"Now, come forth, master of wind and music, Yen Lan; and the one whose hair shimmers like waves in the sun, Nyima Taiyang!"

"Why does she insist on announcing like this?" I asked, wanting to bury my face in my empty bag of carrots.

Nat laughed from the seat behind mine. "Think she decided to copy Ms. Key's style. It's how she M.C.d during our tournament on the boat."

"Right, she did something similar last year when she could get her hands on the mic," Alto said, laughing.

I grumbled. "That sister-in-law of yours is a bad influence."

"Come on, Ny, don't be a party popper!" Kun said.

I threw my bag at him. "Let's go, Yen."

"She's already there," Lei said, pointing at his sister.

She moved that fast?

"Good luck out there. You'll need it against Yen," Lei said.

My cheeks warmed up. Was he cheering me on over his sister?

Kun wrapped an arm around Lei's neck. "Hey, don't go cheering on for the one who beat Sarah and is facing our sister!"

"I'm not taking sides here!" he mumbled.

I should've known. Still, it was nice knowing Lei couldn't pick between Yen and me. Although, he did squabble a lot with her. However, the two of us argued considerably too.

"Thanks, but I'm not one to depend on such things as luck."

Sarah smiled at me and raised her tablet at me. 'Nyima's the type who depends on her head,' she had written.

I nodded. "Exactly."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt," Adela said as she joined us.

"You should probably hurry," Ulissis said, eyeing the battlefield. "Marina has been signaling at you to hurry up."

I gulped. Ugh, I was holding things up. If not for the crowd around me, I would've swung my arms back and unleashed a jet of water, propelling me toward the ring.

I ran down the stairs and into the ring. "Sorry for holding things up," I said, waving.

Yen smiled at me. "It's fine. I probably shouldn't have gone ahead of you so soon. That said, I hope you're not anxious. But I understand if you are."

I chuckled. "I see that you're as cocky as your brothers after all. Let's see how you compare to them."

"Rather well, if I do dare say so myself."

"Hmph. I'll wipe the floor with you as I've done with Kun and Lei!"

"Looks like our girls are anxious to start! You may begin!"

Yen rushed at me and struck my abdomen with her palm, producing a soundwave, and flinging me toward the edge.

"Water Dance!" I yelled. Threads of water wrapped around me and bent the air, keeping me from hitting out of limits. Blades of wind flew at me. Forming a water barrier, I tore them apart, creating a whirlpool around me. "Sorry, but I won't fall so easily!"

Yen smirked. "I would be disappointed if you had." She clapped her hands, causing my barrier to explode. I formed a wall of light behind me, keeping me from going over the edge.

No wonder Iah struggled against her. The girl was relentless.

Yen held out her right hand and summoned her crystal wand, transforming it into a pair of butterfly swords smaller than her little brother's.

I held out my hand, summoned my own wand, and transformed it into its pudao form. With its pole, I blocked Yen's double slash and kicked her away. The oldest Lan triplet moved her right knife into her left hand and cartwheeled with her right hand and legs.

"You're good," I said, chuckling.

Yen bowed slightly. "Thank you very much, but please save your praise for later." A glint shone in her turquoise eyes as she adjusted her headphones. She took both of her knives and banged them together. "Sonus Ruptis!"

I cupped my hands over my ears and fell to my knees. My head felt like it was being split open.

A green circle appeared underneath me. A wind mark! I had to get out!

Rolling out of the circle, I took out a pair of talismans and threw one at her. Yen sidestepped it as a powerful blast of water flew out of the blue magic circle the talisman had formed. I smirked and formed a wall of light, reflecting the direction of the water.

Yen gasped and jumped aside again. Once more, another water of light reflected my attack back at her. She gritted her teeth and dashed at me. I formed a light barrier and used my second talisman to set up another water laser.

Yen turned around as the first beam rushed at her. She smirked and jumped up, probably thinking I would be so foolish as to do myself in. Unfortunately for her, the water beam bounced straight into the air.

My opponent flew away and formed a barrier of wind, avoiding the first beam. The second, however, flew straight toward her.

Yen slashed the air, cutting the beam in half, but the two halves merged back into one with her in the middle. Her wind barrier pushed away the water, causing it to rain throughout the ring.

While I kept the water on Yen with my left hand, I focused light prana into my right.

My eyes widened as a blast of purple wind blew away the water. Hail rained down on the ring. Purple, the north wind. Spells with that kind of wind were said to have a freezing effect on whatever they touched.

Yen panted and smiled. "That was closer than I would've liked. Almost ended up like I did last year against Iah."

I raised my left hand into the air, launching the defrosted ice at her. "Forgot that I can turn ice back into its liquid form?"

She smiled and froze the drops once again with another gale. "Of course not!" The hail rained down on my barrier with a flick of her hand. It bounced up but not far enough to hit her.

Yen concentrated the wind into the tips of her blades and dropped down fast, shattering my barrier as if it were ice.

