Dust collected everywhere as far as she could see, spider webs wove loosely around books, shelves and stands. The crevices in the wall and the cracked ceiling displayed how old this building was. Worn, rustic and yet warm, the exterior held itself well-aged, welcoming and even then, it felt so forgotten, or at least quiet. Libraries, like this one, were characteristically sombre and still, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it was the sort of silence that her body came to crave somehow, after the harsh training she had been doing, pushing her body to the limits. Settling here, between the small sectioned shelves and the books that huddled together, brought a warm calming feeling blowing over her figure, like a meek forest breeze.

When was the last time she read?

It had been months, perhaps even longer—she could hardly remember. The demon had been so occupied with bettering herself that she had forgotten to relax herself, and libraries were the place she would come to when she needed to relieve stress. The woman loved being engrossed in books, her brows furrowed in concentration, her eyes flicking back and forth over the page continuously, line by line. At that point, her imagination becomes endless, it was as if she was inside the novel herself. Books were also the most reliable source of information, at least to her, and the words carved into the brittle sheets of the yellow pages were more than just letters and alphabets—they have important meanings.

”What shall I get?” she mumbled, idly glossing her fingers over the dips of the rowed books, feeling the textures of their spines. Dust collected on her fingers, but she did not care, for it was more important to select a book of her interest than having stained hands. ”This will do,” she selected one among the many other books that lined over the shelf.

Heels clacked against the wooden floorboards of the library, breaking the silence that reigned supreme within the area as she approached the woman seated by the counter; a librarian. Her eyes glided over the other woman’s features, and she could see that the librarian was literally dying of boredom. She couldn’t blame her, there were only two of them inside the entire massive building after all. Gently pushing the book across the counter, she’d wait for the woman to register her name, before mumbling the words, ”Two weeks.” With a responsive nod, she’d retrieve the book and strutted out of the library.

With the borrowed book clutched under her armpit, Snowflake began her descent down the stairs by the exit of the library. The woman glanced over the area, wondering how she should spend the day instead. Her mind would immediately wander off to her lover, curious as to what he’s been up to for the day. The demon felt slightly bad, for leaving him in the morning without giving any word, but that was only because she didn’t want to disturb his precious sleep and truth be told, it was rare for the elf man to sleep in since he was always awake even before dusk on most days. Without any particular destination in mind, the frosty beauty wandered over to the streets of Magnolia, perhaps to see the most recent occurring of the day.

The air was perfumed with produce, the ground was gritty stone and the air was a perfect mid-winter chill. The streets were busy with a lively tempo as people flocked to places they were supposed to be, finding they were supposed to do as the woman dressed in white cloak weaved through the crowds, edging through the dense flow of people. The crowd has a life of its own, the vibrant clothes shone in the morning light and the people move like enchanting shoals of fish. There is chatter between sellers and buyers, old friends catching up and new friends made. Tourists flocked over the boats that were harboured by the side of the canals as they bargained prices for the ride through the canals over the town. Magnolia was busy for sure, but the hustle and bustle brings life to this city that was somewhat refreshing to her.

Among the crowd was a blonde that easily attracted her attention. Young ladies by the vendor would throw the man a few glances, their cheeks flushed with scarlet and Snowflake could feel anger surging through her body—jealousy, it was. Her beau was a tall man, his height exceeding most of the average citizens and as he would walk meander through the streets, he easily gathered a number of stares around him. Snowflake quickly headed over to his way, with a large beaming smile on her face before she linked her arm with his, throwing daggers with her eyes to the women beside in the meanwhile. He was her man, after all. ”You stand out too much. I don’t like girls staring at you.”

”Hm, if you say so,” her hand would slide down his arms, only to meet with his hand. Fingers intertwined, the couple wandered through the streets, glancing around at anything that might possibly attract their attention. It was a busy day in Magnolia and excitement could be heard from the whispers of the wind as the citizens prepared themselves for the changing seasons to come. Nonetheless, the stranger in a white hood felt otherwise—she was definitely not ready for the summer. Though it was healthy for humans to receive sunlight on their skins, Snowflake hated it, and she loathed more than anything else to be tanned. Her porcelain skin was precious to her, just as much as her clothes and cosmetics.

