“How would I ever know my name or my past if you had not so kindly informed me about them, Kalvia?” Rieren said.

“If you’re here to mock me, I suggest we wait until our fight. There will be plenty of time to do it on the battlefield.”

Rieren sighed. Oh, yes. It was really nice to be able to sigh again. “Speaking of battlefields, that is exactly why I am here.”

Kalvia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Because you felt like you had to find out what motivated me to continue fighting in the tournament, to win no matter what, despite having already secured my future?”

“No.”

“Because you were so desperate to know why I continued trying to claim a seat at the imperial court even after I’ve secured my future, so to speak, by becoming the official, recognized heir of the imperial clan and the throne of the Elderlands?”

“No.”

Kalvia was clearly starting to get annoyed a little. “Because you felt like you owed me after I went all that way to find you in your little hideaway just to tell you that I wasn’t partaking in any match-fixing?”

“No.”

It was Kalvia’s turn to sigh. “Why in the Abyss are you here, Rieren, when you have no wish to learn anything about me?”

“I can learn all I wish to about you in time. Right now, there are more pressing matters to discuss.” Rieren took a step forward, trying to impress the seriousness of what she was saying. “I do not know everything that is going on with you, and I cannot say how you are truly feeling right now. But you should know that both our ultimate goals remain the same as they ever were.”

“You know nothing about what I’m feeling or why I’m here, yet you think you my goals are still the same?”

Rieren did her best not to internally recoil. It would only show up on her face, and she couldn’t have that. “I was trusting that I knew. Regardless, I want you to know that things are coming to a head—”

“I am aware.”

“—and we need to be ready for when they do.”

“I know, Rieren.”

Rieren took a step back. Well, it appeared there was no reason for them to continue the conversation, if that was the case. If Kalvia—and likely her whole contingent—was prepared for the Banishedborns’ arrival, then Rieren’s job here was done.

“You truly have nothing more to say?” Kalvia asked when Rieren turned away.

Rieren paused just before she exited the imperial clan’s encampment. “Well, what would you have me say?”

“I don’t know, something about being happy you’re no longer a monster anymore? You’ve regained your feelings, haven’t you? Your humanity. You can now return to your old life, to the way things should have been from the beginning of the second round.”

“Is that what you want? For me to come back as a human again?” Rieren left the rest of “back into your life” unsaid.

Kalvia caught it anyway. “I want—” She paused, then frowned. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Especially since I was the one asking the questions here.”

“If you think I came here to reinstate myself to the way things used to be, you are mistaken. The only things about my monstrous situation that I truly wanted to change were within me, and those have been taken care of. Anything else is a little bonus for me to enjoy. Nothing truly necessary.”

Rieren had made a promise. To the monsters and to Elder Olg. She might not be one of them any longer, not in the way she had been, but that didn’t mean she failed to see the merit in their position. Rieren would keep her promise.

And to do so, she was going to sequester herself in the same glen she had been using all this while.

“Farewell,” Rieren said. Her heart spasmed. Ah, yes. There was the unpleasant side of experiencing emotions. All the negative ones she could have done without were just as potent as the positive feelings. She told herself that she wasn’t in the wrong here, but walking out on Kalvia like this still felt awful. “May fortune favour both our steps.”

“I got tired,” Kalvia said quietly just before Rieren had taken a step out of the encampment. “Of the powerlessness.”

“What powerlessness?” Rieren turned around. “You have grown great in your strength. You already possess one of the most influential positions in all of the Elderlands.”

“Perhaps I do, when compared to many others, but in truth… it’s a façade.”

Kalvi was silent, leaving Rieren to figure out the exact meaning behind her words on her own. It wasn’t too difficult to decipher what she was saying. All those plans she had made back in the Shatterlands, all those schemes, ideas. All those hopes. They were all dashed.

All broken by the very people she thought she could rely on.

Everything she had been hoping to accomplish had all been shunted aside by Astern and the old Forborne Emperor. They had accelerated their own plans, disregarding anything Kalvia might have hoped to achieve by herself. Rieren was pretty certain they hadn’t even bothered consulting with her before setting their plan into motion.

Why would they? Those who considered themselves to be the ones with the true power never felt they had to concern themselves with the thoughts of those beneath them.

