The manager lead them out into a sand filled arena surrounded by stands filled with onlookers. The hum of a waiting crowd hitting them as soon as they were in the open.

"I thought this assessment would be more subdued," Kai said as he saw the crowds.

"Normally, you would be right. But it hasn't been that way for the last few weeks. Though I believe things are starting to die down a little," the guild manager said as she looked over her shoulder at Kai.

The lower seats that had access to the arena floor were full of the hopeful applicants. Many of them standing as they checked their equipment and adjusted their armour in preparation for their impending assessment.

The tier above that filled sporadically with individuals and a few groups of people that seemed entirely too serious, their gaze focussed on the applicants below them while many eyes turned to them as they were guided in by the guild manager.

Then the higher seats seemed full of onlookers and other individuals that seemed to be here merely for the entertainment, chatting, pointing and gossiping casually amongst one another.

"As you can see, we are quite busy these days. The news of the Tower and other opportunities in the Dawn Empire has invigorated guild recruitment. Many new and established guilds coming by each day, just to scout new applicants with potential. There are also more teams than usual here on the lookout for people to fill their ranks. Of course, the ever present masses in the back seats that come purely for the spectacle are also enjoying the extra entertainment."

Kai could feel a wash of examinations as they were led around the outer edge of the lower stands. The fact that the guilds on duty registration manager was personally guiding them, probably garnering them more attention than they originally wanted.

"Mistress Talious, there is a private booth just this way. I will ensure that this team has their assessment as soon as possible and then we will have a guide take all of you to the riders' association, if that is what you wish."

"Are you daft?" Talious asked the manager.

The woman flinched.

"I specifically told you I wished for anonymity, and you want to take me to a private booth. That will only draw more attention."

"Ah yes, I can see how that might be an issue… we normally tell the applicants to find a space on their own and wait till they are called."

"That will do," Talious said as she looked around. "How about over there? There is plenty of space."

Talious was pointing to a somewhat empty section of the lower stands where Kai could see Cillian, his little sister, and three identical cousins getting ready.

"Ah, those… Mistress Talious, I believe you know The Sage."

Talious shrugged, "the sage… that tickles my mind, are they important?"

The manager's eyes bulged slightly before she could get control of herself, "Yes well, The Sage is a very important figure, that team over there happens to be commissioned by The Sage personally for the purpose of levelling up and climbing The Tower when it opens."

Talious turned to look at Kai, Syl and Alicia, "Do you know what this tower is she keeps mentioning?"

They nodded.

It was amusing the lengths Talious was going to as she pretended she was a clueless dragon, out of touch with the going on of mere humanoids.

"Perfect. We'll sit with them."

"I- I can do that. Follow me," the manager stammered.

"I can see where I need to go. I'm sure you have plenty of things you need to see to. If you spend any more time with us, it will only draw more attention than I actually desire. Be gone," Talious said as she turned and walked in the direction stands where Cillian and his team were busy ignoring their arrival in the arena as they focused on sorting their gear.

The manager looked lost when they looked over to her for what they should do next. Her mouth worked, opening and closing as she tried to come therms with Talious dismissal. Eventually she shook herself and, seeing that they were still standing there looking at her, she cried, "For the spirit's sake, don't piss her off, go after her! If you are alive after this, you might just need diplomatic pins if she chooses to stick with you."

They didn't wait to be told twice, running the short distance to fall in behind Talious as she chuckled menacingly on the way around the arena. They followed slightly behind, their normal dynamic shifted from friends and teacher to that of strangers, the silence between them awkward.

"Please call me Talious. I'm aware that the name might cause issues, but when I checked, it turns out some people do, in fact, name their children after the red dragon. Though I've not been popular for a while."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mistress Talious," Alicia said, playing along perfectly.

Talious scoffed, "Please don't Mistress me, it's a bit much. Especially if I want to blend in."

That made Syl choke down a laugh, but she said nothing.

"Are these seats taken?" Talious said as she walked into a section of the stands, ignoring the reserved signs on at the ends and coming to one row up from Cillian's team.

Cillian just looked at her in confusion. 'This wasn't the plan' writ large on his face to all who knew they were already acquainted.

Thankfully, his little sister Niamh had more sense, and she shrugged. "I saw you with the manager when you came in, so it's safe to assume you have permission to be here, so no, help yourselves. Iit's not like we reserved the seats. We were just put here because of our backer."

