Mallory gestured outwardly with his hands.

“Welcome, to the Period of Power, people. Hosted by the current King of the land of Resden, King Richard Arthurian Harris! Here he comes."

There was a small bit of clapping as Mallory stepped aside for King Harris to take his place up front. He cleared his throat.

“Hello, everybody,” he said. Jon was surprised. Even though Harris seemed to cower when he was near Luther, he could project when he wanted to.

“I’m glad that all of the greater families to the realm could gather here under one roof. Has long has it been since we’ve been able to do so?”

“Not long enough,” a heckler called from the tables.

There was a roar of laughter.

Harris sighed.

Luther walked up to Harris’s side.

“Next person that says anything like that I’m stuffing him in the face! Try to start a war over that!” he yelled.

No one else spoke up and the laughter subsided.

“Like I was saying,” Harris continued, “In honor of this event, I would like to introduce a visitor from the United Federation of Clans, The honorary Shisio Ninja Junwata of the Highlander clan!

There wasn’t much clapping happening while Junwata took his place at the center of the room.

“Good evening to all,” Junwata said to the room. Despite his low voice, Jon saw that Junwata did an amazing job at projecting across the room. It was quite uncanny.

“My name is Junwata. I’ve spoken to many of you during the ball. I am honored to take part in this event. I hope that my niece represents my clan well in this coming trial, and no matter the results, that we can promote a strong and healthy relationship in our future endeavors."

There was a bit more clapping than before the speech. Jon even remembered to clap this time even though he did so slowly. Junwata bowed, then went back to his seat again.

Harris nodded towards Mallory, who went back up.

“As everybody already knows, this Period of Power is here for the royal families of the realm to contest the marriage of one Hector Sufirio Quartershire Luo-”

“Oh God," Hector covered his face in embarrassment, "he used the whole thing.”

“-And a Mercy Ninja Shark-killer Highlander of the Highlander clan!”

Again, not much clapping.

“Alright. Now for the rules!” Mallory continued like normal. “Any of the families can submit one contestant of their choosing to fight either the bride or the groom in a one on one match for the chance to replace the other for their hand in marriage.”

He grimaced. “If you may wish to do so. The tournament ends when a contestant submitted for the competition wins, or… the families fail to provide a contestant, in which case we can all go home and come back for the wedding in a few weeks. Each of the families can only have one contestant come forward, and also, the family can send in one of the higher landowning families from their kingdom who has status agreed upon by the other families. Now for the actual battles.”

Mallory pointed to the stage behind him. “Battles happen until someone is knocked outside of the ring, or beaten to a point that is considered improbable to continue fighting. Helping me decide that will be both Junwata-san and Lord Luther, correct?”

Mallory took a glance towards each of the men. They gave their own nod in response.

“If you get outside the ring once, you lose immediately,” Mallory continued. “And also, you have to fight only with whatever weapons you bring in with you. No bringing weapons into the circle that wasn't already in there with you. Last but not least, the bride or groom can offer up a contestant to fight in their place if they wish to. If one of them offers a volunteer, then the other partner will be forced to use a volunteer as well. Of course, volunteers can only be used after they’ve fought their first battle, and only once.”

He shrugged. “Other than that, there’s nothing else for me to say… The Period of Power starts now.”

Jon’s heart sank into his chest. He began to wish that Mallory started talking again.

“Alright. We’ll start with the bride, as is customary. Does anyone wish to send someone forward?”

At the blue table, an older-looking man stood up.

“I would like to offer my daughter forward as a contestant for the Period of Power.”

Lysenthia stood with enthusiasm as soon as he finished speaking.

Her table clapped for her as she walked forward towards the large ring and made her declaration."

“I, Lysenthia Harp Clemens, put forth my challenge for the hand of the groom in marriage."

“Oh god…” Hector sunk in his chair even lower. “Please win this one."

“More than the others?” Mercy whispered back. She didn’t wait for an answer from Hector, instead, standing up to answer back.

