Krysperium! The gem of the empire! Legacy of the First Dragon Emperor!

Our impregnable capital city kept watch over the treasure of our empire, the mana node. Without our God's guidance, and without his foremost servant, the great Emperor Krystfallen, this city wouldn't have been created.

Our Empire has expanded and progressed because of the blessings of the mana node. It is only but fitting that the city that defends it partake of the blessings it provides.

This city will grow to become the crown of the Empire of Krysperia!

Emperor Malvar Amadeus Loneward

Announcing the expansion of the capital city Krysperium

The glare from the projection of the data orb in front of Felix made his eyes water. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the projection again. Numerous calculations swam in the waters of his mind. “Hmmm, this doesn’t look right,” he said. There was something missing. The simulations were way off. Did they make some mistake?

“What doesn’t look right, Felix?” Oswald, their mentor, rolled some parchments together into a bat and waved it threateningly at his student. “You can examine those materials later. Pay attention now.”

“I’m paying attention.” Felix sat up straight and put on his most serious face.

“As I was saying, the peak of the upsurge will occur in a few days. The sealcrafter division in charge of simulating the blossom stage of the upsurge have guaranteed its schedule—it will be a day after the coming of age ceremony of our beloved princess.”

“And that’s why they pushed her schedule up although she should have her ceremony next year.”

“Thank you for that insight, Felix. Nevermind that I wasn’t asking for it,” Oswald said, tapping the roll of parchments on Felix’s head. “But, you’re right. They did move her ceremony. That’s why we have this month-long festival. The upsurge, plus the festival of the First Emperor, plus the princess’ ceremony.”

“I love festivals!” Felixia said, raising her hand. “Lots of interesting people visit this city.”

“I’m not asking any questions, but since you raised your hand then might as well. Basics first. What is the upsurge?”

Felixia stood up and said, “Mana deep within the earth follow patterns as they flow throughout our world. Sometimes, they burst forth from the crust and create these mana nodes. Due to the shifting currents in the heart of our world, mana coming from the nodes ebb and flow just like the tides; the upsurge being one of the products of the flow.” She adjusted her glasses and sat down.

“That was weirdly coherent, coming from you Felixia,” Oswald said. “Good job in explaining it concisely.”

She gave her brother a thumbs-up.

“As Felixia said, the upsurge will be like the rising tide. The upsurge of our mana node comes in five hundred year intervals…give or take a few years. Unfortunately, we are yet to discover the reason for these cycles.”

Harvey shot his hand up. “If I may, sir. There is a theory that the upsurge of this particular node is signaled by a total solar eclipse over this city.”

“Yes, yes…there is such a theory. Not verified, but still, tell us about where that theory came from.”

Harvey eagerly jumped to his feet. With a flourish, he began, “More than five hundred years ago, five hundred and eight years to be exact, the great First Emperor came into these lands to subjugate the dragons living on the crystal mountain on top of the mana node. Even the most powerful armies, of that time, cannot accomplish fighting against a thousand strong dragon army strengthened by hundreds of years bathing in the energies of the mana node.

“The chroniclers have pieced together meager historical accounts of that event and formulated the theory that the First Emperor most likely tapped into the power of the upsurge…captured its immense energy in one way or another, most likely with the blessings of Paximillion, and used that energy to wrest control of the mana node from the dragons. During that time, a total solar eclipse occurred over Krysperium, a fact recorded throughout Forkspear.” He bowed after giving his speech.

Felixia and Felix clapped their hands. Oswald hit them both with the rolled-up parchment.

“Ow, what’s wrong with clapping,” Felix said. He rubbed his head and frowned. “But we’re not getting an eclipse any time soon? So…”

“That is true. According to the Stellarium, the next total solar eclipse over the city of Krysperium would be in one hundred and fifty-three years.”

Felixia raised her hand again. “Bu-but the eclipse on that day the First Emperor conquered the mana node was also not in schedule, right?”

“Who knows what happened on that day,” Felix said as he shrugged. “Maybe Emperor Krystfallen became so powerful after Paximillon helped him acquire the energy from the upsurge that he was able to shift the heavenly bodies?”

“Switching the cause and effect?” Harvey said. He twirled his golden locks, bowing in deep thought.

“It’s possible that what really happened was that the Emperor caused the eclipse rather than the alignment of the sun and the moon signaled the upsurge.”

“That’s enough speculation.” Oswald tapped on several data orbs behind him. All of them gave a unified projection of a map of Krysperia, complete with its mountains and rivers. Another tap and the map centered on Krysperium. “Refer to the materials I have given you earlier to follow the discussion.”

