"You were quite splendid." Weyonna approached Faris, nodding politely, "It was my complete loss."

"Oh! No! Not at all!" Tartarus smiled graciously as he bowed slightly to the tall elf, "you had gone easy on me."

"Well, only at the beginning, near the end, I truly began to run at fast speeds."

"Thank you for flattering me, however, even so, you could have run at top speed from the beginning, even if I moved as quickly as I could, it would have been my loss." Tartarus smiled brightly, "But even then, thank you so much for agreeing! I was able to realize many shortcomings within the jumpers, and I'll be able to fix them, thank you!"

Weyonna smiled wryly, "You are welcome. Erm… what was your name?"

"Oh, my name is Faris."

Weyonna's eyes lit up, "Ah, you are one of Alanna and Dusan's friends! They talk about you and the other human children incessantly back home, it made us all quite overjoyed to find them in such good moods."

Tartarus found himself smiling genuinely, damn, that's not Faris, he's been suppressed but… capitalizing on his good mood, he laughed. "I was probably more fortunate in meeting them than vice versa, I certainly hope they are doing well, give them my well wishes." The conversation with Weyonna continued under this thread, mostly innocuous, friendly banter that had no real substance, but as their conversation continued, Tartarus could feel Weyonna's evaluation of him increase.

"...Faris?!"

Tartarus turned to the voice, smile widening as he recognized Cynthia, one of Faris's fellow Knight Apprentice squad members. "Oh, Cynthia, hello, did you have something you needed from me? I apologize Weyonna, she is a member of my student squad, our captain in fact, so I must cut our conversation short." He touched two fingers to his lips, then began to speak in the Ancient language.

"Atra esterní ono thelduin."

Weyonna, delighted, continued, "Atra mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr."

Tartarus finished, "Mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr."

"Your pronunciation was quite superb, who was your teacher?" Weyonna asked.

"Oh, I had many, and I could practice off Alanna and Dusan." Tartarus bowed, "If you will excuse me," he turned to walk towards Cynthia, his gentle smile changing into a smug smirk.

Cynthia could only simply stare at him, her face awash with multiple emotions.

"You seem a little upset Cynthia, is something wrong?"

"It's… nothing you did, there was a runner yesterday. As it is, I feel, I should probably apologize."

"Probably?" Tartarus replied dryly.

Cynthia glowered for a bit, then lowered her head, "Yes, apologize, I had no idea you had been assisting Vulcan with making peace with the Urgals and Dwarves under his supervision, if not for your work, they would have come to blows and the investigation would not have had the time to occur."

"There's little need to apologize, I should probably be more… transparent." Tartarus replied, "As it is, it's probably better if we can share information, there are two more challenges I plan to participate in today, and a few people I'd like to find and speak to."

Cynthia nodded, her smile dropping as she began to speak in a more business-like tone. "Alright, I and a few of my members are also participating in some events today, and, I should let you know, your mage friends are participating in the games, while I know there are some competitions that require the use of magic, so they will be focusing on that, all of them proved to be very physically fit, you have a chance of running into them during any of the combat or fitness like tests that take place over the weeks, just as a heads up."

Tartarus nodded, smiling, "Eh… It's just going to be a short reunion..."

…

Due to the attack on the city, many buildings and locations were destroyed and damaged, one of the most damaged locations was the slums by Gurant's home. General reconstruction brought laborers, general labor created a market for new home cleaners, and people to sell food and water, allowing a small market to begin forming in the area.

Minnie stood atop a building, to her left and behind her sat dozens of lessers, the unintelligent, non-transforming, instinct-based beings known to humans as cats. Most werecats had a distaste for being around the lessers. While to any werecat, a lesser was more agreeable company than most humans, werecats were, ultimately like dragons, an extremely prideful race. It was why Grimmr Half-Paw made this competition in the first place. Minnie was a bit different from the standard Werecat, she had been abandoned as a sickly child by her parents and was taken in by a troop of wild cats, she was found later by a werecat by the name of Maud, who took her in and raised her, but any werecats who knew here story looked down on her. To Minnie, winning this competition was the most important thing. When the human kit… when Faris, had come to her last, only to reveal he had been compromised mentally, his assertion that their deal still held up was enough for Minnie, but even then, she could not help but be worried. Werecats, even while being sapient like the more cushioned races, were beings of emotion and instinct, she could see in Faris's eyes, that the being in control currently would not have rescued her from the cage she had been trapped in. However, as worried as Minnie was, those feelings held no candle to the distraught feelings of Ventus.

