“This is very dangerous!” Bella climbed onto the roof, her claws embedded into the metal surface.

Max began to drive towards the castle, and as he did, he noticed a blue light gathering above the building.

“What is that?” One of the hobgoblins asked

“I don’t know, but you can speed up!” Bella yelled as the adrenaline started to kick in.

Max hit harder on the gas, moving to the 50 mark and then sixty. He was barely close enough to see a strange figure raising something high in the air. Max slowed and turned the steering wheel until he was parallel with the building, parking right under the window. Throwing the hobs that hadn’t put on their seatbelts.

“What, the…” Bella’s eyes widened.

Kyrion raised a foot up in the sky and then brought it down like a pickaxe shattering the earth under him right between Amadeus, the number two, and the princess. His body fell with the stone.

Kyrion landed on his feet and locked eyes with the princes. Then, smiling wickedly, he pushed his hand forward, wind mana on top of strength, safely pushing the princess out of the window.

“Huh?” The girl seemed confused as this happened, the fear not even setting in as this happened.

“Mildred!” Amadeus rushed to grab the falling princess, only for a hand to grip their skull through the helmet.

That same hand slammed the gold-armored warrior into the ground with enough force to send them both on that floor down a story.

As they fell, Kyrion raised his hand and used the fall as a force multiplier as he slammed his opponent through the next floor, causing them to arrive on the ground floor of the poorly built structure wobbling due to all the damage done over the day. Noting that Amadeus was unconscious was the only thing protecting them from a third slam into the ground.

“You!” The cowled figure yelled as bugs of all kinds began to flow downwards from above.

The bugs, however, weren’t the only thing to come down. A streak of lightning came straight down from the opening and branched countless times, slaying swarms of bugs in a near instant while remaining there long enough for some of the dumber bugs to fly into the light of death.

“Ambush?” The figure in black robes drew a long black scythe and ran towards the spar user. The two danced across the room.

In Ander’s current state, he had overpowered his opponent in multiple ways, and it would only take one solid hit.

Sadly he couldn’t let up. But, in his defense, one sting could take him out, and he was never the type to let the same trick work twice.

Ander saw an opening and stabbed his opponent in the leg with a blade of electricity.

Ander evaded a counter aimed for his legs and flashed behind his opponent. A second poke at his opponent’s neck caused them to seize, and all the bugs in the area fell to the ground, a stinger moments away from poking him in the neck.

Ander took a deep breath before seeing that his nose was bleeding quite a bit now.

“What? Maybe I overdid it.” Ander fell to his knees as he began to feel really dizzy.

Saying Amadeus had a concussion would be accurate. The methods were barbaric but effective, and the surprise left the golden armored knight unable to fight back as the fight ended before it could begin.

“Not very durable. A power like yours is wasted like this.” Kyrion looked at the helm in his hands and then at the unconscious young woman who looked eerily like Max.

“Why is it that everyone who has an unhealthy obsession with me also has a penchant for lying.”

Kyrion dragged all three remaining students out of the crumbling castle with a tired look on his face. The flowers on his horns were in full bloom. Kyrion left the three people outside the helm still under his arm as he headed towards the headmaster.

“Good job, winning. It was a good show. But don’t you ever use my voice in your schemes again.” Caeden poked the taller Kyrion in his chest, and Kyrion stumbled back, almost falling over. The other students were now in the headmaster’s arms as he seemed to move back a good amount.

“You bastard!” Was the last thing Kyrion heard as a truck crashed into him, his body getting tossed about.

“Bella? There’s someone falling from a window?”

“I see them two I’ve already started slowing her fall. But we’re under the wrong window. Drive!”

Max hit the gas, and the two began rapidly moving toward the falling princess.

The goblin tinkerer holding the map flipped it before slapping his forehead. “Stupid!”

Max would have been surprised that the creature could talk if he wasn’t focused on getting to the falling princess. Chains of mana surrounded his hands and wrapped around the steering wheel as the vehicle seemed to move according to his will. It’s the vehicle now moving up the side of the building.

As Bella got into catching distance, she let go of the truck and jumped, grabbing her in her pink-furred arms as she began to land.

That was when the girl let out a scream before passing out.

