Two weeks passed by quickly. Prelinsa spent that time training and preparing for her tournament with Rupeth and Corynn. She had asked Rupeth if it was fine for him to be helping her like this, since he had to prepare for the senior division. But he just laughed it off, and said he would leave it to fate. Having Corynn around was also helpful. Like Rupeth had said, she was catching details that he was missing. Missus B. would drop by with lunch every day, and cheer Prelinsa on. The Matriarch would also occasionally stop by, though she was busy and rarely got the time to do so. When she did, she would provide her own insights as well.
Soon, it was the morning of the tournament. Prelinsa felt nervous, yet eager. She was just raring to go and see what the limits of her abilities were. But at the same time, she didn’t want to disappoint her mother and teachers with a poor performance. She would put everything she had into it. It was still hard for her to cast and aim phoenixfire from a distance, but her swordplay was continuing to improve, especially with the help of the Phoenix Spark. Though she’d also been warned, of course, that it could become a crutch that hindered her from learning proper technique. There was a balance to be had in everything.
The format was a single-elimination tournament with sixteen contestants. But first, there would be a series of qualifying rounds, with everyone fighting three times and matching up as decided by lottery. After the qualifiers, the sixteen seeds would be decided by a judging panel, and the real tournament would begin later in the day.
Matches would last up to three minutes. The winner of a match was decided when someone either surrendered, or was pushed out of the fighting ring. If a lethal or debilitating hit was judged by the referee, the fight would also end – as the Matriarch had said, magic was cast on the fighting rings to reduce the risk of serious injuries. Even so, there was some risk, so the combatants had to be respectful of their opponents and the referees. Both healing mages and medical staff were on standby. If a match did not end in three minutes, then a judging panel would evaluate the combatants based on several criteria – primarily demonstrations of aggression – and declare a winner.
There was a waiting area in the venue, where Prelinsa and other junior division tournament entrants would rest between matches. The security at the tournament was considered good, so there was little risk of any Magic Freedom Fighters showing up – that meant she was allowed to enter alone, without Corynn or someone else for protection.
As she entered, she spotted cameras in the corners of the ceiling. She also got a variety of reactions from the people already there. Many of the juniors stopped what they were doing, stood, and bowed to her, which prompted her to bow back. Some of them just seemed nervous at the presence of a Silvermoon with a Phoenix Spark. Still others seemed excited. A few didn’t really react at all.
As Prelinsa made her way in, someone bumped into her shoulder. It was a human boy about her age. He gave Prelinsa a nasty look as he headed in the opposite direction, and turned around a corner. Prelinsa by now had gotten used to these kinds of reactions. As long as he didn’t start anything with her, she wouldn’t start anything back, and chances were that he wouldn’t. But if he did, it would be when they were alone – not surrounded by other people. She learned her lesson from fighting Camilla.
Speaking of Camilla, Prelinsa was surprised to see the lycan here. She nodded once slowly, acknowledging Prelinsa.
“Hey,” she said.
“Camilla?” Prelinsa asked, tilting her head.
“Yeah, it’s me. They suspended my punishment for now. Of course, I still need to do the rest of it once the junior division’s over.”
“Well. Good luck with the tournament.”
“Thanks. You too.” Camilla pointed a finger at her. “By the way, you’d better not go losing before we fight! Even if we both know you’ll beat me, I won’t accept you losing to anyone else before then!”
Prelinsa smiled wryly. “I’ll try not to.”
Suddenly, there was a call on the loudspeaker system.
“Contestant Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick! Contestant Lana Lightfoot! Please make your way to Ring 5 for your qualifying match!”
“Well, that’s your cue,” Camilla said.
“Yeah.”
“Good luck again.”
“Thanks.”
