While her mother slept, Neo retreated to her dorm, and was greeted by a volley of questions from her team. Neo answered most of their questions truthfully, discussing what happened in Vacuo, and how their home kingdom was faring. Then conversation eventually turned to what the team would do now that Shade was no longer standing.

"Guys... What are we gonna do now? Shade is destroyed... Are we just going to transfer? What about your mom Neo, What is she gonna do? And what's with that sword you're carrying around?" Dew asked Neo in rapid succession.

Neo sighed and looked down to her new weapon, The relic of Destruction, "I... I guess we'll transfer to beacon. And as for my mom... I don't know yet."

"and the sword?" Nebula asked with a curious look on her face.

"It's... a very unique weapon... My mom gave it to me, It make the user extraordinarily powerful, at the cost of their emotional stability." Neo flinched slightly, feeling a rush of anxiety run down her back.

"It does it all the time unfortunately, even when I'm not holding it, or even in combat."

Actually... That begs the question... Hel? When I'm bonded to you, will you amplify me in combat even if If you're holstered? Hel Scoffed and replied To an Extent. You will find my power diminished while not holding the relic. And the benefits you reap are exponential while not holding me, not compounding. But the downsides are never not compounding. Neo did a mental eye roll, So basically, No? Correct.

"It's also my new primary weapon... unfortunately... Faceted Crescent will have to be my backup, because even though this stupid thing is bound to me, it works better while held... Luckily I was trained in dual wielding by Sino... I... I wonder if Professor Mahogany is still alive..."

"You didn't check?" Scarlet asked, confused.

Neo shook her head, "No, We were only in Vacuo for about 3 hours. My mom confirmed that Headmaster Theodore and Miss Rumpole were dead... But she didn't mention Sino or Ms Manila. I presume she was helping with the relief efforts. But I have no Idea about Sino."

The team shared a small moment of silence, and after a short while, Scarlet broke the quiet, "So... Neo... Wanna spar?"

Neo gained a feral grin, and accepted.

Neo and Scarlet stood across from one another, awaiting the buzzer, Neo was using Faceted Crescent for this spar, the relic was safely in the hands of Glynda who had shown up to officiate the spar.

Both girls sunk into a ready position, and at the loud grating sound of the buzzer, both girls launched at one another. Instantly, Neo could feel the power of the relic pumping her with energy, She ran faster in her charge, and upon reaching Scarlet, used her semblance to invert her momentum, placing a wall to kick off of. As she kicked the wall, she expected it to shatter into rose petals, but instead, the wall took the full force of Neo's body and allowed her to kick off of it with no struggle.

Neo smirked as she struck Scarlet cleanly on the back, the other girl still whirling around to keep track of Neo. Scarlet stumbled forwards and brought her swords up in a defensive motion. Wincing as Neo met her head on with Faceted Crescent's sword mode.

Scarlet had Neo's sword in an X lock, with Neo marveling at how little strength she needed to break the hold. Pushing just a tiny bit, Neo forced Scarlet to open the X hold and Neo slipped a clean punch in.

Neo's fist and improved strength caught Scarlet off guard, the punch to the chest sending Scarlet skidding back several yards.

Scarlet quipped as she got up, "Holy crap Neo! What the heck was that!?"

Neo smirked, "I'm Waaaaay stronger now Scar... Come at me." Neo threw her weapon to the side letting it clatter across the arena. Neo then raised her fists in a ready position, and goaded scarlet towards her.

Scarlet watched Neo curiously, and once she looked ready to continue, Scarlet charged. Scarlet swung her swords as she reached Neo, her left sword coming in at head level, forcing Neo to duck, And her right sword coming up from below to catch her as she did.

Instead, Neo jumped and placed a wall with her semblance, kicking off of it with just enough force to not shatter it. Scarlet impacted the wall with her swords a split second later, sending a cloud of rose petals flowing through the air.

Neo placed another wall and rotated in the air, kicking off that wall headed directly towards scarlet with immense speed. Scarlet brought her swords up to defend, but was unable to stop the full weight of Neo from crashing into her.

