Fighting Earth-shapers sucked.

Whether it had been his original skewed-up battle with Banksi, or the one standing in front of him, it was clear that Earth-shapers had a solid advantage against his fighting style. It had barely been a minute into the battle, and already Lukas was forced to the defensive.

“You could always allow me to have some fun,” Arah growled petulantly.

The next one, I promise. Lukas thought gleefully, as he temporarily accelerated himself with lifeforce, avoiding the two large boulders that came crashing towards him from two different sides. His opponent, an Asukan that called himself Jegel, was a spiritist of Banksi’s league, from what he had known of the man. Coating his arms with lifeforce, he brought it down in a forward slash and snapped the incoming rock boulder into two neat pieces.

“This is the fifth time you’ve said it.”

I’m serious. The next round is yours.

“And this is the third time you’ve said that.”

Haven’t you heard? The third time’s the charm.

“No.”

Lukas grinned. Truth be told, he would have liked to exercise Arah’s powers and see where he stood against everyone else. The ifrit had been a dangerous opponent when he had faced him the first time. And his power had only magnified after the Level-up he had received after the Binding. Lukas had had a first-hand experience of Arah’s powers when trying to survive the Raiju, but he really wanted to see where Arah stood compared to the might of the other spiritists of this kingdom.

And the only way to do that was to raise the stakes even higher.

Let them see how strong he was without his kami.

Force them to acknowledge his prowess and attack him with their strongest force.

And then he’d make them kneel before his and Arah’s combined might.

The life force surging within him vigorously approved of the idea. Then again, it put violence and destruction on the same level as sex and thought of both of them to be equally pleasurable. The sheer amount of raw strength flooding his veins would have driven him insane back in the Crypt, but whatever Inanna had done to him, it allowed him to hold an ironclad control over those primal impulses.

He saw Jegel stamp his heavy feet down upon the floor, and pull several jagged rock spears out of the ground. The man plucked one out of them and came rushing at him, occasionally stamping his feet upon the floor, raising boulders, flat slabs, pikes and even digging a chasm beneath Lukas’s feet. Really, he needed to go find himself an Earth-type kami.

“Tired of me already?”

Nope. Just think of the combinations you could pull.

“...Two kami acting in unison.” Arah growled distastefully, “Sounds like a perversion of the natural order.”

You’re just old-fashioned. Lukas grinned, pushing his self-acceleration and Tachypsychia overdrive as he kept dodging everything that Jegel threw at him. There was no way he could win the fight if he kept on being defensive, but Lukas had other plans. All he needed was—

Get a little bit closer.

“Typical defensive tactics!” Jegel smirked, “Avoid and evade. I’d have thought Banksi’s candidate would be a little less predictable.”

“Yes, yes,” Lukas snarked back, “The last thirteen also had similar thoughts. See where that got them.”

“They were them,” Jegel replied, not once losing his calm. “I am me. I have studied your style from the past battles. You rely too much on getting close to your opponent.”

He stamped his feet and sent a tectonic burst through the floor.

“And you telegraph your movements. Anyone with an eye can see what you’re doing.”

Lukas widened his eyes as he saw a wave of energy shooting at him the moment he managed to dodge the first attack. He hastily cloaked himself in lifeforce to protect himself from the hit.

But it wasn’t enough.

The raw wave hit him like a runaway truck, flinging him away to the ground. Lukas rolled several feet, but managed to pick up himself, and reset his stance, bringing his ax out. Flexing his arm backwards, he flung the ax in Jegel’s direction.

“And that’s the third part,” Jegel drawled, raising both arms, and two thick slabs of earth with it, “That ax. Svartalfar make. Powerful and it returns to your hand after you throw it. But—”

He slammed the two slabs into the ax. The weapon did not break, but its momentum was ruined. Jegel twisted his fingers as his wristbands glowed.

“If you can’t hit me with it, it’s barely worth anything.”

