Gratefully accepting the chance, they both make their way to the nearest Inn. Inside, Cyrus looks down at the menu of unfamiliar foods before looking back up to the girl. "uh, excuse me lady"

"My name is Hannah,"she answers him gently.

Smiling sheepishly, he introduces himself as well

Hannah smiles warmly at him.

"So Hannah, what exactly does this menu say anyway?"

Hannah giggles softly at his question. "You must not have been given the ability to read this world's writing, huh?"

He blushes embarrassingly. "yeah... Sorry."

Hannah chuckles fondly. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure to pick something good for you. What kind of food did you want?" She inquires curiously.

"Umm, I really don't mind. Whatever you think tastes best."

"Alright then, let's go with this one. It has meat in it." She suggests.

After ordering, the pair sit together awkwardly while waiting for their meals. Whilst enjoying the meal, they talk more about the tournament.

Cyrus learns that the rules are simple: the first team to defeat every member of the opposing side wins. There are no restrictions or limitations regarding weapons used during combat. Each match consists of three rounds where teams of 2-4 battle against each other until one remains victorious. At the end of the third round, the winner will advance to the next stage while the loser will be eliminated from further participation. Most importantly, the tournament's date would start in around one years time.

Hearing this, Cyrus laments the fact that She may not be able to return to her normal life until a full year has passed.

As they finish eating, Hannah invites him to spend some time in her room so that she can give him any more info that he might need before pausing. blushing suddenly she hands him a sac before rushing up the stairs.

Unsure of what to do, Cyrus takes a look inside the bag and notices that it's filled with silver coins. Noticing that these were the same coins used to pay for their food, he thanked her before heading to the counter and booking a room for a week's time.

***

The next day, Cyrus wakes up early to get ready. He heads down the stairs before running into a group of people passing by outside. They stop short upon seeing him and stare at him in surprise.

One man approaches him. "Hey buddy, what's your deal?" He asks him bluntly.

"Oh Hi..." Cyrus stutters unsure of what to do.

Another man joins them. "Is that all you have to say? Just 'hi'?" One of the men glares at him before moving his hand to his waist.

A woman speaks up. "You need to learn how to act around strangers, kid." She tells him sternly.

Feeling uncomfortable, Cyrus backs away.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!" The man says as he pins Cyrus to the wall.

"You wanna die today kid?

Cyrus panics and tries to escape but the man holding him tightly keeps pushing him back.

Continuing to struggle, Cyrus begins to have flashes of a man similar to him.

“Remember. Remember who you once were and end this cycle.” The man seemed to be speaking to him as Cyrus could feel his arms burning.

Pushing his hands into the man's stomach dark energy begins gathering before bursting forth violently. The force pushes the man backwards causing him to lose his grip on Cyrus and slam into the wall.

Stunned by what happened, Cyrus looks into his hands to see the residue energy left behind after using magic.

The other two look on in shock before pulling themselves back together as they both lunge towards him. Before either of them can reach him however, he uses another burst of darkness to push the woman away from him.

Before she can recover, The other man pulls a dagger from his side and wields it wildly at Cyrus.

Backing up from the man, Cyrus sees a vision of himself in a similar situation before deciding to face the man head on. Using a form of martial arts, he dodges most of the attacks whilst countering others with quick strikes.

Using his speed advantage, Cyrus manages to dodge several of the slashes aimed at him. However, due to his lack of experience, he is unable to counterattack effectively. As such, the man continues to push forward through the punches

Eventually, Cyrus realizes that he just doesn't have the strength to beat him without using his powers he thinks of an idea.

Enveloping his hands in the dark mist he tries to counterattack once more.

The man ignoring any and all danger around him continues to rush forward ignoring Cyrus's blows, But unlike earlier, he isn't able to brush them off as he falls to the ground in pain.

Confused Cyrus looks down at the man to see that There is dark residue where he had been punched. The mist began melting away at the man's skin as if it were made of wax.

The man screams in agony as the mist spreads and his body melts away completely.

"what...was that!?" He gasps in horror.

Cyrus stands there frozen in fear, staring down at the melted corpse of his opponent. Realizing what he had just didn't he runs back into the inn to find Hannah before Knocking on her room door.

She opens the door after a while as he rushes over to her.

"Are you okay!?" She asks worriedly.

"Uh yeah, thanks." He replies nervously.

Hannah looks at him worriedly. "What's got you in such a panic?"

