~Aurora~

　　"Ha...ha..."

　　In the middle of my second round with a male contestant as my opponent from a formidable pack, I was left to question my own stamina. I could sense the eyes of hundreds and thousands sitting in the audience glaring at me. They wanted me to do something fun, something that'll pique their interest. Something that will...excite the lust for competitive combat in them.

　　As twisted as it sounded to anyone else, this is the whole grand purpose of Trial of Heirs.

　　Make the best out of a scene, and present it to the audience. So that they'll accept you as their new leader...

　　Exhaling deeply, sharply and as shaky as a leaf, I looked at the male in front of me. For this round, I was relying on my daggers again. But none of us have pulled out the weapons, just yet. It was only the beginning of our match.

　　"Are you scared, little girl?" My stance changed from defensive to disgusted. Relaxing just a little, I replied because he wanted to have a conversation. Where he wishes to bring my spirit down!

　　Ha! As if I'd let that happen and suddenly, everything will seem easier for him to attack me while I'm distracted!

　　"Not to let your hopes down, but I must say I've trained the hardest amongst all of us here, in this arena. I hope I'll win, respectfully." My words wiped the smile right off his face! Oh, the satisfaction that filled me up! Given that, my body tensed just a little when he pulled out his sword from the gear's waistband!

　　Setting that as my queue to pull my own weapons out, I watched out for sudden attacks as I unclasped the daggers out of their scabbard. I held them tightly, against my chest in a cross stance.

　　"HA!" Announcing his attack loudly, the man launched himself at me with a speed I couldn't possibly predict! The aftereffect of his kick back on the sand made the vision cloudy. To his advantage, his body blended with the color of sand granules! It was hard for me to predict the distance he's put between us!

　　I knew he would come for my neck. This trial was as dangerous as it comes, because contestants might be killed in the middle of the duel and healers can't really fix that kind of damage! Again. That's the whole point around Trial of Heirs.

　　I immediately bent backwards, enough to do a backflip, with just one hand! I twisted mid air and kicked him right across his face! Again!

　　Taken aback and angered beyond his level, the man tried to regain his position as a good contestant.

　　Well, that's where desperation truly gets the best out of someone. It hinders foresight, capturing the mind into a trance of false victory! He made an impulsive attack move on me, which had full of openings!

　　As he lift his leg to kick me in my stomach, I ducked under his foot and kicked him off balance! Falling to the ground, I quickly jumped over his shielded chest and pressed my daggers against his throat tightly. One wrong move, and his windpipe would be punctured by the blades of my daggers.

　　"And the winner for this round is...AURORA FANGBORN!" hearing my name being screamed for victory changed the expression on my face. With a gentle scoff with a smile, I looked back at my opponent.

　　"Don't look at me like that, sir. I've worked just as hard for this as yourself. There's always a next year." My stupidly optimistic words have somehow been comprehended by him. Slowly, he began smiling. He looked back at me with a smile and said,

　　"You are the victor for this round anyway. Mind if you step down from me?" With a gentle chuckle, I shifted back to my knees and stood up after that. Almost immediately, the decorated assistant assigned for me came out rushing. He helped me get back to my room. Until then, I hadn't even realized that I sprained my ankle!

　　"I knew it. I saw your ankle twist on the screen." The assistant mentioned, showing me the footage as if he was a robot! The level of mindfulness and accuracy of his words backed by evidence scared me!

　　I wanted to ask him, 'Sir, how long have you been an assistant to contenders during Trials of Heirs?'

　　But I couldn't, because my body was under excruciating pain! In came the healer and her nurse. She gave me a little eye contact and informed, "This will hurt a little. I'm trying to push your sprained muscle and tendon back into position as I heal them as well. Do you understand?"

　　"U-Understood." I stuttered out. Almost immediately, the healer was pushing on my foot upwards at a certain angle! The pain was overwhelming and taking over every inch of my body! It was as if my skin and internal organs were on fire!

　　"Ha!!" I exhaled deeply upon realizing the pain was slowly numbing down. As soon as the healer removed her hands from my foot, the nurse held the ice pack over my ankle. Oh lord...I never wish to sprain my ankle ever again!

　　"That was surprisingly quick. For amount of muscle tear that happened." Not looking at our direction while removing her gloves, the healer commented. Was that supposed to be something I should be concerned with?

　　"Ma'am means to say that your regeneration capacity surprised us. You don't have a wolf, right?"

　　Ah. I've understood the context now.

　　Nodding, we fell silent as the sound from the screen rose up. The assistant nudged his chin to make me look at the screen, and I heard the first other match happen apart from mine. That's right. I had two matches back to back to fight against two men.

　　I was growing anxious with every passing second. That was because...The next duel contenders are Odin and another male contestant. My blood chilled down when I saw the zoomed in look on the other man's face. Odin looked bored and nonchalant as always. But it was the other man which told me something along the lines of, 'I'm too dangerous to be messed with.'

　　I'm pretty sure they are going to use a potion, or two for their duel. Ambition is seen greatly in men of that cadre.

　　"What the..." the man, before even starting the duel, gulped down a vial's content! Odin's expression was of 'What the hell...?' As he stared at the ambitious man in front of him.

　　Well, I don't wish to predict anything already, but I know for sure that super strength or mindfulness isn't going to work on Odin. Neither do those factors work on me, because Odin and I have the same fight pattern! Almost.

　　So when I discovered that the vial was for superhuman strength, I relaxed back on my chair. I simply spectated the fight, which I knew would take a while like it did for me.

　　"If I may ask, what are you smiling for?" The assistant asked me as I turned to him,

　　"Oh, its nothing. I already know who's going to be the next winner."

　　...And I was right.

　　Half an hour later, while I took my sweet time to heal myself to full health, Odin had fought the ambitious man who used both his vials of superhuman strength and healing in the long duration. Without even using a vial of his choice, Odin had won with just his daggers!

　　That's right! We matched here in our choice of weapons as well!

　　"He won!" I rejoiced for my friend, until...

　　"He won, but I hope you know who's going to be his NEXT OPPONENT..."

　　My cheerfulness died down upon hearing my assistant's words.

　　The final round...

　　I will be standing against...him?