Strength was an overwhelming thing; in Zur-Del, it was the currency of life. Everyone hungered for it. They slaved to it, knowing that they could only find real safety beneath the shade of absolute strength. And David could feel himself sliding into the grip of this idea. He was strong, he knew that. But the question was, how strong was he? Could he topple the city? Crack the tower? Drag Amareth from the comfort of its cushioned throne? He wasn’t, so there was a need for more. He had to be stronger—powerful to the point where something like this farce he was about to be a part of wouldn’t happen anymore.

Before him, Frank gleamed with unrestrained greed. David had done his part to fan it, giving more life to the man’s ambition. He’d stoke the embers until Frank burned to the possibilities of what he could become with a sword like his. David smiled. Humans were so easy to manipulate. Not that he would call himself ingenious, but this made him feel like a puppeteer pushing a doll to its demise with a whisper of a good life. Frank took off his coat, his eyes fixed on David. He made no ceremony of the affair, unlike Zeno. There was certainty in his eyes. He had changed his mask to something else, a demon. Red-faced with black horns. His followers were silent and orderly. David found a familiar mask in the crowd. The man he disgraced was staring at him, David stared back and then smiled. He couldn’t tell what they were thinking, but none of that mattered.

David stared at the rolling hills that spread down to the west, in the distance was the ghostly peak of a mountain. Zur-Del was endless. Zeno had mentioned that getting to any other city would take a few days. David wished he could see that. Something bugged him about the tower floors. They seemed disconnected as if they were fractures of distant worlds knitted together. There was nothing similar about them, except the existence of otherworlders.

“Are you ready?” Frank asked. He looked absolutely calm, moving at the same pace as before. The dagger strapped to his hip was the only weapon David could see. No armor too, just his shirt, some laces undone to expose a bit of his chest. “We don’t have all day.”

David nodded. Frank was right. He wasn’t sure what was happening to his siblings. Every second he delayed, they could be dying. Yet, he felt like he had to make one last appeal to the man’s human side.

“We don’t have to do this,” David said. It would wound the man’s pride and his standing with his men. He might even get killed. They followed strength. If they saw him as weak, one of them might slit his throat—David stopped himself. Why did he care about what happened to a thief, a bandit who must have slain many others to get to the stage he was prancing on? His eyes met Frank’s steady stare. The man nodded, seeing his new resolve.

“Good,” Frank said, pulling the cover off his tower ring to show David. “Showing you this is not important, but you might want to see it.” David sighed when he saw it. Five and a half. The sixth tower ring was still a faded quarter of a line, probably recently appeared. Not much of a threat. He waited as if daring David to do the same.

He didn’t.

Weaver, Ignis said. David could see the knot of weavings coiled about the man’s tower rings. There was no time to ask the dragon what Weavers could do, but Ignis had not sounded alarmed. David summoned the sword and saw Frank’s eyes go to it. At that moment, he didn’t have to see the man’s face to know what he was thinking.

“To submission,” Zeno said, pushing forward to stand between them. He was the designated judge, not that he would be judging anything. “No death. Not that your deaths wouldn’t benefit me, but I would like to stay out of Rankers' business and their questionings. So fight but don’t kill each other.”

Frank blurred out of vision immediately after Zeno moved away. David eased the sudden panic and let the sword disappear. His hand came up in a flash, blocking Frank’s sudden punch. The man chuckled and pushed off David, creating some distance between them. David could see the working of essence stretching up like strands of golden light up his legs and wrapping him in motes. It was so subtle, almost invisible to anyone who couldn’t sense essence like he could. So he weaves essence into his body? Enforcing himself? David couldn’t decide how he felt about that. Disappointed? He could tell the man was making some kind of elaborate manipulation, but if that was the scope of his powers then perhaps he’d worked up an interest for nothing.

Your arrogance will bring you your downfa—David’s sense screamed and he leaped back just as a smooth orb of earth fell in front of him and then exploded. He cursed, shading his face, but the attack was not over, the orb had torn into stone shrapnel.