"Excellent. I'm sure these three will do their best to keep out your way," Talious said as she settled down and Sicily made herself known when she turned from a hairpin into a single tailed white fox that sat on the Talious's head to look around the arena curiously.

Cillian turned to Kai and gave him a questioning look.

"Dont look at me. I'm just here for my assessment. Going where I am told, when I am told."

"I'm not complaining," one of the cousins said. Kai didn't even have to look at the name tag above her head to know it was Maeve. "Would you sit next to me if I told you to?"

Kai shook his head.

Their time together travelling to Cibaile with the occasional get together they had in the domain had done wonders for Kai telling them apart. Maeve was the most endowed and outwardly confident of the three.

"Yeah, if he wants to come sit down here with us. We wouldn't object," Aoife said quietly as she glanced his way.

Aoife sat in the middle in more ways than one. The shyest of the three around Kai, she often lead things when he wasn't around. Kai suspected she was also the smartest. Why? he didn't know. That's just the feeling he got from her.

Saoirse was too busy checking her armour to get in on the little play. She was the strong silent one, only really talking when she had something that she felt needed saying. She was the rock the other two relied on.

"Fair warning ladies, this one's happily married," Alicia said with a wry smile.

"To us…" Syl said tightly, letting a quiet implication sit in the air.

"We're all young hot-blooded women, I'm sure a consort or two wouldn't be a problem for a strong guy like him. When this is all over, we should find somewhere and have drinks. See how compatible we are?" Maeve said cordially.

"What about your guy? Don't you think he would have something to say about your frivolous nature?" Syl said, raising an eye.

"Ew no, we're all related," Saoirse said in disgust. "Haven't you examined us? We all share the Korabain name. And we're all he because he's the one with grand ideas of being some here. Job number one is to make sure he keeps it in his pants and doesn't sully the family name. Job two is adventure, that and the tower."

One of the few times Saoirse spoke up was to tease her cousin Cillian.

"Hey! You three wanted to come. It's my sister who tagged along to make sure I didn't… you know."

"How's that going?" Syl asked.

Niamh shook her head. "Five women, so far as we can tell, no contract or agreement."

Maeve spoke up, drawing the attention of those listening in the stands nearby. "Just whipped it out when they got him somewhere private. But I suppose it's not so bad. They failed to get him to make an agreement before they opened their legs so he has no legal obligations unless they can prove rape. But a truth reader will put a stop to any of that nonsense."

Cillian grinned like an idiot at the women who seemed to eye him differently.

"We made him make a system vow of celibacy until we finish our commission."

Cillian's grin vanished. "There were clauses that let me have a little fun, right? I didn't interpret that wrong, did I?"

"If it was a system vow, you couldn't have made it unless you understood. Unless the vow was poorly worded, in which case the system will favour your interpretation. I'm guessing it was well worded, but your sister and what was it, cousins, left you some wriggle room by the sounds of it," Syl said, her explanation making Cillian relax a little as the girls in his team all nodded along.

Kai coughed and did his best to not put his foot in his mouth when he asked, "Have you been waiting long?"

Cillian went to reply, but his sister nudged him and turned to answer in his stead. "We got here early, but when they found out who we were, I think they stalled the proceedings so the guilds and their scouts could get here. Not that we plan to join any guilds, our schedules pretty full because of our backer."

A chime rang out over the arena as someone stepped out into the middle of the sand. "Greetings, we apologise for the delay. May I remind everyone that this is an official guild assessment and not a show?"

The back stands booed and hissed cheerily.

"For anyone in the crowd looking to scout new adventurers for your guild or team, please be respectful of their registration request. We will announce if they are looking or if they are not."

The middle stands seemed to grumble more than anything else.

"For our applicants. And I hate that I have to do this because if you don't know how things work and you've got this far, then you're in the wrong fucking place."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"You will be called, you will come down, and you will face a randomly selected bronze or higher ranked adventurer based on your current level. You will give it your all until the fight is called, or you are forced to submit. While we have medical staff at the ready, we ask that you avoid critical strikes. If you are thought to be deliberately aiming to kill or maim your opponent, this will not, I repeat not, look good and you may be rejected by the guild."

There was a grumble from the upper stands as they seemed to be here more for the spectacle than anything else.

