"I don't like the way y'all are looking at me. What did I do wrong? Seriously," I said, as I crossed my arms.

Celenae and Teddy shared a glance, while Isaac kept his head cocked like a curious puppy.

"Cyrus," Celenae began.

"Yes..."

"Did you have fun?"

"At first? Why?"

Another shared look. My anger started to rise, but I quashed it down and waited.

Eventually, Sereza sighed and shook her head.

"It certainly seemed like you were having fun. Was the creepy grin intentional?" she asked.

Grin?

"What grin? Did my illusion fail? What the hell, I barely did anything crazy."

Isaac conjured a tentacle and tapped his cheek. I reached for my own, and slowly slid off my mask.

"I forget sometimes, because you're usually a ball of wavering depression lately. But you usually smile when we spar," he commented.

I frowned and stared at my mask. When it was off my face, it was perfectly normal; the prismatic ink blotches resting in the center without a guided shape to blemish the surface.

"So, let me get this straight. You guys are being all weird because my mask was grinning? That's it?"

"We're not being weird, just surprised? Concerned?" Teddy offered.

"Alright, I'll bite. What's the issue exactly?" I said as I moved toward the couch and took my seat.

The others relaxed, and Arturous snuck in a wet nose directly onto my cheek as I passed by. I playfully batted the bear's massive snout away and shimmied over.

"We're just concerned. At least, if you've enjoyed yourself we can pass it off as just that," Teddy said.

"I did, at first. Like I said."

"When did you stop enjoying it?" Sereza butt in.

"Mmm. See now if I say this out loud, it sounds a little mean."

"Get on with it," Isaac snapped.

"When they started cowering. Like the fight wasn't a fight. It was them uselessly tossing techniques at me. They barely moved, their cloak was a crappy defense. Eodyne would have zipped across the arena and filled me with arrows by the time they got off one attack."

"Cyrus, it's not really fair to compare them to Eodyne. She's a monster," Celenae said softly.

"Not the point."

"Except it is. You're a monster in your own right. Frankly, the tier two's are lucky you're only tier one. The sad part is that I imagine you could take down a few of them even now," Isaac scoffed.

I pouted. "I am not a monster."

Isaac laughed exaggeratedly and pretended to nearly slip off his seat. "You were a tyrant. The poor beastkin came back from a training journey and ready to make their glorious return, and you crushed them! With their own element! You are a monster, and stop pretending otherwise. And I'm not talking about the fucking Grand Weave and the you-know-what-inity inside your soul. Just accept you were a scary bastard and toyed with your prey. It's a good thing. Crush the idiots in the tournament. The noble houses could use some humbling."

Everyone stared.

Isaac's brow twitched and he furiously shoved some food into his mouth before turning away.

"He's not wrong. It did look like you were toying with them. We were just surprised is all. We assumed you'd finish the fight as soon as possible."

"I did not toy with them. Thank you very much. And I told you, I wanted to train. This whole tournament is to have some fun and get some training in. And it's not my fault they chose to offend Sturmrorex."

Eodyne pointed at me. "By choosing a unique and recognizable moniker?"

I shrugged. "Bring it up with the dragon, not me."

"Either way, as long as you want to continue. But maybe, understand what narrative you're crafting for yourself."

"Why? It's not like I'll be doing more arena fights after the tournament."

"You sure?" Teddy countered. "If you continue to enjoy it, there's no reason not to."

"Fine, you got me there. But why do I care how the audience views me? And my opponents are opponents. Heel or Face, I plan on beating them anyway."

"Heel? Hmmm, another word from your language. It sounded off. I'm assuming its the counterparts to who plays the good guy and bad guy?" Celenae hummed.

"It's a wrestling thing, the kind for show that's more exaggerated and made for entertainment,” I explained.

"And the heel is called that because they crush their enemies under their heel. A less noble and villainous act. And the face is somewhat like Teddy? Charismatic and smiling?"

"Basically."

"Then yes, you were the heel. The villian who crushed the returning up and coming hero with their own skills, toying with them by showing how futile their attacks were. Before the dramatic finish that involved crushing their resistance."

