“You’re telling me you can’t actually tell me anything?”

“Sorry. But according to this-” The guild receptionist looked down at a piece of paper beside her desk. “-it’s technically within guild rights to sanction exhibition matches on your behalf.”

“Right.” I resisted the urge to palm my forehead. “But, and maybe I’m repeating myself, but why?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Zero, but I couldn’t even tell you if I wanted to. The higher-ups were the ones to schedule it. Those like myself would have had zero part in it.”

I grumbled, annoyed. I was well aware the receptionist wasn’t at fault, nor was she likely to know anything more than I did, but it still didn’t make me feel better.

Two days.

I’d spent two days scooping about for information about what was going on and why I was apparently partaking in a planned duel, but I’d been unable to turn anything of note up.

Today the day of the duel, it was only an hour prior when I’d finally had the bright idea to check with the guild, the source itself.

Look, I’m not always the fastest to catch on to obvious things. Obvious things such as checking with the guild first.

Grumbling under my breath about the waste of time it had turned out to be, I was about to turn around and march out of the guild hall when suddenly the receptionist called out to me.

“Oh, Mr. Zero.”

“Rook.” I growled under my breath,

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.” I sighed, trying my best to cap my irritation, no point it letting it spill over to someone who was effectively a bystander. “What is it?”

“I should mention that I was given a letter to hand to you should you stop by.”

“Couldn’t have started with that?” I rubbed at my eyes, irritated with everything.

“Apologies, you were just sort of… demanding.”

That’s her way of nicely saying you were being an ass.

“So, where’s this letter then?” I questioned, ignoring my bitter thoughts.

“One moment.” She ducked beneath the counter, sifting through several drawers I knew were beneath her desk before she popped back out a second later.

“Here.”

The woman handed over a red envelope stamped with the official wax seal of the guild.

“Aulous.” I whispered, too impatient to use a letter opener. A tiny slicing jet of water appeared from my fingertip, which I used to slit open the envelope.

The famous Zero. Wonder how people would feel if they learned this is about the limit of my outward magical ability.

Slicing waters.

That was it. That was all I could do aside from the tiniest of flames, which was convenient for lighting candles, I will admit. I would never be the person throwing around fireballs or making spears of earth explode out from beneath someone.

But that wasn’t to say I had nothing else at my disposal.

I smiled softly before I stifled it, reading the letter’s contents.

Salutations Zero,

Apologies for the short notice on the recent exhibition match. Assuming you have received this letter ahead of time, I would like to offer my appreciation for participating. -

Getting a little ahead of himself, I could decide not to show up for all they know.

Putting the thought aside, I kept reading.

With that said, I would like to offer compensation. As thanks, you will be provided payment after the duel has concluded, in the amount of-

They had better not cheap out on me.

-five hast. We do hope this is enough to pay for your participation.

“F-five hast?” I blurted, my eyes bulging.

Five hast.

Five.

A hast, as in, ten golden rosts a piece.

And they were paying me five.

F-I-V-E.

No way. There has to be a catch.

Eyes drifting back down to the letter, I continued reading.

You will receive the payment within twenty-four hours of the duel. Once again, I would like to personally offer my thanks.

Dion Heavenward.

That settled that.

Something was up.

Five hast was a fortune. Even after our last commission of dealing with the Prisma Lion, we’d been paid ten rosts, split between five of us; it had amounted to two golden rosts each.

And that was considered a well-paid job for a bunch of silvers.

Five hast for a duel?

No.

That wasn’t the extent of why it was so suspicious, even if it alone would have been enough to warrant the suspicion. The real kicker was who the letter was from. It wasn’t signed off as the Adventurer’s Guild like most official notices from the guild. Instead, it was signed off by Dion Heavenward.

Otherwise known as the current master of the Adventurers’ Guild, the youngest in over three decades.

Why? Why go to such extents?

Perhaps if I were a high-gold looking to usurp Iris, it would have made sense, given that for the guild, such an event between two high-ranking golds could provide a chance for plenty of PR, an event worth traveling to see from far and wide.

But I was a silver. Not even rank one at that.

Whatever the game being played, I couldn’t figure it out with what limited information I currently had.

Well, back to plan A then.

The best way to figure it out would be to simply comply and see if perhaps I would get some explanation during it all. Slipping the letter into a fold of my clothing, I nodded once at the receptionist before awkwardly waving.

