Two sets of boots echoed against the stone steps, ascending onto the pristine white stage. Enya and Risha walked in tandem, both prepared to win this next fight.

  There were far more people in the stands now, their cheers swelling as the tournament’s second stage officially kicked off. The participants that held back would now reveal even more of their hand.

  Even Enya hadn’t used everything at her disposal. And although Risha had technically lost her first match, there was no doubt that she, too, had more to show. She hadn’t lost because she was weak—she had been caught off guard by an unforeseen attack.

  That wouldn’t happen again.

  A sudden burst of amplified sound shook the arena, drawing all attention to the announcer.

  “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE SECOND STAGE OF THE BEACON TOURNAMENT!”

  The crowd erupted in response, their cheers filling the stadium.

  Spreading his arms wide, he continued. “The time for hesitation is OVER! The King’s Game begins now! Our fighters have chosen their partners, and each battle will test their strength, wit, and ability to work as one!”

  The massive display screens flickered to life, showing an overhead bracket system, with team names beginning to populate the tournament ladder.

  “Now, let’s introduce our first teams!”

  The crowd leaned forward, the anticipation rippling through the stands. Excitement buzzed in the air as the display screens flickered, preparing to reveal the matchups.

  “On the first arena, we have—”

  Golden letters flashed across the screen as the announcer’s voice boomed.

  “Team One—Harold Strebern and Marcus Heiser!”

  The two fighters strode onto the battlefield, their names glowing brightly above them on the monitor.

  “Facing them in the battle for glory—Team Two, Lucia Vale and Seraphine Foster!”

  A thunderous wave of cheers followed, shaking the arena as the fighters took their places. The announcer let the applause roll for a few beats before continuing, his voice cutting through the noise with practiced ease.

  “And now, on the second arena—four fierce competitors ready to clash!”

  The screens shifted, revealing the next lineup.

  “Team Three—Enya Meltere and Risha Lapernt!”

  Risha grinned, rolling her shoulders as their names shone on the display. A round of cheers followed, though noticeably less intense than for the previous teams. Neither of them had supporters in the stands—no noble family, no sponsors—but the tournament itself had its own audience, and that was enough.

  “And their opponents—Rose Allener and Elias Ferris!”

  The reaction was immediate. A roar of approval surged through the stands, the name Elias Ferris drawing the loudest ovation.

  Enya tensed, her eyes locking onto her opponents. She had already seen them fight in the first round, had studied their abilities, and knew exactly what they were capable of.

  Rose Allener was tall—a head taller than both her and Risha. She wore a leather tunic and black shorts, her long brown hair shifting as she moved. She had showed plant-based magic in her first match, using roots and vines to trap Kennan—the boy who specialized in kicks, before knocking him straight out of the arena.

  Then there was Elias.

  Draped in deep blue and gold robes, he was the perfect image of a noble heir. His posture was straight, his movements composed, every step carrying an air of quiet confidence. Unlike Rose, who had a clear specialty, Elias was an all-rounder, a mage who wielded multiple elements with seamless precision.

  Enya narrowed her eyes. Rose uses plant magic, but Elias…

  Elias was the real threat.

  She had seen his technique firsthand—layered casting, an ability that allowed him to stack two overlapping spell circles and fire them in unison. The actual function of the technique was still a mystery to her. Perhaps it reduced mana consumption? Doubled the effectiveness of spells? Or perhaps it just increased his casting speed—she didn’t know.

  Wind, fire, barriers—even small tremors that had disrupted the grid beneath his last opponent. His versatility made him unpredictable.

  As Enya analyzed them, the third match was announced in the background, but she barely registered it.

  Right now, the world had narrowed down to just her and Risha, standing across from Rose and Elias.

  The announcer’s voice rang out once more.

  “All fighters—step forward!”

  Every participant readied themselves. Enya focused on Elias—the one who wore their team’s crown. Elias also did the same, focused on Enya’s own head, where her own crown sat. After a nod from each fighter, they all stepped back to their side of the arena.

