Marg was facing the redhead, namely Leilis.

The sun was about to be set, but even so, Leilis was basically steaming and panting heavily. I guess her vampire lineage was getting in her way. I still didn't know why she chose to fight regardless, but as things were she had no chance.

On the opposite side, Marg was as cool and composed as usual. She readied her saber and held it over her head. "This is the end, surrender or suffer."

I never thought I'd hear her say that of all people.

"I can't lose now."

I didn't know why but all these dialogs felt kind of cringe. Like, didn't these two know that they were basically being watched by roughly fifty or so people?

Or were they giving a show knowing that?

"HAH!" Leilis grabbed her saber and charged ahead. Shadows swirled beneath her feet.

Marg's eyes sharpened and she disappeared. But Leilis anticipated as much and turned around. The moment Marg reappeared, Leilis slammed her with the shadows, followed up by her saber.

But only seconds later Leilis' left shoulder was pierced straight through by Marg's saber. "You do realize, I'm not that dumb, right?" Marg had mysteriously reappeared right behind Leilis. Well, it wasn't so mysterious from my perspective though. Marg was just baiting Leilis from the start.

Marg removed her saber and Leilis fell on the floor.

It was her complete victory.

'Looks like I've got more competition.'

"Think you can win?" Eve whispered.

"I don't know, but I won't lose." Even if Marg could teleport, I had no reason to think I couldn't win in a one-on-one fight.

Eve burst out laughing again. "That's basically claiming you can win regardless."

Eve's laughter got us noticed by Marg and she walked straight for us. "Did you need something? It's rare for you to come to see me unless you needed something." She was speaking directly to me.

I guess she was right. I never talked or interacted with her, unless I needed something of her. Maybe I should have reconsidered my approach from now on.

I sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that but I need to go home. And I'd really appreciate if you could help. Again, sorry for relying too much on you."

Marg smiled. "Sure." It was rare for her to smile, like seriously rare.

But I was really glad. "Thanks."

She didn't say anything and just smiled.

"Well, I'm done for the day." Mike walked further and further.

I guess he was busy too.

And I really needed to thank the guy too.

"Can I come along?" Eve raised her hand like a kid.

The crowd kept on dispersing. Most of the battles were already over.

"Yeah, no." Have an over-eccentric redhead over for dinner? Yeah, I didn't think so.

"Boo, you're no fun." Eve pouted and left.

"What is wrong with her?" I wondered aloud.

"She was very sheltered. But she's now going through something I did in the past. Leave her be." Marg stood right next to me. "Anyway, when do you want to go?"

"I'll get back to the dorm and get changed. How about you go and get fresh? We'll have dinner at home and be back by ten?"

"Sounds good. Later, then." Marg teleported. This was fairly easy.

I felt bad about doing this to her, but I kind of needed a lot of answers and they couldn't wait.

So, I went to the dorm.

But I made sure to text mom, just in case.

***

I was back in my room and Merin was on the bed, browsing through his Holo. The guy had too much free time.

"Going back home. Probably be back before ten." I took off my shirt.

Lately, I might have gotten some muscles around my waist.

"Good job, you got four points. You're among the leads."

"Among? Who has the highest? And do you ever leave the room?"

I didn't know why but lately Merin was back to his old life again. The guy shifted between introvert and extrovert mode like people shifting gears in a traffic jam.

"Well, Nat and I kind of had a fight." And things just had to get awkward. "But yeah, you're ranked fourth. And all three above you have five points each. No one has six."

"I'm pretty sure, you did something, so go and apologize or something." I sighed. "So, I wasn't the only one who had a double match. But why two matches on the first day, when clearly there's an entire month remaining?"

"What do you mean a whole month? This thing only lasts a week."

"Huh? I thought 800 fights were a month-long thing."

"Actually, everything from the fights, qualifications, and even the finals abroad get taken care of in a month. I mean, they can't waste half of a year on something as trivial as the newcomer's tournament, right? Of course, after qualifying you'll get to fight people on an international scale, but still compared to the other two major tournaments, this isn't anything."

Well, it did make sense. But it also made me realize one fundamental flaw in my assumptions. "Wait, if the fights end within one week, doesn't that mean I'm kind of screwed?" Even if I could manage to master using the great sword within a week, there was still the problem of finding a core and actually making this saber decent enough, so I didn't accidentally blow it.

"Why?" Merin was puzzled. I didn't blame him, I was too.

"I've to get a core as fast as possible."

And there the only person I could trust with helping me: myself. I didn't care if I had to run to a volcano but I had to. The faster I could get the core, the faster the saber would be done, and the faster I'd be able to do stuff in the actual tournament. Otherwise, I'd just be stomped or not even allowed to participate because I didn't have an actual saber.

I went closer to Merin and shook him. "Do you have any idea where the volcano is?"

"Ca-calm down!" His head was swaying a bit, so I let go. "Yeah, but the temps are pretty high. You should take someone who could use ice there."

"Maybe I can ask Elsa."

"Not a bad idea but I wouldn't advise it. She'll be able to keep you cool but think about it. What happens when you pour cool water on super-hot surfaces?"

I thought hard. When I poured water over a stove, there was always steam. But I once saw some people dumping a water bottle in a molten steel furnace. I vividly remembered the outcome. "Steam explosion?"

"Bingo. But yeah, don't worry too much about it. Oh, and I was under the impression that you were in a hurry?"

"Oh yeah!"

I had to get fresh and get changed.

But now I had more things to worry about.

***

I was ready by seven. But there were no signs of Marg.

"Girls take time to change, relax."

Speaking of relaxation, the guy was way too calm about this.

I suppose Merin was right. Mom always took at least an hour to get ready, while Elsa took more.

And it had only been half an hour since I last saw Marg. So of course she'd take less time.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

It only made me worry more.

But importantly. "Do you know anyone who can manipulate temperature freely?"

Needless to say, I wasn't just excited, I was hyperactive.

"I don't really have many friends. But maybe you can find someone with ice powers or energy manipulation powers?"

Ice and Energy manipulation, huh? I did know some people in the family. But I kind of didn't want to associate myself with them. I also knew two guys in this academy, but they were also people who I couldn't ask of these things so randomly.

'Maybe it's better for me to just head over there on my own?'

I sighed.

"If you sigh so much, all of your happiness will erode away." Marg teleported directly inside.

"Funny, Elsa said the same." I waved at Merin and went closer to Marg.

Now that I took a good look at her, she actually dressed pretty nicely. And she even had makeup. Did girls always dress up this intensely?

Merin flashed a thumbs up at me as I and Marg teleported. For once, I didn't close my eyes again.

And I really regretted it, this time around too.

But it was almost as though the teleportation had slowed down a little. "This is what I see every time." Marg's voice had a tint of sorrow in it.

The world around me was dyed in purple. There were black things floating around: space stretched infinitely, with nothing but purple clusters of clouds and perhaps distant stars. None of the black things had eyes and they were desperately searching for light, although the lights were so far away that they could never reach.

"What is this place, and what are they?" My voice echoed.

"This is the ninth dimension. They are, my fate." Marg didn't look at me. "One day, I'll become-"

I grabbed her hand and put my other hand on her mouth. "Let's hope it never comes to that."

I didn't know why she'd become one or what this place even was, but I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want Marg to become one of these.

Marg's eyes wavered but she didn't show any other emotion.

I removed my hands and just stood there in silence. Strangely this was taking a lot longer than usual.

"One day you'll understand," Marg mumbled. I pretended to not hear. "We're here."

And we were back at my home: outside the door.

This was probably the first time I was bringing a girl to my home. The last time didn't count.

I tried giving a knock