The following battles in the first round passed in a similar manner, and Queen Kiridian explained everything patiently to Anya, who asked any questions that came to mind. The emcee was doing well in describing the battles, but Anya also enjoyed hearing the queen’s own thoughts as she explained what was happening.

  Kiridian was very strong, and could see through the  intentions of the competitors. She knew when they were feinting and could discern their movements before they had even occurred. In the cases where a competitor was using a particular combat style, she could recognize it instantly, and if it were a style developed by the competitor themself, she realized it from their first stance. Some competitors teamed up to win, and others defeated the teams to stand up on their own. According to Kiridian, these were the ones to watch in the coming rounds.

  Anya took it all in with the enthusiasm and excitement of the child she was, even if she often acted far more mature than her age would suggest. At some point, Anya had begun to think with an intellectual quality beyond her six or seven years. Queen Kiridian had noticed it, remarking that magic affects the mind and intelligence, and had most likely sped up the mental development of the young girl when she consumed the Siol Draiochta.

  In any case, the first round of the tournament had completed, and the top eight competitors had been decided. The elves needed to set up a stage for the one on one battles, so they required a break between the first and second rounds.

  Once they announced that the first round was over, Rau, who had been ever-present at Anya’s side, sighed in relief.

  “That took forever! These elves! If they cannot finish their fight right away, how strong can they really be? They think that this is showing us their skills!”

  With the way she spoke, it was apparent that Rau was not as entertained by this tournament as Anya and the Queen.

  Anya considered telling Rau how much she was enjoying this tournament, but Ceris stood up and approached them.

  “Greetings, my Queen. I hope that the tournament thus far is to your liking. We have searched for quite a while to find such a diverse group of competitors in the hopes of demonstrating our clan’s wide variety of skills.” The elven king put her right fist on her chest and bowed slightly. She politely spoke, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

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  “Yes, this year’s competitors appear quite skilled. One can easily see the effort that has gone into your selection. If I remember correctly, the combatant known as Peyrin was in the tournament two years ago. Am I correct?” The Queen smiled gently, motioning for Ceris to stand normally.

  “Your memory is perfect, Queen Kiridian. After his failure in the first round of the tournament two years ago, he began intense training. He even learned weapon enchanting from one of your fairy craftsmen. The sword he is using has been enchanted by none other than himself. It raises his speed and channels his magic into physical power.”

  “You have quite a detailed knowledge on this competitor’s history. You can consider me impressed.”

The conversation between the two was moving too quickly for Anya to have her say, though she admitted that she would not know what to say even if she had her chance.

  She hastily wrote that she needed to use the restroom and left, feeling somewhat uneasy.

  Rau accompanied her until she entered the room itself, waiting outside of the building.

  Anya did not take very long, but when she left, she could not find Rau amongst the throes of the crowd. She searched for a while, but the tiny blue fairy simply could not be seen!

  So, Anya walked around, looking for a tiny blue needle in a haystack. Gradually, the crowds around her dwindled and became thinner, until Anya realized that she was lost, and there was no one around to ask for help. Anya had been taught how to find people with magic. She knew she needed to emit a small pulse of magic energy and wait until she felt a reaction from someone else with magic energy.

  It was a method that had been inspired by the echolocation technique of certain animals.

  Anya had not practiced this technique very much, and even when she did, it was not very successful, but she had no other options but to try.

  She closed her eyes and focused on releasing a small bubble of magic power that would react when it came in contact with something else possessing magic.

  She failed the first time, which made her feel frustrated and sigh. She felt her face heating up. Whether this was from embarrassment, worry, or some other complex emotion, even Anya could not tell. She reminded herself not to give up, and tried again.

  If I cannot do this, it will be a while before I can get back. So I need to take this slowly. I need to be patient. I need to form a bubble around me of magic power. It is fine if it is too thick for now, but I need to make a bubble.

  As she focused and concentrated, a bubble of magic energy surrounded the girl. The shape was rough, similar to a rock, but it was there, surrounding Anya completely.

  I have a bubble. I need to make it thin. What else is thin? My clothes are thin. Imagine that this bubble is as thin as my clothes. Thinner… thinner…

  The bubble followed her will and became as thin as the material of her clothes.

  Now, I just need to spread it out, slowly. Wait for it to react…

  She gasped. She felt a reaction!

  She walked towards the source of the reaction, but instead of being happy to find the source of the reaction, her expression grew confused.

  There was nothing here.