Rieren wanted to send out Batcat the following day to spy on Zhalen. He had seemed to so sure of his victory in his final statement, yet he had come over all the way to the monsters’ stand to beg Rieren to surrender. So which was it? Could he actually win or did he need Rieren to forfeit?

Not that Rieren was concerned. She had faith in her prowess. Rieren knew she could win, no matter what Zhalen intended to throw at her.

After she had matched her strength against Essalina and Rykion, two of the most powerful competitors in the entire tournament, confidence wasn’t something Rieren lacked.

Nevertheless, it didn’t hurt for her to be prepared. It wasn’t like sending out Batcat to hide itself near Zhalen’s camp and scout out whatever the imperial brat might have hidden was costing Rieren any true effort. All she had to do was review the memories that her friendly little Spirit Beast collected.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Batcat couldn’t collect any information.

“I do not understand the problem, kitten,” Rieren said.

It was a shame Batcat couldn’t talk. Things would have been easier to tell. All it could resort to was butting its head repeatedly against Rieren’s leg.

Like it wanted to get past, but Rieren was blocking the way.

“Oh,” she said. She frowned. “Is there something stopping you there?”

The way it looked up at her confirmed that she had got it right. Strange. Had Zhalen and his camp erected some sort of barrier that prevented others from spying on them? It made sense if that was the case. They wouldn’t want anyone to learn all their tricks before the actual fight. Though, now Rieren was curious as to what exact kid of barrier stopped even Batcat.

For now, though, Rieren focused on her training in the rain. Perfect conditions, really. Some of her favourite training sessions had been done under rainfall.

Her swords swings were sharper and faster than they had ever been in this life. Her boosted Mind let her target a specific raindrop to slice it lengthwise before it reached the ground. She tried to see how many raindrops she could strike and keep track of them via counting. Seven, twelve, eighteen, it kept rising until she seemed to hit a ceiling at twenty-one.

Ceilings were a little disappointing, but they were normal too. Besides, the disappointment was more a remark than an actual sensation.

Rieren was more curious about the responsiveness of her body. No need for fatigue. The movement was still limited by the regular axes of her previously human body, though she wondered if that was because a human body was the base of this Arisen form of hers.

Another little disappointment. Could she not have manifested another arm or perhaps a tail? Maybe a separate, more bestial head that could shoot fire?

Rieren wasn’t truly serious, of course. Something new on that sort of integral level would be more hindrance than actual benefit. She would need a good amount of time to not only get used to the change but also get efficient enough in using it to make it actually worthwhile in battle.

The weird hair she now had was bad enough.

As were the golden threads that she could manifest if she focused enough. They didn’t appear as any technique or anything of the sort. The strings she had inherited from the Aetherian who had caused her current state went deeper than an ability she could call upon at any time.

It appeared they were more a part of her body. Just not always there, or visible.

Beyond all that, there was the Essence too. Divine-Aspected Essence had never been her forte, though she had used it before, and Abyss-Aspected Essence was entirely new. Yet both of those now flooded her elixir field, nearly overpowering her regular water-Aspected Essence.

Rieren was certain she could make good use of them both, especially with how much she could use. She just had to discover what would work best in her case.

It was a little strange that she could continue using Essence externally, even if she couldn’t cultivate it directly to raise herself higher up the ladder. Not that she was going to complain.

Her sword continued slicing through the rain-flooded air. She had added a little Essence to it now, coating it first in Divine-, then with Abyss-Aspected Essence. Dark and light. A volatile mixture.

Rieren paused. The memory burst into her head—that moment when she had scored a grievous wound against Essalina, one that the Arteroth scion was still feeling. She had used those threads of hers to dig through Essalina’s defences and deposit just enough explosive Essence to temporarily defeat her opponent.

At the heart of it, Rieren had used the Arteroth’s own powers against Essalina.

Their signature techniques involved a combination of Divine-Aspected and Abyss-Aspected Essence. A tightly controlled set of abilities that couldn’t be taught to every Arteroth to its fullest extent due to the danger it posed, but could be devastating once mastered completely. Soldiers and weaker Arteroth members only used the basic techniques.

Only the powerful could control the inherently violent mixture of the two, immiscible Aspects. It was part of what had allowed Essalina to rise so meteorically.

And now, it would be Rieren’s as well.

She paused her training after a while. Rieren’s current body didn’t need anything like rest. If she wanted, she could continue practicing in the same manner as she was doing all the way up until it was time to end Zhalen’s foolish ambitions. But she had other things to attend to before that.

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Such as meeting up with Amalyse.

Her old friend had sent a message by a glowing Spirit Beast messenger. Rieren had begun to think that Amalyse would never have contacted her, after how Kalvia had reacted to Rieren’s new form. But it seemed that wasn’t going to truly stop her best friend.

They had to meet in one of the few out-of-the-way locations in the area. Wouldn’t do to let anyone see a human cultivator conducting a reunion with a monster, after all.

“Rieren,” Amalyse said.

She looked she wanted to rush over and crush Rieren in one of her big embraces but was holding herself back. Being friends with an Arisen was one thing. Treating one like a close companion was a wholly different one.

“Amalyse,” Rieren said. “Are you prepared for your bout?”

“That’s not something we have to worry about. I’ve got it in hand.”

Rieren raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.” She sounded a little exasperated, like she couldn’t believe Rieren didn’t take her word for it from one simple, throwaway statement. Amalyse stepped closer. “The more important matter is you.”

“Me? What do you mean? Though, I will say that I am surprised you eventually decided to meet me in person.”

Amalyse tutted. “Of course, I’d meet you in person. Just because our dear old Empress expressly forbade me from cavorting with you doesn’t mean we have to never see each other again.”

