On the day of the Finals, Narvari met Trixan in a part of Draghein School she had never been to. The Elders’ Residence. It was the most exquisite home Narvari had ever seen. The serene ambiance within it suited Trixan’s calm and tender personality.

Trixan led Narvari to a room with a giant transparent cube. Narvari cocked her head to the side as she gazed at the surreal-looking cube. She looked back at Trixan, wondering what they were doing here.

“Where’s my Finals going to be?” Narvari asked. She was hoping to go to Ghana. She had heard there were a lot of demons in the Ghanaian parliament and she would like to pay a little visit to them. “Am I going to a town or a village? Or maybe a city. That sounds fun.”

“I have something else in mind.”

“What?”

Trixan pointed to the massive cube. “You’re going to Narraghan, my dear.”

“Narrawhat?”

“Narraghan. It’s a void dimension where we send demons we haven’t vanquished. Think of it as a prison for demons.”

“I have so many questions.” Narvari folded her arms. “What’s a void dimension? And why not send the demons back to Bezvar instead? That’s their home, right?”

“Mostly, yes. But it’s a waste of time sending them back to Bezvar. Vessels would only end up summoning them back to Earth. It’s how they ended up on Earth in the first place.”

Narvari’s eyes widened. Vessels were the reason why demons were on Earth?

“In Narraghan, however,” Trixan continued, “a Vessel can’t summon the demon.”

“Because it’s a void dimension?” Whatever the hell that was.

Trixan shook her head. “No, my dear. Because it was designed by the greatest mage alive. Don’t worry too much about the specifics, my dear. All you need to know is that you have to survive there for three days. I’ve programmed the portal cube to bring you back as soon as the time is up.”

Narvari nodded. “Are there any rules?”

“Just one,” said Trixan. Her deep green eyes intently gazed at Narvari. She put a hand on Narvari’s shoulder. “Stay alive, my dear. Narraghan is not a simulation. Everything you see there is real. If you die, you die.”

Narvari bit her lips.

“However,” said Trixan, taking off her xuul. “You can choose to opt out of the Finals if you feel you are in danger. Take the xuul. Once you press this button, you will immediately be brought back home.”

Narvari looked at the cute device. It looked like a wristband with a touchscreen. “I won’t pass my Finals if I call for help, will I?”

“No, you will not, my dear. But you can always try next year.”

Narvari paused. “I don’t think so. I’ll do this. You should keep your xuul.”

“Are you certain, my dear?”

“I thought you believed in me.”

Trixan smiled fondly. “I do.” She put the xuul back on her wrist.

“I don’t want you getting involved in the Finals, Trixan.” Narvari gave the Elder a meaningful stare. She didn’t want the woman intervening even if she was in danger. That would make everything Narvari had worked for futile. “I can do this.”

Trixan nodded. “I know. Now get inside the cube, my dear.”

Without hesitation, Narvari sauntered towards the cube. She halted in front of the empty glass cube and turned to look at Trixan. “I don’t see an opening anywhere.”

“It doesn’t need one. Just walk through it.”

“Through the glass?”

“It’s not glass.”

Narvari raised a brow. She expected Trixan to clarify but the Elder did not. She merely gazed at Narvari with a quiet smile. Realizing that was all the information she would be getting, Narvari cautiously put a hand on the glass. To her shock, her hand slipped right through the glass like it was some kind of fluid. A coolness enveloped her hand and she quickly withdrew it. She turned back to Trixan. The Elder smiled at her.

Narvari sighed. She walked right through the glass, the coolness embalming her body. She had expected to be transported to a different place altogether, but she found herself still standing in the cube, in the same room.

“Remember all your training, my dear. All you need to do is survive in there for three days.” Trixan’s eyes flickered as if she was uncertain about something. “I will respect your wishes and not interfere no matter what,” she said. “So I need you to survive, my dear. Do you understand?”

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Narvari nodded. “You have my word.”

Trixan nodded. Her attention went back to her xuul. She quickly typed on the screen and suddenly, a brilliant white light flooded the cube, washing over Narvari’s body like a torrent of rain. Narvari narrowed her eyes when she saw that her hands had become one with the light as though she was the light itself. Her body felt lighter and lighter until eventually, she felt completely weightless. The world seemed to have disappeared around her. Or perhaps, more accurately, she had disappeared from the world.

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Four days later

A knock on the door pulled Narvari out of her deep sleep. Jesus, who the hell was it? She was trying to rest and heal after her traumatic experience in that void dimension. If she thought fighting virtual demons in all those simulations was difficult, then what she went through in Narraghan was a hundredfold worse. She spent most of her three days in Narraghan hiding from demons instead of vanquishing them.

Trixan never mentioned to her that Narraghan was full of greater demons whom Narvari could never vanquish because of her weak savaz.

While she succeeded in keeping herself hidden most of the time, she had been unlucky enough to fight several seventh-order demons. Although Narvari couldn’t vanquish seventh-order demons with her fifth-order savaz, she was still able to protect herself by using Trinity.

With sacred vision, she located the weak points of the demons, thereby inflicting grave damage on them before escaping. Of course, she too had earned her fair share of injuries. Three days later, while she was in the middle of an intense fight with a ninth-order demon (a one-sided fight to be honest because the demon just kept thrashing her around like a rag doll), she was suddenly whisked out of the void dimension back into Trixan’s home.

