An ear-shattering roar overcomes the stadium as the audience applauds Will’s victory. Not only the people supporting Dragon’s Descent but those supporting the other guilds as well, all united in their adoration of the magnificent fight they had witnessed. I unconsciously joined in, getting swept up in the hype. I clap my hands and cheer, before realizing that the man we’re singing the praises of is unconscious, looking up at the sky as his body gets swarmed by healing mages and is placed into a stretcher.

“Yes, Will won! He owes me 500 gold now!” Remi cheers to the side, fist pumping the air out of excitement.

“He owes you what now?” Azura asks, confused by the statement.

“I bet against him that he would win the fight, and he did so now he owes me money. Feels good.”

“Will betted against himself?” I inquire, leaning forward so I can see them.

“Yup. Someone has to believe in him.”

“And you are this happy seeing the condition he’s in right now?” Azura points out.

“Well I mean so I-...”

She trails off, realizing how bad it looks.

“Ok now I don’t feel so good. I should go check up on him. Hopefully they’ll put him next to Ryder.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll nurse him back to health. With my immense wealth I can rebuild him if need be.” Nazuko states, still inundated with jewelry, actually even more so given that she’s put two golden crowns on her head.

Now I’m getting worried, I stand up as the healing mages begin to make their way out the arena with both Snicker whatever the hell his name is and Will as the mages over them emit green beams of light from their palms, providing emergency medical care.

“Will, you good!?” I shout.

Will’s stretcher stops. His right arm slowly raises into the sky, and gives a thumbs-up but his hand immediately begins to waver so he quickly puts it back down. The action makes the audience cheer once more.

“Guess he’s good.” I comment, satisfied with the response.

I sit back down but Will’s party then rises.

“Of course I have to head to the infirmary twice in one day.” Azura reflects, sounding upset but not too surprised.

“Perhaps Will doesn’t have to pay me back right away. Could hold that off for awhile” Remi remarks to herself, joining Azura.

“Maybe make him not pay you back at all?” Lilith suggests. “I find the whole thing distasteful.”

“Not get money? I keep forgetting you’re hilarious Lilith.”

“Hey Nerva you fight next right?” Nazuko asks as the other girls head on without her.

“Hell yeah.”

“I’ll be back to cheer you on, you got this Nerva.”

“Obviously.” Nerva concurs with a smirk.

With that Nazuko zips away, leaving my party alone once again. I’m glad Nerva seems to be back to normal, I was a bit worried about her after that whole confrontation with the nobles went sour. The only thing I’ve noticed is that she’s sitting two seats away from everyone, by herself. Wait, that isn’t normal is it?

“Um Nerva, w-why are you over there?” Adam asks, leaning forward so he can see past me.

“Cause I want to!” Nerva shouts back, her head refusing to turn to us.

Jack begins to laugh behind us, amused by the scene.

“Ah son, a lady needs her personal space.” he tells Adam.

“Concurred” Akane adds, despite holding Sophie in her arms, squeezing her so hard Warren has to pry the poor girl loose.

“I-I just can’t tell what she’s thinking sometimes. Or most times. Actually all the time” Adam concludes.

“Maybe ask how she feels.”

“I don’t think Nerva’s the type of person to talk about her feelings.”

“Can’t hurt to try.”

I lean forward and holler “Nerva how are you feeling?!”

“I'm pissed off!”

“Well there you go.”

So Nerva’s angry about the nobles afterall, which isn’t surprising in the slightest. I don’t understand the full story however, what exactly happened to Nerva? It’s not hard to guess but I want details.

“Nerva what exactly happened between you and your family?” I prod.

“Shit happened, that’s all there is to it. I was being myself, they didn’t like it so they kicked me out, simple as that. Ain’t nothing to talk about.”

“But Nerva I think there’s more you want to say.” Adam interjects, trying to get Nerva to open up more.

“Nope! Nothing else! No point. Shit’s behind me.”

“I wouldn’t pry.” Warren warns, holding Sophie so that the girl could breathe. “Sore subject.”

