Lexie's next match was against Lane, and it exposed a bunch of her vulnerabilities.

Lane was faster than Cara, and his speed worked differently than hers, so <True Windkiller> did not affect him as strongly, at least not without Lexie bumping it all the way up, and exhausting her mana in the process.

Lexie stayed ahead of him with the 'Three-Feet Apart' effect, but that could only work for so long, and Lexie didn't want to use the <All Around Protection>, which would drain even more mana and risk burnout.

Top Dog was right. Being constantly on the defense was bad and exhausting. She needed a few good attack cards.

Once her defenses timed out, it was easy enough for Lane to sweep her off her feet with his staff and win the match, even though she'd been staying ahead of him the entire time. It didn't matter at the end of the day. All that mattered was who went down last and stayed there.

Lexie needed a good attack card, but the problem was that attack cards were more mana-intensive than defense cards and would require more power. She was already pushing it with the cards she'd made, most of which were high-powered and drained her. She might create a land card in the future, when Isaac made the well, but right now, she didn't have much mana to spare, so she needed a basic attack that was as low-powered as possible but still effective.

She had two ideas–

The first idea was to tweak <True Windbreaker> so that it could also be used to project wind onto her opponent, knocking them off their feet. She didn't know if this would be possible since it went against the intent of the card, but the main problem was that she also didn't think that would be good enough because it wouldn't really deal much damage for the mana cost. So she was probably better served looking elsewhere.

The second thought she had was to create an explosive one-shot projectile that could knock out her opponent. The problem with that was that creating such a card would be dangerous and could get the card department's attention. So far, she'd managed to keep the secret of just how she was creating her cards, only admitting that they were card combinations or secret decks that she was working on with an expert. She also had a variable buffer on most of the cards, so she could reduce the effect if asked to test it out.

But sooner or later, people might start asking questions anyway. If she used a card irresponsibly and someone got seriously hurt, she could get in serious trouble.

It was while she was thinking about it, as Lane helped her up, that Conrad came out of his office and announced.

"Good news." His voice boomed across the room. "You've all been accepted as competitors in the next junior bowl. The top ten get a cash prize, and the top two get to open for the Top Dog versus Torin Firebringer."

"That's huge," Ken exclaimed with Boris and Jan making similar comments. Lane and Cara just gaped, and Umbras' eyebrows shot up his forehead.

Tate blinked and then smiled.

The atmosphere radiated with excitement. It was a huge opportunity, guaranteed exposure like no other. Top Dog versus Torin Firebringer was raising almost as much hype as Top Dog versus Conrad Grace did. Millions of people would watch the opener too, giving them instant clout. Every up-and-comer in the league would be gunning for that Top two spot.

Lexie had a mini-crisis where she froze up a little. That was way more exposure than she'd expected.

"Do we have a choice?" she asked Conrad.

He grinned. "I'm glad you asked, Lexie. The answer is no. Not if you want to remain in the dojo, that is."

"Oh." Her shoulders sank, but she picked them back up when she noticed the rest of the group were giving her odd looks. "I just mean that. I don't think I'm ready yet."

Conrad nodded and appeared sympathetic. "I get that, Lex. But at some point, you have to quit planning and play the game. You know what I mean?"

Lexie did, but she couldn't explain to him that her situation was more complicated than that. Technically, what she was doing wasn't illegal per se. It wasn't illegal for her to do card research and craft cards under the supervision of a trainer, which Elvira counted as. She'd also looked it up, and cards with the ambassador seal could not be investigated or confiscated by human authorities, because technically, the Fae were out of their jurisdiction. It was probably why they couldn't take Aiden's <Out of Sight> card, although Aiden wasn't supposed to use magic.

So if Lexie got caught, all she had to do was say that an ambassador gave her the cards, and that was that. She would have to coordinate stories with Naem, though, and figure out exactly which ambassador they were using for this because, to the best of her knowledge, Eldritch didn't get ambassadorial privileges. Was this Ambassador Tyrae-Ha a real person, or was it just Naem's disguise?