  “The official start for King’s game, in the Youngling Division, begins in three… two… one…”

  The announcer left a long silence, urging the arena to settle down until everything was still. Then—

  “BEGIN!”

  In an instant, all four fighters in the second arena reacted.

  Rose extended her hands forward, and a rumble came from beneath the arena’s white tiles. The creases between them cracked, before entire tiles lifted, giant plant-like vines ripping up through the ground, snaking their way towards Enya and Risha.

  Kicking off her feet, Risha dashed forward several steps, materializing her claymore as she did so. With one powerful swing, she sent a wave slash slicing through the air, straight at one section of approaching vine and roots. Without missing a beat, she tightened her grip on the handle and swung back once more, sending another slash at the second stream of overgrowth.

  Elias raised his own hand, a double-layered magic circle appearing before him in an instant.

  Enya didn’t let this stun her, and she moved in unison. The space in front of her distorted, before three skeletal constructs appeared.

  “—you talking about? I’m not a particip—”

  DUCK!

  A nonverbal command shot through Enya’s bond.

  The middle skeleton—Pell—dropped instinctively, confusion flashing across his bony features. Enya followed the same motion just as a searing fireball ripped through the air, roaring past them. The heat brushed her skin, the temperature around her spiking before dropping back just as fast.

  “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”

  Pell’s yell came as he pushed himself up, twisting his skull to take in the battlefield. He saw two kids—one summoning a damn forest, the other throwing fireballs—

  His empty sockets widened in bone-chilling horror.

  A second fireball barreled straight toward him.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Risha’s voice cut through the chaos. Elias found a gap between her attacks to launch that fire spell, but Risha wouldn’t let it happen again.

  She raised her claymore high, then brought it down in a crushing vertical strike. A wave slash erupted from the blade, tearing through the surface of the arena’s white tiles before meeting the fireball head-on. The fire exploded and split in half, dissipating harmlessly to the sides as the slash continued forward, racing straight for Elias.

  Rose stepped in front of him.

  Massive tree-thick roots burst upward, twisting into a defensive barricade. The wave slash slammed into the wooden shield but failed to pierce through.

  Elias scoffed, eyes narrowing as he tilted his head slightly. “What are you doing? I can handle such a puny attack.”

  “Bite me, you idiot. We’re supposed to work together,” Rose shot back.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Risha pressed forward, each step matching the rhythm of her relentless slashes.

  “Enya! You ready to rush them?!”

  Her voice barely broke through the utter confusion happening beside her.

  “Hey! Where the hell am I?! What is going on?!” Pell’s frantic yelling drowned out Risha’s words as he scrambled to stand up. Beside him, Fred and Uglyface stood as regular sentinels, neither showing emotion.

  Enya turned, staring at Pell, and suddenly realized something. She had unsummoned him at the reception area of the tournament sign ups. He happened to still be in mid-sentence as she did so. From that point on, she never re-summoned him. He was completely unaware of everything that had happened.

  He knew nothing about the tournament. The fights. The participants. The announcer. The arenas, Headmaster Laventis, Lord Caramel—

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  Absolutely none of it.

  Enya’s brows furrowed, and without hesitation, she sent a series of mental commands and information straight through their bond.

  Pell stiffened, skeletal fingers twitching as a rush of foreign jumbled-up mixed sensations invaded his mind—battle strategies, tournament rules, names of his opponents, fighting techniques, and somehow, in the mix of all of it, the taste of chocolate cheesecake.

  He groaned, gripping his skull.

  “Agh… what the hell?”

  “Sorry, Pell, short-story-short—you’re fighting with me in the tournament!” Enya shot back. “It’s us versus those two over there!”

  Pell looked up slowly, finally processing what she was saying.

  His jaw dropped.

  Then, he screamed.

