Ever since she was little, Victoria had never felt the slightest interest in the boys her age in the village.
To her, those boys were utterly boring.
They either rolled around wrestling in the mud in packs, getting filthy all over and still thinking they looked impressive.
Or they clumsily tried to win her favor, stealing a piece of dry bread from home to slip her one day, leaving a handful of wildflowers at her door the next. One cold glare from her would send them fleeing with red faces.
She found them laughably childish. Their heads seemed filled with nothing but fighting, showing off, and some kind of budding desire.
So she preferred to spend her time on other things.
For instance, her greatest pleasure back then had been following her mysterious masked mentor all over the mountains.
Her mentor never told her their true identity or explained why they wore a mask, but Victoria did not care. All she knew was that she only felt truly happy when she was with her mentor.
When Sylvia was away, the two of them would slip into Demon Bird nests deep in the Northern Border, sneak out the eggs while the adult birds were off hunting, then light a fire in a cave and roast them until their rich aroma filled the air.
Her mentor always left the biggest egg for her and ate a smaller one, telling her about the outside world in a strange voice as they ate.
Those days had been among the few bright spots in her uneventful childhood. They had even made her feel that everyone other than her mentor was boring.
But now, sitting in the viewing stands and watching the figure on the platform remain composed under the combined assault of four Golems, she