Felix flicked his fingers at the projection of his own data orb to go back several panels. A simulation of the blossom stage of the upsurge appeared—the peak of the phase where several new mana streams shoot off into different directions from the node; it looked like a flower opening up—hence, the term “blossom stage.”

“The sealcrafter Delphine division has estimated seven major mana streams—pay close attention, because your generation will watch over these new currents.”

“Yes, sir,” Harvey said. He stood up, his back straight, left arm locked by his side while his right raised a salute.

Felix and Felixia looked at each other before mimicking Harvey. Felixia couldn’t control her giggling as she saluted and ended up snorting.

Oswald closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, slowly shaking his head. “I’m very thankful that you will not be the ones to create the gate seals for these streams. I’m sure that the Malvar sealcrafter division will make a very good job that you won’t mess anything up when your time comes to be in charge, even if you tried.” He traced one of the streams on the projection with his finger and said, “Moving on, let’s examine this stream. The biggest one, running roughly eastward, will pass through two cities and two townships. The government will most likely install permanent teleportation gates to connect these cities to the capital. That will be a huge project but, with the support of the mana stream, it will probably be completed within a year, or two. Depends on how fast they can tap the mana stream.”

“Why aren’t they starting to build stuff now?” Felixia asked. “When Delphine division says that a mana stream will pass under that city, it’s not like they’re wrong…they don’t get stuff like that wrong.”

Oswald paused then shrugged. “The higher-ups just want to make sure where the mana streams will pass before dumping a fortune on building permanent teleportation gates.”

Seven streams. Felix tapped his panel to zoom out. Seven blue lines branched out from the capital and wriggled along the map of Krysperia. Delphine divisions’ simulation included minute details besides the main streams. Thin lines branched out from the main streams, some lines merged with pre-existing streams while others changed the present mana network.

The empire would gain tremendous economic benefits because of the upsurge. Felix followed the path of the other streams. “Three more cities, so, five in total. Not to mention the towns,” said Felix. There would be a major expansion of the teleportation network for next year, for sure. It would be fun to take Felixia to all those cities. They don’t have the time to travel around the empire because they focus on their studies. With the teleportation gates, they could just pop in and out of several places in a single day.

“These new streams would also affect the growth of plants as they take nutrition from the earth. Animals will be affected indirectly; there will certainly be changes in migration patterns of some species,” Oswald said. He pointed to the southeastern portion of the map. “Look at this! A stream will pass through the agricultural sector of the empire. The farmers will be very happy.”

“The fruits will grow bigger!” Felixia said, shaping a large circle with her hands. “That would be fun. I’ll measure some fruits now to compare them with next year’s batch.”

Oswald scratched his head and said, “If you want that as your new hobby then enjoy. Moving on, give me some more benefits of having a mana stream under your city.”

“Sir,” Harvey said, waving his hand. He immediately stood up before Oswald could call him. “Hospitals would also benefit from the mana stream if they are able to tap into it. Mage academies, as well. And, um, defences of the city, perhaps,” he said, ticking his fingers. “Of course, the energy that they would gain from the mana stream would simply be a drop compared to the energy provided to us by the node…but it’s still…something,” he finished awkwardly.

Chuckling at his student, Oswald gestured at the orbs behind him. A new display came up; it looked like a cross section of the earth. “See this? It is hard work drilling down the earth and setting up a magical seal superstructure to direct pure mana from the stream and contain it. I’m sure the government would do it for the teleport gates—a small one, perhaps for the hospitals, as well. I’m not sure on that one. Considering costs alone…”

“How about something like, like… the citysigil?” Felixia said. “It distributes the energy it receives from the mana node. How about something like that? Rather than making independent connections for each structure they need to power?”

“We don’t have any sealcrafters around right now that’s about the same level of the First Emperor or Emperor Malvar,” Felix said hastily before her sister could say something that she wasn’t supposed to know. He leaned back in his chair and flicked the panels. “If we have, doing something like that would be easy. But we don’t. I agree on the teleportation gates; I’m sure they’ll install those. It would be economically advantageous to install those in major cities where the streams will pass. Other institutions would be second priority. ”

Harvey frowned as he sat down. “Yes, you’re right…even Emperor Malvar had to hire dozens of powerful sealcrafters from all over the continent to finish his project. The design was his, but his project required the assistance of other high-level sealcrafters. Replicating that for other cities would be too much.”

