A burning eagle flew above the crowd; its majestic fiery wings created a glister of vermilion with each swing, summoning waves of amazed cheers from the gathering below. At some point the bird of prey ascended higher into the empyrean above and brilliantly exploded much alike a star. The tremor of that blast signalled the beginning of the celebrations of Dragoncull.

Elizabeth and Irwyn stood by the side of the city square where the spectacle took place. As soon as the magical show receded people began to swarm various stands with goods or shows off all kind. Elizabeth preferred the former as she ran from stand to stand, her eyes glittering at each of the various trinkets, however, they slightly darkened whenever she saw the astronomically high prices.

"You know, if you really want something you don't have to look at the price," Irwyn chuckled when this repeated for the 10th time. He was not even lying; Avys significantly increased his allowance as an excuse to have someone keep a close eye on his funds.

"But they are so expensive!" Elizabeth exclaimed; it was obvious she really didn't want to be a bother and her sense of pricing was still that of a supportless child.

"Don't worry about it: I have enough money to buy this entire marketplace, people included," Irwyn tried to negate her worries. Elizabeth nodded, but didn't change her behaviour at all. After an entire hour of looking at various obnoxiously overpriced items the duo were attracted by an interesting announcement.

"Come, sorcerers and mages of all ages! Enter the traditional competition organised by the mage's guild, and prove your superiority over all of your peers. Great wealth and fame await each an every one of you!" a middle aged man in white and teal robes yelled with mana amplified voice, his words resounding throughout the entire square.

"Competition?" Elizabeth immediately became curious and directed a question to Irwyn.

"Yes, it is a vital part of the celebrations. The mages guild organizes them in every major city throughout the continent, attracting free lance mages, Seekers and even their own members. Blackburg city is particularly known for the competition as the Blackburg sponsorship allows it to surpass even the event in Imperial capital," Irwyn explained

"Is lord Irwyn participating?" Elizabeth immediately followed up her query, clearly very interested.

"Of course, but I don't have to sign up. Today's part of the contest is a sort of qualification for the main competition. Since I am already seeded into the main thing there is no point in joining today," after another short explanation Irwyn smiled and spoke in the most amiable voice he could manage "well then, do you want to participate?"

Elizabeth lowered her head, but eventually hesitantly nodded. The fact that she didn't deny him again was the greatest proof of how much she really desired to participate.

"In that case, what will you say when they ask you about your identity?" Irwyn smiled and said. That forced Elizabeth to realise that if she stated her name was Elizabeth Black it would immediately break their cover, but if she wasn't protected by her connection to house Blackburg there would be questions about a young unaffiliated mage. She lowered her head again, holding back tears at the realisation when Irwyn gently used his hand to raise Elizabeth's chin "calm down, I have you covered. This is a letter of invitation by house Blackburg. Show this to the recruiting man and he will not ask you any questions."

"Thank you," Elizabeth squeezed out, slightly hanging her head from embarrassment, before taking the pure white paper rectangle. Irwyn lined up together with her, while the queue was not long the process of accepting participants was obviously time consuming, so it took about 30 minutes before they reached the front. The signing up was done by a single elderly mage in grey and red robes who sat on a stool in the middle of a large circle drawn on the soil

They passed the glowing line of the circle and all sound caused by the surrounding celebrations ceased. The elderly man beckoned the pair to approach with a pleasant smile and spoke: "So, will both of you be attempting the test?"

"No, sir mage, I will be only observing today. It will be Elizabeth who will attempt to pass," Irwyn was the first to answer with a fake respectful smile.

"I see," the man dismissed Irwyn with surprising politeness and turned to Elizabeth "then, little girl, how old are you?"

"I am 8," Elizabeth truthfully admitted.

"So young," the man slightly raised an eyebrow "That puts you in the youngest category of under 13 years of age. To pass for that category you need to cast any spell, even a cantrip is fine."

“Turn to ash and amber

burn away my anger.

Flame”

Elizabeth effortlessly chanted after a small nod. She could've easily done it chantlessly, but Irwyn advised her otherwise while they were still waiting in the line. It would be inconvenient if she gathered attention too early. He had plans connected to the event after all.

The result of the chant was a small twinkling flame above Elizabeth's finger. It was almost as though the thing danced with joy as it swayed in the weak wind.

"Well done. You definitely pass. May I ask for your name as well as origin," the man seemed honestly slightly impressed; 8 years old children who could use magic were rare, although far from unheard of.