"When you are called, it will not be in the order of when you registered or have anything to do with your status. You are applying to join the guild. If you can't check your privilege at the door, fuck off. We don't want you."

The crowd laughed again, but Kai noticed a few in the lower stands shift uncomfortably, while others looked their way to where they currently sat in the reserved seats.

"We will call the crafters up first so that they may make their way over to the crafting hall once they are done to do the crafting assessments. They have paid extra for the privilege, don't you fucking worry. Then we will run through any full teams we have so they can fuck off and talk to any guild scouts that want them."

The crowd chuckled.

"We will then start working through solo applicants and incomplete teams. This is so you can see what's on offer and maybe even recruit one another. You may think this is counterintuitive, but the guild has found it is better for new adventurers to merge with other new adventurers. As they say, the longer someone has been adventuring, the harder it is to wash new blood off your armour."

That was a new saying for Kai. He guessed it had to do with the emotional toll more than the difficulty of washing the blood off. Blood was blood after all, unless…. Could the blood of the different races actually be somehow different or…

"Now we are busier than usual, with six solo applicants, one full team, seven partial teams and one crafter. Guess who is going first? Ester Stormvairn, Martial defender, advanced infusion, rune craft, and many other useful crafts. No team but they are not looking, and again, not interested in any guilds, sorry everyone," The announcer said, not sounding remotely apologetic.

A short, slim, armoured figure walked out onto the sand, large oversized gauntlets flexing as she stretched and warmed up.

Quite a few people leaned forward to get a better look and examine her.

"Ooh, a crafter and a defender, with just the three of you. It would have been a good recruit. Shame she isn't looking for a party right now. Though I have heard that doesn't stop people from approaching people once they leave," Cillian said with a turn of his head.

"Maybe. It all depends on how good they are," Alicia murmured.

"They have been matched against a mage, as usual. No spoilers. While we do not discourage people researching the people you may face in your assessment. We believe it goes against the spirit of the assessment."

There was a murmur that washed through the crowd as a tall, wiry woman in red robes walked out to meet Ester on the sand.

"What's that about?" Kai asked.

"Mages are typically a bad match up for defenders as they usually deal a lot of damage from range, maybe even hinder the defenders movements, or mess with their skills and abilities," Aoife said without looking back, a measure of concern in her voice as she looked on.

Once the announcer cleared the arena's sand, there was another chime.

The mage conjured a ball of roaring fire and threw it at Ester as a blast behind the small armoured figure sent her flying towards the mage.

It looked like she would collide with the spell and the mage visibly relaxed.

Only as Ester was about to be hit by the fireball, she lifted a gauntleted hand and caught the spell.

Apparently, the mage wasn't expecting her to do this as Ester arrived too close for comfort, causing them to backpedal as she smashed through their barrier with the use of their own spell.

The offensive spell that had been made so that it wouldn't interfere with the defence spell now being used as a way to bludgeon the weak points in the barrier.

As Ester blew through one hastily constructed barrier after the next, the mage worked to regain their advantage as they unleashed a wave of raw fire that washed over Ester.

Her armour, a mishmash of leather, plate and chain began to glow with dim orange runes that had been hidden anywhere she could fit them, as the heat of the flame was pulled out of the magic, snuffing out the spell wherever it touched her armour.

Kai watched in confusion as the mage backed up further, throwing up one sloppy barrier after another before she stopped a few feet off from the wall to start casting something more complicated.

"Why do I get the feeling that mage is scared?"

"Because she is," Temra said as she sat down behind them. "That mage is what, fifteen levels higher than her, but they're probably a glass cannon when it comes to their stats. All mana core with little on the physical side."

The sequential thump, thump, started below as Ester used the energy she had stolen from the mages' own flamethrower spell to break her way through one barrier after another.

"Fire users are used to people being naturally weary of flames and heat. The mage probably didn't expect Ester in her armour to take the spells head on, let alone absorb them. Gear that can absorb and contain magic it is not built to specifically contain is rare… that Ester managed to make such a thing make her an asset to anyone."

Kai shivered as the air felt colder.

Ester broke through the last barrier just as the mage finished what they were working on.

The mage grinned and took a step forward, raising their hand to strike at Ester with a whip of dripping heat.

Ester kept moving, unperturbed by the mage's attack, and as she got close, she stomped her foot down to create a small shockwave of sand rippling away from them.

