Upon reaching the Captain's quarters the giant wide door before them slid open to reveal Aaron standing in silence with two hands behind his back watching the view of the cosmos before him and the incoming visitors of all types whom were alerted to the ship's presence.
Each of them walked inside and stood respectfully side by side with their familiars in silence while they wait for the Captain to turn his attention towards them, that was until Emrys casually spoke out.
"You called for us Captain?"
Aaron turned around halfway to meet them and his gaze was specifically stuck on the lion standing beside Emrys for a few seconds, he turned back to the view of space before him and motioned a hand for them to take a seat.
The children complied and sat down on four seats to the left of them, silence passed in the room for a few more seconds until Aaron finally turned around fully to face them seemingly now ready to explain for what reason they had been called here.
"Why do all of you have your familiars summoned" he suddenly asked.
Seeing that none of them were obliging to answer his question he gently nod his head "hm, release them".
The children complied with the captains request and pulled their familiars back in, none noticed it but Aaron showed a sign of relief after.
"Well you have not been called for something serious, just a little heads up".
"This realm is where you and the rest of your peers shall be staying for the there months of time you have left".
They all seemed a bit surprised but quickly accepting of the announcement.
"One mage shall be in charge of you three and this realm to make sure no irreparable accidents occur, it will be the same for the rest of your peers following the conclusions reached with my fellow Captains".
"As preparations have already been made in advance in regards to time you will not be given the fortune of cheating any further than you already are privileged to do compared to the unlucky most so do not think of slacking off".
"Do you understand?".
They nod softly in unison and Aaron heaved a small sigh as he got up and returned to watching the vastness before him, his ship and that of the other two captains were already surrounded by the home inhabitants of the realm.
A little smirk tugged at his lips as he turned to the kids "the 'world' with the strongest base will be imprinted into your minds, be careful with it as that will be the final verification procedure to know if you succeeded in the end".
"I bid youfarewelll".
The kids were given no chance to do anything before they suddenly found themselves teleported outside the ship along with their familiars. It was then that they realized the ship had been surrounded and even more trouble arrived when the ship was once again covered by those familiar mana circuits before performing a jump.
"Ah" they all realised.
Looking at the beings surrounding them it was obvious they were on edge, it seems whatever power it was they possessed also allowed them to work around the limitations of space a bit as they could hear their yelling loud and clear but could not understand anything at all, the different tongues they all seemed to be speaking did not help either.
They all thought of a way to circumvent this but these beings were clearly far too on edge that it might lead to an instant retaliation, but then again the longer they remained silent and unmoving the closer they got to that point so it was decided.
It all just happened in a flash before their eyes, one second they all were fine and yelling for the invaders to state their purpose and the next a bunch of them all suddenly slumped over with dead eyes bleeding out and their mouths left hanging open.
It was instant pandemonium, an array of attack came flying towards them and flew a safe distance away to dodge it on instinct except for Sarang who simply stood still and let everything they threw at him connect fair and square leaving his attackers with their eyes wife open when they saw it having no effect on him.
The space was largely distorted and unstable around him due to the level of power behind the attacks and both Emrys and Shen looked on with a flame of curiosity ablaze in their gazes, the attacks posed no threat to them but neither of them would prefer getting hit by something if they could prevent it as per the natural instinct of a mage.
Out of nowhere Sarang started laughing, his laugh deep and booming as a roar was like a shockwave and it destroyed everything and everyone all around him leaving only a few barely surving a laugh which had no destructive power infused into it.
"Noisy" whispered Noctis.
"That fool" Emrys and Shen spoke simultaneously with annoyance clearly present in their tones at how little control Sarang was displaying already, they could tell the mages were interfering behind the scene else so much more terrible damage would have been caused by the careless beastman.
Upon opening his eyes after calming himself down Sarang looked surprised at the sight of carnage before him, he had only just found their attacks amusing therefore he laughed but this was not his intention at all.
The survivors of his devastating laugh now completely out of their minds attacked once again this time with a ferocity so much greater than the last time. It was as if the space had been locked down by something as they found themselves unable to move, followed by a small tiny feeling tugging at their body like it wanted to pull it apart right from their very cells which was also accompanied by a deep violet condensed sphere of power surrounding the entire space slowly eating at everything both space and matter as it all faded away.
But to their surprise once again the sphere shattered to pieces the moment Emrys snapped his fingers releasing a small mana pulse that was the weakest he could currently manage, the more he experienced their abilities the more intrigued he became.
