Chapter 5

It has been almost two months on the airship and things have been progressing slowly; mostly because of the cowards who were holding the positions from ranks 3-16.

The cowards who were afraid that the first two, Arie Victoria and Atanasia, holed themselves in their comfortable hole and decided to wait it out as long as possible. After seeing first and second ranked’ performances, they decided to not even try. To maximize their chance of survival, they formed a group to delay the time as much as possible. Unfortunately, it was quite effective.

Each one of them issued a challenge to the other in which they would wait an entire day before surrendering and as soon as the surrender was confirmed they would already have another challenge by their fellow coward to answer to.

This slow and disgusting cycle continued as week after week Victoria’s hunt of lower ranked competitors piled up. I personally wanted to fight…and I was nearly there! As rank 17, the previously mentioned cowards avoided me like a plague. No matter how early I got up and send a request through my pocket, the only thing that showed up was the request being declined due to long waitlist or something like that.

All I could do was train. I watched the higher ranked candidates spar with each other and tried to grasp their skills as much as possible. I ran and ran and ran, continuing to develop my shinsu body reinforcement technique. It wasn’t as effective as I wished it would be but in this situation, it was the best I could do.

Until finally…the day came. My pocket rang early in the morning and I got up in shock as I saw the message.

Arie Victoria (Rank 1) has issued a Challenge.

You may not decline or surrender

I’ve seen how she fought…it might as well have been a death sentence but after nearly a month without a proper fight, in all honestly I was anticipating the fight as much as I was scared.

There were still plenty of other candidates to pick off but I understood why Victoria picked me. I may not have been the strongest among the other candidates but I was the last real threat.

Atanasia wanted the position of princess but she wasn’t blind enough to try and challenge someone who outclassed her. The cowards even formed a system to specifically avoid clashing blades with her. Of the ones who still wanted to give it a try, I was the only one who was any real danger at all…thus it seemed like she decided to take the steps necessary to remove me.

It was still a full day until I needed to face her but my heat was beating already, uncomfortably hot in my chest. I’ve watched Victoria fight a number of times and each time it didn’t end well for the opponents…through an overwhelming difference in skill and power.

Flashback:

“Someone actually did it! Number 6 challenged Victoria!”

“Is she crazy? What’s going on? When’s the fight taking place??!”

“Right now! It’s about to begin any moment!”

Hearing the commotion from outside, the doors on the hallway were opened almost immediately as the candidates (including myself) began making our way to the arena to see what would happen.

“Does she not know how strong Victoria is?” A candidate said

“It’s pretty much already decided. As long as Lady Victoria doesn’t decide to step down herself, nobody’s going to take her place!” It seemed like this candidate was one of the servant factions of the family.

Using my small form to my advantage, I moved under people’s arms and slipped through the tight gaps between people as I emerged once again to the large arena. At the center were two fighters- one more familiar than the other.

It was the first time I saw Victoria this close up. She was taller than almost everyone here; I would have to guess she stood at around 6ft. She was wearing a black silk sleeveless dress which went down to her knees. Her blade, a long silver masterpiece, was strapped to her back with one hand on the hilt ready to draw at a moment’s notice.

She hadn’t said anything or moved but I could tell she had an aura of nobility around her; even among our family which was famed for our elegance and noble blood. What was more eye-catching than her aura was her posture. Ready to fight but her muscles were relaxed. Her eyes, beautifully silver, seemed as if she would rather rest than have to face another opponent. Her posture wasn’t rigid but rather relaxed and comfortable…radiating complete confidence and certainty of her victory. In a way, it seemed to make her superior, different.

Her opponent, rank 6, was on the other end of the arena obviously facing a different set of thoughts. She gripped her blade in front of her like it was the only life-line she had. Her right foot, unconsciously tight from the stress, was beginning to dig into the solid floor as she kept her eyes focused on the winning candidate.

As soon as the “Begin!” Sounded across the arena, the challenger crossed the wide area in a blink of an eye, leaving behind a mess of stone and dust, as she attempted to end the battle as fast as possible.

Obscured by the dust, for a while all I could tell were the sounds of metal and metal over and over. It seemed to continue for a while until…

Cyclone!

A white shinsu construct began spinning out of control as it dissipated the dust revealing the fight to the rest of us. There in the middle of the attack was Victoria, completely unharmed, and the challenger who’s arms had numerous small cuts and her clothing ripped. She panted as if she was out of breathe but her eyes were still fierce.

External Shinsu control…already? Is she a wave controller as well?

There was a moment of silence before the blades talked again. As if the first strike was an appetizer, the strikes began to feel faster, heavier, and increasingly more dangerous. The sounds were no longer the only vibrations that reached us as I felt my hair flutter ever time their blades connected.

Shinsu around the air changed ownership by the second as the blades that crossed them changed them. The remaining blasts from the blades blew away our hair as the blades clashed faster and faster. Even when the wind couldn’t keep up anymore, the blades moved faster still.

Until…

The tip of Victoria’s blade turned crimson as a single drop of blood was drawn… and it continued. More and more of her blade turned as scarlet lines began appearing on her opponent’s body. Her arms, legs, body and face.