“I’ll, just, uh, be going now.”

Shuffling away, I quickly made my way to the door, ignoring several looks cast in my direction as I passed by some adventurers milling about within the guild.

“… heard he is challenging Steel Haze herself.”

“….an entire event just for that. Kid rises the ranks quickly and thinks he is some god amongst men.”

“…. Even have a shot? It’s her, after all.”

I ignored the comments, keeping my head fixed straight ahead as I left the guild hall behind, welcomed by the bright desert sun as I made my way outside.

They act like I don’t know this already.

Of course, I understood logically there would be a world of difference in experience between me and the rank one high-gold. While I wasn’t the same kid from years ago, neither did I think I was untouchable. The world was vast, as were the people in it. The harsh reality of just what sort of power some could wield had been instilled into me the day I’d seen my mother, a former gold rank adventurer in all but title alone, swatted aside like a bug by a visiting Sage Hunter.

The same Sage Hunter who, only minutes later, was killed by the Sage Above All as easily as I would an ant.

I stopped what I was doing, cupping a hand over my eyes as I looked past the bustle of the busy roads, merchants, caravans, and regular folk milling about. Where you are, and what you’re doing now, mom?

It had been years since I’d last seen her; the only form of communication I’d had from her had been a single letter I’d gotten a year back. Its contents had been simple and brief. My mother wrote to me that she had been traveling and was doing alright, but she never specified where she was or what she was up to.

Can’t say I’m surprised, though.

Without any return address, it had been impossible to write back to her, to tell her how I’d been. Adventuring, killing monsters, escorting merchants through the desert, recovering lost property.

Battling a mage powered by the magic of a True Dragon.

You know, regular everyday things

The fact that she had managed to get a letter to me in the first place impressed me; the last time she’d seen me, she’d had no knowledge of the journey I would set out on.

To be fair, there are people who specialize in finding these sorts of things out.

Another face came to mind, a girl with short, black bobbed hair ending in shadowy blue hues, a pearly choker around her neck, and an expensive fur-lined coat draped around her shoulders.

I shook my head, chasing the thought away.

Seriously, what’s with all the reminiscing today?

I had to get my game face on. Based on the sun’s position, the start time of the duel was nearing. If I wanted to figure out why I’d been roped into this, it would be in my best interest to get a move on.

“Hey, boss!” I waved a hand as a three-wheeled cart rolled by, pulled along by a giant toad-looking creature that walked on two legs, its upper arms nearly dragging on the ground. Seated on a saddle strapped around the shoulders of the lumbering frog creature was a man, a wide-brimmed hat shielding his eyes as he ushered the cart to pull up next to me.

“Where ya goin?” The man asked, the slight roll of his r what I’d come to recognize as the area’s accent.

“Quetzal Amphitheater.”

“Oh?” The man smiled at me, missing a tooth. “I see. You going to see the duel as well?”

“Er, you could say that.” I answered.

I mean, was he wrong?

“Climb in back, and we’ll be off.” The man nodded toward the cart, which I quickly pulled myself into, tossing him a bronze dansh.

“So, you an adventurer?”

“Yeah.” I watched as he gave a quick flick of the frog’s bridle.

“Ah. Well, what do you make of the duel then?”

“Not sure, to be honest. Perhaps this Zero has a big head on his shoulders.” I answered truthfully.

“Well, if you wanna know my opinion, ’em adventurers have changed since those rankings they started doing, as you’ve probably seen. Used to be a service, now it’s like they’re becoming more and more of a spectacle, famous not for saving people, but all that extra stuff.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Why, just the other day, I paid some tins to take care of a problem I was having, ‘nuffin major.” The man lurched into the story without hesitation as if I were some old drinking buddy. “-told ’em I just needed them to clear out some felnds from the stable. Nothin’ crazy, right? I coulda took care of it myself, but them ‘Lil bastards have a nasty bite that always leads to a fever. Figured that a few tins could handle it better than I could.”

I nodded along, more for his sake than my own.

“You know what they go and said to me? ‘Felnds are beneath us.’ A bunch of tins! Saying something is beneath them! Tins!”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I had to suppress my half-smile forming as I nodded, faking surprise.

“I swear. Even the lowest of ’em think their big shots now. This Zero fellow is the worst of ’em, I’ll tell you what!”

