It felt like a heavy weight lifted off of my chest as I exited the temple with the Priests. The tall entrance doors of the temple closed behind us, and I felt the chokehold that the unseen evil had on me lessen greatly. It was still there, like a phantom of an uncomfortable feeling, but I now felt like I could breathe.

A large crowd, possibly all of Edrona, including Drayek, gathered around the front of the temple. And I’m sure they were all there to witness the results of my ceremony. The crowd stood impatiently underneath the menacing shadow of the giant statue of Lady Euridice.

And then a thought struck my mind.

“Codex? Was it Lady Euridice talking to me on that screen in the altar box?”

“I cannot say, Master. I cannot determine Lady Euridice’s intentions and design.”

I sighed. I guessed I couldn’t expect Codex to know everything about Lady Euridice’s current actions and thoughts.

“Sarina Kane,” Priest Kane’s voice boomed over the loud chatter of the crowd, “please approach!”

I shot a nervous glance in Drayek’s direction, but he met me with only a frown and a shrug of his shoulders.

Sarina emerged from the crowd and stepped directly in front of Priest Kane. She pressed the heels of her hands together and offered the Edronan bow of respect.

“I am ready, Master.” Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear her.

“Ready for what?” I interjected.

Priest Kane turned away from Sarina to look at me. “You will duel Sarina Kane until one of you concedes. If you can hold your own for at least five minutes, we will accept your Mark, and all of the UnMarked Edronans will have the opportunity to proceed with their own second ceremonies.”

A wave of excited chatter fell over the crowd. Most had already known this to be the case since many of the Elders at last night’s Council had spread the information. But the novelty of giving a second ceremony to all of the UnMarked was a definite cause for enthusiasm.

“If you do not pass the test, not only will no one else receive a second ceremony, but you will also… well…” the Priest glanced over at Drayek and grinned, “your mentor can explain to you what will happen to the both of you if you fail.”

I drew my brows together, but Drayek still offered no help or explanation, giving me only his usual stoic expression.

“Let’s do this,” I said, loud enough for all to hear. “But do I get a weapon and some armor?” I gestured at Sarina’s long, knobby staff–similar to those I’d seen the other Priests carry at times.

“Of course we wouldn’t leave you unarmed,” Priest Kane crooned. “Gerald, I believe you brought a Tier 1 weapon for the young Rayden to use?”

One of Edrona’s Blacksmiths stomped his way through the crowd with a wrapped bundle in his arms. He was a burly man with a long beard and in need of another bath or two, but I’d always liked him.

Gerald approached me with the bundle and revealed its contents. I tried to hide my smile at the sight of a pure silver shaft and a deadly sharp tip at the end of the spear.

Gerald winked at me knowingly, then retreated back into the masses.

I tested the weapon in my grip. Yes, it would do very well indeed. And the silver of the spear would match my scaled armor extremely well.

“What about armor?” I voiced just as soon as I thought about my armor at home.

“No armor.”

I scrunched up my nose in annoyance. “Seriously?”

Priest Kane licked his lips. “The deal was that the test is according to my terms.”

I rolled my shoulders back and stretched my neck from side to side. “Fine.”

The Priests moved out of Sarina’s and my way. She and I nodded at one another and circled around and away from the statue of Euridice, finding a wide enough space at least twenty feet away from the bystanders and any buildings.

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It seemed like all of the onlookers held their breaths as Sarina and I stared each other down.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

I shrugged and gave her a reassuring smile. Did I mean the intentions behind the smile? Maybe not–I wasn’t sure. But what I did know is that I wouldn’t hold back in this fight. Not one bit.

Sarina dropped into a fighting stance and brought her staff to her side. I dropped into my own stance, planting my feet firmly into the rocky ground and directing the tip of my spear toward her.

I glanced over at the Priests and noticed Priest Kane pull out a gold-encrusted timepiece.

“Begin!” he called.

My eyes flicked back to Sarina, but she was already moving. She dashed to her left and attempted to circle behind me and catch me by surprise.

But I would have none of that.

I matched her speed and then some. Before she could react, I positioned myself at her back and slammed the butt of my new spear in between her shoulder blades.

