In the eastern part of the Whispering Forest lied a colosseum. It was said that Baldo, God of the Beastmans, also known as the God of War, has built this place for anyone who wanted to challenge him. After Baldo left however, the arena was used to host an annual fighting contest between all the beast tribes. All the brawls must adhere to the rule which dictated that anyone who killed his opponent would be disqualified and exiled from his tribe. This helped keep the fight to a friendly level without anyone die for the last thirty years.

There was no political power at stake. The tournament’s only purpose was to give all the tribes a reason to reunite once a year. If they had a conflict with each other, it would be solved in the arena. The winner would of course be hailed as the Champion and would be recorded in the Hall of Fame, just like Baldo who was the first and undefeated Champion.

But now things have changed. Never has the tournament held so much importance. The clan leader of the Champion would become the king of the beastmans, something that was not common for the race.

Just a few moments after opening its gate, the stadium has already been filled with the audience. Some came to support their champion of their respective clans. Others, mostly didn’t belong to one of the four main clans, came to see their future king. Sitting high above the audience were the leaders of the four main clans who have gathered here along with their best warriors.

“It has been more than ten years since we chose our last Champion Arshe…and now here we are again.” chief San of the Kom clan spoke.

“You heard anything from him recently?” asked chief Loo of the Rin clan.

“Nah, last time I spoke to him was ten years ago before he left without any reason. He would not even tell me about his journey to the demon continent either…That damn son of mine!” San sighed.

“If he is here I don’t think we would need to organize this tournament in this first place” said chief Gon of the Wen clan.

“Haha I am not so sure about that!” the final chief, clan leader Zen of the Quin laughed.

“Oho did you find some hidden talent recently? Like a cat?” Loo grinned.

“I am surprised you have already heard of her. Can’t underestimate the intelligence force of the rat clan.”

“Hehehe, we rats may be smaller than you but none could beat us in the art of running.”

“Not so sure I would be proud about that. You can’t run forever!” said Gon.

“Now, now, let’s not begin to fight even before our champions. I just want everyone to remember that it doesn’t matter who will win or lose today. What matters is that after this we will all unite under one banner to deal with the incoming invasion. So I ask that you leave aside your personal conflicts for now until the threat is over.” Being the eldest of all clan’s leaders, chief San tried to keep the peace.

“Agreed”

…..

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming here today for this special occasion. This tournament is not like any others. For the chief of the winning clan will become the next King of the beastmans and will lead us to our victory against those bastards elves.” The announcer spoke loudly from the arena.

But let me delay no longer what we have all been waiting to see. Here come the champions! Please give them a round of applauses!”

The announcer shouted excitedly as he pointed toward the opening gate of the colosseum. Four individuals revealed themselves as the sunlight brightened their faces.

“From the left, we have tigress Sara from the Kom Clan. Don’t let her slim figure fool you! This woman would shred you to pieces. Even the hero Arshe who was her fiancé could not handle her and ran away from home, never to return again. So….AIE AIE AIE!” Sara held the announcer’s head and pressed it with her palm before releasing him. How could such thin arm hold such strength?

“You talk too much!!!” Sara fumed. It seemed she did not appreciate Arshe’s disappearance and all the baseless rumors that came with it.

“Oh spirit! I thought my head is gonna explode….Ehem let us continue! Next is candidate Ponpon from the Loo clan. Look at those bear muscles! One slap of that and I will be a goner. Funny how he comes from the rat clan!

Then we have Enti from the Wen clan: a pure blood descendant of the Lycanthropes! We don’t see much of them these days but let’s not forget that this man is a descendant of Baldo, the God of War. I think just that much shows how much potential he has.

Finally, we have a new face who has only recently joined her clan: the cat girl Viviana from the Quin clan. Raised and adopted by the humans, she is one of rare summoners who could use the power of the spirits. Not only that, she has a much better temper compared to the tigress Sara. If only I was twenty years younger….

With these promising contestants, the tournament this year is sure to be interesting. Champions know that your fights today will be recorded in history. Glory awaits you all and may the Spirits guide you!”