“Oh?” I felt my curiosity piqued. It wasn’t often I got to listen to stories about myself incognito as I was. “Why do you say that?”

“A hot shot! Skips to silver in only a few years, or so I’ve heard. Cuz’ of ’im, now all these adventurers acting like they’re next. Refusing commissions they once would have taken without complaint, demanding higher pay than the work deserves. A menace, I tell you.”

“Have you ever met this Zero?” I questioned, feigning ignorance again.

“Well… no.” The man admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “But that doesn’t change that even never meeting him, I can bet he is probably the worst of ’em! This duel is proof! Challenging Iris herself. I wanted to watch, just to see her wipe the smug look off his face. Now, Iris, that is what adventurers ought to be more like. You know she’s been at it for thirteen years now? A little less than half her life, and you don’t see her getting all pompous.”

“I bet.” I laughed quietly, enjoying the situation. The man continued grumbling quietly about all the ‘young brats’ clogging up the once respectable adventurers. No longer conversing with me, I relaxed, leaning back as I watched the cityscape roll by.

I’d only been to Theronhold for a few days compared to the several years I’d been living within Dunehold, but I couldn’t help but recall the sight from the first time I’d stepped foot into Theronhold, the first time I’d seen an actual city.

Dunehold was much the same, bustling at all times of the day and night. Only the early hours of the morning were free from activity. Whereas Theronhold had been buildings of cobble, brick, wood, or a strange amalgamation of the three, Dunehold was uniform in its appearance, carved sandstone making up ninety percent of all the buildings here, with roofs of terracotta shingles that helped absorb the heat of the blistering sun. Palm trees grew sporadically, with the occasional camel or other varieties of beasts of burden lounging beneath.

Up north, days as hot as today would have kept people hiding indoors, away from the sun. Here, it was business as usual; everyone who spent any time within the central region of Haerasong had a tan and tolerance to the heat reflecting it.

Mind drifting off, I found myself thinking back to my life only a few years back, living outside Junaper next to the cool shade of the woods, a temperate climate that was never too hot or too cold, save for winter, when the Frez came through. It was the two-month period of the winter season in which the sun was rarely seen, and blisteringly frigid winds swept through.

Home. Eyes glazed over, I was lost in thought thinking of it. Is our home still there? Or did they tear the place down? I wonder how everyone is doing?

Growing sleepy as the warm sun gently eased my muscles into a lazy relaxation, I slowly drifted off to the fond memories of my youth, feeling like an entirely different life in another time.

----------------------------------

“Sir.”

I awoke with a start, bumping my head on the gentle slope of the cart I was in. Looking around frantically, I noted the scenery had changed, no longer in the more… pedestrian area of the city, the sandstone buildings now shiner and closer to that of marble and quartzite.

We were in front of an open-air coliseum, smaller to match a more intimate setting but no less grand. This wouldn’t be the battleground of throngs of monsters versus gladiators, but of induvial people facing off, pride and fame on the line rather than death or glory.

Well, death would still occasionally be on the line, but it was rare.

“Sir.”

The area was packed, or as packed as an up-scale area such as this would generally be, rich or well-to-do looking individuals finding themselves seats to watch the upcoming duel.

My upcoming duel.

“Sir?”

Turning my attention to the cart driver, I noticed what he was trying to point out, a man and a woman quickly heading our way, walking with a clear purpose by the gait of their strides.

“Sir, do you know them?”

“Only by reputation.” I answered, my mouth drying up.

The woman was not Iris, but she wasn’t far off either. High-gold, rank one thirty-two, Elsmere Judith, the Falcon of Dawn. She was the newest edition to Iris’s team, an up-and-comer like myself. She had been adventuring for six years; reaching as high as she had was considered unheard of since Iris herself.

If it weren’t for an uppity high-silver, she would have been the one everyone talked about when it came to meteoric rises to fame.

As for the man next to her, well…

It was the master of the Adventurers’ Guild himself, Dion Heavenward.

And they were marching straight toward me.

Oh boy.

“Zero. Nice to see you showed.”

The cart driver cast a bug-eyed look back at me, to which I gave him a quick, sheepish smile.

“Thanks for the ride.” I pulled out a silver gilly from my pocket, flicking it to him as I disembarked.

Sure, I’d paid him already, but what can I say? Sometimes I’m a sucker for theatrics and showing off, and I enjoyed our conversation.