  *****

  Five Minutes Ago - Tournament Waiting Area

  Before their match was announced, before the arena’s roaring crowd, Enya and Risha had stood in the waiting area, scanning the match-ups as they were finalized.

  A tournament official had come in earlier, recording all the team pairings and assigning numbers.

  “Enya Meltere and Risha Lapernt—Team Three.”

  Enya barely reacted to their designation. She was already focused on the next detail.

  If we’re Team Three, we’ll be fighting Team Four.

  Her golden eyes flickered over to the display board. The name next to theirs?

  Team Four – Rose Allener & Elias Ferris.

  Risha let out a low whistle, arms crossed. “Well, at least we won’t be going in blind. We saw both of them fight earlier.”

  Without a word, Enya grabbed Risha’s wrist and pulled her to the side, away from the others.

  “Hey—?” Risha started but quieted when she saw Enya’s serious expression.

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” Enya said, lowering her voice. “I have a skill called Insight. It lets me analyze people and creatures, showing me their class, strengths, and weaknesses.”

  Risha blinked. “Wait, that’s a thing?”

  “Apparently,” Enya said. “I’m going to use it on Rose and Elias.”

  She activated Insight, her eyes flickering with magic as she focused on the two kids across the room. She read what she saw out loud to Risha.

  Skill: Insight has been activated.

  Target: Rose Allener

  Revealed Information: A young girl whose class is ‘Grove Keeper’. She specializes in manipulating nature, calling forth plant-life for various purposes. She gains benefits for being around nature and excels at slowing and trapping opponents. Highly susceptible to close-range attacks, fire-based, and death-based magic. Highly irritable.

  Enya’s brow lifted slightly.

  Not only was fire a direct counter to her abilities, but necromantic magic also seemed effective. That meant Rose would struggle against Enya’s undead minions. Or… maybe not? Did death-based magic just mean, anything? Would a punch from Fred hurt more? Or did it specifically mean something similar to a decay spell, which would slowly kill her plants?

  A few thoughts fluttered to her mind, but given their time constraint, she used insight once more, this time targeting Elias.

  Skill: Insight has been activated.

  Target: Elias Ferris

  Revealed Information: A young boy whose class is ‘Elementalist.’ He holds supreme affinity over all natural elements, a balance in all defensive and offensive options. His spells suffer from high mana usage when using spells of the same element consecutively. Reacts poorly when under intense-situations; unable to focus on multiple things at once.

  Enya let out a breath.

  So Elias was an Elementalist—a mage with complete elemental versatility. That explained why he had used wind, fire, barriers, and even minor earth spells in his first match. But his weakness stood out.

  “He burns through mana fast if he sticks to one element,” she muttered. “And it seem like he is bad under pressure.”

  Risha tapped her chin. “Which means if we can control the flow of battle, we can try to control the types of spells he uses. I doubt he has a shield spell that can be created from each element. And if I get into a tempo, I can launch a lot of wave slashes to try and overwhelm him.”

  Enya nodded. “And Rose struggles against fire and close combat.”

  The pieces were falling into place. They wouldn’t be able to form a rigid strategy—battles were too unpredictable for that. But they had an understanding of their enemies. They knew what to watch for.

  “I don’t really have a plan,” Enya said. “But we can try our best to control the flow of battle. I’ll handle Rose with my minions, and you can focus on keeping Elias engaged.”

  Risha smirked. “Keep him busy and burn through his mana? Sounds fun.”

  Enya’s eyes settled on her opponents, who were also giving them the occasional glances from across the room.

  They weren’t just going into this match blind.

  They were going in prepared.

  *****

  Present Time - The Arena

  Pell’s skeletal jaw dropped.

  Then, he screamed.

  “Get up, Pell! I’ll explain later! We’re in the middle of a fight!” Enya shouted, cutting through Pell’s haze of information overload.

  With a sharp mental command, she sent Fred and Uglyface charging forward.

  “Risha, go for the crown!”