He released a burst of essence, slamming a wall of pure power into them, but that had been a panicked decision, creating an opening that almost cost him his life. Frank appeared behind him, his enforced physique giving him even more strength, his right arm was covered in spiking essence, dark and malevolent, as though he’d mixed something in it. David’s heart skipped as he realized what was happening. He shifted left, dodging the punch, but one of the spikes grazed him.

David hissed, staggering back. Cheers rang from all around, Frank’s group celebrating the hit. David looked at the wound with a measure of trepidation. His lack of imagination had got him in trouble. The wound was a thin graze, but the skin around it festered. Poison? It didn’t feel like it. There was no pain, only a growing numbness. This was the power of a ranker? He summoned his sword and Frank nodded.

David flexed his hand, he could still feel his fingers but he wondered how long that would be. If he loses his left hand, he’d be fighting handicapped. He suddenly felt like he was plummeting underwater with a boulder to his ankle. He had to finish this quickly.

Essence pooled into Frank’s palm, its power was silent, but David could feel the weight of the volume. At first, it was only golden earth essence, then bright, flickering red joined it and the small orb compressed, squeezing until it was the size of a tennis ball. It spun in his hand and David saw everyone watching the fight shift back nervously. Frank chuckled, the sound muffled by his mask.

“Sadly, I can’t kill you,” Frank said. “I’d bet you have other things that I can take off you. All your riches, all your gifts, they are wasted on you. Your arrogance is only hubris. Yes, we know you,” Frank said. His eyes filled with something David couldn’t understand. “Zeno might not, but we have heard of you. That is why Kalan and his brother took your siblings. And it was strangely easy. Then it occurred to me, you are favored, but you don’t know what favors you carry.” He shrugged as if all that talking had worn him out. David was confused, but there were other things to worry about at the moment. Frank was weaving the essence of that orb, refining it, and giving it purpose. David couldn’t see what it was, but he’d be dead if he let the man finish his work. He shot forward, his sword heaved to cleave the man in two. Just before he reached Frank he pushed essence into the sword and it resonated, aligning with his will, it felt euphoric. The dragon focused his powers, igniting something powerful in the fibers of the sword.

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Spell: Dragon’s Fury

You resonate with the father of dragons!

David ignored the message and swung at the same time Frank flicked the ball of essence at him.

David slashed at the ball and felt his bones rattle. The earth essence in the spell was so dense it took more than a moment to burn through it. He summoned the left hand of chaos just as the fire essence in it erupted like a dragon’s breath. It flowed forward, a force that would have swallowed him if he didn’t bring up the gauntlet immediately. It took a moment to tame the chaos in the spell, and then another for David to stagger back. He turned swiftly, blade hurled in a wide arc. Frank slipped under it and a gauntleted fist slammed into David’s left side. The world whirled and David almost choked as air vanished from his lungs. Pain crashed on him like a storm passing through a small village. He leaped back, worry visible on his face.

This wasn’t what he expected. He’d been stupid to think they’d all be like Zeno. Then he noticed something that deepened the shame. Frank hadn’t drawn his dagger. The man had been using essence fused with basic physical attacks. And those devilish constructs, Ignis added. But yes, you should be ashamed.

David scolded himself. He’d underestimated his opponent His arm was going numb and now his left side throbbed too. But he was grinning. Ignis grunted in his head, but David ignored the dragon.

“Forgive me,” David said, stretching. He swung his left arm, trying to see how much sensation still remained. “But I hope you have some kind of remedy for this. I would hate to lose this arm.” The crowd laughed. David had caught Zeno’s shocked stare, and now he couldn’t read the man’s expression. He contemplated for a moment and decided he would show them something he’d never tried before. He pulled essence into himself, mirroring Frank's technique, but he didn’t weave it to a different part of his body. He read Frank’s weaving pattern and discovered he couldn’t do it. There was no way he could pull essence in such a complicated and precise pattern. But there was something else he could do. He reduced the pace and smoothened the flow, making his working as subtle as possible. And it was easier because he was soaking only his legs with essence. He strengthened them, preparing himself, then exploded, shooting forward like an arrow.

His sword fell on Frank, chopping and stabbing and slicing. Time moved slowly, almost as if they were pushing against gravity. Every swing strained David, but he kept on it, enjoying the extra force he had to use, the presence of mind, and the thrill that reverberated in him. He was having fun.

