"I'm starving," Sera declared, stretching her arms overhead as the tournament crowd began to thin. The cheers had died down, replaced by murmurs and chatter as people trickled out of the stands. "All that clapping and falling in love with a total stranger really burns calories."
Zane looked sideways at her. "You keep saying that."
"I do?" She gave an exaggerated blink. "Must be the hunger."
They stepped into the arena courtyard—a spacious, circular plaza flanked by columns and food stalls set up for the tournament's audience and contestants. Banners still fluttered, and the air smelled of roasted spices and sugar-dusted bread.
Zane's stomach growled.
Sera smirked. "See? Told you. Let's grab something before someone challenges you to a duel for existing."
They wandered past a few vendors. One was selling skewers of flame-grilled beast meat, another had glowing mana buns pulsing faintly with elemental energy.
Zane reached for his pouch—
He frowned. "Oh. Right."
Sera noticed. "No coin?"
"I wasn't exactly carrying a wallet when I fell into the void and woke up here."
She made a mock gasp. "And yet you still looked cool doing it."
Before he could respond, she turned toward a food stall down the lane, where a distracted noble was juggling three bags of festival food.
"Time for plan Sky Swipe."
She raised her hand and whispered a gust of wind. It twirled up like a playful breeze, looped around a pastry bag from the vendor's counter, and gently tugged it into the air. The noble didn't even notice as it floated across the courtyard—like a drifting cloud—straight into Sera's waiting hand.
She offered it to Zane with a grin.
Zane stared at her. "That's not borrowing."
"Of course it is," she said, biting into her own share. "We'll return the calories later."
He gave her a skeptical look, but the pastry smelled too good to argue. He took a bite—warm, flaky, filled with some sort of spiced honeyfruit.
"Okay," he admitted. "Worth the moral compromise."
Sera plopped down on a low step beside the arena's marble fountain. "You're welcome, Void-boy."
Zane sat beside her, shaking his head. "You're trouble."
She grinned. "That's what they all say. Right before I save their life with a tornado."
Nyx snorted in his mind. You're going to get arrested because of her. I approve.
As the sun dipped low and torches around the courtyard flickered to life, Zane felt the tension of battle fade—just slightly. For the first time since his match, he let his shoulders relax.
Because far across the courtyard, beneath one of the archways, a figure watched them.