Prelinsa headed out of the door, to the cheers of the crowd. She could make out the VIP box with the Matriarch, Rupeth, Corynn, some of the Elders, and important noble figures in East Realm society. Standing with the core Silvermoon family was Missus B., who watched in excitement and anticipation. There was also a female pokkit who looked about Rupeth’s age. Prelinsa’s senses allowed her to see silky black hair and fur – Rupeth’s color, but the Matriarch’s fluffiness. She had ruby-red eyes, just like Corynn and the Matriarch, which looked quite serious as they gazed upon and sized up the various competitors. This was of course Rensa Silvermoon, the middle sibling of the Silvermoon family. It was Prelinsa’s first time seeing her in person.
But there was a match to be focused on right now. A number of qualifiers were already ongoing in other rings. Prelinsa made her way to Ring 5, approaching from one side. Robots with cameras stood around, taking plenty of footage for the people watching the event online in the livestreams. Medics stood on standby, along with several mages maintaining an invisible barrier around the ring. Prelinsa’s opponent, Lana Lightfoot, approached from the other side with a spear in one hand, her long blonde hair and big rabbit ears swaying as she walked. Both she and Prelinsa bowed to one other, standing about 12 meters apart.
“Combatants, stand by,” the referee said. The two duelists took their ready stances. Prelinsa put her hand on her sword hilt and sized Lana up warily. She knew from Rupeth and Corynn’s teaching that a spear versus a sword was extremely unfavorable for the sword – so much so that even a beginner spearfighter could hold their own well against an experienced swordfighter. This was simply because a spear had a far bigger attack radius, allowing the spearfighter to trivialize the matchup. Normally, that made it completely unwinnable for the swordfighter – Prelinsa had watched many such spars by now.
However, this was not a normal situation. Prelinsa was a Silvermoon. By leveraging magic, and using her superior speed and strength, it was possible that she could overcome the weapon disadvantage with brute force. That said, her opponent would use magic too, so it wasn’t quite that easy, and her own skill in magic still left a lot to be desired. She could feel a faint sensation of static, and sensed the power of lightning within Lana’s mana heart.
“Orange square, are you ready?” The referee asked.
“Yeah,” Prelinsa said.
“Blue square, are you ready?”
“Mhm!” Lana replied.
“This match will begin in three. Two. One. Begin!”
Lana jabbed forward lightly, her speartip unleashing a bolt of electricity towards Prelinsa. Before it even began, Prelinsa had already felt the mana flow, and quickly drew her sword with one hand, charging it with her own mana and deflecting the bolt with a light swing. Mana acted much like a fluid, so building up lots of it and swinging it at a magic attack could deflect it.
The bolt zoomed off and slammed into the invisible ring barrier, exploding in a shower of sparks. Having only learned magic for the past two weeks, Prelinsa’s defense had been a bit sloppy. However, her qualities as a Silvermoon allowed her to make up for it just by forcing the issue.
“Well, that’s pretty unfair,” Lana commented, raising an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” Prelinsa replied dryly, putting both hands on her sword hilt. The katana’s blade now blazed with fire, glowing red hot.
“Nah. You’re a Silvermoon now – you should make the most of it! If I win, it’ll be a great victory. If I lose, then I wasn’t good enough. Either way, let’s have the best fight that we can!”
Prelinsa smiled. “Yeah. Let’s go!”
Lana fired off another bolt, which Prelinsa parried again, this time more easily with her two handed grip. The bolt once again exploded against the barrier.
Prelinsa counterattacked by yelling and lightly swinging her sword vertically, unleashing an arc of phoenixfire which flew towards Lana as if to bisect her. Lana’s reaction time was slower than Prelinsa’s, but she sidestepped it, and the flames splashed against the barrier.
Prelinsa readied herself to try and fire again, but her aim time was too slow. Lana shouted and fired off another bolt first. Prelinsa deflected it once again. However, it seemed that the rabbit girl had decided fighting Prelinsa from long range was a losing effort. This time, she charged forward while Prelinsa was deflecting the attack, her spear crackling with electricity.
Prelinsa sidestepped, and Lana quickly swished her spear to the side to try and catch Prelinsa in the dodge. It would’ve been a winning strike against a normal person. However, Prelinsa’s inhuman reflexes and speed let her do a reverse bunny-hop over the speartip, assisted by a rushed burst of phoenixfire from her feet to launch herself backwards and land just beyond Lana’s attack radius. In the process, she just barely avoided a ring out, but the entire time, she was able to keep her eyes and sword pointed towards Lana. She took a deep breath, taking a proper stance again.