  Both of her skeletal minions moved in sync—Uglyface deliberately slowing his pace so Fred could keep up.

  “Got it!” Risha called back.

  She swung her claymore, another wave slash cleaving through a massive root barreling toward them. The severed halves crashed onto the arena floor, their impact shaking the white tiles.

  The moment the path cleared, she kicked off and sprinted forward, matching her stride with Enya’s minions as they surged ahead.

  “Pell! Stay here and protect me!”

  Pell’s skull flicked wildly between Enya, Risha, and their opponents. “I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!”

  He wasn’t just panicking because of the fight. What alarmed him more was the massive stadium surrounding them, an overwhelming sea of thousands upon thousands of eyes locked onto the battlefield. It was unnatural—the scrutiny, the sheer weight of their collective gaze. Their gazes felt heavy, suffocating, as if he were a spectacle to watch.

  It made his bones itch.

  It was one thing to be under a trade deal with another merchant or noble, their scrutinizing gaze prying into you. But performing in front of a stadium of thousands scrutinizing your every action was another matter entirely. It also didn’t help that he was also a skeleton; a spectacle in a freak monster-circus.

  Grunting, Pell backed up, placing himself a few feet ahead of Enya. His sockets never left the two fighters standing across from them—Rose and Elias, if the glowing names on the arena’s monitors were any indicator.

  “Brat. Tell me why the hell I’m here with you,” he grumbled, still on edge. “I already told you—I ain’t a fighter.”

  Enya didn’t look at him, her focus locked on Elias. A flicker of mana surged through her fingertips as she prepped a five-mana Bone Spear spell circuit.

  “You’re taking up one of my minion slots,” she said, the magic in her palm humming to life. “I wasn’t about to fight in this tournament a minion down, so—”

  She released her spell.

  The white tiles beneath Elias trembled, fractures webbing outward before a sharp bone spear burst from the ground, aiming straight for him. Rose wasn’t the only one here who could summon attacks from below.

  Elias’ eyes widened. Instinct took over.

  A barrier flared around him in an instant—a translucent wall of force shimmering with defensive magic. The bone spear struck it dead-on, the impact sending a dull reverberation through the air. But the spear shattered on contact, its sharpened tip crumbling to dust, the remaining extending spear turning into shards and grinding uselessly against the barrier’s surface.

  Enya’s attack had forced him back a few steps, his robes fluttering in the aftershock, but nothing more.

  The barrier was simply too strong for her to break.

  Meanwhile, Risha, Fred, and Uglyface were already on the move, weaving through a tangle of emerging vines and roots. Risha leaped over an encroaching mass of greenery, her claymore already poised to strike.

  She reached the midpoint of the stage and, without breaking stride, swung her sword in a powerful arc, unleashing a wave slash—this time, aimed directly at Rose.

  For the first time since the match had started, Rose did something different than just manipulate roots.

  Enya felt the shift before she saw it. The pattern of mana fluctuated, diverging from the familiar link between vines and roots. A separate bundle of magic was forming—something new.

  Beneath the stage, something burrowed up through the cracks breaking through and bursting into the open air. A different plant, something more massive.

  It was wide, its concave surface resembling a massive, porous seedpod. Small, scattered holes lined its structure, and as it fully emerged, something began to release from within.

  Tiny spores. A fine, pale dust lifted into the air.

  Rose’s voice rang out. “Now!”

  Elias moved instantly. A spell circuit snapped into formation in front of his palm, and a moment later—

  A powerful gust of wind roared through the arena.

  It wasn’t enough to knock anyone off the stage, but the force disrupted movement, forcing Risha and Enya to steady themselves against the unrelenting current. But that wasn’t the true purpose of the attack.

  The spores scattered. The wind carried them forward, blanketing the stage, coating everything in their path.

  Risha’s body stiffened immediately. Her sprint slowed to a halt, her limbs suddenly numb and sluggish. She tried to move, but it felt like her body was falling asleep, her muscles losing coordination.