“I’ve noticed.” I reply, realizing the futility of it.

“Sounds like I missed something.” Jack states, being intrigued by our conversation while Armstrong mumbles to himself about how we’re already down two people for the tournament.

“Had a run in with the nobility.” I reveal. “Almost got into a fight with them outside because of Adam.”

“I-I didn’t mean to. I only said what was on my mind.”

Jack guffaws after I tell him everything that happened.

“They’re finally here huh? I was wondering when the First Estate would show up.”

As if on cue, a familiar bugle sound is heard reverberating throughout the arena.

“Ooh looks like our esteemed guests have arrived.” Marcus announces.

“Ah yes, the most elegant and pristine members of the empire!” Luther adds. “And they look as beautiful as ever; the First Estate!”

More bugles join in as I see a wave of white join the audience, coming in from multiple entrances so that everyone could see them, like this was a performance. They walk past us slowly, deliberately as armed guards protect them from all sides. They’re acting as if this is some great honor and want to give us the chance to look at them for as long as possible, like they were some forbidden fruit. They head up the stairs, heading past each row. Seeing them up close I can make out more details besides the almost blindingly white clothing. The clothes they wear are truly regal, looking like something you’d see at the Court of St. James yet there is variation among them. Some have clothing that is reminiscent of the Victorian era, others from the middle ages. The only thing that is uniform among them is the color of white reminiscent of clean snow. The nobility from each respective state has their own clothing just like the guilds so at least it’s easy to tell them apart. The audience has their mouths agape as they walk past, clearly impressed by their appearance. I’m indifferent, having already gotten a bad impression of them. I turn around, trying to see where exactly they’re all heading. Then I see it, the upper echelons of the stadium. There are two rows in the back that have been empty this whole time and see that their seats are a lot nicer than the ones we’re in. They look like they’re made of red velvet, which makes me a bit envious. Among the nobles walking past us is Ice Cube, who gives me a wave. Seeing her up close I notice that her dress is decorated with beautiful blue snowflakes, each one containing a bright clear jewel. Her dad is also there, who briskly walks past our row, refusing to look at Nerva, keeping his head looking forward. Nerva returns the gesture, refusing to look anywhere but ahead. The tension is so thick you could attempt to cut it with a knife and fail.

The nobility takes their seats, sitting on the outer edges of the arena where they promptly take out what appears to be opera-like glasses so that they could see the fights below clearly. I don’t like how this is set up, they’re literally above us.

“First Estate huh? Didn’t think the title was still used to describe nobles. That’s how they were described back in the old empire.” I observe.

“A lot was carried over from the time before the collapse. Don’t know why nobility was one of them” Warren says with a hint of scorn.

“I always like to think it’s so we can look civilized to the other races. When foreign diplomats come here, it’s the nobility that gives them their impression of humanity.” Jack guesses.

“Heh, doesn’t work. They know what we’re really like. Nobles like to pretend they’re above us but they’re still human” Armstrong chuckles.

“Tch. I’m not in the mood to see these assholes right now. Let me know when I get called out. I gotta go stretch or some shit anyway.” Nerva tells us.

She gets up, and as she begins to head down the stairs I notice the nobles behind us begin to murmur and chuckle. I center my aura in my ears so I can hear what they’re saying.

“That’s the Remelli girl? How distasteful. She looks like a dog.” one says.

“Oh I’m not surprised at all honey. She belongs in a place like this” another remarks.

“Completely inappropriate. Her father made the right move, if only he did it sooner.”

These people are really getting on my nerves.

“How much time before the next fight?” I ask.

“Hmmm, probably 10 more minutes, enough time for them to make the repairs to the arena and let people go to the bathroom.” Armstrong answers. “I’m surprised by how this is all going. I expected to get more out of the first hero.”

“We’re not doing bad. We got one tie and one point.” Jack summarizes.

“True but this is a battle of attrition. I really wish they announced the tournament would be different this year. Would’ve given me more time to prepare.”

Jack and Armstrong begin to talk in depth about tournament strategy which I don’t really have any interest in so I turn to my party.

