Moyo could hardly remember the moment he entered the training ring; everything had become meshed together in an ever-brutal regiment of training. On and one he had repeated the same moves till the new movements of his dance of Sango etched itself into his very brain, repeating the moves without conscious effort. Then he had faced Kenuran without the bloodline ability, something the training ring could stimulate and had totally crushed the dragon to paste, his moves tearing precise blows into the reinforced bones of the dragon, crushing his body to messy pulps of gore and flesh.
Bloodline Kenuran was another matter entirely, even as Moyo strained his skills to the limit, diamond rank abilities moving in and out of the environment with mind jarring speed, dominion wreaking the environment as every swing carried enough gravity to crush a mountain to dust in an attempt to end the dragon. Kenuran was a dragon through and through, matching his attacks blow for blow, diverting fatal attacks in the last moment and taking the brunt of the less fatal one as he attempted to end the titan in equal measures.
Of the hundred and five fights they’ve had, Kenuran had won a staggering hundred, pushing into Moyo how deadly the bloodline ability of the dragons really was, four times he sacrificed his body parts to finally bring the dragon down. The match before this, Moyo had blanketed the area in intent blades, Ashe raging as he expended every iota of authority he had, unleashing his gravitational ability to warp and crush the environment, destabilizing the dragon before managing to get close enough to bury dominion straight into the mouth of the dragon himself, keenly being aware that he had the claws of the dragon digging deep into his stomach.
As the projection disappeared at its death, Moyo collapsed to the ground, dry heaving, his body shuddering. Master Skatha appeared, sitting on a boulder he hadn’t realized survived his battles, he shook his head, no, the boulder hadn’t been there before, she had conjured it. Sitting on the ground, he looked at her,
Impressive titan blade, at this rate unleashing you on other ascenders could be akin to unleashing a demon Skatha said,
Moyo shook his head softly,
“Not enough, I’m still not good enough” he replied,
Then you keep practicing, you keep pushing your boundaries, the only way to get stronger is to keep pushing she said,
He nodded,
“The rest of the team?” he asked,
Facing their own hurdles, as you should too, now get up, show me what you’ve learnt she asked,
Moyo obeyed, getting to his feet as he held dominion tightly. His aura blazed, his mantle locked onto his body, intent hummed in his blade, Ashe coated him, Digi Aye sneaked out of him in tendrils and gravity hung on his blade, coating it in copious amount the same way raw aether did. Skatha nodded,
Good, now move she ordered,
Moyo swung his blade and what piece of the field remained crumbled, Skatha actually whipping out her blade to clash with his, the mantle weapon fighting against the raw power of dominion, his blade affronted by the challenge to his strength hummed louder. Moyo broke the hold of the mantle blade Skatha wielded, taking the next step, repeating the same move in a blur as the first hadn’t broken her guard, she was a master after all.
The repeated move came crashing down the same way the first move had gone up, Skatha twirling her blade, reversing her grip with her pommel coming up to clash with the attack. Her guard broke, the attack shattering her hands as it continued down, jarring her armor mantle, Moyo continuing the attack, knowing full well she could still end him in a blink. Stepping into her guard, he drove dominion straight at her armor mantle, eyes blazing as Digi Aye leeched at the aether that fueled her mantle, tearing into its aura alike, taking large bites in an attempt to reduce the strength of the mantle by any means necessary.
His blade clashed with the mantle, Moyo growling the command,
“BREAK”
Authorities clashed, Moyo’s eyes widening at the strength of her authority, watching as Ashe battered furiously at it in vain, trying its best to crush it. He withdrew the blade and moved just as quick, ripping into the mantle again and again before it cracked, Skatha deflecting his blows intermittently. Her mantle broke, turning to sludge as it lost power, Moyo took advantage of this immediately, taking the next step and driving dominion in an upwards swing, aiming to take her head off as he dragged his gravity ability along with it.
