There was no way to know what would be happening next, but I was sure the countdown had begun. If Spring Cloud was unable to retaliate within the next crucial moments, this would be declared as Erenol's win. I looked towards where the monks were seated and found that Master Myrrh had doubled over and was pounding on the banisters from laughter. The other monks were not exempted. They were on the verge of puking out their guts from laughter—and for all to see. Though I wouldn't reckon people would notice considering they were laughing too.

"Look at those monks," I said to Maun who looked into the direction I was looking at. "Can't they be more discreet about what they're feeling? They deserve some finesse as respectable elders of the temple, right?"

Maun grinned. "I'm not sure."

A monk went onstage to pull Erenol back from "beating eggs" much to her discontent. It seemed she still hadn't let go of her hatred and anger that she was even fighting against the monk's restraints.

The host began the count. "Spring Cloud in ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!"

The laughing crowd joined with the countdown as Spring Cloud attempted to rise while cradling his private region. He was on shaky knees and seemed to have enough strength to pursue the fight when Eren's menacing words reverberated on the stage.

"Just try to stand up and that thing won't be able to! Ever!" The psychological pressure and trauma must be very hard to bear. Spring Cloud collapsed on his rear as he met Erenol's menacing grin.

I laughed, not knowing what else to do. "Where did you pick up those things? That little rascal!" I exclaimed. Though I would admit Erenol tended to be a little extreme when it came to those kinds of threats. It was effective, nonetheless.

Then again, considering the place she'd been living in very recently, I had no right to be asking.

"Three! Two! One! Glorious battle! The upset happened too fast and unexpectedly!"

"The table turned too fast," I said. "We should change her alias." I nudged Maun jokingly.

"To what?"

"Egg Beater."

Maun looked at me for a few moments before he snorted under the mask. There was no way to know what was happening under there, but the sound of wheezing coming from him was more than enough to tell me he was laughing. I shrugged. I knew I wasn't always funny, though there were occasional times my jokes hit the bullseye—even if they were dark and inappropriate.

"It's good that that ended quickly," I said. "She could put that towards luck and skill. If it hadn't, she'd be in a worse position. Her opponent was good. If he was allowed to go on, she'd have surely lost."

While it might look cruel—even comical, if Eren hadn't gone in for the kill and did what she had, she'd be in the mercy of her opponent and not the other way around.

She was escorted down the platform while her opponent was carried away on a stretcher. I was expecting the opposite to happen, but this result wasn't very bad either. This fight, while short, had been very memorable.

Maun and I followed Erenol as she was led away to the first aid room different from her opponent's. Her arm was bent in a weird way and was already starting to bruise and swell.

"Good job out there," the monk...oh, wait. It seemed it was a woman. I didn't see it at first because...she'd shaved her head. It wasn't usual to see a nun around. For all the time I'd spent in the Temple, it would seem a majority of the disciples were male. "Thank you, Ani." The nun bowed to the monk who had escorted Erenol.

The other monk bowed as well before turning to leave.

"Alright, would you sit up here? Are you capable of that?" Erenol climbed the three steps and sat on the hoisted bed by the wall. "Are you fine with them in the same room?" the nun asked as she spread out a couple of bandages on the table.

"Yes. They're my friends," she said.

"So you know each other? Well, that's rare." The nun smiled. "Would you allow me a look at your arm? You can take off your mask now."

Eren threw away her mask to reveal a haggard face underneath. She had her hair matted to her face, sweat making her skin glisten and slick. Following her lead, Maun and I took off our masks as well. She was sincerely trying to hold back her tears, but when the nun gently gripped her arm to check on it, she had erupted into a fit of tears.

"It hurts!" She sobbed. "Mom, I'm sorry. This is the worst, the worst."

"There, there. You're doing a good job," the nun comforted. "Bear with it for now. It won't take long." She spent the next few minutes in the face of Eren's pitiful crying earnestly doing her thing. "An oblique fracture. Lucky enough, it's not displaced. That's one of the nastiest thing you may get and they may be troublesome popping back in place."

Eren shivered in disgust. "I won't die?"

"A fracture won't kill you unless a broken rib punctures your lungs," she replied. "Or something equally worse. But a fracture alone isn't lethal. Don't worry. You're in safe hands. Bones heal and you're young. With a little bit of power, I can help repair it enough for your next fight, but the treatment will require work around the clock and dedication to make sure you heal up enough. That's why you have to come in when I call you and to drink what I'll be giving you on time, okay?"

Eren nodded, wiping her tears.

"Alright. I'll begin now."

We spent the next hour sitting around watching and waiting for Eren to be treated. Afterwards, we went and changed out of our costumes to go home to the mistresses—a thought we all welcomed and looked forward to, especially Eren.

