Lia thought a bit more about the blood-colored katana. Saro seemed to recognize its make, which made her wonder about its true origins. She was fairly certain there was some hidden side to it. It didn't feel sentient per se, but it had a bizarre air surrounding it.
She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice the initial feeling of being teleported. Her vision blurred, and when she opened her eyes, an elf with an oddly shaped sword stood before her. It was long and curved into a semi-circle. It looked a lot like an axe, but he held it as if it were a sword.
"Finally! I get to fight the vampire. Now, draw your sword!" The Elven man said.
His bizarre tone of voice and weird ego made Lia blank for a moment. The sword on her hip remained sheathed, but her fingernails extended. She didn't speak and was still thinking about the family sword.
Almost like some form of parasite had invaded her mind, making her entirely unable to think about anything else. The whole situation felt strange. She shook her head a few times, trying to clear her mind.
Her hand went up instinctively, catching the elf's sword mid-swing. He elicited some cry of shock before he smirked.
Yellowish-white light exploded out from the sword in Lia's grasp. He pulled it back and jumped away, laughing maniacally.
"Sunlight is a vampire's weakness! I have won this fight." He spoke proudly and arrogantly.
Lia coughed a bit, the light did little more than annoy her. She waved her hand, clearing the dust. "You're very foolish. I'm standing here in broad daylight and you still somehow think sunlight is an issue. You probably have no idea why the sun is annoying to us in the first place."
The man seemed genuinely shocked, and Lia just looked at him like some kind of idiot. She shook her head before dashing forward and punching him in the chest. He flew 15 meters before falling into a tumble and rolling for a further five.
Lia looked down at her hands as the announcer declared a winner. She spoke softly. "Your mimicry of sunlight wasn't anything like the sun's radiance. You should focus on making it feel more real."
.....
Lia sat in the waiting area. The blood-red sword was in her hand. She haphazardly swung it through the air. It left a slight red glow with each swing. In fact, with each move, it left a lingering red light. Lia was stumped.
"Hysteria, can you take a look at this? I'm growing confused with it."
Hysteria ignored her, she was pouting and clearly jealous. She harumped.
Lia sighed. "I am growing bored of this tournament. I've had too many fights, and each one is extremely easy. The students I've fought seem to lack combat experience."
Lacey, whose head was resting on her shoulder, chuckled. "Lia, you're just very very strong. So strong that I doubt anyone here can give you a real challenge."
Lia nodded. 'Saro, look at this weapon. There's something weird going on with it.'
Saro took a bit to reply 'Hmm...It's made out of organic material. It was once, or still is made of something alive. The mana contained in the weapon seems to have coalesced in the handle. It might be forming something.'
Lia groaned out loud. 'So it's forming into a sentient weapon? What the hell? Why am I stuck with all these sentient weapons.'
"I'm gonna end up like Silvana and her dolls". Lia said that last part out loud. It elicited a sharp gasp from Hysteria and a chuckle from Lacey's relaxed form.
Lia looked up as someone began to approach. They were mostly covered in dark clothes. It was the edgy guy brooding in the corner.
"Your public display of affection is annoying." He spoke coldly.
Lia scoffed and Lacey made no move to intervene. "Get lost. Your edgy and brooding act is annoying."
The guy stopped for almost a full minute before he calmly walked away. Lacey opened one eye and looked toward Lia, who was glaring daggers at him. She had since sheathed the sword and was now patting Hysteria.
"Hysteria, you're my first weapon and I'll never replace you," Lia spoke softly, attempting to assuage her weapon's jealousy.
Hysteria seemed to calm with that, and the three of them sat in calm silence until Lia's next match. None of them knew how many matches she would have, but Lia hoped it would be over very soon. She was growing bored with the dueling tournament.
.....
Lia's vision cleared once again. Drawing her sword and unfurling her wings, she decided to do something extremely drastic and entirely overwhelming.
Her opponent this time was the boy in the dark edgy clothes. He held two small daggers. He seemed perplexed when Lia began to slowly ascend into the sky.
Her voice boomed through the stadium. "I think this is more than enough for me to prove myself."
Raising her sword, a dark cloud began to form. Red lightning and horrifying twisted faces could be seen squirming within. It covered the entire arena before extending even further, pushing the boundaries of the space enchantment. Lia was sure that everyone within the city of Haven could see it.
Beams of inky darkness descended onto the arena. Each beam left a creature summoned from her nightmares. The creatures had long jagged teeth, grotesque fingernails that seemed to curl into points, and empty red eyes that terrified everyone who saw them.
Lia's face began to sweat as she summoned more mana. An aura of pure death and the stench of sickness emanated from each one as a wave of terrible energy passed underneath the dark cloud. All in all, there were roughly 25 creatures who stood within her arena. Their jaws moved, but the only noise they made was the sound of bone scraping against bone.
She slowly descended and stopped, floating above her creatures. Her wings flapped occasionally, keeping her afloat as she silently stared forward.
The crowd gasped in horror, and the man sent to be her opponent fainted on the spot. Lia snapped her fingers and the entire spectacle ended in an instant.
No one breathed, and the announcer stood there, shocked and terrified. Lia landed softly, sheathing Hysteria and turning around. She began slowly walking toward the center of the arena, standing there in complete eerie silence until the announcer declared her the winner. She was swiftly teleported away.
What awaited her clearing vision was an impatient Silvana, who began to slowly clap. "What was the purpose of that, Lia? Such a spectacle I thought would be beyond you."
Lia sighed. "The tournament was boring me. I was hoping to speed it up. I'm not usually impatient, but being teleported every hour only for my opponent to forfeit is annoying. Plus, I have research I wish to accomplish."
Silvana sighed. "If you want to resign from the tournament, we can do that. However, the crowd and everyone else might not like that idea. Plus you'd lose access to the strongest student privileges."
Lia nodded. "That's fine. I have things I want to do. Where are we waiting for the actual classes to start, and how long until they do?"
Silvana nodded as she crushed some form of stone in her hand. "At the same hotel you've been staying at. You'll be picked up tomorrow morning and begin academy life then."
Lia smiled and spoke just before disappearing. "Alright."