For better or for worse, the last round was more or less a carbon copy of the second. The only notable difference was that it was our party that blitzed Baker Party. But the result was still the same. Pure chaos.
I kept the powerhouses around Doyle, with Winston being the closest to him at all times. In that aspect, Winston and I operated as opposites. I operated on the precipice of defender and midfielder, in order to keep anyone who made it too far at bay. Which happened to be many. Mainly Zarzok, who was obsessively eager to ‘settle the score,’ as well as Lance, Silva, Toril, and the other strong ones who felt some type of way about my final attack. Glorious though it was. Eventually, however, the match came to another stalemate. Leaving Cooke Party as the only winner of three rounds. Not the outcome I wanted, but it was better than nothing.
On the other hand, it was nice to know some of my classmates could keep up with me. Regardless, it was astonishing to see the endless ways people used their magic. It was those observations- I knew, that would give me the insight I needed to bring my magic to its potential. But beyond that, magic itself was simply fascinating. What was even more fascinating, though, was Lance. Not only in his behavior when I dilated time, but in his behavior, once the match concluded.
I failed to see it the first time. To no surprise, seeing as how I sent him flying and disappeared before he returned. But after the final match, I noticed him shying away from the gaze of Felicity Licht, the Archwitch. With both of them having light magic, their blood relation was all too clear. But Lance’s meek behavior was something that stuck out to me as odd, for whatever reason, so I noted it in the logs for later and returned with my team to ponder on it later.
“Alright, alright. Gather round.” Doyle motioned to the three parties.
We were gathered in an open field naught but a few hundred meters from where our final battle took place. Yet, the teachers had already spruced up the place with a bit of earth manipulation and the aid of a few canvas tarps.
“We will now announce the winners.” Zeff resounded with one of his claps. Then paused for a long moment to overlook the three groups before clapping once again. “Copper Party!” He threw his arm our way.
“Congratulations!” Olga beamed after the obligatory round of applause. “With your victory comes bragging rights and a thousand points to each member of the party.”
‘Wow!’ I raised my brows. That brought me to a total of 2,519 points. I most likely had the highest in our year, but I still needed more if I wanted to graduate at the top of the class.
“This concludes our exercise, but not our outing,” Doyle said, bringing our attention back to him. “From here, you’ll go back to your bases and be free to do as you please until the outing is over. But before that.” He threw his arm to an array of picnic tables behind him. “We feast!” Saying no more, he watched the students scatter into their cliques or groups before migrating to the tables, where they unhesitatingly approached the inlaid consoles to order whatever meals they fancied.
Naturally, I was among them. Mostly with Zakira and the rest of my team. As well as a few outliers from our Party. But after only a few minutes we were joined by one. At first, and then another. Causing most of my party members to go off in search of other tables.
“Wow!” Zarzok turned his fanged smile to Lance, hovering above the table with an uncomfortable expression. “You are so awkward! It's adorable.”
Now that I had the chance to look at him closely, Zarzok was… unremarkable. At least he was when I ignored the red skin, burning eyes, flicking tail, and curled horns. Other than that, however, he appeared as a normal person. His face was fine but gaunt. His hair was jet black and meticulously styled. His horns- decorated with jewels and rings, swept back from his brow and curved back around to cover his ears. And he wore the look masterfully.
“And you.” The Fiend turned back to me, scratching his chin. “You’re very weak. But strong. It's strange.” He smiled wider, allowing a deep, demonic laugh to ripple across the table. “How fascinating.”
“And you’re quite strong but weak.” I held my gaze at him for a long moment. Then shrugged before taking a bite out of my apple. “How dreary.”
“Mahahaha!” Zarzok keeled forward to slap the table a few thunderous times. “I like you, Amun!” He pointed a sharp nail at me. “You’re a strange one!”
“Oh?” I turned to him with a raised brow. “How so?”
“You carry yourself with great pride. Yet you are utterly absent of it. At least for yourself.” Zarzok beamed. “No small feat for anyone; be they man, elf, or devil.”
“And, you’re the only one to have ever dodged my light,” Lance muttered under his breath. Turning to him, I saw him staring with wide, maddened eyes at some invisible point beyond his plate. Then, he slowly turned to me. “It would seem that you are indeed my natural enemy.”