Bella landed with a soft crunch as the truck settled on the ground.

“What was that?” Max said as he let go of the wheel, and the chains vanished. That was when he saw Kyrion carrying a figure in gold armor by their head.

His vision turned red, and he hit the gas screaming a few select words.

Kyrion awoke to Max shaking the unconscious Amadeus.

“Minah! Wake up Minah! Please! You can’t leave me alone!” Max was crying and panicking; he clearly wasn’t thinking straight.

“Max.” Kyrion got to his feet and watched as Amadeus was carefully set down.

Max bounded towards Kyrion and punched him in the jaw. Unfortunately, he was too short of reaching his target, so he hit him in the chest instead. Which did a few points of emotional damage as Kyrion tried to figure out why his friend was mad.

“Why did you do that to her! Why!”

“Her? Oh. Oh… Right…Siblings?” Kyrion pointed towards Amadeus and then to Max.

“Uh huh.” Max was clearly considering running Kyrion over again, but an amused Bella had already taken the keys from him.

“Oh. Well then, Amadeus or Minah, they are still alive. I didn’t kill anyone.”

“So she’ll recover?” Max asked.

“Max, I hated doing that to your sister. But it had to be done to win. I did what was necessary to end this feud.” Kyrion lied.

“But we won when Bella caught Mil...The princess. All you had to do was delay them.”

“Did we now?” Kyrion tapped his chin.

“Yeah. Pretty sure all you had to do was push her out the window and buy time. You and Ander just kept fighting though….”

“If you want I can heal her.”

“I thought you said she’d be fine.”

“She will most likely have a headache ontop of what Ander had already done. She won’t die.” Kyrion reassured.

“I see… I’ll leave her in the truck to rest. The air condition should help her wake faster. Talk to her then.”

Brion rose to swing his sword, ready to attack, only his hands were empty, and he was in the middle of a field of grass. “What in the abyss is going on here?”

“We lost.” Tiffany sat down next to him with a sullen look.

“I didn’t even get to fight.” Brion sighed.

“Well my opponents blinded me and ran away and left me to fight some goblins before a sneak attack got me..”

“We’re behind aren’t we. I’ve been training my whole life to be a commander. A leader, I was a noble. Yet here, I’m weak, hardly able to keep up. I doubt I’ll even make it to the tournament.” Brion sighed.

“For someone who’s that diligent in training you do seem weaker than normal. Almost as though you aren’t using your powers properly.” Tiffany stated.

“My abilities are mostly defensive. Before my spirit was a giant sword that gave those around me strength. After an injury I had to do some work. Truth be told, I haven’t told anyone what ability I gained from incorporating the sword Kyrion sent me into my core. It’s a bit embarrassing.”

“If the requirement is eight then don’t worry. Kyrion is the leader, his intuition tends to be a bit on the mark. If he compliments your ability he is being serious, if he says you need work in an area it’s because he spotted a weakness. Mine being my frailty before I activate any defensive symbols. I need preparation and forethought. Charging headlong into battle will only quicken my defeat.”

“Ander said this armor made me weaker. Something about slowing me down. But isn’t armor supposed to protect me?”

“No. It hampers your movement and natural endurance.” Ander yawned from behind them, his spear used as a walking stick.

“You look horrible.” Tiffany said.

“Trust me I feel worse and this is after the healing. Need to get a handle on that ability.” Ander took a seat on the grass.

“Natural endurance?”

“You do know that you get stronger the longer a battle rages on? The more damage you take the stronger you get. Healing does not hamper that ability. I noticed it when you went back to fight Edwin, Kyion healed you up and you fought off what I now know was a practitioner and an item boosted fledgling. It was all but confirmed when you told be about your little dance with Tiffany. Running away from pain makes you weaker, while taking it head on seems to give you power. Armor is like trying to run away for you. The metal armor is hampering that power.”

“How does that work?” Tiffany squinted.

“Brion. What is your weapon made from?”

“Stone and earth.”

“Good good. Do you know what happens to lightning that hits an earth based monster?”

“Nothing, sometimes if powerful enough it can pierce through but that’s rare. Can you pierce through earth now?”

