We appeared on a plain in a location that I have never visited before. The sun beamed down softly on the grass, and the wind gently caressed the ground as it made its way through. The air smelt clean and fresh compared to the air in Orsalon. The sound of birds in the distance echoed around us along with the sound of various other wildlife.

"Now that we are here, we can talk about what you did right in that fight," Inovia told me as we sat down in the grass that tickled my exposed flesh.

"Alright, well, let's start with the bad."

"Well. You did well. However, you hesitated a few times. In a fight that will kill you. You need to be more sure of your abilities. You also need to learn the ins and outs of each one as well. It will help you grow more confident in yourself. There is also the matter of your blade work being absolute garbage as well.” She stood up and dusted off her fancy duelist clothing and extended her hand out towards mine. Which I gratefully took. So I need to work on my hesitation and learn my abilities more? Interesting. I dusted off my tunic, which I resolved to replace later today when I returned to the control room.

“Alright, I am ready to learn, teach me what you can,” I replied to her as I took a position across from her. “Though my first question revolves around the first ability that you used? The one that restricted my movements and gave me that slight suppression debuff.”

Inovia crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her hip. “It's a mana based passive skill. Naturally, for beings like us, it has reduced effects on, but for mortals, it is nearly oppressive in nature. The variant I use is called mana pressure, and it uses a percentage of your maximum mana. The passive amount is usually around three to four percent, but you can pour more of your mana in for more diverse effects.”

That would explain the feeling I got when I fought her. “Alright, well, teach me how to use that one, then, along with your ranged sword attacks.”

Inovia gave me a nod of her head and drew her sword.”So be it.” I grinned and teleported my blades to my hands and equipped them, and prepared myself for some training.

I collapsed to the ground in an exhausted heap and struggled to catch my breath. Inovia brushed her hair back and sheathed her sword and sat down next to me. “That was intense.”I managed to force the words out through ragged breaths. Inovia does not mess around when it comes to training. We trained nonstop for almost ten hours. Her first order of business was to correct a lot of the things she saw me do wrong in our sparring match—all the way from hesitation to giving away my next strike. My head swam with the sheer amount of information she bombarded me with at once. My body also ached since she tended to correct errors with an obscene amount of physical force. I rolled onto my stomach and muttered out, "That was brutal."

“You only learn when you are pushed to your limits. Besides, this is training that you are lacking. If you want to survive, you need this.” I mumbled out my agreement. It didn't mean that I had to like it.

"I know. Thank you for taking the time out of your day and helping me."

"Its no problem, at the end of the day, we all need to rely on each other to survive. I just hope that some of what I taught you sticks." She replied quietly as she ran her fingers through the tall grass.

"I am a quick learner, so it should. Anyways while we are sitting here, I do have something that I am curious about." Now was as good as time as any to press her on what she feels about Kyrie.Mostly since I was curious as to what was going to happen between the two, if given enough time, that is.

"What would that be, Lord Overseer?" She asked as she sat back onto her hands and basked in the falling twilight.

"What do you feel about Kyrie?" I asked as I propped head into my hands and crossed my feet at my ankles.

"Kyrie? That is an odd question. I have noticed her looks of adoration and how she follows me around like a puppy. However, I have no real preference towards the matter. Though I won't hurt her feelings if that is what you are worried about." She replied as she laid back on the grass and closed her eyes.

"I see. I was just curious. I don't mind if you guys pursue relationships with each other. You are your own people, after all." I rolled onto my back and stared at the night sky and the twinkling stars, and basked in the faint light produced by the rings.

"I will consider that thank you." She let out a deep sigh and settled into the ground. Silence descended onto the plains, only being broken by the occasional sound of wildlife. It felt nice just to lay here and enjoy something that I hand in creating. I let out a sigh and decided to look at all of the notifications that built up during our training session and were terrorizing my display with its incessant flashing.

That was quite the haul on my first real training run. I took a few deep breaths and watched my health bar slowly start to climb back up from close to zero, and my heartbeat slowed down quite a bit. I upped a lot of things and earned some new skills for my class that I want to try out pretty soon. But I want to see what they do first.

I should take a look at my current class sheet and see what It looks like now.

This looks good for the most part. I want to add in some of the stuff I learn from Inovia and the other gods. I know that it said I only get points from leveling up as an Administrator, but maybe I can use some creation mana and expand it that way. Since the class evolves at level ten, I want to make sure it evolves into something unique, and I can only do that by focusing on certain skills and incorporating them into my class. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself off the ground and brushed off my tattered and blood-stained clothing. “I learned a few new skills, would you mind if I tested them out Inovia?” I asked as I equipped my blades and sheathed them. I was happy that I managed to figure out how to use them. It made all my spells hit that much harder and much more effective.

“Sure, would you like to go to the control room? That way, neither of us gets overly hurt in the process.”

“That would be for the best, I suppose, I’m not quite ready to die.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and teleported back to the training room.