“Rival.” I corrected him with a stern look. “There is no one I call an enemy.” 'My enemies are intangible.'
“Oh?” Zarzok leaned between us. “But I hear you wish to form a guild to conquer Maru?”
“To breach the barrier that keeps the hordes in and my people out of Ulai, and return it to my fellow Maruleans.” I corrected, turning to him with the same gaze given to Lance. “I have no intentions of conquering or ruling over anyone; besides my guild of course. I’d be grateful if you joined.”
“A demon, work for a devil?” Zarzok sputtered out a raspberry. “With what incentive?”
“Money of course.” I shrugged. “Even greater than that, however, is the unending opportunity to cultivate knowledge, power, and experience. The incentive, Zarzok.” I leaned forward. “Is that I will share everything with you. The incentive is the chance to explore each corner of every realm and spread your name across the lot of them. The incentive is my aid in achieving your dreams, whatever they may be, in exchange for aiding me in this mission of mine. As a fiend with an affinity for pride, I’m sure that’s incentive enough?”
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“Quite tantalizing indeed!” Zarzok grinned. Then rose from the table with a slam of his palms. “I’ll think about it, o’ Devil of the Fae. But first, we duel.”
I could only roll my eyes as he walked away. Another downside of being powerful I supposed, was being sought out by the strong as a means to test their mettle. Before I could say anything, however, Lance leaned back in. “A rival sounds nice.”
“Yeah. There’s a lot we can learn from each other. In-”
“Greetings. Pardon my intrusion. May I sit?”
Turning, I saw one of the Tritons taking Zarzok’s place, despite neither of us giving our approval. Like Zarzok, he appeared like a normal man. Albeit one covered from head to toe in turquoise scales. His eyes were of a similar hue, only with a deep blue color that was dulled by a strange membrane or eyelid that glistened with slime. The only notable thing about him, other than the weird skivvies he wore, was the seaweed-like hair that blew in the wind behind him.
“I am Zohnos Lagunath, High Prince of the Ettrainyar Dominion.”
“I’m Amun.” I lowered my head. “Grand Duke of the Odissian Empire.”
“And what of your surname?”
“I don’t have one,” I said. “Drow custom.” Apparently.
“Fascinating.” He nodded while sizing me up and down. “I have heard much about you. After meeting you in person, I find myself relieved to see you are regal and respectable, and not a tyrant in the making.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I paused to bite into my apple. “A tyrant in the making?”
“Those with immense power are often corrupt. Surely you know this?” His face peeled back into a warm smile. But I could still feel the condescension. “Even more so, does it corrupt while young. The undeveloped mind is malleable, as things go. And.” He sighed hesitantly. “Forgive my being crass, but you are quite brave. You could pass as the offspring of a surface elf and human, yet you openly refer to yourself as an under-elf.”
“That’s because I am a Drow.” I shrugged. “Half, but a Drow all the same. And I'm well aware of how they are seen by others. But... well, if someone is so ignorant as to judge someone for what they are, what abilities they have, or on their appearances alone, then that's no one I'd want to interact with in the first place.”
“You do not deny them, yet you are nothing like them. Remarkable.” He looked away, chuckling to himself- almost in despair, before returning his gaze to mine. “I look forward to the day we work together. If you’ll excuse me.”
‘Fuckin weirdo.’ I squinted at him as he walked off to sit with another one of his kind. His sister, I assumed based on their likeness alone.
“Now that it's just the two of us.” I turned back to Lance. “Have you found an answer yet?”
“You mean, what path I want in life?” He fiddled with his soup. “I haven’t. Have you learned more of your- our, history.”
“I haven’t.” I shook my head. “Is there anything you can tell me? What all do you know?”
“Nearly all of it.” He replied simply. “Countless generations. Eons. We are opposites. Our knowledge is held in our collective light as yours is held in your individual souls. But.” He sighed. “As Silva said, it is not my place to tell you, however. Besides, my knowledge doesn’t pertain to the Nox. Except for a few parts.”
“I see.” I nodded slowly. “I can directly commune with my ancestors up to six generations back- only a few centuries. I have to go out and find the bodies for anyone outside of that."
