Alexander sat in the room assigned to him. It was entirely empty. A small, cramped space with only a small bed and a window. It was lacking in anything one could call a home. No belongings, no furniture, no decorations.

No family.

He shook his head. Now was not the time to mourn. That time had long passed. He had to get his head in the game and fight. It was what they would’ve wanted.

The previous morning’s events came back to him. Edmund Noctis himself… He thought that he’d heard the first name before, but knowing the full name led to memories rushing back to him. How his parents would always talk about the new soldier making waves, having saved numerous settlements time and time again from the Infernals. The man who, at the young age of only 26, had the highest recorded kill count of any soldier in Puritas.

That Edmund Noctis was interested in his potential. He had to prove it.

Four days of waiting went by like a breeze, as Alexander grew accustomed to his stronger body. He began to train in barehanded combat, it was something he was always familiar with, but never did he think that this would be his weapon of choice. Fighting without a weapon was basically a death sentence in Puritas, it meant you had nothing between you and the Infernals trying to tear your heads off.

He wasn’t entirely defenceless. It’s just that his weapon was him.

Life at the Citadel felt cold. No one knew him, and no one tried to get to know him. While he trained in public, people would ignore him. Shy away from him and whisper in hushes.

It hurt.

He was once the star of the show. Someone who’d brighten up the room just by walking in, someone everybody knew and loved. He’d gotten used to the adulation. Yet, now he was the opposite. He was someone whose presence changed the atmosphere. Someone who people feared.

News spread fast about the “Poisoned One”. That he was some sort of cursed man to be feared. As much as he wanted to approach people, to put on a kind face like he used to and get to know them better…

He couldn’t. He was scared. Scared of losing more people. He couldn’t get close to anyone. Never again.

The day of the Selection Tournament came. A message was sent via letter to his windowsill, and, seeing as he had nothing better to do, left to the venue, wearing the clothes he’d been given, a simple vest and pants.

The venue itself was a special location. While the Citadel was magnificent, the location of the tournament was not in the main city. Instead, the directions called for him to go around the huge palace, behind which was a daunting cliffside.

Yet, this wasn’t as much of a barrier to entry as he’d thought. The cliff was hollow. People gathered in droves around him, all going to the same location. As he ventured further into the cliff, it opened up into a sprawling cave.

The space was absolutely enormous, enough to fit the entire main castle into it twice over. But it was not the cavern itself that caught his eye, it was what filled it. From his vantage point, he saw an enormous dome. It was a coliseum.

It glowed faintly, as if forged by the gods themselves, rippling with an otherworldly splendour that made it stand out from the dreary cave it was in. Groups of people filled up the space ahead of him, all gathering towards the entrance. He followed, though he noticed the people near him glancing at him uncomfortably and trying to stay away.

They entered the huge dome, and in front of them was a massive hall with a stage. The contestants all congregated together as Michael walked up to address the crowd. Alexander looked at the surroundings. The hall didn’t even seem to be a bit as big as the entire coliseum, he was inside only a fraction of the building yet it dwarfed any hall he’d ever stood in.

The walls were very similar to those from the infirmary, made of the same material along with the magical blue lights. He heard people murmur and whisper about numerous topics, many of which all melded together. However, the chattering all stopped once Michael spoke.

“Alright you lot!” he boomed, his voice projecting across the entire room. “We are gathered here today to see a fresh new batch of talent showcase their skills and prove to Puritas who they really are! To decide who gets chosen by a faction and truly makes a difference! I want warriors that will bring us one step closer to saving our planet, and free us from the yoke of oppression from those Infernals!”

The crowd cheered loudly.

“Now, the Selection Tournament will be split into two stages. The first stage will be a team exercise. You shall be split into two teams at random, and should work together to capture important locations of the other team, while simultaneously protecting yours. Understood?”

A hand went up. Alexander’s eyes narrowed as it seemed to be a woman with glasses and long, raven-black hair. What was most peculiar about her however, was that she was in a wheelchair. What was she doing here? Was she a participant?

“Will we be allowed to use our Divinators for this? And if so, how do we avoid using lethal force to stop other contestants?” she asked.

Michael nodded. Clearly he had no problem with this girl. “Good question. Each team will receive armour. This armour, created by our resident weapons master Indra, will protect them from all lethal attacks, but the forcefield it generates will eventually erode. If your armour is disabled, you shall be disqualified. You can each use your Divinator, but once your opponent’s armour is disabled, any further attacks on them shall disqualify you as well.”

“How do we capture these ‘locations’?” asked another person.

“Simple. Each important location, or ‘checkpoint’, shall have a core. Destroy this core, and the checkpoint is yours. Any more questions?”

He saw a solitary hand go up.

“Ah yes, that brunette over there.” Michael pointed to her.

“Can we quit wasting time? Let us go do this thing already. I don’t want to spend my entire day here.”

A lull fell over the audience. Alexander’s eyebrow twitched. Was this girl for real?

Michael laughed, his lips curling into a smirk. “Fine, I’ll say nothing more. Now, I’ll split you into teams.”