Scarlet fell to the ground under Neo's weight, and once Neo got her in a choke hold, she conceded. "Uncle! Uncle!"

Neo released her and the buzzer sounded. Neo looked up at the board and what she saw astounded her, the board read Scarlet at 60% aura, and Neo at 100% No aura loss whatsoever.

Neo gaped as she looked at the board, and Scarlet too hung her mouth open at the sight of Neo having not lost any aura during that fight.

Neo looked over to Professor Goodwitch, who had her eyes slightly wide, and her glasses slipped down her nose.

"Well... Miss Lazuli, this ah... Upgrade certainly has done you wonders... I... can't help but shudder at the thought of what a monster on the battlefield this thing would make your mother. Speaking of whom..."

Neo looked over to see the form of her mother sitting in the stands alongside the rest of her team, Aurum had a bright smile on her face, and a dangerous glint in her eye. In a the blink of an eye, Aurum was stood on the arena floor, right next to Neo, "Quite the display kiddo... Let's see how you fare against me huh?"

Neo nodded and retrieved the Relic of Destruction from Glynda, walking back to the arena, she noticed that she felt no fatigue, even though that last fight had lasted a full minute and a half, she felt as though she had just woken up from a refreshing nap.

Aurum waited for her Daughter to get to the starting position, then, in a show of respect, Aurum drew her weapon, readying Crescent Rose for battle. Before the battle could begin, Aurum called out to Glynda, "Glyn! Set the match for standard Tourney Rules, and set the shields to max. I don't think the regular settings can hold up to this fight."

Glynda gulped, and did as told, watching silently as the shields made themselves visible, glowing a bright blue.

Aurum smiled as she heard the background audio fade away, leaving just the silence of the ring.

"You ready kiddo?"

Neo held up a finger, "One sec."

Hel, I would like to be able to lose aura, If not, this is not a fair fight. It already isn't fair. But okay.
Neo grinned, "Now, I'm ready."

Aurum and Neo both gave a thumbs up to Glynda, who hit the button to start the match.

At the sound of the buzzer, Aurum rocketed towards Neo at ludicrous speeds, But to Neo, it looked at though it was happening in slow motion, Neo effortlessly brought her blade up to intercept Crescent rose as it swung towards her head, Neo used roughly half her strength to stop her mother's blade flat.

A deafening ringing sound echoed throughout the arena, And Crescent rose started to rotate on Neo's blade. Neo angled her sword back, allowing the massive scythe to slip off the sword and pass her, Neo turned around slowly, but to everyone else it looked like she simply flickered, and was facing towards her mother.

Aurum reversed her scythe and shot, sending the weapon flying at Neo, but Neo parried and counterattacked effortlessly, forcing Aurum to go on the defensive.

Aurum fended off Neo's lightning quick attacks, when all the sudden, She was struck from behind, a firm kick sending her flying back, until she planted Crescent rose's blade into the ground, anchoring herself and stopping halfway across the arena. Aurum picked her scythe up from it's spot in the ground, and brought it behind her, peeking up at the score, Aurum at 94% to Neo's 99.8% Aurum Grinned, and flames came out of her eyes, Neo's eyes widened, as did Glynda's.

Aurum flew towards her daughter, swinging for her feet. Neo jumped over the blade and struck Aurum dead on as she flew past, slicing away 10% of her aura, Neo was then struck in the back by a blade of wind, knocking her over and taking 5% off her aura. Neo rolled to the side to avoid another swing of her mother's Scythe, and then used an illusion to duck away.

Aurum looked around for her daughter, and upon hearing faint footsteps from behind her, swung her Scythe in a wide arc, aiming to take Neo off her feet. Neo back flipped over the Swing, and rushed in with a devastating combo, cutting Aurum's aura down to 50%.

Aurum broke off with her semblance, backing up and re-evaluating her situation. She then decided to up the ante, and summoned flames around her blade, remembering to color it bright orange as she did so, Aurum started swinging her scythe in circles around her, sending waves of flame towards Neo, who effortlessly bobbed and weaved through the flames until she met her mother's blade, stopping it with a single strike.