“And it will be in a much smaller scale if they tried to replicate it. Not cost efficient.”

“Enough about that. You kids are forgetting the main benefit of having pure mana running below the place where you live. It makes you healthier! We shouldn’t take it for granted because we are living in Krysperium. Most people tend to forget about that.” Oswald changed the display; five concentric seals appeared, rotating. It disassembled into its component seals; the parts arranged themselves from the simple to the most complex. “Here we have a basic mana gate seal. It’s in your materials. Look for it.”

“That’s basic?” Felixia asked incredulously.

“We’re going to make that?”

“Calm down, you kids. You’re not going to make them yet. But you need to learn about them. Felix, why is it important to learn about gate seals?”

“Gate seals are one of the components for making power superstructures. Direct and control the flow of pure mana and such. Something like plumbing, if we compare the flow of mana to water.”

“Correct. You’ll learn about the basics then we will slowly progress to more complicated types. Some of your more advanced courses on gate seals will be taught by someone from Malvar division—”

“The sealcrafters from the palace?”

“They’re all serious and always frowning. They always look like this,” Felixia said, putting on an angry face. She formed an arrow pointing downwards on her forehead using her fingers. “Angry eyebrows,” she said, giggling.

Oswald placed his hands on his hips. “They will be the ones to make the gate seals around the capital so you’re learning from them. Gate seals are sort of pipes, like Felix said, however, the ones that will be made around the city will be more akin to dam gates, or valves. Why do we need these things around the capital? I thought the new mana streams will be flowing away from the city. Harvey?”

“Yes, sir. Um…to protect the citysigil?” he answered, slowly standing up.

“You’re guessing?”

“To protect the citysigil, sir.”

Oswald motioned for Harvey to sit down. “I’ll accept your answer. I don’t expect you to know.” The point on the map that represented their city enlarged and filled the whole projection. The seven streams did not merely sprout off neatly from the mana node, but they spiraled around the city before shooting out in various directions. “When our great Emperors made their parts of the citysigil, they had to take into account the bursting power of the mana node. They also had to take into account the fact that during an upsurge, the mana node will permanently increase its output via the new streams.

“Their designs can weather the energies lashed out by the node, but they won’t probably last for more upsurges to come. The citysigil will deteriorate as years pass—that is a fact we have to deal with. After this upsurge, the burden on the citysigil will increase, and after the next upsurge, it will increase again…you kids understand what I’m driving at.”

Felix nodded as he crumpled a piece of paper. The legendary sealcrafter Emperors would certainly take into account the continuous strain their creations would undergo for centuries to come, but nothing was meant to last forever.

“But upsurges come every five hundred years? I don’t understand…we are worried that the citysigil will fail?”

“Yea,” Felix said, nodding at his sister. He placed the paper he crumpled in front of him. “I always assumed the citysigil would last for a millennium or two. I mean we could always do maintenance on them, right?” he asked with a leveled voice.

“It is beyond our capabilities to tinker around the work of the First Emperor and Emperor Malvar. That is why we need these gate seals to regulate the feedback of the new mana streams to protect the gift of our ancient leaders. Furthermore, we can’t expect that a genius sealcrafter will be born, every hundred years or so, who can fix any potential damage to the citysigil.”

Harvey fervently nodded. “It is our most noble duty to take care of the citysigil. We shouldn’t let one rune fall out of place.”

“See, Harvey gets it.” Oswald turned off the data orbs behind him and removed his personal data orb from the array. “It’s more of protecting the part of the citysigil made by Emperor Krystfallen since it’s the one taking the brunt of the mana node. The structures made by Emperor Malvar are merely hitching on the energy extracted by the First Emperor’s seal.”

“But—ow!”

“Felix, don’t throw things at your sister!”

“I’m sorry. I’m just kind of bored,” Felix said, lowering his head.

“And Felixia,” Oswald said, “don’t pick up that piece of crumpled paper. I know you’re going to throw it at Felix.”

Felixia pouted, let go of the balled-up paper, and sat back on her chair.

“I swear, you kids are making me old.”

“How old are you, Mentor Oswald?”

“Never you mind,” he snapped. “I have an important matter to attend to so class ends early today.” He stuffed his personal data orb inside his robes and stomped towards the door. He stopped before exiting and said, “Don’t forget to pray and express your gratitude to the God Paximillon for the upsurge. It is a blessing for our empire. And study about gate seals!”

As the door slammed shut Felix turned to Felixia. “I know what you were about to ask him. Be careful of stuff you say, alright?”