The mage looked down, preparing to avoid the attack.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Kai groaned, remembering when he made the same mistake in a training session with Ester and Kardain.

Ester swung her gauntleted fist into the mage's side, then hooked around with the other. Again and again she smacked the mage in a series of fast light hits that looked like they did no damage at all.

Still, the mage stumbled back and raised their whip to strike back, only for them to falter and cough up blood before they could bring it down in an attack.

Ester deciding this was enough stepped back and bowed to her opponent as they collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Their whip flicking about madly on the arena floor before it finally lay still forming a line of molten glass where it spluttered out. A small amount of heat returning to the small arena as the magic was released.

The crowd went wild as two women in white coats, a human and an el'vei by the looks of them, ran out to check the mage.

Ester stayed close by, her helmet pealing back in layers of animated metal as she spoke to the two that came out.

One of them checking on the mage while the other nodded along for a moment before pulling out a bottle and forcing the contents down the mage's throat.

"Internal injuries, light taps that send shockwaves of unfused mana into the internal organs. Nasty, especially when you add up multiple hits, all targeting the same internal location," Talious said as she studied what was happening below.

"Shockwaves are hard to stop. Even with armour they carry straight through you if there is no insulation. It's the reason why avoiding or deflecting an attack is always better than blocking one head on," Temra said, adding to the explanation.

"To think she beat a bronze ranked adventurer. Are we sure we need Cillian? I'd gladly substitute her any day," Saoirse commented with a grin, appreciating the work of the other defender while teasing her team mate.

"Hey!" Cillian complained. "One good defender is enough."

"The mage was holding back the entire time. They are here to test us, not defeat us. Had that mage gone all out from the start, it would have been a different match," Niamh said as she held a hand out, feeling the mana in the air. "They stripped a lot of the heat out of the air to make that whip. I'm going to use that to my advantage… it's going to get a lot colder in here when I have my turn. Shame I didn't get that match up. A pyromancer would be easy fodder for me as a thermomancer," she said as she turned and winked at Kai.

Talious harrumphed, blowing a blast of warmer air out over them. Saying nothing, only to grin devilishly at Niamh when she looked at the ember dragon in horror.

"Are thermomancers that good?" he asked honestly, not knowing much about the skills and abilities of Cillian's team, as he spent most of his time avoiding them.

Niamh's eyes went wider in surprise as she turned to look at Kai. Her jaw dropped and her shoulders slumped as everyone else chuckled. Folding her arms, she pouted and turned back to look down at the arena with a scowl.

"Sorry, it's not something I have heard of before."

"The little lady is just disappointed in your reaction, Kai. It's an advanced branch of magic. Rare for someone at her level to pick up unless they are naturally gifted. Most mages stick to hot or cold, only branching into thermomancy in the later years of their career. Understanding the energy in things, manipulating it to make them hot or cold. You should see it as more than just good. It's impressive," Temra explained.

"Naturally gifted, that's… cool," Kai said, genuinely acknowledging the information, though he had no means of reference for which to judge these things, like how impressive natural gifts were.

Niamh picked up her slumped shoulders to sit a little straighter as she turned to stick her tongue out at Kai.

He made a mental note to see whose natural gift was superior, her thermomancy, or his… control over time and space… fuck, did that have a name? He had heard of chronomancy. There had to be another term for people who controlled space. Would that change when he combined the two schools? And what would he be if he ever got the hang of gravity?

Kai was snapped from his thoughts when the announcer's voice rang out loud and clear over the muttering crowds.

"No question here, Ester Stormvairn, Accepted at high-mid tin. Now they're off to their crafting assessments. Wish them luck. And remember, they are not currently looking for a party through the guild. I suggest anyone who is interested keep a close eye on the requitement board as that has been known to change," The Announcer called out from somewhere unseen.

"Why is she not looking for a party through the guild?" Kai asked them.

"Same reason we aren't looking for party members through the guild for you. The guild heavily monitors party applications. They like to make sure no one's being exploited when they join an established party. Which is fair. But they also limit incentives that can be used to entice people into joining a party. It means that for someone like Ester, they won't get what they are worth. The loop hole is, of course, to not use the guild," Temra explained.

"Don't people get exploited when they go outside the guild?" Kai asked .