A woman with rabbit ears walked to the center of the arena next to the announcer. In her hands was a box containing four pieces of paper with each of the candidate’s name on it. The announcer poked his hand into it and pulled out two pieces of paper at once.

“The first match is….VIVIANA VERSUS PONPON! Please step forward!”

From the audience’s point of view, this seemed like an unfair match. The difference in size between the two contestants were simply too much. Viviana, at most, was about the same size as Ponpon’s arm. How would she fare against such a beast?

Walking up to the arena, Viviana took out her white staff from Yggdrasil. She has decided to leave her weapon with Ilfrit as she wanted to test out the Great Spirit’s power. Unfortunately, she did not have any occasion to test its power as immediately upon her return, Zen dragged her to the colosseum immediately.

In the world of Astora, when a spirit made a pact with a summoner, it would give a token of proof to its master as a testament of their pact. It could be anything, ranging from a weapon to a simple accessory. In addition, it was very rare for a summoner to have more than one spirit. The reason was simple: spirits didn’t always get along. If two spirits went into conflict with each other, their link to their summoner could be affected and in some case resulted in tragedy. Plus, possessing multiples spirits was like handling many types of weapons at once but much more difficult. The summoner must be in synergy and understood their spirit perfectly to use their power properly.

In Viviana’s case, Ilfrit and Yggdrasil didn’t seem to mind each other but just to be sure, Viviana decided to only use Yggdrasil in this tournament. While this may seem like a risky move as she has only recently acquired him, she should not have any problem. Yggdrasil was the Great Spirit of the Whispering Forest and therefore should be much more capable of handling this kind of competition without even using his full potential.

The white staff looked actually closer to a tree branch in an ‘Y’ shape with two green leaves on the head. At first glance it didn’t seem that impressive nor intimidating for a weapon. Pointing it toward an opponent three times her size was even more ridiculous.

“Let us have a fair fight!” said Viviana to her foe.

“Ponpon big! Ponpon smashes!” Without waiting for the announcer, the bear beastman charged toward Viviana. But she gracefully dodged by jumping back.

Ponpon’s fist was so powerful it created a small crater in the arena. Imagine what would happen if that hit a girl like Viviana.

“He is strong but too slow! Let’s do this! I summon thee Yggdrasil!” the catgirl raised her staff.

“……” Nothing happened.

“Yggdrasil? Where are you? Answer me!”

“What? I am right here!” a disembodied spoke. It appeared to be very near the girl but she could not see him at all.

“Where?”

“Are you blind? You are holding me!”

“....You are the staff???”

“Euh of course I am. What? You expect me to just grow my tree out of nowhere? Think of the environment! Why do you think I give this to you in the first place?”

“Isn’t that because you made a pact with me?”

“A temporary pact! Not a true pact! I only give you a part of my body so I could travel outside. I told you: I will only make a pact with the Child of Destiny and you are not that person.

But a pact is a pact, temporary or not! I will lend you my assistance!”

To the audience, the cat girl Viviana was doing something very strange. She was apparently talking to herself, or worse talking to the tree branch she was holding. The people from the first row tried their hardest to listen to her but they could only hear her voice and not noticed the voice of the Great Spirit.

“Is that girl crazy? Talking to herself like that….”

“Is this some kind of special tactic of the Quin?”

“Whatever! Just do it!” Viviana shouted.

“”

Vines grew out of the ground and caught Ponpon, immobilizing him.

“Pon?” the bear had no idea what was happening. If he saw the spirit perhaps he would understand but no spirit was to be seen.

“Haha! This is the technic taught to me by Lord Gnome himself! None could escape this….”

“PONPON! Flame ON!”

In an instant, the armor Ponpon wore set on fire, burning away the vines. Now free from the restrains, the bear beastman jumped on the air before sending a fiery kick.

“”

The ground trembled before a wide wall of thorny plants rose from it, blocking Ponpon’s kick and at the same time damaging him for touching it. If not for his thick armor, the thorns would already have shredded his flesh like paper.