Lana frowned. “Ughhhh, I should’ve hit you with that!”
“Well, do something about it then,” Prelinsa commented. Though she also realized that with her back to the edge of the ring, this was actually a very bad situation for her.
“You don’t have to tell me twice!”
Lana jabbed several times with her spear, which Prelinsa quickly parried and sidestepped, keeping her distance. She was being forced on the defensive, and even with her faster movement, things were dicey now that she had less room to maneuver. Lana was able to move her speartip around quickly to compensate for being slower than Prelinsa, and that allowed her to exert a lot of pressure. With Prelinsa’s lack of skill and experience, she couldn’t land a good hit with her magic, or find space to disengage.
However, she remembered what Rupeth said. The best warriors always played dirty.
As she continued to parry, she quickly drew more mana into the blade and directed it forward. She couldn’t draw too much while moving, but by concentrating it, she was able to create an extremely bright point of phoenixfire at the tip of her sword, which lasted for only a split-second.
It was enough. “Ugh!” Lana blinked. In that moment, Prelinsa quickly rushed past the spear and tapped the rabbit girl on the hand with her sword. The defensive magic prevented Lana from getting burned, but this hit prompted the referee to press a button, which creating a satisfying reverberating noise. This signaled that the end of the match had been decided.
“Cease! Winner by knockout, the orange square – Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick!” The referee declared.
There was a round of applause from the spectators.
Prelinsa withdrew, extinguishing her katana and sheathing it. Lana pulled back as well, the electricity fading from her spear. The two of them bowed, then approached each other to shake hands.
“Good fight!” Lana commented, grinning.
“Thanks, you too!” Prelinsa said.
“I lost, but I learned a lot. Mostly that the Path of the Phoenix is super dumb.”
“Yeah, it is unfair. You’re a better fighter than me – I didn’t deserve that win.”
Lana shrugged. “That’s life. I’ll just try and do better in my remaining two qualifiers! I’ll be watching to see how far you can go, Miss Silvermoon.”
“Thanks. I’ll try and keep an eye on you too.”
The two of them parted ways, exiting the ring.
Prelinsa looked up at the VIP box. She could see Missus B., Corynn, and Rupeth all clapping and cheering for her. The Matriarch nodded, acknowledging Prelinsa’s victory. Rensa, on the other hand, was unreadable even with Prelinsa’s sharp senses. She seemed to be silently judging the half-pokkit, in a way that was sort of uncomfortable. Prelinsa wondered if they really would get along.
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Prelinsa won her next two qualifiers in much the same way, using sheer talent and brute force to overcome her opponents’ better skill and technique. It was inelegant, but she was three for three now – all but guaranteed a spot in the tournament of sixteen. As she headed back from her third fight, she encountered Rensa Silvermoon, who was standing in front of the door waiting for her. The older pokkit’s black tail swished once. Prelinsa could feel a Phoenix Heart within the Princess that was on the level of Rupeth’s.
“I greet Princess Rensa Silvermoon,” Prelinsa said, kneeling.
“At ease,” Rensa replied. Her tone of voice was quite dry, even compared to the Matriarch’s. It contrasted with her silky, fluffy ears and tail, which looked super comfortable.
Prelinsa stood.
“What… brings you here, Princess?” She said, awkwardly.
“I’m here to congratulate you for your three straight qualifying victories. You deserve praise for your talent,” Rensa said. She clapped her hands, though with her expressionless face, it looked sort of sarcastic.
Prelinsa bowed. “Thank you, Princess-”
“But your skill is still lacking,” Rensa continued, and Prelinsa stood up stiffly again. “That’s to be expected; you’ve only learned for a short time. You’ve been relying on your instincts and Phoenix Spark to get you out of losing situations. That will cost you against an opponent with both talent and skill. You’ll have a hard time in the tournament at this rate.”