Sarina gasped and fell to her knees, red apprentice robes falling through the air like a dying bird as she went.

I hesitated, a shock of guilt wrenching my gut as she collapsed. My moment of hesitation was all she needed. She took in a sharp breath and swung her legs underneath me, throwing me to the ground and on my rear.

A dull ache shot from my tailbone and through my lower back as I landed, but I recovered quickly and rolled out of the way just before Sarina slammed the end of her staff toward my face. She tried a second time, but I was still able to evade the blow.

I jumped to my feet and forced Sarina to jump away from the tip of my spear.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said through heavy breaths.

A look of sadness passed over her serene face in shadows but was quickly replaced with a sneer as she threw one hand over her head. I knew what she was doing–casting a spell.

I held my ground and studied her movement, waiting to see how I should react to whatever would come my way. A large wave of water climbed over Sarina’s head. The clear blue wave sparkled mesmerizingly underneath the light of the setting suns.

She can summon water from nowhere? I thought, amazed.

That truly was an important Skill for the wasteland that Edrona was. Especially if it was freshwater and consumable.

How much can she produce at one time? And how often?

I found myself distracted by my thoughts as I stared at the beautiful water and barely noticed as it barrelled over Sarina. Even as the water immersed her, then headed in my direction, Sarina still remained completely dry.

I flailed about as the wave engulfed me. The mouthfuls of water I was forced to swallow answered one of my questions–it was indeed freshwater.

Due to the water filling my eye sockets and obscuring my vision, I couldn’t see Sarina’s approach. All of the air left my lungs as she smashed her staff into my gut.

The water flowed away and spread over the ground, but I still desperately gasped for air. Sarina offered me a soft, sympathetic smile, then turned away from me and toward the Priests to claim her victory.

But no. That wasn’t going to happen.

Over Sarina’s head, I noticed a swarm of dancing essence streams. There hadn’t been so many before she cast her spell, but now there were dozens, if not hundreds. This was the essence she had specifically used to cast her spell. They slowly slipped into Sarina’s body as she naturally absorbed them, but I quickly called them to me before she could attract any more.

Can I take essence away while someone is casting a spell?

I had been so distracted when she first cast the spell to notice if I could have seen and taken the essence she had used to summon the wave. This was my first fight against a spellcaster since advancing to Tier 1. I needed to start paying more attention and use my Skill to my every advantage.

As I rose to my feet, I shoved just a small portion of the essence I’d just absorbed, maybe a fifth of it (I didn’t want to kill her), into my spear. The weapon buzzed with a pleasant warmth in my hands. Then, I charged.

Sarina had no chance to react. As she turned to face me, eyes wide in shock, I slammed the butt of my spear directly into her straight nose. But it wouldn’t be straight for much longer. A resounding crack echoed through the area as I broke every bone in her nose.

Sarina cried out in pain and fell to her knees, unable to control the tears that spilled out of her eyes and streaked down her now bloody face.

“Time!” Priest Kane hollered, rushing to Sarina’s side.

The crowd and the rest of the Priests remained silent and in shock.

Priest Kane cradled Sarina’s face in his hands and ascertained the damage.

“Priestess Nora!” he snapped. “Heal her! Now!”

I backed away, fearful of Priest Kane’s wrath. His eyes shot up to mine, an angry fire burning within them that made me recoil in my own skin.

“Turns out we have another Marked in Edrona,” he announced. “Since Drayek is so intent on being your mentor, you will be a Hunter along with him.”

I stepped further away from Sarina, avoiding staring at her face too long. The guilt for hurting her so badly ate at me, but at least Priestess Nora could heal her and get her beautiful face back to normal. But still… it was cruel what Priest Kane had made us do. I’d never wanted to fight Sarina. Sure, we’d had harmless scrimmages during training, but we’d never given each other more than a nasty bruise or two.

Priest Kane continued talking as Sarina underwent her healing, “Serve Edrona and the goddess well, Rayden Grim.”

I tried a smile in response. Edrona, yeah, I could help these people the best I could. But the goddess? Forget about it.