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She got up and followed, still seething in her defeat, trying not to scream when everyone that crossed her eyes looked down and said nothing. They entered an ‘Nihon Kenchiku,’ an ancient Japanese shrine, which resembled an old type of architecture, which was near the grounds. Inside the shrine, it was pitch dark, as silent as a graveyard. She could hear her heart beating; hear the wooden floor squeaking under her feet and incoherent murmuring ahead of her. All she could see were the lit candles in the distance. She felt overwhelmed. When her eyes slowly adjusted to the blackness, she felt a bit better.

This kind of place was perfect. I scream at myself within my mind in peace. She thought. No one would look at her here.

The darkness, the old smell of wood, and the hint of burning candles that embraced her. Why was no one telling her anything? She would’ve been fine if one teased her and called her a loser. It would push her further. But silence? No—she can’t take it, leaving her with nothing to work with. Just like that fight, her control over things was slipping through her fingers.

The silence made her feel awkward and distant; it wasn’t perfect like she thought earlier. Unable to take it anymore, she gritted her teeth, took the dash that she could never take in that ring, and ran past her Sensei, following the candle lights, not stopping at all until she neared the candles. Her face softened at the sight of small children seated around the Elder; he was winter-white haired, his face was wrinkled, his eyes were blood-flecked yet gleaming with wisdom. He wore a crumpled white robe. They sat in front of an enormously tall door.

“Good time, Mika. Sit down, the story is about to start,” said the Elder.

She sighed and sat on the floor, gazing at her feet. It took her a moment to find the resolve to fake a smile, raise her chin, and nod at the Elder to start the story.

“In this kingdom of peace, there are eight powerful beings called Deities, the royal beings who rule this kingdom, who help us fight the demonic beings, foul creatures that leaked out of one of the three hell gates. Even when there are eight deities, there can always be only one king: Tere, the holy ruler of our land, possesses immense physical strength and can move things with his mind; Seikatsu, wife of Tere, who can talk to any life form and convince them to fight alongside her; Keijo, who can change the elementary infrastructure and the key information stored within anything and everything; Tenki, who has dominion over the weather and the elements; Saisei, who can heal anyone’s injury by using the person’s blood, the ultimate doctor; Jikan, the one who has control over time; Hoshana, who can control energy, even over fundamental particles; Tamashi, who is blind while his other senses exceed humans by what was said to be ten folds. He has a god-like fighting ability. He also wields katanas and possesses extreme levels of hidden energy within him, which wakes up in times of need,” the kids murmured within themselves upon the Elder speaking about Tamashi, the deity who haven’t even used his powers once but had slayed uncountable levels of demonic beings, who was the ‘True Fighter,’ and was what these kids strive to be. The old saint smiled and continued the story.

Mika sighed. How many more times will he repeat the same story? These kids are exclaiming as if it’s their first time hearing! She glanced around the almost pitch dark room. The kids’s eyes glistened on the candle light—which also brightened the room slightly. It was warm and cozy, yet she felt uncomfortable.

The myths and tales about Tamashi were full of unattainable levels of strength that the Deity somehow managed to do. Soon, these tales weren't just stories for the people at war clans but a textbook that they read from page to page—word to word in fascination with the Deity that was said to never to his powers but only his raw strength.

What Mika found weird was—Tamashi didn’t go out of the castle. He rarely was spotted in public and no one outside the castle had a good idea of what he even looked like. Yet he was everything to strive for to these kids.

But she wasn’t thinking about the plot holes of Elder’s story. Her mind was still wandering about the fight. What could she have done? How could she have blocked this attack or that strike? Her body was still rushing with adrenaline from the simulations that ran on her mind—simulations where she didn’t lose this poorly.

The ‘Best-Student’ title will give the title holder an edge in the army selection—and she lost it! GODDAMMIT! She thought.

The Elder carried on with his story, and she was struck in her own mind. His words faintly passed over her ear. “They are truly the strongest, and as for the deities’ greatest rivals - their malicious counterparts. There are eight evil mythical beings called counterparts who are said to be equally powerful. They were always an unknown mystery that no human would ever know. Only the deities know about the counterparts’ powers and the amount of damage they could inflict on us…”

And then she remembered the next weird thing she found weird. These counterparts were a total bluff to her eyes. They knew everything about the Deities, but nothing about their biggest enemy? Was it someone lying or did no one live to tell the tale?