I sat down next to Cerion in the contestant’s booth, avoiding eye contact with the other contestants, who were eyeing me with a variety of attitudes. Arcellus had looked calm, but oddly determined. Karon, on the other hand, was probably calculating how to best me, if it came down to it.

Finally seated, Cerion turned to me.

“John was stronger than I had expected. Did you know that guy would be so unexpectedly strong?” he asked somewhat teasingly.

I endeavored not to think too deeply about my disadvantage at the start of the previous match and ignored his jest in favor of spectating the bout that was about to begin.

The nimble assassin X would be facing a girl called Reana, the one that used wood mana paired with a melee combat style. The battle could go either way, I supposed, but if I had to set the odds myself, I’d set them in favor of X, simply because I knew what he was capable of. He had put all of his efforts into speed and deadliness, making him a supremely difficult opponent if you didn’t have the skills to counter him.

Looking at them both squaring off in the arena made me reassess my opinion a little, though.

Reana was a brown haired, fit girl, if her muscled physique was anything to go by. She entered the arena with a confident gait and waved at the crowd with both hands, jumping up and down in excitement, looking like a kid in a candy store. Strangely, she reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t remember who, for the life of me.

X, on the other hand, still looked like he did the first time I saw him, though his features had changed a little, as if he was a different person now. He still looked like a random middle aged guy that had gotten lost and somehow ended up in the middle of the arena, mind you, but his cheekbones were a little more pronounced, his body type now lanky, rather than the average build he had had earlier.

“Is he a shapeshifter?” I murmured to Cerion.

“There are skills for that, no doubt…” he whispered back conspiratorially. “If he’s meant to be an assassin for the mercenary guild…”

I quickly shushed him, since the match was about to begin. X and Reana unsheathed their weapons. X dual wielded two vicious serrated daggers, while Reana wielded a wooden sword and shield that both looked pristine. They took their stances and the announcer started the countdown.

“X and Reana, are you both ready?! 3… 2… 1… Start!”

The match began, and both moved with great speed, simultaneously. X practically disappeared from sight, while Reana dug her sword into the earth. Innumerable tree roots sprung forth from the earth, turning the battlefield into a dense tangle of tree sized thorny vines, each as thick as an oak tree besides.

I picked up on a light groan somewhere, and saw a small splatter of blood appear on one of the dagger-like thorns. Apparently, Reana had noticed that occur even before I did, because when I turned around to look at her, she was already rushing across the arena, jumping from vine to vine. Right as she got there, her shield rapidly expanded around her, just barely fast enough to guard her against an incoming flash of light that left a deep groove in the wood regardless. For a moment, X appeared, now fully covered in strange green and brown robes that matched the coloration of the vibes around him.

Strangely, his feet seemed to be fine, his posture perfectly balanced. Then, I noticed a small bandage covering a wound on his side, clearly left there on purpose. X had meant to draw Reana in by acting like he was wounded by her vines.

Just as quickly as he appeared, X disappeared, causing Reana to huff angrily, before healing her damaged shield and placing it on the ground. Then, she went to stand on top of it. The audience watched in shocked silence as her shield grew into some kind of amalgamous mass of wood, connected to all the vines in the arena. They started to twist, turn and grow, turning the arena into a writhing mass. The whole spectacle might have been unsettling for the average capital citizen, but I found it fascinating. The fact that she remained in control of such a large volume of wood showed that she had either tremendous control over her element or a tremendous amount of mana. Seeing her wild nature, I settled on the latter, because she only escalated from there.

X refused to stand by and watch, so he decided to create an onslaught of attacks. For a while, Reana was in serious trouble, attacks coming from every angle. Somehow, X still found stable footing within the mess that Reana had created. I had to give it to him, X wasn’t dramatic, but he was skilled.

Several wounds started to appear on Reana’s body, causing her to bleed onto her creation which responded by becoming even more frantic. I was sure that if the organizers didn’t keep a shield between the spectators and the arena, the stands would have long since fallen apart. Well, that was true for my match as well, but still…

Finally, Reana seemed ready to unleash what she had been gearing up to do since she dropped her shield a while ago. All of a sudden, she rose into the air, the mass of wood below her carrying her into the sky. The roots below dug themselves out of the ground and gathered near the center of the arena, where they melded into one another to form a humanoid-looking giant.

Its shining green eyes and bulky body made it look quite menacing. The giant tentacles that sprouted from its back and formed a deep-green crown only further exacerbated this feature.

“A treant…” Cerion muttered with wide eyes.

“Are they rare or something?” I asked, not letting my eyes slip off of the giant beast as it let out an otherworldly roar. No, it wasn’t even a roar. It was more like… a call…

“Rare doesn’t even describe the half of it, Art. They’re born as tier 3s, and can grow almost infinitely. They’re as smart as humans and mostly stick to themselves. The oldest ones are known to grow to tier 7, though those ones can’t be found on this continent, I think…”

“So that’s a tier three, huh…”

That might not have meant much to a seeded participant like X normally, but a tier three in combination with Reana’s own prowess would be enough to turn the tides.

Sure enough, Reana and her newborn treant quickly turned the situation around and started to catch X before he got to his target. Somehow, a random root would shoot out from the treant’s body and fly at X anytime he touched the treant. That meant he had to jump up the treant from all the way down below, which left him vulnerable mid-flight.

