Rieren was deciding how best to train the next day when she was accosted by her new team, so to speak. The monsters arrived in a sizable group where they wished to assist her in overcoming her next challenge.

“There is only so much you can do, I am afraid,” Rieren said. “I must tackle this foe on my own.”

“Of course, Destroyer,” the Stifling Nebula said. Rieren frowned at thinking of the monster in the same term that the commentator had used. She needed to rinse her mind of that corruption. “But perhaps we can perform some scouting for you to determine how exactly this Naviel intends to fight.”

Rieren raised an eyebrow. “You want to go into the tournament grounds and spy on the opponent’s camp?”

“You have a better suggestion?” another monster asked.

Rieren did, actually. “Come with me. Help me with my training and that will suffice.”

The monsters didn’t look too enthralled at getting to fight her again. She wondered if it was in part because they weren’t able to defeat her, or that the challenge she presented had become too monotonous. Rieren would have been a bit bored in their shoes too.

Nevertheless, both Rieren and the monsters gave their all in the sparring sessions. Her sword skills were put to the test when she ended up facing more than one monster at the same time. Add to the mix of dealing with ranged attacks with her Domain, and finding little gaps in the storming salvo where she could execute a counterattack, and Rieren was certainly kept on her toes.

She had to modulate her counters so she didn’t end up overly harming her opponents as well. All in all, Rieren had a tremendous exercise to keep herself fit and ready for battle.

That didn’t hold the same kind of weight as learning her opponent’s exact moves and the like would have. A part of Rieren was almost tempted to head into the grounds and try to find out more about Naviel. Batcat was busy elsewhere, so she would have to rely on herself. But as she had told the monsters, a direct approach like that wouldn’t go well.

Thankfully, there were other routes she could take. Such as relying on her greatest of friends.

“I’m not giving out information for free, you know,” Amalyse said with a calculating look in her eyes. “It’s going to cost you.”

They were meeting in the same little glen away from the camp as they had last time. Like before, Amalyse had sent a message that she wished to talk with Rieren again. Rieren had sent a reply that had requested Amalyse acquire some information about Naviel, if possible, before she came to the meeting. It appeared that Amalyse had succeeded in finding something.

Rieren smiled. “Oh? Do I have to betray my monstrous new allies for you?”

“Not at all,” Amalyse said. “I don’t need information about monsters.”

“Then what? I am afraid I am quite poor.”

Amalyse stepped closer and jabbed Rieren’s chest with her finger. “I want a promise from you.”

“A promise for what?”

“A promise that you’ll try to figure what’s going on with you. See, I’m giving you some information so you don’t have to work as hard for your victory. As long as you get your win, you’ll be happy, right? I’ll help you win. But in return, I want you to promise you’ll find a way to change back to the Rieren who’s my best friend. You have to promise you’ll come back.”

Rieren looked into her friends’ intense eyes, into the gaze locked on her own. Amalyse was serious. “I can promise that I will try, but I can promise no results.”

“Because you don’t know?”

“Because of that, yes.”

Amalyse didn’t look satisfied. She was slowly shaking her head, almost as though she didn’t believe Rieren.

“Please Amalyse,” Rieren said. “Do you truly think that I would not have tried to use any means in my possession to revert back to my original self, if I knew a path that would work? I tried in the Abyss and it worked then, and I tried again with the Temporal Recollector, and it too worked for a short while. But the temporary results are not worth my time. I need permanence.”

Amalyse swallowed. “I can understand the frustration that makes it look like something that just has no cure, but there has to be a way.”

“Perhaps there is. Perhaps there is none. Right now, I need to focus. Once I have accomplished my current goals, once I have won the Trials of Ascendance, I can focus more on other matters.”

Amalyse finally sighed. She looked down at herself and finally gave up. “I suppose that will have to do.”

“I have methods I am exploring, Amalyse. Not directly related to reverting back to my original self in as many words, but they are still important, and from those methods, I might be able to find an answer to the question of if it is even possible to change back.”

Rieren hadn’t thought of it that way, but with Amalyse’s pressing, she supposed she could find out the truth about turning cultivators into Abyssals through the investigations she was involved in. Starloper might know. The gods leading the Abyssals and Aetherians had to know. It was just a matter of Rieren herself discovering the truth.

