Lulu lazily opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. It was painted red and appeared flowery. Lulu suddenly remembered where she was and sat up in the bed, Isaaru's note still close by. She glanced outside and located the sun's position.
I'm going to be late for round 1! Lulu thought and raced off to her location. Deciding that she would still be late no matter how fast she ran, Lulu tapped into her white magic reserves and cast Haste on herself. The scenery raced past her as Lulu ran faster and faster. She came to a quick stop in the center of Luca where a massive Sand Worm waited asleep along with Isaaru and another smaller man Lulu didn't know.
"Hello, Lulu." Isaaru said, "You sure cut it close. We almost had to disqualify you."
"I'm here." Lulu said a little breathlessly. She wished she could fully wake up and slow her breathing before the battle, but the smaller man suddenly hit the Sand Worm with a stone waking it up.
"Your battle will now begin." Isaaru said above the Sand Worm's roar.
Having previously fought Sand Worms before, Lulu raced off around the Sand Worm to its rear, knowing that Sand Worms couldn't move well above ground. Lulu cast a quick Scan spell and discovered that this Sand Worm had an unusually high health point and no elemental weakness. This didn't worry Lulu however.
"Waterga!" Lulu cast and the massive water attack crashed down on the monster. Lulu figured that the Sand Worm wouldn't be used to water being that it was from the Sanubia Desert. However, the water attack sent the monster into a rage. It began to thrash about knocking into stores and finally landing a hit on Lulu, sending her flying backwards. She landed hard, but before she knew it, Lulu was up in the air flying towards the Sand Worm.
Lulu was sucked up and into the Sand Worm and then swallowed down into the digestion system. She was disgusted by the wet and warm insides of the Sand Worm and her mind instantly traveled to her previous battles. This had happened to her before, and she remembered passing out from something the Sand Worm released deep inside itself as the stomach acid began to digest her.
A spray shot at her face, entering her lungs and she immediately felt drowsy as panic set it. In her previous battles, she could always count on someone on the outside to defeat the monster before she was digested and lost forever. But the small man obviously had no power and who knew if Isaaru had grown powerful in time.
I may die. Lulu thought. Her thoughts instantly raced to Wakka, to her sons. She pictured their faces as Wakka told them they would never see their mother again. And then she watched as each of their faces transformed to her own as a child. Still feeling drowsy, Lulu let her panic, her anger, her desperation fill her body. And then she screamed, "ULTIMA!"
The blast exploded from her body, completely ripping the Sand Worm apart and sending chunks of its flesh raining down all around Luca's center. Lulu fell to her knees still feeling drowsy and weak and breathing hard. She looked down to her feet that burned from the acids inside the Sand Worm. She cast a Cure spell on herself, but it barely helped her drowsiness.
"Lulu!" a voice called in her ear, "Lulu, are you okay?"
Lulu looked up into Isaaru's face and nodded forcing herself to stand. She looked around at the many onlookers her battle had drawn and how they were all covered in dark Sand Worm meat. A large chunk still lay at her side which appeared to be a portion of the Sand Worm's mouth and back.
Lulu shook the drowsiness from her head and tried to clear it, now removing thoughts of her orphaned children.
"Are you sure you're fine?" Isaaru asked.
"Yes." Lulu replied simply. She didn't exactly feel like saying much else.
"Well, I will admit that that was impressive." Isaaru said, "I've overseen many battles today, not to mention all those battles I saw on my pilgrimage. And I've never seen a monster torn to pieces by magic like that before."
"Thank you." was all Lulu could say. A smell was beginning to rise from the open meat. She turned to leave desperately desiring another nap.
"The results will be posted in two days time." Isaaru called after her. Lulu continued to walk on ignoring the stares from the other mages. All she wanted was to sleep. Before she knew it Lulu was standing in front of her room again, fully aware that only about thirty minutes had passed since she had awoken in this room. However, Lulu felt as though a hundred years had passed and she climbed on top of the bed and passed out.
Lulu woke in the middle of the night. She rolled over and half-expected to see Wakka deep asleep beside her, but he was, of course, not there. Lulu ignored the fatigue that pulled at her and instead rose and walked to the balcony. She enjoyed the cool breeze that wafted by and then heard the cries of spells in the distance. A small explosion went off to Lulu's right and she walked back into her room.
Deciding to take a stroll Lulu left her room and slowly walked down the hall. She had barely left the building when her name was called.
"Lulu!" a familiar voice yelled and Lulu watched a portly little man run up to her with a large pack on his back and a silly small hat on his head.
"O'aka," Lulu smiled, "It's good to see you again."
"Same here." O'aka said, "What are you doing out at this hour?"
"Just going for a walk." Lulu answered.
"I'd be careful if I were you." O'aka told her with a serious look on his face. Lulu was surprised by this sudden change.
"Why?"
"Everyone knows that you are the favorite to win this competition." O'aka said solemnly, "Most of the mages here are trying to get famous by defeating you, making most of them very hostile. And the rest of them don't think that it's very fair of you to enter. They feel that some other mages deserve some attention. Just be ready to protect yourself in case a bunch of them decide to hold an unofficial match, if you catch my drift."
"I always watch my back."
O'aka laughed heartily, "I wouldn't expect anything less from you Lulu." He turned to go, but then stopped. "I was thinking of selling this and making a good deal of money off it. But I want you to have it instead."
O'aka pulled his sack off his back and fished around for something. He pulled out an ancient book and presented it to Lulu. She read the cover.
"Magic for Dummies. O'aka, what is this?" Lulu gave him an icy stare.
"I know; it looks stupid. But I looked through it before buying it. It mentions some spells I've never heard of as well as 'magic manipulation' whatever that is. If anyone can figure out those different spells and master magic manipulation, you can."
Lulu thanked O'aka for his kindness and watched him leave before tucking the book under her arm and thinking of how best to contact Yuna to show her this sad excuse for a spell book. Even Yuna could tell the difference between a serious spell book and a joke such as this.
Lulu walked back to her room, no longer in the mood for a walk. She laid the book on the bed and walked back to the balcony. However, curiosity soon overcame her and she sighed and opened the book. The moonlight shone brightly that night and Lulu didn't need to light a torch to read.
She skipped over the first few chapters that discussed how to cast spells and some basic types of spells. She came to the chapter talking about magic manipulation.
"Magic does not just summon spells," Lulu read aloud, "Manipulation can be used in magic to mold the spells into helpful shapes and forms."
What a load of crap. Lulu thought, closed the book, and tossed it back into the room. Lulu walked back over to the bed and curled up on it again. Sleep pulled at her again and she slowly drifted off with O'aka's warning still running through her mind.