Skatha used two fingers to stop the attack, dominion biting a few inches into her skin as a drop of blood pooled on dominion. She turned to the injury, even as she used two fingers to hold him in place,
Impressive, you’ve gotten stronger she said,
He banished dominion and bowed,
“All thanks to you” he replied,
Get up, time for the final bit of lesson I can impart on you she said,
Moyo stood straight, Skatha’s mantle suddenly appeared on her body, releasing a pulse of power. Moyo felt every ability he had leave his body, his mantle disappeared, his core was nonexistent, he couldn’t feel aether in the air, his realm dissipated to smoke and he felt all his attributes leave his body. He staggered, for the first time in over a year he felt weak, absurdly weak. He stared at the master in shock,
there might come a time young titan, when your powers might fail you, when all your might wouldn’t be enough to battle the unbeatable foe you could face, what do you do? She asked,
Moyo seemed lost for words, without his powers he was nothing, he was just some human, a weak one at that. He felt something in his grip, dominion, a warm presence that hummed faintly in his hand. Staring deeply at the weapon, he shook his hand, loosening some tension,
“I’d be a dead man in all practicality” he started, Skatha cocking her head to one side,
“From what I’ve seen of my time in the archailect, it doesn’t suffer the weak”
He brought dominion up, staring at its blade, gripping the hilt with his two hands and taking a stance, the stance of his dance of Sango,
“I refuse to be weak even in the face of death, I refuse to go down without swinging my blade, doing all I must to reduce the strength of the foe, so whoever comes after me realizes the brunt of the power I wielded” he said,
“I will advance, for the katana always advances, my blade would keep swinging till my arms fall off, the titan persists, the titan endures, the titan protects and my titan decimates” he completed,
He felt something echo inside him, like a realization and an inspiration, Skatha appeared in his front in a blink. With her authority she clamped down on that feeling, somehow locking it down within him, the euphoric feeling dissipating. He felt dizzy as he fell on his back, his sight finally reorienting itself,
Your path is astonishingly straightforward she said,
Moyo paused gathering his thoughts,
“Was that what I thought it was?” he asked,
A large step, the last of the steps you could take with your own ability, it’s been sealed in you, at least till the end of this tournament she replied,
“Master rank” he whispered, his voice in awe,
He had touched a feeling, his aspect of the titan close to blossoming at that moment. In that fraction of a moment, he had felt invisible, his authority rocksteady, his drive solid steel, and his blade a looming weapon of deadly cataclysm intended to finish his opponent in one swing. He giggled to himself, the titan at master would be something akin to a disaster, he shook his head, getting to his feet, the smile etched onto his face.
Dominion in front of him,
Come titan blade, show me the conviction that drove you to the precipice of master she ordered,
Moyo, with no shred of ability, with his ascensions stripped to weaker than a fledgling attacked with all the drive of the titan, his eyes alight at the newfound truth he had realized.
****************
Skatha didn’t feel an iota of pity as she smacked him around like a piece of paper, watching as he stood up back despite whatever punishment she dished his way. The titan was true to his name, or maybe he had lived too long as the titan that he felt no other choice than to keep getting back up she could never tell. Soon enough when he had passed out, his body dissolving into motes of light, Skatha finally opened the training ring.
She came out of her stasis pod, watching as the titan gasped back to life from his pod. She stepped up to him,
Calm your mind, meditate, the second round will begin soon enough she said,
“It’s been weeks in there, some time compressing ability?” he asked,
She nodded, leaving him on the ground with his legs folded, lotus style,
The rest would soon be done, for now, rest she ordered as she left, phasing away,
Moyo took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling his strength returned to him.
