"An ancestor," Elara repeated slowly. "I do not even know my grandparents' names. How can I carry magic from someone I have never heard of."
"Blood does not need memory to carry power," the healer said. "It only needs time, and the right conditions to wake it."
"Can you find out who," I asked. "A name. Anything."
The healer shook her head. "Not tonight. This kind of tracing requires deeper ritual work, and we do not have the hours to spare before your challenge, let alone the strength to risk on something so uncertain."
Elara sat down slowly, staring at her own hands like they belonged to a stranger.
"So I am walking into that ring not only unsure if I can beat him," she said quietly, "but unsure of what exactly I even am."
"You are the same person you were an hour ago," I said. "A n
