Returning back to the viewing area Lupos listened as the silence eventually vanished under the gradual build up of whispers and complaints. Smiling to himself Lupos sat down on a sofa in the viewing room mildly amused at the fact the other competitors were avoiding him like the plague, with the exception of Wing, who quickly walked past Lupos to leave for his next match.

"Wish me luck" claimed Wing an easy smile on his face. "Good luck" said Lupos, a much more evil grin on his face. Still smiling at Wing's retreating figure he quickly laid down on the sofa. "Wake me up when it's my turn Fenrir" said Lupos in mindspeak. Fenrir gave a quick nod then looked confused "don't you want to watch your future opponents for any weaknesses?"

Lupos shook his head "No, I need to lose the next duel so not knowing what magic my opponent uses should rid me or any advantage and help my loss be that much more realistic. "Fenrir grinned "ok, I'll wake you when you're needed to lose." Lupos gave out a chuckle "much appreciated."

Closing his eyes Lupos let the comforting and familiar darkness sink over him, until five-minute later when Fenrir's urgent voice awoke him "Lupos, Lupos wake up!!" Lupos yawned "What is it?" asked Lupos still wiping sleep from his eyes. "It's Wing." Lupos sat up sharply "What happened?" Fenrir stayed silent but merely stared at the arena where Wing's match was still ongoing.

Collapsed on the floor surrounded by blood was a beaten Wing cradling a once snow white owl "I surre...." Wing attempted to say before falling flat on the ground from blood loss. "What the hell?!?" whispered Lupos rage boiling up inside him, he still hated the humans who killed his family however Wing was innocent and as close to a friend as Lupos had ever had.

Despite his appearance and calm demeanor Wing was a force to be reckoned with especially when using his variant magic, so how the hell had this happened?!?! The other competitors watched in similar states of shock, although none of them knew Wings true level of potential, it was a well known fact that he wielded a variant magic. The only real way for someone to win would be if they were exceedingly fast....or had their own variant magic.

The announcers voice rang out startling everyone present "Winner Dante Cayton!!" The crowd burst into cheers while Lupos stared at the other boy, Dante, and memorised his face anger still simmering as he watched the smiling youth. Fenrir noticed the look on Lupos' face and stayed silent with barely concealed worry, the look on his face incited a deep and primal fear within Fenrir and at this point he honestly wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Taking in Dante's smile one last time, Lupos rushed off to find the arena's infirmary to find Wing. Fenrir following closely behind. After running around blindly for five minutes and finally getting correct directions, Lupos stumbled into the infirmary.

Lying on the nearest bed was a pale Wing, who looked as though he was seconds away from collapsing, a sleeping Athena resting on his lap. Noticing Lupos' arrival Wing looked and smiled weakly "well that didn't go quite as planned." Lupos hid his clenched fists and grinned back "trust you to make a bad joke now of all times."

Wing laughed bur there was a sad undertone to it "well what else could I do? I've lost my choice for this year and once again my family will have to scrape by despite what I promised." Suddenly Wing seemed on the verge of tears, seeing this Lupos gave him a pat on the back "It's ok, everything will be ok. I promise."

Wing gave out another smile, this time more genuine though given through tears. Letting Wing let out a quiet sob Lupos said nothing but silently patted his back until he'd wiped the last of his tears away "sorry Gale, I'm just so bloody frustrated." Lupos gave a quiet smile "It's ok I'd be the same in your position."

Wing grinned looking a lot more cheerful "Damn right you would, that other kids a monster, I never could have imagined meeting another variant magic user here. Especially one with an affinity as rare as blood." Lupos' eyes widened, blood magic no wonder Wing lost. Dante broke down his insides before he could even fight, not to mention the effects on Athena.

"Wing do you know where he comes from it feels weird that we've not heard of such a supposed genius before?" Wing nodded "yes, I heard beforehand that Dante's school is essentially one of the nomadic clans that signed a treaty to be considered part of the empire in exchange for their freedom. His spirit is a small desert snake that specialises in camouflage, whether this is light magic or something else I'm unsure but that's all the information I have on him."

Lupos smiled, "Thanks for the help, I gotta go before the next match starts." Wing smiled "Knock them dead, or at least into a pit trap." Lupos burst into laughter "I'll do just that, I'll come see you once my next match is dead." Wing nodded "good luck." Although Lupos was smiling Wing had failed to notice that Lupos' fists remained clenched and the anger in his eyes had far from faded, it was time for some payback. Even if Lupos couldn't get revenge himself he could manipulate someone else into getting it for him.

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Author's note

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter I tried to make it slightly longer, feel free to leave a comment or review :)