Amalyse took a deep breath, then nodded. “Naviel Kruvain is going to be a tough nut to crack, Rieren.”

“I assumed as much,” Rieren said. She was glad Amalyse had moved on.

“He’s the main leader of the Arteroth’s combined forces, the true head of their military.”

Rieren frowned. “Not Essalina?”

“Essalina is the figurehead leader, Rieren. Here, look at this way.” Amalyse stepped away a little and began pantomiming Essalina strutting about in her usual armour, spreading her arms like an ape. “Essalina is the heroic figure of the Arteroth clan who leads the charge at the head of their armies. The one everyone looks to during the moment the fighting begins.”

“Ah, I see now. Where Essalina is the one who raises the Arteroth’s morale and is the decider of their ultimate decisions, it is Naviel who manages the details and particulars.”

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“Exactly. He’s most of the brains behind the operation and has closer and more personal ties with more the grunt and file members of the Arteroth’s forces. Not just the Arteroth clan, mind you, but those of all the smaller clans—and other Archnoble clans—under their banner.”

Rieren nodded. Interesting that they had put both Essalina and Naviel in the same team then, considering they both had to be nearly as important. Of course, Naviel wasn’t the scion of an Archnoble clan, but his value was clearly understood and appreciated.

Maybe that was why they were fighting together.

“How does that help me in my upcoming fight?” Rieren asked. “Not that I do not appreciate learning more about the state of my enemies, of course.”

Amalyse had stopped her playacting. She strode back towards Rieren with a little apologetic shrug. “Sadly, there’s only so much I was able to scrounge up. But you see, I mention it because that’s relevant. There are rumours that the strong bond between Naviel and the people under his command is the source of his strength and prowess. Literally.”

“Hmm, I see.”

That made sense. Or rather, Rieren could see how that might work. She had seen Naviel only use regular Arteroth clan powers with the combination of Divine- and Abyss-Aspected Essence in his first match. But that was his cultivation, his Domain and his techniques.

His class might be something completely different. A class—either primary or secondary with a profession—might allow him to take literal advantage of his position as a commander. Rieren had seen classes like those in action before.

“That will help a lot,” Rieren said. “Thank you, Amalyse.”

Amalyse looked quite satisfied with herself. “Thank me after you’ve won your match. I just want to see the look on Essalina’s face once you trounce her pet bully.”

Rieren smiled. Although, she wasn’t sure she would describe Naviel like that. He didn’t look like he shared Essalina’s… penchants.

A scuffling noise interrupted their meeting outside their little glen. Amalyse tensed up, but Rieren held up a calming hand. This was nothing unexpected.

“Is this the place?” Mercion said. Then he walked in and paused upon seeing Rieren and Amalyse together. He smiled in greeting. “Well, hello there! I was not expecting to see you here, Lady Arraihos.”

“Lord Ordorian.” Amalyse nodded at Mercion in greeting before turning to Rieren with a questioning look.

Ah, right. Rieren had forgotten to mention it.

“Hello, Lady Arraihos,” Silomene said, smiling and ducking her head in a greeting.

Amalyse offered a short curtsy as well. “Hello, Lady Tarciel.”

Batcat leaped off Silomene’s arms and ran over to Rieren. She smiled in greeting at the kitten, who then jumped onto her shoulder.

Amalyse coughed into her hand.

Rieren cleared her throat because now everyone was looking at her. “Apologies. Amalyse, Lord Mercion and Silomene have both offered to help me. They’re sympathetic because of their own situation.”

She didn’t have to explain what Amalyse was doing here to Mercion and Silomene. After receiving the message from Amalyse about their meeting, which had come after she had sent off Batcat with Mercion and Silomene to aid them in their little mission, she had also sent a message to the other two to come over here. It was more efficient than holding two separate meetings.

What followed was a series of questions from Amalyse that were helpfully answered by Mercion and Silomene. They held nothing back, nor did they return their answers with questions of their own. All of which helped ease Amalyse that they could truly be trusted.

While Amalyse had known Silomene and Mercion from her time in the Shatterlands, they hadn’t worked together in the same capacity that Rieren had. It was natural for her to be more suspicious, to need more assurances to fully trust them. Thankfully, it didn’t take long. Soon, they were all exchanging what they had all found.

