Wednesday arrived sooner than Rin expected it to. The time all but flew by, and before Rin knew it, she was walking into Harriton's class with anxiety weighing heavily on her shoulders. Her fight was scheduled for later today. Which meant that, soon, she'd find out if she had the skills necessary to continue on her path at the Arena. Whether it was just a fluke, or whether she didn't really have the talent to fight intelligent beings, she'd find out later today.

As her classmates poured into the room with her, Harriton smiled and greeted them all.

"Good morning, everyone, how are we doing today?" He asked as he organized a few papers.

"Very well, sir," Elisa replied as she sat down and crossed one leg over the other, pushing a bit of hair behind her right shoulder.

"Good, good," Harriton replied, putting his hands on his hips. "Before we begin, I just wanted to let you all know something about your mission next week." He began pacing from side to side, "So, as I'd said on Monday, you will all be taking real missions starting in January. In preparation for that, we want to keep developing your abilities as individuals, and in terms of being grouped. That means that the way things are going to work from here on, you have about four missions left. This next one is going to be team-based, but the one after will be individual. We'll repeat that order with the two afterward and, then, yeah. You'll get to work for real."

He clapped his hands together, maintaining his smile but speaking in a slightly more serious tone.

"Remember, once you start working, even though you'll be fighting the weakest monsters out there, we are not gonna be there to help you. You'll be on your own in real life-or-death situations, understand? So, if you haven't been paying much attention in class up until now, try to rectify that in these coming weeks."

He paused, letting those words sink into everyone's minds. As for Rin, between this and the fight she'd be having later, she was almost beginning to feel overwhelmed.

[As long as I can keep making some money, it's worth it, though.]

"Without further ado, let's get to class!"

Almost as though taking into consideration that people may have been resting on their laurels when it came to his class up until now, Harriton chose to do a short recap of everything they'd learned. He went over a few of the different trees of spellsigns he'd taught, such as the circle-based Healing tree, the arrow-based Fire tree, and so on. He went over runes, and how those were applied onto different surfaces and created. He mentioned enchanted items, and how advanced-level mages could create their own. Finally, he went into today's topic, which was how different spells interacted. Mainly making sure that the class knew that how spells interacted didn't always make logical sense, and instead were dictated by the strength of the user.

For example, if a mage cast a [Fireball] at an opponent, and that opponent countered with an [Ice Spear], and these abilities clashed in mid-air, regardless of how this interaction would play out naturally it was the potency of mages involved that would determine the outcome.

Rin was honestly thankful for the brief summary of their past lessons. Given everything she'd been doing lately, she was definitely someone whose attention span had failed her during these classes a few times.

Soon, it was time for Cara's class, and by now, the anxiety that Rin had felt took a slightly stronger hold of her heart as she imagined what would happen.

[I'm probably going to end up getting knocked out again,] she thought, sighing to herself as Cara spoke in front of her. [What if my next opponent is even stronger than Seth? What if I've lost my touch because I haven't been training often enough? What then?]

"Rin."

The adventurer blinked, looking up as she heard her name.

"Y-Yeah?" She asked, as Cara crossed her arms and furrowed her brows at her.

"Considering how spaced out you are, I take it you already understand what a land eel's weakness is, right? Care to tell everyone?"

Being put on the spot like this, Rin's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she tried to search for something to say.

In the end, she simply lowered her head and replied:

"Uh, no, sorry."

"Well, I'm trying to tell you, so pay attention," Cara stated. "As I was saying, land eels are weak to fire. It causes their bodies to explode. You can deal with them pretty easily that way, but you should know that their skin is actually pretty valuable. It's used for stuff like furniture and clothing because it's exceptionally soft. So, if you use this method of eliminating them you won't be able to bring their skin back with you to sell it. Just something to note while you're out in the wild."

Eve shot Rin a sympathetic look but the raven-haired girl was quick to wave her concern away.

[Nah, she's right. I should focus,] Rin thought, taking a deep breath. [Thinking about the fight right now isn't going to do me any good.]