“Yes, you said so.” Lance shook his head. “If that’s true, then you’ve naught even scratched the surface of our history. A few centuries doesn't even cover the Guild Wars. But I can tell you this, Amun. Zeke was right. My family history stretches back almost as far as yours does. But of course, yours is the eldest.”
“What do you mean?” I squinted with faux skepticism. But it seemed that was unneeded.
“The light states that the forces of energy and entropy precede all things,” Lance explained. “When mana first flooded the universe, those two things- the only two things to exist were personified as a pair of primordial beings that opposed the other. Yet, they maintained a balance of Light and Darkness; Life and Death; Material and Emptiness. Cosmos and Void. The light says that an eternal Cosmic Drake laid its eggs across the Realms and the ones beyond them- realms unseen to the Mortal Plane. These eggs, more like seeds, grew into the Trees of Life. Thus this being is considered by us to be the creator of all living things.
"Almost." He corrected. "It is the creator of everything but those associated with darkness, death, and void. Pestilence, decay, and disease; venoms and poisons; acids and oils; undead and curses; even insects, eventually. Yet these things came into creation after the cosmic drake left our realms. The light says that we- my family, had been born from the Marulean Tree of Life as a reaction to your clan's descent from that eternal primordial, the Void Dragon.”
'Ah. That checks out.' I nodded in remembrance of my words with Urshure. “So, that explains that. My ancestors mentioned your ancestors were sometimes friends. Just as often as they were enemies. If I were to make the choice, friendly rivals sound good to me.”
“As it does to me. And I’ve often heard the same. But... I don't know.” Lance shook his head in frustration. “What I know of my family would color me surprised if they felt the same way. Personally, I doubt the legend even exists. It sounds like nothing more than hubris to me. A family of stellar light to balance the clan of eternal darkness, sheltering the peoples of Maru from the destroyers. My family has always thought themselves to be that special.”
“Then I suppose that’s something we can somewhat relate to. Even if it's a polar relation.” I told him. “Your family is revered, yet prideful. Mine is feared, yet humble. I guess we’re both cursed.” I snorted, shaking my head. “Burdened with ancient knowledge, hereditary fame or infamy, and immense power.”
“You really are strange.” Lance chuckled to himself. “You have a unique outlook on life, Amun.”
“I suppose.” I shrugged. “Regardless, you are one of the people I wish to spar with the most. As I said before, this exercise leads me to believe we can learn a lot from each other’s abilities. And.” I leaned in closer to him, grinning wide. “I want you to join my guild.”
“Huh!?” He looked up at me with wrinkled brows and confusion all over his face.
“I do intend to liberate Maru and explore the other realms.” I began explaining. “But I’ve also made it my mission to uncover the true history of the Mortal Plane. I’m a half-Drow, Lance. I’ll live for centuries even without magic. And with magic.” I chuckled dryly. “Well, death is irrelevant.”
“I see.” Lance nodded slowly. “May I ask what the first step is?”
“I plan to learn how to speak draconic,” I explained. “And maybe a few other languages as well. Once that’s done I’ll have a few conversations with any dragons I find. But that’s not the primary method.”
“Okay?” Lance impatiently nodded. “What is the primary method?”
“That’s easy.” I grinned, tapping at my head. “I simply ask whoever I find lying around any old ruins or battlefields.”
“Necromancy.” Lance nodded in embarrassment. Then fell silent for a moment to clearly parse through his thoughts before looking back up to me with some sort of resolve that I couldn’t quite place.
“I appreciate your offer, Amun. And I’ll heavily consider it, but.” He sighed heavily. “I’m still unsure of what path I wish to take in life. If I can even take one of my choosing. Unlike you, I’m not afforded the luxuries of immortality and boundless freedom.”
“Cursed, remember?” I raised my brow. Then shrugged, nodding reassuringly as I rose to my feet. “But I understand. I only wished to formally extend the invitation. I look forward to both our next conversation and our next engagement.”
With a final nod, I left the area and started back towards the others. The Peering Eye Cove was calling to me. I needed some well-deserved rest. And now that the opportunity was afforded to me, I intended to do veritably nothing for the remainder of our little weekend.