“Your suspicions were correct, Rieren,” Mercion said.

Rieren perked up at that. “So I have the same match official as my first match?”

Merico nodded with no small amount of excitement. “It might be your best chance to establish direct contact with your old friend.”

She had already explained to all of them that she suspected a Banishedborn had officiated her first match. Sounded like it would be the same for her bout against Naviel. She didn’t truly want to talk with Starloper in the middle of an arena, though.

“Have you found out anything further?” Silomene asked. “From your other source?”

Rieren nodded. She recounted what Elder Olg had told her, and what they had surmised together. All three of her companions looked a little shocked at the possibility of the old Emperor ascending to the pantheon.

“Is there any way we can verify that from our end?” Mercion asked.

“I can’t believe it might be true,” Amalyse said, shaking her head. Her eyes were a little awed. “Do you realize how big of a deal it is for an Emperor to ascend to the godhood through the Primordial realm? Something like that hasn’t happened in hundreds of years.”

“Of course, it is not impossible that the old Emperor was simply murdered off because he refused to cooperate and Astern took his place,” Rieren said.

Amalyse considered that with a hand under her chin, “Even though he’s supposed to be guiding Kalvia to take the throne?”

“That is what I am slamming up against.”

“I hope you won’t be telling this to Her Imperial Majesty,” Mercion said. His voice was light, but the undercurrent of tension was unmistakable.

“Not yet,” Amalyse said, with a bit of reluctance. “She hasn’t been… very communicative. It’s best we wait until we’ve figured out where exactly she lies and found out the exact truth for ourselves first.”

“For all we know, the Empress might be involved in all this.”

“Part of the plot to let the monsters in? After how she treated Rieren?” Amalyse looked skeptical of that. “Well, we will find out eventually, I suppose.”

They didn’t have much to talk about afterwards other than more speculations. The problem with theorizing that they were informed by all their own biases. Even if they attempted to find answers through deductions, they were likely to mire any answers they hypothesized into something that fit what they wished to see.

Which was why it was imperative they got a hold of the facts, one way or another.

“Were you able to learn anything concrete about the match official?” Rieren asked. “Such as where he might be staying, how he is contacted by the administration, and so on?”

Silomene reached over and scratched Batcat’s fluffy little head. “Details like those are more difficult to come by on short notice, but I believe the little kitten was able to spy some interesting things you would do well to review.”

Interesting details, was it? Rieren glanced around at the cat on her shoulder, who looked back at her with large, glimmering eyes. Soulful eyes full of knowledge.

Rieren took a moment to draw her Essence through the cat. The memories were waiting for her. A series of fleeting images that she had to absorb quickly before the next set appeared.

The administration tent was larger than any Rieren had seen yet. Large, but adorned only with what their occupants needed to carry out their business. Some tables, chairs, papers strewn everywhere carafes of drink and the like. People were working everywhere. Quite the busy hive.

Mercion and Silomene had gone to the administrator’s tent to lodge an official complaint. As the son of an Archnoble and heir-apparent to his clan, Mercion couldn’t be easily ignored. He was putting the circumstance of his birth to excellent use. Rather smart of him.

His claim was simple—as he believed there had been infractions in the match officiating, so he needed to pick the right match official to lodge an official complaint against.

The tournament administration clearly didn’t believe him, but as they had to comply with his demands either way, they were forced to relinquish a register of the match officials which included their pictures. With Rieren having described the one she suspected of being Starloper, it took Mercion no time at all to narrow his choice down to the right official.

Rieren wanted to stare at the picture for a while, but the memory moved on before long. The register also held details about the match official. Apparently, Starloper was masquerading as a cultivator called Skarlen Folster, a member of the imperial clan’s branch family.

How in the world Banishedborn got positions in and around the imperial court sometimes quite stumped Rieren.

There was more talk going on, more chatter of Mercion demanding more details and the like, but Rieren didn’t get to peruse through the whole memory. Instead, she was jerked back to reality by a disturbance.

It took a moment for her disorientation to subside enough so she could tell what was going on. Someone else had arrived at their little clearing. Someone else was passing by.

Rieren froze. That voice… was Essalina.