Vedeath and Esdeath blew through their matches until they reached the finals. The crowd roared as they walked from both sides of the arena. Vedeath stuck her blade into the ground and Esdeath threw her rapier to the side.
"LET THE FINAL MATCH BEGIN!!" The announcer shouted and the sisters began to fight. Esdeath stepped on the ground creating multiple large ice spikes that came from under Vedeath. Vedeath dodged most of them and shot hundreds of icicles at Esdeath.
"Grand Ice Wall!" Esdeath said as she stepped on the ground and a giant ice wall was erected, blocking the icicles completely. Vedeath shot forward and jumped over the wall, she surrounded her fist in ice and struck from above.
"Hyoketsu Fist!" Vedeath yelled and Esdeath jumped out of the way. Once Vedeath's fist made contact with the ground, the ground froze, and 3 large ice spikes emerged and grew as they chased Esdeath across the arena. Esdeath dodged and maneuvered but the ice spikes always ended up following her. Esdeath decided to lose them in the air by jumping off the arena walls into the air.
"Now! Hyoketsu Dragon!" Vedeath said as she closed her fist and the ice spikes combined and became a large ice dragon.
"Fine then! Ice Array!" Esdeath said as hundreds of ice creations including, swords, knives, spears, icicles, and arrows were fired towards the incoming ice dragon. The two attacks collided creating a large explosion of ice. Esdeath landed on the ground and panted from overuse of her Teigu. Vedeath was in the same state, she grabbed her blade and prepared for a physical fight. Esdeath picked up her rapier and unsheathed it. They shot forward and met blades. Vedeath swung at Esdeath's arm and Esdeath tilted to the left and struck forward at Vedeath's opening. Vedeath dropped her blade and jumped backwards, avoiding Esdeath's sword.
Esdeath took the initiative and went on the offensive. Vedeath without a blade had to dodge each sword swing that came her way. Esdeath swung faster and caught Vedeath off-guard. As Esdeath's blade was heading for her neck Vedeath created a block of ice and blocked Esdeath's attack. She took a chance and ran past Esdeath to recover her blade. Esdeath created a pillar of ice and launched Vedeath's blade into the arena wall.
"Tsk." Vedeath said clicking her tongue, she created an ice blade and charged towards Esdeath. Vedeath swung her ice blade at Esdeath, who cut the blade clean in half. Vedeath caught the broken half and created another blade. They fought and a winner always seemed close before the odds changed.
"Haaa...Haaa...Haaa...Haaa..." The sisters panted as their bodies were dripping with sweat and most of the arena was either destroyed or frozen. The sun was starting to set and the announcer called the fight a tie.
"Next...time...we'll...see!" Vedeath said as she walked to her blade and pulled it out of the arena wall.
"Yeah..." Esdeath said as they followed one of the tournament staff to an office. Inside the office was a chubby man who was busy doing stacks of paperwork.
"Sir, these two are the winners." The tournament staff said as he left leaving the sisters with the man.
"Well, congratulations on winning, although it was a tie." The man said with a hearty laugh.
"Sit please, I would like to hand you your prize money." The man said as he signaled to the seats in front of his desk as he walked to the back of his room to open a safe. The man came back dragging a large chest.
"Haaa...Haaa...Haaa...this office job is going to the death of me!" The man said as he wiped his head.
"Thank you, mister." Vedeath said as she picked up the chest with one hand.
"Your welcome and the name is Joseph." Joseph said as he sat back down.
"Actually, do you know where we can find the recruiting office?" Esdeath asked as they were about to walk out of the door.
"Ah yes, if you go straight down and turn left from here you will reach the recruitment office." Joseph said and the sisters left the office to find an Inn. They walked for half an hour until they found an Inn with cheap rates. They paid the Innkeeper and carried the chest to their room.
"How much do you think is in here?" Esdeath asked as she knocked on the chest.
"Around 90,000 gold coins maybe?" Vedeath said as she opened the chest. Inside the chest was around 120,000 gold coins.
