Thanks for your participation in the previous instant update goals! I'm stopping here for now to rest. The next chapter, which will now involve the elimination round for the final five will take a lot of effort on my part to write.

I couldn't help but continue thinking about the discussion I had with Amber and Elion. I got, in one go, two sides of the same coin. Now, I was offered a perspective of the whole struggle—both mortal and cosmic. Each had their own reasons, though I, as a lowly human being, would find the gods' as the most unreasonable. With the information I had gotten, I spent the next few days deliberating on the matter at hand while training for the final elimination round that was to come very soon.

It wouldn't take long for the Temple to go over all the hopefuls and eliminate the examinees to the final five that they were going to take in and nurture. Due to the very limited slots, the struggle would, no doubt, be very intense.

Eren and Maun were due to go through the fourth phase of the selection process as well. I dearly hoped things would turn out well for the two—especially Eren. If there was anyone in the group who dearly needed to be included in the final five, it was her.

I stared at the ceiling of the tent, shifting in my cot. Eren rolled over to invade my side of the place, all while letting out a slight snore.

A thought went through my head. If there were gods above Amber, then was Amber really Kaliya? Or is he really just a 'temporary hire'? If he was a temporary hire and there really was no Kaliya, then how screwed were we?

The domains were still functioning though, weren't they? Were they on some sort of autopilot, then?

For all I knew, Kaliya could be several guys holding the title over the years...or millenia. And since these people had a concept of vacation, it wasn't very far for them to have a concept of retirement as well.

The week slowly meandered on. It was a silent river filled with tension over anticipating the results.

Maun was the next one to be scheduled in the fourth phase of the exam. I didn't see the specifics because we weren't allowed to spectate on other examinees' performance. Even though Maun was a close friend to me, we were still competitors in the end. If only I could come and watch, I would.

I had seen how he performed quite a few times before though, so I wasn't very curious. I taught Maun what I learned from deliberating over the technique and he'd easily grasped anything thrown his way. The great thing was he never held back on explaining what he learned either. The sign language made it a struggle for Erenol, nevertheless, so I often had to act as a medium for the two to understand one another.

Though the mistresses, Eren, and I were already expecting Maun to not have any problems, he came home with praises of those who had witnessed his performance.

These praises bordered on worship. And it was to be expected.

I even overheard the monks talking over it, in fact. I was on my way to do some chores for the mistresses with Eren. It hadn't been long since Maun's evaluation. We were supposed to wash our clothes this time around. After all, we didn't have a lot of spare. And there would there be no one else to do it for us.

"We have a genius among the competitors this year," one told the other.

"Oh yes, I heard about it too. It's just the third day of the week and things have already turned very exciting! Did you catch the name of the kid, at least?"

"No, I wasn't able to hear it properly. An M-something. Silver-haired too," he supplied. "If you saw the way he executed the technique! I could hear the masters gasping in shock at the performance, actually. He was as good as the other kids who have been training years ahead of him."

"No. that's impossible." The other monk stopped and stared on, eyes wide as he heard the news. "To impress the masters that far?"

"It's true! They even started fighting over who would take the boy as a direct disciple. I'll make sure to watch the elimination round this year! It must be entertaining."

Eren and I exchanged glances.

There was worry clear in her eyes. Seeing this, I brought her out of her self-deprecating thoughts by kicking her shin a little. "Don't worry too much," I told her, fixing the laundry basket that rested on my waist as I moved.

The slight pain made her wince, pulling her out of that growing pit of insecurity in her heart. "Agh...Evy..."

"Stop making that face already! We're going to survive this together. You said you were going to do your best. Don't mind Maun. You know he really is a monster when it comes to these things. We can't contend against him in that."

"I know..." she whispered, hanging her head. "I just wish I had at least a fourth of his talent."

"Don't go too hard on yourself. You never picked up a weapon or swatted a fly on your own. No need to compare yourself to other people. Just focus on yourself. You have no need to compete with anybody just yet."

I never would have guessed that, overnight, the ever silent but cheerful Maun became a sort of small-time celebrity. He was a clear contender for the five disciples. I would assume that those who were already betting on him easily taking the first spot wasn't limited to just those two monks we encountered.

A genius, they called him.

I had no intentions of debunking the title. Indeed, Maun had enormous talent for the martial arts, and he deserved being called so. He'd progressed on the way of the sword more than I had in the six years I'd been training—and he surpassed me several times over, too.

