The streets of Arundu, capital of Emberos, were packed with spectators from all over the planet.

Just over a month ago, the Crow’s Nest had made an announcement: a warrior had chosen to challenge one of the Crow’s Nest’s four champions—beings who were so famous and respected that they were simply addressed and recognized by their titles, rather than their names.

The Warrior, The Spear, The Storm, and The Mountain.

The one who had been challenged was The Storm, an archer whose name came from his style of archery. Unlike most archers, who shot their arrows directly at their targets, The Storm shot his arrows into the sky and allowed them to fall upon his enemies from far above. This, combined with his ability to fire countless arrows at a moment’s notice, had made it possible for him to climb the ranks of the Crow’s Nest.

But of course, this by itself wouldn’t be enough for him to be as feared an archer as he was. After all, even a simple soldier could raise a shield to protect himself from arrows. No, the reason for his reputation and status as one of the champions of the Crow’s Nest, was his innate talent.

He could attach his aura to objects, and the further from himself those objects were, the larger they became. Of course, the aura would quickly fade away—it wasn’t as the projectiles could grow infinitely.

Still, with the assistance of his spectacular Crow’s Mark, The Storm was able to fire several hundred arrows a minute, and by the time they reached their apex in the sky, each arrow was several feet long and were more like javelins than arrows.

Even the strongest shieldbearer would crumble under a barrage of such large projectiles.

Banners were hung from every balcony and roof of the city to promote and celebrate the duel, and straw statues of each contestant stood tall outside the entrance to the Crow’s Nest.

One statue was of a lean, handsome man, tightly gripping a drawn bow in front of him.

On the other side was a similarly lean human form wrapped in nondescript black cloth, without a single defining feature to be seen.

Kandy nervously paced about his room at the Crow’s Nest. Apparently, some people were supposed to come to his room and escort him to the stadium’s entrance, where some sort of pre-duel ceremony would be held.

He’d never really been one for crowds, and as the son of a mountain bandit he’d already felt rather claustrophobic with the sheer number of people he saw every day, even on days he didn’t head into the arenas to fight.

As such, on his non-combat days, he’d developed a habit of either staying in his giant room to train his spearmanship, or climbing out of the window to the top of the stadium to take in the view.

It had become a place of solace for him—until the previous night.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding from me.”

Kandy, who’d been seated at the very top of the crow’s nest, had flinched as he heard the familiar voice. Normally he would have had his mana spread out as Beth had instructed, to remain aware of his surroundings from all angles.

But given how far the top of the Crow’s Nest was from everything else, he’d retracted his mana—a mistake, clearly.

Finally cornered by Jabari, Kandy and he had a long chat. Or rather, Jabari had done the talking.

Kandy, for the fiftieth time since the previous night, cursed Jabari’s name, his own luck for landing on the planet in an area so close to where Jabari had been, and Karasu for sending him to this godforsaken planet in the first place.

Then, his thoughts turned to the beautiful girl he and Jabari had met in the holy land however many weeks prior.

His fists tightened. As long as he won this battle, he would be able to see her again—without Jabari.

Several knocks sounded from the door, and a deferential voice spoke, “Honorable fighter, it is time for the ceremony to begin. I am here to escort you.”

Kandy sprinted to the door and swung it open. With adrenaline surging through his body and resolve in his heart, he marched through and past the attendant.

“Then let’s go!”

The two made their way through some back corridors, only available to those who’d made it to the third ring of the arena.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Remember, Spear. All you have to do is stand on your spot and look…fierce.” The attendant glanced at Kandy. Although he didn’t dare to actually do so in the presence of a warrior who could end his life as easily as he breathed, inside his mind he couldn’t help but snort with derision.

If there was a scale as to how scary and imposing a fighter’s appearance was, this “Spear” was at the lowest end of the scale.

“Have you ever seen the champion’s arena before?” the attendant asked.

“Not really.” Kandy couldn’t bring himself to say that he’d seen it, but only from high above. After all, he was rather sure that he wasn’t supposed to have been climbing and snooping about.

