White Fox felt strangely annoyed, he had summoned multiple hordes of undead during this fight. It was supposed to be an easy victory against three no-name schools. Yet here he was back to back with the black-haired new arrival. The others were being soundly eliminated by enemy forces, with extreme prejudice.

Worst of all, their supposed ally leaked their battle plans and betrayed them. Norm and the republic’s academy were up a creek without a paddle as that monster in the sky descended again. Wings of blue flame crashed down on the arena, turning his zombies into ash.

A woman with a whip made from light darted about attacking Psycho whenever he started casting.

A bruiser with pink hair and black eyes fought Ceres head-on, blow for blow. As though the two were even in physical strength.

When all was thought lost, a sun fell from the sky and crashed into the arena and the world exploded with light. When the power faded the arena returned to its natural state as various unconscious figures lay on the ground defeated.

White Fox eyed the attacker, realizing it was Asela on Norm. The rest of her surviving team members were with her floating down. They had won, by the skin of their teeth, or so it had looked.

In actuality, while the betrayal was real, they were made aware of it. The point in the end was to make them lose when they thought they were winning. Though White Fox hadn’t been at that meeting. He’d been too busy with his plans to be made aware of the deception aspect.

White Fox pouted as he left the arena, their bout lasted a day and a half meaning they would only have a little time to rest. The next bout would likely be their last.

“Why didn’t you clue me in on the plan.” White Fox pouted at the teammates who put up a faux struggle.

“You missed the meetings and preparation so to better make it feel genuine we kept you ignorant.” Gamodren stated.

“I see.” White Fox was going to hide leeches in his shoes, the next time Gamodren let his guard down.

“Why do you look like you're planning to hide rat bait in my clothes? To fool your enemies you must first fool your allies.”

“Define rat bait?” White Fox asked as he felt a portal open nearby. Someone had just arrived, someone very powerful.

“Any bait!"

White Fox went silent as he left the stadium motioning for Gamodern to get closer.

“We won’t be winning tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Like I said. I would recommend withdrawing from the tournament. I won’t be fighting.”

“What did you sense old man?”

“You’re current stepfather has sent one of his strongest twins to pay another twin a visit and confirm a death that wasn’t reported.”

“Which one?”

“Kevin…”

“That doesn’t sound very intimidating.” Gamodren replied.

“I didn’t pronounce it right.”

“One would think he would be smart enough to stop sending more shards at a problem.”

“Gios isn’t the sharpest nuke in a lunchbox. Cunning, and devious, yes. Shortsighted and reckless? Yes. The two sets of traits do not work well together.”

“What is a nuke?”

White Fox opened his mouth and sensed the tendrils of Divine Essences inching to his mouth and stopped. “A cooking tool.”

“Riiight.” Gamodren sighed.

“So, Vin. How strong is he?”

“Of the shards he’s encountered, this one would be the toughest, and deadliest based on what I know.”

“What makes him strong?”

“He’s a mythical Pheoseraph from Icaron. Fire and healing abilities are his focus. Based on what I’ve gathered, he can burn up his life force to power his spells before resurrection. Plus he's physically stronger than the one we know, at least going off the information I have on him.”

“Is he cunning?”

“Does not have a lying bone in their body.”

“I don’t like this. Why are they interfering so much?”

“Probably due to all the wrenches in his plans and need for more reliable anchors.”

“What's the story on that? I heard you lost an anchor when you arrived here.”

”Yes, three of us were sent here. Black Fox, Red Fox, and I.”

“So this Black Fox is missing?”

“Last time I heard that name, it was used to describe a corpse.” White Fox avoided the question.

“Fine then.You may sit out. That's what the alts are for.”

“Perfect, if you need me I'll be playing in the usual place.” White Fox ran off to go find a forgotten burial ground.

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Kyrion sighed as he sat in front of his teammates, he was finally able to participate as himself, mostly. He’d make the reveal dramatic, he’d already changed into a white robe with a matching cowl, that hid most of his hair. His field of cleaning mana was active again, which didn’t allow for even the smallest specs of grime to stick to him. Which was something only the most observant would notice. As it made Kyrion smell like a lotus plant.

Lin sat to Kyrion’s right a small blue pup on one leg and a small white fox on the other. Both were taking turns getting groomed.

Cecil sat across from him, his prosthetic hand finished as his expression seemed concerned. A cat with six tails sat in his nap and stared at the white scarf hidden inside Kyrion’s robes.

Bella had an eyebrow raised and her arms crossed. She’d spent all that time cooking just for it to end abruptly. In the end, Volain’s team polished most of it off as Kyrion had been missing for the remainder of that day.

Hel seemed pissed off. As the tactician she was mad that he’d gone off and vanished, after getting himself kicked for a risky play. Various hornets floated about ready to charge at any moment.

Minah sat in a corner looking away somewhat shell-shocked for reasons Kyrion didn’t… Ok, he did know why she looked as though she swallowed lemons.

Ander sat next to Chiyo, the two were sitting with their fingers laced between them. It didn’t help that Ander looked quite a bit more mature and was a good deal taller. His hair had grown somewhat yet the sides had been shaved up to his temple where a small scar from a blade could vaguely be seen on the right. The hair on top had fallen to the left side of his head, somewhat well-combed.

Brion seemed somewhat confused as he sat alone for once. Not having met Chiyo before yesterday. He felt somewhat hurt that Ander had a secret wedding but felt a lot less hurt when he learned it happened in another world. Not that sharing the information now would help.