Prelinsa swallowed. She remembered what Corynn and the Matriarch said. Rensa wasn’t saying this to be mean – she was pointing out Prelinsa’s flaws so she could try to improve on them. Maybe she had some useful advice.
“I understand,” she said. “Do you have any recommendations for how I should fight?”
“I do; that’s why I’m here. Let’s continue talking somewhere else. Also, there’s no need to talk formally. It’s just a waste of time, and it makes you uncomfortable.”
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Rensa led Prelinsa to an empty room – the kind that was used for private discussions. She sat down on the edge of the table, and shifted into a small, fluffy fox. It was similar to the level of cuteness that Matriarch Kirith had when she downshifted.
“Uh, what’s with the shift?” Prelinsa asked, curiously.
“People say that I sometimes seem unfriendly,” Rensa said in a higher pitched voice. “I’m trying to appeal to your instincts by looking cuter.”
“Well, it’s working. I want to fluff you right now.”
“Please don’t.”
“Aw.”
“Anyway, let’s get back to our topic of fighting. There is a way you can win a match against a more skilled opponent,” Rensa said. “After the first time, though, there’s some luck involved. Depends on how good your opponent is.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ll rely on a technicality of the rules. They say that to win a match, you must make your opponent surrender, force them out of the ring, or land a debilitating hit. But you can also duel for three minutes and win on a judges’ decision. Judging is decided primarily by shows of aggression. Do you see how you can take advantage of this?”
Prelinsa shook her head.
“Three minutes is a very short amount of time for you. You can waste a lot of energy, and your Spark ensures that you’ll still be fine in time for your next match,” Rensa explained. “That means you can just spend the entire three minutes shooting blasts of phoenixfire, your strongest but least efficient attack. Blast your opponent from far away, move somewhere else, and blast them again. Do this as quickly as you can, and keep pressure on your opponent. You’ll win.”
“You’ve seen me fight. You know I can’t aim that fast,” Prelinsa said, recalling her fight with Lana. Although Prelinsa had won, Lana had gotten the jump on her from a distance.
“Yeah,” Rensa agreed. “You’ll be too slow if you always stop to aim. If that happens, your opponent will close the gap and pressure you. To prevent that, you should only aim about a quarter of the time. Mix up when you aim, so that you’re not too predictable.”
“Will that really work?” Prelinsa wondered aloud. “Won’t my opponent figure out what I’m doing?”
“It doesn’t really matter. Your opponents are juniors like you. They’re more skilled than you, but they’re not that skilled,” Rensa replied, perhaps somewhat dismissively. “Even if someone catches on to what you’re doing, there won’t be any openings for them to engage you properly. That means you can just keep on attacking, and stall them out for the entire three minutes. The match will end and you’ll win the judge’s decision.”
“Okay. So I just have to pretend to attack, and win the match on time,” Prelinsa said. It sounded terrible, but she liked it.
“Yeah. But you’ll be casting a lot of fire, so you might just randomly force your opponent out of the ring. Or randomly land a critical hit. Or scare your opponent into surrendering first. So you’re not just winning on time; you have all four of your win conditions accounted for, just with this one trick.” Rensa made it sound incredibly easy.
Stolen novel; please report.
“That’s awful,” Prelinsa commented. Like Rupeth said, it was cheating. The Path of the Phoenix was cheating.
“I prefer the term foxy. We’re pokkits, after all; being subversive is kind of in our reputation. Anyway, if you’re trying to win against a more skilled opponent, this is the best strategy I have for you. You can choose not to use it, if it bothers you,” Rensa said.
Prelinsa shook her head. “Nah, I’m going to win. Rupeth also said to fight dirty.”
Rensa crossed her arms – or rather, front legs. Regardless, she had a smirk on her face. “Of course he did. He learned that from me.” For the first time, Prelinsa saw a strong emotion on her face – she was proud of herself. Prelinsa wondered how the Matriarch, who was so serious and straight-laced, gave birth to these two children who ended up being such rule-breakers. Rupeth stole a sword for Prelinsa, and now Rensa was suggesting that Prelinsa fight in a way that was dishonest and merciless.
