“I got… to… land… three hits!” Embla panted as she knelt before her master. This kneel was not in reverence but in fatigue. The tournament was in less than forty-eight hours and she knew that bringing in her master was a good call. All she needed was a little pressure and days of frustration to push her forward.

“It seems that you’re out of your rut,” Samuel said, crossing his arms.

“Getting beat down over and over again makes you determined to rise up and fight back. Having a defeatist attitude gets you nowhere. That’s what you’ve always told me,” Embla replied, looking up at her teacher. A bead of sweat trailed down her forehead as her breathing began to settle.

“Have you figured out the answer to my question?” Samuel asked.

“No, I haven’t. I haven’t looked past what I wanted to do when I found her. I never really considered it. Finding my sister is my life’s goal. It just seems like anything that isn’t that is…” she trailed off and looked down at the grass.

“Well, you don’t have to think about it now. Just give it some thought. I’m sure something will come to you,” Samuel said. “Besides, you’re getting better at those new skills I taught you. You’ll have a few new surprises at the tournament. Just keep practicing them so you have less of a chance to mess up in the middle of a fight.”

“I’m more worried about Yuki than anything. I think I figured out why Kaguya hates her so much. I’m worried about how this’ll affect her,” Embla said.

Samuel sighed and sat next to her. He patted her head and chuckled a little. “Just remember. There’s only so much you can do in a situation. But it’s good that she has someone like you. Just remember that people have to deal with a situation themselves sometimes.”

Embla bit into a piece of bread as she sat in the chair. Cal drew back his bow and shot three arrows. Each arrow whizzed through the air at speeds she could barely track. All the arrows hit home, each one hitting a bull’s eye.

“You’re actually hitting them this time.” That was her only response to his perfect shooting. She knew that he would never miss. Cal’s track list with hitting targets was nearly perfect. It had a low hit-to-miss ratio.

“Hmph, judging from your tone, you got beat down again by your teacher?” Cal asked, lowering his bow.

“I hit him a few times this time. Besides, I got over my rut. I feel like I can fight a million people and win,” Embla said.

“Hmph, that’s a good outlook going in. I’m sure Yuki will tell us more about what we’re up against tonight. The tournament is in two days so now would be a good time as ever to plan out what we do if we run into certain people,” Cal said.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been dealing with Kaguya’s party longer than me. What do you know about them?” Embla asked.

“Hmm, other than the fact that they’re all assholes. I don’t really know how they fight that well. I know that Kier is a brute, relying on his physical strength and prowess in close combat to overwhelm his opponents. William is a Dragonkin who relies on his ice magic to overpower his opponents. And Adori, you remember her right? The Elf?” Cal said.

“The Elf?” Embla vaguely recalled the elf in their party. However, she clearly remembered the venomous stare that the elf gave them. “The one with the mean look?”

“She’s the most reasonable member of their party. She’s not inflated like William nor does she have a personal vendetta like Kaguya. It’s just her face. But the thing you need to watch out about her is the rumors of her swordsmanship being a match for that of some high-level knights.”

Embla paused for a second before asking the question that had been burning in the back of her head.

“What about Kaguya?” she asked.

Cal went silent at her question. He adopted a thoughtful expression that quickly furrowed as if he was trying to recall something.

“Kaguya… there’s just rumors and hearsay. Yuki and Red would know more about this but. Kaguya, she has-”

“Cal! Em! Come on! Yuki and Red are back. We need to talk about what we’re going to do.” Pandora stood at the door. She hada bag in her hand. The sweet, succulent smell of bread drew Embla’s attention as a drop of drool dripped from her mouth.

“Close your mouth. That’s disgusting,” Cal said, placing his hand under her jaw.

Embla moved her head, looking at him with a hint of disgust on her face. “Don’t just touch my face like that.”

“I was trying to close your mouth. You had a waterfall coming out of it,” Cal retorted.

The five sat in the living room, all of them quiet and waiting for someone to speak up. After a few more minutes of pure silence, Red coughed into his mouth.

