Hai stands in the storm.
Stone still ticking under Aria's feet. Lightning crawling her coat. Hair bright gold, eyes like twin sparks.
Every step she takes, the floor cracks first.
He eases his stance slightly, letting the wind around his ankles settle. Sky Piercer dips, the angle softening.
He exhales, almost a laugh.
"...This house is too big."
Aria blinks once. She's still breathing hard, still burning.
Hai straightens. Wind peels away from his blade. He turns the reverse edge out, clears the line between them, and bows from the waist—deeper than before.
"Aria Flamehart," he says, voice steady over the roar. "Against this power, I yield."
The words hit like a gong.
For a heartbeat, the entire arena stalls.
Then it splits in two—boos and cheers, whistles and shouts, all crashing together.
"He gave up?!"
"Smart! He'd die out there!"
"RAI–JIN! RAI–JIN!"
Aria's chest heaves. Lightning still ripples off her shoulders in small, angry arcs. She stares at him, stunned.
"...You sure?" her voice raw.
Hai nods once. No shame, just clear-eyed honesty.
"I am a swordsman," he says quietly. "Not a storm. Another day."
Sky Piercer slides back into its sheath with a clean chik. The wind dies down to a breeze.
Hillary Black's hand snaps up between them.
"By forfeit," his voice booms through the sound-net, "winner—Aria Flamehart of Halo!"
The Colos-Lens explodes with her image—lightning-veiled, blade up, cracks spidering everywhere her boots have been.
The roar hits full volume.
"ARIA! ARIA! ARIA!"
Up in the skybox, Johnny Joah leans on the rail, a small, satisfied smile cutting through the noise.
"Write her name down," he says. "Janoah just found a storm."
General Rage snorts, eyes never leaving the deck.
"Pure power," he mutters. "We'll see if she can hold it."
Tunnel side—Kai's fingers are white on the rail, ribs bandaged, eyes wide and bright.
"She didn't even move," he breathes.
Rin just watches the cracked tiles, counting breaths, measuring aura.
"Tier Two," he says.
Lila's already half-crying, half-laughing.
"My girl just scared a swordsman into quitting," she yells at nobody, fists over her head. "Let's GO!"
On deck, Aria finally lets the scream in her throat die. The lightning around her gutters, then falls inward, threading back into her skin. Her hair dims a shade; the pressure loosens. Cracks in the Mercy Deck stay—etched proof that she was there.
She lowers Ryuuen-27, just enough in respect, and gives Hai a sharp, tired nod.
He returns it, then turns and walks off the field, back straight, reverse blade resting easy at his hip.
The storm watches him go, then turns toward the tunnel—toward her squad, toward the next name on the bracket—each step clicking fine fractures into the stone as the Mercy Deck and Magnara's crowd keep screaming her name.
The storm walked into shadow.
By the time Aria hit the mouth of the tunnel, the chant was still chasing her down the concrete—
"ARIA! ARIA! ARIA!"
Her legs felt like glass. Every step in Ryuuen-27's weight pulled on new cracks in the Mercy Deck and in her own muscles. Lightning was gone now, just a faint static itch in her fingers and the tug of her Raijin combat coat where Sky Piercer had kissed it.
She blinked through the dim—
Lila hit her first.
Arms around her, almost tackling. "TIER. TWO," Lila yelled right in her ear. "You just scared a swordsman into hitting the nope button—do you even understand what you are?!"
"Ow—ribs," Aria croaked, laughing anyway.
Kai was right behind, bandage under his shirt, tape across a brow, still a little hunched from Carlos' work.
He stared for a second like he was confirming she was real, then thumped a fist gently against her shoulder.
"You know you're the only one of us who's pulled off Tier 2, right?" he said, breath still rough. "Show-off."
Aria snorted. "Says the guy who fist-fought a jaguar."
"Partial jaguar," Kai muttered. "Full would've killed me."
Rin stepped in last, hands in pockets, eyes sharp as ever. He scanned the faint burns on her coat, the cut on her cheek, the way her hands still trembled in micro-shakes.
"Spark Rush is Tier 1," he said. "Tempest Veil is Tier 2. And right now, you're the only one in Halo who's touched Tier 2 anything."
He let that sit, then added, softer, "Nice control. You didn't blackout. I was... worried."
Lila flicked his shoulder. "That was 'worried'? You looked like you were calculating blast radius."
"Those are connected," Rin deadpanned.
A med tech slid in with a handheld scan plate.
"Flamehart—hold up. Ribs, tendons, aura strain," he said.
Aria rolled her eyes but lifted her arms. The plate hummed along her side; light crawled over her skin. Micro-sigils flared, then dimmed as seal strips dissolved into her coat.
"Hairline fractures only," the tech said, relieved. "Spirit channels are scorched but intact. You three—" he jabbed at Kai, Aria, Rin in turn "—need actual sleep before you try that nonsense again."
"Noted," Kai and Aria said together.
From further down the tunnel, boots approached. William stepped into view, white coat immaculate, light still ghosting faintly around his shoulders from the tunnel's sigil lamps.
He took in Aria's state, the faint dust on her face, the gold still clinging to her eyes—and smiled, small but real.
"Congratulations," he said. "That was a clean yield. You held the line without taking his life or breaking the rules. That's what Tier 2 is for."
Aria straightened despite the ache. "Thank you, Captain."
"So far," William added, "you're the only one in Squad Three who's shown a Tier 2 in public." His mouth twitched. "Don't let it go to your head."
Lila immediately pointed at Aria's head. "Too late."
Aria smirked, but her eyes were a little wet. "I'll drag them up with me."
William's expression said that was the answer he wanted. "Good."
A chime rolled down the tunnel—Engine Spine tone. The Colos-Lens glow flickered on their faces as the next bracket branch traced itself over the Mercy Deck.
From the bowl, the announcer's voice boomed through the sound-net:
"Next on the Mercy Deck—Match Three!"
Lines burned into being in the air just outside the tunnel mouth:
Match 3 — Rin[Halo] Vs Finn[Blade]
Names and guild sigils flared beside the team titles, but Halo's four barely glanced. The roar of the crowd swelled again as the next fighters stepped onto the light.
In the tunnel, Squad Three one bruised monk, one bleeding storm, one tired tactician, one overexcited healer—soaking in the last of Aria's lightning and Kai's heat, knowing they'd just put two marks on the board...
...and the Trials were only getting started.