“But you said that Emperor Malvar’s seal is tapping directly into the mana node. You also said that you think that Emperor Krystfallen’s creation, it's design or something is missing. . . or something. That’s not what Mentor Oswald said.”

“That’s just my speculation, and we’re not supposed to be talking about stuff like that because we supposedly haven’t seen the design of the citysigil,” Felix said.

“Supposedly.” Harvey sighed as he turned off the data orb on his desk. He stood up and arranged the parchments on the shelves of the room.

“Hmph. You told me you’re sure that the design we have is just half of the citysigil.”

“Yea, but you’re not supposed to go around telling people that.”

Felixia stuck out her tongue and threw crumpled parchments at Felix.

Swatting away the flying balls of paper, Felix said, “Mentor Oswald said that they can’t fix the part of the citysigil made by Emperor Krystfallen. I suspect that the past two Emperors made two separate citysigils.”

“And the one that’s missing from the design is the one made by the First Emperor?”

“That’s what I’m thinking, Harvey. There’s a large chunk missing in the design. Like there should be something there that powers the old part of the city,” Felix said. “Old as in Krysperium before the extensive expansions made.”

“Eehh. Maybe it’s some big secret! Even those old people in Delphine Hall don’t have a record of it,” Felixia said. “This is kind of exciting.”

After picking up the last piece of paper that Felixia threw, Harvey went to the mirror at the back of the room. “We need to ask Jel help in solving that puzzle. Anyway, do we really need to solve this?”

“Of course, we should! It’s obvious that there’s some national security level thing going on in here—do you need to arrange your hair all the time?”

Harvey ignored his question and continued slightly ruffling his hair. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they hid parts of the citysigil design in other places.”

“I don’t think so, Harvey. They would need to have the citysigil model inside Delphine Hall because that pool thingy inside there is the only device that could simulate the energy flow of the mana node.”

“I wonder what swimming in that pool feels like,” Felixia said in a singsong voice.

“They need the pool of Delphine for the simulation of the mana node…I don’t understand. Why have only part of the citysigil there? Where’s the rest?” Felix carried his data orb towards the panel of orbs that their mentor was using earlier. He placed his own orb and turned the panel on. “And another thing.”

“What are you doing?”

“Yey! Felix is going to teach us!”

“No, I’m not. Look at this.” Felix swung his arms, making the projection move to the center of the room, enlarging it.

“Hey, hey. That’s the design we stole—”

“Copied, Felixia. We copied it.”

“Fine. That’s the design we copied from Delphine Hall,” Felixia said. “I thought we’re supposed to keep that a secret. Now you’re showing it here?”

“Just look at this. Remember what Oswald said? The citysigil was made to be able to withstand the power of the mana node while drawing energy from it. That means we can estimate the power of the mana node based on the design of the citysigil.”

“I understand what you mean, but what are you getting at?” Harvey said.

“If you just want the measures for the power of the mana node then why don’t we go back to Delphine Hall and check that pool?” Felixia asked.

“No!” Harvey and Felix said in unison.

“I’m just suggesting stuff. Hmph.”

Felix changed the projection to different graphs and numbers. “Here’s an estimate of the power of the mana node based on the strength of the three energy regulating seals of the superstructure. Of course, I had to take into account the fact that it is made with some allowance for future upsurges.”

“Oh! I see something!” Felixia said excitedly, bobbing up and down on her seat. She raised her hand and said, “Pick me! Pick me!”

“Felixia this is not a class.”

“Whatever. Just guessing here. Is the estimate of Delphine division wrong or something?”

Felix jerked back, surprised how fast his sister was able to comprehend what he was trying to explain. “I think it’s way below what should be the amount of mana streams for the upsurge.” He changed the display to the seven mana streams earlier shown by Mentor Oswald. “Let’s take the projections for the upsurge plus the data of how big should upsurges get based from the mana node they are springing from… and there. That should be the approximate power of the current mana node.”

“Aaah, my head is spinning,” Felixia exclaimed dramatically. “You said this isn’t class!”

Harold sat back on his seat, examining data from his own orb. “You’re right. It’s undervalued about a quarter to half of its supposed strength. Well, based on the citysigil design we have…”

“I know what you’re thinking. Emperor Malvar made his citysigil to last for awhile so we can’t really judge how powerful the mana node is just based from that. But we could estimate! And the projected power of the upsurge is just way too low.”

“This is official right.”

“I assume it’s official data. They will probably announce that on the day of the coming of age ceremony of the princess.”

