If Mordred had been watching with his real eyes, he would have blinked. He couldn’t have been seeing things right. But even that small relief was denied to him. His magic could not blink — and it could not be so easily fooled. No, there was no doubt about it.

There was a woman pulling all her clothes off with less than seconds left on the clock.

A number of the combatants around her had certainly taken notice. If her goal had been to distract people, it was working. There must have been at least fifteen mages all staring at her. Their expressions were all somewhere on the scale between abject disbelief and anticipation — with the majority of them leaning a bit more toward the right.

But Mordred was as relieved as some of the onlookers seemed disappointed to find that the woman wasn’t completely naked. She had skintight white bandages wrapped tightly around her entire body, and judging by the thin layers of runes woven through them, the bandages weren’t just for show.

Still, why would she need to take her clothes off? It’s not like any protective imbuements wouldn’t be active beneath her clothes. All she’s doing is drawing attention to herself. Is her goal to get people off balance or draw their attention to her? That would be clever… but it’s too soon.

If she wants to try and weaponize people’s attraction to her, revealing the card so early is a mistake. It’ll work for one fight and everyone else will immediately know what she’s up to. What could she be playing at?

Mordred couldn’t help himself. He had to know more. This was just too bizarre. His interest had nothing at all to do with the woman herself, of course. This was research. He was beyond any foolish base desires. He could not be so easily distracted by something as mundane as someone taking off her clothes.

He focused his senses, zooming into the section of the arena where the woman stood. His lips pressed thin. Magic boiled within him — and then the world lurched, and Mordred’s senses were within the arena.

A ghostly version of him stood just a few feet away from the woman and the pile of clothes on the ground. The crowd of mages were still, unsurprisingly, staring straight through Mordred at the woman behind him. He turned to join them, the sounds of conversation growing louder as the timer overhead ticked closer to zero.

“You trying to buy your way into our alliance?” A barrel chested man asked, eyeing the woman up. “Or do you just want to get put down quickly?”

The woman didn’t even grace him with an answer. She just crossed her arms behind her back and looked up to the descending timer.

“Ignore him,” another man said, striding toward the woman with a leer. “I like how bold you are. Join up with us. We’ve got five mages, all Rank 5 and with experience adventuring. We’re more than capable of protecting you. Just stick with us and we promise you’ll make it to the next round of the tournament, no problem.”

The first man let out a snort. “Only an idiot would buy that offer. I only see three of you right now. My group has four, and one of us is nearly Rank 6. There aren’t going to be any other Rank 6s in this first round. I’m sure they filtered them out to their own rounds to avoid all the Rank 5s getting stomped too early. We’re the best bet to join up with.”

I can’t believe these idiots are so fast to offer entry to their group to someone they don’t even know, just because she started stripping. Are they stupid? She could attack them all when they aren’t looking. Then again, offers like these never come for free.

“Would you be quiet?” The woman asked, blowing out a small, annoyed breath. “You’re loud.”

“Hah,” the second man said with a smarmy laugh. “See? She doesn’t—”

“You too.”

“Ah.” The man’s features thinned. Then his eyes narrowed. He glanced up to the counter overhead. There were thirty seconds left before the start of the first round of the tournament. He cracked his neck. “Have it your way, then. I’ll just deal with you first. I don’t like people who don’t know how to speak with respect.”

The other man’s lips pulled back into a sneer. He raised his fists, clearly preparing to draw on his magic. “I can agree with you there. People who don’t know how to accept the blessings that life bestows on them piss me off more than anyone else. I’m looking forward to putting all of you in your place.”

Mordred was pretty sure he could have killed everyone around him with little more than a few seconds of effort. This lot might have made it to Rank 5, but there were no requirements to actually enter the tournament. That was what these first few rounds were for filtering out.

This lot were definitely the scum that were about to get strained. But nothing answered what exactly the woman’s plan was. She stood still, her eyes closed as if in meditation.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Mordred’s eyes narrowed.

He was far from the most competent at social situations. His team reminded him of that on a very frequent basis. But if there was one thing he was talented at, it was analyzing natural responses to stimuli. That was part of learning about monsters.

And this woman wasn’t scared in the slightest. She didn’t even seem excited for the fight. There was no fear or unease in her features or stance. There was nothing at all. She looked… peaceful. As if the timer hadn’t just dipped into the single digits.

She wasn’t even trying to put on any seductive airs, nor had she even tried to turn the men that had been fighting over her against each other — which would have been exactly what Mordred would have tried to do in her shoes. After all, if all her opponents beat the life out of each other trying to get into her favor, that made making it to the next round much easier.

And logically, wouldn’t that be the only reason you’d start stripping in the middle of a tournament? To try and manipulate the people around you?