"My name is Elizabeth," we said as she handed over the letter of recommendation she previously hid inside her pocket. The mage was not particularly surprised to see the letter and he would not even bother to notify anyone of it. That was because those letters of recommendation were not rare at all, they were mostly an item sent out en masse by the Blackburg family to attract people from further away, or at least that was the official story. In reality most of them were sold on black market as an easy way to enter the competition without any questions asked, the Blackburg family of course getting the majority cut. A throughout background check would then only be done to those who advanced into the main competition.

"Alright, here you go," the mage handed Elizabeth a small green badge after confirming the letter was genuine "the competition will take place at the Black arena. With this badge they will let you in as a participant. Also, you boy," he said as he gave Irwyn a white badge "this will let you get some better seats as an entourage of a participant."

"Thank you, sir mage, we will head over there right now then," Irwyn once again politely replied before they left the circle, plethora of sounds enveloping them one again.

The Black arena, because everything that was related to Blackburg's just had to have black in the name, was not far away from where Elizabeth signed up. The name arena did not really give the enormous colosseum justice. Its surprisingly white walls reached higher than most buildings while the area it occupied was comparable to at least 3 entire streets. Irwyn bid Elizabeth farewell at the entrance door for participants and instead headed for the visitor section. There he blended into the crowd and slowly made his way towards a certain hallway. It took a while, but eventually he managed to reach there and pass right through a seemingly solid wall, unseen. Beyond it as a corridor leading to a special VIP room. So special that even the hidden entrance was bound to a bloodline. Folk legends called the place the Blackbox.

When Irwyn entered the lounge it was surprisingly not empty, instead there was a thin beauty seated there. Her hair, dress and even jewelry were all polished ebony colour while her skin was snow white in contrast. Irwyn recognised that even while seated alone she subconsciously assumed an alluring posture.

"Sister dearest, it's good to see you here," Irwyn greeted her. It was without any doubt his eldest sister, Efora. Irwyn had not met her much in the past 8 years, but he knew that she recently turned 18 and was someone extremely vane, driven by pride and desire.

"And it's not so nice to see you, little murderer," she said, poison reeking through her gritted teeth. Irwyn now also recalled that she was unfortunately secretly fond of Alira while the girl was still alive, it was likely something akin to reminding her of lost innocence.

"Oh please, I have not murdered anyone, not yet," Irwyn just snorted back. She was already hostile so he could only try to make her slightly more angry and hope for a slip of the tongue.

"We both know Alira was innocent," her eyes went wild as she stuck the table in front of her. Irwyn was only thankful she was too much of a coward to ever do anything worse than cause him minor inconvenience.

"I don't understand why that is important. Someone had to take the fall for the attempt on my life, and Alira just happened to be the best target."

"You little shit!" Efora yelled at him, mana slipping into those words. If that was done to a common 8 years old it would bring them down to the ground with ruptured eardrums and possibly even profusely bleeding eyes. However, Irwyn didn't even bother shrugging it off and instead seated himself a bit away from his sister, "so, what are you doing here in the first place, Efora,"

"I should be the one asking you that!" she just scoffed.

"Don't be like that, I am here on behalf of both Avys and myself. I just want to make sure you don't interfere," Irwyn repaid that anger with a pure and innocent smile. That naturally only multiplied Efora's wrath.

"Fine. I am looking for a bit of fun and hopefully a new servant," she eventually admitted. Her anger was nowhere near sufficiently potent to overcome her fear of Avys. The duchess might be their mother, but her reaction, or perhaps the lack of reaction, to Alira's execution reminded everyone just where they stood in that madwoman's eyes. No one wanted to be the next, after all.

"Then there should be no problem. Just in case I will tell you to stay out of the category below 13 and to avoid anything concerning the elemental lords and their families," Irwyn maintained his smile as he casually set Efora's fetters.

"The elemental lords? What are the two of you planning?" Her surprise was understandable, the elemental lords represented the strongest individual mage of an element among the entire mage guild. The importance of the competition also meant that multiple were present as referees in the confines of this very arena.

"That is Avys' business. My part is to trigger a chain of events, not to use said chain," Irwyn's face turned deadpan when he spoke, implying there was more and also festering the terror Avys' name caused "with that off the table there is little point of continuing this conversation. Enjoy the festivities, sister dearest," Irwyn concluded their chat and inserted the audio transference devices into his ears. The reason why he came into the Blackbox was to observe the entire competition at once. Countless screens which were directly streaming information from the various corners and nooks of the arena appeared in front of Irwyn, allowing him to spot all and any potential intervention as soon as it dared appear. The only one he paid particularly closer attention to was the competition of fire element users under 13 where Elizabeth would participate. The competition started as Irwyn sat in his seat like an overlord, every motion within his grasp and each important action exactly what he predicted. And he smiled, for once with honesty, as his plan was inevitably set in motion.