Felix and Harvey looked down in deep thought. Felixia frowned at them. They didn’t mind her as she waved her arms at them. “Hey! Enough of that stuff! It’s boring!”

Harvey sat back and crossed his legs. “To sum it have. We have two questions. Where’s the rest of the citysigil design. And why is Delphine division deliberately underestimating the power of the upsurge.”

“I dunno,” Felixia said. “Let’s go out. Let’s bother Aileen or something. Enough boring calculations and all that. We’ll have enough of that when we’re adults.”

“The answer to this is probably something highly confidential, national security level, that sort of stuff. Who knows, we might stumble onto some conspiracy or something.”

Harvey said, “I must repeat my question. Do we really need to find out about these things?”

“Yes.”

“Well then. What’s our next course of action?”

Felix shrugged.

“Let’s bother Aileen!” Felixia said. “We’ll figure out all of that stuff later.” She dragged Felix and Harvey out.

Bhorg dug his nails into the soft skin of the pahho fruit and peeled it. With only one hand, peeling it was a chore.

A merchant outside the arena sold a sack of the native Roghinian fruit. He bought every piece of pahho the merchant had. It was a rare sight to see produce from the faraway land of Roghinia being sold in Krysperia. Back in Roghinia, he consumed pahho in large quantities.

Roghinia was a long way away.

“Annoying inspections. Why does there seem to be more guards around? Did something happen?” Ethani entered the room, with a scowl on her face. She stopped and pointed at the sack beside Bhorg. “And why do you have a pile of pahho.”

“Have one.”

Ethani caught the fruit Bhorg tossed to her. “I used to eat lots of these after training. Great food for stress.”

Bhorg bit into the soft flesh of the pahho; its juice ran down his chin. “Did you have trouble with the guards?”

“Not really. They were surprised when they saw that I’m Roghinian. They kept badgering me about my tattoos and why that BasketSlayer guy does not have any visible tattoos.”

“What did you say to them?”

“I didn’t answer them. Fans of that guy…weird people. I doubt they’ll believe me if I tell them that he’s not even a real Roghinian.”

Bhorg spat out the black seeds of the pahho and then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. A brown stain streaked across his clothes. He grimaced at the stain then turned to Ethani. “Do you think they’ll believe you if you say that he’s actually a lizardman?”

“I still can’t believe that guy is a Saurianziir. Did their tiki shaman cast a spell on him?” Ethani started peeling her fruit. “Make him change his form to look like a human?”

“The Saurianziirs are not known for magic casting.”

“Hmmm, their shaman species probably cast a strong spell on him. They’re our neighbours yet we don’t know much about their magic. Secretive. Very secretive, those lizards”

“Most of them still hold a grudge against mankind. We harvested their kind for beaststones.”

Ethani spat the pahho seeds on her palm. “That was a long time ago! Eight hundred? Nine hundred years ago? Roghinia wasn’t even a country back then! Most people have already forgotten about that.” She flicked the pahho seeds towards the garbage can, accurately shooting them one by one.

“They haven’t forgotten about it.”

“Well, most humans have forgotten about that piece of history. Or maybe chose to forget about it.” She motioned Bhorg for another fruit. “I just thought of something,” she said as she walked towards the other side of the room. “Why doesn’t this disguised Saurianziir know about our tattoos? We’re literally just on the other side of the mountain. If their Tiki was the one who cast the spell then at least they should know how a Roghinian warrior looks like."

"I suspect that his disguise was supposed to be just a traveling Roghinian. A good cover for someone coming from our side of the continent."

"So why did this one refer to himself as a warrior from our country?"

Bhorg said, "It's likely that this Saurianziir is newly spawned from their spawning pools, and not from their eggs. Along the way, he probably fought with someone and had to make an excuse that he was a warrior to explain his strength not knowing how we actually look like."

“A possible new type? And why is he here? It’s a bit suspicious.”

“We are also conducting suspicious activities,” Bhorg reminded her.

Ethani sniffed at Bhorg’s reply. “Well, whatever those lizardmen are planning, I hope they don’t affect our kingdom. The situation’s already bad without outside interference.”

“I’ll add that to the things I’ll ask him. I doubt he'll tell me about his mission here in Krysperia.”

She looked at the opaque wall forming one side of the room for a few seconds before turning her head to Bhorg lounging on a chair eating another pahho. “You’re talking to him? Despite what Lady Lantana said to wait for the end of the tournament?”