I wagged my finger. "I didn't do any of that, though."

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"But that's how it's perceived. And do you plan on doing that throughout the tournament? If so, are you prepared to handle the reaction you'll receive from the crowd?"

A sigh left my lips, and I snuggled into the chair.

"Fine. I'll be prepared."

"That's all we were concerned about," Celenae relented.

"It's not like every opponent I'll face will have an element I can match. I can't fight nature with nature unless I want to reveal Áine, which isn't likely to happen."

"So you won't just take Zharia and see if you can burn it all to ash?" Igas asked.

I wisely kept my lips shut and settled in. It wasn't like I was entirely oblivious to how I must have looked.

Still an overreaction, but whatever. If anything, I'm aiming to make the arena master eat her words.

Time passed after everyone settled into their seats. More of the fights were settled. Strangely enough, they lacked the oomph from before save near the very end. The match started like normal, with the buzzing enchantments flashing along the pillars toward the arena's edge. It was when the two exited their respective tunnels did things get interesting.

As the combatants took their places, I leaned forward.

"Cyrus" Sereza asked.

"Hey, Isaac," I shouted. The rogue downed his drink and approached. As he did, my tail wrapped around his wrist and tugged him forward, earning a growl. Before he could begin his tirade, I pointed to the combatant on the right field. "Does that guy look familiar to you?"

"What? What do you me-oh. Huh. I'll be damned. He's the idiot who attacked you."

"The vigilante?" Sereza said, pushing Isaac aside to get a look.

"Yep. Your would-be-hero. I recognize the face. I'm surprised he's up here and not down there being stupid," I said.

Isaac snorted. "He probably wised up. If someone like you can take him down, he'd never survive the underground."

There was a pause, but I shook my head. "Your words lack bite when you were just saying how much of a monster I was earlier. Do better."

He grumbled and returned to his seat, to which Arturous gleefully plopped his head onto his lap, effectively sealing the rogue's future for the next half hour.

"You weren't kidding, he is handsome," Sereza mused.

"Into pretty boys are we?" I teased.

She smacked my tail with hers, sending a jolt up my spine. Though she didn't come out of the exchange unscathed, I saw the wince.

Serves you right, my bones are harder than your bones.

"So what happened to him after we returned topside?"

"Honestly? No idea. Isaac took care of it, dropped him off with some carriage that brought him to wherever he lived. And that was it. He looks better in the all white get-up. Fits him better than cosplaying as a hobo Batman."

"You're saying funny words again."

The announcer cleared his throat before I could respond, and I focused on the pit below.

"He may be the youngest of his siblings, but that has not diminished his heart. The sword he wields is for justice and the safety of others. The valiant, the brave; our latest hero in the making! Vincent Vallentius!"

That was a noble house, but one of the more minor ones. As far I could recall, the house head was the last of his Legacy lineage; meaning that he was unmarked by the Weave. And he was the sole survivor despite the fact that his family should have easily held a couple of people above tier three.

Apparently, a Legacy wasn't the guaranteed key to immortal life everyone thought it was.

"And from the left field! A fighter who's earned his licks, a novice aiming to make it into the big leagues! The Crimson Hammer, the wrathful! Inocos!"

Vincent's opponent was an oni, with crimson red skin and a jagged horn that spiraled a foot above his scalp. While Vincent was a shining white knight with a sword; Inocos had little more than a leather vest and a rugged pelt for pants.

"Sword and board versus a morningstar. It'll be an interesting matchup," Teddy commented.

"Bets on Inocos."

"Reasoning?"

"Vincent was a total pushover. Are we sure he's tier one?"

"Cyrus..."

"Yeah, yeah. He was still pretty weak."

"Then I suppose we'll see. I don't know who this Inocos is, but I suspect he has decent strength behind his attacks."

Igas grunted. "Flames aren't strong."

"Is this considered elementicism? Do oni's judge other onis for their element?" I asked.