Noon arrived before long and now, Rin was walking up to Maria's class along with everyone else, this time, however, with her head focused solely on her courses.

As she and the others walked in, they found that Maria had set up a few racks of wooden weapons along the walls. She gave them all a warm, but slightly cheeky smile, as she held her hands behind her back and waited for them to fill the space.

She got straight to business as soon as everyone was settled.

"Today, I figured we should have a little test of sorts. See where everyone's at, so I can get a better gauge of what you all need to be improving on before your missions begin next month. Does that sound good?"

The students all nodded and she did the same.

"Alright then," she said, pulling her hands to the front and bringing up a sheet of paper she'd been holding. "First up, Seth, and Rin."

Rin's eyes widened.

[What?]

Seth was quick to step forward, confident, and ready. Rin, however, stood there for a few seconds, frozen.

Maria noticed her reaction and said:

"We're just going to be sparring for a few seconds. You know it doesn't take me long to identify points of improvement. Don't worry."

[Right, right,] Rin thought, nodding. As Seth went and picked up a wooden sword from the racks, Rin took up her fighting stance.

Her classmates watched with some anticipation as Seth went to stand in front of her. Before, this was a laughable sight. Now, however, her classmates didn't seem quite as amused by the thought of Rin fighting an opponent like Seth with her fists like this. She hoped that meant that they were beginning to see the fruits of her efforts, and not that the amusement had turned to pity.

"Begin."

As Maria spoke that word, Seth dashed forward. He was far quicker on his feet than he had been at the beginning of the semester. The same could be said for Rin, however. After just a brief second of hesitation, she side-stepped his vertical swing and went to reply with a fist to his abdomen. Seth took the hit willingly, gritting his teeth before responding with a horizontal swing aimed at Rin's head.

Rin hadn't seen that coming. She brought her right arm up to block the attack, as she determined she didn't have the time to dodge it, and the wooden sword crashed into her elbow.

"Agh!" She let out, staggering back. Seth moved forward to continue attacking.

Maria, however, had seen enough.

"Done," she said, and Seth stopped right where he was. "Good work."

She took out that sheet of paper she'd read a minute ago and pulled out a pencil from one of her pockets, scribbling some notes onto it. Seth just put the wooden sword back where he'd gotten it and walked to the back of the room, putting one foot on the wall as Rin walked to the opposite side.

[I messed up again,] Rin thought, sitting on a bench.

After that, Maria did the same thing with a number of different combinations of classmates. Rin went again a little while later, taking on Dylan. Elisa fought Sara and later fought Seth, and so on. By the time they were done, Rin wasn't too sure where she stood.

"Good stuff, everyone," Maria said to them as the class came to a close. "Go ahead and get some lunch. I'll share some of my thoughts with you all on Friday."

Rin walked out with her class, on their way to the cafeteria. Eve flew over to her and asked:

"Are you alright? That was a pretty bad blow you took."

"I'm okay," Rin replied with a smile she hoped would calm the fairy down. "It's just sore. Uh, so, we're going to be working soon. Pretty exciting, right?" She asked, trying to change the topic. In truth, the blow she'd taken from Seth did more to damage her ego than her body.

"Yeah!" Eve replied with a little giggle before flying in front of Rin, moving backward so as to not stop her. "By the way, have you, uh, changed your mind at all?"

"About what?"

"Working together," Eve said. "You know, the two of us against the world and all that."

"Nah, I'm still down," Rin reassured her. Someone else heard that and walked forward.

"I'd love to work with you both as well."

Rin turned and found Lisa walking with her.

"If you'll have me, of course," the woman added.

"Eh, I don't mind," Rin shrugged.

Eve, however, had a different reaction. She paused for a moment and then said:

"Well... We're both spellweavers, right?" She asked. "It would be kinda..." She didn't finish that sentence, but Lisa seemed to get the message.

"Oh, I suppose you're right," Lisa nodded. Rin gave Eve a surprised look. "Maybe, if we both enter a raid or some such thing, we'll get the chance."