“Not yet. You’re just not as protected when covered in metal. Endurance abilities are rare; it’s why Kyrion doesn’t wear armor heavier than robes.”

“Huh. I just thought Gamodren was cheap. Wait. Was it you that knocked me out?”

“Naturally. I didn’t have time to fight you after you’d prepared. I know my competition. Though Amadues can get scary.” Ander went to wave at the explosion left behind by Amadeus when he remembered that Kyrion had somehow leveled the whole building.

“Yes but they had been upstaged it seems. Well I guess it’s she now. That makes three of the top five women now, doesn’t it.”

“The symmetry… How does he pull this off? Was this his goal?” Ander realized.

“Is it bad that I want to put her through a few walls myself? That insult wasn’t ignorance, she knew what she was doing.”

“She hasn’t even gotten up, Tiffany. Just chill.” Brion stated.

“You heard what she said.”

“You shouldn’t let that get to you.”

“Doubt he thought once.” Max said as he grumpily arrived and sat down.

“Spill it. Is Amadeus really your sister?” Tiffany changed the subject.

“Yes.”

“And you let her beat you up to provoke Kyrion?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You gave Kyrion a note yesterday, right?”

“First time I saw him was when we picked teams.”

“How do you expl….”

“We’re twins. It’s probably why he thought I was a girl.”

Ander observed his teammate. “He saw her in makeup and a dress. They both had the etiquette class. I too thought you had been dressing up because you were being bullied.”

“Oh. Ohhhh. Is that why he kept moving to the floor?”

“No...Kyrion is a bad sleeper. Sometimes he stands up and starts fighting imaginary enemies. On one occasion he climbed up a tree in his sleep and it took us too long to find him.” Tiffany shook her head.

“And you know this how?” Max squinted.

“When we had to camp out on the way back sometimes he’d wander off in his sleep. Eventually we had to set watches to keep him in check.”

“So you were all part of a big group. He never brought up how you all met.”

“He saved my life and then he saved Ceres. He can’t help sticking his head in other people’s problems.”

“Who here hasn’t been saved or healed by that trickster?” Brion asked.

Mildred raised her hand. “All he’s done is scare me. He is quite regal looking though. He’s got a dark prince air about him going on though.”

“He just pushed you out a window and you’re swooning.” Bella said with a sigh.

“It’s only recklessness when it’s done without thinking. This was predetermined and calculated and as it worked as he envisioned one could call him a genius.” Ander also smirked.

“It’s still endangerment. Had I been a little slower then we’d be in trouble.” Max crossed his arms.

“I doubt it. The headmaster had been in the room with them the whole time. Kyrion probably saw him.” Bastion said with reverence.

Bella stared at the odd-eyed kid. “Is that natural heterochromia?”

“What?” Bastion was confused.

“Nevermind. What do you mean by that?”

“The headmaster stood out of range as the others fought only dodging when necessary and following the combat in case he had to end it early.”

“Bastion. Don’t go telling the others the headmaster’s secrets.” Kyrion said from right next to him.

“Oh right, sorry….” Bastion looked at the fake Kyrion before seeing the real one on a truck fifty feet away. He then scowled.

“When did you get here? Oh.” Tiffany closed her eyes and shook her head.

The headmaster’s illusion faded, and he reappeared in Kyion’s place.

“Oh right. Brion. Kyrion wanted me to give you this, happy birthday.” Ander tossed the boy an ornate box.

“My birthday was three days ago.”

“And he wasn’t here then.” Ander began to stand and stretch.

“What is it?” Brion asked as he opened the box revealing a green spirit core that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.

“It’s a troll’s core.” Ander stated stoically.

“How long have you had this?”

“I got it yesterday morning. Was going to give it to you then but decided not to. Since you chose the wrong team.”

“You could have used it yourself and as you didn’t I’m grateful. But I’m still a bit mad that you gave me this after beating me in a battle. As I need time to take off my armor and absorb this core I will let go of this slight today.” Brion smirked.

“Really. That’s good.” Ander began doing some stretches as though he wasn’t prepping to run away a moment ago.

“Smooth tiger.” Bella shook her head.

“What tiger? And why would it be smooth?” Bastion looked around.