The headmasters of both Etravonia teams were sitting at the table with their hands arched and their foreheads resting against them. Drisil’s due to the fact that he was now certain that Rion had let the battle hinge on Max, slowing Sinbad down and trapping him. The Etravonian main academy headmaster had his hands arched as he taught his students to always check and ensure enemies stayed down. Both were certain that Captain Rion was watching the fight from the throne room and was ready to sit down at any moment, making the last battle one of showing off.
The only person at the table who didn’t seem irritated was Etravonia’s king. He’d stayed silent when Ander went on a rampage and had a raised eyebrow when the team used a self-destructive strategy to take said team member down, which took forethought and dedication. During the portion where Max took out the ape shifter after transforming, he was confident that his son had inherited his power. The battle against Sinbad confirmed that he was proficient enough to fight stronger opponents, although he wasn’t ready to beat them yet. The final nail in the coffin was that Max couldn’t fully revert after using the power.
“Finally, it’s about damn time my luck turned around.”
“Please refrain from leaving this world until after.” The stoic-appearing elven woman leaned on her fist.
“I mean it would be one less ranker to worry about.”
“If we’re going to survive we’re going to need all the power we can get. Did you forget that the number one position is vacant?”
“Please, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. It’s about time we moved on, this generation of whelps seem exceptionally talented. I’m certain that Drisil’s team hasn’t revealed half of their secrets just yet. Not to mention, Norn’s talented individuals, and the rumored sword saint who took the number one spot in the solo matches.”
“They wouldn’t be ready in time, had time not been altered it would have been nice to have them on our side. Sadly it seems this one will pass them up.” The elven woman sighed.
A worried elf busted into the room as the headmasters began to leave. “Matriarch! We have an emergency! Damian of the Flowing River Academy has been seen being kidnapped by Maldain.”
The room went silent for a long moment. “Caeden of Drisil, do you know why this has happened?” The elven woman asked.
“No I do-”
A second messenger ran into the room. “Emergency! Ander of Drisil has been kidnapped by Maldain!”
“Ugh. Maybe I do.”
“You think he wanted to see them fight that badly?” The elven woman asked.
“That or he intends to train them both.” The king of Etravonia sighed.
“But Ander doesn’t even use a sword. Unless…” The headmaster of team Etravonia looked at Drisil’s headmaster.
“He apparently received some training with one recently. Apparently swords mesh better with his spirit. I think he intends to have Ander go through a second awakening, knowing that it will transform.”
“Surprised he didn’t take Rion.” The elven woman scowls.
“Rion plays with weapons, he isn’t the type to use them seriously and has little interest in mastering them. He walks a more magical based path than martial.” Caeden sighed
“Think he was watching the last fight?”
“Possibly. What do you think grabbed his attention?” Caeden couldn’t figure it out.
“His lethality, more likely than not. You could tell he wasn’t going all out and yet he was capable of piercing a divine tier shield with ease. In fact I suspect his only goal was to make her use the shield before he followed it up with a killing blow. If it was a duel to first blood then that would have been the match.”
“What chance is there that Ander is at the same level as Damian?”
“Power wise, there is a chance that Ander has passed Damian. In terms of control they are about even. In terms of weapon mastery, Ander is probably ahead. The number two position at my school is mostly interchangeable.”
“And the top position?”
“They would need to work together and even then. I’m not sure Rion would play fair if he was outnumbered.”
“You make Rion sound like he’d treat the battle like a game?”
“He was Gamodren’s pupil before mine and you know how much he likes to gamble.”
“Did you mean to say as much as you just did?”
“The time for secrecy on that matter is nearly at an end. In fact you’ll probably understand why in the next match. Not with Drisil, the one between the Republic and Valnorim’s school of Golemancy.”
“What’s so special about that match?”
“Have you ever wondered about a battle between a necromancer and a golemancer?”
“We shouldn’t have any necromancers left on the continent, not after the Death Tyrant was executed,” the headmaster of Etravonia answered.
“Did you not hear about the Necropolis where Limguard used to be?”
“That’s just a rumor. There are no more necromancers. Right?”
