For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.


My hands were shaking.

They were shaking and my mind was in a million places at once and I couldn't breathe and everything felt numb and-

Calm down. Close your eyes. Loosen your grip on Milo. Take a deep breath and just… relax.

Following the steps my mother told me to do to calm down, I looked up from the ground at the screen showcasing the second to last fight of the tournament.

A muscular woman swung her humongous greatsword wildly at her opponent, her face as red as a tomato from exhaustion. Her aura was below half, and she has yet to land a single good hit on the other contestant. He ducked and weaved around the attacks, agile as a fox as he whittled her down with his scimitar and kicks.

The woman obviously got qualified for the tournament for her sheer strength, but I could tell she wasn't a technical fighter. Her form was all wrong, her attacks only served to make her more tired, and her temper was leading to her defeat. She wasn't thinking and was relying mostly on her instincts right now, which was costing her the battle.

I looked back down, not finding the battle to be very interesting. Curling my hands into fists, I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. Remember your training and you'll be fine. I've worked my entire life to compete in the tournament, I don't plan to lose in my first match. But still…

My head shot back up once I heard the crowd roar in approval. The agile man held his hand up high as if accepting the applause. His opponent laid flat on the ground, her rising and falling chest the only sign that she was still conscious. The casters and analysts talked about the match for a few minutes before the stage was cleared.

I stood up and straightened my armor and hair, hands shaking all the while. My heart was pounding right out of its chest, not ready for the battle to come. The person by the entrance beckoned me forward, stepping to side to let me through. With shallow breaths, I stepped into the hallway that will lead me to my first ever tournament battle.

Walking in this hallway… it felt like I was walking into my doom. The closer I got, the louder the audience became. The louder the audience became, the more my arms shook and my heart pounded. The more my arms shook and my heart pounded, the more I panicked.

Can I still back out of this? Forfeit and pretend this never happened? I stopped, the click clacking of my boots coming to a halt. I could do that…

No. I've worked too hard for this to back out now. Every day since I was seven my parents trained me until I was no longer able to stand, and then drilled me even more. I would be dishonoring my family's legacy if I ran away due to nerves.

With that resolve I pressed forward, determined to win.

"...now everyone, a new contestant approaches. From the prestigious combat school of Sanctum, let us welcome Pyrrhaaaaaaaa Nikos! "


I couldn't move.

The moment I stepped out of the tunnel, the flashing lights and the screaming crowd enveloped me entirely. My mouth was hanging open at the sheer number of people watching, and I almost dropped my weapons onto the floor due to the shock.

The audience. My god, the audience. They held up banners, signs, billboards, pictures, everything. Their shouts and roared shook the floor beneath me. Divided into two separate semicircles, the seats and people encircled the interior of the building. It was too much for me.

It wasn't until someone shook my shoulder that I broke out of my reverie. Deep breaths, Pyrrha. Once I felt like I've calmed down, I continued on slowly, the sounds of my boots hitting the floor unheard in the bellows of the crowd.

Cameras flashed as I walked, reporters and photographers eager to see the newest contestant to the Mistral Regional Tournament. I felt a little uncomfortable from the attention, shying my eyes away from the blinking lights.

Once I stepped onto the stadium floor, a blue sphere surrounded the stage. No doubt it was a protective barrier to protect the audience from any of the combatant's attacks. It did muffle the noise of the crowd, but it was still quite audible.

Relaxing my grip on Milo and Akouo, I directed my gaze to the opposite side of the arena. A burly man rested the head of his battle-axe on the floor and waved to the crowd with his other hand. He was easily twice my size and dressed in leather armor and a horned helmet.

Bistre Umber. I recognized him from some of the matches I've watched. He has participated in the tournament for over five years now, and has gotten far in every run, although he has yet to win a single one. His axe can break the sturdiest of guards and swing blindly fast. Because of his unrelenting ferocity, he has been dubbed the "Rookie Killer" due to easily overwhelming newcomers who aren't prepared or experienced.