“Well, thanks. For your advice,” Prelinsa said.
“Anytime. I hate seeing talent wasted; you should use what you have efficiently. Go and be greedy for victory~”
Prelinsa could see now how Rensa and Rupeth could get along. At any rate, she now had a strategy to win at least one unwinnable fight. Everything else would be up to her.
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The seeds for the tournament were announced soon after the last qualifier ended. Prelinsa was naturally seeded high, since she won all of her qualifiers. She ended up being the 3 seed, behind two others who had also won all their qualifiers. Outside of the top three, no one else had a perfect record.
In the first round, she was able to once again overpower her opponent with force. The same was true of her quarterfinal match. However, her semifinal match would be against the 2 seed, Mirabelle Leclerc. She was Camilla’s older sister, and a water mage with a natural advantage against Prelinsa’s fledgling phoenixfire. It would be a difficult matchup for her, so she really had to consider using Rensa’s tactic for this duel, even if she couldn’t save it for the finals.
As she headed back into the waiting area and mentally prepared herself, there was nobody around, now that only four people remained in the tournament. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her, and drew her katana, which clashed with another person’s longsword in a shower of fiery sparks. It was the human boy from before that gave her a nasty look – Elias Grayfire. He’d been knocked out early in the round of 16, but was still sticking around in the waiting area. Apparently, just to give Prelinsa a piece of his mind.
“Why is someone like you still around?” He growled, backing off and taking a fighting stance. His sword crackled with fire.
“Uh. Because I won all my matches?” Prelinsa asked, taking a two handed grip on her katana, which roared with its own flames.
“You’re not a Silvermoon!” Elias taunted. “You don’t even fight like a real Phoenix Warrior! You’re just an animal with a sword and some magic! Why is someone like you learning the Path of the Phoenix?”
“Honestly, I don’t really know,” Prelinsa admitted. “But you’re being a pain, you know? Also, you’re not allowed to start fights here.” There were cameras around, so someone would be here soon, and they would know exactly what happened. This wasn’t her fault.
“Shut up! I heard you don’t even have real parents anymore,” Elias continued, ignoring her. “You’re just an orphaned, one-eared street urchin. I bet your mom only adopted you because she felt sorry for you. Like how the Matriarch did with that thing Corynn.”
Prelinsa felt the anger boiling within her. He didn’t just insult her and her feelings about her parents. He also insulted Missus B, the Matriarch, and Corynn. He didn’t know anything about them, yet he was attacking them. He didn’t know about Corynn’s tragic past and her struggle with the Magic Freedom Fighters. He didn’t know about the Matriarch’s true feelings for Corynn, whom she treated as her real daughter. He didn’t know about Missus B. and her long relationship with Prelinsa. Right now, she wanted to really hurt Elias. Mess him up, so he would shut his mouth.
However, she did her best to think better of it. Hurting Elias wasn’t the right thing to do. The Matriarch would likely say that her anger was justified. But as with Vincent, Elias didn’t know any better. He was sick, like Missus B. said. Sick for not having anyone in his life to guide him properly. He was pitiable. It wasn’t worth losing her temper – he was a victim in his own way. Like Rona would say, he needed help.
Instead, she directed her anger towards the thought of defeating Elias. She quickly went through the motions of a fight in her head. She would avoid harming him if possible. Instead, she would win the fight of self-defense and put him in his place. That was the best way to use her anger.
She took a deep breath in and out.
“…I feel sorry for you, actually,” she said.
“Huh?”
“It’s sad, right? Being jealous that the thing and the urchin are learning the Path of the Phoenix. Guess we’re just that much better than you,” Prelinsa remarked, trying to bait Elias into attacking.
“ARRRRRGHHH!”
Elias fell for it. He ran at Prelinsa, swinging his sword, which left a trail of sparks and embers through the air. But he wasn’t anything special, and he was angry too. Prelinsa readied herself and parried, deflecting his sword and flinging it out of his hands. She then pointed her weapon at her disarmed opponent. Elias blinked in shock, looking down at Prelinsa’s weapon, before glaring at Prelinsa’s face.
