Coming clean...kinda...

You take a deep breath, thinking about how you're going to present this. "I honestly didn't think you'd believe it, but I actually took down five of them. I surprised one, then took down a pair, then managed to get the last two as they were flying off with some of the villagers. I only managed to take down one of them with a weapon, one of their own lances. The rest was magic that I, for some reason, am a lot better at." That reason being something you either wouldn't believe or would kill me over. "Speaking of, I'm pretty limited on what I can do right now in terms of magic. The Priest here said I was low on mana, and I'm kinda new to magic, so I don't even know how to...do anything purposefully..." A little bit of a lie, but not entirely, since I honestly only know how to polymorph and use some light bolts.

Camilla's stare doesn't relent. You could hear a pin drop with how quiet things got in the room, but the tension seems to fade as the pot starts to whistle with steam. She takes her time lifting her hands off the table and slowly bringing the pot away from the fire. She silently pours into the two cups before sitting down and taking a sip. You do the same, noticing that some of the herbs have dissolved a bit, but still leave a chunky texture. You hold in a spit-take the best you can, cringing as you swallow. "Alright, let's see some magic now. The tea uses an herb that restores both stamina and mana."

"I told you, I can't do it on com-"

"Bullshit. Unless you have wild magic, it can only be done on command." She crosses her arms.

"You...seem to know a lot about magic..." Using God's Eye (finally), you discover she's a Fighter, but you at least feel confident in knowing she's not a Sorcerer or Priest.

"My brother's in Recuan studying magic. He shares a few things when he visits. Now, why are you being so defensive about this?" She unrelentingly stares.

You breath deep. "I'm still new to all this. What if I mess up and blow up the house?"

"You're new to all this, you won't have access to spells that powerful, yet. Next."

"Well what if I hurt you on accident?"

"I'm a tough cookie, I can take it. Next."

You sigh, unable to come up with more excuses. "If I do this, you can't look, okay?" You look her in the eye, mentally pleading for her to accept.

She cocks an eyebrow. "I've never fought blindly before, but I can give it a shot. Any particular reason you're shy?"

You exhale, relieved. "Maybe I'll tell you some day. For now, just please trust me on this."

"Trust needs to be earned. I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself, not trust." She stands, crossing the room to the dresser once more. "I don't really have a blindfold, but this combined with my helmet should do." She pulls something out before closing it, and grabs the helmet on top before heading out back. "Come on out when you're ready."

You give her a moment to prepare herself before getting up. When you open the door, she seems to be whacking against a training dummy while wielding a sword and wooden shield. She has her helmet on, but you can't see her eyes as she rotates herself around the dummy. "I'm just about ready, Captain." You step back into the pit and take a look around, spotting no one nearby.

Camilla cautiously steps into the pit as well. "I won't be able to see you exactly, but I've got rough silhouettes. Is that enough for you?"

Thankful for the warning, you pick up a sword for yourself before you release your polymorph, making sure your wings go in their 'resting' folded position against your back. "It should be, I guess." You take a readied stance.

Hey guys! I figured that I might as well start this now so I have an idea of what to write toward in the future. Alright! Of the following, comment which one(s) you'd like our MC to encounter/fight first and why. I can think of pretty good reasons for all of these and a couple scenarios where our MC would reasonably win a fight against them in the future. Some of the characters I've deemed 'too strong' or 'too unreasonable' to encounter first and even live, so you'll have to live with the current list for now.

-Arch-imago Citrinas

-Runa Ruya, the Redeemed

-the Hornet Empress

-Orchid, the Nine-Tailed Fox

Make sure to comment for your favorite and we'll see how things go from there! You have 7 days to vote before I start sowing seeds for this!