The Sovereign didn't like to waste time. She immediately brought Meera to her training room and returned her chakrams to her. The room to the right led through a tunnel, which Meera realized a little too late was a valve or artery leading to this room.

Now, Meera stood opposite the queen of the sorceresses, who still stood in her dress with a shawl.

"Uh… shouldn't you change?" Meera asked.

Veridiana smiled as if Meera had something cute. "That would waste precious time. And we've wasted enough of it talking. Let's begin."

"Okay."

Meera knew she should be worried about an opponent who didn't even bother changing, but a greater worry was running through her mind. Flashes of her first fight with Melas flashed through her head, especially how it ended.

"You're not going to kill me, are you?" Meera couldn't help asking.

The sorceress frowned. "Now, why would I do that? You're no good to anyone if you're dead."

Ah, so there is something that you want from me.

Meera kept that to herself and shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing. Let's begin."

Veridiana did a 'you first' motion. Meera changed her dress back to her armor and sighed contentedly. To her credit, the sorceress didn't even blink.

Meera activated her armor's effect and littered the floor with tiny mirrors. Thanks to her training with Kalrina, these mirrors would now have the dual effect of acting as her teleportation anchors, and she could explode them when Veridiana lingered too close.

Despite this, Meera couldn't let go of the feeling that even all this would be like peppering a tiger with paper balls and hoping it would die. But paper balls were all Meera had.

"I'm still waiting," Veridiana called.

"I'm going against someone who makes even Aksha look like a child. Give me some time to think."

"Your enemies will not give you the same luxury."

"Well, it's a good thing you're not my enemy then," Meera shot back.

"No, but I am your opponent."

"Okay, going now."

All the time they were talking, Ambush Tactics gave her nothing. Neither did Tactician's Gaze, but that skill was meant to be used on opponents she had already fought. Her best bet at the moment was to make the sorceress show as many of her skills as possible, then formulate a plan of attack and hopefully steal a good skill along the way.

With nothing better to do, Meera shot a Mirror Shard Fury. The woman sidestepped the beam of mirrors and light. Meera kept the beam going but used Mirror Wing to flick some sharp shards at her opponent.

Veridiana also dodged those and did so gracefully, almost as if she were dancing. Some of the shards were lost in the folds of her dress, and Meera tried to explode them, but nothing happened. It was like the shards ceased to exist as soon as they entered her dress.

Meera stopped her skill and launched three of her level 2 chakrams. Veridiana smirked and stood her ground as the chakrams raced for her. At the last moment, when it looked like Meera's chakrams would slice through her, the sorceress punched the air, and the chakrams stopped as if they'd hit a wall, and then they were blasted back. Even Meera was thrown off her feet and went rolling. It was as if the earth had conspired with the Sovereign to throw her.

Meera jumped to her feet and recalled her chakrams, which had been embedded in the far wall. "So, you can cause earthquakes?"

Veridiana smiled. "Among other things."

So, I must be prepared for next time. I'll fly into the air as she uses her skills to avoid her earthquakes.

With that knowledge, Meera prepared a plan of attack. The room was brightly lit, so her Shroud of Shadows would be useless in turning her invisible, but that didn't mean she couldn't bring her own darkness.

Meera drew a deep breath, activated Smoke Eclipse, and breathed out a thick, dark smoke that slowly filled the room. It was like a fog of darkness had filled the room, and this was how Meera knew she was facing a monster. Veridiana didn't even cough…once.

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All the other times when this attack was used on her, or she used the attack, people were coughing as if someone had shoved their nose in a car's faulty exhaust pipe, but not a peep from this woman.

Meera didn't waste time contemplating how Veridiana was accomplishing this feat and activated Spectral Dominion and brought out three shadow warriors with Shadowsteel swords in hand. One of the secondary effects of Smoke Eclipse was that it made any Shadow Affinity-based skills stronger, which meant her shadow warriors were even deadlier.

Then she turned on Shroud of Shadows, turning herself invisible, and gripped a level 2 chakram in each hand, finally ready to make her move. She commanded her shadow warriors to attack while she moved silently through the shadows toward the sorceress's silhouette.

"Can I make my move?" Veridiana asked, her voice hollow and echoey.

"I would prefer if you didn't."

She snorted. "If only all our enemies were so easy."

She clapped her hands twice. Two powerful quakes erupted from each clap and decimated Meera's skills. The first blasted away her Smoke Eclipse, and the second dissipated her shadow warriors. Meera herself was shot back into the wall. Meera hit the wall so fiercely that she almost lost consciousness. When the ringing in her ears stopped, and the world stopped spinning, she figured the Sovereign was saying something.