It continued as the white floor stained with the red liquid and her movements turned slower, sluggish compared to when it began.

*Cough* A painful sound came from her opponent but Victoria was ruthless. Another red line appeared on 6’s wrist as…

*clang!*

The blade held in rank 6th hand fell out and was clubbed to the other end of the arena. Seeing her hope leave her hands, her opponent simply knelt in defeat. Waiting for what was to come.

The winning candidate, Victoria, didn’t disappoint as she raised her blade high.

“A worthy fight…I suppose” a small whisper left her lips as she brought her blade down directly on her opponent’s left shoulder, slicing deep through her heart and into her stomach.

I watched as Victoria drew back her blade before the corpse split in two. Sheathing her bloodless blade as she walked off the arena just as the body’s guts began to spill as workers hurried onto the floor to clean up the mess.

There was fear in my blood as I saw the candidate dispatch someone who I considered to be better than me so easily…but the beating of my heart was more than dread. The ends of my lips curled up the slightest bit more as I saw what it was to belong the top of this status-non regulars.

Not impossible.

Flashback End

3rd person pov. Pandora centric

As she woke up the next morning, she did a couple of things in case it would be her last, which seemed quite likely at the moment. After typing a rather long message in her pocket to be sent to her mother upon her death, she cleaned up the room (though it was unnecessary) to calm her heart.

It didn’t help her reputation or pride but quietly she slipped a small knife in between her robes. Victory over pride. Survival over shame.

What was done was done. What was to come would come.

“A swordsman never falters in fear.” Her instructor had repeatedly blasted her with bloodlust which not only froze all her muscles in place but made it challenging to even breathe.

“Calm yourself and focus. And stop smiling” The sharp edge of his blade would dig into my side a moment later before he stops and says “Try again.” He already knew I couldn’t stop smiling, everything was just too tragically funny…my reincarnation, what people strove for…everything. I guess I should still thank him for his training…sadist training.

Despite his warm words and affection he showed sometimes, his training method really made her doubt time to time if he wasn’t a sadist. Her pain only seemed to please him as signs of ‘effective training’ before taking it up a notch. Even so, she couldn’t blame him; it was only due to his efforts in hammering in the Arie arts that she survived so long in the competition.

Even in the Barracuda’s nest, you can survive if you focus

Nothing was a perfect trap, not even Arie Swordsmanship. She knew she was outclassed by the opponent she would have to face in a couple hours. She knew that she would most likely die…and yet thinking back to the moment when she decided to accept the risks, she didn’t regret it.

Even now when her logical mind was telling her she was going to die, her heart didn’t agree. She knew she was destined for more than dying as a candidate before even beginning her journey.

A simple feeling was all it was but much better than accepting defeat; besides, she had already promised her everything to the man on the outside. She had nothing left to lose.

(1st Person POV)

Leaning against one side of the wall was my trust blade, Azurite, which had been polished and sharpened. Picking up the blade I swung it around a couple of times taking care not to destroy the room.

Victoria…Victoria

There was one method I could think of. Something I’ve actively avoided using for my own peace at heart, to avoid feeling disgusted at my own self. Ironically, it was that thought that made my grin shrink.

It’s live or die now

I sat down on the floor setting the blade down in front of me as I began meditating…trying to look deep inside my self, soul, to search for something tied to it. Something that could help me.

… … (Requesting a ‘separator’ or something in the comments)

I ignored the silent snickers and eyes of pity as I made my way down to the arena. Walking past the gathered remainders, or survivors, as I climbed the two steps onto the fighting platform.

“It looks like you’re both here” The elderly woman spoke. I still didn’t know her name…and truthfully even in the face of death I wasn’t curious.

From the far side came Victoria. Taking precise strides with her head held high, she kept her eyes on me. She too slowly walked up onto the platform as she closed the distance between the two of us until she was standing no more than an arm’s reach away. As we were still looking at each other, I couldn’t help but notice that I had to physically look up at her, short by an entire head.

My most probable killer looked quite nice as if she had dressed up for the occasion. She chose to wear a white blouse and blazer, complete with a formal knee length skirt (also white). Her stockings had the tiniest shade of red while her heels were the color of blood.

Seeing as both of us were silent, I simply nodded at her where she returned the gesture.

“Contestants, ready your blade.”

Victoria unsheathed her blade from her side as I unstrapped mine from my back, throwing away the string to the floor. We were close enough that the tip of our blades were touching, close enough to hear each other’s breath.

“10 Steps back, each of you”

We turned around in conjunction as we separated ourselves. 1, 2, 3, 4…from behind I heard the soft footsteps getting further away from me. 5…6…7…8…

Blade Aura. My blade hummed slightly as it emitted a faint white glow.

There wasn’t a point in saving my energy for later. I knew my physical strength or stamina was far behind her level. I needed to give my all from the very beginning and hope she makes a mistake.

9…10!

I spun around ready for anything…

“Begin!”

Blessings help me. Athena!