“I can’t say I’m not a bit overwhelmed by the reception.” I grasped Dion’s outstretched hand, giving it a firm shake.

“Well, you are one of the stars of the show.”

“About that-” I began to leap right into my questions about why I was one of the ‘stars’ in the first place, but I was cut off by Elsmere.

“My first time seeing you. I expected something… more.”

“Gee, nice to meet you too.” I coughed dryly into my fist. “I’m Rook.”

“Elsmere.” She responded, clearly missing the intent of my response.

“Well, now that we are all acquainted, is there anything you need? Or are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” I answered. “but I’d like to know-”

“Wonderful.” The Guild master cut me off, grabbing my shoulder and turning me toward the arena. “Elsmere here will take you to your corner since you don’t have an official second. Now, I must be going. I am quite a busy man after all.”

And just like that, he was suddenly jogging off, his loosely tied bun of salted caramel-colored hair bobbing behind him as he left.

Well, that was sudden.

I cast a sideways glance at Elsmere, who sighed as if it were to be expected and unavoidable.

“The Guild Master is always like this. But he is right about being busy.”

Having never met the Guild master in person, I had expected a more rigorous or uptight individual.

Not… whatever that was.

Sort of a letdown, not going to lie.

“We should be going. I’d prefer not to make Iris wait any longer.”

“Wait.” Before we’d gone more than a step, I stopped her. “Can someone please explain why I’m even here in the first place?”

The woman gave me an annoyed look before relenting.

“It’s not my place. I was only told as much as I need to know.”

Gods damn it.

Giving up, I followed quietly as she led me toward what looked to be a small hut. It was built directly next to the side of the pit-like amphitheater, with stairs leading down from it to the small stage arena at the bottom of the stadium. I figured the hut opposite us was where my opponent would be waiting.

Following Elsmere inside, I gave the interior a quick once over. It was plain by all regards, a bench, a sink, and several training dummies.

“So…. Now what?” I questioned, nothing much to look at.

“Ordinarily, for high regard duels such as this, this would be when you would take time with your second to discuss strategy. I take it you’ve never had to have a second in any of your duels?”

“No.” I shook my head, answering honestly. “But I doubt you want to give me an unfair advantage over your boss, considering you know her as well as you do?”

“Hah.” The woman laughed, a sound of dubious amusement at what I had said. “Even if I explained everything I could to you, it wouldn’t change that you have no chance.”

“Thanks for the confidence boost.” I muttered.

“I’ll just warn you, watch yourself. I’m not telling you this so that you win, but so that you don’t make a fool of yourself, and by extension, of Iris for going along with this.”

“Thanks, because this was totally my idea. Anything else?”

“No.” The woman tapped at her wrist, impatient. A minute of awkward silence later, she bowed her head as if someone were whispering directly into her ear. “Looks like it’s time.”

She walked toward the curtain leading out of the waiting room, pulling the curtain aside and gesturing me forward.

“Go ahead. I’ll be behind you.”

I gulped before walking out of the room, taking the steps down one at a time, doing my best to ignore the applause of the crowd around me, of the hollers and jeers.

One step at a time. I really don’t want to trip in front of all these people.

“Here they are!” I heard a voice shout out, prompting me to look across from me at the figure walking down opposite of me.

That’s her, no doubt about it.

I’d seen pictures of her before. Her accomplishments had been well documented.

And I’m going up against her.

Her hair was a steely grey, and she wore a black sash around her forehead beneath her bangs. I saw no weapon on her person, an interesting choice given she was participating in a duel.

Probably best to not underestimate her anyway.

I continued making my way down the steps until I stood at the edge of the small arena, facing my opponent as a third party stepped up and in-between us.

“Welcome, everyone. I am Ya’aska and will be the official for this duel between Iris Steel Haze and Zero of the Flowing Blade.”

Has everyone just gone and decided that’s my name now?

“This duel will be between two magic-capable adventurers. As a result, magic will be allowed. The duel will be an exhibition match; results shall have no formal reflection on rank or standings. All forms of injury shall be allowed except for fatal wounds; only in the inability to continue or surrender will the duel be concluded. Duelists, approach me.”

I stepped forward, as did Iris, the man placing his hands out for us.

“As you are both experienced with duels-” the official switched to speaking informally, looking between us as he did. “-you should know the rest by now.”