He snapped his hand, and the ground began to crackle. A giant seal revealed itself on the floor, and suddenly, Alexander was somewhere else. He was in a different room. He’d been teleported.

Around him were many other confused folk. Michael had said he could transmute himself to different places in seconds, but he didn’t know this extended to people he wasn’t even in contact with.

This place was an armoury, chock full of different sets of armour for different people, each of varying sizes. They were all red, signifying his team colour. A few people recognized him, each backing away, as he noticed a few shooting annoyed looks at the girl who’d just spoken up.

“Tch. Just cuz she’s a noble, she thinks she’s all that.”

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“She probably thinks the whole world revolves around her.”

Alex rolled his eyes. These were sentiments he’d heard before about himself, after all. Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a tad peeved off with the session being cut short, especially because Michael seemed to immediately fold to her demands.

“Hm? What else did you even need to get out of him? I came here for the tournament, not a lecture.” the woman lazily explained.

“Same!” Another voice sounded out.

Alexander turned to look at the person who just spoke, and realised who it was. The same young man who he’d met in the palace. What was his name… Aethul?

“I’m itching for a good fight, so let’s drop the formalities!”

More muttering was heard at his words.

“Another noble?”

“With him on our team we’re going to win this with ease!”

“He’s apparently one of the most promising contestants this year!”

The girl walked up to Aethul. “Hey, can you be the one leading this team? I really cannot be bothered.”

Aethul beamed. “‘Course! Alright men and women of the red team! We have one plan, and one plan alone! Have fun!”

Dead silence.

“On second thought, I really will have to step up huh?” the girl sighed.

“I’m kidding!” Aethul laughed. “Regardless, playing defence won’t get us anywhere. Our strategy should be an unrelenting offence, so fast that the other team won’t even have the time to react.”

“What if a few sneak past our front-lines?”

Aethul rubbed his chin. “Well, I suppose we can’t have nobody playing defence. Perhaps we should assign a few people to protect each of our checkpoints. As for how we’ll decide, how many people do not want to fight on the front-lines?”

A whole slew of hands went up, surprising Aethul.

“Wait… Really? So many of you? C’mon!”

Someone shakily spoke. “D-did you see who was on the other team? I saw the younger brother of Edmund Noctis on that side! No way I’d stand a chance against him!”

“Ha, you’re right! Jae Noctis is on the other team! How exciting!” Aethul pumped his fist. “Makes me even more amped to get this done! Who’s with me?!”

No one raised their hand.

No one except… Alexander.

“Oh? You… Ah! You’re the Poisoned One!”

The entire room seemed to collectively recoil at this sudden revelation.

“Must you reveal that out loud…” Alex muttered.

“Right, what was your name again? Alexander… Corvus?”

“Corwin.”

“Yes, that!” Aethul exclaimed. “You’re definitely a weird looking one! But, you look super strong! I can’t wait to fight you!”

“We’re on the same team…” the brunette chimed in. The rest of the room all got ready, putting on the armour and discussing strategies. The crowd skittishly distanced themselves from him.

Now getting a closer look at the brunette, Alexander suddenly felt a pang of… familiarity? How? He didn’t know this woman at all.

She had medium-length brown hair tied into a high ponytail, along with droopy eyes that were a deep shade of amber. Two bangs framed her face, as she inspected him with a small smirk on face. She was quite a bit shorter than him, with an athletic and curvy build.

He knew her from somewhere… But where?

“I have heard about you, I think. My mom kept talking about a ‘special’ participant. Someone that I had to look out for.” she spoke. “I’m Flora, by the way. Flora Candentia.”

“Cute name.” Aethul remarked.

“I’m sure it was when my mom thought of it.” she rolled her eyes. “Now it’s just awkward. I mean, who’s going to take a girl named ‘Flora’ seriously?”

“Well, your last name is still pretty scary to most Infernals. Daughter of the second strongest faction? Talk about impressive. Oh, I’m Aethul, by the way.” He put his hand up as he looked at Alex. “Aethul Relictus. I imagine my uncle gave you a hard time back at the palace. Don’t worry about that, that’s just how he shows love.”

“Both of you are nobles huh?” Alex remarked. “Why’re you even here to begin with? Can’t you just get a free pass to join your own Faction? I’ve heard both the Candentia and the Relictus factions are part of the top four.”

“I wish it were that easy.” Flora sighed.

“I don’t. There’s no fun in coasting on your family name.” Aethul shrugged. “Besides, Corwin right? You must be related to Erika Corwin then.”

He scoffed. “Yeah. Not that I know her. The last time I met her was when I was eight years old. What? Is she in some special Faction?”

“I guess you could say that. I dunno which one she’s in though. I just hear my uncle throwing her name around from time to time.”

“I heard Ardencroft was destroyed. You’re from there aren’t you?” Flora asked.

“Yeah. I was there. Saw it fall in front of my eyes. I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” He recounted his experience as he put the armour on. “Those damn Infernals razed it all to the ground in front of me.”

Aethul put his hand on his shoulder. “All of us have been wronged by those demons in one way or another. So we’re all going to fight back.”

“Fight back? Seems no one here wants to fight at all.” Alex remarked.