I launched my right fist at her, unleashing a wave of light. She gritted her teeth as she was flung upward.

"Bad decision!" I said, smirking.

Yen panted as the light disipitated. She landed on the ground and dashed around me, stopping at times.

Where was she? No matter. A blast of light should uproot her!

I gasped as I was struck on the back by the side of one of her knives. Water splurt from my back and grasped her knife and arm.

"What?" Yen asked.

"You thought that I would leave my back unprotected? I learned my lesson last year."

Yen smiled and spun around, unleashing a chilly gale. My legs and arms were frozen in place. "It's over." She shattered the water binds and slammed both her left hand against my back, flinging me straight to the edge of the arena. I managed to thaw myself and struck the ground with my pudao. I swung my body forward, preventing myself from falling off once more.

"Persistent," Yen said, appearing behind me.

"Didn't you learn your lesson?" I asked, swinging my pudao at her. It went right through her. An afterimage. I moved my head and coughed up blood as Yen slammed her right palm against my abdomen like before.

She dashed around in the air, striking me multiple times, shattering every barrier that I tried to make before they could be done. If I used the water on the floor, I could recreate Iah's strategy against her, but that cold wind of hers would stop it in its tracks. At least for a brief moment.

"You've got higher endurance than I thought. I can see now how you managed to shake off Iah's pressure point strikes briefly," Yen said.

That was probably only because of my clan's abysmal heritage. It gave me higher endurance than most Xelerians. But, even my above average-durability had its limits.

I looked up to the sky and thought I saw what looked like words painted in the sky with white smoke. It said, "Keep fighting, Ny!"

Ny. Was it Lei? No, the smoke was too rudimentary. It was as if it had been made by a machine. Though, there were only a handful of people who called me that. Vermeil, Lei, my mom, and Iah. Iah! Was he here?

I eyes darted throughout the stadium, but I couldn't see because of Yen.

"Stop blocking my vision!" I yelled, unleashing a sphere of light prana, pushing Yen away.

Yen smiled. "Aren't you exhausted? Those have to burn through a lot of energy."

I twirled my spear. Finding Iah will have to wait. Have to shut her down, else I won't be able to focus.

Yen crossed her arms as I sent beams of light at her.

"Is that all that you can do? No light dragons or angels?" Yen asked, rolling out of the way. I would've if she'd given me time!

"Lux Lepus!" I chanted, holding my hands out. The remaining light energy that I'd been charging up cloaked my body.

"A thick prana veil in the shape of a rabbit, huh? So, you still plan to play defensively. That's a big departure from how you fought against Sarah yesterday."

I zipped over and kicked her to the ground with my giant yellow rabbit foot. "Who said anything about fighting defensively?"

Yen rose from the floor. A smirk played on her lips as she looked straight at me with entertained eyes. The same eyes that her brothers had when they enjoyed a battle. She zipped back and forth, avoiding my punches. The girl reminded me of a cat. Like a feline, she slashed down on me, cutting into my cloak.

My prana grasped her knives and pulled them away from her. Gritting her teeth, Yen kicked me, but her leg got stuck on my veil as if it were mud.

I jumped into the air and swung her straight down. The ring exploded, blown away by cold wind. Yen flew out of the cloud of dust and sent an energy wave at me. Her eyes widened as they failed to have the effect she had anticipated.

"It might function akin to a viscous liquid in terms of grip, but it's not one." I threw her knives away and teleported behind her. My reward from Kun for having taught his cousin water magic.

"Lux Bomba!"

Yen slashed through the blast of light. She winced. The two halves had gotten her shoulders.

"Ugh, I won't lose!" Yen yelled as her knives flew back into her hands.

I formed a wall of light and watched as she broke through it. It felt as if I were fighting her brothers again!

My fist connected with her stomach, sending her flying straight up. She formed a wind barrier and pushed against the light blue one that one of the teachers had formed around us when the match began. The thing shook as ice covered it.

That barrier was made using fire prana. How could she freeze it so easily? Even if an ability of her north wind, it would still be difficult.

I crossed my giant rabbit arms over me as she brought her swords down at me.

"I don't want to lose either!" I yelled, pushing back against her. I can't afford to lose consciousness! Else, how will I find Iah?

Yen gritted her teeth as she was pushed back.

A blast shocked the ring, destroying the barrier and flinging Yen away while I crashed into it.

"Yen!" Kun yelled, leaping into the sky. If he caught her, it would be over. He had to know that. However, if Yen couldn't wake herself up and no one caught her, she would end up badly.

I looked down and grimaced as my veil vanished. If Yen were to return to what remained of the ring, it would be over for me.

**Solar Note: Pardon the delay. Have been working on writing some summaries. One was to enter Rise of a Guardian Angel into the 2022 Wattys, and the other... I'm not sure if I can talk about it as it might be a bit premature at the moment. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Would love to hear your theories/predictions.**