Vivian stretched her exhausted body, heavy from fatigue she picked herself up enough to sit. Sasha was relentless.  I lost count how many times she drained my mana pool.

Vivian rubbed the sleep from her eyes and opened them slowly. Casting her gaze to the horizon, she watched the sun rising in the distance. She looked down, finding herself seated on a pattern of black and purple scales. I passed out, huh? Not a surprise considering how aggressive Sasha became when my mana pool suddenly started filling up faster.  How long was I out?  How many times did she repeat that?

She brought her vision back up, inspecting her hand. Her smooth grey skin now emitted a gentle grey glow. Sasha, care to explain?

About what?

Don't play with me. What did you do to me that I'm glowing like a dweomer?

Oh, that? I thought you noticed something serious.  There was an unforeseen side effect from preparing your body to leave the Mortal realm behind. Your Health and Mana Pools have merged into a single circuit.

Sashaaaa! Vivian vented her frustration. Rolling her fingers into her palm and squeezed it into a tight fist. The strength she felt wasn't natural. She only experienced this when she injected mana into a single stat, but not to this degree. Now, that feeling was ever-present throughout her body, as though all her stats were permanently active.  Just what does she mean 'something serious'?

I have a long list of things I have adapted to, what's one more to the in-progress list? Vivian sighed and rose to her feet. Is this a boon or a curse, only time will tell.

"Are you awake now?" Isa craned her neck, "Oh?"

"What is it, Isa?" Vivian's pure white eyes had taken on a pale blue hue.

"You're," Isa's eyes focused and unfocused as she trailed over Vivian's body. Her muscles had become toned and refined, her eyes sharp and calculating. But most noticeable, aside from the grey glow, "taller. You're starting to look like the Jadendajuda of the bygone age."

"Is that so?" Vivian voiced in a whisper, looking over herself briefly. She pulled up her map, bringing it fully transparent in her vision. Where's Jaden and Annika?

Vivian extended the map range to its limit. It's so convenient being able to can control the map by just thinking about it. There's Annika, is she out hunting? No, she's the hunted. At that range, she dropped away from us to prevent us from getting involved. I can't help but admire that.

Vivian centered the map on Annika. More are approaching? Vivian cut back the range, expanding the size of the markers. "All Liralau?" Vivan questioned aloud. "And there are three of them already surrounding her."

Can she handle three? Vivian compressed her body like a spring and jumped off Isa's huge back; her feet sank into the soft dirt.

"Vivian," Isa clicked her tongue as she freed her feet one at a time. "Let me know before you do something like that."

Vivian charged through the undergrowth, silent as a snake, faster than a cheetah. She smirked in approval of the improvement; it turned into a frown when she cast her eyes back to see the leaves blowing in the wind she left in her wake. That'll be the next goal I set for myself, move without creating an air trail.

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Annika grit her teeth, holding her weapons defensively in front of her chest. The blade of one dagger bracing the other; she managed to deflect the sword away. Her opponent had overcommitted to his strike. A novice mistake he'll regret the rest of his life, his body helplessly followed his sword along her side. She didn't waste the opening she created. She turned on her heel, drove her dagger into his exposed side, and dragged it down to his hip.  He screamed out painfully.

The warrior wounded and bleeding; he fell to the ground grasping at his side. She turned her eyes to the remaining two. She licked the blood off her dagger with relish in a show of feral ferocity.

They hesitated, she rushed the closest one. A flurry of fast dagger swipes left the Liralau defending to her onslaught. Daggers clashed with the sword as she sought to create an opening. He pushed her back and swung his sword down from overhead. She crossed her dagger blades, bracing them together. Clang! Their weapons collided. Her arms bent slightly from the sword's momentum at the impact.

She pushed her body forward, dagger blades scraping against sword blade, closing the distance. She kicked his legs, destroying his footing.  His grip on his sword faltered, she swung her daggers down across his chest in the shape of an X.  She hadn't closed the distance enough; she left a pair of superficial scratches.

"Duck." Annika recognized the voice; she felt a light pressure on her shoulder. She dropped her body flat to the ground as a sword cut the air where she had been, hitting the man she was just assaulting. She rolled onto her back in time to see the first man clutch his side and fall to his knees. Vivian backhanded the second. His feet dragged the ground as the brunt of the blow sent him crashing into a tree.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Thanks," Annika stated climbing to her feet, she dusted herself off.

"There's more coming," Vivian informed her.

"Of course there would be," Annika sighed.

"Giving up?" Vivian raised an eyebrow.

"No. The way I see it, my life infuriates the god.  Now I'm going to live as long as I can," Annika smirked.

"Well said. There's ten approaching, do you have a plan?"

"Those are bad odds. I'm not going down without a fight, though."

"We could always run," Vivian suggested.

"I don't believe you came here to run away now. What is your intent?" Annika inquired.

"I need to find out what I am capable of and send a message," Vivian stated coolly, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Now what?" Annika asked.

"We prepare," Vivian grabbed the kneeling man and threw him next to the man Annika stabbed in the side. "Kill them, then give me your dagger."

"I was going to do that anyway," Annika stated, then stabbed the two men killing them both instantly. "Why the change of heart?"

"I've had a bit of an eye-opener. Fighting in the name of peace while unwilling to kill anyone hasn't improved our situation any. Consider this an experiment towards that end. I'm going to rewrite our reputation as a weak peace-loving race to something a bit more fear-inspiring. Something to be respected or abandon all hope."

"And here I was worried about Jaden snapping," Annika sighed.