"Sometimes, but the guild keeps an eye out and gets involved if they need to. It's weird, but they have been doing it this way for centuries. It's a system which does its best to protect the commoner while allowing the nobles and guilds to get competitive when they decide someone is worth headhunting."

"Like that Ester."

"And you three… or these five we find ourselves sitting with in the reserved section," Temra said, barely hiding the annoyance from her voice.

"Sorry for the delay. Late registration of another crafter, Omeg, class gardener? woodwork? Solo registration, looking for a team."

I tall man with limbs that seemed a bit too long, green and dull brown dreadlocks and rough olive skin walked out into the sand.

The moment he reached the middle of the arena, there was a chime and a woman in leather armour charged out to great him, her sword out as she swung for him.

Omeg backed off quickly, stumbling as he went, shoots of green springing up from the sand all around him.

His attacker didn't falter.

Omeg didn't pull out a wand or staff, he just kept gesturing frantically around him as he backed off further and further.

The shoots of green writhing and coiling as they fought to grow in the path of the assault.

The attacker slowing slightly as they had to work harder and harder to break free of the plants that wrapped her boots.

Soon she was paying more attention to the ground and where she trod, then she was Omeg.

The mage seemed to relax upon seeing his plants had taken root in the sand and were hindering the swordswoman more and more.

He even started to get cocky as he actually started to approach the woman, gesturing more and more as plants sprung up all around them.

The plantlife now wrapping around her lower limbs and holding her sword in place.

As more and more types of plant wrapped themselves around the woman, flowers of every hue sprouted on the vines that entangled her.

The man grinned and folded his arms in satisfaction.

Thunk, thunk, chime.

A throwing dagger appeared in each of Omeg's shoulders and the woman held another at the ready, her last throw only halted by the chime.

Omeg fell back as his flowers slowed and stilled around the arena.

A woman in white ran out to each combatant.

"Damn he lost. I thought he had it. The swordswoman was entangled. But he relaxed a little too soon, and she got the better of him with those throwing daggers," Cillian sighed.

"It was a draw," Talious said dryly.

They all turned to look at Talious, who just pointed to the arena where the swordswoman was now frantically trying to free herself from the plants that entangled her. Lashing out at anyone who tried to help her.

"You think those plants are toxic?" Cillian asked despite himself and the evidence before them.

"I know they are. Nothing too dangerous but they cause hallucinations, lethargy and eventually unconsciousness… then death if she isn't recovered," Talious said matter-of-factly.

"He might not be a good match for the team, but we could use a gardener…" Alicia said with a look over to Syl.

Syl nodded.

"Noted, I'll approach him. He might be looking for a place to establish a grove..." Temra said as she looked off to the side with a distant look.

"A grove?" Kai asked, not at all following what they were saying.

"Omeg is a Drus, his abilities are racial," Syl said as if that explained anything they had been talking about.

Kai Just looked at her.

"Drus are male Dryads… one in a hundred-thousand. They're only created when a grove of dryads grows... bored or sick. You boys aren't actually that special," Talious explained with a roll of her eyes, "and yes, he will be looking to start a grove. They are a protected species… still, it's foolish of him to come out in the open like this. This one could do with attending classes on the different races."

"I shall arrange that," Temra said with another distant look to the side.

"Apologies, had to clear the arena. Omeg is accepted at low tin. Maeve Korabain, please come to the arena," the announcer called as the swordswoman was carried away unconscious on a stretcher.

"Wish me luck," Maeve said as she reached down and picked up a beautiful compound bow, a bow not too dissimilar to one that Alicia had been practicing with in the domain.

A quick glance to Alicia and Kai knew to keep his mouth shut.

The feeling he got through the bond telling him they had arranged this. The followup telling him that it was less suspicious that Maeve, a ranger selected by The Sage, coming from Dawn, would actually possess the first prototype weapon of The Dawn Empire.

The plan being that Alicia would use a typical bow until either Gift hatched and she could use him again or their friendship with Cillian's team had been established and it didn't look suspicious that she had access to the new technology before it hit the market.

Just as Maeve got to the end of the row of seats, she turned and looked directly at Kai. "If I win, let me buy you a drink, yeah?"

Before Kai could reply, there was a chuckle from the stands around them as Maeve turned to walk down to the arena, adjusting her hip quiver and the fit of her cloth and leather armour.