”What have you been doing today?”

Her eyes glided down the bag that Chelvaric held and she could assume that he probably went shopping, as infrequent as it was for him. ”Shopping?” It wasn’t often for her lover to go shopping, albeit, he does tag along with her whenever she was in the mood to horde some clothes for the season from the malls. It wasn’t until she noticed a crowd of people gathering in an area from the corner of her eyes, flocking like birds. ”What’s happening?” she asked, her question directed to no person in particular. Curious, she dragged Chelvaric by the hand to the direction of the crowd.

With a petite body, it was easy for her to weave through the crowds, but she wouldn’t say quite the same for her paramour. Through the gaps between people, she peered as her eyes quickly skimmed over the lines carved into the wooden board and read it out loud, ”A recruitment for gladiatorial contests?” There was already a long queue of people; swordsmen, mages and other armed combatants from all over the town, perhaps even from other parts of the country. This event was something she’d just heard. A playful smirk danced on the line of her lips as she glanced up at Chelvaric.

”Wanna join?”

Her eyebrows raised slightly upon Chelvaric’s comment of him purchasing something for her. ”Oh, a present?” Curious, she wondered how the outfit looked like as she inched her head further and peeked over the bag, albeit, she did not proceed further—it was meant to be a little surprise after all. However, she did ponder on what style of outfit he had selected, it would tell her whether the couple was compatible in their sense of fashion. ”Thank you, sweet. I can’t wait to see it,” she’d say, grateful for the thought. It wasn’t often for the frosty beauty to receive gifts, nevertheless, she felt thankful, as infrequent as it may be.

Minutes plodded by, each separated by an eternity and the couple would finally be on the front of the line to register their names. ”Two joining, please. Snow and Chelvaric,” she spoke as the man seated behind the counter glanced up at her. The demon watched the man observed her from head to toe, his lips curling into a deep frown. Mockery filled his eyes, as if he was silently telling her that she would be defeated easily. Perhaps it was due to her size and admittedly, the rest of the competitors were meters taller than her with muscles protruding from their limbs, nevertheless, appearances were deceitful, right? If it wasn’t for the audience and the long line of queue behind her, she would have pummelled her fist into the man’s face.

”Well?”

This man was testing her patience, as could be seen by her foot tapping furiously against the hard ground. Without any further word, the man quickly focused his attention back to the sheet below him and jotted down their names. ”Oh, I’d also like it if we’re put together as a team,” she added, in which she simply received a nod, followed by a point to the side of the street in a distance. Her eyes travelled to the direction and a colossal building would come into view.

So, that’s the location.

A couple of jewels rolled across the table, paid for the registration fee before Snowflake dragged her lover out of the area to head to the arena. The smirk on her lips stated enough that she was already thrilled for the contest.

As they queued once again to enter the massive building, the couple would be tossed aside after proving that they did register by the counter earlier. The place reminded her much of a Colosseum, the large circular arena and thick, stone walls that could even block a murderous attack from a monster. The walls were built to be as strong as diamond anyhow, since many gladiator fights take place in the arena. When was this building even built? Years of her existence in Fiore and never once she’d heard about a place like this Colosseum.

The first place they were shoved into was almost like a dungeon—more so, prison—with the doors locked so that no one could escape after they suddenly regret their decision. She’d throw an infuriating glace towards the man that directed them here, clearly for poor handling of the participants. Being a female and an elegant one at that, the woman did not deserve to be push around like a slave. As they entered, Snowflake could see numerous eyes turned around in their direction; some scoffing and others jittering amongst themselves before bursting into fits of giggles. They were clearly underestimating them, but then, the two weren’t even meant to be here—they merited a place way better than this filthy dungeon.

