Arwin peeled his gaze away from the melee fight currently unfolding on the arena grounds as Reya returned to the room. She flopped down in the chair beside him with a weary sigh. “Found him,” Reya said. “And so did Esmerelda.” “Esmerelda did?” Arwin blinked in surprise. “She was with you?” “Apparently. She’s sneakier than I thought. Didn’t even realize she was with me until she popped out the moment I found the room Arnold was in,” Reya grumbled. She didn’t sound so happy about someone having managed to sneak up on her. “She said she’d handle things with him.” That’s… odd. Esmerelda was the one that told me about needing to find him in the first place, but I somehow didn’t expect her to directly interfere. Didn’t think she was the type. Maybe that’s rude of me. Either way, this is the best case scenario. I don’t really know what I would have been able to do other than tell this Arnold guy to drop out of the tournament. “Well, sounds like things are handled, then.” Reya nodded. “Guess so. I wonder what she’s doing… but not enough to try and spy on her.” “That’s probably wise. She’s carrying around enough cursed shit to scare anybody,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “I still don’t get why she does that. Esmerelda is clearly capable of making powerful potions, and not everything cursed has to be bad. It’s just more difficult. She just likes choosing to make things dangerous.” “Maybe it’s her hobby.” The back of Arwin’s neck prickled at that thought. He wasn’t sure how the Mesh even allowed such a weapon to exist. There were meant to be balances. If this really was the dagger that had stolen Kien’s powers, and it was still able to steal more magic… the price that must have been paid to craft or create it must have been astronomical. ℞𝐚Νɵ฿Ę𝒮 I wish I was closer. I can’t get a good look at it. “I doubt the dagger just steals any magic it touches,” Arwin said after a moment. “I refuse to believe something like that exists. It definitely has to contact somebody’s flesh at the bare minimum.” “So your armor will work?” “It should,” Arwin said. “But it’s a dagger. Those are meant for getting between cracks in armor. Keep a close eye on him. Let’s see how he reacts when a team turns their attention to him. If that dagger is just straight up unfair, then he’ll be able to cut through them without any trouble.” Reya nodded. The two of them fell into grim silence, staring down at the arena as the melee waged on. They didn’t have to wait long. As teams fell, there were fewer people left on the arena and far less chaos for anyone to hide in. While the lone man had gone unnoticed by the other fighters before, it was impossible to keep overlooking him. A warrior and a mage from what had once been a group of three — one had already been removed from the fight by a healer — spotted the man and darted for him without a second thought. They were already at a disadvantage against the remaining combatants, so trying to take out the lone outlier was a smart call. And, with one of their number down, they could no longer afford to try and hold back. The mage lowered his staff and sent a bolt of electric energy screaming through the air, slicing through the roar of the crowd. The man leapt to the side, diving out of the way an instant before it could connect with him. He rose to his feet in a dead sprint, ducking past the warrior and darting straight for the mage. “He dodged,” Reya observed. “Doesn’t confirm anything, but the dagger probably can’t just absorb magical attacks. That would be too strong,” Arwin said with a nod. “He’s also going for the caster first… though I’d have done the same.” The mage swept his hand down and a wave of bright yellow lightning rolled out, heading straight for the silk-clad man. Instead of dodging or trying to block the attack, he ran straight into it. Arwin’s eyes widened as the power arced off his body, clearly connecting with him but failing to accomplish anything more than slightly singing his clothes. The man’s dagger flew free from its spot at his side and it whipped through the air, slamming right into the mage’s chest. He kicked the mage back and spun, raising his dagger to block the warrior’s sword before it could bisect him. They both said something, but the roar of the crowd and the distance made it impossible to hear what. The man lunged at the warrior, driving his dagger for a gap in the man’s armor. It scraped along it, failing to penetrate, and he was forced to hop back before a blazing-fast swing from the other man’s sword nearly cut him apart. “It looks like you were right,” Reya said with a relieved breath. “The dagger doesn’t go through armor. Maybe that’s not him.” Arwin’s eyes drifted back to the fallen mage. Healers were gathered around him — but they hadn’t pulled him off the platform yet. They were gathered around the man, and even from where Arwin sat, he could see distress in their motions. His eyes narrowed. The healers were having trouble. They eventually grabbed the mage and ferried him away, but it didn’t matter. “That’s him,” Arwin said. “There’s something up with the mage that just got stabbed. The healers were having problems fixing something.”