The other thing that concerned Lexie was that, if she did participate in the bowl, Aiden might find out about her making cards in dungeons. She wasn't too bothered by that. He was breaking the rules, too, and he was keeping an equally big secret from her, so they were even.

It would come out when it came out. But Lexie wasn't going to let that stop her. For the first time, she didn't feel cursed to a life of mediocrity and powerlessness. She didn't feel constantly sabotaged by the system.

She felt free.

In that freedom, she found that she did want to participate. Maybe she wasn't gunning for the top ten necessarily, or even the cash prize. She just wanted to keep training with Conrad and growing her skills. After months of struggle, she'd now made three cards in like a week, courtesy of Conrad Grace and sparring in the dojo. That was amazing. She didn't want to stop.

Also, she wanted to prove Top Dog wrong.

It should be fine for her to at least compete in a few fights. She doubted that she would get much attention in the bowl. There had to have been maybe a hundred people who entered, some of them already having an established fan base. So many talented individuals. Lexie doubted anyone would even remember her if she didn't make the top four.

"I cannot stress how important this is," Conrad said to the group. "It's your first official matchup, your debut, and you have my name backing you. You will have eyes on you as you climb the ranks. Any mistakes you make here won't be career-ending or anything, and it will probably be fine if you don't make a splash. But if you do make a splash, it could potentially catapult you into fame and fortune in the league."

"Fame and fortune do sound nice," Boris said.

"I'd settle for just fortune," Jan said.

"But don't we need an entrance fee?" Umbras asked. "And what about our costumes?"

'"Already taken care of by yours truly," he said.

"Thanks, Dad," Boris joked, and Conrad winked at him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Today, we're going to learn the most important facet of

being a part of the games."

"Winning?"

"No. That's the second most important."

"Losing with grace?" Cara guessed. "Pun intended."

"Not that either. The most important facet in the games is flair." He made jazz hands in the air but maintained a serious tone. "The fighting is real, but it's also like a dance, a choreography. You can't just run and stab your opponent, you gotta do it with style. Shadow, I think, has the best grasp of that, with how he moves and uses his sword on the mat. Making swirly pulses in the air, instead of outright stabbing people. Brilliant. Boris, your ballerina-esque style, keep that too. Urmas, you look and fight like a soldier, which fits neatly into your persona. But everyone else, you have to work on your flair. Because succeeding in the AFC is just as much about building a persona as it is about the actual fighting." He glanced at Lexie and said, "Top Dog mentioned it the last time that he was here. You each need to have a unique persona and story that you adopt, something easily sellable that explains why you're here. Then I want you to portray that story to me as intensely and convincingly as you can. Understood?"

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Everyone nodded.

Conrad didn't seem satisfied. He pressed his lips together, hesitating before he spoke again. "As much as you guys are here as individuals, out there, you're also a representation of me and my training. You're my experiments, the things that will prove to the world that I haven't made a giant mistake and I'm not the failure that some of them think I am."

That statement brought about even more quiet, and it turned uncomfortable.

"Not to trauma dump on you," Conrad said with an easy chuckle."But this is kind of important. No pressure, just something to keep in mind."

"Don't worry, we get it, man," Jan said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, we'll make you proud, Dad," Boris parroted, making Conrad glance over wryly.

"Thanks. Now let's begin."

After that, Lexie and the group retired to their respective corners to think about their story. Lexie, of course, thought she had one on lock. She was a cute little girl who used card magic. What wasn't there to love?

But Conrad said her story needed more. He said what she had would be great in the beginning, and the spectacle would draw in an audience, but she needed to make them care about her so she could actually make fans. She needed to dig deeper.

She had to do her best, if only for Conrad. She saw how hard he tried every day. Even though Lexie only came in twice or three times a week, she knew a lot of the others came in more often, and Conrad had dedicated plans for each one. He'd improved her athleticism over the past few weeks and adjusted her workouts every few visits, smiling and celebrating her wins with random high-fives.