“Warren you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to Nerva do you? Looks like it’s not only her family but all the nobles seem to dislike her.”

“Everyone knows what happened to her.” he deadpans. “Not specifics but her getting expelled was big news. I remember reading it in the papers.”

“Nobles are a close knit group. If something scandalous occurs, it spreads like wildfire.” Akane chimes in. “Their unity transcends state lines. They have more in common with each other than they do with the people of their own states. Like how all comic fans are connected. Because of this if one becomes an enemy of a noble family, they become the enemy of all nobility.”

“I-I actually remember the day Nerva got expelled from her family. It was the day we first met.” Adam discloses. “It was the day I was forced to sign up at Dragon’s Descent. I was at the front door, too afraid to go inside when I noticed a bird with a broken wing. I began to heal it when I saw Nerva for the first time. She had just gotten expelled and the first thing she did was head to the guild.”

“I remember Nerva mentioning this back in Ayana. What happened?” I inquire, curious to know what happened.

“She looked at me and said ‘get out the way dumbass’ and headed inside.”

“And once she was inside she met me.” Warren elaborates. “She immediately asked who the toughest person in the place was and Jo-an old friend claimed to be the one so they got into a fistfight. I had to break it up.”

Warren looks ahead, his body wincing for almost saying something he didn’t want to. I would ask whose name he was about to say but it clearly brings him pain to bring it up. Must be one of his friends. I feel bad I don’t know their names but Warren never told me about them and I think at this point it’s too late to ask. The only one I know is Andrew. Like Nerva, Warren doesn’t like talking about the past. I’d have to ask Adam at some point.

“I think I see why Nerva’s allowed to stay at Dragon’s Descent now.” I conclude.

“Yeah, she doesn’t exactly have anywhere else to go. We tried to get her an apartment but no one wants to be known as the person that shelters a former noble. If word spread then the nobles would retaliate in some regard.” Warren explains.

“Like how?”

“Cut funding. Use their influence to spread malicious rumors about the place. Anything to run them out of business.”

“Geez.”

“Yup.”

“No wonder Nerva didn’t get along with them. They sound stuck up and malicious. I thought them being pretentious jerks who make you pronounce their entire name was the worst of it.”

“They live in a different world. Follow their own rules.”

“Hmm I’m inclined to kill them now” Akane announces.

“Don’t.”

I’m starting to feel more sympathy for Nerva. Heck I’m getting angry hearing about all this after the fact, so her feelings must be mine times a hundred. I wish I could do something about it, I really do.

Armstrong taps me on the shoulder, telling me “Look like the arena is back in working order. Can you go get Nerva? Her fight’s about to start soon.”

I nod and get up, saying to everyone “I’ll be right back, no one touch my books.” only to see that Sophie had grabbed one and was looking inside it.

“Quincy it is too late. The child has chosen. It is hers now.” Akane reports.

“Ok fine she’s the exception.” I concede, walking down the stairs to exit the stadium.

Outside the stadium I realize I have no idea where Nerva is. Well shoot. I scan the area, trying to see if I can find any Nerva signs; things like fire, cussing, screaming, and more fire. I eventually sight one, the scene of fire being launched into the air. I head to it, walking past the populace to find Nerva is in an alleyway between two large stone buildings. Her right arm is pointed upward, shooting fireballs into the air. As soon as one dissipates, she fires another one, her head cocked upwards. The alleyway is disgusting, the walls being covered in graffiti while beer bottles and trash litter throughout.

“Hey Nerva.” I called out.

She keeps shooting fireballs when she answers “Hey Quincy. Is it time to wreck shit?”

“Uh huh.”

I lean against the wall, and question “Are you sure you’re good?”

She stops shooting fireballs, whirls around revealing a wide smile.

“I’ve never been better. I’m excited.” she affirms. “I’m ready to kick some ass.”

“Cool. Think you can handle being in the same stadium as the nobility? Because you know that if you start attacking them, we’re all joining in. We’re bad bitches aren’t we? We follow street gang logic. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us”

“I’ll be fine. I want those assholes to watch me. Can’t do that if they’re dead.”

