Chapter 15 The Ceremony

As soon as she stepped into the hall, the flood of like dressed Chrotile threw her off. Before she got separated, her eyes locked onto one of the many tall Chrotile finding it to be Thauzo. At a near trot, she caught up and stayed glued to his back as they made their way down the hall.

A couple minutes later, the hall opened up into a lobby like room where each group gathered in a line organized by their number. She frowned as a quick count of the groups put her group near the back at number thirty-six out of forty.

What was the numbering based on? Strength? Or did Urus give numbers out at random? More likely, it was based on the order of signing up. She signed up yesterday, after all.

Despite her thoughts, Elysia’s eyes gravitated toward the front of the line, which was fortunately visible as the line curved around the room to fit. Doubts began to creep in when her gaze landed on group number one. Two members of the group of four were massive, easily towering over Thauzo almost on par with Thrask. She assumed they were Crimson Chrotile as well with their red scaled uniform, but what drew her gaze wasn’t them but the much shorter prismatic colored Chrotile behind them, likely their back line.

At the sight, she flashed back to the mention of where the extra scales for her armor came from. Noticing what drew her attention, Thauzo spoke with a hint of resentment. “So it’s true, my clutch cousins really would go so far to win. What did they offer them to join? Prismatic Chrotile never risk their young on dungeon islands.”

Elysia’s eyes remained locked on to the shifting colors of the two Chrotile. “What’s so special about them? Sure they look pretty, but Chrotile come in many colors.”

“Like Crimson Chrotile excel in melee, prismatic Chrotile are by far the leaders in elemental magic. Sure, other clans can learn elemental magic like Thres, but every Prismatic clan member has at least two elements if not three and, unlike how a typical elementalist learns their element, it comes naturally to them like an elemental.”

Pride and interest sparked as she narrowed her eyes at the Chrotile. “If they are so strong, why aren’t there more of them here? I only see those two.”

“Their gifts have a cost. While the elements come naturally to them, they struggle with reproducing and before their elements awaken, they are helpless. Unlike the other clans, they aren’t gifted with physical might, nor do they have thick scales. Because of this, you will rarely see a Prismatic Chrotile in public unless they are near the top of the first evolution. Which seems to be the case here, as they are at the front of the group, probably only a level or two away from evolving a second time.”

A natural limiter then. Kind of like elves in most fantasy. Do elves exist now? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Either they would be all for elf supremacy or savagely protect their forests. Though she could get lucky, maybe they would be the friendly variant. Chrotile seemed alright so there was a chance.

Despite her thoughts, her still unfamiliar elemental pride spiked. “Well, you said they are like an elemental but they aren’t an elemental. I’m an elemental and I refuse to let them beat us. Even if they out level us.”

“To make it fair, those at the first half of the first evolution get a bonus, so level doesn’t matter so much. Plus, since we are under leveled we will level faster to close the gap and gain more points. However, even if you outperform the Prismatic Chrotile, our clutch cousins are prodigies. They are on pace to break all of Thrask’s records.”

Elysia took a deep breath, trying to calm her pulsating core before it influenced her too much. Why was she so worked up about this? Something about those Prismatic Chrotile riled her up. Was it because of their strong elemental connection? She shouldn’t care so much about Meso. She didn’t live on Urus nor was she a Chrotile. Her goal was to gain some more levels in a hopefully safer environment than solo while she waited for Sereia to arrive.

Out of habit, she prodded their bond to find her twin slightly closer, but still thousands of kilometers away. If Sereia had the ability to cross the ocean, she must be strong. She needed to become stronger herself. She refused to be the weaker twin. She was the older twin, sure it was only by a couple minutes, but she must retain her older sister status.

Under her helmet a smile grew, imagining spending time with her twin after so long traveling the world on Umbra. Cold water poured over her mood as another thought formed. What about father? Was he okay? She hoped Sereia took care of him. Though it was more likely that he took care of Sereia. He always seemed to know what to do.

Thoughts of her family halted as a massive gate opened at the far end of the room in front of group number one. In an organized fashion, each group marched forward. After almost a minute, it was their turn to begin moving. As they practiced, Thauzo took the lead, with Thuax right behind him. Thres and Elysia took up the rear, marching in unison side-by-side in T formation.

Despite the limited visibility with the helmet, they remained in formation as they marched out of the lobby down a short hall with a bright light at the end. As soon as they stepped into the bright light, which turned out to be the sun, thundering growl like cheers tore through her ears, causing a wince. Like she did when she won her event at state, though under a much smaller crowd, Elysia tried her best to ignore the loud cheering and focused her eyes forward, keeping them locked on Thaux’s back as they marched around the border of a scale covered arena.

Fortunately, after one revolution, a green Chrotile led the participants to several rows of seats which they sat on in the order of their group.

A stage levitated down to the middle of the arena, then a dozen Chrotile walked on stage with dignified steps.

Elysia’s hands twitched to rip off the crappy ceremonial helmet impeding her vision, but after finding everyone else still wearing theirs, she refrained. With her hands clasped on her lap, her narrow vision focused on the stage, taking in the majestic Chrotile. Each one had flared membraned spikes running from the top of their head down to their tails. An invisible aura radiated off them, commanding respect which Elysia balked at unconsciously, though the sudden silence of the once rambunctious crowd clued her in. While trying to avoid turning her head to draw attention to herself, Elysia angled her eyes to the side, just barely picking out the bowed heads of everyone within her limited peripheral vision. She tried to emulate them, but something deep within her refused to bow.

