Seeing Edric in front of him only showed he was fighting his enthusiasm as well. It had only been a couple of lifetimes before when they last played, but it was exciting to see what tools the system set them up with this time. It was difficult for Max to keep a smile off his face. Edric was going to get a shock when he realised Max was stepping onto the pitch with nothing but a few prewritten runes.

The two maintained eye contact as the spectators and judges around them got into position. At some point, Elder Aris dropped his arm to signify the beginning of the match, but it was ignored by the two relevant people. The air was thick, and everyone held their breath as they waited for someone to make the first move.

Edric moved his wrist slightly. To an inexperienced eye, they wouldn’t have even picked up the movement underneath the loose sleeves. For Max, it was slightly disappointing as he used the teleportation runes tucked into his shoes to appear behind Edric.

If he had hesitated, then the match would have ended immediately from him succumbing to the meteorite which had taken his spot in the pitch. The aftershock from the explosive arrival would have been difficult to endure, so Max repeatedly used the teleportation runes to avoid the shockwaves and keep his balance as he moved closer. It was a bit nostalgic seeing a meteorite again. Max felt a slight amount of sympathy for the deceased shepherd boy. He really had no chance.

But the message was clear. Eldric had access to cosmic magic again. Good to know. Time to return the favour with his presents.

Slipping three of the parchment filled runes out of his sleeves, Max slapped two of them against Edric’s back and tucked one into his belt.

Clearly Edric had not been expecting the extreme pain as his covered skin broke out into bloody runes. Max retreated back in front of the sizzling meteorite as he watched Edric try to get back on his feet. Underneath the expensive fabric, his skin was already healing rapidly.

The Elders appeared unamused by the ‘failure’ of Max’s attack, completely unaware the old friends had officially greeted each other again.

Edric got back up as soon as he could before creating a barrage of long-range attacks hurtled in Max’s direction. Ice, fire, lightning, water; each an announcement about what Edric was working with in this lifetime. He either got really lucky or was doing a high-stars story.

There was a mixture of “ohs” and “ahs” as the spectators witnessed the show before them. It was a first for them to see Edric go all out like this. Probably because he couldn’t do this before.

Max’s first gift was a series of scarring runes, which significantly amplified any internal magic he had. It was useless on someone with almost no innate magic, but magnificent on an established professional.

After a couple of minutes of dodging, Max decided the noises from Edric’s spells weren’t enough. As a last resort for his second present, he tucked one of his rune parchments into a crevasse on the meteorite before he began to teleport and run away from the source so Edric would stop attacking in that direction. Exactly five seconds later, Max stopped moving while everyone within earshot clutched their ears in agony from the loud, high pitch noise.

Immune to the effects, Max felt a little bad seeing Cy clutching his ears like everyone else. At least it was a small break before returning to his cat and mouse game with Edric.

His buddy from another life seemed confused from the sudden and painful noise. Could he even still hear? Elder Charaka was going to be busy later.

The noise was enough this time for the system to deliver on its description.

Story Name:

Beast Tamer

Genre:

Folklore

Description:

the ancient guardian of the BisteRnE mountAins is awaKened by several Loud nOises from the local maGICa emnAh TstiSgl eyb esRtea…

Goal:

Conquer the lands and create a new kingdom.

Difficulty:

★★☆☆☆

How to Start:

Tame the dragon!

There it was again. At least the other part was easy to figure out. BREAK LOGIC. SWAP and BREAK LOGIC, what did it mean?

Perhaps it was because only his hearing was undamaged, but Max was the first to notice the beast’s approach before the others saw it in the clouds. First came confusion, then came screams as the community got ready for the sudden appearance of an emergency.

Edric was stuck in confusion, but his attacks did not relent. He didn’t know why Max decided to summon a dragon, but he wasn’t going to question it despite jealousy threatening to bubble up. He knew better.

Once the dragon descended more from the clouds, Max couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It wasn’t a fucking dragon! Damn wyvern. Tucked into Edric’s waistline was the rune intended for the promised dragon, but now Max wasn’t sure if it was even going to work anymore.

The wingspan of the black ‘dragon’ covered the pitch, causing it to cascade into darkness.

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“Calm yourselves!” Edric quickly shouted at the other Elders before focusing his attention back to Max, who was grumbling to himself in disappointment.

This was not going as he had hoped. His shoes were getting uncomfortable as the parchments were beginning to crumble from overuse, Cy hadn’t given any indication he had done enough, and the dragon wasn’t even a fucking dragon! The bitterness eating him up on the inside as he kept up with the attacks before they suddenly subsided.

The ‘dragon’ landed behind Edric and opened its mouth towards Max. That was better. Some proper fire magic. The dragon had accepted its master, and the prompt disappeared.

It didn’t take the other Elders long to presume the dragon had been summoned by Eldric, who was beside himself with glee. Perhaps it was a new type of magic he was trying out? It was certainly successful. Dragons were creatures of myths and legends. After watching the unlikely team work together and dog-pile on Max, who was still bouncing around, they were beginning to feel bad. It was like watching a kid run away from two menacing bullies.

Frankly, once Max understood that this wyvern seemed to still be classed as a ‘dragon’ in accordance with the runes, he began to enjoy himself. How many lifetimes had it been where Edric complained about not being able to own a dragon? Now, he had a chance.

The second present had been well delivered and received. All thanks to the rune attached to his belt, declaring itself as the beast’s master. It was a mutually beneficial present since it would also mean the cancellation of one more story prompt. Edric must’ve either chosen or completed his story. Knowing him, it was probably the latter. Now that the dragon had been tamed by someone already finished with their story, naturally the prompt would be cancelled.