**********************
Ashira came out of her stasis pod the same moment the rest did, and the haunted but determined looks on their faces explained what they had gone through. Skatha was a hidden monster house thousand blades kept in their confines, it made her wonder just how many powerful individuals the house kept under wraps, waiting to be unleashed should the house be threatened by outside forces. The master had stripped her of all her abilities towards the end of her training, bringing back the same training master vardant had drilled into her in the halls of Kairos, instilling in her not to over-depend on her abilities.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
She clenched her fists, feeling her monstrous side rear its head in her core, the three-folded monster stretching to full strength in her core, coiled and ready to strike. With the help of master Skatha, she managed to increase the time duration of her bloodline transformation from five minutes to thirty minutes. while it might not had looked like much, in the duels of diamonds it was an eternity. They arranged themselves in a straight line, master Skatha turning to each of them, her gaze no doubt on them beneath her blank mask,
I have done all I can do in preparation for your next round, and the rounds after that, do not fail me she said,
They bowed as one,
“We thank the master for her time” they chorused,
Show me in the next round, now come, it’s time to convene she ordered,
They filed behind her, following her to the next set of training rings where she saw Moyo sitting on the ground, meditating. They all paused as they entered his vicinity, eyes wide as they stared at him,
The aura, the strength it exuded,
Ashira thought like she was staring down a giant, a titan, and she was nothing more than a speck of sand or an insect in its sight. The aura pushed on them, daring them to make so much as an offensive move and watch as it would crush them, Ashira glanced at master Skatha, wondering what the master had just unleashed on the archailect.
The feeling passed just as quickly as Moyo opened his eyes, his aura snapping away just quickly as it spread out, releasing them from its grip. He smiled at them, the rest watching him wearily,
“Hi guys, what’s wrong?” he asked, eyebrows scrunched up in confusion,
Ashira gave a weak chuckle, shaking her head, realizing he had no idea. She walked up to him,
“Nothing, training, guess you did yours privately?” she asked,
He nodded, getting up, Ashira somehow taking a step back as the block of muscles she was unashamedly and hopelessly in love with stretched his full frame. Instincts had her turning to stare at Raina who eyed the titan blade, her eyes wide, Ashira felt her monstrous side come to the forefront, Raina jerking as she felt the gaze of a monster on her.
The daughter of the stellar blade shrank away, coughing and looking away as Ashira’s baleful eyes stared into her,
Mine it seemed to say,
Moyo as usual was oblivious to all that was happening, and she was glad for that, embarrassment would have her turning beet red if he realized she was essentially marking her domain. Master Skatha clapped her hands, turning their attention to her,
You all have been trained to the best of abilities house thousand blades have to offer, your will and drive to win will be all that remains at this point, again, do not fail us she said,
They bowed as one in appreciation and by the time they looked up, she was gone, like she hadn’t existed,
A loud voice echoed around them,
“Honored diamonds, your valuable time is needed by the masters, the second round is upon us” it said,
“Well, let’s get going” Moyo said,
**********************************
The diamonds had stopped by for a quick word of encouragement from the masters before leaving in a shuttle for the stasis base floating in space. They had landed and walked to the same room reserved for house thousand blades. Settling into their pods, Moyo opened his eyes to see himself in a field, surrounded by the rest of the team,
“positions” he growled,
The team moved, realms interweaving with each other to cover all angles, watching for foes unseen. They all looked up to see a large construct in the shape of a flat circular device floating in the air,
“Ascenders, welcome to the second stage of the tournament, the round of 32” it started,
“As you all are no doubt aware, orbs will be deposited randomly around this island, yes, an island, reducing the size of the area and ensuring you all at one point or the other run into each other quickly. A total of 32 orbs will be dropped for the 64 ascenders on this island, once you have an orb, pour your intent in it and vanish from the island successfully, those without orbs will be disqualified at the end of the stage, good luck” it finished as it glowed and disappeared,
In its place was a white orb, glowing in the light,
“Wait, too easy” Moyo whispered, the rest nodding,
The rest knew fully well the mad rush for the orbs would begin, and soon enough a storm razor had thought it wise to conjure a storm around the orb in an attempt to get it first. The female razor had come under attack from all sides simultaneously, essentially erasing her from existence just as quickly as she had appeared. Moyo winced at the fate of the diamond, watching as the skies above became a maelstrom of attacks as diamonds from all factions except theirs clashed.