"... Maybe," Eve muttered. As for Rin, she was still stuck on the "we're both spellweavers" part.

[Is that really a reason you can't work together?]

Eve seemed to think so.

Lisa gave her a slightly disappointed expression, albeit maintaining her smile, but Eve looked away.

Lunch went by without much happening. The only thing Rin noticed that was a little bit interesting was how Varyn would occasionally glance at her with suspicious eyes, but she guessed that was because of what her "sister" had done when they went to go get those concert tickets. She set that aside, however, as she needed to focus on what she had in front of her.

That fight later today was getting closer and closer, and with it, Rin's anxiety continued to bubble under her skin. However, as a couple of hours passed and Rin's body healed up, Rin decided that maybe Maria would have something to say that could help her deal with it. With that in her mind, she went up to the Meditation Center, where Maria stood up as soon as Rin walked into the room.

"So," Rin said, "how screwed am I?"

Maria chuckled.

"Not at all," she said, walking over to her student. "Is your opponent someone you believe you should be scared of?"

"It's another beginner, but, Seth was-"

"Someone with prodigious strength who has been training just as much as you have, and maybe trained even before you began your own journey. Not someone you should compare this next opponent with," Maria interrupted her.

"What if this next guy is the same?"

"What if he isn't?" Maria asked with a raised brow. "You have no way of knowing, do you?"

"..." Rin looked away when she heard that. Maria wasn't having any of that, though. She walked up and gently placed two fingers under Rin's chin, lightly pushing her head up to make Rin look into her eyes.

"Rin... I've been meaning to tell you this for a while," Maria said with a sigh. "Now... I'm not one to talk, for reasons I'd rather not get into, but I feel like you need to hear this. It's okay to be cautious, but there's a fine line between that and unfounded pessimism," Maria said to her softly. "Understood?"

"Y-Yeah," Rin answered.

"Good," Maria smiled a little, taking a step back. "Let's go over your fundamentals. We'll cover some of the most important things I've taught you so far, and then, you'll head over to the Arena, and put those lessons into practice. But, once you do, once you get there and fight whoever it is you're set to fight, I want you to focus on these lessons. When the fight's done, I don't want you thinking about the outcome, regardless of whether you win or lose. I want you to be thinking about the lessons you've learned. Ask yourself, 'did I apply them?' Okay?"

Rin nodded.

"Good. Let's get to work."

---

{Elisa}

"With how often you see fighting at your academy, I'm sure this is going to be terribly boring for you, isn't it?" Iris asked Elisa as she, her aunt, and her fiance all shared a small car on their way to the Arena. Iris was in the passenger seat, while Elisa was sandwiched between her aunt and Marvain in the back.

"Nah, not really," Elisa shrugged.

"Why's that?" Iris asked. Before Elisa even answered, she caught her aunt giving her a look of, "please, watch what you say."

"Everyone has their own different styles in combat," Elisa stated.

"Hm. I can't imagine many different ways for people to punch each other in the face."

Elisa would have been happy to explain a few to her if she believed the other noblewoman had any real desire to learn about this. Because of that, she simply replied with:

"Understandable."

"Hm, take a look at that," Marvain said, throwing an arm around Elisa in the back. "I suppose this is adequate entertainment for them."

He said that while pointing at a line of people that had formed outside.

[Clearly, it's adequate entertainment for us too. Are you forgetting that? What does that say about us?]

Their driver parked the car and everyone exited the vehicle. Of course, the people in the line stared at them, some looking with resentment, some with jealousy. As soon as the guard outside saw them, he gestured for the people at the front of the line to back up a little and, of course, they were let through immediately.

The inside of the building was so packed that Elisa wondered how many of those people outside were actually going to get to watch any fights today. The nobles went to the side, to the benches where they could watch the stage in peace.

Carliah and Iris sat in front of Elisa and Marvain, on a bench just a few steps down. As soon as they were settled Marvain did just as he'd done in the car and threw an arm around Elisa once again.