She reached behind her hip and pulled. The large stiff skirt to her dress unattached itself, revealing thick black pants that she had been wearing underneath. She dropped the skirt to the floor as she made her way to the ring. Jon saw that she was already wearing her black tool and her Vindazi sword under the dress. He also appreciated her new outfit, which was similar to her old outfit to a point where he couldn’t tell the difference. It was still cool.

“I accept your challenge,” Mercy said to Lysenthia.

Both of the women stepped into the ring. Jon’s heart had beaten so fast he could almost feel himself getting light in his chair. This time, something pained him to have to sit and watch while Mercy prepared herself to fight.

On Lysenthia’s hips, Jon could see that she was wearing coiled-up brown whips on each side of her hips. She took off one in her right-hand un unwrapped it. Jon could now see that the whips also had weird metal guards right where the handle was.

Mercy had reached to her hip and equipped her black tool.

Mallory had made his way to the side of the circle. He raised his right hand.

“3… 2… 1… Start!”

Lysenthia started with a wide swing, Her whip took time to travel, but it covered nearly the entire length of the arena as it did.

Mercy had ejected her white blade of energy from the tool, running straight towards Lysenthia, but as speedy as it was, Lysenthia’s whip was still moving faster than what Mercy could cover.

Mercy eventually slid as the whip passed over her head, but Lysenthia had already brought out her second whip with her left hand.

This time, Lysenthia thrusted forward, and her whip extended in front of her like a lance.

Mercy quickly rolled to the side with the most space before the whip struck her. She spun upwards into a run and quickly evaded the snaps of the incoming whips.

Jon could see that the whips covered most of the space around the circle. They looked way too long to be controlled, and let, Lysenthia moved with a smooth grace that defied the size of her weapons. Mercy worked hard to leap around all the flying ship movements, eventually having to leap out and over the next few attacks.

“She’s gonna tire herself out,” Hector muttered. Jon looked at Hector. He couldn’t tell if Hector was talking to himself or to Jon.

“Calm down…” Tallow said. “She’s using the minimum amount of mana. Why do you think she’s not using her sword yet?”

“She’s…” Hector trailed off into silence. Jon also noticed it too. Mercy hadn’t swung her weapon at any of the whips. Jon just assumed that it would work against anything that was happening.

Mercy soon launched herself into the air with her mana at an angle. She shot up then back down to the floor.

Twice. Mercy had landed in an area further from whips. Even though she was safe, it made Jon nervous to watch her move so quickly in such a small radius. If she stepped outside of the ring, the match would be over.

Lysenthia finally crossed her arms over each other and then pulling them apart. The whips extended out in a cross formation.

Mercy managed to lean to the side, but Lysenthia made a quick shimmy with her hand.

The whip moved lower while wiggling side to side, quickly reaching for Mercy’s ankle and wrapping itself around.

Mercy’s foot was pulled from underneath her, dropping her to the floor. The whip then began to drag her towards the end of the circle.

“No!” Hector stood up.

Mercy stabbed the ground with her Vindazi sword, grabbing on with both hands. Her black tool had already retracted its light blade.

Lysenthia raised her right hand and the other whip flew up into the air.

Mercy suddenly let go, the whip bringing her across the circle back to where she would’ve left before.

Before she left the circle, Mercy kicked herself off the ground with her mana. She dashed through the air three times as the whip stayed tied to her ankle, once to get herself back to the middle of the circle, and another one to go higher up into the air, matching in height where the second whip was floating above her.

She used the third one to dive straight down, landing directly in the center of the arena with her black tool equipped again.

Jon realized that Lysenthia’s second whip was still raised in the air too much to do anything, and she wasn’t prepared for any of Mercy’s intense movements with her first whip.

Mercy immediately jumped into a spin towards Lysenthia, who tried to react by pulling on the whip still wrapped on Mercy’s leg.

Mercy powered up her tool as she did, landing and making one more spin before swinging her sword.

The light blade extended immediately, swing across the entire side of the field and swiping Lysenthia across the chest.