Cyrus hesitates before speaking up. "well... uhh.." He starts. "I kinda killed someone." He admits.

Hannah frowns deeply. "you killed someone?" She repeats disbelievingly.

Cyrus nods slowly. "Yeah. He attacked me so I defended myself. But I didn't realize that he would just melt like that!"

Hannah stares blankly at him for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. "oh, well," she says quietly. "Honestly, It's probably not that big of a deal. They were obviously bad people anyway right? You shouldn’t worry about it too much."

"But there's a more important thing that we should be talking about" She grabs him by the shoulders with a massive grin.

"What!?" He exclaims, surprised.

Hannah grins widely. "You can join my team in the tournament! Think about it, I need two people, and neither of us have a party, so why not just enter it together? I can get us home, and you can reap the rewards. It’s a win win."

Cyrus pauses momentarily before smiling happily. "That's actually pretty smart." He agrees. "And that would indeed save time on you having to find another person.

"Uh huh, Uh huh" she adds excitedly

"Alright, yeah I'll join your team!" He declares enthusiastically.

Hannah beams brightly. "Great! So what do you say? How about we go and get you geared. I know you don't have any money since you were brought in late.

Cyrus nods in satisfaction before being dragged off by Hannah.

Running through the town, in search of a place to buy Cyrus some gear, they look through multiple shops until finally finding one that sells equipment suitable for beginners. Walking inside they notice that the shopkeeper is an old man who wears thick glasses and has gray hair tied back neatly in a ponytail.

Taking note of their presence, the man walks over to greet them. "Welcome young ones. What may I help you with today?" He asks politely.

Cyrus looks at Hannah before  she answers. "We're looking for basic armor and weaponry."

The man smiles warmly. "Well, you've come to the right place." He says pointing to a rack full of items.

Upon closer inspection, they noticed that many of the swords and shields are covered in runes which glow faintly under light. Some of them also seem to be imbued with magical properties.

Seeing their interest, the man continues. "These are enchanted weapons and armours. All of these here have special qualities and effects. For example, this shield over there is infused with lightning resistance.

"Woah, really?" Cyrus exclaims excitedly how much do these cost?

The man chuckles lightly. "Young master, those beauties are top quality. 100 Gold coins and you can be on your way with the best equipment."

Cyrus looks over at Hannah as he doesn't quite know how expensive that is.

Hannah smirks. "100 gold coins!? well unfortunately I don't have the finances to cover something like that so I guess we will be on our way." she says while making her way out the door.

Cyrus follows suit quickly following after her. But the old man quickly leaps in front of the door blocking their path. "Hold on there, Missy. don't be too hasty. I have plenty of more affordable wares."

Hannah turns around to glare at him. "Sorry but we aren't interested."

The man laughs heartily. "Oh please, you mustn't leave empty handed." He insists, grabbing Cyrus by the hands and taking him to a rack of fancy looking blades.

There he picks up a sword that shines bright silver and puts it into Cyrus's hands .

"You feel this beauty. This blade is called the Silver Sword of Light. It has a high level of defense and attack power along with its own unique skill: 'Lightning Bolt, which allows the user to wield the element of electricity. This weapon is perfect for beginners and advanced users alike. Only 50 gold coins." He informs them.

Hannah takes a step forward. "50 gold pieces? That's outrageous!" She scoffs angrily.

The man bows respectfully to her. "My apologies, but how about this one instead?" He points to another item in the same row.

It is a longsword that glows blue in color and is adorned with glowing runes similar to the previous ones. Upon inspecting it closely, it seems to be made entirely from wood rather than metal or stone like the rest of the swords.

"How does this one sound?" The man asks curiously.

"What does it do?" Cyrus asks curiously.

The man smiles broadly. "This blade is known as the Blue Blade of Water, it has a low level of defense and attack power compared to other weapons but it possesses a very useful ability. When activated, it creates water around itself, creating a barrier that protects the user from physical damage. Also, when combined with other elemental spells it becomes extremely effective."

"That Sounds amazing! But I don't actually know how to use magic," He blushes before moving onto another blade.

"Don't worry" The man reassures him kindly. "All of these weapons possess skills that allow you to activate them without needing any kind of spell casting for only 40 gold coins".

Cyrus looks over at Hannah who simply rolls her eyes before walking away.

Going through the entire stock of weapons, They still haven't found anything that seems useful. Until suddenly, they spot a strange looking small rod that resembles a tree branch.