The axe was enveloped in a shroud of thick rock and pulled into the ground. Jegel unclenched his arms, raising an entire legion of boulders above his head.

He smirked. “What will you do now?”

Lukas’s eyes widened as Jegel sent the boulders twirling and hurled them all at him.

“Seems like your candidate has met his match!” Lord Bergott replied, standing beside Zuken as they watched the ongoing battle below. “Jegel is a Bronze-Rank spiritist, and an Earth-Shaper to boot. Earth-Shaping has a natural advantage against users of force, and Jegel… he’s a natural at that.”

Zuken suppressed the urge to smirk. Lord Bergott— Olfric’s father— was a Water-Spiritist himself, with aquamancy running in the family, just like terramancy, or Earth-Shaping as they called it, flowed in his own. It was why he was so well suited to Avriel, just as Olfric was very compatible with Meciel. Still, for the man to praise an Earth-Shaper was….

Zuken smirked. Typical Noble behavior.

He gazed around at the private viewing gallery around him. Sometime during the battles, several of the Nobles had waltzed into this part of the stadium to talk to him and inquire about Aguilar. Zuken had to admit, the Outsider was performing even better than he had anticipated. Jegel was Aguilar’s fourteenth opponent, and Lukas had yet to use his kami.

Insouciant or not, Aguilar certainly knew how to raise the stakes.

I could even learn a lesson there. Zuken mused and considered the crowd before speaking again. None of the other nobles had objected to Lord Bergott’s judgment, not even the Shogun himself.

Perhaps, he could use this in his favor.

“That might be true, Lord Bergott,” He replied, his voice louder than necessary, “but he still has yet to use his kami.”

Lord Bergott nodded his head. “You have a point, but this is Earth-Shaping. And the rumors paint him as a Fire-Shaper. Is it not possible that he is not using his kami, simply because he knows it won’t aid him? I’ll admit he has quite a bit of power in him, but so far, I am seeing very little skill.”

Which was… true, actually. Aguilar had proved himself in power, but his skills were awfully limited. Rather, he seemed to focus on utilizing his extremely limited skill set in inventive ways to outmaneuver his opponent. While that was a technique Zuken could wholeheartedly agree with, it would not impress this crowd.

He needed an edge, a game-changer of some kind.

In fact…

A game-changer was exactly what he needed.

Nobles were an arrogant lot, but there was something that ran bone-deep within them.

They loved to play games. Especially when one’s pride was part of the wager. And if he could use it in his favor, it would make it just that big of a spectacle when Aguilar unleashes the full power of his kami in front of everyone. Why I imagine it might just hit the ears of the main Empire itself.

Something that would perfectly fit into Zuken’s plans.

“Why don’t we make this interesting?” He said out loud. “I trust you wouldn’t object to making a bit of a game of this battle?”

Oh, the room got intense then, as all the throats around him inhaled at the same time. Zuken could practically feel the air grow closer as all of his fellow spectators leaned very slightly toward him, their suddenly sharpened interest filling the room.

Zuken felt a surge of emotion run through him, one that he knew was not his own—

it was too pure, too primal, and it made his body do that thrumming thing again:

Apparently, Avriel approved of his plan.

Avriel, who had started acting out recently. As if—

Zuken dropped that line of thought. He could ponder over that later.

“But, Banksi,” said Kinosu, “We’re already playing a game. The stakes were on Aguilar being able to reach Silver Rank, and yet he’s already defensive with the first Bronze rank in the field. One cannot change the rules simply because one is losing.”

Zuken gave him a bright, disarming smile. “But one can change the stakes. What if you could get more out of it?”

Kinosu narrowed his eyes. “You’d bet on your personal reputation even more? Already several of us think that this Outsider is falling short of our expectations. I’ll admit he seemed tough in the beginning, but as Lord Bergott stated, he’s limited. Maybe worth an Iron-Rank at best.”