She heads towards me, her hands igniting and quenching flames as a form of warm up exercise.

“Let’s do this shit.” she says, her smile wider than ever.

We head back to the stadium, where we promptly take our seats, Nerva still sitting away from us. I still don’t know why she’s doing that. It’s somehow Adam’s fault, I don’t know how but it must be.

“Who’s ready for the next match?” Marcus asks the audience, knowing it’s a rhetorical question.

The audience erupts in excitement.

“Let’s get our fighters out here then! Dragon’s Descent, Basilisk's Gaze, send out your representatives!”

The audience roars some more in anticipation. With a grin Armstrong gets up and announces with a hearty laugh“We choose the the fiery, the angry, the violent, the best fire mage in Dreden, Nerva!” as if he was some sort of sports announcer. Dragon’s Descent bursts in excitement, chanting her name. I shrug and join in with Akane doing it deadpanly while Adam and Warren refrain. Nerva laughs, and shoots a fireball at the ground, propelling her through the air in an arc. She flips through the air, landing in the arena on her feet.

“Let’s rock bitches!” she exclaims, shooting a fireball from each hand into the air out of excitement.

“Oooh, flashy.” Marcus notices. “I like her.”

“As do I, she is a good friend. Such an invigorating spirit.” Luther concurs.

“I hope she puts up a good fight. Up next…”

Marcus stops, looking like he’s being interrupted by something.

“Woah who’s that cheering? They’re so loud.” I hear someone say.

I look back, seeing that everyone is looking at Ice Cube.

“....” Ice Cube yells.

“Ow my ears” Adam complains.

“That noble must be really excited.” someone else mentions.

“....” the cheering continues.

“Don’t we have some loud supporters in the audience today, but ma’am please stop.” Marcus requests.

“.....”

“Wow you got some pipes on you.”

“Sis shut the fuck up!” Nerva yells from below which finally gets Ice Cube to quiet down.

“Thank you. Now Basilisk's Gaze, send out your representative!” Marcus demands.

The party of businessmen rises to their feet, where a man that looks like he belongs in the office of a black company adjusts his tie and cleans his glasses, acting like this is a routine thing not to put too much effort in.

“Basilisk's Gaze chooses our intern, Franklin De Rochelle.”

“Go get them Frankie!” A man wearing a white collared shirt with a black tie shouts, patting a young man on the back.

The young one looks familiar when I remember I’ve seen him before. I saw him way back, when the other guilds first arrived in Dragon’s Descent. He was with his boss or something and his boss almost killed himself for spending too much money. The bright blonde hair and golden eyes stick out. He nervously drops down into the arena below, almost losing his footing in the process. He finds his bearing, adjusting his tie as he looks at Nerva.

“Did I miss anything?” I hear Nazuko say, joining my party in a beam of light.

“Nah it’s just starting” I tell her as the rest of Will’s party rejoins us. “How’s Will doing?”

“He’ll be fine, he’s surprisingly conscious right now” Azura reveals.

“Well that’s good. Too bad he can’t be here right now.”

“Doctors said he’ll be up and about in a few days, same with Ryder. Their healing techniques are very impressive, better than anything I can come up with currently. Disappointed I can’t try new medicines on them. They won’t allow me.”

“Wow you can’t poison them, such as shame, '' Remi sarcastically comments.

“I’ll have you know poisons don’t taste bad, in fact most are tasteless.”

“I believe you.” Lilith acknowledges. “Please don’t demonstrate.”

“Let’s get this party started!” Marcus exclaims, hitting the gong with his sledgehammer.

“I’m sorry for what I'm about to do. I need to beat you up for the good of my career” Frankie relays to Nerva. “If I want to move up from being an intern to a full employee I will-”

A fireball collides with his chest, sending him against the wall, making him cough from the sudden attack. His bright yellow aura has activated which prevented him from being taken out immediately. He stumbles forward, trying to recover from the sudden attack.

“You were saying something?!” Nerva inquires.

