"Is this how you're supposed to lose?"
Kevin frowned as the voice echoed through the emptiness, pulling him out of sleep.
"All that strength you carry… is it only for losing to every opponent you meet?" the voice continued, sharp and disappointed.
Kevin's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't in his bed.
He was standing in a vast, empty white space.
Floating in front of him was a small golden orb—the source of the voice.
"What are you?" Kevin asked quietly. He recognized this voice. He'd heard it back at the academy… the same voice that whispered Emma belonged with him, the same voice that claimed he was strongest when she stood beside him.
"You are proving to be a disappointment, Kevin," the orb said. "Always losing. Always falling short, even though you swore you'd never bow to anyone."
Kevin's fists tightened. It wasn't wrong.
He had almost lost to Warren in last year's tournament.
Then Night Devil.
Then William.
Then the golems that trapped them.