"Maeve Korabain, Ranged specialist and sniper. Full team, not looking for supporting members at this time nor a guild, all guild requitement requests must go through their backer… no further information."

Kai looked about, doing his best to play dumb. "You have a backer?"

Aoife went to reply, but it came out in a mumble.

Niamh spoke up in her stead, "Why do you think we're sitting in the reserved seats? The moment they confirmed we were who we said we were, they shoved us here, which begs the question. Why are you here?"

Kai felt something on his shoulder shift and he just smiled as he tilted his head in Talious's direction, "New backer, I guess."

Temra groaned.

"You have to impress me first, boy," Talious said with a toothy grin.

Chime.

The twin thwack and resounding thud of bow strings being released and arrows colliding with stone walls echoed through the silent arena as archer faced off against archer.

Maeve and her opponent both circling the outer edge of the area as they aimed, fired and dodged one another shots.

"Archer vs archer… not a bad matchup, but not a good one either," Aoife said as she watched her sister make good use of the compound bow to prepare a shot, move and adjust before firing.

Her opponent, a gnomel woman by her height and build, was using a short bow by comparison, the small weapon actually fitting her size better than any regular bow would and making for a smaller nimble target that would be harder to hit.

The two of them snapping off one arrow after another. Each of them trading fire one arrow at a time, as neither of them dared to stand still long enough to prepare anything significant.

Any advantage the compound bow might have given Maeve eliminated by her opponent's superior stats and experience that allowed her to fire off shots on the move casually. While Maeve prepared a shot and held it comfortably until she felt the time was right to fire it off.

Kai watched as Aoife's knee began to bounce up and down nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Maeve, my sister, she is our scout. She usually deals with catching opponents unawares, taking out captains and commanders before they can become an issue. Then working from the back keeps us clear of any other ranged threats in a fight. This small arena, against another archer, it's not ideal."

"That's why they did it. Remember, this is a test," Temra said. "This is actually the fairest thing they can do. Both archers have the same handicap."

"I thought the opponents were random," Cillian said without turning away.

Syl, Temra and Talious scoffed at that.

"Soo, not random at all, got it," Kai said, picking up the implication.

"Kai, you'll likely fight another swordswoman. Alicia, a mage or archer, and Syl… Syl, you'll probably fight a defender, or a rogue, the way we registered your skill sets will make it harder for them to decide your opponents," Temra said, laying out her expectations for the fights to come.

There was a bang followed by a pop and another bang, pop, as both archers released a custom arrow that filled the arena with smoke.

The repeated thwack of bowstrings telling the grumbling arena that the fight was still ongoing, the cadence of shots getting slower and slower as the smoke thickened.

"Can anyone see anything?" Aoife said as she leaned forward with the rest of her team, the question not actually directed at anyone in particular.

Kai activated his mana sense and sight skills in unison to feel and see the two combatants were circling closer and closer. Each one holding a shot, waiting for any giveaway that the other was nearby before releasing. "Is Maeve not… you know. An arcane archer like our Alicia here?"

Cillian went to say something, but he was jabbed in the ribs by his sister as she turned to give Kai a suspicious look.

Syl sighed, "That would be telling, Kai. Remember, it's rude to ask about people's skills. That and a lot of people hold back during these events. Something you need to keep in mind."

"Sorry, I was just thinking. She could learn a thing or two from both you and Alicia."

It was then that Maeve slowed, coming to a stop as her opponent continued to move through the smoke.

"What could I possibly teach her that she doesn't already know?" Syl said with an eye roll. "But yes, Alicia, what do you think about sharing some of your knowledge?"

Alicia shrugged. "We will have to wait and see."

Maeve lifted her bow and started tracking her opponent perfectly as they moved about, and Kai realised that Syl had already shared some of her knowledge to help out their friend.

Aiming down slightly, she released her arrow.

There was a cry followed by a chime, and the crowd went silent, waiting to hear the result.

"I don't know if I like how flirty she is with Kai. She is going to have to beg if she wants to learn anything I can teach her," Alicia said tersely.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Syl said as she nudged a serious Alicia with her shoulder. "Even with all the flirting, she would have to come up to Kai and kiss him for the clueless fool to find out she is interested in him like that. And let's be clear she wouldn't like our reaction if she tried that approach."

Both Aoife's and Niamh's ears twitched at that bit of information as they watched for the smoke to clear and waited for the outcome while they pretended that wasn't also directed at them.