“An attack right from the get go!” Marcus notes. “What a great beginning!”

“Indeed!” Luther adds. “My friend below appears to want to end this quickly. But will this be the case? Or does the intern have more up his sleeves?”

“Ooo I hope he literally has things up his sleeves.”

“Frankie!” A man from his party yelps.

He has short black hair with streaks of gray. It’s the idiot that tried to kill himself.

“Don’t underestimate her! She got kicked out of her family for a reason! She’s ruthless! Get to work!” he instructs.

“Yes boss!” Frankie responds, giving a salute so quickly he hits himself in the eye.

“Ow!” he wails.

Another fireball heads his way but this time he dodges it. As soon as he lands, another comes toward him. Fireball after fireball is sent, in such quick succession that the fireballs blend together into a stream of fire.

“Hot hot hot hot hot!” Frankie yelps, running to and fro so that he can stay ahead of the attacks.

“I didn’t know guilds had interns” I comment to no one in particular.

“Only Basilisk's Gaze does.” Armstrong informs me. “They get so many applicants that they determine who to hire by making them go through internships. Only the strongest get chosen.”

“Basilisk's Gaze is a subsidiary of the Astus Corporation so they do have a reputation to uphold” Warren remarks.

“Wait, so the state of Astus is actually a corporatocracy?” I inquire. “I thought that was a book of fiction I accidentally bought.”

“Nope. All real. If you ever visit you’ll see everything is owned by the company. Their branding is everywhere over there.”

“My shirt comes from there.” Akane declares, showing off her shirt which has the emblem of a red triangle on the left sleeve with the word ‘Astus’ written in white print.

“A lot of stuff is made there. I think most of the stuff in my room comes from there.” Adam realizes.

“Wow, so they make all your lewd figurines?” I ask with a smirk.

“....they’re action figures.”

“I don’t like this.” Jack cuts in, observing the intern below continuing to run for his life. “It takes a lot of work to even become an intern for Basilisk's Gaze. And the fact he’s been chosen to be their representative means he was chosen for a reason.”

“Jack’s right” Armstrong concurs. “The kid’s up to something.”

It’s hard to take the intern below a threat. Nerva’s still in the same spot she was in when the fight started, looking like a turret firing except her bullets are flames. Frankie has run about halfway along the perimeter of the arena, almost out of breath. He wipes the sweat from his brow, noticing the sweat on his hand and he smiles at it.

“What’s this? The intern appears to be content with the workout he’s been getting” Marcus observes.

“I am the same way! Nothing brings a smile to my face more than a nice workout” Luther replies.

“You do have a nice smile my friend.”

“Thank you! It makes a great first impression with the maidens.”

But doesn’t Luther wear a helmet all the time? Doesn’t matter, Luther is Luther. Below the intern proclaims “It’s time!”, slamming his hands together as the aura around him begins to glow brighter and brighter.

“Ooh something’s about to happen” Nazuko says in anticipation, stuffing her face with popcorn.

“Where’d you get that?” Remi asks.

“Found it. And no you can’t have some, you’re big enough already.”

“Insult me again and there’s about to be two fights happening right now.”

“Quiet!” Azura commands.

Nerva stops firing her fireballs, trying to figure out what her opponent is doing. Steam is emanating from his skin, like his body has become a steam generator.

“I need my body temperature to increase to do this. It may be the only spell I know, but I find it to be effective.” the intern states.

The steam begins to separate, forming two distinct humanoid shapes. The shapes become more and more detailed until they look just like the intern. It’s like the kid did mitosis but with smoke; there’s three of him now.

“Oh look at that!” Marcus says in surprise. “Looks like our friend here created clones of himself. Looks like we know what his ability is now.”

“Hey, that's not fair!” Nazuko exclaims. “That’s outside help!”

The other members of Dragon’s Descent join in, calling it a violation of the rules.

“It doesn’t count,” Remi tries to explain. “It’s still him so it’s not outside help.”

“Huh? Of course you’d side with the enemy Remi.”