"Once we're done here, how about we head into the back and have some fun before we go home, eh?" Marvain asked her in a whisper.

"Of course, dear," Elisa responded automatically.

She tried her absolute hardest to tune out her fiance's words after that. Mostly, she kept her eyes fixed ahead, as two fighters came out from backstage. One was a man with a very rugged, burly appearance. The other was a young boy who, quite frankly, looked a lot like Marvain, with blonde hair and charming blue eyes, dressed in some rags and wearing wrist wrappings.

[No offense, but I really hope you get the shit beat out of you,] she thought as she saw that boy walk out. [It's the closest I'll ever get to seeing Marvain get his ass kicked.]

More people walked in from the line outside, only to realize that the building was so full they were pretty much going to have to watch the fight from the door. As the announcer's microphone turned on and the two fighters were introduced, Elisa leaned back a little, getting ready to watch.

"... battle, begin!" The announcer called out and the referee in the middle of the stage took a step back, letting both warriors attack one another.

Elisa hadn't lied about what she told Iris. To her, the reason she was genuinely excited to see these fights was because she wanted to see their approach to it all. During her term at the Academy, Elisa had been given the privilege of witnessing many small-scale fights between her classmates.

One of which, her roommate, preferred to fight with just her fists in the same way that these warriors were. That was who Elisa would be comparing them to while she watched.

"Aaaaah!" The bigger one gave out a loud cry that came straight from his gut. He launched a single hard punch aimed at the smaller fighter that the boy dodged easily. He attacked the bigger man with a kick and a punch that barely fazed him.

"Oh, poor boy," Marvain said with a cackle. "He's going to get snapped in half!"

[... If the other guy could ever get his hands on him, sure,] Elisa thought, nodding politely. [He's too fast, though. Without a mistake on his part, there's really no way the bigger guy ever touches him.]

That was the story of the entire fight. The burly, rugged fighter would make huge, wide, telegraphed, moves, and the blonde kid dodged them all easily. He ducked under several hooks, leaned away from uppercuts, and side-stepped the bigger man's kicks. The frustration on the bigger fighter's face was so clear to see that Elisa nearly felt sorry for him.

But, thankfully, he wasn't embarrassed for long. At one point, he overcommitted to one punch and put so much momentum behind it that the smaller boy easily tripped him by simply sticking a leg out. And, as soon as the man fell, the blonde boy was on his back, choking him.

He tapped and the fight was over, just like that.

"Well... Never mind," Marvain muttered. Elisa held back a smirk.

As those fighters vacated the stage, Elisa sighed, hoping the next fight would be a little more eventful.

She got her wish immediately.

Once the next fighters came out, Elisa went through a sequence of different emotions all in the span of about ten seconds as she laid her eyes on one of them in particular.

One of the two fighters coming in was a dark-skinned man wearing some ragged cloth all over his body. His head was nearly covered in its entirety, save for his eyes which were brown and piercing.

The other was a woman. That alone was enough for Elisa to perk up a little, as she knew female fighters in the Arena weren't as common as, say, female adventurers. But what really made Elisa's eyes bulge out of their sockets was the combination of three things:

Her hair, her body, and her eyes.

Her hair mirrored Elisa's own, in terms of color. It was the exact same tint of firey red-orange locks that Elisa had falling down her back right now, tied up into a ponytail.

Her body was... Well, the only thing that indicated that she was a fighter was how defined her muscles were. She looked very well trained. Aside from that, however, she had boobs so big that Elisa could only think of a few people she regularly saw who matched them, and the curves of a model.

But, this was why her eyes stood out so much. Because there was one person she knew who had the goddess-like body that this fighter had, and owned the exact same pair of amber eyes.

It was when she saw them that Elisa put two and two together.

[RIN!?]

As soon as she made the connection, it was like her slightly more toned body and the different colored hair faded. Her roommate was there, on the stage. She was watching her walk out there, wearing a tight black shirt, black shorts, and white bandages of sorts wrapped around her hands, intent on fighting.