A glance over the vicinity and she could see that most of the participants weren’t privileged like them; they were poverty-stricken with many sorrows that were hidden behind those eyes, and she could easily guess that their main reason for being here was to win the massive sum of money—only if you win the entire tournament. Winning the reward wasn’t her purpose, but winning the competition was. Snowflake already had more than enough money to spend for herself as well as for Chelvaric, she didn’t need herself to be buried among jewels any further. As she walked over the place to find a place to settle, she happened to lock her eyes with a brute man, five times bigger than her, if not more.

The first thing she noticed was the scar that ran down along his face and his entirely sunken eye. Pity washed over her figure and she wondered how long these people have struggled in this place just to win some reward. Losers were either ordered to die or were locked here for more contests until death. Whichever way it was, there was no way for them to escape. The lives of these people were simply just for amusement for the audience when there could be a family waiting for them back home.

”Let’s wait here.”

Heels clacked against the cold hard ground before she finally settled at a vacant spot. There were a variety of armours and weapons hung up on the rack, but none of them looked of decent quality to them. It was very easy to get a good armour and weapon in the streets, but what were these? It was as if the maker of this competition intended every participant to lose. ”We’ll have to use those to fight,” she spoke, almost with disgust but even then, she knew that she wasn’t going to lose, no matter how hard the tournament planned to fail her.

From the window, the arena of the tournament could be seen. Even through the thick walls, Snowflake could hear the loud booming voice of the presenter announcing the beginning of the games. Cheers and applause ripped through the audience that filled the thousands of seats inside the arena. Seeing so many people surprised her, for she never thought that people would be interested in this kind of event and she could hardly believe that those here could take excitement in watching humans being played like toys. This world was unbelievable, full of surprises, she thought. The first contestant would be announced, and the crowd would encourage him with deafening applause.

The entrance was soon followed by a loud roar, which she assumed was the opponent of this participant. The demon watched the crowd sat in silence as the cage doors would finally open, revealing an enormous lion, twice the size of its own average kind. Everyone was in awe, and so was she, but only the man who was meant to battle against the beast felt otherwise. Snowflake was certain that the poor man must have felt a sense of defeat as he stood frozen in fear, especially after seeing such a ferocious monster. What could a mere human do with a blunt sword against a beast of this kind? The woman simply closed her eyes, and despite how she wanted to believe in the efforts of the man, she knew this battle was pointless.

It was already decided who the victor was.

Snowflake could only watch the battle without a single word, as the swordsman struggled to fend off the attacks of the lion. He was good, she could give him props for his efforts. The majority of the people wouldn’t even be able to summon the courage to enter the ring, not to mention to even go against the king of the jungle. As she continued to observe, she noticed how the man had only been defending the entire time, without even going offense and his repels were growing weaker and weaker by each thrust. It didn’t take long until the man was out of breath and his head would be bitten off relentlessly by the animal. Snowflake didn’t blink once through the process but simply watched in silence.

”How sad.”

Cheers and applause resounded loudly through the crowd over the victory of the beast, and the death of a fellow human being. The audience was clearly in favour of the animal, although there were a few who betted on the man, and the frosty maiden couldn’t believe how they could take amusement in someone else’s death. What if it was one of their family members? ”Tsk,” she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in disappointment. Turning away, she’d fold her arms across her chest and sat back in her seat wondering who the next competent would be.

It seemed that Chelvaric trusted her abilities and believed that they would win the contest with ease, but she doubted it would be that way. It wasn’t an issue on confidence, rather, it was something more akin of her habit to over-think things, and simply put, she was very much inclined to believe that they wouldn’t be given a win so easily. These kind of tournaments were not made to win at all and she was certain they were bound to receive a strong opponent—not to mention, they did also signed up as a team. The participants were required to give information of their rank, but Snowflake lied a bit on that part since she knew she wouldn’t be allowed as a contestant otherwise.

”I do hope so,”—was all she said before the guard approached them for the next round.