Thankfully, the attendant didn’t seem to mind Kandy’s awkward answer and continued on, “It’s quite the view, just don’t let it affect your mentality. If you let yourself get caught up in the scale of the stadium, you’ll most likely die immediately.”

“Is that something that often happens?” Kandy asked.

The attendant nodded. “Particularly against The Storm. After all, he has the attack range to kill you the moment the duel begins.”

“You will have some time for prayer. If you are not a devout servant of the Crow God, then I would advise you to ask for forgiveness.”

Kandy was sure that he would not pray—on the contrary, he thought about only two words.

Fuck Karasu.

***

After nearly twenty minutes of walking down hallways and staircases, the two arrived in a hidden lobby, which was almost completely empty. The cheering from the countless masses just beyond the doors reverberated and echoed off the lobby walls.

Kandy and his attendant stopped in front of the large doors leading into the arena. When he eyed the only two other people in the lobby he noticed one was dressed exactly the same as his own attendant, which made the other person—

“Hello there. I’m The Storm.” The other man raised his bow to the other side of his chest in a sort of salute.

Kandy waved and his spear appeared in his hand. He copied the salute with his own weapon as a sign of respect for his foe.

Doing so prompted a confident but appreciative grin to spread across The Storm’s face.

Before they could communicate any further though, the doors swung open and the cacophony that had been at a manageable volume just a moment prior, turned into an earth-shattering wall of noise.

Kandy tried to smile, only to remember that his face was covered—not that it really mattered, as his face muscles were petrified.

He looked to the left, only to see that his opponent had already stepped forward and raised his bow, causing the spectating crowd to impossibly cheer even louder than before.

The attendant behind him discreetly tapped Kandy on the shoulder, clearly signaling for him to move forward.

With stiff movements, Kandy stepped through the entranceway and out onto a platform that had been erected inside the stadium. The stands were filled with countless spectators, and even the arena’s surface was filled to the brim with cheering admirers.

He noticed more straw statues of himself and his opponent, positioned on either side of the platform, as well as an enormous black basin that took up much of the front of the stage.

There were drummers, four on each side of the stage, who played an intense beat that caused Kandy to start shifting from side to side without even really thinking about it.

This motion was reflected in the audience, who began to shift back and forth in a wave-like manner. From the far left, an old man flanked by several warriors clad in uniform armor branded with symbols of the black crow slowly made his way through the crowd towards the stage.

The crowd, as packed as it was, parted smoothly as the old man approached, though Kandy wasn’t sure whether it was because of fear that they would be skewed by the guards, or out of respect.

Perhaps it was both.

It took an eternity, but the old man eventually made it to his designated position on the stage, directly behind the basin.

Once there, the guards stood in a semi-circle behind the old man and pounded the butts of their spears on the stage until the surrounding crowd quietened to complete silence—no easy feat indeed.

The elder raised and spread his arms to symbolically encompass the basin. “Fellow devoted servants of the Crow God, we are blessed on this day, as two of His strongest servants have chosen to do battle in his honor!

“You all know The Storm! He has been a proud champion of the Crow’s Nest for over a decade now, and he has yet to lose a single battle since his one and only loss back when he was still a child fighting in the first ring!”

The Storm stepped forward and shouted, “For the Crow God!”

“For the Crow God!” The crowd collectively roared in response.

“The Spear! The recent rising star has defeated foe after foe, and nobody knows just how strong he is! Will he be the one to finally dethrone a champion?!”

Kandy hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and swung his spear over his shoulders propping his hands on opposite ends of it.

It was a very cocky pose, one that drew boos from the crowd and an extended stare from the elder.

Still, those in charge of the ceremony did not allow this to taint the event and forged on.

From behind Kandy and The Storm, a boy stepped out carrying a torch lit with black flame.

The child strode with solemn steps—clearly, he’d been trained well for this role.

Eventually, he stopped next to the elder and offered up the torch.

With a single motion, the elder took the torch from the boy and threw it into the basin, lighting the entire construct up with flames that soared well over a dozen feet into the air.

Kandy felt a slight tug on his elbow and turned to see his attendant. “It’s time.”