Aurum then turned her scythe towards the ground, planting it as she swung off of it to try to hit Neo with a kick, and smiling to herself when her legs found purchase, but then frowning when whatever she hit didn't give, instead, the illusory Neo just took the full force of Aurum's kick, and Neo came up from behind and gave Aurum a kick that hit her dead on, sending her tumbling away from her anchored weapon.

Aurum was about to push her semblance further, and quickly retrieve her weapon, but was instead cut off as she watched her daughter flicker. Aurum then felt immense pressure on her stomach, and after a quarter of a second, found herself on the ground against the barrier, listening to the buzzer.

Neo looked up to the scoreboard, the fight was 43 seconds long, and She was at 73% aura, her mother sitting at 11%.

Neo looked down at her hands in awe, "I... I won?" looking up to the stands, she saw her team staring with wide eyes, and Glynda looking at her scroll with her jaw dropped.

"I cant believe it... I actually won! Oh my gods!" Neo excitedly ran over to her mother's prone form, though to everyone else, it looked as though a video had skipped a frame, "Mom! I did It! I won!"

Aurum groaned and rolled over onto her back, a dopey smile on her face, "I know Neo, I can feel it pretty acutely."

Neo helped her mother up, and then gave her a hug, squeezing 3% of her aura away as she did so, "That was so Fun! We should do that again mom!"

Aurum chuckled as she hugged her daughter, "We will Neo, I promise."

Neo's smile grew, "Really!? Yes! You're the best mom ever! I love you!"

Aurum smiled softly, clearly the relic was compounding Neo's happiness, but it was nice to have her daughter act like she did as a kid, it was almost nostalgic to have Neo bright and overly happy instead of quiet and playful.

Aurum's attention left her daughter as she heard the crackling sound of the barrier falling, turning to look around, she noticed the dumbfounded looks on everyone in the room's faces.

She also noticed that her aura was still ticking down, she had left her semblance active. Turning it off, she noticed that Neo was vibrating rapidly. Neo too had noticed the barrier falling, and had looked up to her team, Aurum was shocked when Neo flickered, and was standing in front of her rather than in her arms,

"I'm gonna go talk to my team mom, I'll be right back." Neo then flickered once again, and then disappeared, reappearing up by her team, much to their surprise.

"Gah! Neo, you scared the crap out of us!" Scarlet said as Neo appeared two feet from her.
Neo's head went from straight up to tilted in a fraction of a second as she asked, "What? How? I just walked up here?"

Scarlet stared blankly at Neo, "Uh... I don't know how to explain this."

Glynda spoke up from her spot down by the stage, "Miss Lazuli, Your weapon is still amplifying your speed, you are currently moving faster than we can observe."

Neo blinked, though it wasn't visible to anyone but me and then looked down at her hands, Faster than they can observe huh? Well how about that. Neo closed her eyes and breathed Hmmm. I am normal, I am simply Neopolitan Lazuli, there is nothing magical about me.

Upon opening her eyes, Neo jumped back and forth, and asked, "Am I normal now?"

Scarlet laughed, "Yeah, you're back in the slow lane."

Neo smiled, "good, cus that was freAKING AWESOME! Did you guys see that!? I beat my Mom in under a minute Weapons vs Weapons! I'm Awesome now!"

As Neo celebrated with her team, Aurum and Glynda spoke on the sidelines, "So, Where'd that put her on the leaderboard, 43 seconds to beat me is nothing to scoff at."

"... Your daughter is #2 on the board. Right behind Theodore."

Aurum grimaced, "Yeah..."

Glynda's face softened as she saw the expression Aurum was wearing, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Aurum sighed, "No. It... Needs to be laid to rest. Theodore is gone... Xanthe... is gone. I..." Aurum took a deep breath, exhaling out her mouth, "I just need to deal. Grieve, and get on with my life, and my mission. It's what she... It's what they would have wanted."

Glynda eyed Aurum with a measuring look, "If you say so Aurum."

Ruby looked up to her daughter, "I'll do what I have to, to make sure she doesn't have to fight as long as we have."

Glynda followed Aurum's gaze, and said, "That's all any of us want out of this."