Zuken arched an eyebrow. An Iron-Rank for someone that defeated multiple genius-loci of a Class-3 Anomaly? What was Kinosu playing at?

Very well. He decided. Two could play this game.

He gave him a patronizing smile and then said, “Wait. Why am I talking to the tool instead of the person holding it?” Zuken turned his back on Kinosu and faced Lord Bergott. “I happen to know that you dislike the fact that I hold a freeholding right to a Private Guild. And you also detest that your own son is aiding me on that front. I’m offering you a prize, Lord Bergott. If you are willing to hear me out.”

Lord Bergott watched him.

“Throw in two more Spiritists. Bronze-Rank and above, into that field. The best that the Adventurer’s Guild is capable of. You say Jegel is giving him a tough time, then he should be decimated by the addition of the other two. Wouldn’t he?”

The man tilted his head. “And what do I get if he does that?”

Zuken’s eyes glinted. “I give up my rights as a Private Guild Master.”

“And if he… manages to win?”

Zuken smiled peacefully through his eyes. “In the off chance that he does manage to survive and perhaps… win, then I want an all-Empire permit for Iylaerion, and I want yours, and your entire alliance’s seal of approval on it.”

Lord Bergott narrowed his eyes as he stared down at him thoroughly as if trying to see through him. Finally, he let out a snort. “It seems that the rumors were correct. You have a habit of raising the stakes off the roof. Making mountains out of molehills.”

Zuken said nothing. He had always suspected Kinosu to have a little deflection towards Lord Bergott. Probably because of how much Lord Naowa tended to favor him over the diligent Secretary.

“The way it appears to me,” Lord Bergott replied, “is that I already have a prize. Your candidate is about to lose, and with it, your beloved Iylaerion’s reputation.”

“But why settle for something so ephemeral, when you can have the entire Guild removed? Right to the very stone? I’m ready to bet on its future. Unless… you think that you’ve grossly underestimated my candidate?”

That one sank home. Zuken could feel the sudden surge of ambitious lust that went racing through the man, and the seething hatred that went along with a swift glance toward the Shogun sitting at the far extreme end.

Naowa met Zuken’s eyes and nodded.

Lord Bergott’s mouth curled up in an expression that bore as much resemblance to a smile as a shark did to a dolphin. “I’ll give you this much, Banksi. You definitely know how to make a game interesting.”

He cleared his throat. “Fine. Then add two more candidates. I hereby name the first of them. My own son, Olfric, is a Water-Shaper like myself.”

“A worthy candidate,” The Shogun spoke, “perhaps you’ll allow me to name the second one?”

Zuken blinked. This… he had not expected. What was the wily old man playing at?

“Shogun…” Kinosu began, “I don’t—”

The Shogun stood up. “It’s been brought to my attention, Zuken Banksi, that one of your own employees— a certain Wind-Shaper named Tanya — has a claim to the Shimizu line in Cyffnar. Am I wrong?”

Zuken was stunned. He knew for a fact that the Shogun knew about Tanya. Hell, he had discussed the matter with him himself. And he also knew that Tanya and Aguilar were partners, maybe even lovers. There was no way Tanya would be willing to go all out against Aguilar to prove him weak. Not unless—

Then it hit him.

Wily old man indeed.

“Yes,” He put on a genuine smile. “It is true.”

“Then I propose her name as the second addition to this fight. It will grant us an opportunity to see her own skills in combat, and see if she serves as an adequate Heir to the Shimizu line.”

Zuken suppressed the urge to laugh. A setting like this would definitely have Tanya and Lukas fighting each other to the fullest. Not to mention Olfric would do his utmost to prove his superiority amidst the two people he disliked, and— if Zuken was right— a little jealous of.

Olfric Bergott and Tanya Shimizu, against Lukas Aguilar. Yes, this match couldn’t have taken a better turn even if he had a week to plan it.

Zuken smiled. “So be it, my Lord. So be it.”

He glanced down at the arena. All right, Aguilar. Show me what you’ve got.