“Necromancy is an aspect of the death affinity that requires a bit of foreknowledge. It wouldn’t be hard for someone who found one of those rare tomes and managed to learn a few things. Or experimented enough to discover what many have thought was lost.” The elven woman said honestly.
“I thought all the books related to Necromancy had been burned. Isn’t that how he earned the title of Tyrant?”
“He? I guess the information was never made public, past Limguard’s top brass.”
“The Republic asked for his head after the death curse she placed on them during the war. So he should be dead. Right?”
“So you know, powerful necromancers can control their undead remotely. The Tyrant had a ruler based ability that allowed them to create armies of ranked undead with the ability to lead. It is quite possible that said Tyrant had one of its commanders take the fall. Or they resurrected themselves via other means. Either way, the Republic allied with the Beast Blood empire and went against the peace treaty we had them sign. For all we know, that was the trigger for a resurrection contingency. Meaning the Republic has no leg to stand on if the Tyrant lives.” The king of Etravonia coughed into his hand and left the room, motioning for the headmaster of the central Etravonian school to follow.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Why do I get the feeling that I’m the only person here who doesn’t know a key piece of information?”
“Because you weren’t born then and most history books tend to obscure information. Especially when the truth is inconvenient to those in power. You should focus more on the development of your students. They’re probably a bit depressed after a loss like that.”
“Y-yes your majesty!” The young headmaster saluted before running off.
“Ok, so all was going according to plan until Ander decided to lead the strike team into the enemy castle. Why didn’t you wait until time elapsed?”
“Because It would have been boring to sit there and wait for them to attack first. I don’t even know why you’re mad. It’s what led to our victory.”
“I’m not mad, just wanted to know why… It seems you are more impatient than you seem. Rion, why didn’t you immediately sit on the throne when you had the chance? Also why did you give the team a drastic new game plan?”
“The king of Etravonia wanted to see what Max could do. I did as well, there were contingencies set. Sinbad is lucky that he only triggered the first one. The second would have bisected him briefly.”
“When did you manage to set up a trap?” Hel asked.
“He did that while he was running around. There was a brief time when he wasn’t being watched, in that time he carved out some runes. Now then, I’m here to borrow my student for a few days.”
Maldain appeared in the middle of the room with a crazed look in his clockwork eyes. Ander was slung over Maldain’s right shoulder. Damian was currently draped over Maldain’s left shoulder, also unconscious.
“Shouldn’t we try to stop him?” Lin asked.
“If you want to interfere with the number three on this planet go ahead. I learned my lesson when he ripped out my eye. Plus he said only a few days. He may be insane, but he’s not a liar.” Rion added.
“For that I will forget that you replaced your old eye with an old prosthetic.” Maldain winked.
“Why are you being so cowardly Rion?” Cecil asked.
“He plucked out one of my eyes. Do you really expect me to attack him while he still holds a piece of me?”
“Oh right that old thing. Do you want it back? That prosthetic seems to be dead.”
“I don’t mind missing an eye, I didn’t even notice that it doesn’t work anymore. If I’m honest I kind of got used to mana vision.”
“Oh, so you don’t want this piece of your soul back?”
“If you phrase it like that then I can take it off your hands. It’s not like you need it or anything.”
“It let me regrow my own eyes, although it’s useless in combat.”
Maldain held out a sword with an ornate emerald pommel, a white leather-covered grip, and a green diamond pattern that stretched out to meet an ivory-like guard. The blade had a single edge meant for cutting and seemed exceptional.
“Why does it look like this?”
“I used my own power to modify it to suit my needs and I had an empty sheath..”
Cecil eyed the sword. “Is that a katana?”
“Yes. Although it may not stay that way for long. Weapons like that can be shaped by people like me but when returned to their owner chances are, they will revert.”
“Ah, I did technically cause a sword like this to be put in a compromising position.”
“My little Fujin, shattered into a million pieces. The lightning blade Fujin.”
“...” Rion was not going to bother correcting him.