Bhorg let out a short laugh. “You know that Lady Lantana does not really intend to ask that person for help. And I can understand her position.”

“Yet, you will still go talk to him?”

“Yes. Although I am a warrior, I do not live for the sake of war. Especially a war against fellow Roghinians.”

A smile flashed on Ethani’s face. She turned back to the black glass.

Bhorg said, “I know that you would rather this situation resolve itself before everything spirals down to civil war.”

Ethani slowly nodded.

“I hope that the best interest of the nation of Roghinia would be in line with the path our clan will take.”

“I hope we return soon,” she said, peeling her fruit. She tapped the black wall in front of her. The wall became transparent, giving a view of the tournament outside. “What’s the use of having a premium private box if you’re not going to watch the fight?”

Changing the topic? Bhorg raised a brow but did not comment. Instead, he answered Ethani, “I don’t need to watch the fight. He will win anyway.” Bhorg picked up another pahho. “I’m waiting for him to finish the fight.”

“Are you sure? It looks like he’s having a hard time with this one.”

Bhorg stood up and walked over to Ethani’s side. Crowds filled up the arena, as in previous fights. This time, however, only one stage occupied the expansive ring. The four stages for the beast-taming challenges along with the four stages used for the tournament were removed, leaving one very large stage in the middle.

Instead of different types of terrain, as in the previous fights, shiny mottled grey stone slabs formed the stage.

“Why did they change the stage? I think their previous stage was a good idea,” Ethani said. “Different kinds of obstacles plus the different kinds of elemental essences available. What’s this supposed to be?”

“I believe it’s a special stone that can channel different types of elemental essences and disperse it evenly over a large area. I have heard of this stone before. It is exclusively found in Van Garrin. If I am correct, this stone can create an environment where concentrations of elemental essences can be pushed to several times the level that naturally occurs.”

Ethani whistled. “It must have been expensive to make this stage. Imagine making a training room out of that stone.”

The Saurianziir calling himself BasketSlayer closely hugged something inside his robes. He stood in the middle of the stage, staring up at his opponent floating above him.

“He’s still carrying around that basket even in this fight? What is wrong with him?” Ethani said, with a laugh.

“I doubt that’s a magical item as the rumors say. Perhaps it is something that has sentimental value to him.”

“Whatever that thing is, he should have left it outside the stage. His opponent has some nasty firepower this time. ”

“A wind user wielding a shardgun? A rare sight.”

The BasketSlayer’s opponent manipulated the wind to keep himself afloat. His right hand held the grip of a shardgun. Bhorg had seen a few of these rare weapons but he had never seen this particular design before. It had a long barrel, more than a meter long, with magical runes carved along its length, ending with a dragon’s head design. A seamlessly white, circular shield was strapped to his left arm. He did not hold it in front of him, as one would for a shield, but he held it towards his back.

“Are those wind spirits?” Ethani said, referring to wispy floating eyeballs with feathered wings. Several of them scattered over the stage, hugging the shield ceiling. “I haven’t seen that kind of spirit.”

“It’s a scouting type spirit. Rarely used since people would usually opt for the assistance of a Scryer. It is also not very useful for teams without a Scryer because they can only communicate what they see to the person who summoned them.”

“The Saurianziir doesn’t look too happy.”

Hopping in place, the BasketSlayer glared at the shardgun wielder. Perfectly round holes, about the size of a grown man’s head, pockmarked the stage. His opponent swung the barrel of his weapon and trained it on him. The BasketSlayer smiled and said something at his adversary. He suddenly darted across the stage, heading towards the shields, throwing pebbles as he ran. The pebbles hit the flying eyeballs, dispersing them, but they immediately rematerialized themselves and continued observing him.

Balls of dense energy noiselessly pumped out of the mouth of the wind user’s weapon. The BasketSlayer weaved to evade them. He crouched down, letting two balls pass over his head, and jumped for the shields. Increasing his speed, he ran up the inner side of the shield dome, zigzagging to avoid more energy balls coming his way.

“That doesn’t look like how a shardgun fires,” Bhorg said.

“Maybe it’s a new type?” Ethani replied. “Is it just me or are those projectiles accelerating?”

As the BasketSlayer gradually increased his speed, the energy balls also sped up, just enough to hit the place where his feet was a moment earlier. It was obvious to Bhorg that the wind user controlled the match. He purposely kept on missing his target, but just barely, to show that he could hit him if he wanted to. The balls collided with the shield, crackling and straining against it, rotating and pushing out for a few seconds before dissipating.