“ARGHH! Hurt Ponpon!” screamed the bear beastman. He was known for being the strongest and sturdiest of his clan. Even taking on a full strike from a sledgehammer would not even hurt him. How could these tiny thorns cause him that much pain?

Not just that, he has now been surrounded by a wall of thorns in every direction. The bear was too confused to even notice that several buds on these thorns were beginning to bloom into a bright red flower, releasing a yellow spore. And with nowhere else to go, the spores filled the air in which Ponpon was trapped in.

“”

Smelling this sweet aroma, Ponpon started to feel dizzy. His instinct told him to get away from it. He tried desperately to get out by punching the wall of thorns continuously. Even though his hands were bleeding from it, he still continued. But as time went by, each strike got weaker and weaker until he finally collapsed.

“The winner is ….VIVIANA from QUIN! CONGRATULATIONS!”

A loud round of applause came from the audience, hailing her name. The fight was simply too one sided. At first they had some doubts with her weird actions but now everything was clear. If there was anyone who could be a champion, it would be her. The other candidates could not measure up to her. Or could they?

“Someone, please bring this bear out. The next battle will take place immediately! Contestants Sara and Enti, please step forward!

One the count of three! One….two…..THREE!!!

…..And it’s over! Victory goes to Enti!”

The battle was over in a single second. For those who did not pay attention or were simply to slow to notice, all they saw was the moment the announcer said ‘THREE’, Sara fell to her knees, lying motionless on the ground. But through the eyes of veterans like the clan leaders, that single second was all it took. Enti has moved in light speed and threw a punch in Sara’s stomach, knocking her unconscious before returning to his original position.

“It seems our next opponent won’t be a pushover like the last one…” Viviana muttered.

“Be careful! I could sense the echo of the ancient bloodline in him! He really is a descendant of Lord Baldo.” Yggdrasil spoke.

* * *

“The second and final challenge will be a test of strength. The candidate must pass through this forest filled with monsters.

Unfortunately, the crystal I used for observation has broken down so we won’t be able to observe your performance this time! To uphold the fairness of the exam, I have arranged soldiers surrounding this area so no one will be able to help the candidate or lend him any kind of assistance.

Now do you have any question?”

Once again Alastor felt like this whole area was a trap. The pretext of the broken down crystal would only allow him to interfere with the test without any witness.

‘Such an obvious scheme…I hope it will be at least more challenging than last time’ Alastor thought to himself.

Stepping inside the forest, Alastor could smell a faint sense of blood. It didn’t appear that the beasts or whatever was in this forest were very tamed like Svelt said. But what would one expect from the discourse of such a wimp?

The smell became more and more compelling as Alastor dived further into the woods. It was stalking him, watching his every move like a hunter shadowing his prey.

‘Aside from that, I also detect multiple mana concentrations in the area. They seem to be humans….Assassins….Should I use my full power here to end the beast quickly? But that would give away my identity or at least raise some suspicion. Oh well I just need to make sure none of the witnesses get out of here.’

Alastor surprised his pursuers by starting to run at incredible speed. Could it be that he realized that they were here and tried to run away? If that was the case, then this boy deserved to be applauded for spotting the best assassins in the country. But he wasn’t running away at all like they thought he would. The boy was running toward the other party: the beast that was released in this forest.

Like accepting the challenge from the boy, the beast decided to abandon its hiding place and jumped out to him. It was a basilisk, king of the serpents. Taking on the form of a giant cobra but with four legs, the basilisk was known for being one of the most dangerous and difficult monsters even for S-rank adventurers. Its saliva and glands on its skins were so poisonous it could melt down even stones. Their breath, so foul, wilted all the grass and trees around them. But the most menacing weapon it got was its stare. The basilisk had the ability to paralyze its enemies if they looked at its eyes. One mere glance was more than enough to terrify its foes frozen, leaving them completely vulnerable to be devoured.