Then the orbs began appearing in beams of light all over the island,
“Farthest northern orb, go!” he shouted, the entire team blazing towards that point,
They had their strategy, giving whatever orbs they got to those who couldn’t handle the heat of multiple battles at once. They arrived at the spot where a lights bane ascender had arrived almost immediately, eyes wide as he saw them coming and drawing his blade in defiance. A very wrong move, as one the diamonds unleashed their attacks, wiping the diamond from existence just as quickly as he drew his blade. Raina picked the orb, pouring intent into it,
“Good luck guys, don’t die” she said as she disappeared in a lance of light,
They moved immediately, lances of light signaling diamonds leaving the island even as attacks and intents ravaged the island. Moyo deflected the attack of a storm razor before crushing both his mantle, blade and body in one swing of his blade, the rest of the razors wisely fleeing. His eyes searched the field for Kenuran, spotting the flames of the Dracons clashing with those of the Garuda, his mind warring with him to go interfere,
“We can come back for the dragons, the orbs take precedence” Alvar shouted,
Moyo nodded, forcing his mind from the battle that raged in that direction and towards the next orb. A jackal fought with another lights bane, the both of them dueling hard and fast seeing as two orbs floated next to them. Moyo blanketed the are in his realm, restricting the lights bane whose eyes widened too late, the blade of the jackal cleanly taking his head off. The jackal took one orb, bowing,
“House jackal thanks you” he responded before disappearing in a lance of light,
Lothar took the orb next,
“See you on the other side” he rumbled, disappearing also in a lance of light,
Immediately they came under attack, storm-intent blades blanketing the area they currently stood on. Moyo calmly deflected the attacks, Ashira growing as she swung talon, green toxic intent ripping the forests around them to shreds. Alvar blazed to life, a literal sun behind him,
“BURN” he commanded,
Lances of burning light speared through the tree lines, ripping and lighting the torn trees into flames. Storm razors, light banes and Draconians poured out of the tree lines, all converging on their position. A loud roar broke out of the tree line in the distance, lady Sonya and Kenuran dueling it out in the air, both in their bloodline forms, Ulsa with all the conjured power of the frost traded blows with another dragon with green flames.
Moyo geared himself into real combat, mantle locked in place, Ashe blazing as it coated his body, gravity clinging to his blade and raw aether trailing along,
“Break them” he growled,
His team all too happily laid the brutality of their training into the incoming ascenders, realizing just how brutal Skatha’s training had been on them. Moyo kept wreaking ascenders with one blow of his blade, effortlessly moving through them like a boulder rolling down from a hill. All at once, the remaining orbs dropped into their position, seeing as the rest of the ascenders had converged in the same location.
A mad scramble ensued, ascenders forgetting feuds as they fought with renewed efforts for the orbs. Moyo crushed ascenders around an orb, throwing it to Alvar and shrugging off attacks that sparked off his draconian skin and mantle. Alvar disappeared in a lance of light, followed by Curtis and Ulsa who acquired orbs also. Then the Draconians began disappearing in lances of light also, the storm razors and lights bane trying to hold back the Garudas and pure blades from acquiring orbs.
Moyo and Ashira had stridden into the midst of the battle, already with orbs they had kept, they helped the Garudas and pure blades acquire orbs also. Kenuran roared in the air, grabbing Moyo’s attention as the dragon blanketed the entire area in dragon flames, Moyo growled, pitting his aura and authority against the roiling flames that threatened to consume everyone and everything except the orbs.
Sonya blazed to life, her phoenix and Garuda aura blazing behind Kenuran as conjured flaming quills took shape behind Kenuran who had to turn back with a snarl at the ember lady that sought to hold him down. Ashira snapped the neck of the storm razor,
“Go for the dragon, I’ll hold things here!” she shouted,
He blasted off towards Kenuran, Ashe coating his body, gravity and aether coating his blade as he made a straight line at Kenuran with all the rage he had infused into the blade. Kenuran simply conjured what looked like a flame runic shield to intercept Moyo. He broke through the rune shield as Kenuran whipped his head to him in alarm, dominion moving through the first steps of the dance of Sango, the blade looking like it was destined to end the dragon for good.
