"Phew… Cmon, let's do this."
Rain walked into the barrier, sweating a bit.
Once Akari blocked the rock Shinto threw at her, Rain knew Akari would be the victor, so instead of watching, she began to stretch a bit.
Sweat beaded on her forehead from exertion, not nerves. She tied her silver hair into a messy half-up style that framed her face.
Sylvia gave a cheeky grin, slipping into the barrier as well. Her mana flickered softly, a gold glow dancing around her.
Akari stood next to Ken and Shinto, Akio near the barrier maintaining it.
"So how is she using mana? Are you cheating for Sylvia, Ken?"
Ken looked a bit baffled by Akari's question.
"She's using mana? How can you tell? She hasn't even done anything yet."
At this moment, Akari noticed something big. Others couldn't see mana the same way she could. She decided to give Ken a quick and simple answer,
"Soul weapon."
Ken glanced at the girl. Her red eyes faintly glowing, as if her very soul was trying to prove her words.
She wasn't lying, her soul weapon truly was the reason she could see mana, and Ken knew this. But what caught his attention was how easily she revealed this.
'Is it because she's still young and naive?'
Shinto touched the snake's tail, causing Ken to jump and his train of thought to be lost.
He hurriedly turned to the boy as he said, "Just what are you doing?"
"Huh? Well I've never seen a purple snake… I wanted to touch it."
Akari giggled at this, this little act reminding her that Shinto's just a kid as well.
"What's its name?"
Shinto asked this as his hand hovered near the snake, the snake keeping itself a safe distance from the hand yet never trying to bite.
"Ah, it's Vesper… Stop, let me start the next fight."
Shinto sighed as he put his hand down, waiting for the warden to start the fight.
Sylvia stood with her arms crossed, confidence filling her face.
"Three…"
Rain summoned Ranni's soul weapon, keeping a light grip on it.
"Butterfly Style right?"
Rain's whispers remained unheard by everyone.
"Two…"
Sylvia's mana began fluctuating, as if fuel had been thrown onto her bright flames.
"One…"
Rain's eyes narrowed.
"Go!"
Rain began running towards Sylvia, a sword that seemed to be bending the air it was travelling through being pointed towards Sylvia's neck.
The air shimmered from the heat, and Rain felt a dry wave brush against her face.
"You don't even know my abilities, I thought you'd be more cautious Ranni!"
Sylvia's mana transformed.
Six bright fireballs orbited Sylvia in a tight ring, each crackling with hungry light.
Akari's eyes lit up.
It was her first time seeing fire magic. She began observing how it was made, the structure, and even where the mana came from.
Everything began getting tuned out.
"How is she using magic!? Akari was right?!"
Ken was almost as shocked as Shinto.
"So she truly can see mana… Just how did Sylvia circumvent the mana sealing bracelets though?"
*Fizzz!*
Akari was shocked back into the fight. Rain pierced one of the fireballs that were sent at her.
What was amazing was how Rain didn't cut the fireball, but the structure of the mana. She bent the fireball til the point where it couldn't contain the mana inside, and imploded.
"I don't know how you can use magic, but it won't save you from my blade Sylvia."
Rain's yellow eyes shimmered with determination. Her charge resumed, and Sylvia looked a bit surprised.
"I had a feeling one fireball wouldn't be enough to stop you but did you have to destroy it so easily? Oh well, more strength for me!"
As Sylvia said this, Akari noticed Sylvia's mana get even larger, the scale over her head tipping over. The golden orb on the left dimmed while the emerald orb brightened, tilting the scale toward green.
The fireballs, originally a bright orange, changed to a light red.
The heat emitting from the flames intensified as three more were sent flying at Rain.
The crackle of the fireballs mixed with the thud of Rain's steps, the courtyard heat pressing down on them both.
Rain squinted her eyes, the heat beginning to get to her, and slashed each fireball. Instead of bending it til it couldn't keep its shape, she just knocked them back to Sylvia.
"Oh!"
Sylvia narrowly dodged, a bit of sweat forming on the side of her cheek.
'That was a close one!'
Surprisingly, this time, the scale moved a bit to the yellow side.
Everytime the scale moved, Akari wondered what exactly Sylvia's soul weapon did.
"Butterfly thrust."
Rain's calm voice echoed through the barrier, her blade already reaching Sylvia's right arm.
Sylvia smiled, raising her arm.
"You're too focused on my blade."
The blade missed her, but Rain didn't.
As if Rain expected that, she let go of the sword and punched Sylvia in the face with her left arm.
This time, both sides of the scales glowed, with Rain saying,
"I think I get it now, your soul weapon that is."
Sylvia spat out some blood, rubbing her cheek as she said, "Ow… What? So, what's your theory? And seriously, where does all that power come from?!"
"You make bets in real time, don't you? And whatever you bet on, your soul weapon enforces it—giving the winner some type of strengthening effect right?"
Sylvia smiled, though it came out like a smirk thanks to her left cheek being numb.
"Almost. It's not just buffs—it's anything that benefits the winner. Even something small. That's how I can use magic, even with this bracelet."
Rain's eyes widened, seeing the scales tilt even more to the emerald side.
'Wait, she won another bet? What did she even bet on?'
Rain quickly resummoned Ranni's soul weapon, the wooden sword on the ground disappearing and reappearing in her right hand.
Sylvia grinned, her right cheek being healed and the scale tipping towards the emerald orb again.
Rain rushed forward, wanting to end this before Sylvia could make any more bets.
'Light and quick, just like Ranni'
Rain tried her best to make her thoughts a reality, hitting Sylvia 4 times in an instant.