“Here we go, Bird,” the woman whispered, her words so soft that Mordred suspected she was the only one that had heard her. “This is what you’ve practiced for. This is the test. The proof of concept.”

Is she… giving herself a motivational speech?

“Last chance to come to your senses,” the barrel-chested man said, immediately capitulating on his former words and giving things another shot. He didn’t even try to hide where his eyes were looking. “You’re not getting a better offer from anyone else. I got pity for you. I’ll keep an eye on your back if you join up. I promise.”

I’m sure he would.

“You’re formless. Slippery. Untouchable,” Bird whispered. She raised her gaze to the sky. “This is your Pattern.”

Perhaps she’s mad. That is seeming increasingly likely.

Mordred looked up, following Bird’s gaze.

The timer hit zero.

“Begin!” Baun’s voice echoed through the arena in a booming roar.

A pained scream tore through the air.

Mordred’s head snapped around to look at the barrel-chested man as he staggered back, blood pouring from his shattered nose. The man’s eyes were wide in disbelief, the magic that had been gathering around his hands sputtering.

Bird’s leg accelerated through the air in a blur far faster than a human should have normally been able to move. Stone materialized in the air before the man’s head as he used his Rank 5 rune to shift magic into matter—

The stone somehow failed to block anything. Even though it should have been right in the way of Bird’s attack, her heel still slammed into the side of the man’s skull with a wet crunch. He flew, bouncing twice across the ground before skidding to a stop on the stone at the feet of another combatant.

A pillar of yellow light flashed down, swallowing him as a ringing chime rang through the air. When the light faded, the man was gone. It had been so fast that Mordred had even had a moment to register what had happened. But a dozen flashes a few moments thereafter immediately told him what had happened. Whenever someone went down, they were teleported out of the arena and over to the healers.

But what was that attack? There’s no way that should have connected. I swear I saw rock in the way!

The other man that had been propositioning to Bird took a hurried step back. Molten green flames ignited across his palms as he retreated to the safety of his team members. At the same time, the fallen man’s team members let out yells of anger and charged forward.

Bird didn’t even try to dodge. She stood still, as if in wait.

“You piece of shit!” One of the charging men yelled, thrusting his hand forward and sending a thick bolt of lighting carving free—

Heat roared. A huge torrent of green fire filled the air, swallowing Mordred’s senses along with every member of the fallen man’s team and Bird. There were several ringing cracks.

Imbued devices breaking. This fire is pretty powerful. He’s stronger than he acted.

Three beams of brilliant yellow light crashed down, swallowing a trio of charred corpses. Mordred was pretty sure they weren’t dead yet, but he really didn’t care much either way. The barrel-chested man’s team was entirely down.

“Serves them right,” the second man snarled from the other side of the flames. The magic sputtered out and faded, revealing the man and the rest of his team. “Stupid woman should have taken me up on my offer.”

And, standing in front of them, entirely uninjured and directly where the center of the flames had been, was Bird.

She didn’t even look hurt.

“Was that your strongest attack?” Bird asked, tilting her head to the side.

Mordred’s heart skipped a beat.

She took that head on, but there’s no sign of the magic touching her at all. How is that possible?

The man took a step back, his confidence draining away in an instant.

“What? How? You got hit!”

“I most certainly did not,” Bird said. A bolt of black magic carved through the air behind her — and she seemed to shimmer right through it, letting the stray attack pass by harmlessly. “How could such a pathetic attack hit me? I am one with the world. As close to the magic as I could possibly be without being truly naked. This is my Pattern. How could such a mage so disconnected from his powers ever land a blow on me?”

“What?” The man asked again. He took a step back, and his team did the same. “That makes no fucking sense!”

“Does it not? Then you’re too dense to be worth any more of my time,” Bird informed them. “I need someone who can actually help me test the extent of my abilities. You’re no good at all for my research.”

Then she blurred.

A wall of green fire crashed down toward her, joined by a jagged blade of yellowed wind and a hail of icy shards. And, as flashes of magic and the screams of other combatants filled through the air all around Mordred, four more yellow pillars flashed down from the sky.

The magic faded.

Bird stood alone, entirely untouched. She turned, glancing around the arena, then darted off in search of her next opponent.

Brilliant. What is that magic? I’ve never seen its like before! And she’s testing it. This must be a new development, then. Something recent. I have to know more!

Mordred stared in the direction that she’d gone. This wasn’t the only person in the tournament. He couldn’t spend all his time following her. There were others to observe. But even still, he couldn’t tear his eyes away until she vanished into the crowd. Then Mordred swallowed. And, as he pulled his senses back to scan over the other combatants, there was only a single thought on his mind.

I’m going to need my deck.