"That's... amazing! You're like some kind of living legend Mira!"

  Luci was chatting my ears off as we left the tent. She seemed really excited about my ability to use all types of elemental magic. Then again, I wasn't any different.

  "So, what now? I don't suppose I even can resign myself to a life of peaceful fishing at this point. Not that I wanted to of course."

  "Anything like that would be pretty hard, but I guarantee any nation you go to will want to hire you as a court mage. Other than that... maybe adventuring? My parents already gave me leave to join the Guild, so I'm pnning on leaving as soon as I can after tonight. Maybe we could form a party together!"

  Being a court mage does sound pretty tempting, but I'd rather not deal with the politics coming with the position. Adventuring on the other hand does sound fun, and if Luci is already going to do that...

  "That sounds good! I guess we're going to be adventurers then, huh."

  "I... didn't think you'd agree so soon, but yep! Let's look forward to it!"

  We decided to stroll around the festival grounds for a while. It was interesting to see all of the tents and stalls everywhere. There was one in particur that wasn't a stall, but it was a rge ring on the ground. It was glowing green, and there were four small orbs around the edges, also all green. Inside it was a muscur elf with a wooden sword in his hand, and on the ground below was someone who looked like he was a beastfolk like Freiya, but where she had the features of a fox he was closer to a wolf. Another elf stepped into the ring to take some money from the beastfolk man before helping him onto his feet.

  "Any other challengers? The first person to defeat my friend here wins a monetary reward! We've raised 50 silver coins so far, and every st one goes to he winner!"

  Another particurly strong looking beastfolk man stepped in and picked up a wooden sword. This one looked like a cat.

  "Hey, Mira."

  "Yeah?"

  "How good are you with a sword?"

  "I don't know. I don't have any experience, at least not that I know of."

  "Well, you remember when I told you that your reflexes looked that those of a master? I still think that. I'll pay for it if you want to give this a try, if it turns out you have talent with a sword, that's even better! You could be a front-liner while I support you with my bow and healing!"

  "Might as well give it a shot." The current challenger just took a hit from the hilt of the other man's sword, which was followed up by a ssh to the wrist. The beastman dropped his weapon and payed the fee. "I'm not looking forward to that beating though."

  I stepped towards the ring as the previous challenger exited.

  "Well met young dy! Are you here for a challenge? Prize is 55 silver if you win, but you pay me 5 if you lose! What say you?"

  "I'll do it."

  "Confident I see! Very well, step inside and pick up that sword. Disarm your opponent to win. Good luck there Miss! You're gonna need it~"

  The host had a creepy grin as he said that st part, but I payed it no heed as I stepped into the ring. I picked up the sword and took a stance that felt right. My sword was held in front of my stomach, with the tip pointed at the elven man's neck. He took a stance of his own.

  "Come at me whenever you want, we start on your move!"

  "Alright then, I'm coming!"

  I quickly ran towards him, taking long and fast strides to reach him. I lifted my sword up and swung down as he brought his own up to block with a grunt.

  "Ngh- fast!"

  When our bdes connected I wasted no time in pulling mine back towards me as I readied a thrust. I jabbed the tip of sword towards him and he quickly parried it to the side. I followed the momentum and spun around to hit his wrist as he was readying his own attack. I was hoping that he would drop his sword from that, but he seems to have a strong pain tolerance. He grimaced from the pain and I stopped his attack, but that was it. I jumped backwards a few steps, and he rushed forward to meet me with a downward swing. I bent my knees as I nded, and when I re-extended them it gave me the momentum I needed to parry his attack and counter with another ssh at his wrist, this time my swing was stronger, and he dropped his sword. I noticed the pce I hit was already turning bck and purple, but then I noticed the ring started briefly glowing stronger and he was back to normal. Wait, I just won didn't I?

  The man stood up and shook my hand. "That was incredible skill ma'am. I may be long since retired, but I was a C rank adventurer back in my youth. Good Job."

  "Congratutions! You just won the 55 silver prize! Spend it wisely!" After he paid me he walked back to his pce behind the ring like nothing had even happened and begun advertising again like he had completely forgotten about me. I turned and went back to Luci.

  "Mira! I don't believe it! First your magic and now this! Make sure you don't forget me when you're famous, okay?"

  "I- I don't pn on it. Is it really that big of a deal? He said he was a retired C rank adventurer or whatever but what does that mean?"

  "Of course it's a big deal! C ranks are no pushovers after all. At the Guild you start at F rank and work your way up to E, then D, C, B, A, S and finally SS. Each rank is harder to obtain than the st, so making to C is fairly impressive all things considered. I'll let the Guild expin the rest when we get there, I'm not to experienced myself after all."

  "Oh... I guess I can be a front-liner like you wanted, though. Oh yeah! What was that ring anyway?"

  "It's a magic item. In other words, something crafted with a type of spell in it. The ring has a basic healing spell, hence the green. Kinda like the lights back in my family's tree."

  "Now that you mention it, I was wondering why it wasn't dark without any light coming through."

  "Yup! Those lights are specially made for the elven tree homes. They're basically pieces of wood imbued with the light spell spiritmp so that they blend in and we can have light without having to look at an out of pce fire inside a tree. Those lights are supplied to every home free as a product of our alliance with the dwarves."

  "Were those dwarves st night here because of this alliance?"

  "Bingo. Those four were members of the Dwarven Council. There are seven of them in total, so every year they draw straws to decide which four get to see the festival. It's actually funny how the rulers of one of the most prosperous nations in the world decide things like that by chance. One time there was a council member who didn't get to come for three years."

  "Hehe. You're right, that is pretty funny. What do we do now?"

  "Hmm, not sure. You wanna just walk around and see the sights?"

  "Alright. I'll follow you then."

  The Festival of the Twin-Sun was a lot of fun. There were stalls and tents filled with all sorts of food and attractions. There were people from all sorts of races here: Humans, beastfolk, dwarves, elves. Nobody was left out. There were even a few lizard type people here. I asked Luci about them, and they're called Gestians that come from the isnd of Valstuun.

  I definitely had a bst here these past few days. After watching the beautiful double-sunset, we made the trip back to the tree for dinner. After that, I took a quick bath and headed to my room to sleep. In the morning, Luci and I will discuss our pns to go adventuring with her parents. It seems I'll have quite an eventful life ahead of me.

  Still, just who is that orange haired beastwoman I saw in my dream yesterday? I have so many questions right now, and nowhere near enough answers...