Many years ago, there was a girl. She lived on a farm in the Stadal Empire.

She was a farmer, born into a small family of farmers.

Her grandfather was a farmer, though he died soon after she was born.

Her grandmother was a farmer, though she died soon after her grandfather.

Her father was a farmer.

Her brother was a farmer.

Her mother was a farmer. Then she died over the course of several years.

It was painful.

When the girl was nine, her mother departed to seek her final victory. It was the most painful thing the girl had ever known.

The girl wept. She cried. She screamed. She begged for Sateus, the Empire's patron, to bring her mother back to her.

Surely her final victory could wait another month, or maybe even a year?

Even a single day?

The deity was cruel, and no response was given.

Still, she prayed for it daily.

She helped on the farm as she could. Her brother was eight years older, and he gave her a shoulder to cry on.

Her father was a quiet man who was content with his lot in life. He'd been born into a family of farmers, and he respected the Empire's need for farmers. Without those who tended the land and raised crops and animals, the great city of Onyxfell would crumble.

The Empire would crumble.

So he was a farmer, and he was a farmer to the best of his abilities, even after his beloved left him forever.

He wasn't a good father though. He tried. It was obvious that he tried. There's some who just aren't born with the inclination for it, maybe. He was a stoic man, and he expected his children would be stoic like him. He wasn't one to give comfort when it was needed. His hugs were awkward, his words hesitant, and his reluctance was plain to see. Still, he tried, and his two children loved him.

The son, the elder, was named Opiter Laetorius Scipio. He was a wide, strong boy who grew to be quiet like his father. He kept some of his mother's best qualities though, and he was the aegis to the younger sister that he doted on. When he wasn't working on the farm, he could usually be found outside when he was younger, fighting in an imaginary arena with a sarculum or a pectis rastris. When he grew older, he'd sometimes travel south to visit Onyxfell in his free time, watching with eager eyes every fight he could in the arena itself.

The daughter, the younger, was named Volcatia Scipio, and she took after her mother. She was a difficult girl to raise. Her breath was sharp and pained when she exerted herself, and she was sickly, often ill with a cough. She still bounded joyfully and loudly around the farm as best she could, usually in the company of her brother as they fought imagined foes.

Opiter Laetorius Scipio wanted to be a gladiator and fight in the arena more than anything else in his life. He talked with his mother and father about it on many occasions, but his father refused him each time.

No child of his would fight in the arena. They were a family of farmers, and he was proud of that. If everyone in the Empire stopped producing goods in order to fight in the arena, the Empire would fall, he always said.

Opiter Laetorius Scipio was not a smart boy, but he wasn't a foolish one either. He understood his father's reasoning, and he let go of his dream eventually.

He had to. His mother was dead, his father needed help with the farm, and his sickly little sister would cry if half a day passed when she couldn't spend time with him.

Opiter Laetorius Scipio grew to be a good young man.

He put aside his dreams, and he dedicated himself to following his father's path.

He gave up the idea of being a gladiator, and he spent that time taking care of his little sister when his father didn't know how.

Time passed, and Volcatia Scipio was now twelve years old.

Time had passed, and yet she still grew no healthier. Her breath would catch, and she would fight for her life any time she exerted herself attempting any sort of labor.

Still, she never gave up. She took after her father in that way as she grew. She saw her brother and father toiling on the farm, and she struggled to help, though she was unable to be of much use. She prayed to Sateus every night, continuing to hope for even one more hour with her mother.

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She had no dreams of her own.

She was just a sickly girl who would one day die on the same farm she'd been born on.

In her free time now, she would wander off at a slow pace in whichever direction she decided, seeing where her feet would take her.

On a certain day, her feet took her southwards to a small, rocky hill. She climbed it easily, and she was happy with herself for accomplishing the feat. She wandered a little farther, knowing that she couldn't roam too far or she'd miss dinner, and descended the rocky hill on the other side.

Volcatia Scipio had climbed down into a rocky ravine. She was in no danger. The hill was shallow, and there were no beasts or other creatures nearby that she could see.

Suddenly, a crackling bolt struck her from out of the blue sky, and she fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

Azure fog billowed around her.

What was happening?

What could it be?

The System had come.