  Enya felt it too. She had no way to block the spores. The wind spread them too fast, and her barrier gloves were too small to cover her entire body. Even Pell, who stood defensively in front of her, was useless as cover against it—his ribcage had too many openings for the spores to slip through.

  The effect was immediate. A heavy drowsiness washed over her, seeping into her limbs. Her body felt like lead, her breathing slowing.

  “Hey, kid—what’s happening?” Pell’s voice cut in, sharp with concern. He turned toward her, his soul flames flickering, recognizing the semblance of drowsiness in her eyes. He noticed her breath slowing, struggling to even stand straight.

  He didn’t need to breathe, didn’t have blood or muscles to weaken—whatever was affecting her wasn’t reaching him.

  His skull swiveled back toward the other side of the stage. The noble brat in the obnoxious robes was already casting again, a spell circle forming in the air.

  At that same moment, Uglyface changed course. No longer keeping pace with Risha and Fred, he broke into a full sprint, the sharp clatter of skeletal feet pounding the arena tiles as he lunged straight for Elias. His speed was blinding, a blur of motion as he closed the gap.

  Elias instinctively formed a barrier around him, just in case Uglyface somehow increased in speed once more. A second passed, and just before the skeletal rat could barrel into Elias, his spell circuit flashed.

  A torrent of fire erupted, a sideways volcanic inferno bursting forth. Flames roared outward, engulfing Uglyface entirely, swallowing him in a hellish blaze. The wave of fire surged onward, consuming the vines and roots that littered the battlefield, reducing them to cinders.

  Risha barely had time to react before the flames rushed toward her. She struck her sword in front of her, piercing the ground; a dim glow of white energy illuminated the blade, spreading out into the air and forming a dome-like shield around her.

  Fred also moved instantly, shifting course to throw himself onto Risha, his skeletal frame wrapping around her as best he could. He was nothing but bones, full of openings, but even a thin layer of protection was better than nothing against the oncoming inferno.

  The flames surged, licking at the edges of the arena, but the blaze didn’t reach the far side. Enya remained untouched from the attack—for now.

  Across the field, Rose let out a shriek of outrage. She was staring at Elias with balled fists. “HEY! YOU’RE KILLING ALL MY PLANTS!”

  But Elias wasn’t listening.

  Through the fire and smoke, Uglyface emerged—or what was left of him.

  A burning specter of bone, his entire form wreathed in embers, blackened but still moving. The skeletal minion lurched forward, its burning tail whipping behind him, its hollow sockets locked onto the noble mage. It looked like a demon that had ripped its way into the world—a form of rat and human, burning with the embers of hatred and wrath. A monster—jaw wide, its skull burning with an infernal afterglow from his spell, prepped and ready to snap down on him.

  Elias enchanted his feet, wind swirling beneath him as he propelled himself sideways, narrowly avoiding the incoming charred horror.

  Enya, still struggling against the drowsiness, focused as hard as she could from across the arena. Her eyes flickered yellow as Absolute Focus activated half-heartedly—but it was enough. She saw through the smoke and lingering embers, sending a command to her minion.

  Uglyface tried to skid to a halt, twisting mid-movement, preparing to whip its burning bony tail at Elias.

  For the first time, a hint of hesitation washed over Elias’ face. Another spell circuit was forming in his free hand. Seeing the tail about to slam into him, he had no other choice and went ahead with what he planned.

  Two spells of the same element in succession.

  A sudden gust from behind Uglyface surged with precise force, propelling the skeletal minion forward.

  Enya’s eyes widened.

  Uglyface was sent straight off the arena. Its body was hurtled through the air, a streak of burning bone before crashing into the tournament walls with the force of a powerful cannon.

  A hush fell over the stadium as they saw the massive bright torrent of flames from the second stage, alongside a monstrosity cracking the tournament walls.

  Enya gritted her teeth, still trying to fight off the sluggish pull of the spores.

  One minion down.