"Wake up, Lady Vivienne." A soft voice rang through Vivienne's room urging her to wake. She groggily got out of bed as she looked at the source. One of the numerous maidservants that were there was her answer.
"Today you have a match." She further added on to which Vivienne had to make preparations. After she was done, she made her way to the hall to find the rest of her family already waiting for her.
Reading her mood, she seemed dejected and uninterested but regardless, she knew that she had to fight this time. Thalion gave a quick glance at her whereas Nalarinda seemed worried. "Are you okay Vivienne? I saw you leave yesterday even before the second fight was over."
"I'm fine." She brushed it off as she took her seat. "Even though you may be powerful and have a unique skillset, that doesn't mean that you should overlook your opponents. This could prove as your downfall."
Thalion advised to which she seemed unfazed. "There is no need to overlook when your opponent is weak." She said faintly as she dug into her meal. 'Bland ad flavorless.' She concluded as she kept on eating.
It was a stark comparison to the first time she ate it. 'Packed with flavor and nutritious.' Had now transformed into water from her.
"Well today you are going to be facing Calliope again. She had a fight yesterday but recalling that you missed it, Julian will fill you in with the details of her combat." Thalion concluded as they kept on eating. The mood was dead quiet which was a contrast to how it was a couple of days ago.
"Very well, you two should be on your way to the Coliseum. I have other matters to attend to." Thalion said as he got up and left. "Very well, let's go." Nalarinda said warmly to which they prepared to leave.
Unlike before, this time they all rode in the same carriage which was convenient for Nalarinda to closely monitor her daughter. She had a bad feeling ever since she became how she is right now however she couldn't do anything but watch from the sidelines.
"I hope that she won't be a waste of my time." Vivienne said softly to which Julian picked up. "Quite the opposite, it seems that she had greatly improved on her flaws for those three months and now, she seems to be on top of her game."
"However I managed to pick up some flaws in her techniques which were hard to notice." He began to point them out to which Vivienne raised her hand urging him to stop. "It's a worm, there is no need to make such a big fuss about it."
"…" Julian fell silent as he heard this. He had been noting how her sister had been slowly transforming from once a sweet and caring girl to a passive and somewhat arrogant lady. Her cold temperament had been on the rise as she seemed to deem the very world around her as weak, an aspect Julian thought as a flaw as he thought that she would be taken by surprise because of underestimating the opponent.
Ego has been the downfall of countless experts over the ages. Nations have been brought to their knees because of such a flaw and those who failed to learn from this were doomed to repeat this fatal weakness.
But he could understand why she was so. Even he couldn't take her down. The reason as to why she chose to raise her ranking was because she would be able to deal with opponents from higher tiers with much ease but now, it seemed that she didn't care about that at all.
"We're here." Alaric said as he opened the door for the carriage to which they made their graceful alight. "Just don't be blinded by your own pride. Sister." Julian said softly to which Vivienne treated like air as she ignored him and made her way inside.
'Sister, I will relinquish you from the claws of this monster.' Julian vowed in silence as he saw this. He could feel that Andrew was somehow responsible for this and he would settle the score. 'Does he really think that he can act as he wishes? Humph! We'll see!'
He mused as he made his way inside to their allotted room. This time, the arena wasn't as packed as the royal family was absent not to mention a lot of nobles were out.
For those above, these in between fights were an eyesore but to show respect, they would send representatives who would pick up intel for them. Isilindil and Lirale were absent thus some people thought that nothing special was bound to happen.
This wasn't the case for those on the lower tiers as they seemed to have a knack for the fights. To them, they could pick up valuable lessons and help them progress with their own tiers.
Soon after, the match began to which entailed two parties. One of them was Raela, a tier two on the fourth array while the other was Calenon, a tier two on the third array. Raela was a mage as it was apparent as she kept a considerable distance between her and Caleon.
Caleon on the other hand seemed to be more versatile as he was a practitioner in both mana and close combat. He would deflect attacks from Raela whilst he too launched his own. The audience seemed thrilled to see how the fight would unfold.
"Brother? Are you interested in a bet?" Vivienne asked as she saw the fight unfold. "What?" Julian was still a little sore from how she had treated her earlier however he ignored that for now.
"What kind of bet?" He quizzed as he looked at her. Her hair covering her eyes made it hard to discern her mood. "Since you think that I am blinded by pride, then how about a small wager. 100 gold quartz each to see who the final winner of this little test will be."
Julian was stunned as he heard such a figure. That amount wasn't small, even for nobles like them. Such an amount was equivalent to their yearly allowance thus dumping such an amount into a bet like this was not ideal.
"Sister, don't you think that such an amount is too rash. Maybe 70 gold quartz is more preferable." He urged to which she brushed off. "So it would seem that I was right…" She said as she mumbled beneath her breathe.