”Your turn next. Get ready,” said the guard and walked away after informing of their entrance.

Well, that was fast. Snowflake didn’t expect themselves to be up so soon yet, but that just means she wouldn’t have to wait for the excitement now, does she? ”I don’t know, what’d you think?” With a slight smile on her face, she stood up from her seat and headed over to the table where the weapons and plates of armour were all laid out. She wondered how this round would turn out, but that was her least of concerns. For now, she needed to get ready for battle.

”A normal animal?”

Chuckle.

”I want something big and monstrous,” she’d say, as her fingers idly glossed over the dips and curves of the items that were sprawled on the table, examining them carefully. Yet, none of them seems to scream out at her—not literally—as in, the weapons don’t have anything unique that makes her thrilled to wield them. Seeing these cheaply made items, the demon regretted not having her trusted blade brought together along with herself. ”That’d make our debut here worthwhile, wouldn’t it?” she turned to face Chelvaric, the emotions on her face unpredictable before her eyes landed on a pair of hunting knives.

The unusual thing about these daggers was that it was large, almost the size of a sword, with a curved blade. Curious, she picked up the weapon and swung it around a few times—she liked the way it fits perfectly in her hands, as if it was made for her. Although it looked cheap, this weapon suited more to her compared to the rest. ”This will do,” she spoke to none other than herself and began preparing her armour. She wanted something that wasn’t too heavy on her body, it would only slow down her speed. Protecting her face and her torso should be enough. The woman settled with a cloth armour with a hood; she needed to conceal her face since there might be a few people from the audience who might be aware of her identity. If that happened, she would be kicked out of the ring, and she didn’t want that.

A bow and some hunting daggers.

It was a nice combo, she had to admit. The ice wizard could be responsible of close combat while Chelvaric would cover her blind spots in a distance. She had no strategy for the fight yet, but she felt good about this battle, somehow. ”Alright, let’s entertain our impatient guests,” she’d nod at Chelvaric as they awaited by the gate for their entrance to be announced.  

Applause rippled through the crowd as the presenter announced their entrance, introducing each of them with their respective titles. Fortunately, Snowflake decided to not include her name during the registration, so she was referred to as a ’mysterious stranger girl’, which wasn’t technically a bad thing. She could settle with that for the rest of the tournament. The duo would be escorted inside the arena and instantly, the demon was awestruck by how spacious the vicinity was. Filled with hundreds of people all around her in a massive building such as this one, the crowd looked like ants to her eyes. Gazing up, she’d finally be able to see where it ends, tens of meters above her height and she began to realise that there was no other way than winning the competition to escape from this place.

The loud squeaks against the metallic door brought her out of the reverie, and she’d turn to see their opponent waiting for them, impatient to devour whom it considered its food. As the gates rose up to allow the beast to enter the arena, a deafening cry of encouragement roared through the crowd. Seeing how thrilled the audience was, perhaps this beast was the champion of the tournament, she thought. A playful smirk grew on her lips—it was exactly what she wanted. To test her abilities to the limits, she needed to battle with the strongest ones.

The ground shook slightly as the champion entered the ring, step by step. It was a monster, indeed—just like she’d expected. The beast was almost ten times larger than her, that she had to tilt her head back slightly to meet its gaze. For a moment, it’s cyan eyes pierced through hers, as if it was reading her thoughts, but she doubted that was the case. After all, it was a wild beast that could hardly understand human words. The presenter's voice was no more than a blur to her ears but as he eventually finished his sentence, the animal didn’t hesitate to charge its way towards the Pegasus mages.

Let the battle finally begin.

Puffs of dust kicked off the ground as the legion launched itself towards them with its horns protruded outwards. The earth trembled from its strength, that she could even feel the vibrations coursing through her skin. As the distance between them reduced by each second, the demon would create a clone of herself right before her with a swipe of her hand. As she did so, she’d let herself fall backwards and before her body comes into contact with the ground, she tossed her legs into the air to complete a cartwheel. With another motion of her hand, the demon summoned two more clones a meter separated from the first one she’d created. This would at least cause some confusion to the legion as it continued to race towards her—or so she hoped.

