"You're the three that I had the pleasure of sparring with in Ayuu. What a pleasure it is to meet you again."

Yuumi stopped in front of her and grinned. "You thought we were done? You and me, right now!"

The pink-haired girl sighed.

"I really don't have any interest in fighting you right now…"

"You calling me weak punk?!"

Aiyoma and I run over to Yuumi's side.

"So it was you, the girl from before."

She bowed once more in front of us. This time it was longer than the last.

"... I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused!"

Yuumi stared puzzled.

"Eh?"

"I never even wanted to fight you all. It was Natsumi that forced us too!"

Yuumi balled up her fist and wound it at the girl. "BULLSHIT!"

She threw a punch and the young girl shuttered, closing her eyes tightly.

A hand grabs the jab.

"The hell you doin' Aiyoma?"

Yuumi struggles to move in Aiyoma's grasp.

"She's telling the truth."

Yuumi looks over to the girl, her eyes still closed shut.

"Whatever."

Yuumi pulled her hand away from Aiyoma's and the girl's eyes opened.

"We didn't get to formally introduce ourselves the last we met. My name is Aiyoma, and this is Momoko and Yuumi."

"A pleasure. My name is Saoki Okama, but you can call me Sao!" She gleamed.

Yuumi rubs her head looking to the side. "Well if you didn't want to fight why the hell did you cut my face for!"

"Sorry about that… I have to make it look real or Suki gets mad at me."

"SAO!"

A male's voice is heard. We all turn to face two knights, the same auburn-haired female and green-haired male from Ayuu. Accompanied by them is a large muscular man in gold armor with his arms folded.

The green-haired male grinned as our eyes meet.

—Dam him.

"Well, I've gotta go!" Saori dashes and looks back waving.

"HEY WAIT!" Yuumi steps forward.

"The only opponent you're allowed to lose to is me. Don't forget that."

Saori chuckles putting her hands behind her back.

"I look forward to our next encounter!"

She blows a kiss and runs to her party. They all touch her and disappear as they did before.

Yuumi turns and waves her hand.

"Well, I have some stuff to do before tomorrow. I'll catch you guys later."

She walks down the hill leaving the two of us.

"Well, shall we make our way back home?" Aiyoma suggests.

The sky above is tinted a dark blue. The clouds above clear as a large ball of light start to depart from the horizon.

"Yep, let's getting going."

. . .

"Please move in an orderly fashion towards the main gates for preliminaries!"

I and Aiyoma walk up the slope towards the main castle gate. This time the gate was raised with several tents surrounding the large opening.

"Female Participants please move to the left and Male Participants move to the right!" A knight announced from a pedestal.

We walk towards the gate and Aiyoma stops in front of me.

"This is where I must leave you."

Aiyoma runs to embrace me, I hold her cold armor tightly.

"Do your best and make our family proud."

We let go of each other and she walks away, submerging into the large crowd of people coming forward.

I walk forward past the gates and a large mass of land is behold, with tints on the left and right side of the grounds.

Sticking to the left I wait in line as we enter the tent one by one.

Someone taps my shoulder and I look back.

"I thought that was you!"

I turn to see Yuumi smiling with her hands behind her head.

"Quite the turnout, huh?"

Yuumi looked frantically from right to left.

" I guess becoming a knight is a big deal around here."

We stop inside the tent are moved to small areas with closed curtains.

"Right this way." A female knight ushered, opening the curtain for me to enter.

I walk into the room and a lady wearing a nurse's outfit greets me. To her left a brown table with a large spherical device moves at a slow pace, while different circles move around it at a faster speed.

"Please place your hand above the Syncladon."

Without question, I follow her orders and place my hand above the instrument.

It glows brightly and starts burning information onto a card beneath it.

"What's it doing?"

The machine stops and the card has my name along with other information detailed in small white writing.

"This machine is used to give participants the ability to travel through a number of gates within the kingdom. You'd usually have to be blessed with a specific rite to enter, but this is a special occasion."

She picks up the card and glances at it.

"You pass the physical requirements… Age, 18, quite young but doable, … Acceptable weight… Oh, what's this?"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-not really… It's just that your information shows you aren't in any faction or come from a noble lineage."

What does that have to do with anything?!

"Will that prevent me from joining the competition?"

"Not particularly… But someone with no noble inheritance could have a problem with—"

The knight from before opens the curtain.

"Are you done here? The announcement is about to begin."

The nurse stands. "Y-yes. Good luck, Ms. Momoko."

. . .

The knight signals me outside the tent to join a group of people outside situated in a large crowd.

In the middle of crowd, I see Yuumi and walk over to her.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Dunno,"

She points to the front of the crowd where a large wooden stage is set. A group of individuals sit at the back. They all wore military outfits, armor, and robes.

"Is that Captain Stroyer?"

A man in front of me gestures towards a blonde middle-aged man sitting in a chair with his arms crossed.

"I heard he took out the Vex Empire along with General Calina by themselves!"

There's that name again…

A woman in pure-white glistening armor walked onto the stage. Her hair matched her piercing grey eyes.

She walked over to a podium centered in the middle and took a deep breath.

"For centuries, the Phoenia Empire has been known for their military strength. Hundreds of nations have tried to defeat us, and as a result, thousands have lost their lives trying to oppose us."

The crowd cheered and bellowed.

"To show our strength, we decided to hold a competition for the new generation to test their strength in hopes of joining our militant forces. The Rite of Passage is open for anyone whether Phoenian or otherworlder to join and compete. But in the end, only a hand-picked few will go on to join our ranks."

She raises her hand and a large bracket is shown.

"The Rite of Passage has three phases. The first being Preliminaries, the second being the Physical Altitude, and the third being the tournament. Anyone who passes the Preliminaries is able to enlist in the vanguard. However,"

The proctor gestures towards the sitting individuals.

"If you go on to compete in the tournament you'll have the opportunity to train and be mentored by one of our strong generals and captains. The winner also gains the rank of Ruby upon along other perks."

The crowd murmured in excitement.

"Training with a specialty rank?! My attributes would go through the roof!"

"Screw your status! The Ruby rank is the real prize, I'd have all the coin I'd ever want!"

The silver-haired knight raised her hand for silence.

"My name is General Calina, also known from my echelon 'Death Incarnate'. I will be your supervisor for this tournament."

She licks her lips.

"Please don't disappoint, as the Phoenia Empire doesn't show weakness."

. . .