Lysenthia made a cry while knocked into the air, flipping multiple times over her side as she exited the circle.

The patrons at her table were already standing up as her body was still airborne.

“Lysenthia!” There were multiple cries from the table just before she landed on her back.

Aside from a slight moan, Lysenthia seemed to be unconscious. Her entire right side was covered in white powder, and there was a large cut across the chest of her ruined dress, but otherwise, she seemed fine. Jon wondered if the white powder was from her leaving the circle.

“Alright.” Mallory clapped twice. “Battle's over! Mercy wins! Nurses!”

As Mallory called, a line of nurses marched out from the side door with a stretcher. They made their way to Lysenthia’s side as Mallory walked up to check on her.

“...She’s fine,” Mallory said. “Some sleep and a nice bed and uh… some other stuff.”

He stood up as the nurses carefully began to move her body. He ignored her troubled brother and father who came over to follow Lysenthia out of the room.

Mercy flourished her weapon and put it back on her hip before walking up and pulling her Vindhazi sword out of the ground.

She made her way back to her seat, picking up the skirt on the way and tossing it back around her waist, where it returned to its own form around her legs.

“So, who’s next?” Mallory asked. “Being as the bride has just won her fight, it’s time for someone to step up if they decided to fight the groom. Anyone?”

There wasn’t an immediate answer,

“That was reckless,” Hector whispered to Mercy as she got nearer.

Mercy stroked Jon’s cheek as she passed by him to her chair.

“It wasn’t reckless,” Mercy responded, also whispering. “That was a small space. I couldn’t take her out without storing energy for a large attack. She’s pretty quick, you know? Even with the time it takes for a whip to move around.”

“You should take them out hard and faster,” Hector responded.

“I did what I thought was right!” Mercy’s whispered had become venomous.

Uh-oh. Jon needed to break this up.

“She won,” Jon said.

“But there’s more battles,” Hector began. “She-”

“She won, he’s right,” Tallow finally said. “They all watched her fight Macy. They have a guess of what her fighting style is. However, we don’t know all of them. Like why didn’t you tell us about this girl?”

“I… I didn’t know she could fight like that,” Hector, looking down in shame.

“Oh.” That was all Tallow needed to say. Hector looked incredibly embarrassed in himself. Jon didn’t know how to cheer him up.

“Nobody? Anybody? Okay, times up.” Mallory shrugged. “Alright. It’s time for the bride. Is anyone going to-”

“The Audeclair family would like to send in a candidate.” An older man from a table of black-clad clothes stood up. Even from where Jon was at, he could tell that their black was different than the one Mercy wore. Their styles fit more of the likeness of the other families, with their thick fabrics that were slightly baggier than anything Jon had seen Mercy wearing.

Jon expected the next challenger to stand up to be wearing black clothes as well, but instead, a woman with short hair and a sharp grey coat with light colors stood up.

“I, Jacquline Cynthia Rosenthallm, put forth my challenge for the hand of the groom.”

“She doesn’t look like she wants to get married,” Tallow said out loud as Jacquline started approaching.

“She’s not a joke,” Hector said. “I didn’t know she’d be here.”

As she got nearer, Jon began to spot out more features. She wore a black shirt underneath the large coat, with made her look more in line with the table she sat at. On her side was a smaller sheathed sword that resembled more of a rectangle than anything Jon had seen. The hilt was even smaller than what he was used to, even compared to Mercy’s black tool.

Jon watched Mallory turn around and look at him with eyebrows furrowed in concern.

She must be strong, Jon thought. Both Hector and Mallory were worried.

“I’ll be fine,” Mercy said. “That first fight was a cakewalk. I-”

“Save your breath, hun,” Tallow said, putting her hand in front of Mercy to stop her from leaving her chair. “This one isn’t giving me such good vibes.”

“Then I should definitely take her on now,” Mercy replied.

“...You’re gonna have to save your energy for the big guns, whenever they show,” Tallow said. “I’m pretty sure some of these folks are waiting for you to eventually run out of stamina so that you have to fight the heavy hitters then.”