As a result of the increased risk, X became a lot more cautious going forward. He was careful not to overextend and tested out the treant’s own survivability by attacking its joints and eyes. Apparently, the thing healed almost as quickly as I did, and it didn’t help that Reana would extend her wooden sword into a weapon fit for her summoned creature and swing it like a club anytime X faltered, either… Seriously, how one person could wield such an unbalanced weapon so skillfully astounded me. Its increased weight alone would make me topple over backward.

From there, the bout only became even more interesting. Just when the battle looked all but won by Reana, X disappeared into thin air, and even the treant looked around, confused. Then, two new Xs appeared. Then three, no five; make that eight more. Ten Xs total, in fact. They surrounded the treant menacingly, before turning into a blu one by one. A chaotic brawl erupted with no warning, Xs being sent flying by the treant, while others were stuck in a heated battle with Reana at the top of the treant’s head, where even three Xs struggled to overwhelm her.

She fought like a wounded boar and kicked her attackers off of her summon one by one, though replacements soon came up to reinforce… team X?

“That girl has some spunk…” Cerion whispered almost inaudibly.

I nodded, but kept my thoughts to myself. I had to agree that she was courageous, but she wasn’t using the treant’s full potential. A creature like that was meant to efficiently defeat opponents and keep them down. Surely, she could just order her not-so-friendly giant to put the xs it captured down permanently? It was already dominating any it focussed on, its dexterous limbs completely overpowering the clones as if they weren’t even there. None of these clones were probably the real X anyway. If I knew that guy even a little bit, he would stay back and take advantage of the cover his clones provided him, rather than help his cheap, skill-made copies.

Unfortunately, I was proven right a few minutes in, when a floating arm wielding a dagger appeared behind Reana’s back. It brought the dagger down, going straight for Reana’s neck.

Then, at the last possible moment she turned around, sending a roundhouse kick in the direction of the arm. I whistled, impressed. Just like me, she had expected this move from X. Unfortunately for her, X’s freakish reflexes allowed him to twist his body mid-jump, narrowly avoiding the attack. That didn’t save him from the next attack, though. Roots sprung forth from the treant’s head and caught X. Right then and there, I knew the match was over. Caught by the strong roots and unable to move, Reana gave him a relentless beatdown, ignoring X's clones in favor of breaking X’s bones.

“Mean streak, too…” Cerion whispered, almost in awe.

Affronted, I told him I had one of those too and sadism wasn’t a particularly rare trait, though he dismissed me saying “That’s not what I meant, you dense idiot.”

Finally, the match ended.

“That’s it, folks! The match is over, ending in a brutal victory for our resident adventurer! X’s tactics were inspired, but in the end, he lost. Assassins are at a disadvantage when you know they’re there, after all! Give them both a hand, everyone!”

Cerion and I clapped politely, impressed by both of their showings. Reana’s victory meant that I would be facing her next, though the rest of matches would take place before the quarter finals did.

Seeing that the next match wouldn’t be that interesting since both participants hadn’t shown anything worth remembering in the last round, I decided to go get some food and drinks for Cerion and myself.

As I walked past some meat-skewer stalls, trying to find the best food in the area, I saw a swarm of people form, the flashes signifying the occasional reporter thrown in the mix.

I used a rag to cover my face to try and stay anonymous and got a little closer to the gathering to listen in.

“ …are you feeling after that brutal victory?”

“ … prepared for the quarter-finals…”

“ …scared of your next opponent…”

Hearing that last comment caused me to grin, happy that, if not my innocence, at least my strength was being recognised.

I heard a girl, Reana, supposedly, protested their questions and asked to be let through. After a while, I decided to do something uncharacteristic, since I felt a little pity for her situation. If not for my notoriety, I might have been swarmed by reporters as well, after all.

I headed into the mass of people and shoved the reporters out of the way forcefully, enjoying every complaint and glare I got along the way.

When I got to the center, I grabbed hold of the girl at the center and pulled her along as I ran back out, throwing people out of the way as I passed.

“Who the hell…”

“You should show some respect…”

Wisely, I ignored their complaints and led the girl to a corridor that was sectioned off for some privacy.

After we both calmed down, the girl regarded me with an easy smile and readjusted her hair.

“Thanks for the help back there. I had no idea you could just stumble through ‘em like that… What’s your name, mysterious savior?” she asked.

I took off my mask to show her my identity, though it had an adverse effect. Instead of thanking me, her smile faltered when she saw my face, her glare turning deadly.

“Whoa there, our match hasn’t started yet, lady. Keep the animosity for that time…” I joked awkwardly, trying to lift the tension.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t impressed by my efforts and continued to glare, before she spoke quietly.

“...You… really don’t remember me, do you?”

This time, it was my turn to be stunned. Strangely, I felt the need to apologize, even though I hadn’t done anything.

“I’m… sorry? You seem vaguely familiar, but I don’t know from where… Should I know you, or something?” I asked, bewildered.

At first she seemed stunned by something I had said, but then her glare returned.

“You really haven’t changed.” she said, almost sadly, before turning around with a huff and storming away.

By the end of that little interaction, I was left confused and angry. I felt a headache coming on, which got even worse when I considered what the girl had said. Had I known her at one point? Did I meet her in Reito, maybe? Even worse than all that, I still hadn’t found any good food…