Three days before the tournament…

"Give me my dagger back."

Seren's lackeys turned around before she did, only for them to see an all-too-familiar face.

"Li Hua," Seren smirked, "How nice of you to visit."

The two boys threateningly stepped forward, but Seren beckoned for them to stand down. There, the three pairs of eyes met the Xia Sect girl, her orange hair billowing in the autumn wind.

"You heard me," Li Hua snarled, "Give me back my dagger."

"What if I don't want to?" Seren smirked, crossing her arms.

LI Hua stared at her.

It was like she was picturing the best way to take down Seren and her lackeys. Her eyes darted around the shops. No, there were too many people here.

Oh boy, if her parents were still around, they would have reminded her that violence wasn't the only way to solve problems. Their little girl – always using violence – 'silly, little Li Hua'. But no, she would never hear their voices, ever again. Maybe that's what made it so much worse.

"I hate you." Li Hua finally said.

"I honestly wish we never met." The orange-haired girl gripped her sleeves.

"I wonder…" Li Hua's gaze was hollow, dead inside. "Do you even feel bad that I lost my parents? The only thing I have left of them is that dagger and you had to take it too."

"F-fine," Seren muttered, taking the dagger out of her sleeve, "Take it back, for all I care."

She threw the dagger over, and it landed on the sidewalk with a clatter.

"I don't know why I thought we could have ever been friends." Li Hua murmured, picking up the dagger and pocketing it.

"Why couldn't you have just taken the dagger and left." Seren snapped, but her voice was a bit shaky.

"Well, you're the one who said you have no regrets." Li Hua retorted. "But, I would have given my life for you."

"At least… back then." Li Hua's voice grew distant as she continued, "I wouldn't have thrown you into the mud. And I would have gladly gotten dirty just to get you out. You say my Xia Sect doesn't know anything about surviving. But your Shang sect doesn't know anything about living."

Li Hua, having said that, began to stomp away–

"I was the one that begged them to not kill you," Seren blurted out. "You should have been grateful for what I did."

Li Hua turned around to look Seren in the eye. "Thanks. Thanks so much."

"Wait, Li Hua…" Seren's voice dropped. "I…"

"You wanted me to pretend it never happened, right?" Li Hua gave her an emotionless smile. "Fine, I will."

"You know, I've thought about getting even." Li Hua's eyes grew wide, laughing, "An eye for an eye. But no amount of pain I could give you would ever make it worth it…"

"...no, I don't even want to think of you." She finished.

With that, Li Hua walked away.

* * *

Monday.

Tournament day — The first few duels of the arena were now in session, leaving the main arena mostly empty. Turns out, students were supposed to battle in one of the six other arenas, but Steven had slept through that mumbo-jumbo.

Now, he was playing catch-up, trying to piece together bits and pieces of what he knew. Above them, six holographic displays hovered like UFO's, each broadcasting a different arena's battles.

"Wait, there's class competitions?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I told you about them, no?" Mayo asked.

"Nobody told me anything about them."

"I'm sure I've told you, you must have forgotten." Mayo gaslighted him.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, you've definitely told me." Steven said, drumming his fingers on the chair in front of him.

"Anyway," Mayo continued, "I've signed us up for the team competitions."

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"You did?"

"Yep," Mayo answered, "Remember, I told you on Friday?"

"Did you?"

"Yep, I definitely did." Mayo gaslighted him.

Steven nodded, drawing his fingers to the floating holographic papers, "Hm…"

He flipped through a couple pages, which was a weird sensation. He wasn't really touching anything, but the light somehow knew to flip over, like real pieces of paper. (Cool.) "It seems like we don't have any fights for now."

"What about you?" Steven looked over to Zero.

"Not until noon," The white-haired boy flatly answered.

"And at 2:00PM, that's when the class competitions start," Steven glanced back at the schedule. "So, we have time."

He glanced around, noticing a couple booths high up in the air.

"Hey," Steven said. "Do you think it's possible to get up there?"

"Yeah, definitely," Mayo answered. "But those seats are reserved for alumni, visitors, and school sponsors."

Mayo looked at Steven, a lightbulb flashing above both their heads.

"Do you think we can get up there?" They said together.

"..." Zero said, on the side.

* * *

"So, we're now up here… walking on this rope." Mayo narrated.

"Not fun…" Steven muttered, trying to hold onto the wire. "Why are we up here, again?"

They were walking on this thin, electrical wire, several stories above any ground. But not in the way you'd think…

"So I had this cool idea, right, to use magic to turn us into pigeons." Mayo explained, "Well, we're not actually pigeons, it's more like a glamour."

"Then why do I feel like a pigeon," Steven complained.

"Hey, hey, magic works best when you believe in the illusion." Mayo said.