"Hey, what do you do?" He asks curiously.

The old man looks at him puzzled. "that? Well, I'm afraid I'm not sure. It was brought in quite some time ago but I haven't been able to find someone who can analyze it properly"

Cyrus walks over and picks it up carefully examining it. "it feels different to everything else here" he comments.

"Does it?", the man responds.

Cyrus nods thoughtfully. "yeah, it almost seems alive somehow".

The old man furrows his brows in confusion. "hmm... interesting..." he mutters.

Cyrus looks at Hannah who is already outside waiting impatiently for him.

"How much is this?" He asks, holding up the rod.

"Only 10 gold coins," The old man tells him.

"10 gold coins!?" Cyrus gasps in shock. "Why so much?" He asks suspiciously. "You don't even know what it does," he adds.

The man looks offended.

"Come on, I know you can at least lower it to 2 gold." He pleads.

The man shakes his head sadly. "No no, I cannot sell this for less than 5 gold."

"how about 3" He suggests hopefully.

The man shakes his head again. "Sorry, but if you want this you will have to pay the price." He states firmly.

With a heavy sigh, Cyrus drops 5 coins into the man's hand and leaves the store with the rod.

Outside, Hannah had been counting the bricks on each wall until she noticed that he had come out.

"So, what did you decide?" She inquires.

"I Bought this" He exclaims while holding the rod in the air.

Hannah looks at him incredulously. "what the hell is that supposed to be!?" She demands.

"it's a... well I don't know yet. But I'm sure it will be good. I can feel it!" He replies confidently.

Hannah sighs exasperatedly. "Fine, whatever. Let's go back and try it out. I'll Buy you some armor later since I clearly can't trust you to make your own decisions." She decides with her hand to her head.

They walk back towards the inn where they head straight to Cyrus's room to test out the rod.

Sitting down on the bed with her legs crossed, Hannah looks to Cyrus. "Well, show me what it can do."

Cyrus swings the rod around foolishly as Hannah tries her best not to laugh at his antics. After a few minutes of swinging the rod around aimlessly she can't help it and starts laughing loudly while holding her stomach.

Finally calming herself down she wipes tears of laughter from her face. "Okay okay, stop playing around and tell me what's going on." She commands.

Cyrus stops abruptly and looks sheepishly at her. "uh, sorry, but uh, it doesn't seem to work." He admits nervously.

Hannah frowns deeply. "why not?" she asks, confused.

Cyrus hesitates before answering. "i-I dunno, maybe because i'm not using it right" He stutters uncertainly.

"Well have you tried using those powers from earlier on it. I know that some items need the user to use spells to activate them. Maybe those powers of yours work the same way. Try activating them now." She instructs him.

Cyrus nods in agreement before turning back to the rod and focusing himself.

As soon as he concentrates he begins feeling his energy being drained into the rod. He begins Increasing the output to keep up with the rate that the rod is taking from him.

Suddenly a dark black blade made of pure energy shoots out from the tip of the rod piercing through the Ceiling.

"Wha-!" Cyrus and Hannah shout at the sight of the newly formed blade.

But then the blade disappears leaving behind nothing but a hole in the ceiling.

Both stare at each other in amazement.

"Did you do that!?" Hannah shouts excitedly.

"I think so?" Cyrus replies unsure of whether he actually created the blade or not.

Hannah stands up and rushes over to inspect the blade. "Wow, this is incredible. Can you do it again?" She asks eagerly.

"Yeah, I think so."

Again concentrating hard, he uses his power to create a second blade shooting through the roof of the room.

Once more, both watch in awe at the blade forming above their heads.

This time he continues to push his energy into the rod which seems to have stopped the blade from disappearing.

But now the blade is too long. Moving the blade at this point would just cut through the ceiling even more severely.

Thinking of an idea, Cyrus begins to reduce the power fed to the rod and as he does this, the blade slowly reduces in size until it is more manageable.

When he reaches the correct amount, he releases the flow of energy feeding into the rod and once more, and restarts. This time when the blade it formed it was much shorter and thinner similar inside to a short sword.

After several attempts, Cyrus manages to form a usable sword consistently that could easily be swung in his hands.

Looking up at Hannah, he sees that she's staring intently at him with wide open eyes and mouth agape.

He smiles happily seeing her reaction. "See? I told you this was worth it."

She grins widely. "Yeah Yeah. You were right, Now how about we go and test that bad boy out on something a bit more interesting." She says excitedly.