I stood up as the literal dust settled on Lei and Alban's match.
"Take care out there," a voice called out. I turned. Vermeil walked toward us alongside Aria, Nyima, Yen, and Kun.
I grinned. "Thanks, Vermeil."
She lowered her head and fidgeted. "No need."
Sarah grabbed my hand and moved her finger across it. It was a bit hard to understand as I wasn't the most literate person. All of my reading skills came from what Mom and Sis taught me as a little kid. In Aief, all we had to read were spell scrolls, and even most didn't get access to those. Everything else was seen as useless drivel or, worse, mind rotting.
Despite that, I liked spending my time reading the books my sister and Ning had gotten me from the outside world, as well as any non-spell scrolls I could get my hands on. I probably read them a thousand times each. They helped keep the loneliness away.
Ning leaned forward, staring at my furrowed eyes. "She wrote, 'Take care not to push yourself," she whispered.
I closed my eyes and smiled. "I see. Don't worry, I will!"
Sarah furrowed her brow. I wasn't sure if it was because of my struggle to understand her or because she doubted me. Maybe a mix of both.
I frowned. "Come on, don't look at me like that."
Hal crossed his arms. "I can't blame her after what you pulled in our match."
Xue sighed. "Nor can I."
If only I could take it easy. I had to find out what Kun knew about my sis. The only way I can get him to speak is to beat him again.
Kun smiled uneasily. "Why are you glaring at me?"
I scoffed. "Think you know why."
He turned around and shrugged. "Hey, Lei! Nice job out there!"
Lei grinned. "Good luck, bro. Uh, you too An!"
Yen narrowed her eyes at her youngest triplet. "Wait, why did you seem more upbeat about cheering for Nyima?"
Kun grinned. "Maybe Ny does have a shot."
"Kun, if An doesn't beat you too badly, want to battle me next?" Adela asked, grinning creepily.
Yuzuki chuckled. "Or me."
Nyima sighed even as she blushed. "Kun says silly things."
"True. He has always been a clown." Yuzu snickered. "But that's what makes him Kun."
Kun chuckled and cartwheeled down the stairs.
"Those are some moves," Arima said, eyes wide.
"A real circus clown," Aban mumbled as he stood behind Lei.
Lei and Yen snickered. "He does say he wants to join the circus."
I scratched my head. "Uh, what's a circus?"
Sarah's eyes widened.
"You've never even heard of one? What do Aiefians do for fun?"
"Uh, train," I said, scratching the back of my head.
Ning sighed. "There are a few recreational things such as games of tag. All involve physical activity of some sort."
"Guess Sarah would be at a disadvantage there," Elliot said.
Sarah nodded and lowered her gaze.
"Uh, Brother," Adela said, sweating.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
I sighed. And people say I'm lacking brains.
"Just forget it. You'll just make things worse by continuing on the subject," Alex said, waving his hand.
Hal told me Alex was a psychic too. Could he teach me something if I ask? He is older and went to school in another world. There's probably a whole lot he knows that I don't!
I glanced at Jude, who hid behind Hal. Though, before focusing on learning more magic, I have the teach him as I promised.
"Uh, An, you should get going," Vermeil said, smiling weakly at me as she yanked softly on my armor's fur-covered sleeve.
"Again, the battle between the whimsical Kun and the daydreamer An is about to begin," Marina said, laughing awkwardly as she looked up at me.
My cheeks turned bright crimson.
I warped over to the battlefield.
Kun smiled and waved. "Kept me waiting long enough! Though, should you really have wasted prana on teleporting over here?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Should you be asking that? You did fly into the air to catch your sister and teleport to check up on Aria."
He laughed. "True. Guess this helps even things out a bit. But, at least, I had time to rest from them."
Just how weak did he expect me to have gotten? Was my performance against Hal that bad to make him think that? Or maybe Kun only wanted to get underneath my skin. If so, he had to try way better than that!
"Psyche Draco!" I yelled, holding both hands forward. My eyes widened a burst of warmth hit me from behind. I turned around. Kun rushed out of a pillar of light, grasping me by the neck. I warped away to the top of my dragon.
"Magical Equip! Psychicae Alis!" I yelled. Pink and purple wings emerged from the back of my giant pink dragon. "Mental Burst!"
Kun gasped. "Magical Equip?"
I smirked as a wave of intense purple and pink energy pushed him back. "One of the perks I got for staying in Xian a bit longer." I snuck a glance at a smiling Ling. Her father had taken the time to teach me a few things as he took over from Yanyu to help me with my recovery.
My opponent laughed as he pushed back against my mental energy stream. "Thought that it would only be Lei, Yen, Aria, and me who would have a firm grasp on it during the course of this tournament."
Lei? Right, he has that spell that gives him that green aura. While Aria has that armor of hers. Wait, did Yen use that wind spell against Nyima? She did have that purple aura. If so, Kun probably could use it too. I had to prevent him from using it, or else I might have as hard a battle as Iah and Nyima had against the other triplets. But even if he managed it, the victories of the former two over the latter meant it wasn't unstoppable.
"Lux sphaera!" Kun chanted, forming spheres of light reminiscent of Nahimana's marbles and Kanja's metal balls.
