The bronze ring was a hive of activities, more populated than even the silver ring and especially lively with the return of the ascenders from the delve. Apparently, news of the blight had spread across the ring as shops could be seen closing and soldiers in red armor marching down the street,

“a curfew?” Moyo asked as they turned into the street where the guild was situated,

“Seems like it” Ashira replied,

Together they entered the building of the delving guild, Mr. A at his usual spot behind the large desk. He raised his head up, motioning for them to keep quiet with one hand to his lips before gesturing for them to follow him behind the desk into a room. On entering, Moyo and Ashira was met with an overly large armory, filled with all sorts of weapons both mundane and arcane. From a bow that drew Moyo’s perception, to a large broad silver sword that screamed raw intent and the power to cleave reality with ease, to a hammer that Moyo was pretty sure carried a force ability within it.

Mr. A drew their attention back by clearing his throat,

“Welcome to the sanctum of war, it has always served as an armory for the guild and a meeting place for important people” he said,

“I’m not sure we fit those criteria” Ashira said,

Mr. A turned to her,

“By all means, let us deny who the both of you are, I would however like to convey the apologies of my guild in drawing you into a situation we had little idea about” he said,

“The blight issue seems to be causing issues for the world” Moyo said,

Mr. A nodded,

“usually blight manifestations happen in higher tier dungeons, 500 and above, but one in a silver dungeon?, almost unheard of, and this close to the reaping” Mr. A said,

“Reaping?’ Moyo asked,

“Once every 500 years, the master of this world, through the royal clans of each continents enact an occasion where the barriers between the dungeon array and the kingdoms of the respective continents are dropped, monsters flooding the entire continent and the kingdoms given the task to drive them back” A explained,

“isn’t that risky?” Ashira asked,

“It is, but it also acts as a reaping. When the number of rankers of each respective stage reach a crescendo on the world, the master seeks to cull them”

The look of horror must had been evident on the face of Moyo as Mr. A nodded,

“Barbaric, yes, but most times the number of casualties is usually low, technically. Plus, it’s a side effect of the array conjoining all the dungeons in one spot, too much aether and the dungeons eventually spill. Breaking open the array and releasing the monsters earlier helps reduce the casualties”

“then why don’t they remove the array entirely?, while suffer continually?” Moyo asked,

“Total bloodshed, the kingdoms and their ascenders would go to war continually over dungeons and the royal clans on both continents would lose viable fighters when they decide to wage their intercontinental war” Mr. A explained,

The more Moyo learnt of the archailect, the more he began to despise the current system in place, so many lives were being lost for power in pointless battles,

“Mr. titan blade, power is everything in the archailect, the clans seek to raise diamond rankers and the kingdoms seek to increase their gold rankers. Ascenders seek to ascend as is expected, blood will inevitably be spilled” Mr. A said,

Moyo just kept mute and nodded, he couldn’t trust himself to say something without sounding bitter, Ashira glanced at him, reading his mood as she turned back to Mr. A,

“And this affects the reaping how?” she asked,

“We have no way of knowing just how many dungeons or how deep this conspiracy of ascenders working for the unspoken cult runs” A said,

“We came to the same conclusion, about the ascenders I mean” Moyo said,

“And you would do well to wisely keep it to yourselves, it isn’t public knowledge yet and I doubt the kingdom would want it known as of now” A advised,

“We have no thoughts of uttering a word, in fact, we would prefer to lay low till this issue blows over and the brigade takes over investigations” Ashira said,

“Then in that case, the guild will be more than willing to house you at one of our safe houses in the silver ring. Ask of the dauntless inn on the street of purity, give the name A, and show them this” A said as he gave them a piece of parchment,

“You would be treated to the highest regards”

Moyo glanced from the parchment to the man,

“Why, why do this for ascenders that you have no knowledge of? He asked,

“Oh, we do know about the both of you, the delving guild has…. individuals in high places, plus it would do us no good to turn back the famed three-fold monster of house Kairos” A said,

Moyo saw Ashira nod with stiff head, once again house Kairos appeared to dictate her path even millions of light years away from their seat of power. Mr. A clapped his hands with a smile on his face,

“Now that we’ve settled that, the reward for your job seeing as the dungeon was unusable” he said,

Stretching his hands out around the armory,

“Here lies one of the famed repositories of weapons in this galaxy, you can have your pick of any weapon you prefer, restricted to expert rank of course. We can’t have silver rankers running around with master ranked weapons now, can we?” A said,

Moyo eyed the weapons, he was fine with dominion but still, an extra weapon couldn’t hurt now could it?. Ashira simply walked up to a bow that hung in the far right beneath a set of daggers that had the aura of blood coming from them.