Chelvaric, on the other hand, bought her some time by throwing some arrows from the distance, albeit, the beast’s skin was too hard for the arrows to pierce and bounced off his skin unfortunately. ”Tsk,” she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in disappointment, but by doing so, she had more than enough time to laid out her attack. Her eyes remained fixated right in front of her, despite the clone that blocked her vision. She silently calculated the distance between her target and herself before she hoists up her hand forward, and the motion caused a number of white glyphs to be summoned above the legion.

Snowflake bent down, gathering all her strength in her legs and shot forward into the sky, almost like a rocket. A brief moment of bliss was experienced as she hovered and rolled in the air until her feet landed on one of the platforms she’d created. Without any hesitation, she kicked off once again, travelling through the air as fast as her legs could carry while wind whipped against her face. Either the animal was too distracted with the clones, or confused, but whatever it was, the beast failed to notice her from behind. Closer and closer, she flew towards the beast and with a slash of her hunting dagger, her blade would come to meet the neck of the animal.  

Clang!

The sound echoed reverberated against the walls of the colosseum, as her blade flew off her hands, resulting in a cut in the process. Her eyes widened. How could his skin be so tough that not even a blade could pierce? Her attack had failed, though she landed safely on her opponent's body without any injuries from the momentum. She decided to quickly jump off the legion’s back before it could notice, but it was too late—their eyes locked as the legion ceased in its tracks and turned around to face her.

Mana: 3,795

’Snow! Aim for the eyes next!’

Her lover’s voice broke her out of her reverie, when Snowflake remained frozen after the legion caught her red-handed. Her mind blanked out for a brief moment, and during that time, the demon was unable to conjure any strategies of what she should do next. And, that was until Chelvaric called out for her. Reality struck her finally and she was forced to keep her composure if she wanted to win the battle. She needed to win this, otherwise, who knows how long they might be trapped in this place and surely enough, she didn’t wish to spend more than an hour at the filthy dungeon she was at a moment ago.

The clones that were summoned a mere moment ago vanished into white dust as it travelled up into the sky by her commands; a quick motion of her hand. She knew she couldn’t remain any longer on the back of the legion’s body, however, her reaction was too late. The animal began thrashing around after noticing that there was a foreign being on top of its body, almost like a bull, leaping around and charging aimlessly. Fumes were released from its large nostrils, as if it were furious and desperately wanted her off its body. It was dangerous, not only for herself, but for Chelvaric as well since the legion could crush him without any hesitation underneath its foot.

Anger dominated the creature, and though she knew the situation was out of hand, she wanted to take advantage of this. Consumed by rage, the demon was aware that the legion wouldn’t be able to think properly in this situation. Animals weren’t as smart as humans to begin with, especially not a wild one. Her hands clutched onto the beast’s body, she clung relentlessly onto the legion. Falling onto the ground would only be the death of her beneath its foot, if she was careless. In this position, it was apparent that she couldn’t do much and the only thing left was to expect something from Chelvaric; something that could change the outcome of this situation, something that would turn the tables to their advantage.  

Mana: 3,795

Snowflake had been too busy distracted of not letting her grip lose from the legion’s body, that she failed to notice her paramour summoning creatures from a distance. The nature’s slaves—or so she would call them—stood in front of Chelvaric, almost like a giant-sized wall. Recalling to the training they had completed back in the Magnolia Forest, she’d seen these creatures, but they were different; much smaller and weaker, unlike the ones that stood before her eyes. Her fingers were growing tired from holding onto the beast’s body—not to mention, with the legion thrashing around wildly over the place. It was hard to keep herself from falling off, especially when the surface of its body was smooth and slippery.