“Small cracks on the shield. What power those small things have,” Bhorg said, his eyes glowing blue, the tattoos on his face glowed a subtle red as he used them to enhance his eyesight.

The gigantic shield dome rippled a brighter blue as it strengthened itself.

“What’s he doing? Sucking in air?”

The chest of the BasketSlayer expanded to inhuman proportions. He kicked off the shields and launched himself at his opponent; the latter had his weapon directly pointed at him. He let out a burst of air downward, evading a couple of energy balls, exhaling another burst of air upwards to right himself, letting a couple more projectiles pass harmlessly over him. These evasive manuevers in mid-air drastically slowed him down. His target zipped out of his reach and flew towards another side of the shield.

Bhorg crossed his arms and inhaled deeply. He did not know what to make of the situation. The way the BasketSlayer dodged the attacks was almost comical.

Ethani laughed as she chewed the pahho fruit Bhorg gave her. “That’s a weird way to dodge in mid-air.”

Weird? Yes. Hilarious even. But it was also ingenious. Bhorg allowed himself a laugh. “But it works. And that’s the important part.”

“I don’t understand. Why is he not using his full speed?”

“His opponent is also not using the maximum potential of his weapon. He's trying to unnerve his opponent and provoke him into using his full power ,” Bhorg said. “Look, he’s attempting another pass.”

With a sudden burst of speed, the BasketSlayer sprinted like a blur across the shield, almost running upside down, circling around to this opponent’s back, and launched himself; the shield slightly quaked as he kicked off. A blanket of energy balls met him. Seeing no way of dodging, he curled around his basket. The attacks connected, smashing him back at the shields.

Ethani gasped. “He was actually hit. That looked painful.”

The next wave of attacks came, but the BasketSlayer had already pushed off the shield and landed on the ground. His opponent fired half a dozen energy balls to drive away the BasketSlayer, putting a distance between them.

“Still think he can win this?”

“I acknowledge the match is not going favorably for him,” Bhorg said. “His only chance is to exhaust the power of the shardgun. I don’t know how powerful the shard being used is, but it is certainly running low on energy.”

Ethani said, “Yeah, you’re right. There are lots of holes all over the stage. They were probably fighting for some time before we started watching.”

“The powerful Saurianziir will simply take on the punishments of the attacks. Although his opponent dictates the flow of the match, once the energy of the shardgun runs out…”

“Then it’s over. Want to bet how long—great Progenitor of Mankind!”

Bhorg took an involuntary step back. What madness was this? How was this possible?

“I-i-it’s not a shield!” Ethani exclaimed.

Particles of light swirled around the white circular object carried by the shardgun wielder that they had mistaken for a shield. Imbuing his eyes with magic, Bhorg observed mana lines forming and flowing into the peculiar magical item.

Ethani said, “Its pumping mana into the shardgun.” She threw her hands up and looked at Bhorg, her mouth open in disbelief.

“I am mistaken. It is not a shardgun but a new kind of weapon, something that we have never seen before. That man can keep on shooting energy balls without any care in the world.”

“Still think your lizard friend can win?” Ethani smirked at Bhorg.

His brows furrowed but he did not answer.

They watched the BasketSlayer make a couple more attempts at attacking his flying opponent but the hail of energy balls pushed him back. He crashed into the shield again. His second attempt was even more unsuccessful as a cluster of energy balls pounded him into the ground, excavating a deep crater.

Nervous chatter punctuated the silence of the spectators. Obviously, they supported the BasketSlayer. A no-name travelling warrior with a funny name, fighting in a grand tournament with a basket, and actually winning his fights convincingly—it wasn’t hard to see why the people rooted for him.

But they did not need to worry about him.

Bhorg experienced first-hand the formidable defense of the body of this Saurianziir. He couldn’t forget the scaly clawed hand that crashed his own hand without little effort even though he partially transformed it with his Bloodline.

“When are you going to have that fixed?” Ethani asked. She noticed that he was looking at the stump that used to be his hand. “We have enough money to buy you a new hand. Or you could attach a weapon or some other magical item if you want.”

“He told me to tell him what he can do to make up for this.”

“That’s not his fault, though.”

“It’s not. I suppose he only said that out of being friendly and polite.”

Ethani glanced at his arm. “Friendly and polite, huh. Well, I guess someone will be more obliged to talk with you if you remind them that they’re the ones who cut off your arm.”