"C-Come again," Meera said, holding her head as it pounded like a bell. She immediately activated Vitalize.

"…I was saying, I hope you see the need for training now."

"Yes," Meera said as Vitalize fixed her pounding headache.

"Good. Let's go again, and this time, we will try things a little differently."

"You can say that again."

"You know now that I'm not someone you should get close to, given my skills. So, keep your distance this time," the sorceress instructed.

Meera nodded, pulled five level 2 chakrams, and floated them around her. Then, she activated Shadow Coating and covered the chakrams with shadows. The chakrams' true nature twinkled from underneath, giving them a starry look.

Please, even a graze will let me steal her skill.

She launched all five chakrams at the sorceress. She danced away from them, but Veridiana didn't expect them to spin around mid-air and return for her. Meera smirked as one came for her head.

Could I really do it? End the leader of…

The answer was no. The air shivered around Veridiana, and the chakrams were thrown off course. They went zipping through the air, embedding into the walls, or falling to the ground.

"Why do you even bother dodging if you can just do that?" Meera asked as she recalled her chakrams.

"But why should I telegraph all my skills when it is so much easier to trick my enemies into making a wrong move or show their hand," Veridiana replied.

"So, it's clear that I can't even scratch you, so what's the point of this training?"

"Just because you cannot hit me doesn't mean you're not growing. In this place, you will progress when you use your skills repeatedly, even if you throw them at the wall. It is time for you to try your best against a much stronger opponent. Now, try once more."

And so Meera did. For the next few hours, she used every combination of skills and tricks up her sleeve, but she couldn't so much as touch the sorceress. She was even forced to develop new combinations, such as using her Mirror Tower Shields to form a ring and exploding all of them with Mirrorplosion. It took more concentration to shatter so many with an advanced form of Mirror Wing.

When that was swept aside, she used Mirror Step after Mirror Step and teleported all across the room to take the sorceress by surprise, but all she managed to do was amuse her opponent at best. At one point, she even put a Corrupting Hex on the sorceress, which raised an eyebrow. But Meera wasn't sure if the woman was actually poisoned as she showed no signs of it.

In her frustration, she punched the ground with Druvis Power and hurled chunks of the floor, only for the stone to be dodged easily. All the while, Meera winded herself physically and mentally. Veridiana did not even move more than three feet. Not to mention that whenever the sorceress used her claps, Meera and her chakrams were hurled around the room like ragdolls caught in a storm.

Finally, Meera fell on the floor, huffing and sweat dripping from her brow. "I give up."

"Did you give up so easily against that Cosmarian that had imprisoned your friend?" Veridiana asked.

All of a sudden, the room got very cold. "How do you know about Narikas?"

"I know about a lot of things. You did well against a Cosmarian, all things considered, so I was expecting more from you, but maybe I was wrong."

"Well, Erenyx couldn't clap, cause earthquakes, and dissipate all my skills."

Veridiana nodded. "Fair point, but she wasn't at full strength. The results of that fight would've turned out less than favorable if that were so. Anyhow, let's talk about you. I've counted seventeen skills so far. If I were to guess, based on your skills and tag, you have a mirror and a shadow-based class. Am I wrong?"

Meera had to stifle a laugh. She nodded. "That's right."

Veridiana squinted. "Then explain to me which of those classes gives you a healing or strength-enhancing skill. And I'm sure the poison coursing through my veins is like the one from my daughter's Corrupting Hex skill, waiting to strike. I've known a hundred different classes but none that could give me such a wide range of skills." She stepped forward. "What is your secret, Meera?"

The laugh vaporized at the Sovereign's serious tone. Meera stepped back. Her first thought was to lie to her, but she wasn't nearly well versed in the skills and classes to be able to lie to a sorceress of her caliber. Right now, she was in her good graces, and Veridiana might take the lie as an insult, and this woman terrified Meera.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Meera said.

"Try me."

"I can steal one skill from others if I can land a hit."

Veridiana stared at Meera for a long moment. "I see…Stand. Let's continue your training."

"Wait, you believe me?"

"It's either you're telling the truth or Lord Darthin has been generous to you, in letting you pick the skills you want." She smiled. "And I doubt it's the latter."

Meera breathed out a sigh of relief. "So, since we're doing this to make me stronger, can I steal a skill of yours."

Veridiana spread her arms. "If you can land a hit."