As Syllis came too, a couple of familiar voices could be heard.

“You can’t be moving yet! You’re severely dehydrated. My bond can’t fix that, drink!” Edward spoke angrily, it seemed his companion wasn’t keen on listening to the doctor.

“I have to!” Aura yelled. “If you aren’t going to tell me what happened… Then I’m just going to have to go ask the others.”

“I already told you what happened.” Edward placed a hand on his forward. “You lost the fight. No one else is going to tell you any different, except for maybe Korman.”

“I couldn’t have lost! Not against someone like her…” Aura’s voice slowed to a crawl as the blue curtain to her side wrinkled before being pulled open.

“Do you need me to beat you down again?” Syllis spoke in the same angry tone that Edward used. “I’m getting tired of you, condescending witch.”

Syllis looked at the Aura, who would have still been battered a while ago. Her clothes were heavily torn. It turns out that equipping her fists with spikes was a good way to tear both fabric and flesh.

“Sorry you have to deal with that ingrate.” Syllis spoke coldly to the doctor. “Thank you for repairing me.” She appreciated the doctor, using his limited mental capacity to fix her.

Edward was silent for a second before speaking. “Thank you. Her corruption seems to be making her even more irritable than normal…”

‘Corruption? Another name for infection?’ Syllis thought it through rationally, a difficult thing for an infected to do. Luckily, her infection also seemed to go away pretty quickly, like the frost on a summer day. ‘Not that seasons matter too much in Asanoch.’

“Actually…” Edward narrowed his eyes before speaking. “I’m impressed your corruption has faded so fast. You were acting out of character near the end.”

Syllis thought back to the end of her spar. The memory of her dragging Aura across the dirt made her inner mind happy. “Oh, yeah my bond is very lenient…” Her voice trailed off.

Syllis was indeed pretty infected at that moment, but she couldn’t deny she enjoyed the thought. She even wondered if the infection had just heightened her urge to do so.

“Well, your ritual must have been very close to perfect” Edward handed her a pair of fresh clothes.

Hers were torn back, almost the entire back of the shirt was removed, revealing her well toned back. And without the back, her sleeves pulled the shirt towards the side in an uncomfortable manner.

They were typical clothes, unlike the torn, noble outfit she was already wearing. She was handed a plain, buttoned, light blue shirt alongside a pair of dark blue pants.

After she changed, Edward saw her out into the hallway.

“I hope she gives you an easier time now.” Syllis apologized on her behalf and began roaming the hallway. ‘So the better a ritual is conducted can reduce the hold of the infection…’

Syllis ruminated over various subjects as she tried to find her way back towards the sparring arena. There were many important things she thought about but what she wondered most was… ‘What are they going to say when they see me?’

She was of course referring to Clyde, his parents, and Korman. She especially wondered what Korman would think. Him and Aura seemed very close. ‘I wonder if he’ll try to fight me?’ She smiled slightly.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

After a while of roaming the hallway and opening various doors she shouldn’t have. Syllis had run into exactly that, a door which she should not have opened.

The room was pitch black. This was unique, Clyde previously told her that all of the lights stay on. Syllis had thought this to be bizarre but considered it even more so after seeing this room which didn’t abide by the peculiar rule.

Syllis searched the wall for a switch. She blindly slid her hand up and down both sides of the doorway to no avail. She hadn’t found the slight wedge that was prophesied.

‘What kind of room has no light switch?’ She scolded before moving away from it. The nymph then left and vowed to find a lantern to explore the room at a later date.

For now, she needed to find her way back towards the sparring grounds. What would everyone think after talking to Edward and learning that she had left his room and taken so much time to find her way back. They would assume what was logical: she is from the outer ring, people from the outer ring steal. Syllis stole from them, that was an easy mystery to figure out.

Several more turns through the timeless hallway and she had arrived at the sparring grounds once again. As she stepped into the open air, she couldn’t help but think of her fight with Aura. The more she thought about it, the happier she got.

At least that was in one aspect of it… ‘Would she have fought the way she did at the end if not for her corruption?’ Syllis didn’t want to fight a mentally crippled opponent. Although waiting out the enemy’s sanity was a valid strategy, it didn’t offer much to please.

Dalea turned, seeing the nymph looming slightly outside the doorway. “Dear, please take a seat!” Her smile was warm, it was clear where Clyde had inherited his from.

Syllis didn’t exchange words, instead opting to just take the seat beside her. Dalea was insistent, she wanted to get to know this powerful nymph. Who had nearly beaten her son and did successfully defeat the wielder of ephemeral horrors.

“You have true talent, Syllis.” Dalea praised the nymph, at least she tried to.

‘Because I could never have won through hard work?’ Syllis had wanted to say this but decided against it. ‘Not a great time to try and burn bridges…’

“Thank you, Aura did do a number on me as well though.” Syllis hated the fact that she was complimenting Aura, but she needed to. The Boorne family needed to believe Syllis was different from the rest of the outer ring. They needed to know that she was stronger, more polite and could blend in with people of their class and status.

“But people expect her to deal a number to a nymph of the outer ring. They don’t expect you to be able to pull your weight, let alone win. In fact, I’m willing to bet each and every one of these servants are disappointed with her. She’ll probably also get reamed by her parents later, the poor girl…” Dalea explained to the secare nymph, assuming she wouldn’t understand.

“Right…” Syllis pondered her words thoughtfully for a few seconds. “Then are you disappointed with her?”

“No, I’m not.” Dalea spoke contradictingly, she’d just spoken for the servants and was now going against her own opinion. “I was rooting for you. Aura is without a doubt, one of the most talented kindred in Asanoch. But you, a random nymph from the outer ring. I love rooting for the less favored. Besides, any person who could severely harm my son would at least have a chance at winning.”

“I’m thankful.” Syllis turned her head forward.

Clyde and Korman were currently engaging in a fight on the sparring grounds. Though the ramshackle ‘tournament’ wouldn’t be able to continue due to both Syllis and Aura’s absurd fatigue, they still wanted to test their recent improvement against the other.

It was nice for Syllis, she experienced Aura’s bond first hand. Now, for Korman, her caretaker. Syllis was excited to learn more about his bond without participating in another spar while she was fatigued.

Edwards treatment was fantastic, it hastily cured wounds at the cause of pain. Unfortunately, it came with other drawbacks. Aside from the absurd pain that one would be overtaken with, it also gave them the fatigue that one would get after a surgery.

Syllis watched as they clashed with weak slashes, it seemed they were both building up to the main event.

“You know, they didn’t start very recently. They only came back after Edward told them that the both of you would be okay.” Dalea smirked as though she was planting the seeds of mischief.

“Is that so…” Syllis didn’t give a thought through response. The fight in front of her was heating up.

Korman’s body warped. His legs grew taller and curved. The man’s arms warped, his nails growing with his scaly hands. Grand horns protruded from the man’s height and finally his eyes warped.

The man had some sort of bond that allowed him to infuse himself with the properties of various animals.

‘Interesting!’ Syllis bit down on her nail. ‘Now, let’s see how this pans out…’ She leaned forward, getting ready for the show.