After receiving medical care, Narvari retired to her room to sleep. The news of passing her Finals and receiving her vanquisher license soon wasn’t even enough to give her the energy to celebrate. All she wanted to do was rest her weary bones. And that was what she had been doing for almost twenty-four hours without any interruption. Until now.

The knock came back again. This time it was even louder than before. Okay, this was definitely Yanvirrak. The only reason he had not broken into her room already was that Narvari had locked it. Groaning into her pillow, Narvari dragged herself out of the bed towards the door. She opened the door.

Yanvirrak grinned at her. She glared at him.

“Well, damn, you look like hell, Shar.”

“Yeah, well, I was in hell, Heist. Bye.” Narvari was about to slam the door when Yanvirrak stopped it with his thin, yet strong grip. He was really lucky she was still recovering her energy.

He smirked. “I wasn’t the one who tried to kill you during your Finals. So why do you look like you want to kill me?”

Narvari sighed. “Yanvirrak, I’m exhausted right now. Can we talk later?” She added thoughtfully, “Please?”

Yanvirrak raised a brow like he could not believe Narvari had just been polite to him. At this point, Narvari would say anything to get the boy to leave her alone so she could sleep. She enjoyed his company, but she enjoyed her sleep more.

Of course, he didn’t leave. He just grinned at her. “I can leave, Shar. But are you sure you want to go back to bed without talking to her?”

Narvari hesitated. “Who?”

Yanvirrak touched Narvari’s forehead with the back of his palm. His face paled in concern. “Damn, did you hit your head back there or something?”

“No, but I’m about to hit your head right here if you don’t get your hands off me.”

“Jesus, what is it with you and violence?” Yanvirrak laughed.

“Says the guy who kills demons for a living.” Narvari rolled her eyes. She froze when

Pheera came from behind Yanvirrak. He got out of the doorway to give Pheera some space.

“Hi,” Pheera said.

Narvari’s eyes lit up, the exhaustion suddenly feeling insignificant. “Hi.”

Before Narvari could say anything, Pheera pulled her into a tight embrace. “I was so worried, Narvari.” Narvari’s hands slowly weaved up Pheera’s back and she patted it gently. Pheera’s lavender scent intoxicated her. She wished they could stay like this forever. But forever came too soon as Pheera pulled away from their embrace, but she didn’t let go of Narvari’s hand. “I heard you were in Narraghan. That place is full of greater demons and that scared me, you know. I thought… I thought–”

“I died?” Narvari chuckled. “I’m not that easy to kill, Pheera.”

The sound of Pheera’s laughter sent butterflies into Narvari’s stomach and then into her chest. “I think I understand that now,” said Pheera, caressing Narvari’s cheek. Pheera’s touch sent a shudder through her body.

“Do you want to come inside?” Narvari asked breathlessly while trying to ignore the heat growing in her chest.

“You look exhausted. I think you should go back to bed,” Pheera said. “I just got so anxious when I didn’t hear from you for a whole day after your Finals.”

“Sorry about that,” said Narvari. “I should have come to see you.”

“Oh no, it’s fine, Narvari. I’m just glad you’re alright.”

Narvari shrugged casually. “Well, it was nothing.” She had come close to death only about sixty-three times. No biggie.

Pheera smiled.”I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“I- I don’t mind if you stay.”

Pheera paused. “I’d like to stay too, but you do need your rest.”

This was just like the first time Narvari was in Draghein School and Pheera kept insisting she rested. This girl enjoyed getting Narvari in bed, didn’t she? As soon as the thought crossed Narvari’s mind, her face flushed with heat. It was a good thing she was dark-skinned. The redness on her face would have been too obvious.

“No more undercover missions then?” Narvari asked, anxious to change the topic.

Pheera shook her head. “On the contrary. We will be spending a lot of time together.”

Narvari’s breath quickened. She rubbed her neck in the most casual way she could muster. “Really?” She coughed, toning down her excitement. “I mean, what do you mean we’ll be spending a lot of time together?”

Pheera raised a perfectly groomed brow. “You haven’t forgotten your promise, have you?”

“Promise?”Did she make a promise to Pheera? Why couldn’t she remember?

“The spar.”

“Oh, I remember now,” she said, grinning widely. “So when do you want me to kick your ass?”

Pheera laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Narvari’s throat ran dry. Pheera’s words were always so innocent, and yet, Narvari could not help but picture not-so-innocent things. “You tell me,” said Narvari, grinning. Two could play the game.

“You two do realize that I’m standing right here. Right?” Yanvirrak suddenly said. “That I can hear you, right?”

Jesus. Is he still here?

Narvari opened the door wider only to see Yanvirrak leaning against the wall, smirking.

Before Narvari could think of a soul-crushing comeback, Pheera was already hugging her again. “Good night, Narvari,” she whispered. “And congratulations on passing your Finals.” Then Pheera kissed Narvari on the cheek.

Narvari’s eyes widened as the sparks of electricity surged through her almost electrocuting her to death.

Gosh, she was losing her mind.