She liked him, and she wanted to make him proud, too.

So she thought deeper about the persona thing.

The answer was so simple, maybe because she'd gotten so used to thinking in stories. To form a compelling narrative, you needed a story, something relatable but also foreign, and a twist that kept people excited to see what was coming next.

Of course, the relatability was her as a kid doing something others deemed impossible. Fighting against the status quo. Everyone could get behind a story like that. She could also use her father's name to bring more notoriety to herself. Then, as her style…what was she really? Who was she?

She recalled her mother's style, how she'd smiled as she fought and made it clear she was having fun on the court while toying with the other person. Dust Bunny used a similar style, too.

Maybe Lexie could do something like that. Maybe she could not be so direct with her attacks all the time. Build stamina and toy with her opponent a little before ending.

While she pondered, Conrad was going around asking each person about their personas and their ending looks. At one point, he called out to Tate and said, "Tate, stop smoldering. I already told you it doesn't suit you. Find another persona that doesn't look permanently constipated."

Lexie snorted, and Tate glared in her general direction.

After they were done working on their personas, it was time for their final fights of the day.

"Alright, this time we're going to mix it up a little. Cara Vs Boris, Tate vs Urmas, Lexie Vs Shadow."

Lexie froze and stared at Conrad with wide eyes. He wanted her to fight Shadow, arguably the strongest person here? Alright, maybe Boris and Jan were stronger, but Shadow was certainly meaner. While Boris might pull his punches with Lexie, Shadow wouldn't.

Conrad met her gaze and smiled mildly. Maybe that was the point. He was trying to put her up against an opponent who didn't like her and wouldn't take it easy on her like the rest had been.

Well played, Conrad.

Lexie swallowed and nodded. Conrad continued, "That leaves Lane versus Ken and Jan versus whoever wins the first fight. Cara and Boris, you're up first.

As the first group went on, Lexie snuck a peek at Shadow. He was staring right at her in a way that genuinely frightened her.

She knew that he wouldn't underestimate her, not after he made that mistake with Tate. Lexie didn't know if she could take the kind of damage that Tate had with a smile like he did. She didn't like pain, and she had a low tolerance for it. Which meant that she already had to make sure she didn't get hit.

The good thing was that she already had an idea of how he fought. Nevertheless, she needed to be prepared for him to pull an ace from his sleeve.

At the end of the first group's fight, Boris was the winner, but Cara managed to show off enough flair for Conrad to compliment her on it. Next was Tate versus Urmas. It was a surprisingly entertaining battle. Between Tate's scrappiness and Urmas' lack of balance, it felt like they were both underdogs and both OP at the same time. Lexie truly did not know who would win. But Tate managed to eke out a victory by targeting Urmas' bad leg.

"Underhanded man," Jan called out.

"Exactly," Conrad said. "That's good, Tate. "

Tate helped Urmas back to his feet, and too quickly, it was her turn.

Lexie's heart was in her throat as she got to her feet and headed to the center mat. She already had her cards organized in her mind. She didn't look at Shadow as she walked, but knew that he would begin with a forward slash projection. It was his signature and had just enough flair to capture the audience's attention right off the bat.

So she waited for it and was already ready to dodge it.

When Conrad said 'time', she activated <Hustle and Shuffle>, ready to give the audience a show.

But when she tried to jump out of the way, she found herself stuck in it. Her eyes widened. She didn't even realize that her feet were stuck to the ground, and Shadow's forward slash hit her in the solar plexus.

"Ow!" Lexie cried out. That hurt like a bitch.

Shadow danced around her and sent another and then another wave of slicing heat at Lexie's back and sides. Lexie felt tears squeeze out of the corner of her eyes as each of the hits came with fresh agony. Pain clouded her mind for a second. Shadow's hold on her was only momentary, but the pain kept her still. It was so much worse than with Cara.

Lexie now understood. Shadow didn't just have the pathway expertise to copy powers from others' pathways. He could also temporarily trap other pathways for short bursts.

