As the girl stood up and turned around, Elima looked at her amazed. She couldn’t believe a concealed creature could adapt so quickly. How could a 5-minute warm up help Natsume understand the extent of her new abilities? She smiled with satisfaction.

-Wow, I must say, I’m surprised!- exclaimed Elima. -Congratulations then, you will take part on the tournament!

-Really? That easy?- asked Natsume.

-Well, you sure surprised me there, but rules are rules- said Elima smiling. -However, what if we do a mock-up battle, a bit more difficult this time?

Natsume looked at Elima confused.

-You said I won. I got in- said Natsume.

-And you are right. This mock-up battle won’t change the result. It’s just… I don’t want you to leave with a wrong impression. Battles up ahead will be way harder and your rivals will use all their might to win. I think a mock-up battle will help you understand what you will face soon- explained Elima.

Natsume thought about it. She was right: there was no way things would be that easy. If the grand prize was a wish, everybody will do all they can to get it. Natsume nodded.

-Good, then let me get ready- said Elima. Snapping her fingers, the ball vanished from Natsume’s feet and appear in Elima’s hands again, but something else appeared: a big shield, as tall as Elima herself, with a strange round gap in the middle. The commander proceeded to embed the ball in the shield’s gap, as if it were designed to properly fit.

-Wait, what are you doing?- asked Natsume. -Can you do that?

-Of course, I told you before- explained Elima. -I can use any weapon to touch and protect the ball. In my case, I use this shield. And since half of the ball is out, it doesn’t go against the rules.

Natsume took a deep breath and prepared for battle. Elima was surprised that the girl took that “surprise” so easily, but didn’t say anything as she positioned as well.

-Same rules apply: 10 minutes to steal this ball from me- explained Elima. -Are you ready? Go!

A loud bang echoed through the desolated meadow as Natsume rushed towards Elima, jumped and tried to kick her, smashing the shield instead. The girl could feel more strength than usual in that kick, but the commander resisted that as nothing. Natsume went back a bit, but tried to hit the woman several times with no success. No matter how much strength she put in her kicks, that shield resisted them all.

-Wait, I just need to get the ball, right? Then…- murmured Natsume as she jumped and grabbed on the shield. Elima did nothing as she observed the teen pulling the ball, trying to remove it from the shield completely in vain.

-That kind of easy answers will do nothing in this tournament, should I tell you- commented Elima with a smile. -I know you can do better.

Natsume went back to the ground. She understood how silly that idea was, that was not her way of doing things. She remained still for a few seconds and then, she vanished. Elima didn’t move at all as she closed her eyes, perceiving her surroundings. Then…

-Bang!

The commander moved her shield just in time to block Natsume’s kick from her backwards. The girl vanished again to quickly try to hit the woman again, but she was blocked as well. Elima valued the effort from the girl: her plan was running around in circles at high speed.

-Not a bad idea. That may work, but I want you to go a bit further- said Elima.

Natsume kept running in circles, introducing some sporadic kicks here and there, but she knew she was running out of time. The girl analyzed the woman, trying to find a weak point, until her eyes turned wide-opened and jumped away from Elima.

The teen did nothing at all, but Elima could see something. Natsume’s eyes were shaking, or more like, they did swift moves.

-She’s thinking...- thought Elima. -She’s thinking of something but… what will it be?

“Mmph” was the only thing Natsume murmured. Instantly, she jumped in the air and tried to fall on Elima with a heavy kick. As Elima avoided it, the kick caused some cracking on the ground. Natsume repeated the same move again and again, but Elima easily moved around the field.

-No offense but doing the same move will make you predictable and…

As before, Elima tried to give some advice to Natsume, but her speech was interrupted until her back bumped into a huge rock.

-What, she got me cornered?- thought Elima. -That means… she’s going for a front attack!

But nothing happened. Natsume was nowhere to be seen, but Elima was prepared to block any attack.

-Where are you?- murmured Elima.

A small noise alerted the commander, but it came from… the rock? As she turned around, Natsume had climbed the rock and was floating on the air, preparing a new attack. Knowing she couldn’t go too far given how close Natsume was, Elima jumped backwards and prepared her shield.

-I knew you’d do that- said Natsume.

Natsume arched her body and kick the shield with all her strength, but not in the front part as before: she hit the top, driving the shield onto the ground, putting the ball at ground level, and making Elima fall down as she grabbed her shield. The commander was nervous.

-Wait, what? What’s the meaning of this?- asked Elima trying to pull the shield from the ground with no result.

Natsume got closer to Elima and the shield slowly until she was just in front of the ball. The commander saw the girl raising her leg to her behind as much as she could.

-Oh, that’s it… You found out...- said Elima with a smile.

-Aaaaaaah!- screamed Natsume.

With all her strength, Natsume kicked the ball embedded in the shield. The girl could feel a huge force trying to push her foot back, but she kept pushing as much as she could. On the other side of the shield, Elima’s face was clear: she was in pain.

-I can’t… anymore...- murmured Elima.

A metallic noise echoed in the meadows as the ball jumped in the air, releasing from its prison, and Natsume fell on her back. With a quick recovery, the girl climbed the rock again, jumped a bit and grabbed the ball in the air, falling on the grass a second later. The girl panted on the ground.

-I did it… I did it!- exclaimed Natsume softly.

As the girl repeated those words, Elima stood up. Her hands hurt a bit after that attack. She then looked at the girl, seeing something that hadn’t seen yet since meeting her: Natsume had a slight smile on her face. Smiling a bit, Elima snapped her fingers and made the ball and the shield disappear.

-I must say, that was impressive. Even if I was not using all my skills, you still surpassed me, having no experience at all- expressed Elima. -I have to ask… how did you know my shield’s trick?

Natsume sat down on the grass, catching her breath.

-When I run… I saw… the shield had two handles… and you grabbed them… They looked weird, with a lots of mechanisms, and I knew… You hold the handles to fix the ball in your shield so… I had to make you release them by pure force...- explained Natsume.

-That’s… quite good observation skills- said Elima surprised. -That’s right, that’s my way of doing things. The system is quite resistant, but nobody has tried before to push the ball “inside” the shield to expand it and force open the mechanism. I’m impressed. Well, you now have a better idea of what the tournament is about, right? Now your chances of winning increased… even if just a little.

Elima said that hoping to cheer up Natsume, but instead, the girl was shocked.

-The tournament… winning…

The girl murmured those words as her expression changed again to her usual sadness. Elima didn’t understand why, but kept smiling.

-OK then, once again, congratulations for passing the trial!- exclaimed Elima. -Now there’s just one little formality to do. I must complete your entry form, and for that, you need to answer some questions. Something silly, really, but necessary. Why don’t we go inside the tent and begin?

Without saying a word, Natsume nodded and walked towards the tent. Elima kept looking at her.

-Right now… she changed- thought Elima. -She was happy, but got sad after I mentioned the tournament. Well, time will tell… As the second part of the trial begins now.