“You beat me, and then you withdraw?!” Clive’s opponent yelled angrily. “Did Maya pay you off? Or Austin?”

  “This is completely irregular, Clive,” Natasha said. “You’ve made it this far to withdraw?”

  “What about our match?” Maya forced herself through the crowd and to the arena. “I can’t really be called the victor unless I beat you!”

  “There was no bribe,” Clive said calmly. “The truth is, I have no intention of winning that axe. It does not suit me.”

  “Why didn’t you drop out sooner then?” Clive’s opponent grew more furious. “You took us all out, and now we can’t win it.”

  “I have to agree, I don’t think that is a fair way to end things,” Natasha said. “But I’m sure if I force you to fight, you will just concede or not try.”

  “If I may give my opinion. I do think that Maya is worthy to win above the other competitors,” Clive explained. “I watched every fight carefully. Zoe, Zack, and Maya were the competitors who were most worthy of winning this competition. I gave all of my opponents opportunities to win, and they did not take the chance. They were sloppy fighters who made it to this stage out of luck.”

  Clive’s opponent reached his boiling point at Clive’s statement. In anger, he rushed towards Clive and swung his fist. Clive seemed completely unaffected by the attack. He made a quick step out of the way while extending his foot. His opponent tripped and fell face-first into the ground.

  “See, sloppy,” Clive observed. “But that was the reason I joined the competition. I wanted to gauge everyone’s skill level so I could provide instruction.”

  “And why have you kept to yourself until now?” Jess was the one to speak up and ask.

  “Two reasons. Until recently, I have not been comfortable using Essence. With my age, it has been difficult to use my skills, but Essence has helped,” Clive explained. “The second reason is I wanted everyone else to get comfortable with their Essence.”

  “An acceptable answer,” Natasha nodded. “But we still have the issue with Maya’s match.”

  “In exchange for my instruction, please declare Maya the victor. I promise you she is the most suitable candidate. I’m sure you can see it too,” Clive responded.

  The judges converged and spoke on the subject. Austin kept quiet on the subject. He did not want to show bias. In fact, halfway through the conversation, he broke away from the group. He figured that it was best to separate himself so people did not think there was any bias.

  “We have made our decision,” Natasha announced as the group broke apart. “We accept this and declare Maya the victor.”

  Maya bit her lip in frustration. She did not want to win this way, but she realized there was no point in arguing the point. Instead, she walked back to the arena. Her head was held low as she did.

  “You really do deserve this,” Clive whispered to Maya as she passed him.

  Maya’s expression did not change at Clive’s comment. She still felt like she did not deserve her victory. She continued forward towards Natasha and the rest of the group. No one cheered; everyone was silent.

  Jess handed Natasha the blood-red-bladed axe as Maya approached. Once Maya reached them, Natasha presented the weapon. “This is yours.”

  “Thanks,” Maya quietly said as she grabbed the weapon and turned to walk away.

  “This concludes the contest! Thank you all for participating! Your hard work can be seen in the results of the competition,” Natasha announced. “We still have plenty of elixirs to help your Essence growth. Your training is just beginning. Everyone work hard on your path to gold!”

  ***

  “Damn that Clive!” Maya shoved her axe into the ground as she and Austin returned to camp.

  Austin was right behind Maya with Elliot in his arms. Elliot had fallen fast asleep, and Austin placed his fingers in front of his mouth to remind Maya to be quiet. Luckily, Elliot did not wake, and Austin was able to tuck him in for bed.

  “I mean, at least you got one of the weapons,” Austin tried to calm Maya down.

  “That’s not the point! This was my chance to prove I was more than your wife or Elliot’s mom. Now everyone in the camp is just going to see me as the person who won by default,” Maya responded with frustration.

  “If they think that they are idiots,” Austin said flatly. “You were one of the top competitors in every game. It’s hard to deny your skill.”

  “You think so?” Maya asked.

  “Definitely, even Clive didn’t really seem that impressive until the last event,” Austin nodded with a smile. “You proved yourself.”

  “Thanks for saying that. I’m still not sure if I agree, though,” Maya frowned.

  “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Austin smiled as he wrapped an arm around Maya. “Don’t forget that I’m usually right.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Maya responded as she playfully smacked Austin’s chest.

  Austin grabbed Maya’s hand as it landed on his chest. Austin’s eyes locked with Maya’s. The deep brown of her eyes drew him in like a warm blanket. In that moment, Austin realized that he had not had a moment where he truly looked at Maya since the Survival Game started. They had been in constant movement the entire time. There were a few times they were able to spend time together, but Austin did not truly savor it.

  “I love you,” Austin smiled.

