The air inside of the Opera House felt cold, the walls unlit and the corridors almost endless. A stark contrast to the previous day's warmth and bright lighting. For how fast the building had been repaired, the inside clearly hadn't been touched up too much, at least not in the corridor that Lyi was stumbling through. An incessant stream of black particles flowed through the corridor, to the point where they had practically replaced the walls. None of their opposite, the bright white particles that accompanied most of the realm outside, could be found in this corridor. It was a small comfort to Lyi, whom was perhaps the only person in this city who felt a tinge of pain upon one of those Light particles touching her.

  After a small while of stumbling and bumping, a small lit room finally emerged. In it were 3 doors, one for each wall besides the entry, with only the west door open. Besides that, small bundles of weapons and robes lay in corners around the room unorganized, presumably for those less prepared than Lyi. Nothing in this room was relevant to her.

  Through the open door there was a verdant grassland, though the faint blue sky above it occasionally flickered and showed the true interior of the building. She couldn't help but wonder how such a thing could be done, especially when all that composed the room was Force particles. After a point, the sky stopped flickering and simply disappeared alltogether, the sounds of chattering entering the room. For her fight with Tzya a respectable audience was present, but nothing quite like this. She counted atleast double the number of spectators, a small amount of dread creeping up on her.

  With the ring of a bell that sounded closer to an explosion than anything else, the entire room was silenced. Two quiet, droning noises permeated through the room, prior to a long breath and...

  "Weeeeelcome back, folks! Two days in a row of Beze, isn't this a treat? After yesterday's tragic events, where we lost two young mages to that traitorous dog Tzya, what better time is there to watch people beat the Ever! Loving! SHIT! OUT! OF! EACHOTHER?! I'll be your host today, you all know me, you all love me, I'm Phaaarrrrrrrrr! Today's opening match is a debut for both contenders... well, really only one of them! Please welcome today's challenged, who even knows where she came from or what she is, Hylimdem Aaaaaaaviaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

  No small amount of confusion was present on Lyi's face, but the yelling in that room somehow told her she needed to get into that room right now. Taking no moment to compose herself, she darted out into the stage alongside an eruption of cheers and bursts of seemingly non-harmful spells. Banners adorned with her in various different impressive poses lined the walls, accompanied by a scant few spectators holding signs of the very same posters. How or even why those had been made in such a short time eluded her.

  With the small amount of confidence in her, she gave a small wave to the crowd. The cheers rose to even greater heights, though this entire experience was just a confusing mess for her. Atleast they were happy.

  "Look at her folks, she's got no idea what's going on, how cute! Today's officially her first match after her bout with Tzya was deemed invalid, so let's bring out her first ever opponent! He's big, he's bad and he sure is ugly, please welcome our challenged's first contender for his debut match, Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatooooooooooooooooooo!"

  Lyi drew her eyes away from the crowd and towards the small door, which burst off its hinges as a huge leg kicked through it. A hulking figure that Lyi could only describe as a curse on her eyes struggled through the gap that was entirely too small for it, eventually popping out onto the stage. This Vato was practically twice her height, adorned in the same cyan robe that Beze wore. His black hair traced along the ground behind him, his hunch surely not helped by the gigantic metal hammer on his back.

  His Aura was incredibly volatile: its size ranged from 20cm up to the point where a Seal would temporarily form, averaging out at around 70cm. The poor man must have suffered from a Magical Overload. Having almost had one herself, Lyi couldn't help herself from sympathising with him.

  "There he is, the poor guy. Though he suffers from MOD, Vato isn't one to be underestimated folks, just look at those robes! Clean, pristine, cyan robes, that marks a man who just learnt his second element, oh my, I wonder what it is! Better pray it isn't Earth for Lyi's sake, that wouldn't be good for her! But none of you are here to listen to me ramble folks, lets get this show started! In absence of the standard timer, the bell will mark the start of the fight on it's third ring. Good luck, Lyi! Good luck, Vato!"

  As soon as Phar stopped speaking, the thunderous sound of the bell rang out through the arena once more. Immediately, Lyi unsheathed her Rui Undea and activated {Bind}, {Reinforce}, {Rapid}, {Encharge} and {Shield}. There was no way she was taking the greathammer that hulk was carrying lightly. With a second thunderous ring, she entered [Casting Stance], as she could faintly see the shimmer of {Reinforce} lace Vato's weapon. The second the bell rang out a third time...

  A small splash of water appeared under hulking Vato's feet, sliding him forward as he lifted his hammer to strike over Lyi's head. Without delaying, she fired off {Clickrend}, flinging the hammer backwards and stopping Vato's momentum. Just as the hammer crashed onto the ground, she was in just the right position for the first attack of [Rui - Di] to be dragged down by the Force particles.