"This should last us quite a long time." Esdeath said as she placed her stuff down laid down on the bed. Vedeath looked outside the window and stared at the moon.
"Hey, Es-chan. Do you think we can become stronger than the strongest?" Vedeath asked and Esdeath was confused at her question.
"What do you mean Ve-chan? Stronger than the strongest? Of course, we will be stronger than the strongest! We will be the strongest the strongest can become!" Esdeath said with conviction.
"But what about people who are stronger than we've ever seen? How will we surpass them? We are only human, if we get our head cut off then we are done!" Vedeath said expressing her doubts.
"Then we'll become something inhuman! If that doesn't work then we'll become immortal! If that doesn't work then we will become Gods! There is no such thing as a limit! If you want to achieve something go above and beyond! We will go above and beyond to become Above and Beyond!" Esdeath proclaimed and Vedeath was motivated by her speech and nodded.
"I'm sorry for having doubts, it's just Father was the strongest person we knew and he died!" Vedeath said as she began to crack.
"I don't want to become weak and die a pitiful death! I want to see the world, fight new things, find a lover, and explore with them and I want to live and enjoy life with my sister! As a weakling I can't do that! But we also have to come to the reality that we are only human, our lifespans are limited, our health can decline at any point in time. We are born weak! Breaking these shackles isn't something we can just do! So having doubts is something that has been plaguing my mind since we left the village." Vedeath confessed and Esdeath hugged her sister.
"I understand Ve-chan. I admit, I also have been having doubts but those doubts are your mind fooling you, making you believe that you will stay weak! Look at you now, you're twelve years old and capable of killing a Super Class Danger Beast! That proves that you are strong! So don't let your mind fool you Ve-chan! If we eventually hit a limit in how strong we can become then we will break those limits! If our human body is limiting us then we will break this body and become something Inhuman! We will achieve the peak of strength itself! We will become the definition of strength! So Ve-chan, don't give up!" Esdeath said as she hugged her sister tight and Vedeath cried a little bit.
"Thank you for that Es-chan, I wasn't thinking straight." Vedeath said as she wiped her eyes.
"It's fine Ve-chan, I don't want to see you in a casket." Esdeath said as she jumped onto the bed and the sisters fell asleep.
.
.
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Morning, the time when the world wakes up. Shopkeeps opening their stores, birds singing with vigor, and two blue-haired sisters opening their eyes.
"Goodmorning Es-chan." Vedeath said as she looked at her sister.
"Morning Ve-chan." Esdeath said as she stretched her arms.
"Today we sign up for the Army! Rising through the ranks is going to be a breeze!" Vedeath said as she got out of bed and collected her things. She also froze the chest completely so no one will try to get any funny ideas. The sisters left and followed the directions Joseph gave them yesterday. 10 minutes later, they arrived at a 2 story building with the Empire's crest planted on the top.
"Wow, I'm surprised the line to recruit isn't too long." Vedeath said with relief.
"Yeah, you'd think there would be a lot more people wanting to fight for their Empire." Esdeath said and they walked in and waited in line. They waited in line for 15 minutes before being able to sign up.
"Name, Age, Origins, Specialty, and Branch." The recruiter said as he handed Vedeath and Esdeath two sheets of paper. They finished and gave the recruiter the paper.
"Walk into that room, the people in there will determine which division you will be suitable for. Along with the rank, you will start off as." The recruiter said as he pointed to a door next to his desk. The sisters walked in and a series of physical tests were taking place.
"You two! Follow me!" A bald man with a scar over his left eye said. They followed him towards a section of the large testing room.
"These tests will determine which rank you will start off as along with which division. Johnny should have told you that if he didn't already." The bald man said.
"Alright, short hair you can do the test first." The bald man said and Vedeath followed him to a metal door.
"You may die during this test but if you die that isn't our problem. Understand?" The bald man asked and Vedeath nodded.
"Well then, good luck." The bald man said as he opened the door.