“What? I want us to win! I’m just saying-”

“I’ll allow it!” Marcus announces, ending the complaining then and there.

“Let’s kill this bitch!” one of the clones yells, looking extremely angry.

“Hey, watch your language. That’s not nice” the other smoke clone counters.

“Stop fighting me! Let’s go” the original orders.

“Heh, now I got more ass to kick” Nerva asserts, waving to them to come forward.

All of her opponents reach into their pockets, taking out handles with a blue button on the back. They press the buttons in sync, making blades erect out of them, showing that they were holding some sort of portable sword. They begin to charge to Nerva in a criss cross fashion as Nerva continues her onslaught of flames. One of them closes the distance first, attempting to cut Nerva’s head off with a horizontal swing. Nerva ducks under, countering with a fire punch to the stomach.

“Ack!” her assailant coughs.

The punch causes her assailant to become dazed which Nerva uses to her advantage. She places her left hand on his stomach which begins to glow red.

“Bye!” she says as a massive wall of flame erupts from her palm, enveloping her opponent in fire.

“Ahhhhhh! I was only alive for a few seconds but avenge me!” the clone requests of his brethren.

“I-is that murder?” Adam wonders.

“Ugh no, clones don’t count.” I decide.

Marcus hasn’t said anything so I don’t think that’s a violation of the rules, I hope.

“Oooo it’s getting toasty in here” Marcus notes, wiping his brow with a napkin.

I don’t think Marcus cares if a clone died just now.

“Reminds me of a sauna. I went to a nice one in Ayana not too long ago. Quite the adventure” Luther adjoins.

“Who’s next!?” Nerva hollers.

“Not me.” the intern in front of her answers. “He is.”

The other clone appears behind Nerva, and lets loose an aura infused punch to Nerva’s ribcage, launching her to the side. She rolls for a dozen feet, quickly getting back up and immediately launches a fireball. But before she could do anything else the original dashed into Nerva’s personal space, slamming his fist into Nerva’s head, making her roll once more. She appears unphased, shooting at the ground with a fireball, launching herself into the air. Above them Nerva yells “Hell rain!”

She begins to shoot fireballs in all directions, making the flames rain into the arena.

“Ugh oh. Sorry, I have to do this!” one of the interns says, grabbing himself to use as a sacrificial umbrella.

“Wait me, don’t do this!”

It was too late, he was grabbed and began to get hit by the sweltering rain. The clone eventually dissipates into smoke once more. Nerva lands across from them, putting her hands behind her and launches bursts of flame from her palms, launching herself across the stadium like a rocket. Nerva repositions herself in midair so that she kicks Frankie in the stomach, flinging him into the adjacent wall. Nerva shoots more flames from her hands so she can land onto her feet as her opponent becomes enveloped by debris and smoke.

“Ha! I expected more!” she brags, wiping blood off her head.

“That looks like a knockout blow to me!” Marcus commentates.

“Wait, my friend!” Luther interrupts. “I sense that this fight is far from over!”

“You sense that?” Jack asks Armstrong.

“Uh huh.”

“If only Nerva read more comics. She would know that when a fight goes well, the opponent will begin to show their true strength.” Akane laments.

What the heck is everyone talking about? Nerva’s clearly winning. Am I missing something? But of course I was because below I see rumbling coming from the impact Nerva knocked her opponent into. I look across the stadium, and see that the guild leader of Basilisk's Gaze expresses a small smirk. From the smoke emerges dozens upon dozens of clones, all armed. They look like a horde during a Black Friday sale. Nerva’s eyes widen, she cusses, and unleashes a massive wall of flame in their direction. The flame takes out most of them, making them become steam once again but a few get past the flames, flanking Nerva. One swings a sword down at her. She instinctively puts her arm up to defend herself, which causes her left forearm to get gashed.

“Nerva!” Adam yells out of worry.