Max was about to dodge another attack from the bombardment of spells from both the dragon and Edric when suddenly he found himself in the same place and having to duck and roll out of the way. It was a frustrating and enlightening lesson for Max as he found shelter from behind the meteorite again. If he hadn’t responded instinctively then the match would have ended there.

As much as he enjoyed seeing Edric with his second present, it was time for it to go now. Maybe he’ll get another chance next time.

His hands moved methodically as he grabbed two parchment runes from his pocket and checked which victim he had pre-written within the mandala of runes on it. Suddenly, flames erupted from all sides of the meteorite causing Max to curl up in the centre to avoid the worst of the flames and protect the parchments in his hands. Slipping up would have revealed two of the tricks up his sleeves.

Immediately after the flames came an onslaught of water with most of it vaporising into steam. His side of the pitch was swallowed up into fog.

Was this a present in return? A chance for him to take a breath and plan? It was a nice gesture but not needed.

Max dunked the back of the parchment into some of the muddy water on the floor before throwing it forward with a slight grunt from the effort.

In a couple of seconds, a series of confused and agonised screams emerging from the dragon.

Max took the time to remove his shoes and empty the dusty remains of the parchments he had used. Cy was right about using the term crumble.

The screams of the beast began to subside, but it wasn’t noticeable as the shrieks of the spectators grew. Max was about to peek out from behind the meteorite when he and the shoe he was holding were suddenly drenched with blood from a panicking dragon above him. Gross. He cursed at his carelessness with details and this life’s inability to suddenly change and correct runes while he poured the hot liquid from his shoe. It was even grosser putting it back on.

Just as he was wondering when the rune would be finished, the decapitated body of the dragon crash landed in front of him. The crumbling parchment was attached to the spine of the dragon. Another example of where he had been careless. It could have been dangerous if it had landed wrong.

Despite mistake after mistake, it seemed like luck was still on his side as he slapped some parchment runes against the body causing the skin to break out into more runes. Unknown to the spectators, it was akin to what he did to Edric underneath his fancy, capital clothes.

At first, the onlookers assumed the twitching of the corpse was due to cadaveric spasms as they kept their eyes focused on their beloved Elder, who was trying to recover from the dragon suddenly turning on him in a panic. Confusion was back in the air as they all tried to understand what had just happened.

The pair of them were working as a team. Max was cornered behind the meteorite. Steam erupted before the howls began. A mixture of fire and blood rained down from above as the dragon tried to escape from whatever was attacking it. Edric tried to save it. It was too late. The head finally ripped off and landed next to Edric. The body landed behind the meteorite.

They couldn’t make sense of what they just witnessed. First, a mythical beast appeared. Now, the dragon was dead. What was the point? It was such a tragic loss of life.

Even Edric was confused before he turned his attention to the other part of the corpse. It was moving. How the fuck was it moving? The second he realised there were runes carved into its skin as it took to the sky, Edric took a defensive position.

In return, Max waited as he watched the headless dragon climb up into the air before starting its steep descent towards the ground. There were a few runes he hadn’t used yet, but he thought he would only use four or five more now to make a dramatic ending. It had long since gone out of his head to check for hints and clues from Cy.

It was too much fun having a proper go at someone who could take it.

Edric tightened his defensive shield as he saw what was going to happen. The corpse of the dragon was plummeting towards his direction. To anyone else, they would have assume just moving out of the way would be enough. But due to his experience with his opponent, he knew it wouldn’t work. There was no doubt in his mind that the corpse would follow him everywhere around the pitch until it landed on top with a fiery explosion from the internal magic of the beast.

After all, Edric also guessed one of the additions to the mandala on the parchment used to kill the dragon was enchanted with such a feature. Another feature must’ve been a hardening effect, so it could cut through its flesh with time.

Unsure of how far ahead Max had thought, Edric also took the time to create a shield around the pitch to contain the explosion. If one of them were killed, then it was, ‘Oh well, good game. See you next time.’ But if one of the unknowing were to get killed, then Max might be a bit perturbed when they got to speak privately again.

Edric endured the explosion as sweat began to emerge from his brow. It was as expected of a mythical creature.

After surviving the blast, he kept his shield up in the fiery landscape. Instincts told him to stay guarded. He couldn’t see him, but Max was here.

Max wasn’t too sure what had given him away. Whether it was the slippery ground beneath them, the flames acting strange around him as he passed by them immune thanks to a rune, or if it was just his instinct. When he was within five metres of Edric, a spell was casted in his direction.

It was another cosmic spell with destructive energy hurtling towards him with the potential to rip a hole in space if Edric had gone full out. Max didn’t move though.

The newest spell was the only one to hit Max, and the only one to get affected by the parchment of runes waiting in his mouth. A full counter if he got hit. Good thing Edric had a shield up.

Max spat out the remains of the parchment paper and scraped some of the residue from his tongue. Cleared of most of the ashy texture in his mouth, he lightly jogged through the broken shield and slapped the second to last rune he was going to use onto a seriously injured Edric, paralysing him just like Lux.

“Good match,” he said with glee leaking into his voice before stuffing a piece of parchment into Edric’s pocket.

It was one of three healing runes Max made before the match. Unlike the previous one, which gave an almost immediate recovery from the runes carved into his skin, this one had a much slower effect. They couldn’t hide that Edric had received sizable injuries. But even if it was just a little, it was crucial to recover enough and claim to be fine before Elder Charaka could try to examine his wounds. They wouldn’t want the other Elders to see the new scars on his skin.