Meditation, Yuki found, was a wonderful tool. Shutting out the outside world and focusing solely on yourself. Emptying your mind of any noise to enjoy blissful peace. That’s not what she used it for.

That noise she embraced. She let in everything from outside at full blast, her head adding it to the chaos within her mind. 

This was her time. Her time to think and only think. But that didn’t mean she neglected her training. Times like these were perfect times for her to work on her mental prowess, manipulating mana and elements as she thought. It had become almost second nature now, trapped in the Coliseum for almost twelve days, sitting down in the space of her mana dimension and closing her eyes to absorb the fabricated reality around her, all while summoning orbs of elemental magic around her and manipulating them about. 

While her subconscious worked, so too did her active mind. Right now, the topic at hand was her next battle, likely to take place in an hour or so in the outside world. 

‘Who might I face?’ she thought. 

That was the question. She knew roughly the people that were in her rotation. New combatants were added almost daily, however, throwing her internal catalog off at times. At the same time, some died while others were moved. Yuki knew that trying to predict who she might face next might prove more harmful than helpful, but she liked the routine it gave her. Even if she never fought any of the people she thought of, creating strategies and countermeasures was fun for her.

That combined with her constant training under Sophie helped distract her. 

Speaking of Sophie, Yuki wondered how her progress was going. During the times Yuki meditated, Sophie was in the library researching and thinking. They would meet up again once Yuki’s meditation time finished to go right back to training. 

‘I don’t think Ghost will be my opponent for a bit,’ Yuki thought. ‘That’s good. I’m not ready yet.’

Ghost had his battles rescheduled to every four days. That meant Yuki wouldn’t be able to possibly face him until four battles later barring any manipulation by the Fiddler. She also doubted that the Fiddler would throw such a foe at her so early. It would be a bad business decision. At best, Ghost would pummel her for an unentertaining match. At worst, the Fiddler would lose a new toy.

‘Now. Let’s see who we might be facing.’

She began flipping through a mental gallery of every person she had seen fight on the same days as her. Her mind filtered them out one by one, striking them from her list. Some were too weak, others too strong, and more she already had analyzed before. 

The rest of her list was narrowed down to five. 

‘Three sluggers, one mage, and one that looks like a mix,’ she thought. ‘Two of them are new, so I don’t have much about them. Not that I have much on the others.’

What she did know was that one of them was currently on a losing streak of two. That meant one more loss before their demise. That was when desperation would set in, and desperation made everyone more dangerous. 

There was also the hint of a pattern that Yuki had begun to pick up on when it came to her opponents. The first opponent was a mage that was on a losing streak. The second was a brawler who was on a losing streak. The third was a magic swordsman. Who was on a losing streak.

‘But patterns are meant to be broken. Right?’ 

Though she thought that, she had a sinking suspicion who her next opponent was. If she won, it would be essentially her fourth kill within the arena. She could still remember how each of her opponents had reacted at their loss. The second broke into tears sobbing, too broken to even attempt a trick. The third stabbed himself, growling that he wouldn’t let the crowd have the pleasure of killing him.

‘That’s life here though,’ she sighed. ‘It’s kill or be killed. And even if you don’t kill them in the arena, you’ve just taken one of their chances of living.’

She would get used to it. Eventually.

‘Let’s prepare for all of them. I don’t want to get caught off guard.’

“Spears!” the Fiddler thundered in his raspy voice. “The weapon has been decided!”

Yuki yanked the spear that flew towards her out of the air and gave a quick spin before setting the butt on the ground. The cheers and chants of the crowd fell to the back of her mind as her eyes stayed steady on her opponent who stood ahead of her.

‘This could be my fourth kill.’

She forced her grip on her spear to loosen. Showing weakness was dangerous here. She reviewed her analysis of the man in front of her, running through each strategy and counter she had created.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard the crowd began their countdown. Her eyes drifted towards the glass that separated the arena from the lounge and met Jesse’s who gave a short nod, her lips pressed together.

“There’s nothing you can do” was what that look said to Yuki.

“ONE!” the crowd. Yuki slid a foot back. “FIGHT!”

The moment the word was uttered, she blasted forward, charging right at her opponent. 

It wasn’t a tactic that she enjoyed, but the man in front of her was a turtler, someone who only defended and played it slow. Normally, Yuki would have been more than willing to stay put and play a game of anticlimactic chicken, but something told her that the crowd wouldn’t appreciate that and by extension the Fiddler.

She did a small jab with her spear when she was in range to test the man. He swatted it away with a tiny flick of his wrists, doing just enough to deflect the attack. Yuki did a few more test jabs, each jab being pushed away in the same manner. One flick of the wrist, and that was all. His feet never moved and his arms barely shifted.

‘A master turtle.’

The man was conserving as much energy as he could. Yuki also knew that his stamina was nothing to laugh at. A prolonged fight wouldn’t turn to her favor.

‘One last test,’ she thought. 

Winding her arm back, she took aim and rocketed her spear right at her opponent’s stomach. The spear hurtled through the air, propelled by the strength in her arm that she bolstered with mana. The man braced his arms in front of himself before the spear slammed into him. 

But the spear didn’t pierce. It hit a barrier right before it could touch the man, the force of the impact jolting the man back an inch. 

‘I knew it,’ she thought, holding her hand out as she called the spear back to her.

With no way to feel magic while watching from the lounge, Yuki could only guess the reason for her opponent’s abnormal sturdiness. Now she knew for sure. 

It was time for her to try and end this battle. She sprang away from her opponent, putting space between them. The man didn’t follow. He only looked at her with a confused expression that Yuki ignored. 

‘I need speed.’

She channeled mana throughout her body, all while imagining lightning crackling around her. To be unruly and wild. To be faster than anything in the world. That was lightning. 

Yuki’s body grew lighter and lighter as time seemed to slow around her. She took up a stance, different from any that she had used before. Her instincts urged her on. Then she went on the attack again.

Her movements were like a viper striking, quick and full of intent. She felt lightning spark off her skin as she moved. It all felt so different from when she imbued herself with earth mana, but it somehow felt familiar. The same ferocity and elegance was there in the moves, but the style had changed dramatically. 

She unleashed a barrage of strikes with her spear onto the man, attacking from all angles with stabs and jabs that blurred through the air. Her opponent tried to defend himself the best he could, but he wasn’t built for such speed. His shields couldn’t be brought up in time to block every strike and he could only dodge a few at a time. 

Strike after strike hit home, slicing the man along his arms, legs, chest, everything. All this as Yuki felt more energized than she had in days. 

At last, the man threw his weapon to the side and went to his knees. Yuki stopped her assault to give her opponent a questioning look.

“It’s my loss,” he said gruffly. “Prolonging it would just waste all of our time.”

He was right. By surrendering, he was cutting out a large portion of time. Between his and Yuki’s stamina, it might have gone on for quite a while. But to be able to admit defeat and accept loss so easily was not something easy to do. Yuki’s respect for the man rose as she looked at him on his knees with a resigned look of acceptance.

“Good fight,” the man said. “Even if it was my last fight. I’m glad it could be with someone as skilled as you.”

“Good fight,” Yuki repeated. The man nodded, but said no more. There was nothing more to say.

'I wonder who he was before this life.'

She stopped the flow of her mana , and the energy drained out from Yuki, the electricity around her fizzing away. It was the first time she had used a dance other than earth.

‘It’s a bit taxing, but I’ll get the hang of it soon,’ she thought. ‘Then the others. Just more things to add to the list.’

She sighed, but her thoughts were interrupted by the Fiddler, whose voice boomed as he shouted.

“And the battle has ended!”