Silence engulfed the Arena as another Wanderer began shouting, bringing everyone’s attention to himself. Unlike Alnea and the girls though, the red robed man on the stage was not talking to the Wanderers in the stands. Instead, the man seemed to have come specifically for Alnea. After all, the man was a Wanderer of the Lotus clan.

“I have come, as you asked. But here you are, planning to run as soon as you finish your battle. Are you going to back out of your own challenge? Are you going to run away like a coward, and prove yourself to be the scum that you are? A worthless piece of dirt, who cannot even gain the favour of Gods…”

“Enough, Redbud,” Cecilia growled. “If you want a fight, you will get a fight.”

“You are not my opponent, Serpia,” the red robed man said, shaking his head.

“Why? Are you scared? Are you—

“Bullying other Wanderers by relying on her Oren Beast… Is this what the daughters of the Serpia clan have come down to?”

“…Who are you?” Cecilia said, staring solemnly at the pink robed woman who had just stepped onto the main stage. The pressure she was releasing… it was something they had felt only in the three Heterodox Wanderers they had met in the Night Canyons.

“I am your opponent.”

“…A Peak Stage Wanderer challenging an Intermediate Stage Wanderer has the audacity to talk about bullying others?” Yuri said, sneering at the pink robed woman, while willing the platform she was standing on to move towards the main stage. “How about I teach you what bullying truly means?”

“…Do not get too excited, little girl. Since our clan has arranged someone for the Serpian daughter, how could we forget about you?”

“Your opponent is me,” a white robed woman said, arriving on to the third stage of the Arena, beckoning Yuri to her side. “Or are you going to run away from your challenge too?”

“…Two Peak Stage Wanderers and one Advanced Stage Wanderers,” Alnea said, grinning at the Wanderers in front of him. “The Lotus clan surely looks up to us.”

“I think you got the numbers wrong though,” Vestia said, stepping up to stand beside Alnea. “Have you not prepared any opponent for me?”

“…Are you sure you want to get involved in our matter, Weina?” the white robed woman said, staring solemnly at Vestia.

“It cannot be helped,” Vestia said, shrugging her shoulders. “Did you not hear that I have joined their team? I even helped coming up with the name of the team. You cannot expect me to back out now, on the first sight of danger, right?”

“…It does not matter whether you join them or not anyway,” the pink robed woman, shrugging her shoulders in the same way that Vestia had shrugged her shoulders moments ago. “Although we did not anticipate you joining these little bastards, we were prepared to deal with any unexpected circumstances. Including facing a few more Wanderers.”

“How about you leave the Weina to me, Esna?” said a yellow robed man, in a lethargic and frivolous voice, moving towards the last stage in the Arena. “I have always wondered how a Weina would taste like?”

“…Are you not worried that Aria would break your legs once you go back?”

“…I am doing this for the clan,” the yellow robed man said, straightening his back, while losing all the frivolousness in his voice. “I am sure she will understand.”

“…It is up to you. Just do not come crying to me for help later.”

“…Aria would definitely understand my pains,” the yellow robed man said, a bit hesitant of himself. Once he looked at Vestia though, the man lost all his hesitation. Staring at Vestia with hungry eyes, he licked his lips, and said, “Since you cannot back out, how about you come play with me, Weina?”

“…Should we exchange our opponents?” Alnea said, glancing at the yellow robed man, before looking at Vestia with concern. “He does not seem to have good intentions…”

“It is fine,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “He is just a Peak Stage False Wanderer… I can handle him.”

“…Are you sure?”

“…Why don’t I see you being so concerned about me?” Cecilia mumbled.

“…You have Forne with you. And you already have experience of fighting against Peak Stage Wanderers. But Vestia—

“Relax,” Vestia said. “It is not as if I have never fought Peak Stage Wanderer before.”

“Still, the man seems quite strong even amongst Peak Stage Wanderer.”

“And he is quite strong. As are the two women. Even your opponent is not an easy one, Alnea. He is just below the top geniuses of the Lotus clan. You can think of them as the leaders of the younger generation of the Lotus clan, heirs cultivated by the elders of the Lotus clan, who are expected to reach the Tenth level of True Rank. In short, they are all the hope of the Lotus clan… I did not expect the Lotus clan to send so many of them out at once. They sure attach quite some importance to you.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“…Does that not mean that you are in an even more dangerous situation than what we expected?”

“…I am glad that you are worrying about me, Alnea. But I would even more happy if you believed in me, like you believe in Cecilia and Yuri.”

Alnea glanced at the two girls, looking at him in dissatisfaction. The way they were looking at him…

“…They are stronger than they appear.”

“…You have not even asked about my strength. How can you assume that I am not stronger than them?”

“…Are you not just at the Advanced Stage?”

“Cecilia is just at the Intermediate Stage.”

“…Her case is a little special.”

“…Let us forget about her then. But tell me Alnea, when I did say that I was just at the Advanced Stage?”