“You!” He sputtered uselessly. But he was completely at her mercy.
“What’s the point of using a longsword if you’re just going to run at me like an idiot?” Prelinsa asked. “I still don’t know why I’m learning the Path of the Phoenix, but I can see one reason why you aren’t.”
“Prelinsa!” Corynn raced into the waiting area. “Prelinsa, I-” She stopped, seeing Prelinsa pointing her sword at the unarmed Elias.
“Hey, Corynn! Can we get this guy arrested? Everything’s on camera.”
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Elias was dragged away by security in shame, and Corynn apologized profusely once again to Prelinsa.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she said. “I knew Elias was jealous of you. I should’ve known he would do something like this.”
“Eh, whatever. He probably did a good job hiding it,” Prelinsa said.
“I should’ve gotten here sooner, too. But you did well on your own.” Corynn smiled. “You were angry, but you didn’t attack first. You stopped Elias without giving in to your emotions. Mother said she’s proud of you. I’m sure Missus B. will be too, once she hears about it.”
“I tried,” Prelinsa said, still feeling the twinges of anger. “It was hard. I’m still mad at him.”
Corynn gave her a comforting hug.
“You did great. It’s okay now. Elias is going to get help, and you won’t have a reason to be mad anymore.”
“Right.”
Corynn withdrew her hug.
“Now you have to get ready for your next match,” she said. “It’s the semis, and Mirabelle will be tough for you. But I’m sure Rensa taught you a trick to win.”
“She did, yeah.”
“Between her, Rupeth, and me, she’s the smartest out of us. Maybe even smarter than Mother,” Corynn mused.
“Contestant Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick. Contestant Mirabelle Leclerc. Please make your way to the Main Ring for your semifinal match,” the announcer called, interrupting them.
“That’s your cue.”
Prelinsa nodded to Corynn, then made her way out of the area, heading for the Main Ring. As she did, she glanced up at the VIP box. The Silvermoons and Missus B. were all watching expectantly. Camilla and her mother the Marchioness were also there.
Her opponent, Mirabelle Leclerc, approached from the other side. She looked about Corynn’s age, but was taller. Unlike her younger sister Camilla, she had white hair and fur, and upright pointy ears. But she had similar eyes and a similar scent to Camilla, so Prelinsa concluded that they were actually related. She was also clad in a clunky looking mixture of chainmail and plate armor, and her helmet visor was raised, revealing her whole face. As they took their positions, they bowed.
“So you’re Prelinsa,” Mirabelle said. She seemed upbeat, and her tail wagged in excitement. “Nice to finally meet you! Cammy’s been praising you a bunch, and I can see why. Your swordfighting is pretty good! Way better than I would’ve guessed for only a few months.” Her tail stopped moving, as she frowned and struggled for some words. “But… I’m sorry to say, but… you’re just not that good at magic yet?”
“Yeah? So what?” Prelinsa asked.
“So what? I’m gonna wash your fire out, that’s what! Even if you’re inexperienced, Mother’s gonna be so happy when I win against a Phoenix Warrior!” Mirabelle pumped her fists.
“See if you can do it,” Prelinsa dared.
“Of course! I know you’re not that easy. Cammy and I would be sad if you were.”
“Combatants, stand by!” The referee announced.
Prelinsa drew her sword in advance this time, taking a stance to prepare for a series of quick swings. Meanwhile, Mirabelle lowered her visor and got down on all fours, keeping her eyes on Prelinsa. Her body shifted, along with her armor, as she transformed into a white dire wolf. Her toned muscles and strong form made even Gladys look like a joke, let alone Vincent.
Mirabelle’s armor also fit her much better in this form. That was a quirk of magic shifting weapons and armor – unlike shifter people, it was very hard for tools to be effective in more than one form. There were some forward facing spikes on Mirabelle’s helmet, which looked like they would be dangerous at close range, and some aggressive looking gauntlets on her front paws. She looked fierce. Prelinsa could feel that the entire armor set was forged under the dance of water and mana, making every aspect of it a potent weapon.