Volcatia Scipio gained a unique ability that would set her on a different path. She took her feet and climbed back up the hill, passing over this rock and that as she went. She climbed back down towards her home, walking from side to side in a lazy, unhurried way.

No, she didn't become all-powerful from the ability she'd gained.

She was still just a sickly farmer girl of twelve years.

She did have that ability she'd gotten though. And with it came a dream.

When she returned home, she searched for her brother, and she told him what had happened. He was unaware of any of it.

Opiter Laetorius Scipio was Systemless.

Despite that, he was overjoyed for his little sister. He tossed her up into the air and told her she could do anything she wanted now.

Be anything she wanted.

She'd never wanted to be anything before this day, but now she thought maybe she had something she could be.

Volcatia Scipio decided she wanted to be a gladiator and fulfill her brother's dream. She was young and foolish, but she still understood in some small way what he'd done in order to stay and take care of her.

He was the best older brother. Even when she was twelve and growing bigger, he would lift her onto his shoulders and carry her around the farm with his strong, muscular legs. It was the only way she could experience what running felt like without falling to the ground, gasping for breath.

But that would change.

Volcatia Scipio's ability grew over time. She had three years before she could register for her first battle in the arena given the Empire's laws, and she knew she had much to learn. She was still too weak in every way.

A year passed, and Volcatia Scipio could run without losing her breath. She could plow a field. She could corral their animals when they tried to wander off. She could harvest their crops. She could be useful to her family!

Her father was pleased but nothing more. He smiled and patted her on the head, and he said she was the best little farmhand he'd ever seen. He'd received stats from the System during Initialization, but they were…

Volcatia Scipio continued to grow stronger. She practiced fighting with her brother, though neither of them were particularly knowledgeable or skilled. Since she no longer struggled to breathe, she joined him when he traveled to Onyxfell to watch battles in the arena.

The first battle she saw featured Laberia Salonina, recently returned from a campaign in a faraway land. The brash young woman taunted the excited crowd and her larger opponent in equal parts, and Volcatia Scipio was awed. When Laberia Salonina was declared the victor, Volcatia Scipio hopped up and down with glee, shrieking and cheering as loudly as she could. Opiter Laetorius Scipio took her up onto his broad shoulders, and she continued to cheer as her new favorite gladiator left the sacred grounds of the arena.

She'd seen a single battle, and it felt to Volcatia Scipio that she'd seen an entirely different world.

She was still far too weak.

Another year passed, and Volcatia Scipio could leap across a field in a single jump. She could plow a field in minutes. She could chase down and pick up animals when they tried to wander off. She could harvest their crops in less time than it would take her brother or father to even reach the field from their little farmhouse.

Her father was still pleased. Managing the farm with only the three of them had been difficult, and he'd long been considering spending some of the marks they earned selling their produce in Onyxfell on hiring farmhands to help.

Volcatia Scipio and Opiter Laetorius Scipio continued visiting Onyxfell to watch arena battles whenever they could. She tried her best to copy everything she saw, even to the extent of practicing her taunting. She wasn't a brilliant fighter, but she had a knack for predicting what people were going to do.

Her fifteenth birthyear celebration neared, and she decided she needed a new name. All the best gladiators in history had special names, and she was going to surpass all of them in order to fulfill her brother's dream. She just had to think of something.

On a certain day while practicing with one of her abilities, her brother told her that her braided hair looked like the tail of a scorpio with how it stood up in the air.

Scorpio.

It was close enough to her real name that Volcatia Scipio fell in love with it immediately.

The third year passed, and she was old enough to battle in the arena. She'd grown even stronger, and she hoped it would be enough to make her brother proud.

Then her father came upon them while they were talking about when she would compete in her first battle.

No child of his would fight in the arena, he said again.

Volcatia Scipio was different now.

She'd grown more confident as she grew stronger over the years.

She would fight and still work at the farm, she said.

She was fast enough now to travel back and forth to the city multiple times in a single day.

Her father wavered. He agreed at last as she pleaded, and she celebrated by running around one of their fields with her brother riding on her shoulders, just like she used to do with him.

Volcatia Scipio registered for her f—

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"Mina. If you would still lend your aid, now is the time."

What? No! We'd gotten so close to… Mina looked around the second floor of her workshop, but Vol was gone.

"Are you a fucking dragon?!" she heard a faint shout from the direction of the purple-glowing portal to her side.