Meera sat up and didn't even gasp this time. She was so used to dying and being reborn that it wasn't even that much of a surprise anymore when she took her first breath.

"I must say," Tekton said, cleaning her blood off his blade. "You must've been my fastest kill."

Meera rolled her eyes as she stood, pretending that comment hadn't hurt her pride, even though it had.

"Can we get to fighting again?" Meera said.

"You mean dying." He shrugged. "Then sure. Brison's going to have to make a lot of return trips."

Meera took off her level 2 chakrams. "For you."

She activated Shroud of Shadows and disappeared. Lexa was creating thunderclouds in the adjacent peak, which had somehow rolled over to their side. They covered Mirithia to give Meera enough shade to be completely invisible.

"Two can play that game," Tekton drawled and dashed for where she was, and as he did, he went invisible.

Meera frowned. Can he only do that when he's sprinting?

She took to the air and hovered at about twenty feet, knowing he couldn't reach her, and scanned the clearing below. She was right. His invisibility skill only worked when he was running, and since he ran so fast, he naturally left a trail behind.

That was not all. She saw a faint reddish-gold outline of Tekton as he ran with both swords in hand.

How did I miss that last time?

With a start, she realized it wasn't a flaw in his skill but another one of her skills. One she had stolen from one of the Phoenix Protectors. It looked different than when she used it on Dirik, but he didn't go invisible. He, more or less, hid in his shadows, and his outline was not this red, more like blue.

Either way, she knew where her target was. She launched her level 2 chakrams. Her chakrams became visible when they left her hand.

Tekton looked up and blocked her chakrams with his blades. As soon as he stopped, he became visible again. Meera teleported behind him and shot out Vampiric Chains, but he dashed away, turning invisible again.

Meera groaned through gritted teeth. She was still invisible and could see him circling the outer length of the clearing. Her chakrams lay on the ground, and she left them there and threw two level 2 chakrams at him. He deflected them as she knew he would, but it somewhat gave away her position.

He raced towards her. She didn't move, and at the last moment, when he was close, she used Mirror Blast. Two things happened, the first, her attack caught him unaware, and he was rag-dolled into the shrubbery. The second, she lost the cloud cover and became translucent.

A third thing happened, Tekton's body didn't disturb any of the shrubs. It went right through it.

She started and gasped but took to the air, but not fast enough. Three throwing knives embedded in her back. There were two more coming for her, aimed at her neck, but she teleported away in time.

"Ha, almost got you."

Tekton was standing off to the side, but there were scratches on his armor and a cut on his cheek that bleed profusely. She had gotten him with her Mirror Blast, even if it was only minor damage.

The throwing knives hadn't pierced her skin. Her armor and defensive skins had stopped them from doing real damage.

"So, you have an illusion skill," Meera said.

"Your powers of deduction are astonishing," Tekton said. "They help in having the foe concentrate on your..."

"I am well versed in illusions." Meera formed two of her own.

Tekton's eyes widened for but a moment, and then he laughed. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Meera didn't share his opinion.

Meera yawned as she woke up. It was the next day. She had made some progress, though not as much as she would've liked. She was level 249 now, and all her skills had leveled up, aside from Mirror Eagle's Perceptivity, which was still teasing her at level 99, which could only mean it was supposed to evolve or do something special at level 100. She couldn't figure out what, though, as it was an extraordinary skill already.

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The training with Tekton was grueling, to say the least. Every match was a bloodbath, and for some, they had to take a timeout as they both couldn't continue for lack of Stamina. In the end, Meera only ended up killing him three times, while he killed her four times. However, she learned a lot about how to counter an opponent with a similar skill set to hers.

Her stats had been refilled, but she still wanted to sleep and felt dead tired. If this kept up by the seventh day, taking her down wouldn't take much. She hoped she was fighting someone easy next.

She quickly ate her meager but filling breakfast, chugged the whole earthen water bottle, and headed out the door. Tekton was talking with Brison about how the other's matches were going.

"Hey, she's finally up," Tekton cried excitedly. His whole demeanor had changed since Meera proved to be a formidable opponent. He gave her a salute. "It was nice training with you, kid. I wouldn't mind throwing hands with you sometime. Take my advice, lose the spinning discs, and pick up a sword, and you'll make a fine gladiator."

Meera frowned. "So, you were an actual gladiator."

"Oh, yes, the Champion of Emesa." He slapped her on the back. "Be proud, lass. You held your own against the Shadow of Death."