Inwardly, my mind raced. How was I supposed to beat him? From what I gathered from reviewing the opponents, he's clearly more powerful than me, and can move just as fast as me if not faster. My shield won't be of much use here since a single swing from that axe will send me flying. I'd have to somehow beat him without relying on my physical prowess.

"Hey, you look really shaken. Relax a bit, eh? It's no fun when your opponent is too nervous to even fight."

I looked to see him smiling casually, now hefting his giant double-bladed axe onto his shoulder. His warm brown eyes bore less hostility and more friendliness. I didn't miss how he tensed up just now though. Despite his friendly demeanor, he was no doubt looking forward to the fight.

"Ah," I started, "I'm just… I'm just a little overwhelmed by all this. The audience, the lights… everything."

He laughed, "I know how you feel. It was like that for me too first time I came here. Don't worry, if you stick around you'll get used to it."

I couldn't help but notice the emphasis he placed on that keyword. Maybe he was accustomed to battling people he'll never see again. That would certainly explain his title.

Nevertheless, we didn't get much longer to talk as the announcer began to count down. My muscles tensed, my vision focused, and I let the screams of the crowd fade away.

"Three!"

I felt in my element now, most of the nervousness has disappeared. All the waiting around and cameras and people were unfamiliar to me but battling? Fighting is what I've been doing my entire life.

"Two!"

This is what I was born to do. The years of training has all led up this battle, and now I'll prove all that hard work paid off.

"One!"

It was my destiny.

"Begin!"


This did not start how I expected it to.

Bistre winked at me before leaping up in the air at impossible heights, raising his axe above his head with both his hands. Before I could even process what was happening, he was already coming down like a meteor onto me.

I rolled out of the way just milliseconds before he smashed the ground like a bomb. The shockwave that followed still managed to knock me back.

This power… what was I supposed to do?

"Not bad, not bad," I hear the monstrous man say, "Most people would be too shocked to even get out of the way. Show me a good time!"

I peek over my shield to find him charging at me with his shoulder pointed straight at my shield, his axe trailing behind him. Just before he crashed into my shield with the power of a wrecking ball, I dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the devastating hit.

Phew, maybe I can get some breathing room-

I felt my eyes widening when he turned around almost instantly to bring his axe down onto my shield. The blow pushed me back a couple meters, and I could've sworn my aura flashed for a brief moment. My arms felt like it was on fire from holding that shield up. The audience let out a collective "ooooh" at the devastating blow. Gods, if I haven't trained as much as I did that would've…

No time to think about that! I rolled out of the away again as he rushed and swung his axe horizontally at my head. The next few moments were a blur of weaving and dodging the devastating strikes. My breath was getting heavy, every single muscle was burning with exertion. What… what was I supposed to do?

Then I realized. Everything about him, his power, speed, and even his title. They're all to inspire fear into his challengers, especially newcomers. Every inexperienced contestant would be too scared to press an attack on him in fear of being on the receiving end of his axe. But… if I go on the offensive on him, can I?...

As he swung his axe at my head for what felt like the hundredth time, I ducked and stepped into his guard. Pushing past my aching muscles, I let out a loud, savage cry and slammed Akouo into his midsection with both my hands, mustering all the strength I had left in that hit.

A surprised, pained grunt came out of his mouth as my shield left his stomach. I hit him again, and again, and again. I wasn't going to stop until one of us fell. His axe was too big to actually hit me this close, and I took full advantage of that.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him raise his axe above his head, the butt of the hilt pointing straight at me. I dashed to left, narrowly dodging the desperate move by the man.

He backed off, panting from the exchange. Not giving him a single second to recover, I shift Milo into its rifle form and crouched down. Placing it on the crescent opening of Akouo, I set my sights on him and fired.

He spun his axe around in a circle to block all of it, clearly experienced with deflecting bullets-but his heavy breathing suggested he couldn't keep this up. I let a grin crawl onto my face. I can do this. Just fight smart and proactively instead of being too scared to fight back.

"Alright rookie," he panted, "this was fun and all, but it's time to end this."

With ear-deafening roar, he bolted towards me with his axe trailing on the floor behind him, the axehead hidden from my view. What was he planning? He knew I can dodge out of the way and he knew I can fight him close up now.