I nodded, placing my hand atop his, as did Iris.

“Good.” The official pulled his hands back before stepping away from the arena. “On my command.”

Mana flowing through me, my senses sharpened, coming as naturally as breathing for me nowadays.

“Set!”

Considering I was fighting a human, I thought about leaving my sword unadorned until, looking at her expressionless face across from me, I was reminded that this wasn’t just a steel or silver I was dueling, but the high-gold rank one.

Probably best to take this seriously from the get-go.

A murmur erupted as a layer of oscillating water slid over the edge of my brandished sword.

Why has she still not pulled out any weapon?

“Begin!”

I shot forward, my burst of speed magnitudes greater than any ordinary human could hope to match. While my sword swung toward her neck, I had no intention of killing her. If need be, I would stop my blade short.

But.

Like a flashback, I remembered once trying a similar move on an opponent I underestimated, only for it to be caught between his fingertips.

Iris, thankfully, didn’t catch it between her fingers, sparing my pride.

Instead, my blade simply never reached her. A cloud of steel-colored haze appeared from around her, like metal smoke. My sword swinging through the metallic mist was suddenly locked in place as the cloud solidified around it, never budging no matter how hard I yanked on the pommel.

Steel Haze. Little on the nose, don’t you think?

The haze continued solidifying, forming into several floating daggers pointed straight at me.

I get the feeling this isn’t ordinary magic.

Giving up retrieving my sword, I dodged out of the way as the daggers began zipping through the air, directly toward me.

I’d seen metal magic before; it was, after all, one of the most common forms of composite magic. A fusion between wild magic scorz, fire magic, and wild magic rentar, earth magic.

This, while metal-based, was clearly not regular wild magic.

Kin magic, maybe?

It had to be, but it was more practiced, more nuanced than any form of Kin magic I’d seen before. Even the illusions my mother would conjure were just that, illusions. Such finesse and control over physically manifested magic should have been impossible.

Well, it’s not impossible, considering it’s happening right before me.

More daggers continued to form within the steel haze surrounding her, chasing after me like an angered hornet’s nest.

I’m not getting anywhere like this.

If I kept running, all that would happen would be that more and more daggers would begin pursuing me until there were too many to avoid, a loss without ever getting the chance to fight back.

Time to change tactics, then.

It had been three years since I had first set out from home, and if all that I’d managed to pick up in that time was the minor manipulation of external water magic, I would have been a failure of an adventurer.

And more importantly, a failure of a Sage.

“Flow.” As I uttered the word, the band beneath my extended wrist wrap began to radiate with heat. From the band, mana began to surge free, mana, unlike any regular mana. I had so cleverly coined it as Sage mana. The mana coursed through me like a raging whitewater river as my previously heightened senses and physical abilities were further exacerbated.

Dashing forward, I grabbed the hilt of my sword still held within the floating cloud of steel mist. Before, it had been impossible to make the blade budge, but now, I pulled it out as if the steel cloud were nothing more than thick mud clinging to the sword.

Sword free, I swung it toward Iris, watching as her eyes widened in slow motion, taken off-guard at the explosive increase of my speed.

Was I wrong to be overly cautious?

Which, of course, was when the world exploded. So focused on the metal cloud and flying daggers, I had failed to notice the space around us growing gradually more saturated by metallic mana particulates. At her command, her wordless command may I add, the metallic mana rapidly expanded, the air so violently displaced for a split second it was as if I had been caught in the middle of an explosion. Tossed aside as the air erupted with the force of a thousand tiny fireworks, my back slammed hard onto the floor of the small arena, my thoughts in a jumbled daze.

What the hell?

Before I could gather my wits, steel wires formed out of thin air, wrapping around me and tethering me to the ground. Above me, daggers lazily twirled in a tight circle as Iris began to casually walk toward me, the first time she had moved during the entire fight.

Not sure calling this a fight would be fair since I spent more time running than, well, fighting.

“Incredible speed and strength, like a monster in human skin.” It was the first time I’d heard her talk, her arms crossed over her chest. “But, if that was all it took to beat me, I would have died the first time I’d met a magical beast or monster.”

Damnit.

Her magic was nigh omnipresent, appearing from thin air and baffling my very understanding of magic.

Could it be?

I felt the warmth from my ring beginning to fade, my time limit expiring.