Cecil seemed like he was going to speak, but he recognized the look in Rion’s eye and decided better. The sooner this monster left, the better. There was no need to confuse the wild swordsman.
Ander, who hadn’t been knocked out, replied. “It’s actually named Raijin. Fujin is a pure dark wind spirit while Raijin is dark and lightning. I think they are brothers or something.”
“You’re still awake.”
“Got some things to say first.”
“Oh right, go ahead.”
“Minah? We need to break up. You need someone dependable and stationary. I am neither of those things nor do I wish to be involved in politics. Also, we both know that I was just a tool to make a certain someone jealous and it failed. Since I won’t be around. Goodbye and I hope you have a happy life.”
Minah seemed confused for a moment as things clicked, and she realized that this was a breakup. Well, since he was getting kidnapped, it was understandable that he didn’t want her to stay alone for who knows how long. “I’ll wait for you, Ander.”
“Please don’t. There’s someone else.”
“That’s enough drama for one day.” Maldain knocked Ander out, ending the conversation as he handed the katana to Rion.
Rion took the katana, and he watched as it shrunk in size and shifted into an eyeball made of solid emerald. He took out his current eye and placed an emerald one into the socket; its shape changed, and a piece of Rion had returned briefly before it turned to ash. Only the portion of his soul that had been returned, the damage was done, and the limb couldn’t grow there. However, in the space where an empty socket was, an eye of metal was teleported into the open slot and adjusted. Memories of his drop into a strange new world began to trickle in slowly.
“Rion. Are you good?”
“A shame. Your body couldn’t acclimate to the weakened limb. Seems like you got too strong.”
“It would have been cheap if my old eye just came back.” Kyrion eyed his previous magical prosthetic and watched as it, too, crumbled into dust as the bonds holding it together broke. The essence inside flowed into Rion.
“Why do you want both of them anyways?”
“Their potential gave me inspiration. I could sense the power they wielded as both have potential for bladed weapons. I will be teaching them both the secrets of the sword.”
“Also, don’t bother looking for us, I found a great place near here to train. Can’t believe a dungeon popped up in the forest.”
Kyrion looked as though he had swallowed a bug. He connected telepathically with Karl to have a silent conversation while Maldain left.
“Karl? Did an insane expert tier monster find you?”
“Yes. The one that took your eye if I recall correctly?”
“Great… He’s going back to train Ander and Damian there. Be sure to give him anything he needs to keep them alive and I’ll give you express permission to examine the tower in my domain. I know a barrier of consent has been keeping you out.”
“Fine. Since the other two are friends I’ll keep them alive.”
“Also there is a cache of food in my domain, when you’re not busy feel free to clone one of everything. I think it’s from some other world.”
“Got it.” New item cataloging was considered more important than Ander and Damian’s lives.
“Much appreciated. If they die it’s on Maldain.” Rion replied with a sarcastic tone.
“Correct.” Karl stated.
Rion slowly blinked before cutting off the conversation there. He decided that removing the memory of the conversation from himself and the others would be simple but highly unethical. They’d be fine; it’s not like Ander would go through an angsty phase, start wearing black makeup, cover an eye with his bangs, and then get a ton of piercings and tattoos. There were few places to put said new piercings and tattoos, after all, and bangs would give him a blind spot in combat. He also didn’t need makeup; when he transformed, his eyes were covered in something that resembled eyeshadow.
“Rion, you must go rescue Ander. He clearly isn’t thinking straight.” Minah grabbed Rion’s robe, fake tears welling up. They could be real, but he got the sense that she wanted Ander back so she could punch him one last time.
“I will bring Ander back, before the end of the tournament. Probably. No promises. I’d rather keep my one remaining human eye. Also, my vengeance on Maldain would be cut short if I went against him now.”
“So you’re bidding your time.”
“If you want to know how deadly that monster wearing human skin is, ask your father.” Rion took Lin’s hand and teleported out.
“Never knew Rion to be afraid of anything.” Bella stated.
“There is a difference between risking your life and taking yourself out by angering a threat that’s much stronger than we all are combined. All we can hope is that Ander comes back alive.” Cecil said with a grim expression.