"That is a good name." She meant it, too. It sounded badass. I wish I had a name like that.

"Right. But they won't let me use it. Some stupid rule about leaving your past life behind." Tekton waved a hand. "Well, be seeing you, kid. Can't wait to kill you in the free-for-all."

The score between them was even, with four kills each. When Brison came to call it the end of the day, he was miffed that he didn't get to take the lead.

"In your dreams, Shadow of Death," Meera retorted.

Tekton laughed, and Brison motioned for Meera to follow. Today, it seemed, he was quiet again. She wanted to ask if everything was okay, but the look on his face said to leave him alone. Maybe the pressure of finding a way to kill an undead heart was getting to him. After all, even their goddess hadn't been able to do that.

Meera walked out the door and wanted to step back through it immediately. Her next opponent was Zona, the Archer Warden.

Zona wasn't doing anything in particular to scare Meera. She was just reading her book. But the woman had always unnerved Meera ever since that night, she had been hanging upside down from the ceiling, aiming that arrow at Meera's head. The worst part was that Meera hadn't even seen her, and her Mirror Eagle skill was active.

"You two know what to do," Brison said, and with that he walked through the door.

"Uhh…hi," Meera tried, but Zona shut her up by raising a hand.

Meera quieted at once and wondered what she should do. Three peaks over the Lexa's thunderstorms had already begun. She also saw a figure leap into the sky and fall, raising a dust cloud, which could only be Melas.

"Should we start?" Meera asked.

This time, Zona raised a finger, and Meera took that as a warning. So, she walked about, and apparently, that was too much noise as Zona clicked her tongue. So, Meera sat on the spot, then lay on the ground after a while, hoping to take a nap. She was about to pass out when Zona snapped her book shut.

"Did you come here to fight or sleep?" she said.

Meera snapped to her feet. "Uh, fight."

"Why were you sleeping then?"

"Uh…because you were reading your book."

"Then why didn't you attack when your opponent was distracted?" Zona asked.

The way she stared at Meera so intensely with her red eyes made her want to beg her forgiveness. If Pallas was a warm ray of sun, then she was the shrill cold of winter.

"Take this as your first lesson for the day," Zona said. "You should always take advantage of the situation. The more distracted your opponent is, the better it will be for you."

"Y-Yes, ma'am. Now, let's fight."

Meera pulled off her level 2 chakrams and spread her mirrors across the clearing, while Zona was still reaching around to fetch her bow. Taking her lesson to heart, Meera launched her chakrams at the slender Archer Warden.

Zona's hand flashed, and she had two arrows notched in the blink of an eye. She let them fly, and they knocked Meera's chakrams out of the air simultaneously.

Meera gawped at not only her speed but also the fluidity of her motion. She had fired two arrows at the same time, and they both hit their target. Another impressive fact was that her level 2 chakrams' twisted the wind around them, extending their cutting radius, and still, her arrows managed to penetrate that. Just how good is she?

[Archer Warden – Level 298]

Meera gulped and squinted at her bow in case it was something special like Tekton's swords.

[Numheia's Fury – Level 288]

Why can't my chakrams get levels? Then she remembered they did get stage effects, which were quite good.

"Waiting again?"

Meera lifted her chakram into the air using Mirror Wing, but she was too slow or Zona too fast. An arrow came flying Meera's way. She saved her hide only because of Mirror Step.

When she reappeared, Zona turned, and another arrow was already on its way. Meera Stepped again, and another arrow was launched.

The third time, there was no arrow flying towards Meera, which Meera was thankful for, but there was another problem...there was no sign of Zona. She had disappeared. Meera scanned the area with her Mirror Eagle Perceptivity. The archer was nowhere to be found. Even her Eye of the Phoenix didn't show anything, which meant she was not invisible.

Meera recalled her chakrams, but something else came in the shadow of her chakrams—an arrow. It hit Meera in her right eye.

Meera screamed. She activated Vitalize. Thankfully, the arrow hadn't pierced her brain.

"Not dead, hmm…" Zona said, but still, the archer was in hiding.

Meera scoured the area with her skill, but the pain was intense. She yanked the arrow out, and another scream ripped through her throat before an arrow found purchase in it. Meera gasped, trying to breathe, but fell to the ground, hacking and trembling like a fish out of water.

Zona stepped through the shrubbery. "You need to be watchful of your surroundings."