"Very well, who do you have in mind?" He asked to which she referenced herself. If he won this bet, her sister's attitude would no doubt be cut down but then again, 100 gold quartz was just too much. "You don't mind if I joined in, right?"
Nalarinda asked from the side. "The more the merrier." Vivienne said as she looked at the battle come to its climax. It seemed that Caleon was in a tough spot. 'Even though he was versatile, it seems that he became a jack of trades and a master of none.'
Sure he could handle both close and long range but that didn't mean that it wouldn't take a toll on him. The mix of casting spells and moving all over the arena was an arduous combination thus in the end, he fell short.
As for Raela, she didn't move as much and focused more in her attacks, only moving when Caleon was getting too close to her. "It would seem that we have our winner, Raela Silverbrook!!" The commentator boomed to which shouts came from the audience as they made their own speculations of the fight.
"It would seem that Isilindil has the greater advantage and highest chances of winning." Nalarinda made an observation. It was no doubt as anyone could feel that he would emerge victorious here. Those who would win would move onto the capital.
The top five would be selected to move on in each district. "Very well, I'll place it on myself." Vivienne said with a callous tone. There was no feeling behind it, just laced with pure apathy. "Then I'll place one you on myself."
Julian added as they each handed 100 gold quartz each to Alaric. There was a betting house different from the local ones, this one was for the nobles which had jaw dropping prices. The lowest one was as low as 50 silver quartz while the highest was 20 gold quartz thus Julian's shock was evident.
"It would seem that it's my turn." Vivienne said flatly as she stood up and left. She was dressed in something more battle appropriate as she had tight fitting clothes. However they didn't reveal her figure as they were loose enough not to mention the thought of numerous people eying at her irked her.
She made it to the stage which was massive, she could detect numerous runes present as numerous people cheered. She looked back at where her family was before looking at the score board. Numerous names were on it along with numbers assigned next to them.
The highest one was Calliope who had ten points. One would gain points by taking down opponents however if one wanted more then they would have to take out stronger opponents, take out quickly or they could catch up with the Matoreas hunt.
The Matoreas Hunt would involve a hunt in which competitors would go out into the wilderness and hunt stray beasts. This would occur halfway through the Sphin trials and it was when the Queen's representative would come to declare it.
Vivienne looked at Calliope who had a smug smile on her face, clearly she was eager to get this battle started however the expression on her face changed as she realized something. 'She's human?!' She wasn't the only one who came to this revelation.
"Am I dreaming or is Vivienne completely human?" Puzzled questions arose from the spectators however the commentator didn't seem bothered by this. "Let the match begin." Calliope without hesitation charged towards Vivienne's figure closing the distance between them.
'It's a shame killing isn't allowed.' Vivienne mused as she saw Calliope's figure getting bigger. "What is she thinking? To take a tier three opponent whilst lacking a mana pool herself is asking for death!" Voices of ridicule came from the spectator sides.
*BAM*
Calliope's fist collided Vivienne's face but strangely enough, she didn't move, as she looked at her. "What?!" Calliope thought before backing away from her.
Vivienne however eager to end this fight faster aimed her hand at Calliope's figure once more before pushing it down.
*BOOM*
Calliope's massive figure crashed hard into the arena with several of her teeth coming out due to the force overwhelming her body. Vivienne closed the distance between the two within the blink of an eye as she appeared on top of Calliope's figure.
She was wearing heels which seemed out of touch considering her situation. She then proceeded to step on Calliope's face which blood was already coming out of. Her nose was bleeding however Vivienne seemed unfazed by this.
"Concede and you just might walk after this." She said as she increased the pressure on Calliope's body. "Neve-"Before completing her words…
*Crack*
Numerous cracks could be heard from Calliope's body. "Argghh!" Numerous screams of pain came from her. "Well I guess that I'll have to force those words out of your mouth." Vivienne said as she relinquished the force off Calliope's body holstering her into the air.
"I'll count to ten and if you don't change your mind then I'll break every bone in your body." Vivienne said softly. Calliope had a hateful look on her face however she could move in the slightest. She tried launching attacks at her however nothing happened.
"One…" Vivienne started off to which Calliope's right knee was fractured. It was bent in the opposite way which elicited further pain through her. "Two…" She continued to which her right ankle was forcibly twisted making it look extremely unnatural.
"Maybe I should go for your arms…" She pondered out loud which made Calliope freeze in horror. "Three…" Calliope could feel her right arm slowly give way to an unimaginable force which threatened to break it.
*Crack*
Her wrist was partially bent exposing her ulna and radius. Streams of tears trailed down her cheeks as she writhed in pain. "Fou-". "I admit defeat!" She barked at the top of her lungs as Vivienne looked at her body.
She threw it across the arena and crashing into the barrier. "A weak pathetic worm." She said flatly before steeping off the arena.