Kenuran dodged in the last minute, Moyo’s eyes following his speed effortlessly, turning in a blink to bring his blade down, attempting to end the dragon with a downward swing. Kenuran roared, his aura pushing Moyo ad Sonya from his vicinity, a lance of light indicated the last dragon had left the field, leaving a few storm razors and lights bane against Ashira. Kenuran growled as an orb appeared in his hand,
“Till the next round titan” he growled as Moyo cursed, swinging dominion with all his ability, hoping to end the dragon before he activated the orb. Kenuran sacrificed one arm, a grin on his face even as the arm exploded in a shower of bones and gore, the dragon disappearing in a lance of light also.
Moyo took out his rage on the opposing diamonds left, one light bane managing to escape with another storm razor. With the three orbs left on the field, Moyo took one, as did Ashira and Sonya, the ember lady eyeing them,
“We came close to eliminating a vital piece on their board, many thanks for your help, a good number of my ascenders have managed to move on to the next round” Sonya said,
Moyo merely nodded, too tense to speak, Ashira doing all the talking. Sonya left also in a lance of light, Ashira turned to Moyo who clenched his fists tight, he had come close, so close to ending the dragon, even if it was a fake body. she placed a hand on his shoulder,
“soon” she promised,
He nodded and poured intent into the orb, a white beam of light covering him as they both of them exited the island and back into the pod. He opened his eyes in the stasis room, exiting the pod to find only he and Ashira left, she turned to him,
“Come on, let’s go find out what the next round would entail” she said,
With a sigh he nodded, walking out of the room and heading to their ship where Alvar, Raina, and Lothar awaited them,
“So?” Raina asked,
Ashira snorted,
“Please, like we’d lose in the round of 32” she said with a smile,
The rest chuckled, mood elevated as they left the stasis base and made their way back to the ship of the patriarch. Making their way through the ship as ascenders once again bowed, shouts and claps trailing them as they made their way to the masters. Master Duval sounded cheery, Killian beaming with a smile and master Ajax happily pocketing diamond coins, Moyo shaking his head. Master Duval brought them to order,
“Congratulations on your absolute victory, your performances exceeded expectations, and the patriarch is more than pleased” he said,
The diamonds beamed, Inge and Gisela entering the room and smiling at them,
“The next round?’ Moyo asked impatiently,
“Well, someone’s in a mood to fight” Ajax said, a coy smile on his face,
“In due time, we await a message from clan true blade” Killian said,
Moyo nodded,
“Why?” he asked,
“What?” master Duval asked, everyone turning to Moyo,
“why hasn’t Kenuran activated the authority of the ruler?, why play these pointless games when he has overpowering ability?” he asked,
The issue had been itching him at the back of his mind for a while now,
“Because if I guess right, he can only use it once in battle, a diamond wielding the authority of a ruler would literally explode in minutes” Ajax said,
Coming from an emissary of a ruler, Moyo had no reason to doubt his words, he folded his hands as he turned back to the masters,
“So we have to push him to the extreme?” he asked,
“Precisely,” master Killian said,
Moyo smiled, a most devilish smile that had Ashira and master Killian sighing, both startled at the synchronicity and glancing at each other,
“you’ve been a bad influence on him Ajax” Killian said,
“No I have not, such insult!” Ajax protested,
Ashira rolled her eyes as Moyo protested also, master Duval cleared his throat, drawing all attention back to him,
“More notably is the next round starts the versus matches, also, it’s the start of the calamity for the new galaxies absorbed by the archailect” he said,
All eyes turned to Moyo,
“My galaxy’ he said as master Duval nodded,
“After the first match, the calamity would be unleashed” master Duval replied,
“Will the matches be shown all over the archailect?’ Moyo asked again,
“It will” master Ajax replied, eyes gleaming as he knew where Moyo was taking this discussion towards,
Moyo nodded,
“Good, I want my world to view it, I intend to send a message to them and to the archailect in general” he said, his eyes blazing.