Finishing her transformation, Mirabelle raised her head back, and howled. She looked intimidating, but Prelinsa recalled that most shifters didn’t have much speed or dynamic range. From watching previous fights, she knew that Mirabelle was limited to this form and her earfolk form, and couldn’t shift easily in the middle of battle. This meant that committing to this large form made her a bigger target for Rensa’s strategy.
“In the orange square, we have Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick!” A sports announcer called. “House Silvermoon’s rising flame! She’s new, but so far, she’s been overwhelming her opponents with sheer power alone! The Path of the Phoenix sure is strong! Aaaaand in the blue square, we have Mirabelle Leclerc, the eldest daughter of the Leclerc Marquisate! A skilled fighter who wields the powers of lycan shifting and the Ocean’s Blessing! In the last junior tournament, she took second place after a close finals match! She needs no introduction! Which of these two young warriors will emerge victorious?!”
As the announcer goaded the crowd on, and referee explained the rules once again, Prelinsa’s right ear could make out part of the crowd, wondering what they were about to see.
“Who do you think wins?”
“Leclerc. No doubt about it.”
“I agree. The young Phoenix Warrior doesn’t have enough experience. The matchup is also very bad for her. Fire versus water.”
“That’s a shame. If only she had more time to train.”
“House Silvermoon is foxy. Maybe they have a plan for this.”
“Orange square, are you ready?” The referee asked.
“Yeah,” said Prelinsa.
“Blue square, are you ready?”
“I am,” said Mirabelle.
“This match will begin in three. Two. One. Begin!”
Mirabelle prepared to charge at Prelinsa, but before she could, Prelinsa yelled, swung her sword, and fired upon Mirabelle from maximum range. Mirabelle side-leaped out of the way, but Prelinsa just swung and fired again. And again. And again. She only occasionally slowed down to aim properly. Mirabelle continued to dodge and block with barriers of water, as Prelinsa’s phoenix-hailfire left a trail of continuous explosions against the ring barrier, making the ground shake. Everything was happening exactly as Rensa had said. Mirabelle could feel that Prelinsa was constantly drawing waves upon waves of mana to attack, so she was trying to dodge and block everything, wasting her movements. This completely stopped her from approaching or setting up counterattacks, which in turn gave Prelinsa more time to actually aim and make her chaotic showing even more convincing.
Prelinsa circled around to get better angles on the evading Mirabelle, swinging her sword wildly as she continued to blast away with constant aggression. It was working! She could sense that Mirabelle was unsure of how to approach, and becoming very agitated. It seemed like she finally understood what Prelinsa was trying to do, yet she was powerless to stop it. Which made her even more frustrated.
Trying to set up an opportunity for herself, the white lycan set up a big wall of water to absorb as many shots as she could, then used it to launch a bolt of water back at Prelinsa. But doing this only made her a stationary target, and Prelinsa’s wild flurries of phoenixfire became more concentrated as a result, vaporizing Mirabelle’s attack in a head-on collision. Mirabelle tried again, but she overcompensated for trying to avoid a collision, and her attack went wide and splashed into the ring barrier. It was much too hard to attack while simultaneously defending under so much pressure. As Prelinsa’s shots eroded away at the wall of water, Mirabelle was forced to give up her attack and continue focusing on defending.
Meanwhile, all Prelinsa had to do was keep up the pressure. More fire. More fire. More fire. She wasn’t tired at all – she was winning the battle of attrition. As long as she wasn’t careless, it was her fight to lose. On the other hand, Mirabelle was restless. She was the more experienced fighter, yet she was the one being pushed into a corner, and that big wall of water took something out of her. Prelinsa knew that eventually, something would have to give. So she remained patient and focused, and kept blasting away, all while Mirabelle tried to stay alive and keep the match going. Looking for something – anything – that would let her gain momentum.