“You mean…”

“I am at least two or three years older than the three of you. If I cannot even reach the Peak Stage at my age, I would not have called myself as a Wanderer with one of the greatest potentials in the Lost City. And I would not have the face to join your team either.”

“Then…”

“Leave the man to me,” Vestia said, winking at him, before moving towards the stage the yellow robed man was on.

“…Are you done?” the pink robed woman said with impatience seeping into her voice. “When are you going to come and accept your fate?”

“Are you talking about the fate of smashing your face into the floor of the Arena?” Cecilia said, as she willed her platform to move towards the stage where the pink robed woman was standing on. “I did not know you were so impatient to get a beating.”

“Be careful, Lia!”

“You worry about your new girlfriend,” Cecilia said, waving her hand without even looking back. “I will take care of myself.”

“She is not my girlfriend,” Alnea mumbled, as he hurriedly caught up with Cecilia. “I promised big sis to take care of you. Don’t let me break my promise.”

“You…” Cecilia said, stopping in her tracks to stare at him. “You are shameless!”

“I would rather be shameless than see you get hurt.”

“…I will be careful. Besides, like you said, I still have Forne with me. But you are alone. So, you better be careful too. Don’t get hurt. Or I will break your legs.”

“…Shy as always,” Yuri said, shaking her head with a smile, as she caught up to him, watching Cecilia move towards the pink robed woman, before turning towards him. “Be careful, Alnea.”

“You too, Yuri. The white robed woman… I have a hunch that she might be strongest of the four.”

“…At least the Lotus clan still knows who is the strongest amongst us.”

“This is not a joking matter. The woman… she might not have as much means and experience as the Heterodox Wanderers, but her raw strength should not be any worse.”

“And you saw how I was able to subdue those Wanderers. If those Heterodox Wanderers had come at us one by one, I would have taken them all down by myself. So, there is nothing for you to worry about.”

“…I will always worry for you. And for Lia. You…”

“Okay, stop saying embarrassing things in front of everyone, and hurry up,” Yuri said with a slightly red face. “Cecilia has almost begun her fight.”

“…Right,” Alnea said, finally remembering where they were. In the middle of the empty zone between the fighting stages, and the edge of the Arena, attracting everyone’s eyes and ears. The things he had said to Yuri, and was about to say to her… That too, out loud… Why had he not used their bond? Where was the stupid ring when he needed it? Could it not have reminded him to use it? Thankfully, he had his Aspects to help him with his embarrassment. Yuri though…

“I am going now. Be careful. And don’t get hurt. Or else, I will do something even worse than breaking your leg.”

Yuri hurried away towards the white robed woman, not giving him the chance to reply. And she said that Cecilia was shy. In a sense, she was even more shy than Cecilia. But only for him. For the rest of the world, she was as cold as ice. Just as he was vulnerable only for her and Cecilia. For the rest of the world, he was even more cruel than how cruel they were to him. Especially for the Lotus clan. The ones who had almost succeeded in taking everything away from him.

“You are finally here.”

“I should be saying that to you,” Alnea said, grinning at the red robed man. “I have been waiting for a few days for you people to come to me. Yet you come only now. Were you afraid of me?”

“…Are you so eager to meet your fate?”

“I met my fate on the day you people took my father from me, and changed it with my own hands. Now, my fate is up to me.”

“The weak can never have their fate in their hands,” the red robed man said, stretching out to grab the air in front of him, and close his fist. “We think that we have everything in our control, but that is just an illusion. Only the truly strong, the ones standing at the top of the world, can have their fate in their hands.”

“…I once said something similar to a retainer of your clan,” Alnea said, reminiscing about the day of his Spirit Test. “It is not that only the strong can have their fate in their hands, but that only those who dare to take their fate in their hands can become strong. And you, who do not even dare to think about fighting your fate, can never be strong. You can never defeat me.”

“…Let me remind you once again,” the guard said, stepping in between him and the red robed man. “This is a normal Challenge, not a Blood Challenge. Still, it is a challenge, nonetheless. The Arena will keep your lives, but injuries in challenges are inevitable. It would be best if you try not to maim your opponents.”

“But the Arena itself does not stop us from maiming our opponents, right?”

“…As long as you do not trigger the Arena’s restrictions.”

“That’s fine,” the red robed man said, grinning at Alnea. “I wonder which hand you would prefer to lose. Tell me before hand so that I do not miss by chance and end up cutting off both of your hands.”

“I have no intentions of giving up either of my hands. But I do not mind taking off your tongue. You do not know how to use it anyway. Speaking of things that you do not know how to use; I could take away your head too. Unfortunately, the Arena does not allow us to kill each other. At least not in a normal challenge… Quite a lucky day for you, is it not?”

“…You sure do have a way with your words. Let us see if you are just as proficient in using your Martial Styles and Arcanas.”

“As you wish.”

“…You can start.”