Frank weaved through every swing as if he could see the paths of David’s attacks, his eyes were large with what David assumed was shock. And David pressed him, challenging him to do something new, something entertaining. Then he sensed the weaving, No, he perceived it. Sweet air mixing with dry soil. David’s soul applauded the man, and even Ignis gave a grunt of approval. Frank forged d his new spell as he dodged David’s sword, his essence control was astonishing, but more than that, it was the blade-thin look of concentration in his eyes.

David felt when the spell was completed, sensed the final weave lock into place, and twirled just in time to stop the new construct. It was a slim humanoid golem, a rough reflection of Frank himself. Then something unlocked and a gasp flowed through the crowd. David felt it like a collection of angry screaming in his head. His sword slammed into the golem, pushing it back just in time for him to crouch under Frank’s next attack. A harsh wind howled above him. Frank’s dagger caught light as it spun in the man’s hand so the blade was faced down when he caught it and drove it down on David. There was something ominous about the dagger, it made David’s senses flare like a scared child in the face of a monster. All his instincts told him to flee, and for a moment he thought about doing that.

Spell: Left hand of Chaos

The gauntlet caught the blade and David's head throbbed, his entire existence screamed as the dagger came in contact with chaos. It stayed untamed, its power wild and unnatural. David screamed as two powers waged a surreal battle. He couldn’t move and Frank seemed stuck too. David winced as he felt the blade slide down his hand. He felt the gauntlet stretching to its limit. No, my limit. David hissed, squeezing his eyes shut to conjure the manifestation of chaos. He needed help. He didn’t know what to do. Essence congealed between them, solidifying to become a physical presence.

“Your weakness is restraining my ability,” the body said, calm as a still sea. He floated on something David couldn’t see, legs folded under him. He looked different, older. His eyes were stuck on Frank, brows pinched together. “How did he get one of the blades? Strange. I see the problem.”

“Then…he..lp!” David pushed out. The poor shook his head, drawing David’s attention to his bald head. His one eye was red of a blood-soaked battlefield, and the other the green of lush vegetation. He turned both on David, and David knew there was no help coming. He would have to contain this himself, but how?

“You can use this for your advancement,” Chaos said. “Remember, all spells are clusters of essence. And how do you advance?”

The answer was so simple David wondered why he hadn’t thought about it before. The blade slid down the gauntlet some more, its power searing something with him. Sweat soaked Frank’s face. He looked…scared. David cursed, knowing what he was about to do might kill him. He opened himself to the storm of essence bubbling in front of him. It rushed into him, his eyes widening. It wasn’t just the pain, it was the pressure forcing him into a crumpled mess. David swore, wishing he hadn’t used the gauntlet at all. His insides felt raw as if exposed to a raging inferno. This was what death felt like, a slow punishment.

Vent it, Ignis growl. Vent it before it kills you!

“How?” David asked. He could feel Frank withering, the essence crushing him. Ignis growled, annoyance radiating from the dragon’s consciousness.

A child… I am chained to a child! Use the sword! Use my bone as a channel, what you can’t vent, Chaos will tame it.

David still didn’t know how. He understood Ignis’s instruction but he’d never used the sword as a channel before. So, he pushed it roughly, shoving the essence through from him to the sword. Veins strained on his face and hands as he pulled his sword up to the sky. He didn’t have the time to think about it. There was only one spell in his mind.

Spell: Dragon’s Fury

The spell blasted out the sword, fire rushing up to the heavens. It burned bright, red-gold. It scorched the air, it made breathing even more difficult. But he didn’t stop, couldn’t. A glance at the others showed him that they’d fled. There were only about four people left watching and they were pressed flat against the floor. Zeno’s head hung a bit off the ground, his eyes on David.

David felt the slow ease of essence. He sucked in a breath as the weight of the merge between the gauntlet and blade vanished. Frank sagged, his dagger falling off his hand. Then he fell forward, his face slamming hard on the ground. David smiled at Zeno, but there was something wrong. He wanted to ask Zeno but liquid black covered his sight and he plunged.