But that something was not coming. Prelinsa was not going to be careless – she continued to deny any and all openings. In a last ditch effort, Mirabelle launched a huge mass of water slowly towards Prelinsa to take up as much phoenixfire as she could, then blasted jets of water to propel herself forward, flying at breakneck speed to close the gap. If she didn’t knock Prelinsa out with this, she would at least push her out of the ring if she connected.
That was a big ‘if’ though. Though it was not in the plan that Rensa had described, it was still a futile attack. Prelinsa could see what was happening, and stopped firing as she sensed the surge of mana that Mirabelle was generating to prepare her charge. As Mirabelle’s blast of water evaporated under the phoenixfire and the lycan began her headlong rush, the half-pokkit had plenty of time to react. Prelinsa waited until Mirabelle was fully committed to her action, then simply launched herself out of the way with a blast of phoenixfire.
The reverberating noise of a match end went off as Mirabelle was unable to stop herself from passing the ring barrier and flew wildly out of bounds, skidding to a halt.
“Cease! Blue square has exited the ring!” The referee announced. “Winner, orange square! Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick!” The timer read 1:40 – less than half the clock had run down. Mirabelle hadn’t even made it to the halfway mark.
Prelinsa stopped swinging, sheathed her weapon, and bowed. Mirabelle bowed her head deeply, then shifted back into her earfolk form, raising her visor – a look of bitter disappointment on her face. The two approached each other to shake hands.
“What’s this?!” The announcer exclaimed. “It’s a fiery upset! The young Silvermoon has defeated Mirabelle Leclerc in under one and a half minutes! A convincing victory! People of the crowd, that fight didn’t even look close! Was the young Phoenix simply hiding her talent?! Or has she learned from previous matches in such a short time?! Either way, give it up for Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick, and House Silvermoon!!”
The crowd roared.
“Huh?? What happened?! There was so much fire – I couldn’t see anything!”
“Wow, so she could fight like that.”
“She must’ve been pretending to be weak earlier to catch people off guard. Sure fooled me.”
“House Silvermoon sure knows how to be crafty.”
“I think you mean foxy.”
It was not only an upset victory, it was quick and decisive. From the very start, Prelinsa was the one applying pressure. On the other hand, Mirabelle had only managed a few attacks and they were all useless – even her aggressive last-ditch effort. It was a showcase of the overwhelming power granted by the Phoenix Spark.
“You got me,” Mirabelle said, unhappily. “You got me really good.”
“I had to,” Prelinsa remarked. “You were going to get me first. I couldn’t let you.”
“Well, I couldn’t do anything,” said Mirabelle, putting her hands on her hips. She complained in the manner of Camilla, though with a more even temper, and Prelinsa could really tell now that they were related. “Ugh. I could even see what you were doing, but I couldn’t stop you. You learned that trick from Princess Rensa, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Mirabelle patted Prelinsa on the shoulder once, grinning. It was rough, but comforting. “Well, keep it up! I know why Cammy praised you now. You might’ve used a cheap trick, but you still had to deliver on it. You’ve got some talent.”
“Thanks. I’d like to see you fight for real, so I can call you good too.”
Mirabelle snorted. “Trust me, I am good. You’re just ridiculous,” she said. “Only a Phoenix Warrior can fight like that. Be proud of yourself, and keep rising to the top. Cammy and I will be sad if you fall behind!”
“I will,” Prelinsa said. Camilla had made it to the tournament, but was knocked out in the first round. She wondered how the lycan was feeling about it.
“Silvermoon! Silvermoon! Silvermoon!” The crowd chanted.
Prelinsa waved to the crowd. As she did, she looked up at the VIP box. Marchioness Leclerc seemed mildly disappointed, and Camilla looked crestfallen, which she felt a bit bad about. Once again, the Matriarch crossed her arms and was nodding in approval. Once again, Missus B., Corynn, and Rupeth celebrated excitedly. They even gave each other high fives.
But this time, Rensa was also clapping, and smiling. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was genuine. Prelinsa felt really good about it, as she stepped out of the ring and made her way back to the waiting area.