"I haven't snapped, just opened my eyes to my naivety."

"It's sad to see you've tossed away your ideals."

"I'm not killing anyone, you are. I'm just going to take credit for it. I still have some time to break out of the Mortal realm. When I do, I will fight and kill Othello. Until then, I'll instill fear in all who seek to harm my people."

Eesh, just what did she experience? Annika swallowed noisily. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

If I become a monster instead of Jaden, can he live his life peacefully? Vivian thought, she turned her gaze toward an approaching dot on her map.

"Mother," Jaden stated, appearing next to her. The bloody dagger in her hand captured his attention, then he swept his gaze over the two corpses, "What of all your lessons?" he frowned.

"I haven't killed anyone, but the conclusion you jumped to is the one I am hoping for."

"I see," he replied. "I'm pretty sure I had said I would take care of it."

"Have you started your empire?"

Jaden smirked in response. He looked at the ten figures that just entered the clearing created by one of Isa's footsteps.

"I'll say this once," Jaden gestured at the nearby corpses. "Flee or die."

The ten paused in consideration of it; they were well aware that someone from the Jadendajuda had defeated Othello, but was that someone here? They didn't know for sure.

"Mother, you won't need that dagger. I assume you came here to test your augmented body?" Jaden observed the grey glow of her body. Just what did Sasha do to you?

"That's true, I did."

Vivian dropped Annika's dagger on the ground. She closed her eyes. Inhaled, and slowly exhaled. She blocked out everything that would distract her. She opened her eyes, focused only on the ten Liralau.

She lifted her foot slowly, taking a step forward. When her foot came down and touched the ground, she vanished. She reappeared for merely an instant.  A Liralau fell to the ground. The sound of the hit that subdued him only heard after. Her hair settled on her shoulders, she turned her head, eyeing her next target.  He barely managed to blink. She moved to him, wrapping her fingers calmly around his neck. She kicked his feet out from under him and pulled him down facefirst. His body indented four inches(10 cm) deep in the ground.

"You lot don't even count as training dummies," Vivian clicked her tongue in disappointment. "I'm going to stop pulling my punches, either run away or you will beg me to kill you."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

"Nice performance. I had thought you broke into the Epic realm. Your glowing body reveals it's just Mana inflation."

"What of it?" Vivian shrugged at the newcomer. He's not a pushover like these others. In which case, maybe I can find my limit. Vivian pushed off the ground, appearing in front of him.

"I have no interest in you, only Annika. Lucky for you, I suppose," he stated calmly, he caught her fist and held on lazily.

Vivian frowned, utilizing her full strength for the first time she pushed her body forward, punching the unknown man hard on the face with her free hand.

He wiped the blood from his nose. "With just that, you can't hope to compare with me. Get stronger and come find me, we'll have a proper contest of Champions."

He's a Champion, like Typhan? Vivian questioned. No, I wouldn't have beaten Typhan if he were at this level.

The man vanished from Vivian's line of sight, leaving her in slow motion. She turned to look behind her, completely missing what happened next.

Annika shrieked, she saw a flash and closed her eyes. When the expected impact didn't happen, she opened her eyes warily. There was a fist halted in front of her face, a hand firmly grasping the wrist.

"Jaden?" she followed the hand that saved her.

Jaden locked his fierce gaze on the Champion, ignoring everyone else present. "Shall we have a go then? This 'contest of Champions' as you called it."

"Stopping me when I'm not trying doesn't qualify you." the Champion muttered as he attempted to pull his hand away.

"Try then," Jaden grinned, tightening his grip.

"I see, you're the child. I didn't count on meeting you here."

"You have. What happens next?" Jaden punched towards his face with his free hand. The Champion blocked with his open palm, catching the punch. Jaden smirked and pushed forward, riding his momentum from his strike and continuing into his face.

"What?!" the Champion exclaimed, enduring a hard hit to the face.  He cast a tired gaze at Jaden, "I wasn't planning on getting serious here."

"Running away then?  I'd rather not have to draw out the power necessary to deal with you.  It ages my body, after all.  If you push me to that point, I just might kill you for that inconvenience."

"We have a problem then, I'm here for her life," he pointed at Annika.

"She's been abandoned by her god and outcast from her race.  I can only imagine it's the god that wants her dead. Badly enough at that to send a Champion," Jaden surmised, his eyes glinting sharply. "Give it up.  She's part of my clan now; as such, she falls under my protection."

"I came to see why you're taking so long."  Isa's head poked into the clearing that her foot created earlier.  She licked her lips, reaching for the Champion with her foreleg, "Oh, a Champion?  You shouldn't have prepared a snack for me."

"I just started tenderizing him," Jaden stated.

The Champion looked fearfully at Isa as her claws wrapped around him.  Mirage Dragons weren't well known for many things, but those few things that did circulate included absurd strength, short temper, and a ravenous appetite, which anything and everything would satisfy.

"Nothing would please me more right now, than eating a Champion of that god," Isa nuzzled the Champion affectionately against her face as fire licked at her nostrils.

Everyone averted their eyes.  Isa tossed the Champion into her mouth and chewed thoroughly, mincing the man in mere seconds.  She swallowed and released a satisfied burp moments later.

"Shall we continue home now, or do you still have business here?" Isa asked as she spewed a small fire, incinerating the remnant fur and clothes that stuck to her teeth.

"With guardians of this caliber, how did we ever get reduced to what we are now?" Vivian asked.

"We weren't always bound," Isa stated somberly, "a change you can thank Hemloc for."