The legion’s body remained still for a brief moment until all of a sudden, a loud thunk echoed through the walls of the colosseum, as if something had been struck. She felt the legion stumbled on its feet while she dangled still clutching onto the monster’s body. The world was shaking for her, and she could barely see what was happening around her with her vision nothing more than just a blur. Chelvaric seemed to be doing something in the distance….dancing…he was dancing in circles. Who had time to dance in the middle of a battle like this? Her brows were knitted closely towards the centre of her forehead in confusion while she wondered what he was doing instead of saving her from the situation.

Dark energy was released and sped towards the legion as the spell constrained the beast from moving. Was that something that Chelvaric had casted? Whatever it was, it was turning the tables for them. The legion was tied down, despite its efforts to break free from the chains that tied him down. Her head was spinning, nevertheless, she seized the opportunity to leap off the body and with a snap of her fingers, a white glyph appeared beneath her feet just above the ground, preventing herself from breaking her limbs. Her hunting knives were lodged into the sand in a short distance, and she didn’t hesitate to dash towards them.  

The woman slid over the ground, tugging her blade from the soil. She cocked her hand back behind her head and with a flick of her wrist, she aimed her dagger right into the legion’s eye socket. Her aiming skills weren’t perfect, which was why she could only wish that it would strike the bullseye. While the dagger flew to the target, she had already began running towards the legion once again. She slid between the legion’s limbs, as she brushed her hands over the animal’s legs. Patches of ice grew larger in the areas that had come into contact with her fingers, slowly spreading over the legion’s body. Once done, she glided right out of its legs once again and even with the attacks dealt, they were still not enough.

Mana: 3,675

Snowflake couldn’t help but wonder what her lover was actually doing in the midst of a battle—dancing like a lunatic. Her lips parted in amazement, but more so of anger, especially when they were dealing with wild legion in their hands. Perhaps that was a requirement for casting his spell, and whatever it was, it was working for them at the very least. If things continue to go as they desire, the battle might end faster than she’d expected—hopefully.

Puffs of sand and dust picked up as she slid underneath the legs of the legion, swift as and arrow while the sand particles scraped against every exposed part of her body, drawing drops of blood, but that was the least of the things she had to worry about.

The loud screech produced by the legion almost deafened her ears and so did the crowd. The whole arena fell silent apart from the two mages who continued to fend off relentlessly against the legion’s attacks. Her dagger throw was a lucky shot—truth be told—she didn’t expect it to land but perhaps, her aiming skills weren’t as bad as she’d thought. Confidence dominated her eyes, now that they had the upper hand, she felt like she could release a sigh of relief albeit, she made a mental note to herself to not underestimate her foes for she could be very well deceived. The tension between the audience only grew stronger each passing second, as they awaited for the result of the battle.

The impact caused by her spell earlier had not only made the legion vulnerable, but it would also continue to damage the beast unless she put an end to her own spell. Some animals were sensitive to the cold however, she doubted it would be the case for the legion, considering its concrete-like skin that wouldn’t even be probed with a dagger. Ceasing the moment, the assassin quickly turned to face her lover and nodded at him, informing that he had perfectly done what she’d needed. The sight of him dancing previously emerged in her head once again and she couldn’t help but urge the unwanted memories out of her mind.

And for the last and the most anticipated part of the finale, she hoisted up her hands gently, as if she was lifting something out of the imaginary. Upon doing so, a swirl of wind would swiftly raise the legion off the ground as if it were a piece of paper, whilst a large shard of ice seeped through the hard ground. She clutched her hand instantly, and the wind that supported the weight of the monster vanished, dropping her foe onto the spike. Blood sprouted everywhere, as the spike pierced through the body of the legion till the hilt, followed by numerous gasps that filled the arena. For a moment, no one responded.

Silence.

It reigned supreme within the vicinity and it wasn’t as though she was expecting a celebration, applause and cheers rippled through the audience and participants that looked upon. Her gaze drifted towards the host of the tournament, who sat by the topmost far end of the ring and all she could see was his mouth agape.

Mana: 3,475