Ventus had known Faris since he had fallen from his nest prematurely. Faris had paid no real mind to him during his training, picking up Ventus and putting him back into the nest. Ventus himself paid no mind to Faris other than to consider him to be a predator. Once Ventus could begin flying, he hunted rats and other game, he was subconsciously aware of Faris being in the area every once in a while, but the boy had spoken words in the ancient language, and while Ventus wasn't aware of those words, he understood their meaning. Ventus owed his life to Ventus, who was both like a father and elder hatch mate to him, he remembered Tartarus, back when he was first created, and hated the entity that so twisted his master. Faris was sad and depressed for a while, and Ventus had no way to comfort him, magic may have awakened him, but he wasn't human, all he knew was that Faris was distressed, but that he'd be there to help. He fought to protect Faris when those assassins attacked him, he would have dived into the sewers had Faris not told him to stay back, but how could he fight against something within Faris without hurting him? Even now, his last order from… Tartarus, was to aide Minnie in her patrols, and while Ventus would have thought to disobey, he simply couldn't bring himself to abandon Faris to return to the forest indefinitely, he was too intelligent for that life now and too ingrained in the boy's life to want to leave.

There. Minnie sounded out silently, sending her message to Ventus and the normal cats. They followed her trace, looking down to see a troop of cats patrolling a connection of Alleyways, they were led by a massive cat, the size of a bobcat but covered in fur like a Persian. Remember, do not hurt the lessers, I only want to aim for the werecat and make him submit.

Ventus moved first, this was not their first time. As he dived down, he let out the ghostly shriek typical of barn owls, causing the cats and werecat to flinch. Cats hissed in unison, and many of them attempted to leap at Ventus when he got just within their range. Despite their efforts, none could even scratch his tail feathers.

You're making fun of me… The large werecat's mind rumbled, his long fur bristled, and he compressed his powerful legs, preparing to rush up the wall to leap at Ventus.

Ventus clung to exposed rocks, just close enough to be reached, and batted away any cats that got too close. The werecat began bounding up the parts of the wall that could hold its weight, then leap up, only to be forced down by a pouncing Minnie.

The two collided on the ground heavily then rolled apart. The werecat, now wet with dirty water and soot, looked around until it saw the hissing cat in front of it. He began to morph into his humanoid form, a 4 ft tall muscular person, he had a surprisingly childlike face, but his hair was long and large, spilling over his sides and back, covering his bare chest and reaching down to his hips and buttocks. He grinned. "Oh… Minnie, we were so worried when we saw you in that cage, but you know the rules, we can't help each other."

Minnie hissed in response, mentally screaming out, Lies! You and the others set me up six-claw, I was going to win, and you took my troops away from me!

"Troops?" The Werecat, twelve-claw, smirked, "Lessers aren't soldiers, this isn't a war, it's just a silly little game to determine our next king, but Minnie, you aren't even a real player, you're a stupid little kitten who was abandoned to a den of lessers."

Shut up!

Minnie tensed, charging the six-claw. The male werecat was as agile in his humanoid form as he was in his cat form, bending backward to avoid her pounce. He swung his fist at Minnie and she shrunk back. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to fully avoid the attack, and 6 thin gashes were left on her flank.

True to his name, Six-claw's left arm had 6 digits, which were halfway morphed between humanoid and cat-like form. "Naughty child, didn't your elders teach you to respect your betters? You can't even transform into a humanoid form, if not for your size and words, we'd think you were just a fat lesser."

Minnie hissed angrily, charging forward. Six-claw began to laugh, arms morphing, and he rushed forward.

They tangled with each other, in his humanoid form, Six-claw was faster, while Minnie had access to her teeth as well as two front claws. After a few seconds of entanglement, the victor was beginning to seem clear.

"You're weak you know…" Six-claw laughed. "It was so easy tricking you… it was so surprising too, that any humans would be after werecats, we contemplated killing them for even daring to think to take one of our own, but Etri came up with this plan." He wiped the blood from the scratch Minnie left on his face and licked some of the blood off of the tip of his claws. "How did you escape? Did you wag your tail and play stupid, like a dog? Perhaps they thought you were simply a dumb cat and let you go, or... did you beg?"

The cats around them hissed as they watched each other, but at the moment, they could not move, the fighting between the Werecats would determine who would rule them in their territories.

Ventus charged down, smashing into Six-claw and smashing his face into a wall. Flying off before the werecat could retaliate, Ventus fluttered up into the air.

"What… sort of magic?!" Six-claw turned to face the owl. He attempted to swipe at Ventus, who ducked and dived under him, causing him to miss Minnie charging him again.

You all betrayed me!