A loud crash made them look at the stage. The wind-user hovered over a hole on the ground while firing his weapon. A deluge of energy balls poured into the hole and steadily shook the ground as if there was a giant rapidly beating a drum. A twister of light particles continuously entered the white circular item that collected mana. It extracted mana from the surroundings, gradually accelerating its pace, taking advantage of unique environment provided by the special stone forming the stage.

“There’s a crest near the grip of the weapon,” Bhorg said.

Ethani leaned forward and squinted her eyes. “It’s the crest of the Gaomant Manaforger House. He’s a sponsored fighter!”

“That would explain this new weapon. It’s probably a prototype and they’re debuting it this tournament.”

“Oh look. There’s the BasketSlayer.” Ethani pointed to the other side of the stage.

The Saurianziir burst out of the ground. He appeared to have burrowed underground to avoid the barrage of energy balls. The crowds cheered at his reappearance. He took out his basket from under his robes and waved it at the people cheering.

Ethani said, “What’s that inside his basket? A cup? A basket and a cup into battle. What’s this supposed to be?”

The two fighters talked with each other. Both of them were smiling.

“The energy balls could barely hurt the BasketSlayer. The BasketSlayer, in turn, cannot get near that person of the Gaomant family because of the power of the energy balls and the scouting spirits that cover any blind spot.”

“He probably summoned those spirits to watch out if the BasketSlayer has any ranged attack…besides those pebbles.”

“It’s a stalemate,” Bhorg said. "It is hard to win with an indestructible shield if the shield is all that you have."

The fighter backed by the Gaomant flew higher and higher, almost touching the highest point of the shield. He placed the white item that collects mana in front of him. It started its job, this time, it tried to squeeze out every drop of mana it can from all over the stage. The mana clumped together, forming the visible light particles that flew into the collecting device.

Bhorg realized that he has stopped inhaling. The sight of the mana being collected was magnificent; a work of art. A whirlpool of lights danced around the stage, spiraling upward, converging at the top where the contraption of the Gaomant siphoned them to power the gun.

The BasketSlayer dug a hole between his feet. Satisfied with his work, he nodded and removed his robes. Beneath it, he wore a black vest and black pants with gold trimmings to match the ones on his robes. Using his robes, he wrapped his basket and cup and buried it down the hole he dug.

“He removed his robes? Why would he do that? That’s a top-class defense item!”

Bhorg exhaled in exasperation. “I have no idea. Seems he merely wants to protect the basket. His clothes appear to be made from the same material as his robes. It’s possible those are defense items as well.”

Tongues of lightning whipped out from the mouth of the golden dragon head at the end of the Gaomant's gun. The slivers of light around the mana collecting device disappeared as the weapon filled its capacity.

An eerie calm swept over the stage.

“One shot. He’s going to use all of that mana for one attack and hope that it’s enough to penetrate the defenses of the BasketSlayer. And it will be.”

“Do you still want to bet?” Bhorg asked Ethani. “The Saurianziir will win.”

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Does that look like a man who thinks he will lose?"

The BasketSlayer looked up at the heavens and opened his arms, welcoming the impending attack.

"I can't even begin to guess what's his thinking," said Ethani.

A ferocious howl echoed as the gun fired all the energies it stored. A raging waterfall of pure mana crashed down on the BasketSlayer.

"Wha-wha-wha-"

"Didn't I tell you he will win?"

A bloated man stood beneath the torrent of pure mana fired from above, his mouth opened so wide that he most likely broke his jaws; his chest expanded and stomach inflated at an alarming rate. The BasketSlayer vacuumed the attack thrown at him. He continuously sucked in pure mana. Bhorg was now sure that the clothes he wore were magical since it stretched over his humongous body without tearing.

"This match is insane! First there was that weapon that can gather mana, and now this person that can suck in mana!"

"I honestly don't know what is happening here," Bhorg said.

"His seals are surfacing!"

Mysterious bloodred seals covered the ballooning body of the BasketSlayer. They glowed like heated charcoals and spun quickly; Bhorg could barely make out their design. None of the symbols were familiar to him yet some of them evoked feelings of disgust from deep within him.

"It's so obvious that he's not a human!"

"I'm not even sure if a lizardman can do that."

The flood of pure mana abated, leaving behind a man whose body expanded to the size of a small house. There was a slight twinkle in his eyes before he opened his mouth.

He released all the pure mana that he swallowed.

A blinding light filled the entire stage.

Ethani raised her hands to cover her eyes.

Bhorg tapped on the glass and it became opaque once again. "Such a waste that we did not formally agree on a bet."