  In an instant, with a sound like a screaming cyclone, her Rui Undea crashed into the ground. The transluscent-grey {Shield} around Vato had hundreds of tiny cracks snake out from the gash torn through it by [Rui - Di], a yell of "By the Moons!" resounding from Phar. Lyi herself was barely able to stay on the ground as a massive shockwave emanated from the impact point on the ground; Vato on the other hand was launched backwards into the invisible wall surrounding the arena, a cloud of dust being kicked up.

  Lyi took in a sharp breath of the magical particles around her as a dull pain entered her body: a consequence that every successful [Rui - Di] has had on her. No matter how badly she felt, however, her opponent couldn't be faring any better. As she took on a defensive stance, a stream of water flew out from the spot where Vato had crashed alongside a resounding click, breaking Lyi's stance and knocking her to the ground,

  "Vato survived that terrifying strike, what even was that! Looks like he's not taking that lying down folks!"

  Though she had figured it from the water under Vato's feet, this directly confirmed his second element to be Water. She couldn't help herself from letting out a sigh of relief, Water had nothing that could really damage her. Just as soon as she began lifting her arm to perform {Clickbolt}, she stopped herself. With a guttural roar, the hulk charged out from the dust, hammer raised high once more. There was no time to wait for a {Clickbolt}.

  By instinct, she moved to cast {Redirect} on the falling hammer. But without faltering even the slightest, the hammer pushed down against her Rui Undea with extreme force. Thanks to her precast of {Reinforce}, she could atleast take the hammer for some time. With every passing moment, the hammer threatened to crush her with even greater strength; moving her legs to strike Vato was impossible, she was practically dug into the fake ground.

  No spell she had would be able to effect Vato, none that she could cast without movement. Except, perhaps...

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  A tiny smirk emerged on her face as the sparks in her Aura faded, the spell {Encharge} fading out. As soon as it did, Vato let out a roar of pain and let go of his hammer, allowing Lyi to easily move it to the side now that it had lost its supporting force. The hammer let off small sparks as it broke off from the Rui Undea, Lightning particles clear as day to Lyi surrounding it. Applying {Encharge} to an object didn't have many useful functions compared to an Aura infusion, especially since it required direct touch, but applying a shock to a Water Mage's hands through their weapon... that was useful.

  A disarmed Mage is not a defenseless Mage, however. As she was revelling about her successful move, one of her ears twitched in response to Vato's small whisper of "Di." Without a chance to get a word out, his {Clickrend} smashed against Lyi's {Shield} and tore through it after around half of its strength dissipated. She could hardly feel her arm get crushed inwards as the spell launched her the same way she had to Vato earlier.

  Ringing filled her ears as she collided with the fake walls. Her arm was fine, {Reinforce} saw to that. Her Rui Undea was still firmly attached to her hand, though its tip had pierced through the wall she was pushed up against. That Vato must have resistance beyond even hers to have gotten up from such an impact so swiftly. Releasing {Bind} and leaving her weapon in the wall, she slapped the sides of her face to get herself together and got back up.

  Vato was still trying to get his hammer up off the ground, a futile effort with the remnants of {Encharge} still left within it. Giving him no chance to breathe, she lifted her arm, clicked at the precipice and flung it back down to the ground with another click and a yell of "Hilia!". The delay on {Clickbolt} was enough that she was able to repeat the motion twice more before the first even began to descend. Vato must have thought she had failed to cast a spell with the look on his face before the first bolt fell. Lyi wasn't even watching as the bolts struck him, far more concentrated on trying to dislodge her Rui Undea from the wall. The yelling of Phar in whatever room he was sat in completely passed her by as she finally managed to dislodge the weapon, placing it back in the small slots designed for its storage on her coat.

  She took one small look at Vato. The hulk was charred, something that would have killed any ordinary Anshoran. Yet, he still pushed himself up from the ground, the charring slowly fading away from his skin. Lyi had an uneasy feeling...

  A deep blue scar in the shape of a compass carved itself into Vato's forehead, the blood that poured out having a light-blue hue. Those scars emerged all across his body, every wound that light-blue blood poured over healing rapidly. Lyi clicked her tongue, releasing her Rui Undea from its slots and standing back in [Casting Stance]. From the man's slowly raising Aura, she could connect the dots...

  "Shit, that's ."

  "I doubt you'll come 'cross this one, but I figure should teach ya either way. Ain't somethin' you can use, lass, but this is ."

  Lyi tilted her head, looking at the barechested Roch. The compass that the man had carved in his cheek began to faintly glow yellow, dull-yellow blood pouring out from it. Across his body, smaller, similar compasses emerged. That serene Aura the man had skyrocketed, flailing wildly against the shaking Seal that could barely contain it. She could even see that his body grew slightly larger and rougher, his pale skin taking on a colour more similar to red. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked strained to even speak,

  "T-this... it's our.. Actu-"

  Before he could finish his sentence, the compasses stopped glowing and his Aura weened back down to its normal level. Lyi hurried over as the man collapsed to his knees, blood pouring from any orifice it could find. Just as she got over to him, he waved his arm to signal her to stop,

  "I... ain't got it down, aye. Actualization technique, makes us strong as a bleedin' icebear, though not... usually with the actual bleeding. Makes us heal real fast too. Beze can't use it, to my know-how, but your preshows... you never know."