Most likely, when she had met them again, she’d been told in no uncertain terms that she had to go along with what Astern and company had decided. It was the only way they could—would—instate her as the true heir. Left with no other choice, Kalvia had succumbed, foregoing all her own plans and connections and everything else she herself had done.

Rieren’s transformation into a monster had just been the final straw. The last little burden that had finally broken her back. And so, Kalvia had given up entirely on everything else.

Which went to explain why she was so focused on winning the tournament. Why she was so determined to secure herself a seat on the imperial court. They were dangling the threat of revoking her status if she didn’t go along with their plans, if she didn’t stick to the very limited role they wanted her to stick to.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

But even in that role, she had finagled a way to get beyond it. As a winner of the Trials of Ascendance, Kalvia could claim a spot on the imperial court. A position of power that could dictate the future of the Elderlands.

A position of her own, from which she could grow beyond the control of the imperial clan.

In that little moment between them, Rieren understood it all. Thoughts along those lines had been working in the back of her head for a while, though this was the first time she had connected them all so succinctly. The look on Kalvia’s face confirmed that she was right. That resoluteness, that burning determination, that desperation she had tried to accuse Rieren of.

It all spoke of a woman who was nearly at her wits’ end. Someone playing her final card to win the game.

Too bad her opponent was Rieren.

“I understand,” she said. “But I will claim victory, regardless.”

Kalvia snorted. “Are you that sure of yourself?”

“I am. But once we are done with the tournament, the true Trials will begin.” Rieren looked straight into Kalvia’s eyes. “And that is when we can make a real difference and change things, Kalvia. In fact, I will change things. The question is whether you will join me or not.”

Kalvia looked both hopeful and skeptical at the same time. Rieren had no idea how that was even possible. “How are you going to change anything, Rieren?”

Rieren closed her eyes for a moment. “Remember what we did together at the end of the Battle of Falstrom? Where we forced the Shatterlands to unite under one banner—under our banner—with a show of force? We will do the same here.” She opened her eyes, surer of herself than before. “But not with politics. This time, we do it my way. With pure power.”

Nodding her farewell to Kalvia, Rieren left the encampment. There. She was pretty certain she had secured one more faction to her side for the coming fight. One more ally, at the very least.

Perhaps Rieren ought to have focused more on her match preparations, but she devoted her time to setting the stage for what came next. That was more important. She wanted to win the Trials, but more than that, she would win when the Banishedborn came.

So, she spent some time sending messages to Silvas Fraile, to Ceraline Selvier, even to Remis Sharan. That last one made her bite her tongue as she wrote the missive. Rieren even considered contacting Essalina Arteroth.

That woman was the last person she would consider an ally, but it was more than evident that Essalina hated the corrupt imperial court at least as much as she did Rieren. An enemy of the enemy was supposed to be a friend, right? Swallowing down a little rise of bile, Rieren penned a letter to the Arteroth scion and informed her of the situation as well.

The only person she couldn’t get a hold of was Starloper. The lynchpin of the entire issue stayed beyond her reach.

Rieren tried multiple ways of getting a message to him. A simple letter received no reply. Batcat failed to find him. Even when Mercion performed an inquiry with the tournament administration, they were unable to locate Starloper for him. It was almost as though the former Banishedborn had vanished. The prospect was troubling, to say the least.

Of course, Rieren had faith in her old friend. This was his plan, and he would see it through, provided nothing had happened to him. And even then. Starloper would have contingencies prepared.

If only he hadn’t decided to keep Rieren in the dark about some of the specifics. Though, she suspected a part of the reason for that was because he himself was uncertain about some things. And that he didn’t want to draw her deeper into the issue unless absolutely necessary.

Why did Starloper have to be such a self-righteous bastard sometimes?

Last but not least, she met up with the monsters once again. They were quite surprised to see her new form, though they didn’t react as negatively as Rieren had thought they would. She could tell they were uncomfortable, however.

“We will be ready when the time comes, Destroyer,” the Darkstalker said. “No matter what lies ahead, no matter if it is even these so-called, all-powerful Banishedborn we have to face. We will give it everything we have.”

To that, the monsters could agree. Rieren didn’t even need to spell out the benefits for them if they did so. Climbing into the good graces of the current Emperor by assisting against the Banishedborn would only help raise their standing.