Rieren shook her head with a little smile. “Disobeying your Empress’s command? Wait till Kalvia becomes furious at you for undermining her authority.”

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. But stop trying to change the subject, Rieren.”

“I was not!”

“You were. Because you are the real subject.”

“I was not prepared to be the main subject of this conversation, in all honesty.”

“Rieren.” Amalyse stepped forward. Strands of her coppery hair had fallen out of their braid, like the concern in her eyes was spiralling out to affect the rest of her too. “You’re not taking this seriously.”

“The thing is, I am no longer capable of taking anything any more seriously than anything else.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Think about it, Amalyse. What does seriously even mean? That one is feeling a certain level of heightened urgency about something specific, right?” Rieren raised her arms, then dropped them. “Well, in this form, I am incapable of feeling anything properly.”

Amalyse took a moment to consider her words. Took a few seconds to look into Rieren’s eyes and discover for herself that Rieren indeed could no longer entertain emotions like before.

“Then that makes things even worse,” she said. “You might not feel about it as much as you ought to, but I do. Strong enough for both of us. So even if you can’t feel for yourself, then just tell me this—do you trust me still, Rieren?”

Rieren’s immediate impulse was to say yes. Of course, she trusted her greatest friend. She would trust Amalyse with her life. Yet, she couldn’t simply throw out the answer.

All she had was a question instead.

“Trust you with what exactly, Amalyse?” Rieren asked.

Amalyse spread her hands. “With all this.”

“You’re being vague.”

“And you’re being dismissive.” Amalyse had almost growled out those words, and with obvious effort, she reined in her rising anger. “Rieren, what I’m trying to say is that you need to prioritize your condition. You need to focus on the fact that you’re a monster now. You need to know how much trouble it’s been causing us all.”

“You think I am unaware of the division between us? You think I—”

“I know you know. But tell me, have you tried to figure out a way you can turn back?”

Rieren chewed on the answer for a second longer than she really should have. “There is no way to revert this process.”

“There has to be some way. You hesitated, for a second there. I heard it. You haven’t looked, or you think there might be a possibility, but you haven’t figured it out fully.” Amalyse’s eyes flared. “That’s it, isn’t it? See, this is what I was talking about when I said prioritizing. You’re not focusing on the most important issue here.”

“I am focusing on what the main issue is.”

“The tournament. That’s your main issue. You want to win. But see, for me, my main issue is that my best friend is now an Abyss-cursed Abyssal!”

For perhaps the hundredth time since her transformation, Rieren wished she could have breathed normally. Now would have been a perfect moment to draw in a refreshing breath to collect herself. She didn’t even have the heart to correct Amalyse that she was actually an Arisen. Monkey’s balls.

“I am still your friend, Amalyse,” Rieren said.

“I know that. I know it, alright.”

Sighing, Amalyse turned around. Rieren didn’t know about feelings and sensations, but Amalyse was definitely breathing heavily enough for the both of them.

They were silent for a while. Rieren wanted to talk, to change the subject to their impending bouts. Those were important, regardless of what Amalyse might currently be feeling regarding Rieren’s condition. But her friend didn’t appear ready to talk about something else.

“What have you tried ex—”

“How are you so sure—”

They both stopped. Rieren smirked.

“You wish to know what I tried,” she said. “I will answer, but only if you will concede to talking about other matters once we are done with this.”

“Alright, fine. Go on.”

Rieren explained how she had gone back into the past. How she had really, truly become herself again, if only for long enough to advance through a stage of the Exalted realm. The revelation had made Amalyse’s eyes go wide. While they might not know an exact “cure” to Rieren’s condition, the fact that it could be reversed was a huge discovery in its own right.

“Your turn,” Rieren said. “How exactly are you so certain you can defeat your opponent?”

“You don’t know him, do you?” Amalyse asked with a little smirk.

“No. But it sounds like you do.”

“Well… not exactly. My mother does. And she has filled me in on a lot of details. Enough that I’m pretty confident I can take him. Hopefully without too much trouble.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Rieren was marginally curious about Amalyse’s opponent, but not enough to enquire after details. She trusted Amalyse and Lady Arraihos to know what they were doing. “One last thing then—”

Amalyse smirk turned into a grin. “You want to know about Zhalen, don’t you?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

“I think you’ll be able to deal with him without much trouble.”

“I would still like to know any specifics you can provide.”

Amalyse crossed her arms. “Kalvia has forbidden me from telling you anything about any of us too, though I suppose I don’t think Zhalen counts as a part of us.” She snorted. “Not for me, at least. Self-important prick.”

She went on to explain how Zhalen was indeed a strong cultivator in his own right, someone slated to become one of the youngest Masked Avatars in the imperial clan’s history. However, he was still in the Early-Exalted realm, two stages below Rieren’s own. He was clever with his tree-Aspected powers, but he lacked the raw power of someone in a higher realm.

Like Kalvia. Who had shown yesterday that raw power wasn’t everything. If he was half as ingenious as Rieren’s former companion had been, then she would have to be wary of the fight.

“I will be there for your match,” Rieren said, when it was finally time to part.

Amalyse shook her head with a little smile. “You’d be better off preparing for your own, I think.”

“Perhaps, but I want to show my support.”

“And I’ll show my support too.” Her eyes had gone serious again, intense. “By finding a way to fix this.”

“As will I.”

With mutual wishes of good fortune, they parted. Rieren wasn’t as enthused by the meeting as she felt she should have been. Amalyse had acted so horrified that she wasn’t prioritizing a way to get her original body back. Rieren couldn’t tell if she was supposed to feel anything as urgent.

Her goal was to win the Trials of Ascendance. To claim a stake of power that led her all the way to Vanharron, the seat of the gods’ corruption upon the Mortal Realm.

Monster or human, she would do it. That was all there was to it.