Kai guessed they already knew the outcome, as he could see that Maeve had already approached her opponent, that had all of their weight on one leg, the meat of her other thigh penetrated by an arrow.

The two seemed to be discussing their fight as her opponent currently held the compound bow, drawing it and holding it before slowly releasing the pressure.

A woman in white walked out onto the sand in no particular hurry. The smoke sucked down into the sand as she got close to the wounded archer.

When she got close to the pair, she asked one question. Happy with the answer, she grabbed the shaft of the arrow and pulled it free, to the surprise of the woman it used to be imbedded in. She slapped the women's wounded thigh, leaving a significant amount of mana behind, handed the arrow to Maeve, then left the injured archer behind.

A moment later, they were both running around collecting arrows.

"Maeve Korabain accepted, high-mid tin… Saoirse Korabain, can you please come to the arena?" the Announcer called out.

"That's me," Saoirse said with a grunt as she stood up, her plate mail armour shifting against itself but making no sound as a multi faceted helmet came to life and wrapped itself around her head from where it had been resting around her neck. The joints and seams sliding past one another as she turned to make her way out of the stands.

"I have got to get me one of those helmets," Kai said quietly.

"Good luck with that. It was a dungeon reward," she said as she passed.

"What about the one Ester has?"

"You would have to ask her. She was a crafter, wasn't she?"

When she got to the bottom of the stairs to the arena, she met Maeve coming the other way. They said nothing to each other, only fist bumping as they passed .

Maeve patted Cillian on the head as he congratulated her. The rest of her team getting an enthusiastic fist bump as she walked along the row to her seat on the end.

Sitting down, she turned slightly to grin at Kai. "I owe you a drink," she said with winked and turned back to watch her sister walk out into the arena.

"I don't remember anyone accepting that bet… but if you let our archer Alicia look at that strange bow you used, I'm sure I can find the time in their busy schedules for you to have that drink," Temra said.

Maeve's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she looked to Alicia, then down to her bow and back again before sighing and gesturing to Alicia for her to come sit beside her.

Alicia got up and changed her seat, taking her own gear with her as she made a show of studying the compound bow for everyone in the stands that was more focused on them in the reserved seats than they were what was happening in the arena.

"Saoirse Korabain, Defender, same team, so guess what? Not looking," the announcer called out just before a chime.

A short woman in blue robes pointed a short straight stick at Saoirse as the armoured woman tucked her form behind a large round shield and charged across the area, her sword held out and low as she moved to close the distance.

There was a blast of pinkish blue mana from the mage's outstretched stick.

The spell looked like a primitive mana bolt to Kai, but it fizzled away as it impacted Saoirse's shield, leaving a weird after glow that seemed to sink on the metal.

There were a few more blasts, each shot aiming low at Saoirse's legs, the impacts fizzling again, the same weird after glow left behind on the plate as Saoirse stumbled.

Talious tsked.

"What is it?" Kai asked.

"Magnemancy, they are making that kid's armour highly magnetic. It's throwing her movements off as it binds up. Don't know if it's that wand the mage is using or if it's their actual skill set… Doesn't matter. That Saoirse has too much momentum, and her gear's a bit better than that wand, which I think is coming to the limit of its charges."

There were a few more blasts, but Saoirse seemed to know what was happening and she pulled her sword in close as the bolts impacted the sand. The impact points clumping together in weird spiky lumps of darker sand.

Saoirse was getting dangerously close, but the mage didn't dodge. instead they stowed the wand in their robes and pulled out a bottle.

They pulled the cork and splashed a line in the sand, their other hand reaching out as they started a chant.

It was then that Saoirse shouted something.

The short mage faltered, stopped and visibly shook as she shouted something back.

Saoirse tucked in tighter as she stepped off with a burst of extra speed.

The mage realised they couldn't finish their chant in time and stepped back, reaching into her robes again as the full weight of Saoirse in all her armour slammed into them with her heavy tower shield.

They flew backwards as Saoirse came to an abrupt stop. All of her momentum passed on to the unsuspecting mage as they continued back to slam into the arena wall where they crumpled to the floor and didn't get back up.

A chime followed shortly after as the crowd cheered.

"Nice taunt and a good transfer of energy. Did you teach her that? It's not too different to thermomancy," Talious asked.

Niamh shook her head.