Seeing the creature, Alastor recognized it instantly and made sure to avoid its stare at all time. The basilisk released a mauve mist that decomposed everything it touched. Alastor reacted by casting a wind gale that surrounded his body to push away the mist and at the same time left it behind to stop the coming pursuers. This way he would have a small amount of time to deal with the beast tranquilly.

He could go for the kill right now but he had a much better idea. It has been a while since he used it so he might as well test whether it would work on powerful beast like a basilisk. Dodging skillfully its attack while avoiding eye contact, Alastor jumped on the basilisk’s head and pressed his hand on it.

“”

The beast let out a thundering shriek before calming down. It was now under the control of Alastor.

“Come, my minion! Let us slaughter the remaining insects!”

…..

The assassins, wearing black robes and hoods, were sent by Svelt to take care of Alastor quietly and to make it look like an accident. They didn’t think much of this job. It was so common to send assassins when the throne of a kingdom was involved. In face of so much power, it could change a man. Brothers turning on each other, faction against faction, those were common in the line of their works. All they cared about was the money.

At first when they received the ‘request’, they did not understand why it would take ten men, the best of their organization, to take care of one kid. Each of them was at least a A-rank adventurer in their past. Surely one would be more than enough. But now they started to realize how wrong it was to underestimate him. His movements definitely did not belong to an eleven years old. Not even a veteran assassin could move like that. And his unusual powers….how did he kill five of them in just under one minute? And he looked like he did not even try. And most importantly, how did he tame that basilisk? That creature was known for being impossible to tame. Svelt has most likely tranquilized it and brought it here instead of controlling it. So how did he do that?

Now all that was left were the five assassins. Their leader was a S-rank in the past and they still had their trump card. As a precaution, their client has given a strange artefact and told them to use it if things went wrong. This situation seemed to be just right to use it.

“You four take care of that basilisk, I will take care of the brat!” said the leader of the assassins.

“Yes sir!”

“You sure you want to face me alone, old man?” Alastor smirked.

“Having them around won’t change anything. I know what you are capable of. Though I did underestimate you initially and that cost me five of my best men. Well, it means more share for me! I never trusted them in the first place. He he he!”

“A nice way of thinking! That’s something I can agree on….at least that would be the case if I hadn’t met Ikarus or Morrigan. Unlike you, I wanted to put my trust in others. It helps me living through this miserable life in this world. It gave me a reason to keep going.”

“Morrigan? You mean that cunning vixen of an empress? Aside from you, she was one of the few who managed to survive our assassination attempt. But I heard that she did lost something precious from that incident.” The leader of the assassins disclosed.

“!!! So you are the one who poisoned her? The one who made her….like that?” Alastor’s expression changed to a grim one. He wasn’t very happy to hear that.

“Sure did! You are also after the throne no? How about a deal? I will forget my contract with Svelt and will even help you take care of that bitch in a manner no one would suspect a thing. In return for a ….reasonable price and a few small favors, nothing much. But that would be nothing compared to what you will have when you become Emperor of Zagon. Not a bad deal isn’t it? What do you say?”

“Yes, it doesn’t seem like a bad deal. However, we have a problem….”

“And what is this problem?”

“I don’t really want to let you live for another day!”

In an instant, Alastor teleported himself to the assassin’s leader so fast he could not even react in time. With all the rages pending up inside him upon hearing this guy was responsible for Morrigan’s pain, his new mother’s pain, Alastor put all his force into his punch and threw it at the guy’s chest. And it connected. However, something was odd. Not only the assassin did not seem to have received any damage, Alastor could feel that his hand was actually broken from the punch. Realizing that he was in a bad position, Alastor immediately jumped back to keep a distance and tried to figure out what just happened.

“You truly are impressive for someone your age, surrounded with mysteries. But it doesn’t matter to me. Not as long as I am still wearing this.”

The assassin threw away his black cloak, revealing what he was wearing underneath: a metallic mail with some kind of engine and cogs attached to it. In the chest’s area was a hole through which an electrical current was running by. An easily visible insignia was imprinted on the mail: the image of a gear.

“That symbol…Now I have one more reason to kill you!”