Eve did not sense the passage of time with Savage Survival Mind active. Upon returning to the waiting room after finishing round number twelve, she sat mechanically. Finishing her food, her graceful yet robotic movements cleaned everything leftover from eating within moments.

Afterwards, Eve floated at the entrance to the exit ramp, the picture of a sleeping night hag. Her paper clothing had shifted colors to ebony onyx highlighting the pale hands of her sleeves, and the sparkling silver glimmer of her half-asleep hood masked eyes. The addition of Stat points into her Charm aspect had the unintended side effect of giving her presence beyond the mortal veil of normality. Were anyone else to be within the waiting room, they would find their eyes drawn to Eve’s floating form, even unmoving as it currently was.

A soft chime broke the silence, and Eve floated up the ramp to hover above the raised stone dais from which all fighters started each round in the Arena. Across from her a young woman lay artfully covered in soft mists that concealed much of her tantalizing form. Long blonde hair rippled in an invisible wind, while green eyes calmly assessed Eve.

“Lady Eve appears to be asleep, yet that only adds to her incredible growing legend!” the Arena announcer said with gusto.

“Our resident expert in the Element of Air, Zephyr, hopes to end the sudden winds of fortune the challenger has enjoyed!” the booming voice said to the rampant cheers of the crowd.

“Let the dance that paints the sand red with victory, commence!” were the final words the announcer threw out to both fighters.

Eve’s eyes flashed open as Savage Survival Mind surged into full control. The opponent, Zephyr, threw several rippling blades of wind, which were a fruitless attack. Pulling the wind into her inventory, Eve began to suction the air within the Arena. Normally the shield that surrounded the Arena served to protect the crowd, but now it served to allow her to turn her inventory into a bottomless vacuum pit. As the minutes progressed Zephyr’s attacks became weaker as there was less air to utilize. The lack of air did nothing to Eve herself, as her head had been wrapped in a paper bubble, with an attached paper air tank that was filled and pressurized from her inventory.

As the vacuum became larger, Eve shielded herself fully allowing her robe to enclose and form a sealed suite. Cold silver eyes looked out at the opponent who hadn’t yet realized the danger. With the power of Isa the heat generated by the solar radiation entering the Arena was kept to a minimum for Eve.

Zephyr on the other hand, could clearly be seen starting to sweat.

Victory imminent. Eve thought. Speed, up!

From her foot, Eve spread paper sheets under the sand so that they wouldn’t be able to be sensed through the air of the Arena. Savage Survival Mind was certain that an air based attacker would have some form of air based perception as well, and moved to avoid it. Everything was proceeding without issue, and victory seemed easily within reach.

Zephyr smirked at Eve, before flipping her sweaty bangs behind her head and holding a single hand palm up to the sky. “Open.” the Air using enemy commanded, and the world twisted as mana responded. A massive gate that appeared as the white eye of a titanic deity opened above Zephyr’s upturned palm.

Savage Survival Mind had a fraction of a second to realize it was a gate to the Plane of Air. A scream resounded as air rushed from the open gateway feeding into the vacuum Eve had created. Like a piece of straw in a hurricane, she was picked up and thrown against the Arena shields with bone shattering force. Eve coughed blood from her punctured lungs, before realizing the enemy’s attack wasn’t finished. Even as pressure returned to previous levels, the gateway didn’t close. Zephyr’s smirk had turned into a feral grin, even as her body started to ripple in an invisible breeze.

Atmospheric crush? Eve thought her mind racing.

Filling her inventory with an endless wind would only reach equilibrium at best. Worthless. A mental glance at her weapons was frustrating, as Air was non-physical. Nothing among her Curses could effectively counter the increasing pressure of the atmospheric air.

Pressure. Eve thought. Pressure?!

Eve’s power ripped Blood from it sheath before Savage Survival Mind gripped the sword with her left hand activating the Curse upon the sword. Utilizing the Curse as a carrier for her mana, Eve directly pressurized her body by feeding mana into her blood and forcing it to the surface. Eve’s silver eyes turned a demonic red, and her visible skin turned a deep ruby red. Ignoring the enemy’s shocked expression, she teleported to Zephyr’s side slashing with Blood in her left hand.

The attack was blocked by a manifested shield of solid Air, but Eve had expected it. Champion mana shields were nothing like those of the Ranked Teams, and easily stopped a single blow. Savage Survival Mind came up with a strategy instantly and Eve’s body moved to employ it.

“You have no hope, even if you can hold out against the pressure now, eventually you’ll be ground to nothing but meat paste.” Zephyr said, reinforcing her shield with more mana as the gate above her palm widened further.

Eve hacked once more at the shield, her sword expanding to cover the motion of her right hand as Shatter and Aging flickered forward. Timing it with inhuman speed, the shield broke a fraction of a second before Blood struck for the second time. Zephyr’s eye’s widened in shock, and she conjured a solid sword of Air to block Blood barely in time.

There was nothing to block the teardrop shaped hidden weapon, Aging.

Eve retrieved Shatter as she instantly teleported to the far side of the Arena. Clutching the sword, Blood, in her left hand again, she hunkered down as the air pressure continued to build. Mana fed directly into her body keeping her blood pressurized to resist the incoming external force of Air.

Second passed, and then Zephyr’s expression turned unstable. Her concentration broke causing the gate to destabilize and vanish. Savage Survival Mind looked on impassively as the once beautiful woman’s features aged with every passing second. From a young woman, to a middle aged wife, from a middle aged wife, to an elderly grandmother, from an elderly grandmother, to an ancient crone.

Zephyr only had time to raise a single accusing finger to point at Eve before her body aged into dust that collapsed under its own weight.

Eve rose up from where she had crouched, the action disguising Aging as it returned to the ring on her right hand. A flick cleaned the blood off her sword returning it to proper shape, and allowing Eve to sheath it on her back once more. The pressure of her blood dropped as she withdrew the mana fueling the Curse, eventually causing it to go dormant in her body. As her skin and eyes returned to their normal colors, Eve departed for the exit ramp leading to her room, the cheers of a maddened crowd following her every footstep.