“So, what do I do ‘til then?” Mercy asked.

“We give ‘em a show.” Tallow cracked her fingers. “This one is a fighter. Even if you can win, I know she’ll drain you. That’s why I think I should go in. It’s up to you, though.”

“Do you accept her challenge?” Mallory asked looking back at the group, his wavering eyebrow begging for their answer.

Jon debated whether he should say anything. He wanted them to choose, but he also knew that he wasn’t the expert in fighting.

“She does missions,” Hector said, “so she’ll have more experience than most people here. I’m gonna be worried either way.”

“It’s your word honey,” Tallow told Mercy again.

“...I trust you,” Mercy said. “Do you want the sword?”

“Nah.” Tallow waved the thought away. “I don’t wanna be tempted.”

“What?” Hector’s bemused expression didn’t stop Tallow from walking up ahead.

“I, Tallow of the Sands, accept your challenge as a substitute for the bride,” Tallow said.

She and Jacquline were both standing outside of the ring on either side.

Before they could step in, there was another heckler from the crowd.

“Who let the spy into the castle?”

There was a sudden gust of wind blowing by Jon’s face. Tallow immediately ran up to the position of the heckler, one of the people wearing yellow near Cecilia’s family.

She grabbed the man and slammed his head into the table, drawing her sword and aiming it down at his head.

Every guard but Avery lowered their pikes and pointed it in Tallow’s direction.

People around the table had stood up in shock and fear. Cecilia had kept her place at the end of the table, looking on with intrigue.

“Let’s try that again,” Tallow yelled. “Try being nice to the foreigner with the dangerous weapons in her hand, alright?”

“Let go of him!” Luther yelled.

“Then tell ‘em no heckling!” Tallow yelled.

“...Shut up when the fight’s getting started!” Luther called. Surprisingly to Jon, Luther didn’t sound like his usual angry self. He seemed more concerned than anything.

Tallow used her claw hand and pulled him back so hard he flew out of his seat straight onto the ground on the back of his head. She then walked back to the ring.

Mallory was mouthing some expletives as Tallow had passed by him. Jon couldn’t tell which ones, but by now he knew Mallory’s face to know when something obscene was coming from his mouth.

“Sorry about that love,” Tallow said as she stepped inside the clowning circle. “They don’t have to respect me, they just have to pretend to do so in my presence.”

Jacquline nodded, not seeming to care so much.

“That’s a wakizashi,” Hector said, drawing Jon’s attention. “I couldn’t remember the name.

“That’s what the samurai use in my land,” Mercy said as they watched Tallow draw her crescent sword. “But, she doesn’t have a katana at all.”

“That’s cause she doesn’t need one,” Hector commented. Jon noticed that, unlike the last battle, Hector seemed focused on this fight, to the point where he was hunched over instead of leaning back into his chair.

“It might even be a special weapon,” Hector growled. “The Audiclaire family sends Jacquline on missions so much they don’t even require the help of the King’s Guard very often. Makes other negotiations quite hard as well.”

“Is she supposed to be doing missions?” Mercy asked Hector.

“Nobody does what they’re supposed to do…” Hector trailed off before changing the subject. “She should have brought her sword."

Tallow began stretching her legs as Jacquline observed her.

“I don’t think you wanna get married,” Tallow said to her loudly. “Why are you here?”

“Because those are my orders,” Jacquline said. “I hope we have a good fight.”

“Ehh…” Tallow turned to Luther and Harris.

“Next time, you two get married!” Tallow yelled, pointing to the both of them. “So that nobody even dares to think about challenging for your hand in marriage! And save us some time!”

This received quite a few chuckles from the table. Even Macy laughed out loud next to her father.

“I’ll let those guards skewer you next time!” Luther yelled back.

“Are you ready?” Mallory asked. “3…”

“I’m sure you’re a lovely doll,” Tallow said. “No hard feelings.”

“No hard feelings,” Jacquline replied.

“1… start!” Mallory brought his hand down.