While the Kingdom was absorbed in the fever of the upcoming election and Heimdall Technologies pursued its vast global expansion, Eleanor was once again summoned to Dún Scáith.
This ti, however, the Supre Grandmaster Scáthach was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Vanguard Commander Annabeth Chase awaited her at the castle’s gate, her presence as composed and intimidating as ever. Instructor Arrichion, after escorting Eleanor, bowed lightly and departed without a word.
Eleanor stepped forward, bowing before her ntor. "Greetings, Master Chase."
Annabeth waved her hand dismissively. "No need for such formalities. Follow ."
Eleanor obeyed, her boots echoing softly on the stone floor as they entered the heart of the fortress. The corridors were quieter, lit by the dim glow of sunlight that reflected against the ancient walls. Eventually, they reached a room unlike most in Dún Scáith... a spacious chamber that could easily be mistaken for an entertainnt suite.
A massive monitor, easily over a hundred inches, dominated one wall. Two high-end desktop computers sat to the side, humming faintly. Several leather sofas were arranged opposite the screen, giving the room the air of a private theatre.
Annabeth moved towards one of the computers and sat down. "Bring another chair and sit beside ."
Eleanor did as instructed, drawing a chair closer before sitting at her side.
Annabeth opened a file and pressed play. A video filled the screen... footage from Eleanor’s first match of the Grand Competition, her bout against Igor Senov.
"You were completely relaxed at the start," Annabeth said, her tone even but edged with critique. "Look... you’re in the ring during the countdown, no stance, no tension, no readiness. Confidence is good. Arrogance is fatal. What did I teach you?"
Eleanor lowered her gaze slightly. "Never take any opponent for granted. Even the weakest one can surprise you."
Annabeth nodded. "Exactly. In combat, life and death are divided by a hair’s breadth. One careless breath... one heartbeat... can tip you to the other side."
Eleanor’s eyes remained fixed on the frozen fra of herself on the screen, standing almost lazily opposite Igor’s coiled posture. "I understand, Master."
"Good."
Annabeth clicked play again. The recording moved through the opening seconds... Igor’s first volley of ice shards and Eleanor’s swift, fluid evasions.
Then she paused the video just as Eleanor chopped aside the third shard. "There," Annabeth said. "Why deflect it? You’d already read the wobble, gauged the velocity, the mass. A simple tilt of your head would have been enough to let it pass harmlessly."
She turned her eyes to Eleanor. "You t it instead. That choice wasn’t tactical... it was emotional. You wanted to test him. To feel his strength. But by doing that, you gave him information. He learned your reflex speed, your resilience, your confidence in close engagent. And he adjusted. His next pattern shifted from direct assault to area control. You let him adapt."
Eleanor inhaled quietly, nodding once. "Understood. I’ll correct that."
Annabeth leaned back slightly, her gaze still on the frozen screen. "Good. Because that single mont... that unnecessary display is the kind of thing that decides who lives to learn from a battle... and who doesn’t."
She let the video play, through Igor’s shield and the volleys that boxed Eleanor in. "Here. You were purely reactive. You allowed him to set the tempo and the terms of the engagent. You beca a spectator in your own fight, waiting for his next move so you could counter it. Why did you not press the attack after the first evasion? He was open for half a second after that third shard. A lunge would have forced him onto the defensive."
"I was assessing his patterns," Eleanor said, her voice respectful.
"Assessnt is for the first ten seconds," Annabeth stated flatly. "After that, you’re either controlling the fight or losing it."
The video reached the point where Igor activated Absolute Zero. Annabeth paused it again, pointing at the screen where frost began to creep across the floor. "This was his trap, and you walked right into it. You had confidence that you could endure it... I understand. But it was a waste of energy. Do not endure an enemy’s field effect; shatter it or escape it. You have the speed. A single Bolt Step would have placed you behind him, outside the circle, with his back exposed."
Finally, the climax played out... the ntal Lock, the summoning of lightning, the Bolt Step, and the final, vaporising strike. Annabeth let the video run until Igor collapsed, then closed the file.
She turned her chair to face Eleanor fully. "Now, the most critical failure. You revealed one of your trump cards in a public match against an opponent you had already effectively defeated."
She leaned forward. "Think, Eleanor. You had already neutralised his attack and closed the distance. Your enhanced strength was sufficient to break his shield and likely end the fight. Why did you resort to your lightning elent? You used a sledgehamr to drive a finishing nail."