A bruise formed on both of Sylvia's wrist, the right side of her neck and her left shoulder.
"Ugh!"
Sylvia jumped back, leaving a fireball in her place.
"Sorry about this, but you're just too quick!"
*Boom!*
Rain was caught in a small explosion, leaving her arms burned from blocking it.
Her grip was still light on the sword, but it suddenly began to tighten.
Rain flicked back her disheveled hair from the explosion.
Her eyes glimmered with cold annoyance. The mask of Ranni slipped away in an instant, burned off by the heat. Now it was Rain who faced Sylvia, not her twin.
Rain raised Ranni's soul weapon towards Sylvia as she said,
"Prepare yourself."
Sylvia had a nervous smile. Though she was a daredevil, something about those words and Rain's stare caught her off guard.
Rain stepped forward, her shadow stretching across the ice. Each step was silent, yet heavy.
Sylvia created a thick wall of ice, the heat that used to encompass the barrier canceling out.
"Oh Sun God Ignia, lend me your strength."
Sylvia began chanting behind the protection of the ice wall.
Akari watched even closer. The mana inside of Sylvia began moving towards her brain, then towards her hands.
It was amazing to watch, making Akari wonder if she needed to chant spells to have this effect, or could she just do it without chanting.
*Cccccrack!*
Rain had struck the Ice wall, a large crack appearing on the wall, yet it didn't break.
"Hmph."
Rain had struck again, this time the wall bent.
Before the wall could return to normal, she struck again.
"Encompass my foe in your beautiful light, shower them in your brilliant heat."
Sylvia's mana was overflowing at this point, and gathering between her hands was a small phoenix.
Rain had carved her way through the ice wall and rushed to Sylvia, trying to finish her before she could complete her spell.
"Burn her, Embers of Rebirth!"
Sylvia let the spell fly at Rain, and Rain spun around in response, using her momentum to strike upwards at the bird.'
The phoenix's heat forced Rain's eyes shut as her blade clashed with it.
Though she was trying her hardest, she was still only using her right hand, getting burned from the scolding heat of the immortal bird.
"Just… give it up!"
Rain shouted as she swung upwards, knocking the phoenix off track.
"Phew."
Breathing out, Rain began her advance to Sylvia again. Her footsteps were much quicker this time, with Sylvia just raising her hands. Rain could see the scales tilting towards the yellow side.
Right before Rain's sword could touch her, Sylvia called out,
"I give up!"
Rain immediately unsummoned the soul weapon, just in time to not hit Sylvia.
"Huh? Just like that?"
Sylvia fell to the ground as she huffed out, "There's no way I can beat you… especially now that my mana's sealed again.The bracelet's suppression returned right after I used my strongest spell and still lost."
The crowd went wild, everyone cheering out loud.
This time, without Sylvia in the crowd placing bets, there were no winners or losers, just kids enjoying a fun show.
The barrier glowed, and with that, the two fighters' wounds began to heal.
The burned skin on Rain's arms and hands slowly rejuvenated itself and Sylvia's mana reserves, which were extremely low after that spell, were refilled.
Akari, ever curious, went to Akio and asked, "How does that barrier work?"
Akio looked at her as he said, "This barrier uses spatial magic. I freeze everything's state when the fight starts and revert it when it ends."
Akari was amazed. This kid could maintain such a complex barrier effortlessly, even while watching the fight.
She began to wonder if every child in this prison was special in their own way.
'This is the most secure prison in the continent after all…'
Akio began to glare at Evvls, as if telling him that it's their turn.
Akari, a bit unnerved by this, decided to walk over to Rain, saying,
"Great job out there, but you almost blew it at the end."
Rain's body shivered at these words, her saying,
"Sorry, just like how Ranni can't stand blood, I can't stand pain."
Akari's eyes raised. This was new, if she knew this earlier, she wouldn't have pushed her into this fight.
"No, I'm sorry."
Akari genuinely felt bad, but Rain was slightly confused, saying,
"W-whatever, after Akio and Evvls fight, I'm gonna go to the nurses office to change back. I'll need you there to tell Ranni some excuse to why she's there."
Akari thought for a moment before nodding and saying,
"Okay, sounds good. What's the excuse though?"
Rain smiled and stuck her tongue out, saying,
"That's your problem, not mine."
"How petty."
Akari said sarcastically, pinching Rain's arm.
"Nice fighting out there, now I'm glad I wasn't put against you."
Shinto said casually. Rain quickly slipped back into her twin's persona, saying,
"Thanks Shinto."
Akari was impressed by how quickly her tone changed.
"Evvls, you ready?"
Akio asked, but without waiting for his answer, he entered the barrier.
"Right, I almost forgot you were here, you're so quiet sometimes."
Akari said as Evvls got up. He'd been sitting on the ground, silently observing each fight.
Conqueror's strength, the blue scaled eastern dragoon was wrapped around his torso as he began walking towards the barrier, saying,
"My bad, was just thinking about some stuff. Make sure you cheer for me."
Akari laughed as she said, "You wish."
Evvls entered the barrier and Sylvia asked Rain,
"Who do you think'll win? I personally would put my money on Akio."
Rain glanced at Sylvia, seeing that her soul weapon was no longer over her.
This time, she was just making a lighthearted bet, so Rain decided to join in.
"Well, if you've got Akio, then I'll go with Evvls. What about you two?"
"I've gotta go with my boy Evvls."
Shinto said confidently. Akari didn't really know who to vote for, never seeing either fight before, but she wouldn't have a chance to vote.
Akari opened her mouth to say something, but gasps rippled through the crowd. Before Ken could even start the fight, a transparent spike pierced Evvls' gut.