It couldn’t be…. Could it?

Word magic?

Magic privy to only those with Sage rings, word magic was a sort of premade magic command imbued within the structure of a Sage’s ring. I had stored ‘flow’ within my first ring, a spell to release all the stored mana within the ring in a single burst. In principle, it was simple magic, a tandem spell inspired partly by my ruptured body and my experience with draconic mana. Using ruptured body, I could utilize mana to bring myself to the absolute peak of human limits.

During flow, I could surpass those very same limits, the sage mana generated by a sage ring akin to draconic mana in its potency.

And yet, here I was, beaten. At best, it would be an hour before the sage ring regenerated the mana required to activate my flow state again.

“From all the talk I’d heard about you, I’m honestly a little disappointed.”

Damnit.

I was going to lose at this rate. I hadn’t emotionally invested anything into this duel; I was only participating with the intent of figuring out why they had involved me in the first place.

And yet, I didn’t want to lose, not like this at least.

Damnit.

Nearly out of options, I had only one trick left.

“Null.” I whispered. Unlike the heat from the sage mana surging through me before, now it was as if the sage mana from the ring were sapping me of all my body heat.

The sage mana from my second sage ring, to be exact.

The ice-cold mana radiated out a thumb’s length away from me, and as it did, I felt as if my body was depleted of what little mana I did have.

I was unperturbed by the loss of what mana I did have, something I had known was about to happen. My internal mana reserves, to begin with, were akin to comparing embers before a bonfire. While the loss of mana didn’t bother me, the effect on the mana around me was instant; the steel threads twined around me disintegrated as the mana forming them was disrupted.

“What?” Iris stared in surprise as the threads binding me vanished. Freed, I stood up, pointing my sword once more toward her.

The daggers which had been floating around me streaked through the air toward me, but I smacked them aside using the flat of my blade. A single dagger managed to zip past my guard, darting toward my rib, but within the field of negative mana, the dagger instantly lost form; by the time it nicked me, it was no larger than a toothpick poking me before completely disintegrating a moment after.

“How?”

It was my time to be satisfied with mystifying my opponent. If she seemed shocked, her steel-forming haze was unlikely to be any form of word magic. With her instant reaction of surprise giving me the answer to the short-lived question of whether she was perhaps a sage, an obvious no, I was no longer distracted, able to turn my attention back to the immediate fight.

Null, much like flow, was limited in duration. Not just that, but I’d had few opportunities to test Null as thoroughly as I may have liked. As an ability, it was more intricate than the pure simplicity of flow, which was meant to augment my body past human limitations. I had created Null with the intent of being my answer to magic that I couldn’t contest with strength or speed alone. It was the literal external manifestation of my body’s internal disruption of mana. Using flow as a benchmark, I knew it would last only a precious few seconds, but in that time, I would, in theory, be all but untouchable by magical attacks.

In theory.

As for Iris, whose preferred form of magic seemed to be styled on death through a thousand cuts, she would be the perfect opponent to test the scope of the practicality of my second ring’s imbued magic.

Go!

Rushing forward, I ignored the daggers flying toward me, nothing more than steel sand by the time they crashed into me. Even the fine metal dust evaporated as the mana forming it was completely disrupted.

Go!

I swung my sword forward as fast and hard as possible, but without drawing on mana to augment my body physically, it was the strength and speed of a purely vanilla human male. My blade clanged against the cloud of steel haze surrounding her, unable to push through.

C’mon!

Try as I might, though, there was no breaking through her defense, my negative field only stretching a finger’s length out from me. I had seconds left before Null ran out of juice.

So I did the only thing I could think of, suddenly desperate.

I dropped my sword. No longer holding my weapon, I instead pushed through her cloud and grappled her directly.

The good news was that as I pushed through the cloud of steel haze surrounding her, it dispersed around me like water around a fish. The fight would be down to a contest of strength, or so had been my intent.

The bad news was, so fixated on pushing past her magical abilities, I failed to notice the dagger in her hand until it was too late, the steel pressed up against my neck.

And considering that the dagger didn’t disappear even within my negative field, it was one hundred percent real steel.

Meaning she’d gotten me.

Well… shit.

A second later, the negative field surrounding me faded as the last of the ice-cold mana was exhausted. Null used up, I did the only thing I could.

I raised my hands slowly above my head.

“I concede.”

It was my loss.