She continued, "Just think. If you were ready and delivered your final strike at the start of the match, it would have been over in a second."
She paused, then said, "Okay. Let’s see your next match."
Annabeth closed the file of the first match and opened another. The screen now showed the ring... Alina Calypso Istros standing with her bow. She let the video play in silence until the mont Eleanor’s final strike connected and Alina fell.
She turned to Eleanor. "This was faster and more direct. And in its own way, even more reckless than your fight against the ice-user."
Eleanor stayed silent; she knew her words were not needed.
"Your initial judgent was correct, in a way," Annabeth began, as expected, tapping the screen where Eleanor charged forward. "A ranged opponent must be denied distance. Closing the gap is a must. But how you did it... it was a brute-force solution. You decided to smash through it with the sa tools you used last ti, and didn’t even think of the consequences."
She rewound the video to the mont Alina loosed her first flurry of arrows. "You assessed her as a ranged opponent. That is a category, not a profile. What kind of arrows? Did you look at the bow’s draw? Was there a mana signature? You saw a bow and thought archer, and charged forward into an unknown volley. That is pure gambling... with your body as the stake."
Annabeth paused the video on a fra where an arrow grazed Eleanor’s shoulder. "You accepted hits. You calculated they were non-lethal and pressed on. This is a critical failure in judgent. What if one of those arrows had been enchanted with a paralysis toxin? What if the next had been a sonic-disruption shot? You assud her arsenal was purely physical projectile weaponry. Against an unknown, that assumption could have been a death sentence. You have enhanced regeneration and pain tolerance... not immunity."
She continued, "In the end, you activated ntal Lock, Mind Acceleration, Voltaic Strikes, Bloodlust Instinct, and Killing Precision... all to defeat a single, flustered archer who was already psychologically broken. You have to pay close attention to your opponent." She pointed at Alina’s face. "Look at her. She was already defeated. You didn’t need so much firepower to finish her. It was overkill... and worse, it was predictable."
She looked at Eleanor. "You ended your first match in the sa way. What do you think others will do after seeing this? They’ll know that when faced with pressure, Eleanor defaults to a single, overwhelming, linear charge. She relies on her unique ntal focus and her lightning to solve complex problems. Others will devise counterasures for that exact sequence."
Eleanor thought for a mont. "I should have closed the distance without revealing my key abilities. Used feints and irregular footwork to draw out her arrow types and test her reactions. A partial transformation for speed and strength, without the lightning, might have been sufficient to break her guard once I was close."
"Better," Annabeth acknowledged. "But still incomplete. You think only in terms of your own body. The ring is your weapon. The environnt is your weapon. I have taught you that... yet you forgot my lessons in the ring. You could have kicked up dust or debris to obscure her vision. Rember to use your body more, and your elents only to surprise your opponents or deliver a killing blow. Your elental power is limited; once it’s gone, it will take ti to recover. But your body is your constant weapon... your most trusted one. Rember to use it more in your next fights."
They proceeded to the next match. This ti, Aria Nightwind was the opponent. Annabeth split the screen, showing the beginning of the match alongside the end.
"Observe. Your initial defence was better... reading the pebble feint, absorbing the shockwave without a flinch, weathering the stone shards and claw strikes with minimal movent. You broke your opponent’s rhythm by refusing to be moved. That control was excellent."
She pointed to the mont Eleanor began her counter-offensive, leaping over the shockwave. "But here, you reverted to your previous matches. You saw an opening, and your solution was, once again, to overpower it. Your aerial axe kick was dramatic. It was also inefficient. You expended significant energy for zero gain. You forced her to dodge, but gained no positional advantage. You rely cracked the floor."
She paused, then added, "You shattered the Earthen Fist with a high-energy precision strike of your own. Then you stood in the centre of the arena and expended even more energy to pulverise a hailstorm of rocks into dust. It was visually impressive. It was also a complete waste of stamina. You could have evaded the entire barrage. Instead, you chose to stand and fight a battle against inanimate objects. I think you were demonstrating that you could break anything she threw at you. That is ego, not tactics. And ego gets soone killed on the battlefield."
Annabeth closed the split screen and focused on the final scene. "Having dragged the fight out longer than necessary, you decided you were done. And what was your solution? The sa combination you used in your previous matches. Your opponent knew it was coming... even prepared the perfect counter. A Stone-Skin Infusion, which you overpowered... but she still predicted you."
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