“Do you remember our deal, Destroyer?” one of the monsters asked. It was part hesitant, almost as though it felt foolish that it even had to ask. But was that because it should have had faith in her, or was it because they all thought she must have reneged on it internally by now? No human would keep a promise to a monster.

Rieren turned her adamant look upon all of them to glance at them one by one. “We made a bargain. A deal. I will keep my end of it to the utmost of my abilities. Whether you choose to believe that I will do so is up to you, but my intentions will not be wavering, no matter what you feel.”

There were no more silly, near-accusatory questions after that.

On the day of the final, Rieren woke early. She was well-rested. A little exercise session later, she was now well prepared for the battle too.

This was going to be interesting.

One reason she had gotten up early was to essentially re-register for the tournament. Her appearance had changed. Rieren was certain at least some of them would make a fuss about it. She was forestalling any of them from doing so, however, by making sure they knew it wasn’t a trick or technique or something along those lines. This was the real Rieren.

So, when she reached the arena, she faced no obstruction.

The cultivator waiting at the arena’s gates looked appreciative of having Batcat next to him this time. Rieren wondered if that too was some sort of prejudice at play. He had shown no inclination to look upon the little Spirit Beast favourably while she had been a monster.

Rieren’s entry into the arena was greeted by resounding cheers. Her surprise at the reception was mild only because she immediately spotted Kalvia coming in from the other side.

“Please welcome the heir to the throne of the Elderlands,” the commentator said in a voice more rousing than any he had used before. “One half of our finalists, the jewel of the imperial clan, the wielder of the Elder Tree, your future Empress, Kalvia Zhouven.”

Yes, there it was. That tremendous, thunderous storm of yells and hurrahs and whatever else. Oh, yes. All their good mood was all because they had selected a new champion to burden with their hopes of victory.

Curiously, though, the audience definitely wasn’t booing her as they had done before. While Rieren held no delusions that she was being cheered on, not being told to go die in a latrine pit was a significant improvement.

Was it just her looks? It was difficult to be certain. She had healed Rykion and received that ringing endorsement from him, and she had won all her battles rather heroically, if she was being honest with herself. Had she been a proper human from the beginning of the tournament, she was certain she would have received as many cheers as Kalvia was being lauded with.

She supposed her current treatment was helped by the fact that the commentator was embellishing her change too.

“On the other side,” the commentator said. “We have a new hero taking to the field of battle. A former monstrous victim triumphantly struggling against her corruption. One who put her own future at stake by healing even her enemy. A force to be reckoned with, Rieren Vallorne!”

While Rieren certainly didn’t enjoy the same kind of overwhelming applause that Kalvia had achieved, she did receive a round of discordant claps. Even some well wishes along the lines of giving it her best and well done for how far she had come.

Rieren was so taken aback by that, she wanted to pause right there and glare at them. Were they that fickle? Could their minds be changed so easily? In less than a week, they had gone from hating her like nothing else to actually encouraging her. She ought to have been glad for the change in treatment, but all she felt was mild disdain.

The heir to the Elderlands’ throne looked ready for the battle. She had changed into lavish green robes embroidered with golden silk that made her look like a dappled forest. Her strange, curved knife with the shorter curves coming out of it at random locations on the blade was in her hands. The stony, almost confrontational look on her face convinced Rieren she was here to fight.

Here to win. Just like Rieren.

“You know the rules well,” Starloper said. The impulse to take a hold of him and give him a good shake was powerful, but Rieren mastered herself. Later. For now, she had a battle to focus on. “You know what is at stake. Remember, and fight well. May fortune favour both your steps.”

For just a second, Rieren stared at Starloper, who was already walking back with his hand raised. You know what is at stake. This wasn’t simply about the fight. He wanted them to go at it enough to make up for all the residual Essence that hadn’t been released in Rieren’s last bout. What should have been Rieren’s last bout.

Kalvia raised her knife to point at Rieren. “Are you ready to lose?”

Rieren smiled, holding her sword close. “Are you ready to give it your all?”

She didn’t answer. As Starloper distanced himself enough and his hand fell, as the commentator yelled at them to begin their battle, as the crowd roared in anticipation of seeing them go at it, Kalvia charged.