Steven looked down at his feet. They were pigeon claws, but when he focused really hard, he could feel the human feet. But unfortunately for him, human feet were not meant to grip wires.

"Ahh," He calmly said, stumbling. It was a long drop down from here… 'Come on… Think like a pigeon… think like a pigeon.'

"See the piece of bl_e hair at your feet?" Mayo pointed, "It makes you more attractive to other pigeons, true, but keep in mind that the hair has the magic. Don't lose it, or else it'll break the spell. It has an added quality of making us really forgettable, so we feel and look like forgettable pigeons."

"Wait, sorry, could you repeat that first part? It makes us more attractive to other pig-" Steven said as he was swarmed by a sea of pigeons.

"Oh, I didn't see that coming." Mayo looked at Steven, desperately fighting off the suitors.

"Hey, how come we're not affected?" She whispered to Zero, who was this nice looking albino pigeon.

"..." Zero said in a pigeon voice.

"Great answer," Mayo nodded, "Maybe we're just not as attractive."

"Look, Look!" Mayo pointed with her wings, hopping over. "We're here."

Zero and Mayo looked back to see Steven, who finally managed to get out.

"Ah," Steven muttered. "I'm free."

He didn't sound happy.

"Ah, dang it," Mayo muttered, as she stuck her head down to the roof of the booth. "There's a sound-proofing spell here. Can't hear anything… and if I crack the formation, they'll definitely notice."

"Sound-proofing spell?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, there are different types, and they all block sound one way or the other. Point is, I can't get a good ear on what they're saying."

"Let me try," Zero muttered. He waved his little white wings and out came three tiny ear-pieces.

"Wear this." The white-haired boy instructed.

"Woah," Mayo muttered, putting on the ear-pieces, "Much better."

"Why do you have all this?" Steven dryly asked.

The white-haired boy stared at him. "For my job."

Steven motioned for him to elaborate.

"I commit several legal and ethical crimes at national and world-wide security levels…" Zero said, "for my job."

Steven… nodded. That made sense? (Kinda.)

He stuck his ear down, expecting to hear a conversation, but instead, it was almost like he was watching a fuzzy movie. He couldn't exactly see anything, but it felt like he was in the room, and could feel where every object was. Woah…

"Gosh, I just don't know what this school is coming too." One of the people complained, banging the table. "Do we even follow a righteous path? We allow demons, monsters, and spirits to attend! How is this a safe school?"

"The school allows for all pursuit of knowledge, that includes the dao's which you may not prescribe to," A voice snapped back.

"That's not the only issue!" The man shouted. "This is a cultivator school. Why is the school allowing wizards and engineers," he said this disdainfully, "and what-not here?"

"Now now, Sect Leader Liang," One of the people said, "I understand your concerns, but we have not had a single person die in our school, at least on campus. Our campus is possibly one of the safest places to be."

Was that one of the school administrators?

"And to address your concerns," The school administrator continued, "In this modern era, we pursue a hybrid approach to learning. It doesn't mean we slack off on cultivation, and I assure you that battle prowess and cultivation advances remain core aspects of our curriculum. I hope you can understand."

"Pfft," the man snorted, "Yeah yeah, but just know that our sect, the Virtuous Peak sect, of the Ten Great Sects, will only be recruiting those who subscribe to the purest forms of cultivation. Not relying on some measly… tricks to advance their power! We are the righteou-"

"Yeah, right," One of the men said, with their legs on the table. "Righteous, little goody two-shoes."

"You-"

"Now, now," One of the sect leaders on the side tried to mediate the situation. "So, who are you guys betting on?"

"Isn't it obvious," another voice shouted out. "My son."

"Oh no, no, no," One of the woman cultivators stood up, "My daughter of the Primordial Dragon Guild will whoop your son's butt. She has an heavenly lightning asura spiritual root! What does your son have again? That's right, pills, potions, and not enough brain cells."

"How dare you!" The man and women started pulling each other's hair. (Since they were cultivators decked in traditional clothing, both of them had long hair.)

"You never know if there'll be an underdog." One of the girls, casually sitting there said. She had a bamboo hat on her head.

"Ayy, we'll get there when we do." A little boy said.

"Who invited this little boy here?"

"I'm not a little boy," The little boy said.

"Well, I'm just here to see if there's anyone who's deserving of being invited into our guild." A woman wearing a qi-pao said, "Afterall, my Celestial Beast Sect needs rising Beast Tamers."

She patted the lion at her feet, "Isn't that right, Ju-ju."

The lion roared, then continued to chew the carpet.

"Now, now," A voice cutted through, "If I had to place my bets on anyone, then maybe…"

"Who?" The other sect leaders asked.

The words came out, but it wasn't heard by anyone at the meeting. No, it was like it had been thrown into a secret channel, delivered only to…

"If I had to place my bets on anyone, then maybe… the ones eavesdropping on us right now."