Tiffany sat with Bastion, her expression blank as she ensured he didn’t run off and cause another incident. His powers had gotten stronger, along with his bad luck. Tiffany had been training but felt as though she didn’t get the chance to go all out against her enemy. It was always, cloak and dagger. She had two more rounds to show her dominance, win or lose.

“So… I’m back. Sorry to say that the reason I was missing had to do with training with the elves.” The spies looking in on them weren't obvious to most, but to every member of the team save Brion, who didn’t train his perception, it was quite obvious. Which was why he was having this revelation in a semi-secret location.

“So that’s why your late? What did you learn?”

“Multi Voice casting along with Myriad Faces. Meaning my spell chants have gotten a lot more deadly.”

“I don’t know how to feel about that.” Ander squinted.

“They are still weak and I have a lot to learn, but I do have those spells to a degree.”

“Noted. So how will you take on these next opponents?”

“Hel, Tiffany, Cecil and Bella will take on Uriel while Brion, Minah, Ander and I will take on Volain’s team.”

“I can’t. I’ve been forbidden.”

“Chiyo? Will you take his place again or sit out? We can go with just seven if we must.”

“What happened to the others?”

“Bastion is now a known threat. So he’s sitting out. Eden won’t be fit for combat for the remainder of the tournament. Max is going through a growth coma.”Kyrion looked at Minah for a long second before standing up.

“Ugh. Don’t guilt trip me.”

“This is for your growth. Aside from Volain, none at that school have the potential to challenge me. Now if you were to promise me a bout, afterward, I'd be so inclined.”

Kyrion felt a blade of ice pass through his chest, and looked down, only to follow the sensation to his core. Activating his mana senses revealed something disturbing. “I could give you the Volain fight, but I owe him a match. Instead I want you doing patrols from above. I felt a portal open from far away. Something strong crossed broke through a gap, and into this world.”

Lin scowled. “I didn’t sense anything, how certain are you?.”

Bastion’s nose suddenly started bleeding. The ground under him turned red as he lost more blood than was healthy in moments falling over soon after.

“Bastion!”

Kyrion moved into action attempting to apply healing magic only to have no success as Bastion was more dehydrated than injured.

“Mr. Kyrion? Can I have more ice—” Bastion passed out as his form seemed to flicker for a long moment. His body began to shrink to the degree where he now appeared slightly younger. The power he'd gained seemingly resealed.

“What’s going on?” Lin seemed worried as she watched the boy pass out.

Chiyo seemed terrified. “What did I just witness?”

Cecil crossed his arms. “Time magic. Though I'm not sure why time would adjust in front of us. Where did you find this kid?”

“I saved him from some slavers. The people I rescued said he was from their village.”

Cecil watched as the blood faded from existence. “I doubt he knows the details. Though it would make some sense if I took two things into account.”

“Tell us what you think then.” Tiffany stated, having noticed something was off.

“Something major just occurred, and it resulted in two of us being impacted. I must infer that their coming here somehow altered the natural order.”

“So, does this mean Bastion is a time traveler?” Bella asked.

“With his horrid luck, I wouldn’t doubt he accidentally ended up here.” Kyrion scratched his head.

“So this new arrival might know something.”

“Or they may have some relation to Bastion.”

“Why can’t this tournament just end?” Kyrion sighed.

“Do we even need to win?” Cecil asked.

“The resources would be nice, but it's about the principle of the thing. We didn’t come here to lose in the end. Also we shouldn't let the empire get ahold of these resouces before a certain event. It would put us on the back foot.” Kyion said stoically.

“Fine. Don’t get kicked out again.” Hel turned away.

"I'll try not to, but as far as plans go, assume I'll be the first one out. In such a situation, seek me out."

The semifinal match was slated to begin the next morning and any further combat training would prove detrimental as many still required time to restore their mana and progress mentally. They were determined not to have another morning where half of their team was hungover or otherwise absent due to injuries. As their buffer of extra members was gone, and Kryrion’s older sisters weren't direct combatants.

This was the plan, anyway. As Kyrion tried to sleep, he felt a presence enter into his room late at night. A familiar yet off presence. As though he’d snuck into his own room.

A with long red hair and glowing green eyes were perched atop Kyrion’s dresser like some kind of bird, his head cocked at a ninety-degree angle. His robes were black, and made of a fine silk, while various pouches lay at his side.

“You aren’t fooling me with that half asleep act.” The man started with lifeless eyes, his mouth opening, and letting the words come out without moving his mouth any further. As though his face was out of sync. Or a very basic illusion.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” Kyrion asked as he appeared to sit up in his bed while in actuality he was standing in a corner while a double took his place.

“I came to investigate the reason behind four of my shards being present here, despite two coming to capture you.”

“Is that so? What will you do then?”

“I’ll kill you, then take your shards to the leader and earn his favor.”

“Do you really want to work for that imbecile?” Kyrion sighed.

“The Great Gios is all-powerful and all knowing. None of us are as intelligent.”

“That isn’t necessarily true. Assuming he hasn’t integrated the rest into his mind. How many more does the fool need?”

“Who knows? The only thing I see is a dead man acting tough.”

“If that’s true then you are truly an idiot among idiots. Or a total birdbrain.”

“Did my mannerisms really stick out that much, fool of a human?” The intruder stated as their eyes became more lifeless. Red feathery wings shot out from his back and angled before he flew into the window.

It took two hits, the first clearly catching it by surprise while the second took the entire wall with him.

“Oi! I’ll be the one paying for this!” Kyrion yelled as the birdman flew away.

When he felt that the area was safe, Kyrion replaced the wall and moved to his bed. He’d need all the rest he could get if he had to take on Volain.