She picked up the green bow that had the feeling of poison coming from it, it would be a perfect fit for her green part of her three-fold path, the path of poison if he guessed it right. Moyo walked down the rows of weapons, not seeing anything that suited his path, not even the hammer that had the force ability appealed to him. Suddenly he spotted a spear, a plain weapon that simply hung on its rack, nothing notable about it.

Mr. A saw his gaze and spoke,

“The spear crafted by one of the ancient masters of house Nebula, a predominantly mana house” he said,

“What does it do?” Moyo asked,

“that’s the thing, nothing. Apart from being forged from the exquisite mana crystals found in the home world of the great house Nebula, it is one of our oldest weapons and relics”

“Then why hasn’t anyone claimed it yet?” Moyo asked,

A shrugged,

“Most ascenders see no use for it, apart from its resilient material, it has no affinity for any element and the master who forged it only said it would awaken during a true ascension” A explained,

“Now what that meant has been subject to debate, many masters had held it when ascending to ruler but without awakening it. Eventually we threw it in the sanctum”

Moyo stared at the weapon for a few seconds and took it, Mr. A staring at him dubiously,

“are you sure?, I assure you there are better and greater weapons in the sanctum” he said,

Moyo nodded,

“I’m fine with it, I have a theory to test out with it either way” he said,

“If that is your decision then no problem” A said,

“Now you both best be on your way, the curfew would soon go into effect with the brigade here already” A said,

Moyo paused,

“The brigade is here already?” he asked,

“of course, it’s the brigade” A said,

“Where are they?” Ashira asked,

“In the dome” A said,

“The dome?” Moyo asked,

“The floating home of the Azartes clan” A said,

*******************

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Lord and protector of the kingdom of red dust, Biyo Dafurn of the dazzling fist, prime gold ranker of the kingdom and appointed protector of all its territories wasn’t one to move at a summoning. He had united the bands of roaming sects and schools and independent ascenders against the horrors of the Duhiri sandy continent over a thousand years ago. He had created the red dust kingdom as a unifier, a warrior and a father, and with the help of clan Azartes that arrived in time to help against the level 500 dungeon that broke open during his crusade to unify the kingdom, countless lives had been saved.

Biyo was a tall man, all muscles and no single fat. Dark hair and red eyes that glowed luminously, he cut a good figure on posters for the propagandas against the other kingdoms in the continent of red dust. The name red dust had come from the time when the white sands had been stained with the blood of the dead that littered the dessert.

So many lives had been lost pushing back the hordes from the dungeon, it had also been the only time when all three factions that would later on grow to become the three kingdoms had come together as a fighting force under the banner of clan Azartes. And now the three kings of the kingdoms had gathered in the flying island and home of the diamond ranker and supreme emperor of this continent, Jager Azartes.

The floating island of clan Azartes was called the dome by those who spread the word of the supreme power of clan Azartes. In actuality, the island was called Shadeland, due to it being in perpetual darkness at every time. The entire island which was in fact a subcontinent in its own right, was made of a material not found on the planet, rumored to be bestowed on the patriarch of the clan, the diamond ranker Jager by the master of the planet himself Haden Shadowtouch.

The entirety of the island screamed of gold ranked strength and above, Biyo hadn’t felt a single silver ranked power since he had been summoned to the island through a spatial pathway. As he and the other two kings of the other kingdoms stood before the large dark gate that led to the main royal abode of the diamond ranker, Biyo glanced at his two peers, both peak ranked golds on the verge of breaking through to diamond.

It had taken him a cumulative of 2 years of intensive delving with a team of silver rankers behind him as his delving team. The shortage of gold rankers in the kingdom was an issue he was hoping to resolve at the next reaping, with general Zortes and 3 other army commanders being the only other gold rankers in the kingdom command, it would be risky to commit the both of them to dungeon delving at a time hence why silver rankers were needed in a level 400-450 dungeon, the guilds were independent and hence couldn’t be counted upon.

The higher the ascension, the scarcer the dungeon on the planet, and any rumor of a gold ranked dungeon usually drew the forces of the kingdoms into a contest of battles. Mostly between the lower ranked bronze and silver ranked commanders, the gold ranked general commanders were too valuable hence the easier way to slug it out were through the disposable bronze rankers available.