Suddenly, Elisa found herself grinning.

[... Holy shit. Rin, how many hobbies do you have!?]

If she had been a little spaced out before, now, Elisa was sitting at the edge of her seat.

---

{Rin}

[Well,] the adventurer thought. [Here goes nothing.]

She put Xhez's bag just outside the door she'd be walking out from. The sprite had cast her Illusion onto Rin and went right back into her bag, as she'd made it clear before that she didn't like this place, and Rin wanted to respect that. Unfortunately, however, that meant she had nothing but her own thoughts to listen to as she waited for her time to come.

The other two fighters had just walked off the stage, and soon, it would be Rin's turn. Her body felt like electricity was coursing through it, with butterflies in her stomach and with restless hands waiting at her sides.

Then, the referee gestured for the fighters to come out and Rin did just that.

[Just remember the fundamentals.] Rin walked forward. Coming out of the shadows, the sun hit her eyes and she put a hand up to block it as she saw her opponent. [Read his movements, learn his patterns. Don't be afraid, and control yourself,] she thought as she stood in the middle of the stage.

She couldn't see much of her opponent's face, but he didn't seem to be as nervous as she was.

[Whatever happens, happens. Just give it everything you've got.]

"Ladies, and gentlemen," the announcer began as some people in the crowd hollered, "the following bout is a match between two beginners! Fighting on the left side, a warrior of Cardanian descent, he has a record of 1 win and 0 losses, Tempest!" 

Rin's opponent turned toward the crowd and bowed to them.

"Fighting on the right side, she is a fighter with 1 win, and 1 loss, Lyn Rosecaller!"

Rin did not react. As the crowd began to grow more and more excited to see them face off, Rin continued to take steady breaths, getting her nerves under control.

[... I'm as ready as I'll ever be,] Rin thought as the referee looked at both of them. Tempest nodded, Rin nodded, and with that, he took a step back.

"Let the battle begin!"

Tempest charged toward her. Rin was slightly startled but she quickly took up her stance.

The battle began with a right hook from Tempest that Rin leaned away from, watching the man's fist pass in front of her face. She then spun and transitioned into a kick that pushed the other fighter away, giving Rin a few extra seconds to steel her mind. Her hands still felt like they were shaking.

Her opponent dashed forward again. Rin watched him approach and then, he launched two hooks, a pair of wild, almost-desperate swings that Rin avoided. Right now, she simply wanted to get a feel for how this man fought.

That said, she remembered what had happened in her first fight. She couldn't just stay back the whole time or the referee would step in. That meant that she had to pick spots to get her own offense in, and she found one of them when Tempest stepped forward and went for a flashy crescent kick, aimed at her jaw.

It was a move Rin had both seen and performed so many times that her response came instinctively. She stepped into the man's space in the middle of his spin, and she put a leg behind the one he'd kept planted before pushing him back, tripping him to the ground.

Desperately, Tempest got back up and even though Rin couldn't see his entire face, his wide eyes let her know that he'd felt the danger he was in just now.

[If I was a little more aggressive, I could have gotten on top of him and started pounding the guy,] Rin thought. [Next time... Yeah, next time. For now, just stay focused.]

Keeping her stance, she narrowed her eyes at her opponent as the sounds of the audience faded into the background. All she could hear was her own breathing and the sound of her heartbeat thudding in her ears. Right up until Tempest dashed forward again.

He ran up, hands pulled back with clear intent. Rin didn't panic, Rin didn't move away from him. She waited until he committed and when he did, she reacted.

He went for one right hook and a left uppercut. Rin parried the first punch, redirecting the man's hand away from her face, and then did the same with the second fist. Then, she saw it. An opening. Ducking, Rin pushed into the man's space and then landed a single, crushing blow at his gut. She didn't put quite as much strength into it as she could have because she hadn't expected such a clear weakness to pop up, but the attack still sent the man flying back, rolling to a stop at the edge of the stage.

The crowd went crazy for that. Rin stared down at her right fist for a moment, covered in white wrappings.