"Still, it is a good branch of magic for a defender. Can she take hits, store the energy, and release it later?"

Niamh harrumphed.

"That would be telling," Cillian said without looking back, a smile lifting his cheeks as he seemed to get the idea of the ruse they were all playing.

"Ok, what are you talking about?" Kai asked, honestly not knowing. He really should have taken a minute to check on their skill set while they were training in the domain.

"Saoirse just transferred all her momentum into the mage, with her heavy armour and the difference in weight class…" Temra said with a dramatic wince.

"The mage got hit hard," Kai said as he noticed the weird glow from before was now on the mage themselves. The sand in the arena piling up against them as they struggled to get up. "Transferred the effect of that wand they used back to them in the impact?"

"So you are paying attention," Talious chuckled.

"I am still adding lessons on the different schools of magic to his schedule. There are thousands of them, but having a grounding on the subject couldn't hurt. We at least wouldn't have to explain the simple things."

"Just how unaware is he?" Niamh asked.

"Oh, you know, boys. They either think they know everything but know nothing at all and are too dumb to ask questions. Or they are smarter than they look and ask too many questions, making everyone think they know nothing while they absorb information like a sponge. In Kai's case, I guess you could say he was sheltered. Everything he knows is from fiction, not reality," Syl explained with an evil smile.

"Oh, one of those… His mom over protective of her precious baby boy? Did she not let him out much, tried to keep him away from the girls?"

"It was more self inflicted than anything else."

Niamh nudged her brother. "This one's been around family all his life, always trying to sneak away. Caught him peaking on our nanny once."

"Saoirse Korabain, accepted, mid tin. Will-"

Aoife got up.

"-Cillian Korabain, please come to the arena."

"Oh, thank the spirits!" Cillian jumped out of his seat and he ran away from the conversation.

They all laughed as they watched him go. His sword flapping against his hip as he put on his helmet, the rim catching his ears in his haste, causing him to falter and curse before he got them tucked in.

The whole area bursting into cheers, whistles and even some cat calls as he made his way down past his cousin.

"Let me guess. We revealing Cillian's dirty little secrets?" Saoirse said as she sank back into her seat.

"The nanny," Aoife said, filling her sister in on the subject of the moment.

"His first and only true love. Nearly got her fired, from what I hear. He went on a hunger strike and everything. It broke his little heart when she landed that contract, got pregnant and left."

"What about you? Who was your first love?" Aoife said with a look over her shoulder at Kai.

Kai glanced at Syl. He wasn't exactly sure who his first love was. He had crushes in flings in his past, but would he have ever called those relationships love? it was hard to tell as none of them really lasted that long. Lust maybe mild infatuation or possibly even curiosity. Too few, too short, too confusing to really know.

"He is thinking. Kai wants to say Syl here, but now he is contemplating what love is," Alicia answered for him.

The clash of metal on metal told Kai that Cillian's assessment had started

"He told me about a crush he had on one of his teachers…" Syl started.

Kai focused his attention on the arena. Cillian had improved significantly since Kai had last trained beside him.

Cillian was near Kai's own level now and he had obviously benefitted from the extra time onboard the Spirit of Exploration, training his sword kata under the eyes of an expert and then getting some real world experience in what he heard was about ten different dungeons.

No skill or ability was used in their bout as his opponent, another swordswoman, was clearly intent on testing the extent of Cillian's swordsmanship as the two of them danced around the arena.

Steel met steel, parry, then riposte, deflection and deflection, a counter, then a strike. The pace increasing with each manoeuvre, until eventually Cillian couldn't keep up anymore.

And suddenly it was all over. Cillian had his legs swept from under him, dropping him to a knee and a blade stopping at his throat where the tip lifted the rim of his helmet.

The Chime signalled the end of the bout and Killian ripped his helmet off, his shoulders heaving as he caught his breath. His opponent did the same. The woman grinned at Cillian as she tucked her helmet under her arm and brushed her short brown clear of her face as she said something.

Cillian seemed to think for a moment before saying something that made the woman pout before she turned and swaggered away.

"Cillian Korabain, accepted mid tin. Will Niahm Korabain make please come to the arena?"

When Cillian got back to the seats Maeve asked, "what was that about?"

"She, er, she offered me some training, some, er, one-on-one training. I had to refuse… but I got her info if I feel like actual training sometime."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.