Time moves fast after that. I train my hardest, physically and mentally. A full 10 days of hard work and study. Three days before the promised day. That's fine, I knew this is the price for winning against Olivia. What was hard to deal with, more than I thought, was the isolation. Aren was doing solo training while investigating the backer. Vulcana has been studying like crazy. I haven't seen Sara since the day she left. Constantly training in that pocket dimension has made me miss those few moments of levity. But I push past it. I know they're working hard too, I can't disappoint them. But this morning, something interesting happens. I was enjoying my break with Smokey when the door opened. “Hey Maria, long time no see." “Alymar, what are you doing here?" “So serious, I guess you

