"How about we have a small tournament using the rules of the real tournament?" Chizuru suggested.

"WHAT?" we all shouted in unison.

"What did my lady say?" Mei asked, confused.

"I said let's have a tournament."

"My lady, that's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because it's almost two in the afternoon."

"But there are only six of us, so there'll be time," Chizuru insisted.

Mei began to calculate. "Okay, I'll calculate it and see if you're right, my lady..."

Calculate... Calculate... Calculate...

"Yes, you're right. Three bouts should last until the early hours of the morning."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Chizuru asked.

"I don't know," Mei replied simply.

"Hmm..." I murmured. "I'm fine with it. It'll be fun and more entertaining."

"Your reasonable side has spoken," Ren said with a smile.

"I agree too," Diana added.

"Me too," Naori said.

Nagi sighed. "It doesn't matter. You win by vote."

"Choose who you'll fight," Chizuru ordered. "I'm going against Diana."

"What? Why me?" Diana protested.

"You're easy prey, and then I'll fight Natsu," Chizuru replied with a predatory smile.

"That face of yours scares me."

"I'm going against Nagi," I announced.

"We were going to fight anyway," Nagi said.

"Yes, but Natsu, you have to win," Chizuru warned me.

"Of course."

Nagi sighed again, looking away.

"So, I'm going against Ren," Naori concluded.

"Then I'll go to the hotel to get a whiteboard to draw up the fight schedule," Mei said.

I took advantage of the moment to approach Ren. "Hey, Ren, a question I've been meaning to ask you since you ran off from my room."

"Huh?" Ren said.

"Why are you wearing those clothes and a skirt if we came here to train?"

Ren was wearing a white top with black details, like zebra prints. The sleeves reached mid-arm, closed at the shoulder but half-open from there to her wrist. She was also wearing a crimson red skirt, not too short but not too long either.

"Oh, I bought it yesterday and wanted to try it on."

"So you're really going to wear it for the fight?"

"Oh... I didn't think about that," she said, realizing. "I'll be right back, I'll go change into the clothes Mr. Nao gave me!"

"And when did she bring those?" I muttered as I watched her run off.

Mei arrived with a large whiteboard. She saw Ren zipping past her.

"Oh, where is Miss Ren going?"

"To get changed. Those aren't fighting clothes," Chizuru explained. "By the way, what is that? Is it something from the North?"

"Yes. It's a device you can draw on. It's like paper, but made of porous plastic, and you use this other object called a marker to draw."

"Interesting... but I feel like breaking that thing," I said, looking at the strange board.

Mei drew the fight schedule and, as she finished, realized something.

"I have to tell you something. If there are three winners after the first round, the final match will be a three-way battle."

"So it's possible we'll have a three-way fight," Chizuru said.

"A three-way match would be awesome!" I exclaimed. "Hey, Nagi, want to go first?"

"Fine by me."

"So why are you guys going first?" Chizuru asked.

"Honestly, I prefer to go first too," Nagi replied calmly.

We took up positions at opposite ends of the training ground.

"Are you ready?" Mei asked.

We both nodded.

"This is going to be good," Chizuru said expectantly.

"START!... now, without interruption..."

Before Mei could finish, Nagi and I shot toward each other. In my hand, I had created a beautiful, bright blue ice sword, reinforced with three layers to make it stronger. Sparks flew when it collided with Nagi's katana. We twirled around each other, and as we stopped in the sand, I swung my sword at him. Behind it, I created several smaller ice daggers that flew, hidden in its wake.

Nagi, with astonishing speed, deflected the main sword and shattered the daggers in a single motion. He propelled himself toward me. I quickly created ice spikes in my hands to repel him. I could barely keep up with him, our blows echoing in the air as we moved like flickering statues.

Ren came running up, already in her combat gear. "I'm back... and they've already started fighting."

Just then, we passed in front of the girls. Nagi jumped back, and I, taking advantage of the distance, shot small fireballs from my mouth.

