IT'S ALREADY NOON AND I'VE BEEN STRESSED SINCE THIS MORNING.

Fei taught me a lot of things that I couldn't tell if I can remember in the next days to come. This is more advance than the Five Cs, or six, which I am attempting to do. This is the real shit.

Like, internalizing the powers that the Vogue have. Say, I would like to control the elements. I don't need to tell Zathrian what to do. His entire power will be within me and I can do whatever I can with it. So what we did is we sort of created a system where I can absorb their powers, but you know, these are theirs and I am just borrowing it. They still have mastery over it.

Also, another thing that bothered me was when he told me I didn't have the same case as theirs. Like, I have 14 of these guardians in full human forms. That's insanely odd.

Although I can tell that Fei is really optimistic about it, I, on the other hand, seemed to lack the confidence that I should have. What if there comes a time that I couldn't tell what to do anymore? How can I rely on them if they rely on me the entire time?

Currently, I am off to Mrs. Xing's office. She wanted to see me, so I went right away. I knocked three times at the door and waited for her response. She told me to come in and she greeted me with a sincere smile. I sat down on the receiving chair and we talked.

"How is it going with Fei? Has he been helpful to you?" she asked.

"Oh, of course," I responded. "I learned a lot of things, even though I know that I still lack a lot of techniques."

"Which is why I called you here," she said as she took out a small box and handed it over to me. "I would like you to wear this."

I opened the box and I saw a ball. It looked like a crystal ball, but it's squishy.

"Wear, you say, Mrs. Xing?" I confirmed.

"Have you thought of having tattoos?" she then asked.

"Yes!" I excitedly said. "I've always wanted a tattoo."

"There you go," she said.

I got confused. "What do you mean, ma'am?"

"Crush the ball and imagine the tattoo of your choice," she instructed.

I did as she said. As I crushed the ball, a cloud of black smoke emitted from it and went directly to my palm. In just moments, I had a tattoo of bar codes on my palm. Just like how I imagined it.

"Bar codes? Interesting choice," she commented.

"I've always wanted one that is similar to this," I checked the tattoo and it's so cool. "By the way, Mrs. Xing, may I know about this?"

"That tattoo is actually a weapon. Using the powers that you have, you can summon any type of weapon in your hand. Say, a sword, or an axe, or a hammer. It's up to you. You can also wield a shield with that. It will help you a lot in the battle."

I sighed, but somehow I would like to thank Mrs. Xing for this wonderful gift, so I showed her at least a faint smile. "Thank you so much for this, ma'am."

"There are only a few days left before you all leave. Actually, I am more worried to my grandchildren than you. Trick, you may not believe this but I can tell that you have a great chance of winning this. I just can feel it. But beware, you will face lots of hardships in this tournament. Those that will make you second-guess your powers, your efforts, your decisions, and I hope you will always bear in mind who you really are because that is your mightiest superpower."

That's deep, and somehow I got a hard time digesting every word she said. "Thank you again, ma'am, although I really don't have intentions of winning. I just wanna survive. I wanna share the world with your grandson."

She just giggled. "If you really push yourself harder, you will not just have the world. You may go now. Ask Fei how you can manage your powers further."

I stood up and bowed to her. I went straight to Fei and showed him my new tattoo.

"Oh, that! I used to have that when I was young, but when my powers developed, Gramms removed mine," Fei uttered.

"Oh, really? This could be removed? I thought it was permanent."

"You have a choice, though. If you wanna keep it, you can. If you wanna take it away, we can do that too."

I smiled. "I think I'm gonna keep this forever. Who knows I'd be needing this for life?"

"I'm sure your powers will develop, so don't worry. Anyway, there's no problem if you keep it. Now, are you ready again for another session?"

I groaned. "My brain is already toasted with information, but do I have a choice? I'm hung up on this tournament. I hope I will survive."

Fei winked. "Don't worry. I'll make it really easy for you. I'll be with you every step of the way."