“As you all know, in approximately forty eight hours, the Ataraxia Tournament will begin. It might be a fun competition for everyone else but for low ranked parties like us, this is a make or break situation to get our rank up so we don’t have to squabble for quests. The top five winning parties will get to rank up by one star,” Red said.

“Red, this is basic stuff that we can see on the event poster. Tell us about the real threat we need to worry about in this tournament,” Embla said.

“Real threat? Everyone we face against this tournament is a threat,” Red said.

“You know what I mean. The only person in this tourney who hates us with a passion. The one who has a personal vendetta against our party leader,” Embla replied.

“Kaguya. You want to know her combat skill?” Yuki spoke up.

The two turned to her.

“Well, yeah. We will have to face off against her in the tournament. I don’t want to jump in blind if I’m the one who has to fight her,” Cal said.

Yuki sighed and looked at them all with a serious expression. “Should you encounter Kaguya, make sure you fight with all your might. Anything less will make you lose all chances of winning.”

“So we have a chance?” Pandora asked.

“Kaguya is around as strong as me and Yuki… last time we checked that is.” Red rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s been three years. She’s probably grown a lot under Mom’s tutelage. Other than being here, Kaguya’s been making regular trips back to Alfheim. Unlike me, who spent her entire time hiding ever since she was sent here for political reasons,” Yuki said. “We don’t know how much the gap between me and her has widened.”

“I’ll pick it up from here. Kaguya Tsukuyomi is a Sage Apprentice. She’s slated to inherit the title of Eschamali from Mizore should she ever step down from her seat as one of the Twelve Sages. She’s trained in both close combat and magic ever since she was a young girl all with the intent of being Yuki’s handmaiden,” Red said.

“So fighting her will be like fighting a mini version of Sage Eschamali. Great,” Cal said.

“Not only that,” Yuki said. “There’s something I’ve been keeping from all of you about Kaguya. Kaguya… Kaguya has an Arts.”

Sigrun walked into a tavern. Her lilac eyes scanned the entire room before landing on a cloaked figure sitting at the far end of the tavern. In front of the figure was a large plate of food stuffs that were rapidly being ingested.

She shook her head as she made her way towards the figure.

She’s always been a glutton. But can’t you stop eating for like five seconds? I don’t want the higher ups to think that all our funds are going to your stomach, she thought as she pulled the chair out and sat down.

The cloaked figure stopped eating. The only part of their face that was seen was their mouth but the feminine features and softness of her face could be seen. It was until she smiled. The cloaked woman’s smile was terrifying to behold. It wasn’t due to her leaking any murderous intent. It was more that the woman had long canines that were visible and even her other teeth seemed to be more akin to fangs than anything else. She dropped the turkey leg she had been munching on onto her plate and leaned back.

“Sigrun, you’re finally here. And I was just about to have your share as well,” the cloaked figure said, letting out a hearty laugh.

“Cut the crap, Hati. You’re here too early.” Sigrun pushed the plate away in mild disgust.

“Early? The tournament starts in two days right? I even checked the poster and everything,” Hati said.

Sigrun did not let her guard down. The woman’s nonchalant attitude only served to put her more on edge than usual.

“We have to be more careful now about moving around,” Sigrun said, thanking the waitress for giving them mugs of water.

“Is this because Antares, Eschamali, and Al Tarf are all in the same town?” Hati asked, taking a bite out of the turkey leg.

“Precisely why. I wonder why you’re my boss from time to time,” Sigrun said. She immediately regretted those words not two seconds later when her face became pressed against the table by an immense, ungodly pressure. Her eyes managed to rotate to stare into a pair of glowing red orbs and a wicked toothy smile. A slight red aura crackled around Hati.

“Because I can crush you into a point so dense that I could chuck you through a mountain and you’d punch a hole all the way through,” Hati said, leaning in.

Sigrun almost gagged at the smell. It was a coppery smell coming from Hati’s mouth.

“I… get… it!” Sigrun wheezed.

The pressure relented, allowing Sigrun to sit up and breathe.

“Now, let’s begin shall we.” Hati giggled as she pulled a small vial filled with pulsating blue liquid from her pouch.