The temperature dropped instantly due to Viora’s powers, her breath becoming visible as frost spread across the crystal floor in spinning patterns.
Captain Nyx moved first in response, her Aeonia-control magic sending spikes of crystal stone bursting from the arena floor to block the ice storm. But Viora was already gone, her teleporting ability moving her behind Nyx in a flash of cold light.
"Circle formation!" Nyx shouted, even as she spun to face the princess.
But Viora had expected this. She slamd her foot down, and a pillar of ice shot up beneath Lieutenant Sera, forcing the lightning user to jump aside, crackling with electrical energy. At the sa ti, Viora raised both hands, and water rose from the arena’s hidden tanks, answering her call as she spun in a graceful, deadly circle.
The arena burst into chaos. Lightning cracked against ice, sending steam and sparks flying. Talia’s flas t Viora’s water in explosive clouds that filled the air with scalding mist.
Wind from Vex’s magic scattered ice shards like deadly snow, while Zara’s shadows reached out like grabbing fingers.
Viora moved like an unleashed force of nature—teleporting above Talia to rain ice needles down, appearing beside Vex to freeze her wind solid before it could block the attack, vanishing just as one of Nyx’s stone spears would have pierced her heart.
Her movents were smooth, deadly, and beautiful, each strike planned not just to win but to show the complete gap between her power and theirs. Coupled up with the fact that she could teleport almost in half a second, she was hard to go u against.
Lieutenant Sera, with her inhuman speed, managed to get close, her body crackling with deadly electricity. But Viora caught her whip-fast strike in a glove of ice, the electricity flowing harmlessly through the frozen water.
A blade of pure winter appeared in Viora’s other hand, and she drove it through Sera’s chest with surgical precision, pinning her to the crystal floor.
One by one, the War-Ladies fell. Talia’s flas were put out by an overwhelming wave of supernatural cold. Vex found her winds frozen solid before they could protect her, ice shards finding their target in her chest. Zara’s shadows were shattered by a shockwave of freezing air, leaving her defenseless against the ice blade that found her back.
Captain Nyx lasted the longest, her defensive abilities strong, her experience showing as she adapted to each of Viora’s attacks. But even she couldn’t counter the princess’s combination of tactical brilliance, raw power, and the cold fury that seed to drive her beyond normal limits.
A final teleportation put Viora behind the veteran warrior, an ice-cold blade finding the gap in her armor with deadly accuracy.
Silence fell over the arena. Five bodies lay still in pools of freezing blood, their life forces gone in service of training excellence, or perhaps sothing darker.
Viora stood among them, barely breathing hard despite the devastating show of power, her ice magic still shimring around her hands like captured starlight. Frost covered everything within thirty feet of her position, and the air itself seed unwilling to warm. This was why she led War-Ladies into battles against the Vorthak.
This was why soldiers would follow her into hell itself, and why she was one of the strongest vitae wielders out there.
From the watching platform, Master Elyra brought her hands together and started applauding her. She had seen sothing like this plenty of tis, and every ti she was impressed.
At a ti when the queen’s offspring would rather avoid wielding Vitae, let alone face the Vorthaks or lead by example, Viora always stood as the total opposite.
"Healer Mira," Viora called, though her voice carried less warmth than usual.
From the frigid haze erged a woman with flowing black hair and glowing red eyes, her deep-red robes etched with silver embroidery catching the pale light.
Mira knelt beside Captain Nyx, whose body lay in a dark pool of blood beginning to freeze at the edges. She pressed her hands over the veteran’s chest, and a warm golden light pulsed from her palms, stark against the icy devastation surrounding them. Where Viora’s magic had been sharp and rciless, Mira’s radiated calm and regeneration.
One by one, the War-Ladies drew in shaky breaths as their wounds sealed under the healer’s touch. When their eyes opened, they held sothing more than relief—an uneasy respect, and perhaps a hint of fear, for the power their princess wielded.
Captain Nyx sat upright, rotating her shoulder where the ice blade had struck. Her voice was steady, professional, yet her eyes searched Viora’s with cautious concern. "Impressive as always, Princess... though that last sequence—I’ve never seen you fight like that."
Viora offered her hand, helping her get on her feet. "The stakes have never been higher. In a real battle against what’s coming, ’almost’ ans your squad dies while you’re lying in the dirt."
The others rose with groans and appreciative nods, each movent cautious, their training insufficient to erase the unsettling glimpse of their princess’s true capabilities.
"These death-training sessions are brutal," Master Elyra observed as she descended from her watching platform, "but they’re also why Viora’s units have the highest survival rates against the Vorthak."
"Sa ti tomorrow?" Lieutenant Sera asked.
"Tomorrow we work on group coordination," Viora replied, "I want to see how you handle multiple Vorthak scenarios, and how you respond when I’m not holding back."
As the War-Ladies filed out to recover and review their performance, whispering among themselves about what they had witnessed, Viora also left the Arena.
Her mind, however, wasn’t on combat techniques or tomorrow’s training. She was thinking about secrets.
After her intense training session, Viora returned to her chambers, sweat still cooling on her skin from the death-combat exercises.
Her muscles ached pleasantly from the exertion, but her mind was sharp with anticipation.A soft knock at her door interrupted her
thoughts."Enter," she called, toweling off her damp hair.Kessa stepped inside, her green eyes bright with nervous excitent.
The young servant clutched a cleaning cloth in her hands, maintaining her cover even in private."Princess," Kessa whispered, glancing around the chamber to ensure they were alone.
"I have news about Lady Calyra."
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