Once everyone was prepared, Aethul addressed the crowd again.

“So… Seems everyone’s a bit scared to go out and fight. I personally don’t get it. I mean, what’s not to love in fighting, right?”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, not at all enthused by his words.

Aethul sighed. “Look-”

“Why are you all even here then?” Alexander interjected. “Why even bother to show up when you can’t be asked to fight even during a training match?”

“You don’t know how good Jae Noctis is! We-”

“I don’t. And I don’t care! I’ve seen worse. I’ve fought worse. And I’ve probably felt worse than whatever he could do to me.” Alex exclaimed. “This is only the first step. If you can’t even do this much, then you might as well go home.”

“Big words coming from a half-Infernal!” one man yelled.

“Yeah, who’s to say you won’t just turn around and kill us?” asked another.

Alex gritted his teeth. This was bound to happen. Yet he didn’t have any sort of comeback.

“Enough.” Aethul mediated. “He didn’t become like this by choice. At least that’s what I heard. He’s just like the rest of us, except he was cursed.”

“Yeah. Cursed with demon powers! Why is he even here?!”

“Look. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Divine General allowing it. Would you really question his judgement?” Alexander explained. “I may be cursed. I may have these orange runes on my body. But if I can help it, the only things I’m killing with these fists will be Infernals.”

Flora chimed in. “You all talk big for losers who can’t even be bothered to take the first step.”

The crowd jeered and complained, but Flora silenced them, sighing softly. “I really do have to do all the hard work…”

“It’s like this. Do you all want to get into a faction?” she asked the crowd, receiving affirmation. “Good. Then you people need to understand that we aren’t here to hold your hand. If you want to make it to the upper echelon of Puritas, you’ll have to outdo not only the Blue Team, but us as well.” she smirked.

Aethul and Alex looked at her in surprise. “What?”

“It’s simple. The Blue Team will be a coordinated unit. They’ll have clearly defined roles and a rigid plan. But us? We’ll do it our way. There will be no plan. Instead of it being team vs team, it’ll be you vs everyone.” Flora explained. “Do you want to make it big as the one to destroy all the checkpoints of the other team? Aim for that. Do you want to find and defeat the best? You’re welcome to try. Do you want to be the one holding off the enemy forces as our last vanguard? Be my guest.”

Aethul nodded. “Not a bad plan. Allows for adaptability and could really throw a wrench into the opponents’ framework.”

“How would that help us win?” Alex asked. “We’d be fighting over ourselves while the other team would be in perfect harmony.”

“You’re thinking about this the wrong way.” Flora pointed out. “You see, defeating a perfectly formed team with amazing synergy is difficult. But you know what’s harder? Defeating one person, that person being the most selfish, ego-driven fighter on the battlefield. If each of us act on only our impulses, then no half-baked ideals can get in our way.”

“You’re awfully cunning Flora. Though, I expected nothing less given how scary your mom is.” Aethul grinned. “Now, who’s ready to go out there and win?!”

Almost immediately, the crowd began to gain a lot more energy, a lot of them nodding and agreeing, hyping themselves up.

“But… It is true that the other team has a lot of powerful fighters…” Flora muttered.

“All that bravado and you’re still nervous?” Alex asked.

“Easier to say something than actually go out there and do it.” Flora sighed.

“Got a lot of people expecting big things out of you huh?” Corwin nodded. “I get that.”

Flora looked up to him, smiling slightly. “Oh, you have no idea. Still, I am glad I’m not the odds on favourite. Pretty much everyone in the know says that Jae Noctis is a shoo-in for the winner of the tournament.”

Alex looked at her, clenching his fists. “If none of you want to take him on, I will.”

“Heh. You’re fun.” Aethul smiled. “But… I want in on this too. We’ll make it a bet. Whoever defeats Jae in combat has to buy the other drinks after this is all over.”

“Drinks huh…” Alex’s mind drifted back to the tavern in Ardencroft. The memories of him and his friends having drinks drifted through his mind. How Liam would always get tipsy on the first sip, how Ethan would hide his drunkenness…

Those were simpler times. The memories once tinged with nostalgia were now tinged with melancholy.

“...You’re on.”

Eventually, the gates to the front opened, as their battlefield was revealed.

An enormous townscape sat before them, completely barren of life. The sky was illuminated by a bright light, but he could tell this was only an imitation of the sun; they were still very much standing inside the amphitheater.

The townscape was filled with concrete houses, each worn down with time as ivy crept up their walls, weaving through broken doorways and cracked windows. The soft, warm light of the fake sun gave the place an appearance of a village frozen in time; stuck forever at dawn.

He could see remnants of previous battles here and there. Collapsed buildings, broken pathways as well as rubble scattered about oddly. Clearly the Caeli didn’t do the best of jobs on the upkeep.

Numerous red beacons spiralled into the sky around him. Those must have been his ‘checkpoints’. And in the distance, blue lights could also be seen. The enemy’s beacons. He looked around him, the numerous members of the red team gathered behind him as Flora and Aethul stood ahead.

The silence was broken as a loud horn finally sounded across the deserted arena.

It was sink or swim now.