She hissed and yowled, biting and scratching, cutting and tearing. Every time his fist struck her, she'd bite down harder or pull on his legs, tripping him. Even when he began to morph back into his feline form, she scratched and cut at him, striking from above. His thick main of fur however made it impossible to get any definitive attacks on him.

Foolish vixen, you can't cut me, and now your feathered friend can't interfere. Six-claw reared up, throwing Minnie off, before turning to attack her, Ventus wanted to jump in but at this point the dozens of cats who had simply stood and watched turned to Ventus, leaping at him.

Ventus screeched at the cats, flying up to avoid their scratches, but he couldn't dive down. To aid Minnie any longer, not without hurting some of the cats. Minnie's cats jumped down to confront Six-claw's, but they were outnumbered and were slowly moving back as the cats advanced.

"Hey! What are you doing! SHOO! GET! OUT OF THERE!" The animals turned, seeing two human women, armed with brooms and dustpans. Ventus recognized them as Yura and Martha. Six-claw turned to Minnie.

You're a very lucky whelp, spilling your blood in front of humans would be beneath me, so… you live, for now. You have until tonight to leave the city, or else I'll tear you apart, witnesses or not. He pressed his paw down, sinking his claws into her flesh once before bounding off. The majority of cats rushed off behind him, including even a few of Minnie's cats.

The rest scattered in multiple directions. Ventus flew down to Minnie. Get up! But she was in bad shape, scars and bite marks littered her body, and her once beautifully patterned coat that made her look like a snow leopard was full of patches created by the larger werecat's claws and scratches.

As the two women walked closer, Martha turned to Yura. "Why did you suddenly start screaming and breaking up the cats? It's normally I who'd do that, so I was surprised that you'd take the lead."

Yura pointed to Ventus, "That owl, that is Faris's pet, and that large cat, it's been walking around our neighborhood at night."

As they got closer Martha recoiled, "That's too large to be a cat, it's a wild beast! Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Yura shrugged, "half a year ago I would have thrown items at Ventus, fearful that he belonged to a Witch, and while I was worried, I saw Faris sneak out and give the cat milk, it didn't attack him, so it was likely safe, no one else noticed so I thought Faris knew it." She bent down next to the big cat. "I was young, but I remember the war, there were people, they looked like children, but they were muscular, wearing armor, but they had cat-like eyes, some of them even morphed into cats before my very eyes." Her eyes twinkled slightly before she noticed the wounds.

Martha observed them as well, "My goodness! That large one would have killed this one." She reached a hand over to Minnie, moving back when Minnie hissed. "Hey!" She retorted sharply, putting her hands on her hips, "You're in no shape to be hissing at me! We're trying to help you!" She stared at the werecat with a stern pout on her face, eventually, Minnie averted her eyes. "There, now, let's get you to our house, we have plenty of medicine, but… transform, it would be hard lugging a giant cat out of the alleyway."

Minnie gave no reply, simply closing her eyes and breathing softly. Yura paled, "wait, what do you mean 'get you to our house' you aren't thinking?!"

Martha smirked, "You did complain that there had been a few more rodents in the area than you would have liked, right?"

Yura's jaw dropped in disbelief at Martha, then she flinched when the woman rolled up her sleeves, bent down, then picked up the bobcat sized creature, carrying it over her shoulders. Martha took a deep breath, then with a refreshing smile, walked out into the streets…

…

Venka's arms shook, sweat-drenched her skin, causing her robes to sag. In her hand, a dull crystal, and surrounding her were 5 orbs of light, spirits, that danced around her. In front of her stood the remains of a tree.

"You were closer this time… you summoned the spirits but they did not heed your will, fortunately, none are powerful enough to take your mind, as I suspected," Farooq said slowly.

"Damnit…" Venka muttered, her hands dropping to her sides. "I… I can summon the spirits, but every time I give an order, they attack me, why?"

Farooq raised his staff, "There are three things that make a Spirit submit. The most important trait is power, a spirit is more likely to attempt to take a person's mind if they have lower power, that is why more humans become shades than any other race. The next most important trait is health. Spirits are ageless, but they are more likely to take a body they deem weak as if they can somehow smell the death on an individual, making it easier to overtake them. A mind addled by age or pain is much easier to take over.

"What is the third? I have a lot of magic, and I'm young and healthy, how much magic do I have to have to stop them from attacking me?"

"Young Venka, with your magic power, I'm honestly surprised, your vitality is so strong that it matches your magic potential, countering their reasons to attack you." He frowned, "This means that you are severely lacking in the third category."

"Which is…"

"Willpower."

