*Ayawamat*

"You think Adela's alright?" Vermeil asked, furrowing her brows.

"I hope so," Nyima said, frowning. "Hopefully, it's just tears of joy. Or perhaps, exhaustion."

"Too bad Yen's not here to have caught the conversation," Wanikiya said.

Zelde sighed. "Perhaps it's better she's not. Everyone deserves some privacy, even the leader of a nation."

"Ling has good hearing! Don't you, Ling?" Cart asked, turning to look at Adela's fellow countrywomen.

Ling sighed and turned away. "I heard nothing."

Was she protecting her liege's reputation? Or did she mean it? Aria had taken her away fairly quickly, but Ling had watched the match intensely during its entire duration. She only diverted her attention shortly after the High Priestess had begun crying.

Nate smiled slightly.

Ling scrunched her nose and narrowed her eyes at him. "What?" she asked, her voice like that of an angry cat.

Nate turned away. "It's nothing."

She grumbled. "That smirk doesn't seem like nothing."

"Come on, Ling. Don't start a fight," Renshu said, sighing.

Ling crossed her arms and watched as the ring was restored.

"Do you know where Aria took her?" Xue asked, glancing at Kun.

Ling turned to look at the middle Lan triplet.

"Hmm, my guess is one of the nurse's offices within the stadium. Adela did get pretty messed up," Kun said.

Ling stood up and ran off.

Xue smiled and followed after her.

"Hey, not staying to watch my match?" I called out to her.

Last year's opponent looked over her shoulder. "I'll watch it on the television. But I'm sure it'll be a tense match."

I put my hands on my hips. "Of course, it will be. I don't expect anything less from Nyima."

Sowk poked me with her elbow and gave me a weird look.

"What?"

"You're a player, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

She crossed her arms. "Come on. You wanted Xue to watch your match, then you went ahead and complimented Nyima. The Aya I know wouldn't do that unless he had some sort of ulterior motive." She shook her head. "And to think you were finally becoming a good boy."

I scoffed. Good thing Nyima gave her words no heed while Xue just ran off to catch up to Ling. It would've sucked if they thought I liked them.

"You're imagining things again," I said, poking her forehead.

She chuckled.

I poked her harder. "Don't laugh. Your jokes aren't funny."

"Maybe not to you, but I find them hilarious!" she said, putting a hand on her chest and grinning.

Could she get any more annoying? Hopefully, Alban got chosen to be the one to join us. As having her around would only serve to increase the number of migraines. Having that blond wannabe Magus Maximus was bad enough. Well, at least if she joined, she would be the girls' problem.

"The restoration and barrier safety checks are done! Let's go, match two! Come on down, Lady of the Waves and Sun, Nyima Taiyang! And you two, Master of creepy crawlies!" Marina said, using her microphone this time. Her voice had to be getting sore after all the yelling she's done.

Sowk laughed. "C-creepy crawlies!"

I rolled my eyes. What was so funny about that?

"Let's get going," I said, passing Nyima and the others.

She got up slowly. Was she trying to buy Lei more time? Had Hal not finished restoring his mana flow yet? Adela should've bought them the minimum amount of time they needed. Hmph. Well, unlike Aria, I wasn't going to start off easy. But hopefully, he would return on time.

I raised my head at the blue yonder. Since Adela automatically went to the next round, it would be me versus Lei next. That was if we won our upcoming matches. It would have been foolish to underestimate Nyima. I had done that with Xue, and in the end, I lost. Still, it would have been nice to face Lei and then take down that scary woman.

***

"Almost done," Hal said, straining.

"Hey, take it easy," Yen said. "Hurrying up won't help my brother at all."

He sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Now, be quiet. I'm working here."

Yen huffed.

I curled my lips, trying not to laugh.

My eyes returned to the television. Usually, it was used during addresses by Director Zettai or his family. The people of this tended nation to have a deep respect for their royal family. Nearly a decade prior, the rumor of their queen abdicating because she was being considered for the Supreme Magic Council and her subsequent confirmation had some people sad but joyful. It was the first time a Kyuu Seishinian had been considered for the position in a millennium.

Though, why did those on the council tend to keep their membership private? For fear of assassination attempts? Or maybe it was the bribery kind. One couldn't exactly bribe the members when one didn't know who was on it. But would they allow themselves to be in the first place? All of them gave off the vibes of professionals.

"Adela was incredible, wasn't she?" Hikaru asked.

I nodded. But, why did she look sad after the match had ended? Did she have a bad vision during the battle?

Sarah smiled as Nyima and Ayawamat stepped into the ring.

"You sure you don't want to go see the match in person?" Yen asked. Xue had left as Adela's match with Aria intensified, but Sarah wanted to remain here.

Sarah held up her tablet. "It's fine. I'm supporting Adela, Nyima, and Kun by remaining here."

What did she mean by that? Wait, did she mean by watching over me?

"I'll be fine," I said, grinning.

"Yeah, you can trust Doctor Hal to handle this."

Sarah frowned.

"Yeah, that makes me have less trust too," Yen said.

Hal sighed. "Just be quiet. I got to focus."

I smiled as Nyima lurched at Ayawamat. Good luck, Ny. You too, Aya. May the best mage win.