With her other hand shoots a fireball from her right palm, hitting her attacker square in the face. He screams and wheels back as another clone attempts to skewer her. She dodges the thrust, hitting him in the nose with a fiery punch. Unfortunately this made her open to attack, as a clone grabs her head and slams it into the ground with a loud crack. The clones swarm her, all kicking her like it was a gang initiation. There’s about 50 of them below, all taking turns to hit Nerva. It’s impossible to tell which one is the original anymore.

“Nerva has gotten completely overwhelmed by her opponent’s ability. Is this the end for her?” Marcus inquires of the audience as they respond with a mixture of gasps and cheers depending on who they were cheering for.

One of the interns steps away from the beatdown, and says “This beatdown of Dragon’s Descent was brought to you by the Astus Corporation.”

“Yes Frankie!” his boss exclaims in approval. “Advertisement is the hallmark of a good employee!”

“D-did this just become a commercial?” I ask out of confusion.

“He does seek to become a corporate employee. Probably trying to look good for his bosses.” Warren notes.

“For only three easy payments of 50 gold, you too can order the services of Basilisk's Gaze. Our services include monster hunting, security, catering, and tax assistance. If you order our services within the next five days, you’ll get a 20% discount.” The intern advertises.

“Come on Nerva, it’s not over yet. I believe in you, as does the child.” Akane utters, hoping for a miraculous comeback.

“Come back Ms. Nerva. Don’t let the bad guy win” Sophie begs.

“Oh my goodness she’s adorable” Remi gushes.

“Nerva! You can do it!” Adam screams, surprising me with his volume.

The temperature begins to increase as I notice I’m sweating more and more. A bright orange glow emanates from Nerva’s position. The advertising intern turns around and lets out a “oh no”.

A massive explosion erupts from the pile of clones like a volcano erupted, sending them flying all across the arena, some of them hitting the barrier protecting the audience. In the middle of it all stands Nerva, blood coming down her head, her twintails undone, making her hair flow down to her waist. She has surprisingly beautiful hair, something out of a hair product commercial. She’d look good were it not for the blood streaming down her face and nose. She has the smile of a madwoman, revealing she’s missing a few teeth. She takes her weapon out, the small scythe being held in her right hand.

“Come on bitch, we’re just getting started.” she beckons.

Nerva theme music

The formerly advertising intern summons more clones, though not as much as before, probably only half the original amount. They all begin to head to her in a sprint like before. She takes her weapon, unfurling the chain wrapped around her waist like it was rope. She twirls it above her head like a lasso and swings it at them before they could get close. She cuts down a dozen of them with a single swing. The others rush past as Nerva lets the weapon recoil back to its original position. She rushes towards them, entering a melee with them as the blade erupts in flames.

“We have ourselves a close quarters fight! What a turn, magicians tend to dislike these types of fights.” Marcus comments.

“Quite true my friend! But I suppose the fair maiden down there is not like most magicians” Luther mentions.

Nerva begins to duck and roll to dodge the myriad of sword swings she’s surrounded by. With each attack she avoids, she counters with a swing of her weapon, destroying the clone as a fire trail follows her weapon. It’s almost elegant in a way, which is a surprising description. I guess when someone’s in their element, they look good when they perform. The number of clones begins to gradually decrease as Nerva turns the tide of battle.

“Huzzah Nerva, I am proud” Akane claims.

Eventually there’s only two of the interns left. One tries to hold off Nerva as the other backs off, letting off more steam to create more clones.

“This isn’t sustainable.” Armstrong says in a worried tone. “Nerva looks like she’s winning but she can’t keep this up. If more clones are summoned she’s going to be overwhelmed again.”

“You’re right but I’m not worried.” Jack dismisses with a wave of the hand. “I taught her. She should notice this detail and act accordingly.”

Jack looks down, noticing the worried look on Adam’s face.

“She’s going to be fine, son.”

“R-right.” Adam responds.

About a dozen more clones are summoned, but it’s clear that the original is getting fatigued. He’s sweating profusely and his breathing is ragged but I can tell he has the look of determination in his eyes.

“I can’t lose! I didn’t go to college, pass countless interviews and exams only to get denied my dream job because of a fight!” he discloses.

Nerva cackles and counters with “I can’t believe there are people who work so hard to become a slave.”