Venka blinked, "What… really? That's… odd."

"You seem more surprised than upset?" Farooq confusedly said.

"Yeah, uh… Faris once called me a stubborn bitch in bed."

Farooq coughed, accidentally breathing in spittle. "W-what?!"

Venka, realizing the implication, reddened, "No! NO! Not like that! I meant, well, when my parents died... when we came to the city, I sometimes slept in his bed… I'd get nightmares. I used to not be able to sleep without my parents, and they would let me sleep with them, so I wouldn't have nightmares, but those nightmares happened again when they died. One night I awoke to go pee." Farooq raised an eyebrow at Venka's bluntness. "And, when I was returning to bed, Faris mumbled something like…. 'It's just a fucking pie Venka, you stupid stubborn bitch, Jesus!'. I had no idea what he was talking about, I think he was dreaming though, I punched him awake but was too angry to tell him exactly what it was about."

Farooq sighed, "Perhaps it's not so much your will, or lack thereof, as it is your lack of focus. I noticed, when you and your allies duel, it's said of your opponents that you often don't face them head-on in a mental battle first, you utilize your superior magic, and when you attack them, you brute force your way past their defenses in an unreal way, is that correct?"

"Yeah, it is." Venka smiled proudly.

"Oh, then that is why you lost to the spirits," Farooq said.

"Wait… why?!" Venka stood up, tiredness dissipating.

Farooq, smiling, spoke again, "Your magic, you have an amazing physical recovery speed, it is likely due to your magic amount. But you rely on it to aid your magic, physical, and mental abilities, correct?"

"Well, yeah, I used to not be able to, but I just have so much energy that boosting myself with magic doesn't tax me at all."

"A spirit's mental pressure is insane, it's such that just slightly boosting your mental ability isn't enough, if your concentration drops even once, they bypass defenses put up by magic. Remember, spirits don't need the ancient language. You rely on your boundless magic to enhance your mental abilities, but you are still human, unlike elves who naturally have powerful minds from birth, humans require training and discipline to focus and gain enlightenment."

"Oh… um, well, what about shades?"

"Shades? They… they are both held and bound by the ancient language, they are a union of mortal flesh and spirit, thus the spirit is much more limited in its freedom of magic, even then, they are endowed with a knowledge of magic application, and can easily utilize the knowledge of whoever their host is to best utilize magic, of course, they are still limited by the magical talent of their host." Farooq looked at Venka, "You are asking because of Faris? I assume." Farooq ruffled Venka's hair. "The boy is an astounding outlier, that he overcame the mental bonds of the shade and returned isn't just commendable, it's legendary, whatever stimulus triggered such a transformation would likely be extremely important. Do you believe in him?" Venka nodded. "Good." Farooq smiled, ruffling her hair some more, then his smile dropped, he retracted his hand and awkwardly coughed. "As it is, you are tired, go get some rest, and see if you can catch up with your friends today."

Venka smiled, patting her head. She bowed, "Thank you, Farooq-elda."

Farooq smiled at the honorific and bid Venka a goodbye. Just as she left the room, he raised his hands, two spirits materialized out of thin air.

"Foton, Pikiran." He turned to the two orbs, "Ono weohnata waíse Venka skölir fra rauthr". The orbs turned deep red. "Naughty… I've given you ample energy, besides, she may cure your boredom." He sighed, Venka reminded him of his granddaughter, "SieHa…" He said softly, returning to his quarters to meditate, concentrating his excess reserves into the crystal he had been building up since he was a child...

…

"That will be 5 pence."

"Alrighty…" Venka reached into her purse and handed five copper-colored coins into the storekeeper's hands. She then grabbed the bright red apple that caught her eye, then tossed it up. "Kverst" (cut). The apple spun in the air from her toss, then before everyone's eyes, the skin began to unravel, as if peeled by an expert with a highly honed dagger, The perfectly peeled apple landed in her hand, then split into 6 perfect slices. Venka smiled as she took a bite of one apple slice, enjoying the explosion of juice as she chewed. "Thanks, Baker!" She shouted to the fruit vendor, who was ironically named Baker.

"Have a nice day!" The large man laughed as she walked off.

Venka had spent the days she wasn't training or at school exploring the city, because of her nosy nature and upfront attitude, she made a name for herself as the young mage from the academy. Many people often feared magic, and there were rumors of her insane magical power, but she was often simply nice and simple natured when people met her, getting excited over the smallest of novelties and making fast friends quite easily. Though, the fact she was blossoming into a pretty young woman probably helped. Her eyes flashed as she checked the time, "Oh, it's almost time for the first round of duels!"

...