-Ria POV-

The second last day of the tournament wasn’t any different. My opponent did give me a little trouble but I still manage to defeat him with ease. Afterwards I would meet with Amber again and hang out. I had asked her about herself but she didn’t told me much. I guess I couldn’t expect someone to reveal anything personal if, I was pretty much someone she knows nothing about. I did truly enjoyed her company and wished days like these could go on forever.

The times in which I was always alone seemed like a distant memory as we were together. A friend is indeed what I yearned for, all those years living alone, scaring everything that approached me had left me wanting a companion of any sort. My wish being granted just like that seemed almost too good to be true.

Nevertheless I indulged in the happiness I had for I never knew how long it could last.

With that the last day of the tournament finally arrived. My opponent was the Gold rank fire mage who managed to defeat all his opponent thus far. From his matches it was evident that he was extremely skilled. Since it was the last match for the tournament there were a lot more cheers from the audience as we both took our sides of the platform.

-Amber/Svalinn POV-

It was finally the final day and the last day of this mission. Astra didn’t seem to happy that I didn’t obtain any information she wanted. Well to be honest I had greatly enjoyed the time I had spent with Ria so I had completely forgotten to ask. A rank in the military are seen as a somewhat unmatched existence within it, so most people would merely admire us from the distance. Therefore most of the friends an A rank would ever make were people we were friends with since our early days or our fellow A ranks. My condition had caused me to neglect my social life in favor of training to prove to them I wasn’t useless. Having another friend was always nice and she was definitely not evil, as far as I could tell from the time we had spent together.

Luckily Astra wasn’t here today on the last day since there was a emergency mission she had to accept. It was a group of B rank daema having appeared that had appeared. All the other A ranks were out on their own mission except for mjolnir who was around. Astra was the better choice for a elimination mission so mjolnir who had just finished his mission was to replace her on the bodyguard mission last day. There wasn’t anything stopping me from reporting about ria to the principal, but I couldn’t deny the fact I had grown somewhat fond of her so I decided to withheld the information.

I wouldn’t say I got along with mjolnir but there there was no animosity as well so I didn’t mind the change in partner. The mutation in my element had some other effects as well. Most fire affinity were hot blooded and fearless. I was the opposite and someone as intimidating as astra I would rather stay away from so the change could be considered pleasant if I looked at it from that perspective.

The match between Ria and the fire mage called Alfred started. Alfred didn’t hold back and immediately chanted the spell for the fire tornado spell. It was one of the higher grade B rank spells and his chant time was remarkably short compared to some I had seen. The flames shot out in a spiral akin to a tornado. Sera used her feet and with a diagonal kick downwards the flame somehow dissipated. The mage himself seemed shock by it as he created several fire balls firing it towards her. Ria skillfully evaded each and every one of the fire ball that was being shot towards her and reached her target and was about to punch him but he somehow managed to finish the chant to yet another spell surrounding himself with a vortex of fire. Ria had no choice ignored the fire and punched Alfred sending him flying away. It was a overwhelming victory but…. Her cloak it caught fire.

The entire thing was on fire probably due to the fact it was made of some kind of flammable material. It was a miracle it hadn’t caught on fire from her own attacks. Then again she didn’t really need to use any elemental attacks much since she had always ended her matches with a single hit. She easily extinguished the fire with a wave of her hand but by the time she had done so most of her cloak had already burned off, revealing her tail and ears. Her face was however still hidden by the mask she bought on what I assumed a whim that time we were together. This can’t be good. Her face was hidden but I’m pretty sure her silver hair was a dead giveaway since it isn’t a colour one would see everyday.

“Sir its the demibeast!”

Contrary to my expectation Mjolnir was the first to notice rather than the principal. How was he involved in this. Astra being here would spell trouble but I hadn’t expected mjolnir to be related to her in some way as well.

“Quick evacuate the citizens we must capture her now!”

The principal seemed really intent on catching her as he yelled to mjolnir, as he quickly got up with a look of both surprise and joy. The audience was still cheering but it seems he didn’t want to wait as mjolnir himself took out his weapon preparing for combat. What could I do in such a situation. Luckily for me mjolnir was to capture her as I defended the principal. I didn’t want to capture her directly nor take part in it. I didn’t know what she did wrong but I had no right to go against him.