[I can do this,] she thought, inhaling slowly. [I can win.]

Tempest got back up and now, judging from his eyes alone, he seemed angry. Rin got back into her stance, holding her fists up, and waited for him to come again.

Her opponent, however, simply got into his own stance and stayed right where he was.

[... Well,] Rin thought, noticing how he refused to move, [being on the attack hasn't exactly worked out for this guy so, I can't say I blame him. Hm. Maybe I can bait him to be aggressive again, though. Let's see.]

Her plan was simple. She was going to run up herself this time but she wanted to start pulling back as soon as the man attacked her in response. She hoped that would let her remain as the counter-attacker in this fight. That was definitely the role she felt the most comfortable in.

She put that plan into motion, taking a few steps, and then charging over to him. He waited, and waited, up until Rin was right in front of her.

And then, he went for a punch.

Only, Rin was nowhere near him.

[What?]

A gust of wind was pushed out from his fist, and Rin charged straight into it, feeling like she'd just crashed into a wall. Then, she was launched back. As she fell by the path that led up to the stage, she coughed. Her body was in some pain, but that was offset by the surprise she felt. Once she realized what had just happened, she couldn't help but be stunned.

[He just used Essence.]

"Hey!" The referee told Tempest. "No Essence! That's a warning!"

The man didn't respond to him. Instead, as Rin went to get up, Tempest charged forward.

Rin got on her feet as quickly as she could, but she was late. Tempest went for two punches. One at the side of her head, and another at her abdomen. Both landed, and Rin heard a crack as he punched her in the ribs. The pain that surged through her body had her breath catching in her throat as Tempest then kicked her in the jaw and launched her back once again, this time through pure force.

The world went white. As Rin fell on her back, she was shocked she hadn't been knocked unconscious by this attack.

"Aaah..." Rin let out a soft, pained sound as she struggled to get back up. That punch from earlier had absolutely cracked one of her ribs. She was in so much pain she could cry.

And yet, she got up and tried to take her stance again.

Tempest didn't move forward. In between the crowd's cheers, Rin heard him let out a chuckle and she glared at the fighter.

[Asshole...] She thought, as the man then began taking calm steps toward her.

As angry as she was, no thoughts of strategy went through her mind at that point. Until, a voice popped up in her head.

[Remember the fundamentals,] she could remember Maria saying.

[Right,] Rin thought to herself. [Don't get angry, don't lose focus. Just... Remember the basics.]

On that note, she calmed down. Tempest began to jog toward her, one fist held back as though he planned to end this here and now.

Rin inhaled slowly, continuing to calm herself. That pain in her ribs was still there, but for a few seconds, she tried to ignore it.

[... The basics.]

Tempest reached her.

He went for a haymaker. A single, clear, knock-out punch meant to end the fight here and now.

And then, Rin caught his arm by the wrist.

Tempest's eyes widened. He stopped his momentum, halting his movement awkwardly. Rin, remembering what Seth had done to her, pulled the fighter toward her.

Only, instead of punching him as Seth had done, she pushed into his space and brought one of her knees up.

And, with it, she slammed his gut as hard as she could.

For a second, Tempest didn't react. As Rin brought her leg down, though, he fell back and curled up.

He didn't move. Instead, he clutched his own stomach, struggling to breathe as the referee called someone and a man in a white robe went to go heal the fighter.

Just like that, it was done.

Rin stared down at him as another one came to heal her as well. The relief was near-instant.

"Thanks," Rin muttered to the healer before she looked up at the audience. Their cheers hadn't even been a factor, but now that she was focusing on them, they felt deafening.

Her eyes scanned the room, looking at every spectator's face to gauge their reactions.

And then, her eyes landed on the noble section. The benches to the right. As she looked at the people there, she found them clapping and cheering as well.

However, amidst them was a person that made Rin freeze.

[... What?]

Sitting there, with a smirk on her face, clapping just like everyone else was Elisa.

Their eyes met and there was just something about the way she smiled that told Rin...

[Does she know it's me?]