shuddered as he held his hands clasped. "H-hurry!" Gabe shouted, the winds becoming loud enough that Elizabeth could barely hear him, but as she dropped her ice shards, letting the magic fade, she looked over and saw Gabe's nose beginning to bleed, and his entire body strained.
Elizabeth shook her head and focused her magic, closing her eyes and remembering her fight with the Terra-Serpen, the feeling of all of her mana folding into the shape of a spear. She focused herself and put everything she had, not bothering to stay calm, but instead letting her emotions fuel the spell she was making. Ice began to materialize above her to the right, forming a massive spear, the same size as the one she had made previously, but this time she felt a difference. It was denser, made of more magic, and more focused. Elizabeth opened her eyes, her attack now ready. She raised her right hand, palm open upwards towards the spear. Elizabeth moved her body alongside the motions of the spear, as if she were throwing a spear herself, and let the weapon of ice launch forward at top speed. As it flew, a wave of wind built at the tip of it, and moved behind it and booming outward with a sound louder than lightning.
The second Elizabeth let her spell go, Gabe released his hands and began to gasp for air. The wind disappearing right at the spear reached the masked woman, enough sand was blown up in the air by the speed of the projectile, and an explosion of energy created a cloud of dust, preventing the pair from seeing the results.
Before the explosion had settled, Elizabeth turned to Gabe and shouted, "Run!" To which Gabe looked in shock and horror towards Elizabeth, before turning and using his wind currents to fly himself toward an exit that had been opened by the other contestants.
Elizabeth fell to her knees before being able to move any further, gasping for air, her mouth dry, her body feeling like it was on the verge of death. The dust began to settle, and as her vision began to go dark, she saw the masked woman with her fist left out after a punch, and bits of ice fading on the ground. The masked woman had simply punched Elizabeth's spear of ice like it was a piece of glass. The masked woman then began to walk towards Elizabeth, right as she lost consciousness.
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As her eyes began to flutter open, Elizabeth saw the snowy caps of mountains as she was being jostled up and down, looking around and seeing she was being held by the masked woman as if she was luggage, with several others surrounding them, all of them having masks attached to belts at their hips. Shortly after opening her eyes, she closed them again and fell back into the realm of unconsciousness.
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The second time her eyes opened, Elizabeth was lying on a cot staring at the sight of six people, all various heights and features, with the woman in the center of them being someone she could easily recognize: the woman in the white dress, although now without her mask on.
"Hey kid, that was some pretty nice fighting back there, you seemed to really be trying to fucking kill me." The woman laughed, "In all fairness, if I were raised in the kingdom like you were, I would've done the same shit."
Elizabeth's face did little to hide her confusion as she looked around her. "Um... where am I?" She asked slowly.
"Isn't it obvious?" The woman asked casually, her entire demeanor from her speech at the coliseum was gone. "Welcome to the Order of the Blue Flame, Elizabeth! Well, it won't be official until my husband returns and gives you the whole inauguration and everything, but I promise he's gonna lova ya." The woman wore a smile ear to ear, her tone more cheerful and bubbly than anyone Elizabeth had ever heard.
"Y-your husband?" Elizabeth sat up in her cot, in complete shock at this point.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself properly." The woman chuckled at herself, "My name's Lymesia, it's a pleasure to meet you officially. And as for my husband... that's Aquivis, and I know what you're thinking. Yes, the one from the stories." Lymesia adds, nodding her head like it was a casual fact.
Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock, looking around the room frantically at all of these new faces and people. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but she couldn't even think of anything to say. It was like her brain was trying to process information, but the information was so impossibly crazy, her brain refused to cooperate.
"Stunned silence already?" Lymesia jested as she sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arm around Elizabeth's shoulder. "Don't worry, dear, we'll explain everything once you're more rested, but for now, just know we're gonna be some of the best friends you'll ever meet, a whole family if you will." Lymesia grinned as she stood back up, as she and the rest of the people filed out of the door to what seemed to be a bedroom, now that Elizabeth began to look around. "Oh, and one more thing, sorry for scaring you at the arena like that, I thought you were just another shitty noblemen and so I was prepared to... you know..." Lymesia took her finger and slid it across her throat, making a choking sound, "But I heard you were actually from Lapidus during that fight, so no worries." Lymesia smiled before closing the door behind her and leaving Elizabeth to contemplate what had just happened on her own.
"What the fuck?" Elizabeth whispered to herself before falling back into the cot, eyes wide, and mind empty.
[1] To put it, here, Elizabeth would've killed her fellow Grand Infantryman to be. She wouldn't have meant to, but had she gone through with the attack, her body was naturally prepared for... she wouldn't have just won, but accidentally killed the man she was fighting.