I winced. "Can we just have like some flash drive and shove it in my brain?"

"Silly," he uttered and took me to the library, as we're about to have intensive reading about witchcraft this time. Ugh!

***

Time flew so fast as I didn't realize that we're only minutes away from the registration. We flew last night using the Xing jet plane from Manhattan to Northern Siberia. We all prepared for this battle. We have our rings from Gramms, in case we need to detoxify in that place called Orkatta. I also talked to the Vogue about all the things we need to be ready for.

When we arrived near the gate to Orkatta, there were several people of all races, colors, sizes, and looks. My estimate would be, there are around 300 of them here. We all wore our best outfits that can adapt to any climate or space. Of course, courtesy of the Xings.

Fei was looking really handsome. He wore this red headband under his hair, these green traditional Chinese vest with red linings with gold embroidery of two dragons and traditional Chinese pants that are comfortable enough for him to move. He also has these two red wristbands and a pair of red Kung Fu shoes that looked really cool.

Haru had this yellow [changshan], which is a traditional Chinese robe, with blue pants that looked really tight, but don't worry, the bulge was covered by the robe. He wore black Kung Fu shoes too.

Jia looked sophisticated, as she wore this white loose turtleneck blouse with red linings, tight black pants, and wedge shoes. She mentioned that this was a modern take on the Shinto shrine priestess outfit. It looked really nice, though!

Ellis… Well… As he's in drag, of course, he doesn't settle for anything else, which I have been reminding him that he's going to fight and not do a ramp modelling. He had this big yellow hair with bows all over, and that giant violet bow with polka dots. Then, he had this green top with ruffles, red gloves with cyan bows, a rainbow-colored skirt with blue and yellow bows, striped jeggings, and furry boots, with, of course, bows.

I, on the other hand, wore this black spandex vest inside, a loose scarlet top, white loose pants folded to my legs, a brown belt to keep my pants tight to my waist, and scarlet heel-high rubber shoes. I have my Valenti necklace, the black ring from Mrs. Xing and my bar code tattoo ready too.

A few moments later, Jang-mi arrived in her traditional [hanbok]. "All of the participants, please follow me."

As people moved, I saw some familiar faces. The Hysenbelliu sisters, the Oliveira brothers, and Manaia Campbell, all wearing stunning costumes. Then, when I looked at the far right side, I saw Rakisha, holding hands with Oakley!

I moved towards them and waved at them.

"Rakisha! Oakley! Good to see you here!"

"Hey, boo!" Rakisha hugged me and so did Oakley.

"What are you doing here, Oaks? Are you…"

"Yeah, man, it seems like you're not the one with powers," Oakley giggled as he showed me his eyes changed like those of cat's.

"Whoa! Oakley!" I turned to Rakisha and asked her. "Did you do this?"

"Well, he became excited about witchcraft, so…" Rakisha said. "I just hope we don't fight. You know I love you dearly, boo, even that bitch-witch over there. You're good peeps, hon."

Rakisha was referring to Ellis who was walking alongside Haru.

"Of course, when it comes to that, we'll know what to do," I said. "So, are we the only humans here? Are there more?"

"Yes, I saw a couple earlier. Say, six? Accidentally got into an Ingelid fight," Rakisha said.

I sighed. "That's unfortunate. Okay, I will see you around, then. Good luck and be safe, okay?"

"You got it, Trick. It's nice to see you again," Oakley said.

When I returned near Fei, Jang-mi reached the topmost part of the stairs, beside the gate and made an announcement.

"Sorcerers, witches, wizards, magi, and all the supernatural beings here with us. I officially welcome you to The Krieg. In order for us to go to the Orkatta arena, we will have to pass through this gate. Now, I will call on all of the names from each family and where you are living for organization. Let us start."

Fei held my hand tightly, fingers intertwined. "This is it."

I inhaled deeply. "This is really it."