I had my dragon shroud me with its wings as the spheres of light flew at me. Light shot out of the spheres as they broke up upon hitting the wings' psychic ward. The light took on the form of giant thorns. Like javelins, they punctured my pink dragon, bringing it down.
I jumped up and took out my sword.
"You seem more awake than you did during your match with Hal," Kun said, jumping back.
I grinned as I went for a jab.
Kun grasped my sword, only to be blown away by a psychic wave.
"Ugh, as annoying to fight as ever, I see," Kun said, shaking his head.
I chuckled. "You still stand no chance, so start to spill what you know about my sis right now!"
Kun grinned as he mumbled something underneath his breath. My eyes widened as the same spell that Aban had used against Lei rose from the ground. Had Kun also learned it beforehand or had he copied Aban? If the latter, was he some kind of magical genius?
The thin hairs on the back of my head tingled. I jumped into the air and shot a blast of purple energy straight down. A gust of wind-dispersed throughout the battlefield. A feint. So, Ayawamat wasn't the only one inspired by Ver. Not that I couldn't blame them. It was a good strategy.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The ground underfoot vibrated, as did the air. A mage who could attack from below and above at the same time was indeed dangerous.
Stepping back, I formed an arc with my left foot and point my sword forward.
My eyes opened as the ground shifted. Hmph, so he is trying to replicate what Aban tried with Lei after all. Well, his little brother showed me the way to break it!
The ivory coating of my sword shattered, revealing the glowing purple blade underneath. With a single swing, the earth maze shattered.
Kun gritted his teeth as winds surrounded him. He tried to keep the energy from slicing him.
I smirked and jumped forth. I stood behind him before he could even blink, having cut down his barrier. "You're strong, Kun, but you lack something."
Kun stuck out his tongue. My eyes widened as a gust of wind broke out of the ground beneath me, flinging me into the air. I grunted as my body became as heavy as stone. Darn it! I teleported away and appeared where I once stood and panted.
"You were saying, An?" Kun asked, tapping the twin hilts of his large sword against his shoulder.
How could someone who was almost as much of a twig as I wield that giant thing with ease? Actually, why was he so scrawny? I was at least in a comma for over half a year. Did he not like eating? No, he certainly did. Especially steak with honey. Oh, maybe that was why! The meat gave him some muscle despite his thin frame.
Kun turned away. "Seems that I'm so pretty that even guys check me out."
I glared at him. "I am not checking you because you're pretty! It's because of how malnourished you might be."
He laughed as he turned to look at me. "That's some weird taste."
"What does checking out have to do with taste?"
He blinked, mouth agape. "You really don't know what I mean?"
I shook my head and rushed at him. Had to use my psychic powers to move my heavy body as I'd done against Hal's paralyzing toxins.
Kun sighed and swung his sword, blowing me back to my original spot. "Your slang must be different."
"Slang?" I asked, digging my heels.
"You don't even know what that is? They phrases or words that mean something else."
"Oh. We call those metaphors."
Kun laughed. "Well, slang is a kind of metaphor. Come to think of it. Your vocab isn't bad for a guy who grew up in a country disliking books."
I scoffed as I swung my sword, pushing his wind back to him. "Books are good, but they aren't the only way to pass down knowledge. We are an oral people. Apart from the silent ones, everyone can tell stories. Even then, the silent ones can use signs and pictures to do so."
Kun dispersed the deflected wind. "Silent ones?"
"Yeah. Like Tammy."
"Ohh! So that's what your country calls them." He chuckled. "Sounds more appealing than what we use. Mute makes it sound as if someone pressed a button to silence them as if they were some kind of speaker."
"Aren't we all speakers?"
He laughed. "The electronic! Then again, mute does predate such use."
Why was he talking so nonchalantly with me? We weren't friends. I jumped into the air and shot giant arrows of psychic energy at him.
Kun smiled and held up his giant sword, using it as a shield. A stream of air pushed him off the ground and toward me.
I gritted my teeth and warped back to the floor. He smirked and slammed straight to the ground with his sword pointed down. Debris filled the battlefield as both the ring and the remains of his fortress were blown away.
Dust? This is bad!
Taking swung my sword around, fanning the dust away from around me. I gasped as something clung to my sword. Chains of dirt danced around them.
"You keep breaking the restraints put on your power, so I'll do your sister a favor," Kun said, grinning as the chains glowed deep yellow. "Sigillum!"
I fell to the ground as my power felt as if it were being pulled back into the sword. W-what was he doing?
My vision blurred. Ugh. It couldn't end like this! I had to learn what happened to Claire!
Stabbing the floor with my now ivory-encrusted sword, I pushed myself up. "I-I'm not going to go down!" I waved my sword, shattering the golden chains.
Kun sighed and shrugged. "Well, it was worth a try." He smirked and vanished. A palm hit my back, knocking the air out of my lungs. "I originally planned to fight you at your full power, but I made Sarah a promise, and I am a man of my word."
Promise? Did she ask him to make sure that I didn't push myself too far?
I gritted my teeth and pushed Kun back. "Sorry, Sarah," I whispered. "But I need to win this match!"
Blood splattered Kun's stoic face as he punched me in the abdomen, flinging me toward the edge of the ring.
**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the match ^^. Thoughts? Predictions?**