Switching Milo to its sword form, I raised my shield and prepared to confront him head on after his blow. I dodged to the side right as he brought down his axe and prepared to punish him for such a risky move.

What I didn't expect was a huge fiery explosion to erupt from the axe. Yelping in surprise, it caught me and sent me flying into the air. Landing with a thump, I tumbled around for a bit before coming to a stop.

Pain. It was all I could feel as I put my hands on the floor, trying to push myself up. Everytime I tried, I only fell back down. With the few vestiges of energy I had left, I looked to find Bistre in a similar state, panting and exhausted from the effort. Two crystals in the center of both blades of the axe glowed red. Damn it, how did I forget he had fire dust?

I pushed myself, trying to stand up before he did, to try and finish this match before he did. A brief glance at the aura levels up above told me that we were both millimeters away from dropping into the red. That explosion must've hurt him just as much as it hurt me. With that thought, my legs begin to stand back up, energized by being so close to beating my opponent.

It wasn't enough.

"Well Nikos… it was fun, but I'll be taking this win."

The man stood up, hefted his axe, and slowly stepped towards me. The audience cheered for him to finish me off. I still couldn't stand up. Was I going to lose my debut match?

No. No! There must be something, some way to win. As he got closer and closer, a plan popped into my mind. It was farfetched and probably wasn't going to work, but I had to try. He was clearly injured, and most likely wasn't expecting anything of me.

I needed to wait for the right moment. The right moment… when will that be? When he's walking towards me? No… he still has time to counter it that way. I'll have to do it when he's about to hit me.

My hand tightened its hold on Milo. I needed to time this perfectly. Five more steps… four more steps… three… two… one…

He lifted his axe above his head, ready to end this match.

I wasn't going to let him.

I shifted Milo into its rifle form and pulled the trigger right as he was bringing down his axe for the finishing blow. The gunfire silenced the crowd as Bistre jolted backwards, his eyes growing wider than saucers in surprise. His axe fell from his hands and clanged onto the floor. The buzzer sounded, signalling that his aura level has fallen into the red.

For a moment, the entire building was silent. The man's hand grasped the area where the bullet found its mark, no doubt feeling intense pain that even his aura and armor couldn't protect against.

Until he collapsed onto the ground, no longer able to stand up.

The audience roared in approval, clapping and screaming. I saw the barrier fall away, allowing me to fully hear their shouts.

"What a way to end off today's matches folks! Pyrrha Nikos, the newest contestant to enter the tournament, has just defeated the Rookie Killer! I think she's going to go far everyone, and I think I won't be the only saying that I'll be looking forward to it!"

The announcer's voice didn't reach my ears as I shakily stood up, stunned by the applause. The adrenaline coursing in my body continued to run at an all time high as I turned my head to look the crowd before me. My heart was pounding, trying to leap out of my chest to the audience. It enchanted me, captivated me. I want to hear this again. I want to win again!

"Pyrrha! Pyrrha! Pyrrha! Pyrrha!" They chanted, over and over again.

I lifted my shield up, earning even more applause. This is what I've been training for, and I can't wait for the next time I fight.


Author's Notes: SPOILER WARNING, don't read unless you've watched all of Volume 3.

I've had this idea bouncing in my head for a while, but Pyrrha's death in the show was a pretty good motivator. Instead of a fix-fic, memories, or how characters deal with her death, I wanted to make a fic of her tournament life before Beacon.

Now onto the story itself. You may have noticed she didn't use her semblance at all during this fight. Once I get to a certain point, I'll explain why. As for the tournament structure, I plan on making this either a single-elimination or double-elimination tournament, though I'm leaning more towards a single one. A double elimination one WOULD allow Pyrrha to lose and still win the tournament, creating more drama, but it would also sorta invalidate her Invincible Girl title. If any of you have any opinions on this, please share it. Also, in case you're worried this story will only be focused on the tournament, I will be writing about her life outside the tournament as well.

I'm not sure how often I will update this, but I'll try my best to see it through. I would appreciate any constructive criticism any of you might have so that I might become a better writer.