Conrad had been coddling her this whole time by only putting her up against Cara. He was letting her grow slowly and get together the cards she needed. But now that he saw she was advancing on that front, he was throwing her to the wolves.

Even as Lexie cried out, she forced herself to come up with a plan.

Think Lexie, she thought. You're not a kid.

Lexie immediately activated the <All Round Protection>. It was mana-intensive, but it was worth it. Once the card was activated, it thrust a shield in front of her to block Shadow's next attack.

Shadow dashed to the side gracefully and slashed again. The shield disappeared from Lexie's front and flashed into existence to block Shadow's attack from that side, too. It also managed to shimmer right on time to block Shadow's third hit. It disappeared and appeared as needed all around her, keeping up with Shadow's speed. Good. Lexie was worried that it wouldn't.

But activating it cost her a lot of mana just from how complex the pathway was to make.

Lexie used that reprieve to recover. Her body's healing mechanism and endorphins kicked in to reduce the pain somewhat, so she could finally think.

Shadow charged at her, getting close range, but he couldn't get a hold of her. The shield kept him away. What a useful card, but its active time would elapse soon, so Lexie needed something for when it did.

As much as she wanted to drag out the fight and practice the whole 'flair' thing, she wouldn't do it with Shadow. He was still better than her, and she didn't have any cards that improved her fight choreography yet.

She needed a one-shot attack that would take him out.

That was when Lexie figured it out.

Instead of making a blatant attack card, what if she made one that only bounced back an attack by the opponent? That way, it didn't have to be a high-powered card because it didn't rely on her power for effectiveness. The card would act as a reflector, returning any attack sent her way. Back to sender. Lexie could modulate it to make the effect more or less powerful, so it wouldn't use up so much of her mana.

Brilliant.

And maybe she could tweak the card to store an attack and then return it when she activated it the second time. That would be more complicated, but she would work towards that level up.

Lexie couldn't make the card right now, but she could make the next best thing. She opened up her <Easy Clean Up> and tweaked a few things, connecting nodes.

So when the shield came down, she pointed at the still-attacking Shadow and activated the card.

The next energy pulse he sent met Lexie's field and immediately shot back to him, hitting him in the face.

"Fuck!" he screamed and jumped out of the way, but Lexie was relentless.

As a finale, Lexie activated <True Windbreaker>. Of course, the effect wasn't as drastic as it was with Cara, but she increased the power to make Shadow fall to his knees, heavy limbs unable to block her attack.

Then, instead of releasing the air gently back to Shadow once the time had elapsed, she tweaked some pathways to shift the forcefield holding the air right in front of Shadow's chest. She targeted it there, and once the forcefield broke, the wind didn't disperse. It tunneled and hit him hard enough to send him back a few feet, landing on his ass.

Conrad called the match then.

"Nice, Lexie," she heard someone call out.

"You too, Shadow," Umbras said, probably to make him feel better about losing to a little girl, so soon after he'd lost to a mundane. But it didn't help. When Shadow got up, he stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Lexie glanced at Conrad, who shrugged, not seeming too concerned.

"That was good, Lexie," he said. "But again, try to make the matches last longer."

Lexie nodded. That meant she had to prioritize lower-powered cards at the beginning and use her finishers at the end.

In any case, she was happy with herself and couldn't wait to make the brand-new card. Luckily, she was going to delve with Tate later today, right after they stopped at a place where he could get a weapon.

The place was in Old Moulding, and Tate had Lexie stand outside while he went in to get the stuff. He told her specifically not to go anywhere else, and Lexie heeded the advice, keeping her eye out for anyone paying too much attention to her. She spent most of the wait time on her system screen, texting Xena with no response.

That was until she felt that eerie prickle on the back of her neck again.

This time, when she looked up, she found she wasn't imagining it.

There was a man with a scar on his face standing across the street, staring right at her.

He looked familiar. More than familiar. She knew him.

But she didn't know how.

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