The Movement of the Seven Dragons had been easily comprehended by him the first time that Mistress Veronika had taught it to us. Compared to his blazing speed, Erenol and I were practically snails.

"Evy," she began.

"What is it?" I asked. I set down the basket of dirty clothes on the ground and picked up the pails stacked on the corner to fetch some water from the well. Erenol followed me, helping me tie the bucket to the rope and lower it.

The hinges creaked and there was a light splash below.

"Would you help me, please?"

"With what?" I looked at her inquiringly.

"I'm really sorry for asking again and if you think I'm such a bother...but I would like to at least be able to finish the whole Movement without making any mistakes. It has been so long...and I still can't perform it very well. I'm due to perform tomorrow." She stuck out her lower lip.

I cast her a brief glance before looking back down into the well. Her cheeks had flushed and she hung her head.

"Okay," I said, checking whether the pail was finally full of water. I then tugged on the ropes and began heaving. Erenol was by my side, lending her strength to hoist the pail from the depths.

"Thank you..." she said. "I really wish all those people I'm with perform poorly."

"I don't think it works like that. If you don't prove yourself, you won't get in either way. Like the monks said, it's not a competition. I don't know how many times I've repeated myself, but you just have to focus on yourself and only yourself. Besides, you're working very hard already." I grunted. "Tell you what. If you can perform well and stand with us on the elimination round...then we can go out there and find ourselves a good desserts shop that can rival Madam Dana's!"

Her eyes lit up. Distracted, she almost let go of the rope.

Startled and unprepared, I almost got myself pulled in. "Hey! Dragons above!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" She scrambled to pull on the rope, working even faster than before. "Wait...wait...are you serious?" she asked.

"Yep! Now, hold the rope still while I pull the thing over," I told her, and she held the pail steady as I hooked it over to the mouth of the well. The water sloshed around, some getting on our clothes.

She started unhooking the pail from the rope, rare excitement lighting up her face.

"I can get some money from the mistresses and we can eat really good food," I continued, lowering the water bucket steadily to the ground. "If not, there should be some interesting stuff in that seaside bazaar. I'm sure it wouldn't be bad since we're only going to do it once-in-a-while. Probably get us some decent clothes too!"

"It won't be the same layered strawberries though, but there will be strawberries, right?" she asked me, sniffing as tears gathered in her eyes.

I strained a bit to lift the wooden pail, trudging over to the washing basin to pour in the water. "Why are you crying again? Geez, Eren." I dropped the emptied bucket on the ground beside the basin and took a breath, putting a hand on my waist and looked at her as I shook my head.

"S-sorry." She hiccupped. She then bit back her sobs and forced herself to stop weeping. "I can't control it y-you know? I want to stop this horrible habit but..." Eren blew her nose on her sleeves.

"Go get the soap, you crybaby," I said. "These clothes won't wash themselves."

She went over to fetch what I told her to and went back to hand the thing over.

"Now sit down and start."

Eren took the basket of clothes, sorting through colored and non-colored to put into the washing basin. After soaking the fabrics in the water, she began to rub the soap in. I grabbed a short stool over and sat down opposite of her, lifting the garments and working my hands through.

Bubbles frothed forth, rising in balloons and fizzing as we went through the laundry.

I watched Eren from the corner of my eyes as I worked. Her worry was a given. The girl had the tendency to overthink. Of us three, she would be the last one to take the fourth phase of the test. Considering both Maun and I had already passed and were only waiting for the news of the final elimination round, she was pressured even more to perform well.

This was the last year wherein she would be eligible to try out for a slot in the Temple. The monks did not accept disciples over the age of fifteen.

To be honest, I felt bad for the girl. Having not lifted a sword or any weapon for the matter her entire life and then being forced into this situation surely hadn't been easy. If I was in her position, I would be frustrated and depressed.

Yet she had such resilience and determination to go on. I didn't know where she was taking her strength and will to persevere, but if she had anything to boast about, it was her attitude.

Sure, the girl would whine and was particularly prone to the waterworks, but that was because of how she was reared. She might have been ignored as a child of royal birth, but that didn't change the fact that she was still, in the end, a child of royal birth. It was expected that she would have some things in life much easier compared to other people.

I watched her rub the fabrics together in the water clumsily and shook my head, realizing this girl still had much to learn. The knowledge she lacked was not one of combat, but of the real world. Once she was used to how life went for the average folks, I had every bit of trust she would become one of the best versions of herself.

She would pass this test. Even if she didn't, it wasn't the end of the world.

Not yet, at least.

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