When we arrived, dinner was already being prepared. Since we had had a lot of roasted meat recently, Mistress Veronika decided to cook some stewed vegetables. Mistress Kora assisted in the preparation, though they would complain and mutter under their breath how insufficient the taste of their cooking were—especially if compared to the standards of my adoptive mother's cooking.

I would love to a have a hand on the food we were preparing. It would probably help me with the grieving process, but I was just too unmotivated very lately.

"I'll help with the cooking next time," I said. "I helped mama with it a lot before. She taught me a lot."

The mistresses smiled at my positivity and turned to my companions. Among the three of us, only Eren had her fight. Maun and I would probably have ours by tomorrow. Mine was the first fight in the morning which meant I would have a lot of time to rest for the rest of the day just in case.

Unsurprisingly, Mistress Kora went ahead and fussed around Eren like a mother hen. "What kind of medicine were you given? Run them through me!" he demanded.

Eren surrendered the nun's prescription and he began to nitpick on all the decisions that were taken in treating Eren's injury. "It seems the Temple does not have much to spare in treatment of their competitors. What lousy ingredients, and it's even of the most inferior quality." He huffed. "No wonder she said it would require a lot of work. With this kind of stuff, it really will take a long time. I'll come by your tent later to give you some treatment before you go to sleep. This will supplement the healing process."

I smiled awkwardly as I sat around the bonfire, waiting for my share of chicken which Mistress Veronika was busily roasting on the open fire. The nun only had good intentions and was actually very kind and accommodating. It wasn't her fault she only had such things to work with.

"Should I still return to the nun?" Eren asked.

"No worries. I'm just helping with the treatment. Go back to her for checkups. Having two people treat you is always better than one. I'll watch out for the things she missed," Mistress Kora said.

"You're very lucky, Eren," Mistress Veronika said. She cut a piece of the roasted meat and tossed it onto my place. "Your opponent was fairly skilled but very careless. If you hadn't done what you did, you'll most likely have lost."

Eren pumped her good hand victoriously. "I was actually overcome by the heat of the moment," she said. "I'm very glad it turned out well. So, what comes next?"

I took out my pocket notebook and flipped to the page where I had noted down my tournament-related observations. "I wrote down the stuff based on today's results. You won't have to worry about fighting anyone for the next four rounds, but based on your victory, you'll be facing Black Flame next."

CURRENT TOURNAMENT PROGRESS:

Eren's optimism slipped down the drain as quickly as it had lit up her face. "Now you reminded me."

"And though I'm not telling you to lose, you do have that option. Two losses will result to your elimination, so you have this one as some leeway. I doubt what you did today would work on that guy."

Eren slumped forward, this time pessimistic. "Right."

"We most likely will have four fights tomorrow as well. So, that means we can probably expect Maun's fight the day after tomorrow—most likely first thing of that day too. Mine is definitely tomorrow though." I continued examining my notes. "So Northern Breeze and Morning Glory will be facing off on the third round. One of them will be permanently eliminated from the competition considering this would be their second fight both. It must be tough on them."

"Can I see that?" Eren asked.

I handed her my notebook.

"You've been writing all of this stuff down? You're unexpectedly very...how do you say that word in Lovardi? Oplerain."

"Conscientious?" Mistress Veronika translated.

"Yup. That's right. Actually, I don't want to fight Evy so soon. I might probably want to let that fight go in case. That Black Flame might use me to set an example to his future enemy," Eren said, saddened and nervous.

"Which, in the case that that really happens, will be either me or the one who wins after my round," I added.

"Can we practice?" Eren asked.

"You're in no condition to," Mistress Kora interjected.

"I won't strain my arms. I swear," she said. "If only it was allowed to ask for outside help when you're not fighting."

"You must not cheat," Mistress Veronika said. "I cannot help you. How you put to use what you've learned through these fights as well as how you improve on your own is one of the things that the monks will evaluate you for. Depending on your performance in this tournament, if you show considerable growth, they can call on you to join the five disciples."

"Is that really possible?" Eren's eyes went wide with hope. Meanwhile, I bit into my chicken and sipped my vegetable stew. "Even if I don't get within the top five?"

"It's rare that they make exceptions, but I have heard it happened once before," Mistress Veronika said. "I do not recommend you rely on that slim chance. It is better if you pave a path that is sure. Now, considering Eren won her fight, what would you do about yours, Evy?"

My mouth was full of food. And Maun had similarly stuffed his as well.

"I don't want to lose either," I said.

I had issues with motivation, but I would not compromise my performance on this one just because of my pessimism.