"SINCE WHEN CAN YOU DO THAT?!" Nagi yelled, narrowly dodging them.

"Natsu, win so you can fight me!" Chizuru cheered.

We began running in circles across the sand at incredible speed, raising a cloud of dust that forced the girls to cover their eyes. I pulled two balls of sand from the ground and threw them at Nagi, hitting him square in the face. As he was momentarily blinded, I appeared in front of him, my hands glowing, ready to unleash an explosive power.

"DAMN IT!"

BOOOOOOM!

A large cloud of smoke covered the field. Nagi leaped out of it, unharmed.

"I can't let my guard down around you."

I emerged from the smoke as well, a small trickle of blood running down my right cheek.

"Neither can I."

I wrapped my hands in ice again, forming sharp claws, and launched myself at him. Slash after slash, our blows echoed through the air.

"They're pretty even," Naori said.

"But Natsu's going to win," Ren stated with absolute certainty.

"Huh?" Naori, Chizuru, and Diana said in unison.

"But how? Nagi doesn't have a scratch," Diana said.

"I'm rooting for Natsu, but I really don't think he can win," Chizuru admitted.

Ren smiled. "Natsu... apparently, he was born with a White Soul."

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" Diana exclaimed, open-mouthed.

"Since the new world was born, there have been more than just the three main Magic Souls," Chizuru said.

"Yes," Ren continued. "And apparently, Natsu is one of the rare ones. But Natsu is different."

"Different...?"

"Almost everyone in this world has a Magic Soul. It's detected when you're born thanks to a ritual described in old books. But there are some that can't be seen, for example, the Magic Soul of Luck. Once they are identified, children begin their training. The difference with Natsu is... according to the records, the other two known White Souls had to train from a young age, but Natsu was born knowing how to use four elements, and in the sixteen years of his life, he has learned many more."

While they were talking, I began to throw lightning bolts at Nagi. He dodged some and deflected others with his sword.

"This time I'll beat you!" Nagi shouted.

"I don't think so!" I replied.

We flew past them so fast that the wind lifted their clothes, especially Ren's skirt, and ruffled their hair.

"Hey!" Ren complained.

Naori fell to the ground, half-dizzy. "That's a lot of information for my head to handle."

"Hey, Naori, are you okay?" Diana asked.

"Yeah, it's just a lot to process."

"What, the information Ren gave you?"

"Yeah, and the fight too."

"Were you really that focused on him?"

Naori stood up. "I just want to win my match."

"We'll see about that," Ren said.

"Ahhh, she heard me," Naori whispered.

"Of course, we're standing right next to each other," Chizuru said.

Nagi and I sped past them again.

"Hey, not again!"

"Sorry!" I shouted. I turned to Nagi as we continued fighting. "Nagi, are you ready for the real fight?"

"Are we going to do it?" he replied, still moving.

"We have to. If not, we'll never finish."

"Okay."

The white aura I used against the dragons reappeared, but this time it felt controlled, with two small clouds forming around me. Nagi, for his part, concentrated his breathing. Lightning began to crackle around his body, which was enveloped in a deep blue aura.

"Ready?" Nagi asked.

"Ready."

"I don't like this," Ren said.

We launched ourselves at each other, now at the speed of light. As we collided, a horizontal air wave expanded across the field. We shot upward, our blows so fast the girls' eyes couldn't follow them, each impact creating new shockwaves and a deafening sound. A final blow propelled us in opposite directions. I began to spin in the air, launching a shower of frozen daggers that managed to cut Nagi. I created the ice sword again and launched myself at him. Our blows were incredibly strong, until, with one of them, both of our swords were knocked from our hands. Without hesitation, I began attacking him with explosive punches, so fast that a new smokescreen, larger than the last, formed in the sky.

"Is it over?" Chizuru asked.

"I don't know," Ren said.

"I'm so nervous," Naori added.

"Who won?" Diana asked, her gaze fixed on the cloud of smoke.

And the winner is...