  “I love you too,” Maya said with a smile. Her eyes became lost in Austin’s as well.

  The two pressed their lips together. It was different from the other times they had kissed over the Survival Game. In truth, they had not kissed each other like it for even longer than the Survival Game. It had been at least several months.

  As the two kissed, their bodies felt like they melted together. Like two pieces that found what made them whole. In that moment, they were one being. It was a feeling that had been lost for a long time. A spark that was gone had reignited.

  ***

  The camp was mostly quiet the next morning. The buzz leading up to the contest had died a little as people took a moment to rest. There was some quiet discussion, but the relentless training and other work had died down.

  As Austin woke up, Maya nestled against him. Their bodies blended together in warm comfort as Austin pulled her closer. He did not want the moment to ever end. As Maya slept, he just stared at her and took in every detail. Her hair had become a mess, and her face was covered in dirt. But that did not matter; she was the woman he loved.

  Maya started to shuffle for a moment before she pulled her head into Austin’s chest. Her eyes blinked several times as she started to wake. Then she looked up at Austin and smiled gently.

  “Good morning,” Maya said through a stifled yawn.

  “Good morning,” Austin responded with a smile.

  “I’m shocked you aren’t up and moving,” Maya said.

  “I just thought I would enjoy this moment a little,” Austin said.

  “For once, someone isn’t calling for your help,” Maya smiled as she clutched Austin tight. She looked at the side of her eye at Elliot’s pack. Their son was still fast asleep. “And for once, Elliot is sleeping in.”

  “A true rarity, the stars have aligned!” Austin dramatically acted astonished.

  “You’re such a dork,” Maya giggled. “So, do you have any plans for the day?”

  “If I’m not pulled away, I would like to practice my enchantment,” Austin said. “I think I’m close to getting it right. What about you?”

  “Well, I thought about it, and I think I’m going to see if Clive will train me,” Maya said. “I still think he could have beaten me in the tournament. So, I want to learn how to fight properly.”

  “Not a bad idea, I think we could all use that sort of instruction. I got some from Artas, but there was only so much he could teach me during that time,” Austin said.

  “Just don’t beat anyone up with your Copper strength if you join us,” Maya laughed.

  “I’ll try my best,” Austin said.

  The pair were able to lay for a little while longer before Elliot woke up. As he did, they forced themselves up and made a quick breakfast of eggs and potatoes. While Maya and Austin ate and talked, Elliot made a mess of himself. Half of his food had entered his mouth while he was eating the other half of his food. Even with the mess, Austin enjoyed the meal. It was like a return to normalcy.

  As they finished their meal, Austin cleaned up Elliot as best as he could. He hoped that when they left the Survival Game, they could get some modern conveniences back on Earth. Specifically, he could really use new clothes and a bath.

  “I’ll take him,” Maya said. She picked Elliot up after Austin finished cleaning him. “I’ll drop him off with Ava on my way to ask Clive for training.”

  “Thank you, have a good day training,” Austin said with a smile.

  “You too,” Maya said before she leaned in and kissed Austin.

  As Maya walked away, Austin was already summoning enchantment materials from his scrolls. He surrounded himself with various books and enchantment paper. He already opened several books to study. He was incredibly close to his first successful enchantment, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He just needed to make sure that he could make it work.

  Austin pored through his books for several hours. He had learned that the most basic form of enchantment was storing items. Storing a technique was intermediate level, while creating unique effects was advanced level. Luckily, he did not want to create a unique effect. Especially, since that was mostly reserved for actual items and not paper. He wanted to store his Total Defense technique in a scroll. If he could successfully create the enchantment, then he could distribute it amongst the camp. He figured that if most people had access to that specific technique, then it could greatly enhance their survivability.

  The thing that made storing a technique complex was that it did not use the same basic characters that storing an item did. In fact, each technique required a unique set of characters based on its properties. This meant that the enchanter needed to have a full understanding of their technique. With that understanding, the enchanter would need to research specific characters that reflected the technique but also make sure they interacted properly. Best-case scenario, a bad interaction would end in a dud. But the worst-case scenario was that it could have a major kickback that harmed the enchanter.

  Austin continued to search through the books while he held his stylus in his mouth. He knew that the character for metal was going to be one of the ones he needed, but he was unsure about the other characters. The problem was that there was a variety of other characters that he could use.

  Austin made a list of characters that he found to be suitable and shoved sheets of papers inside the books. He gathered together his books and stacked them. He decided that if he was going to experiment on this enchantment, it was best to do it with fewer people around.

  Once Austin arrived at a spot far away from camp, he dropped his books to the ground. He quickly moved to open the books back up to his various marked pages. Austin readied his stylus as he looked over the books. It was time to start his experiments.