“Well, that happened.” Leyla grunted toward where the Shadowborn Royal had been. “Pretentious prick.”

“I see you’ve picked up some colorful insults while I’ve been training,” Aiden said, resisting the urge to sigh.

“What now?” Isaac asked as he looked around, uncertain.

“We continue to train. There’s no way of getting around it, unless we can somehow get someone else to earn an Authority so I can fight the gauntlet myself. But first, there’s something else I have to tell all of you while we’re here.”

They silently waited for him to speak, and he looked over each of them. He may not like Adam and Madison all that much, and things had changed with Anna, but they were all his people—all humans from Earth.

“Don’t say something like that and then keep us waiting,” Josh called, rolling his eyes at Aiden’s melodrama.

“What he said.” Two black and white streaks of lightning hopping lively between James’ hands. “You said train, and we have unfinished business.”

“How many times have we been over this already? Wait your place in line. I get to fight him next,” Josh grunted back, eyeing James with an annoyed glare.

“Regardless of who wins the gauntlet, there will be a final duel. I will be dueling Xenith—”

“No!” Leyla hissed. “She’s mine. If we’re doing this, then I will be the one to take her down.”

“That’s not possi—”

“Make it possible then!” A dangerous glint in her eyes and an angry swish of her scythe later, and Aiden pushed the conversation off for another time.

Tried to, at least.

Ian raised a hand, as if trying to ask a teacher a question in class, realized what he’d done, and coughed uncomfortably in a fist to try and recover. “If you have to duel Xenith either way, then what’s the point of the team grinder session?”

“Point for the kid,” Josh muttered. “Didn’t think of that myself.”

Anna pursed her lips. “It’s a game to her.”

“That’s right.” Aiden nodded. “For each member left on the victor’s team, the arena enhances the winner’s strength. If we could—”

“Then you don’t have to fight her,” Anna said, gesturing toward Leyla. “Someone else already wants to and has unresolved issues there. You could just represent our whole team, Aiden.”

“Huh?” more than a few people questioned at the same time.

“What are you trying to say?” Aiden asked, confused where she was going.

Anna pointed at both Aiden and Leyla. “You two give off the same strange energy. Something unfamiliar that isn’t arcana or spirit, which I presume to be the Authority you claimed that you’ll be using to challenge Xenith with.”

Leyla hummed. “I hate to admit it, but the girl has a point.” She leaned in closer to Aiden. “Two Becomes One, we share a soul. That is to include our bond with Blizzy, Midrath’s Authority, and Earth’s Authority. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to challenge her, in theory.”

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“How do we test that though?” he whispered back, watching the others impatiently wait for their private impromptu conversation to come to an end with some kind of meaningful resolution.

“The seat, obviously. I felt the ability to modify and issue commands to the spirit of the world when we were there the first time, but I didn’t want to intrude at the time. It should be possible.” She gestured toward the others. “Tell them.”

Despite the conversation, Aiden still wanted to confirm things before getting all of their hopes up. He began to prepare to say exactly that when he met their inquisitive gazes. They all wanted to know. He could see it.

They wanted to know, and if they were gonna do this, he’d still need a team. If things went wrong, they would need to know.

Aiden grabbed Leyla’s hand. “During the time I was captured, we underwent a process and merged our souls. After we subdued the other Towns and expanded Zion’s influence, I gained Midrath’s Authority. While we visited Earth, I also gained Earth’s Authority. Because of this merging of souls, we think Leyla may be able to challenge Xenith in my stead. And I believe I can beat Xenith’s champions after training and familiarizing myself with my new abilities. But you will all still have to come with. We can’t do this without having a full team.”

He took a deep breath and looked at each of them. Some nodded, some shrugged. Mostly, he saw support in their eyes.

Then he continued, “This will be dangerous, even if things go well. Getting to Xenith will not be as simple as getting to Kyriall. The Valkyr do not want us there and have death wishes. We’ll verify Leyla’s ability to draw upon Midrath’s authority—”

Instead, Leyla grinned and pointed at Adam. “Kneel.”

Adam kneeled instinctively, unable to resist the Authority’s command.

“Or we’ll do that,” Aiden said, exasperated. “Well, at least this way we know it works.”

“Rise.” When she released the command, Adam glared at Leyla but didn’t dare open his mouth. She completely ignored him and twirled her scythe excitedly. “Did the Guardian speak of what level of power is granted for each surviving competitor? As loath as I may be to admit, I am no match for Xenith as I am now.”

“All he said was it would bring the challenger to the level of Xenith herself if even half of the team were to win, but he was far from optimistic.” Aiden pursed his lips. Was he taking the champions too lightly? The elites hadn’t been much of a problem.

But he’d been captured.

Leyla and Veletya, together, had been enough of a threat. He’d grown much, but these were battle-crazed Valkyr. Effectively immortal with an insatiable desire to improve or find honor in death.

“To be wrong is to die,” he muttered to himself, then looked around. Josh smashed his fists together, and James approached with a vicious grin. “I guess you both will be getting those fights after all. Now that we have a semblance of a plan, it’s time to make sure I’m not wrong.”

“Don’t leave me out of this,” Anna said as she stepped forward, leaving Ian, Isaac, Adam with Varothgar, and Madison behind in a row.

Aiden nodded. This would do. “These are the sparring teams for the first session. Saving Khione will have to wait. She’s managed this long, surely she’ll still be there when I get around to beating Xenith and raising Blizzy as a proper monster empress successor.”

They halted their forward advance, and Josh raised a questioning brow. “You seem to have forgotten to mention a few things.” He shrugged. “We’ll just have to beat it out of you.”

“Go ahead and try.” Grinning, Aiden led them away from Arkayan’s area and much farther from Zion’s surrounding region. He didn’t know the limitations of his current powers and hadn’t even remotely tested them so far. The last thing he wanted to do was turn everything into a frozen wasteland while training. “I’ll beat some sense into all of you.”

“Sounds a lot more enjoyable this time around. Same place?” Josh asked, then ran in front of Aiden after his guess was confirmed. “Can’t say I ever thought we’d go back there, but if you’re even stronger than what you used to be… It’s for the best.”

“What about us?” Isaac called as they started getting farther away. “What do we do?”

Aiden turned back around and raised a hand, drawing on his new Blizzard Mastery. A small storm formed overhead and rained down ice pillars for each of them. He’d drawn on his new Greater Path: Truth of Crystallization, Inheritor of the Nebulus.

There were five for each, formed with different levels of durability. “The first is the easiest to destroy. The last is the hardest. When you can destroy the third, you’ll be ready.”

If he were honest, he doubted Anna could break the fourth. James and Josh might, but the fifth? He doubted anybody, even himself, could destroy the crystal as tall as Josh. The sight of what his new power could achieve excited him, and he turned away with a wave over his head.

“You know where to hunt if you need more Essences, and I’m sure Arkayan will come back around. Ask if you want to try your hand at Ascension. Good luck!”