The three kings had been stuck at the peak of gold rank for over a year, waiting for signs of a level 450-500 dungeon to manifest before engaging in battle, but Biyo knew whenever that happened, the battle would be different. This time even the gold rankers would be forced to engage in battle, for the first kingdom to have a diamond ranker would decide the political sphere of power for the next century or five. Biyo winced internally at the bloodshed that would entail the next reaping, the red dust continent would once again live up to its name.

The last consensus by the royal Azartes clan on rankers put the iron rankers at a staggering 10 million on the continent, 5 million bronze rankers, 500 thousand silver rankers and a simple 20 gold rankers on the continent. It was enough to leave the continent a bloodied mess by the end of the reaping. Alsius and Zahil, kings of the glowing sun and black blade kingdoms respectively were also hulking men, more muscles than fat despite their statuses. To be a king on the continent of red dust was to be ever vigilant against incursions from other kingdoms and the sacred monsters from the seas that surrounded them.

Alsius, king of the glowing sun kingdom was a man with bright yellow hair and a short beard. Dressed in golden armor with a gold tier staff at his side signifying him to be a mage, he followed the path the golden ember, a fire and light path. Zahil on the other hand was a lean dark eyed and bald man with a full beard in pitch black armor who was on the path of the black blade itself, and unlike the other two kingdoms whose names came from the continent and religion, Zahil named his kingdom after his path and family name.

Biyo was ever vigilant of the two of them, long had they warred over dungeons and the meager resources found on the continent. In their shortsightedness, they never thought to look outwards to the other continent of Vistea, the continent filled with lush forests and mountains, and if the rumors were true, a tier 400-500 dungeon.

“it’s quite the coincidence for a blight outbreak to occur this close to the reaping” Zahil said, eyeing Biyo who pointedly ignored his gaze,

“You might as well come out and say your mind Zahil, you were never known to be a coward” Biyo remarked,

“Now now, we can’t squabble before the emperor now, can we?” Alsius said while staring at the large black gates,

Of the three of them, Alsius was the one with the biggest territory and the biggest army, a point of pride and ego for the mage who was known as the illuminating terror. Biyo paid no heed to the goading of Zahil after that, despite all attempts to get him to talk falling on deaf ears. Suddenly the giant black gates swung open and they all fell to their knees, heads bowed in submission, a man in a black robe and golden sash walked out, arms folded behind him as they stared.

The man who stepped out was tall and with a lanky almost thin frame, a small beard and red eyes that smoldered like bright coals. He surveyed the kneeling kings with his gold rank aura that blazed out of him and spoke,

“Kings Biyo, Alsius and Zahil, hear my words, for they come from the emperor” he said as his voice echoed,

The three kings spoke together,

“The words of the emperor are laws, his will absolute”

The man folded his arms behind him and spoke,

“The reaping shall commence in three days’ time; the dungeon array shall be dropped and the dungeons forcibly broken open. In his magnanimity, the emperor shall disclose the location of a tier 500 dungeon, this is in honor of his breakthrough to the rank of master and the entirety of the royal family to diamond” the man said,

The three kings froze, unable to utter a single word at the message. The emperor Jager Azartes had broken through to the rank of master, the gap between them now infinitely cemented. Biyo reasoned he could come to terms with that later, for now he had to pay attention to the location of the tier 500 dungeon. The man continued,

“At the start of the reaping, dungeons will be broken at the respective ranks per day. The iron ranked dungeons, then the bronze, silver and finally gold, the location of the diamond ranked dungeon would be disclosed on the last day, during the gold dungeon outbreak. All kingdoms would simultaneously receive the location of the dungeon to enable fair play” the man said,

The kings bowed deeper,

“As regards the blight, have no fear, for the brigade overseer himself resides on the planet and continent of red dust, ready to respond at moment’s notice. Investigations are still going on as regards the involvement of the unnamed cult, that will be all” the man said and walked back through the black doors as it closed with a loud groan,

The kings stood up and with the speed of gold rank, left the island of Shadeland, preparations for event on their minds.

***********************

Moyo had slept like a dead body the moment they were given their quarters in the dauntless inn. The room, somehow spatially expanded was more akin to a living apartment than a typical room at an inn. The parchment had gotten the staffs of the inn treating them with utmost respect and waiting at their beck and call, Moyo was a bit irritated due to the way they fawned over them.