Once we arrived, we took positions across from each other, and I opened up the training room interface. Now that we have a feel for how we both fight, I feel more comfortable changing the environment around. In the list were dozens of different situations that I could choose from. I selected a plains area since she and I just finished training in one, and it felt the most comfortable for me at the moment. I confirmed the choice, and the walls melted away like sand.

The lights on the ceiling turned to liquid and flowed towards the middle and created a warm orange sun that sat above the few floating clouds. The wind started to blow through the room, causing all the grass to bow and ripple in gentle waves. I scanned the new area and could only see the plains for miles in each direction. After looking around to take stock of the environment, I brought the menu up and saw that I could alter any part of the training room that I pleased. I could turn the sun off, or create a thunderstorm. For the time being, everything was perfect the way it was. I dismissed the screen, and with a smooth motion, I drew my swords from their sheathes. Each blade circled me protectively, and another set of Ethereal blades joined them a split second later. “You ready, Inovia?” I asked her as I made a motion with my hand, and each blade began to circle around me quicker. That training session made controlling these blades much better, and even basic movements like walking feel significantly better, I actually felt like I was gliding each time I took a step.

Instead of replying, Inovia drew her sword and pushed her hair behind her ear and rested her free hand behind her back. Instead of rushing in, it took a second to take stock of the situation. Don’t rush things; see what you can do to win the fight. I felt Inovias mana pressure start to descend around me, and I answered with my own. Thankfully mine was slightly more substantial, so it canceled out the effects of hers. Good, that was one advantage for me. Now, what else can I do to maximize my chances of winning? Time to see how well I can combine skills. I used my haunting breath skill and drew out a long airy sigh and activated my chilled air passive right after. The breath that passed from my lips immediately condensed to fog from the drastic drop in temperature. Now for the next skill. I flicked the hilt of my sheathed sword, and instead of the peel of bells that usually rang in response, I heard the small shake of chimes. It was a low, quiet sound, yet I found the first time that I discovered the skill; the sound sent shivers down my spine.

Inovia stood across from me, staring at me with her usual uncaring eyes, watching me like a hawk. Now that I have more tools at my disposal, I should be able to manage her much better than before. I quickly cast three fireballs towards her, along with a handful of ice spikes. I knew they wouldn’t hit her, but I just wanted to distract her long enough to make a move.

I activated fleeting steps, and instead of going straight towards her, I sunk into the ground and used to lunge to cross the distance. I could not see her, but I could guess where she was standing. I activated Paradoxical slash and swung my blades in a short arc in front of me and lunged again. I shot out from the ground and quickly turned myself so the sun wouldn't blind me and leave me open for a counter-attack.

I heard the sound of India's rapier cutting through the air, and I brought my blades around in front of me. The sound of metal crashing against metal filled the plains we were standing on. I could hear the thrum of my heartbeat growing faster as excitement grew in my chest. I activated fleeting steps again and floated away from her. I was faster than before. Inovia was still fast, but I was catching up with her.

The familiar menacing red light encased the hilt of her sword, and I knew she was about to activate a paradoxical skill. I waited until the last second before she flicked her wrist to activate dimensional step. For a few seconds after using the ability, my vision was overtaken by a myriad of colors. Thankfully since we trained for a few hours, and I spammed this ability, I had a basic understanding of how this skill worked and how to maneuver around this unknown realm, even if it is only slightly. I counted to three and took a few steps forward and activated lunge.

My vision shifted back the plains and swung my blades down in a smooth motion. I could see a look of surprise appear on Inovia’s face for the briefest of seconds before her face reset back to the same uncaring look.

Faster than she could react, my blades pierced her flesh and cut through her clothing and left a jagged hole that ran from her collar bone down to her navel. She stumbled backward, and a wet cough escaped from her lips along with a sprinkle of blood. She dropped to a knee, but yet she held her rapier firmly in her hand. “You learn quickly. However, it will take more than a dirty trick to beat me.”

Before I could respond to her words, the paradox mana spread from her hilt and crawled over her body and encased it in ominous red light. She stood up slowly, and her hair rose wildly into the air like a fan was blowing on it from beneath her. Her cyan eyes lit up with a blood-red fire and sent shivers down my spine. The blood stopped pouring from her chest and was forced back into her body by the mana that was circling her. The very light around her started to be absorbed by the free-flowing mana.

I felt very uneasy. Almost as if I had just unlocked the second phase of an incredibly hard boss fight. She grabbed the bottom of the rapier with her spare hand and pulled. The mana rushed to greet the handle as her hands came into contact with it. The mana pulsed and twisted as she pulled and inch by inch from hilt came another rapier that was an exact copy of the first. “Prepare yourself, lord Overseer, for I am abandoning all defense.” Her words echoed with magical might as she took a step forward. She held a sword on each side of her, and the mana crawled around the blade like an army of ants. She looked like a blood-splattered demon that just rose from the depths of hell. I gulped and raised my swords in turn. This was going to be a very difficult fight, one that I am not sure that I can win.