*Ayawamat*

I blocked Nyima's attack with a shield of webbing, but the girl sliced through it with a blade of light.

Clicking my tongue, I jumped back. Her sword's beaming light had melted the webbing that would've usually stuck, keeping me from draining her prana as I had done against Sowk.

"Lucem Manducans Tinea!" I chanted, clapping my hands together. The space around me became devoid of light as moths rose from the ground. "Devour her light!" I yelled. Light returned around me as they rushed at Nyima.

Nyima undid her sword and leaped back, but that did little to stop their attack.

I gasped as bright blue burst out of the swarm of darkness. My moths lay on the floor, knocked out by streams of water. At least she didn't kill them.

"Return!" I yelled, causing them to rise to the sky and disappear.

"Is that all you got?" she asked, smirking as she reformed her blade of light.

I smiled. Now!

Nyima looked at the ground and gasped as a lone moth flew toward her sword.

"Wait, did you recall them all?"

I scoffed as the moth latched onto her sword, eating away at its light. "I left the healthiest one."

Nyima threw the sword at me.

I ducked and watched as it flew toward the edge of the battlefield.

I formed a fist and dashed at her. "Pugnus Bellicus!" Red prana deeper than the color of fire flowed from and surrounded it. The air crackled from the pressure of my spell.

Nyima crossed her arms. "Bellator in defensione!" Rich crimson prana flowed from her arms, forming a translucent red shield. A massive shockwave tore through the battlefield as our attacks collided.

"Martial magic?" I said.

She chuckled. "What? Forgot I used some in the games?"

I jumped back and smiled. "Just surprised to see it could resist my blow. You don't use it often, so I figured you had gotten rusty."

She scoffed. "Just because you don't see it, it doesn't mean it is nonexistent or is going rusty. Plus, you yourself don't use it often either."

I pulled my fist away as the smoke around cleared, revealing a wide crater underfoot. My martial magic kept me afloat.

"Reminds me of that quantum paradox about the cat," I said, cupping my hands together.

Nyima smiled as she gathered water around her. "My little sister loves that."

Little sister? Just how little was she? Was she some super smart kid or something?

I moved aside as Nyima rushed at me, punching the wall of the crater. Using my webbing, I pulled myself to the surface and threw a net over the eight-meter hole.

Nyima blasted the webs with a beam of light and joined me on the surface. Waves of water burst at me.

I dodged the attacks and stomped on the ground, sending a wave of energy at her. She shot into the air and threw three large water darts. Once more, I went around them, but this time, Nyima appeared in front of me. Her hand glowed bright yellow.

"Guāngshù!" Nyima chanted. A beam of light flew out of her palm, hitting me in the stomach.

I gritted my teeth as I fell back. Even with my prana veil, that did a lot of damage.

Purple bees with yellow stripes flew out of the sleeve of my blazer. I had to guard my surroundings. She could've attacked again at any moment.

I unbuttoned my shirt. The abdomen was red, but thankfully it looked irritated, not bleeding. Still, what was with that spell? It wasn't weak, but it didn't appear any different than a buffed-up Lux.

My eyes widened. There was no prana veil around my abdomen. It was as if the energy was being forced away from the spot. What a frightening spell.

Nyima smirked as she swatted my bees away with water.

I placed my hands on the ground and summoned my giant water spider.

She narrowed her eyes at it.

I stroked my good old spider's back and smirked. "What? Not happy to see Spidey? And here I thought it would be like two old friends reuniting. Poor Spidey was so looking forward to it too."

"Hmph, you sound like Sowk."

My face turned red. "Sic her!"

Nyima yelped and jumped back as my spider brought her forearms down on her. 

"She's gotten faster," Nyima said, moving around me as Aria had done against Adela. Only she wasn't moving nearly as quickly.

I gasped as several afterimages appeared. Could I have misjudged her speed? But she was also a crafty one. They could've been illusions made with her light magic.

"Moths!" I yelled, summoning a few of the light-devouring variety I still had in reserve.

The Nyimas leaped back. They had to be illusionary clones. If she were truly going fast, the afterimages would've been coming from the direction the real Nyima jumped. Come to think of it, Aria had to be using them as well. 

One of the Nyimas took a deep breath and clapped her hands together. She shook her head and separated them. What was she about to do?

"So you are buying time for Lei after all. It seems I have to force you to get serious," I said, smirking as my spider flew at the one that had clapped her hands. My eyes widened as my spider's arms went right through her. An illusion?

I looked behind myself and ducked as a sphere of light flew straight at me.

"I have confidence in my friends, so there's little need to hold back," Nyima's voice echoed throughout.

"Good," I said, grinning as I jumped off of my spider's back. "Give me a good time, Nyima!"

The Nyima in the center sighed. "Why am I always up against the blood knights?" She smiled and leaped into the air, creating a streak of blue and brown. The air around her crackled with light prana. Faint bunny ears appeared on her head.

I smiled. "Let's dance, bunny girl."

She snickered as light and water prana surrounded her pudao. The spear transformed into a white lance resembling a traditional Northwest Tozan Hoshi umbrella. 

"Yes, let's!" she said, swinging her umbrella lance in my direction, sending multiple water droplets at bullet speeds.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. I originally meant to have it out earlier than this and publish a Nyima pov chapter instead for Chinese New Year.**