"No," Igas spat. "But in the eastern continents, you'd find yourself caught in gang wars depending on the element you wield. Not unusual to find onis caught in pointless wars."

"Huh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. They have gangs in Solunara."

"Idiots, but sometimes it's the only way for them to get by," Igas grumbled.

"I never asked, but you're not originally from this continent, right?"

"No. I was shipped here by a black market operation."

"And how did you end up meeting Teddy and everyone?"

Teddy smiled, his eyes still watching the combatants flex to the crowd. "My parents destroyed the bastards without mercy. Igas was too untrusting at the time so he went to the orphanage."

"I opened up eventually. You can't blame me with how they act around you."

Teddy chuckled. "You love it now. But child Igas was as cold as ice."

There was plenty of eye-rolling but the match had finally begun so we all settled in.

The first chime came and Vincent got into a stiff stance, one that prominently displayed his sword high and his shield low, hovering above his waist.

Inocos leaned forward and wielded the morningstar in both hands, flames sliding up the sides of his legs.

"He has a movement ability. Does Vincent?" Celenae asked.

"I think so, but his mana was gray and I drained him before he could get away."

"Pure mana? Interesting. Even without the Legacy he should have had a high affinity for fire."

"We don't know his circumstances," Isaac mumbled.

The second chime came, and Vincent stayed the same. Either cocky or a fool, but Inocos's mana continued to grow and spread toward his hands.

At the third ring, Inocos exploded forward with a burst of flames from his feet. They catapulted the oni across the arena and he jumped swinging his morningstar in an overheard arc.

Vincent didn't change stances but before the attack could land, he jerked to the side as if an invisible hand pushed him away.

Inocos slammed into the sand and snapped a kick, sending a burst of flames from his feet to launch into another jump. His morningstar swung at Vincent's hip but the shield snapped into place.

A loud klang rang and Vincent grunted as he finally changed expressions. He gritted his teeth and raised his sword, stabbing it forward.

Inocos bent out of the way, once again using his feet to position himself better.

"This is going to end quickly," Igas grumbled.

But I continued to watch Vincent's arm. Just like Inocos had flames continuing to build, the mana glowing in a thick cloud around his limbs; Vincent's was the same.

"Flame Burst!" Inocos shouted.

The mana rushed into his weapon and the metal turned cherry red. Vincent turtled behind his shield and charged forward, hitting the flaming mace.

In an explosion of flames it drowned the two bodies with sand and smoke billowing across the arena. The crowd went wild at the display.

I nodded. "Like Sereza, I'm impressed."

"What? Because of the flames? I don't see him floating above," Sereza said.

Got to give it to you, maybe you're not a total pushover.

The flames cleared and the audience exploded as Vincent's armored form stood looming over Inocos. His arm was pinned to his side, Vincent's sword stabbed cleanly through.

The edges of his armor around the ankles and below the knees were blackened, but the rest of Vincent was safely protected behind a barrier of gray mana. It was jagged and edgy, and crumbling near the edges, but it kept his opponent pinned to the floor.

Vincent gripped his sword and tugged it upward, drawing a pained grunt from Inocos. Before more damage could be done, the victory chime rang and the announcer shouted Vincent's victory.

The young man morphed from a statue to an animated teenager shouting to the skies. He cheered along with the crowd and jumped around while Inocos stalked his way to the loser's exit.

Sereza leaned back and whistled. "Barriers are nasty. Thankfully, slow targets are the easiest."

"Yeah, not bad. Just makes me wonder why he didn't use one when he attacked me."

"Could be that his skill requires a physical medium. They're not popular, but sometimes shield skills require an actual shield to activate."

"Sounds annoying."

"Indeed. Nobody with the means and intelligence to plan ahead would ever take a skill with those requirements. Adventurers know full well what it means to rely on yourself and not the gear."

"Makes you wonder why a noble would take such skills. I barely know his house, but I know they're not poor. Just lacking in social power," Sereza added.

"Could always invite him to dinner and find out?" I said.

The others stared and even Arturous cocked his head.

"What?"