Ashira, already used to the lifestyle was able to handle the attention, drawing their presence from Moyo who was close to boiling over as the combination of sleep deprivation and hunger was beginning to slowly unravel his patience. Waking up sometime close to dusk, he sat up and stared for a minute, opening his vault in front of him to see all his belongings neatly arranged in rows of silver. Stepping into the vault, he noticed a few changes.

The floor was made of shining purple marble, the crest of clan titanblade displayed majestically in its entirety. The rows of belongings were arranged to the left while a new rack for weapons had been put up, dominion laying on a golden weapon holder in front of him. He grabbed his weapon, feeling the blade hum in delight and greeting at its wielder before placing it back. Turning to the only other weapon on the rack, the unnamed spear whose information was hidden from him.

He had picked the weapon with one person in mind, Annika. Her use of a spear had come to mind and with the imminent calamity about to befall his world, he figured it would be a gift for her, assuming she survived the calamity in the first place. Replacing it back to its spot, he walked out of his vault, closing it up to realize Ashira wasn’t in the room. Sitting on a soft chair made from the hide of a material he wasn’t familiar with, he brought up his HUD and picked the video recording option, pausing as he took a deep breath.

He had been running away from his duty for far too long, the talk he had with Ashira in the realm of Eogan had revealed as much. He was indeed fighting for his world, he was getting stronger in order to protect his world, that much was clear. However, if he began to ignore said world with the excuse of not wanting to influence events, someone else would do so, some other force would do so. Besides, it wasn’t like he was influencing the entirety of his world, just his domain and continent of Asa.

He had people back home who were his family, and he knew deep down they would do the same for him should they go on a journey. Rubbing his face wearily, he activated the video message as he gave a weak smile,

“Hello everyone…” he started,

***************

Ashira walked into the living quarters given to them by the delving guild to see Moyo sitting on a chair, lost in thought. He hadn’t reacted to her entry, his bulky frame taking up the entirety of the chair like a giant on a throne, too big to move, but Ashira knew better. The titan could move faster than his rank permitted, sometimes she wondered if he even knew how ludicrous his strength and endurance was for his rank or even for a swordsman.

He was a one-man siege army, and with the way his was ascending, Ashira was sure should he hit the inevitable rank of master, he would be a force unlike any other, ranking up there with the future monsters such as the burning ember of house Garuda and even Kenuran of house Dracon. She moved closer and saw him staring out the window where dust winds blew,

“a proclamation was made from the royal palace of the king” she said,

“I heard” he replied softly,

The whole kingdom had seen the bronze ranked messengers go to every ring, every quarter and every public spot, informing them of a royal decree from the king. The event known as the reaping would take place in three days’ time, every ascender who was interested in the event were to gather outside of the kingdom on the third day, when the dungeons would be broken and the array dropped. The entirety of the kingdom had been thrown into disarray at the news.

Those old enough to remember the last reaping had frowns on their face at the thought of the dark times, those not old enough to had eyes alit with fervor, blacksmiths selling weapons at an increased cost in preparation for the event, knowing it would only go higher from there. Ashira had shaken her head at the display, she had bought the items she went out for before proceeding back to the inn. Moyo sat up, glancing at her,

“This trip was supposed to be a peaceful one, just delving and fun, well, as much fun as you can get in the archailect” he said,

“Instead, we seem to be slowly entering another situation with the blight, brigade and the kingdom”

“You want no part of the reaping” she said,

“Left to me, I’d stick in this room till it’s over” he replied softly, staring at the ground,

“We could do that you know, just stay out of it in its entirety” she said as he glanced up at her,

Moyo sighed and relaxed back on the chair, closing his eyes,

“I wish I could, I honestly wish I could, but I’m not sure I could live with myself if lives were lost” he murmured,

“Lives are lost on a daily in the archailect, every minute some ascender feeds the spinning wheel of death and ascension in the archailect” she said,

“True, but would we get another chance at ascending like this?” he asked,

“before the tournament?, I doubt it. Besides, if we stay out of it, the investigators or quite possibly the brigade overseer on the planet might become suspicious of us” she said,

“You think they have eyes on us?” he asked,

“as the only witness of the blight incident?, I’d be surprised if they didn’t secretly consider us members of the unnamed cult” she replied,

“So, we participate then” he said,

“We do, and we do our bests to save lives and ascend” she replied.