  Lyi immediately fired a {Clickrend} and swung her Rui Undea towards Vato, the power of [Rui - Di] dragging it down at extreme speed. But unlike before, Vato blocked it with his massive forearm, ripping it out of Lyi's hands by simply pulling his arm back. The weapon was practically a toothpick in the man's arm, it letting out a metallic clang as the rapid healing shoved it onto the ground.

  That volatile Aura of his stabilised at precisely 80cm, moving no further. He was just about weaker than Lyi in the magic department, not that Vato was even considering using any as he raised his fist. Lyi's eyes widened as she shifted herself so one of her wings would face the man's giant fist, as it came barrelling down towards her. The impact pushed her through the ground, the Force particles it was made of clearly struggling to keep her within the artificial field. Her entire body shook as she coughed out that scintillant golden blood, though Vato wasn't faring much better.

  The collision against her wing shattered the man's fist, bone jutting out from the knuckles and his thumb clearly broken from his improper technique. The wound was practically superficial with how fast more compasses formed on his body, that light-blue blood restoring him to his peak state. Practically his entire body was covered by those compasses at this point, his eyes dripping blood from how long the technique had been active.

  Even Lyi could tell that this was going a bit far for a simple sparring match, but none of the crowd seemed to want to stop the fight. She even spotted Roch in the crowd, giving her a little thumbs-up. She lightly sighed, a tired look on her face, as she looked up at the giant. Taking in another sharp breath, she directed the magical particles she had just taken in directly towards her Heart Core.

  Small lines of gold traced along her body as her Heart Core woke, a light smirk laying on her face. She clasped her hands together, activating {Rapid}, her hair standing on end. With her Heart Core awake, she shouldn't need to overlay a second to finish the giant off.

  In an instant, she disappeared from Vato's vision. He looked around confused for just a moment before he felt his hair being tugged - right as he fell backwards and Lyi's fist impacted his face. Before he was flung too far, she stepped on the hair that was laid on the ground and yanked him back again, repeating the same punch. Despite 's overwhelming strengths, the technique also had a major downside.

  Every single moment spent with active came with a drastic decrease in weight, at an exponential rate. Vato may have been turned into an overwhelmingly powerful giant, but at this point he may as well be a balloon. The man clearly hadn't mastered the technique, either, as he would have disabled by now if he had. The only way for someone new to its usage to disable it was to be knocked out.

  With one final strike, Lyi stepped off the man's hair and let him collide with the wall, the compasses fading from Vato's body as he fell to the ground and shrunk back to his normal size. She released the small amount of magic she had taken in to power her Heart Core, the strength and energy fading from her as she fell back into a normal state. For some reason, inexplicable to her, she raised her right arm in a fist as the crowd erupted into cheers.

  It almost felt like the natural response to her victory. After a short moment of savouring the crowd's cheering, she lowered her arm and walked towards the door that led out of the room. As she passed by Vato, she stopped herself for a moment before kneeling down. The man was still breathing, luckily. She let out a sigh of relief. Roch wouldn't have let her hear the end of it if she accidentally killed another person.

  As she wandered back into her room, she could faintly hear Phar start yelling again out on another stage. It was too far to be from one of her doors, so it must be one of Beze's matches. Come to think of it, she had seen the man in the crowd for her last fight. Was he... studying her fighting? That was... definitely a smart idea.

  Taking a few more moments to compose herself, she wandered back outside of the Opera House. Following the flow of the crowd and trying to ignore the constant heckling from people who just watched her match, she found herself looking into one of those Force-made arenas. Some kind of mountain range, almost similar to where Hope lived. Beze was... obvious enough, with him being himself. His opponent was clearly on the backfoot already, she was clearly much less powerful than Vato.

  Beze slicked back his hair and traced an X shape in the air with one hand, his voice murmuring "Guk'ni" in a soft tone. Two waves of earthen spikes pierced through the ground and intersected where Beze's opponent knelt, just barely avoiding her. Beze put his hands into pockets which clearly weren't part of the standard robe, wandered up to his opponent and whispered something into her ear. When she gave a small nod, he raised his arm with closed eyes, signifying his victory.

  The moment he opened his eyes, he threw his arm down and pointed directly towards Lyi, his voice raised to the point it was drowning Phar out,

  "Darlin', it's your turn next! Let's skip the other preshow and get to the main event, huh? These whelps are hardly glamorous enough to put on a good show, but you and I... lets light this stage up!"