“You wouldn’t understand, you were born into wealth. Some of us have to work for a living.”

“Hah! Yeah I was born with wealth and I realized some shit. I’ve been a lot happier without it. Money ain’t worth shit if you can’t live the way you want to.”

“Frankie. You’re such a good kid” his boss says with tears in his eyes while their guild master appears indifferent.

The clones charge at Nerva once more while the original stays in the back, huffing and puffing as he summons more and more clones. Nerva blocks their attacks with her weapon, deflecting the blows, stepping back more and more, slowly having the tide of battle turn against her.

“Nerva!” Jack yells. “Attention to detail!”

“Yeah yeah old man I got it!” she hollers back.

“Old man?” Jack says in disbelief. “Am I getting old? I’m not old.”

“You have a fully grown son.” Armstrong reminds him.

“Sure but I’m not old like you. I still look good. Right son?”

“Ugh yeah dad.” Adam says, not really sure one way or the other.

“Of course I do. Where do you think you got your looks from?”

“R-right dad”

Nerva below blasts the ground with left hand, which rolls her away from her opponents. She scans all of them, unable to tell which is the original.

“Doesn’t matter.” Nerva reflects. “If I take all you bitches out at once, it’s over.”

She blasts herself forward, unfurling her weapon once more. She runs up to one, dodges a sword swing and warps some chain around his wrist. Before he could react, she zips to the next one, doing the same thing. She doesn’t attack anyone, instead only dodging attacks as she wraps up limbs with her chain, eventually having all of them connected in some way or another. She stands behind them, holding onto the chain with both hands. With her hair partially concealing her face, she announces “Prepare to burn.”

Her hands glow, igniting the entire chain in flames. At once all of the chained up interns become enveloped in fire, howling in pain.

“What a display!” Marcus shouts.

All the bodies but one dissipates, enveloping himself in aura so that he could stand the heat. It’s scorching, making me want to leave the area. He falls to the ground, black smoke emanating from his body. Nerva straightens her back and screams “GET OVER HERE!”

She yanks the chain back, causing Frankie to fly towards her.

“NO NO NO NO NO NO!” he yelps, trying to brace himself for impact.

Nerva pulls her right arm back, forming a fist which ignites in a blindingly bright flame. When he gets close enough, she unleashes the punch, hitting his face so hard the momentum immediately shifts in the other direction, making him fly back, twisting through the air before eventually hitting the ground. Dragon’s Descent erupts in cheers, everyone knowing that was the finishing move. I joined in, feeling hyped for Nerva. Marcus waits a few moments, making sure that the intern wouldn’t get up. After making sure he was done for, Marcus declares “The winner is Nerva of Dragon’s Descent!”. More cheering follows, as Nerva moves the hair out of her face. She smiles up at the audience, eyeballing the seated nobility. She points at them, every single one, ending with looking past us at her father. She puts her arm down and performs the cutthroat gesture. The audience cheers even more as the nobility recoils in their seats, mumbling things such as “how dare she.” and “that mutt.” I can’t help but smile at their reactions.

“Nerva are you ok!?” Adam yells.

She locks eyes with him, then immediately looks away.

“Shut up, I'm fine! Freaking-fucking idiot.” she curses as healing mages descend down. They put the intern Frankie in a stretcher to begin to heal him. They try to do the same with Nerva but she brushes them off. I see his boss have tears roll down his face and appear to ask something of their guild master. The salaryman looks at the old man, nods his head. He stops crying, instead smiling. He stands up and exclaims “Franklin De Rochelle, you are hired!”

All of Basilisk's Gaze’s supporters applaud. I see the former intern rise in his stretcher, letting out an excited squeal as he’s taken out of the arena. Nerva scoffs, saying “good for you dumbass” before blasting the ground, flying up through the air, and landing in her seat. Everyone begins to congratulate Nerva while Adam attempts to heal her despite her fighting against it, refusing to look at him. With that, Dragon’s Descent is ahead of the other guilds with 2 wins, 1 tie.