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“Sir I doubt I can capture her alone. It would be best if Svalinn helped.”

Then mjolnir had to go and say it. I seriously didn’t want to get involved if possible. I really did consider her a friend but there wasn’t anything I could do but listen to orders. Well at least he said we had to capture her alive so I wasn’t so reluctant. Maybe they just wanted her for some questioning or something. It was overly optimistic but I couldn’t exactly decline. The military doesn’t do anything evil so I’m sure nothing bad will happen to her.

-Ria POV-

The last thing the guy did, had caught me off guard. The flames of that degree couldn’t hurt me but It wasn’t me which I was worried about. What I feared happened shortly after as my cloak was on fire. I easily got rid of the flames but the cloak was in tatters. It no longer served its purpose as took it off and threw its burnt remains. I did buy it from a normal clothing shop so it being flammable was as expected I suppose. The ground around me was scorched but the man had fainted. Well I wouldn’t have been having such a easy time against B rank if I hadn’t cheat somewhat. I had circulated a minute amount of my dragon mana before delivering my punch each time. It wasn’t enough to cause a change but enough to boost my strength above the level they were capable of resisting. The only thing I had to look forward to recently was meeting with Amber so I suppose I had rushed through all my matches to speed things up.

What happened shortly after I was announced the winner was unexpected. A man and woman jumped off from the audience. The man broke through the barrier and landed right in front of me. He was Mjolnir of all people, the one I had hoped wasn’t here was. I knew he had a grudge against me but the girl next to him shocked me. It was amber but she was wearing an attire similar to mjolnir.

Before my surprise had time to set in mjolnir had already started.

“Smite the souls of the wicked with the wrath of heavens thunder, Mjolnir!!”

After he recited that line his two swords just as before merged into his oversized hammer. This time however the parts that made up the hammer had a circular ring spinning around the hammer head generating electricity as well. He sent his hammer crashing down at me. I had managed to react in time dodging his attack and like before it was destroyed the ground and generated lighting bolts flying in all direction.

I know I had to take it seriously but I was unable to think straight. The only thing I had in mind was why was Amber there. Furthermore if I partial dragon formed here it wasn’t just the case of one or two person seeing me it would be everyone present right now. If everyone here witness my transformation, it was bound to be a famous story and everyone would know about me.  I looked at amber with confusion in my eyes as she slowly walked up towards me.

“What are you doing svalinn help me capture her.”

“I’m really sorry Ria….. Burn with the prominence of the sun, Svalinn”

As amber apologized to me she said a weird phrase similar to mjolnir. Wait doesn’t that means she is just as strong. Also did mjolnir just say they are trying to capture me?

After saying the phrase the circular shield on her arm starting to change. The red gauntlet on her arm released circular parts floating around her and the shield on her hand split into several parts and floated in in a still circular shape. It had a hole in the centre which was soon covered by a floating fireball in the middle of it. The fireball started rotating and released fire going through the space made my the shield splitting. The shield looked almost like a miniature sun and the circular objects floating around her also caught on fire turning into ten floating fireballs.

I don’t know why is she doing this but I will not let myself be captured. I could feel the stabbing pain in my chest at the thought that Amber betrayed me but I can’t be sure unless I asked her myself. The audience around us started cheering louder perhaps assuming this was some kind of special show at the end. There was nothing I could do as I assume a stance ready for battle.

(Author note) : My initial plan was to prolong things and not reveal this so fast but when i started writing this chapter today i was sleepy and somehow as i wrote it happened a lot sooner than planned XD(It isn't easy to think of intresting things when your mc could beat anyone in the tournament in one hit .... so instead of prolonging boring things i accelerated the plot. If you guys wanna see some ria with amber for second last day of tourney, which i pretty much skipped do tell i will write a short bonus chapter along with tomorrow daily if you guys want it). Oh well hope you guys enjoy this chapter and with that i need sleep . Bye