She caught the attention of several Chrotile on the stage, causing a few scowls especially prevalent on the Prismatic Chrotile. To her relief, the moment passed within a few seconds as the aura withdrew.

The crowd remained silent as the Prismatic Chrotile near the center of the group stepped forward and surveyed the crowd before a ripple of wind radiated off the small but obviously powerful Chrotile. Foregoing the microphone like device on the stage, the Chrotile began speaking in an almost magical tone, reaching every ear in the stadium as if they were standing right next to them. “Welcome to the opening ceremony of Meso. Like every generation, Urus found us a marvelous opportunity to push the brightest of our young to new heights.”

A cheer roared through the stadium, but in the presence of those on the stage, they quieted down within seconds to allow the Prismatic Chrotile to continue. “With the Merge Urus predicted, the world and our lives changed forever. However, one thing that will never change is her desire to see us succeed. This time she found us an extra special location for our young to prove themselves. The Merge brought many new lands into being, one of which was a never before explored dungeon island just to the north of us.”

Gasps sounded throughout the crowd, revealing most citizens were unaware of the significance of Mezo. “Of course, Urus scanned the island to ensure a satisfactory level of safety for our young while providing adequate challenge. However, like every coming of age challenge, there will be danger and maybe death, but Urus has never failed to provide boons to our people. As some of you may have noticed, for the first time in three generations, my granddaughters will participate in this expedition, so I have invested interest in avoiding tragedy.”

After letting her words sink in for several seconds, she stepped back, allowing a Green Chrotile their chance to speak. Unlike the Prismatic Chrotile, they stepped up to the microphone as they surveyed the somber but hopeful crowd. “Enough seriousness! I know what most of you are really here for! It’s been fifty years since the last coming-of-age challenge! It’s time for the previous generation to show what they learned!”

As if a switch had flipped, the crowd exploded in roaring cheers, far louder than before. Smiles grew on most of the Chrotile standing on stage, even the stoic Prismatic Chrotile flashed a momentary grin as excited energy rippled through everyone.

On cue, six Chrotile walked out onto the arena floor as the stage levitated into the air. Three of the six Elysia immediately recognized as Thrazk, his sister and the super-fast Chrotile she saw at the training grounds. The other three were a mix of other colors, but with half being of the Crimson Clan, it showed who had the upper hand.

Elysia frowned as she expected more Chrotile, but no more came. If fifty years was a generation, Chrotile must have long lives, so where were the rest? Maybe they left them behind at wherever their homeland was. Thrazk mentioned something about an aunt specialized in whips that stayed back. If their civilization was as stable as it seemed to be, those living on Urus were probably a small fraction of their total population.

When the group reached the center of the arena, all decked out in armor, the Green Chrotile on the stage floating above continued. “As many of you know, most of the previous generation stayed in Chrotia, but fortunately we have three out of four of Team 8 who crushed all competition. However, to make things as fair as possible, Urus rearranged the groups for a three on three skirmish.”

He paused, allowing the crowd to go wild. “On the left side, we have the unstoppable Thrazk! He alone contributed to almost half of team eight’s points despite being the tank. Joining him are Kak of the Golden clan and a member of team 12. His team had an honorable showing of fifth-place with his primary role being that of melee damage. And finally Qratu. While his team 20 struggled against higher leveled teams, he managed to account for almost three quarters of his team’s points by scouting out multiple dungeons.

Thrazk lifted his war hammer into the air, letting out a roar, pouring gasoline on the exploding crowd. His temporary teammates had much more subdued reactions lifting their weapons, which was a long sword for Kak and a bow for Qratu. Still, the frenzied crowd didn’t care as they cheered as loud as they could while the team took their place at the far left side of the arena.

The Green Chrotile announcer surveyed the crowd with a broad smile. “Will the unstoppable Thrazk who has the record for most solo dungeon clears withstand the assault of two of his former teammates? Lightning fast, Thrixl crushed the record for most scouted dungeons during the last challenge. Will speed or strength win out? Fortunately, Thrixl has his sister Thoss, who is the only dual elementalist outside of the Prismatic clan to back him up. Like her teammates, she crushed records with the most confirmed kills of all time.”

He turned somber for a moment. “If it wasn’t for her unfortunate accident, she would have blown away Thrazk’s point record. It’s a reminder even with the Great Urus watching over us, accidents do happen.”

He flipped back to an excited tone a split-second later. “Joining the duo is Rixl! Many of you may remember him as the prodigy of the Emerald Clan! He fought admirably to carry his team to third place as their tank. If it wasn’t for the monster known as Thrazk, he would’ve been the best tank of the generation!”

Unlike Thrazk, the other team performed a wave before taking their place on the other side of the arena. Though sparks of fire and lightning flitted about around the scowling elementalist Chrotile who sent a glare at the announcer before following her team.

Elysia frowned as she looked between the teams, knowing firsthand how strong Thrazk was. Was Thrazk really that much stronger than everyone else? It seemed like Urus stacked the teams against him. But with the way he patted his war hammer, she doubted he cared about balance.