With the interference from the mages once again the space was restored although the inhabitants did not know that and assumed it to be a working of theirs.
But the moments of being unbothered by everything thrown at them came to a quick halt the moment all got sent flying out of nowhere which confused them, it didn't hurt but it was very much unexpected and it happened again and again.
The fact neither could sense when and how the person hitting them moved made them think of teleportation first but even with that it would still be too slow for their senses not to catch anything which only brought them to one final conclusion, time.
'Annoying' all thought simultaneously.
It continued happening for a bit and it seemed the one with the ability over time could also allow their attackers move in it as multiple abilities kept hitting them out of nowhere all of a sudden.
But something suddenly happened that surprised even the kids, time had been frozen once again but this time their consciousness and eyes was unaffected and they could see clearly the one who had this power as well as the barrage of attacks being thrown at them before suddenly releasing them.
Their bodies were adapting to time slowly but surely, it might be attributed to the fact the stream of time that flows here is incomparably weaker compared to their home realm which made it so much easier but it gave the kids a new idea, formerly they had been planning of forcefully taking advantage of this realm's weaker time to break out of this predicament but a much more of a tame solution had presented itself before them.
But it seemed they weren't all thinking the same thing, they sensed danger the moment Sarang's mana began boiling beneath the surface signaling that he was about to do something stupid as just a sliver of that leaking outwards would be devastating beyond belief.
'STOP!!' Noctis and Shen yelled into his mind.
'No! Don't even start with me, I'm blowing these annoying bugs to bits' he retorted in anger.
'And have you destroying our chance to learn along with them? Like hell' -Shen.
'If you release even a sliver of that mana I swear to you that you will die by my hands and I will not care what punishment I am served afterwards by the Emperor' -Noctis.
'Just hold on a little longer, soon enough our bodies will completely adapt to that power and it will be over then'.
'Make sure to control yourself still and do not kill them all, they were not wrong to attack us as we are the invaders still'.
It seemed their words had managed to get through to him, Sarang quelled his boiling mana and opted to wait a little longer for the adaptation process to be completed.
Lo and behold as their wait was not to be a long one, the moment it happened they just knew and it seemed their senses had been opened to a whole new world they had never experienced before. Almost immediately the retaliation began, Sarang caught the hands of the one with the power over time scaring him out of his wits and causing the rest to be frozen in shock as neither comprehend how they were moving in frozen time without his authority.
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Sarang bared his fangs showing a dangerous and terrifying bone chilling smile and every bit of his being was screaming at him to run! Run with everything he's got and more but it was too late, the beastman put his fist through the poor being's chest and twisted his hand around the gaping hole then pulling his hand out to punch right through his abdomen this time repeating the same process of twisting it around.
Sarang's eyes never left that of his prey, he watched intently with a sadistic grin on his face seeing the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and despair, pain and disbelief.
Those eyes watched as the beastman opened his mouth and chomped down on his head taking it off in one bit and throwing his body away the side like trash, a wonderful feeling washed through his body and it was electric!
Sarang closed his eyes, savoring feeling a bit longer as he slowly crushed the head in his jaws and gulped it down. Finally coming to their senses having witnessed the carnivorous sight that had just played out before them they came to one conclusion, they could not win and they could not run, this was their hell and nothing was going to save them from it.
What carried on after this was just a methodical execution of lobotomized pigs, most got destroyed and the rest were taken by Emrys and Shen, Noctis remained the bystander for most of all this and Sarang simply turned his attention to somewhere else where the rest of his peers could be felt many light years away.
"I wonder how things are going over there" he asked absentmindedly.
He decided to fly himself towards them to receive the answers, the flight was a very short one and it was surprising sight that greet him.
Mordred was focused on trying to contain the red dragon Ishmael sedated in the illusion he had cast upon him without causing any irreparable damage to the realm and it seemed to be no easy feat meanwhile Rozaria, Avistro and Velkos all quietly watched from the sidelines.
From the heavy disturbance he was feeling from the area and the carnage laid bare before him he could imagine what had happened here leading to Ishmael's current predicament. Once Mordred had succeeded in sedating him Avistro used his natural command over space without the need for mana to lock Ishmael inside a cube prison, now with their task completed they finally turned their attention towards Sarang.
"What are you doing here" questioned Mordred.
Sarang raised a brow at his tone wondering where the hostility was coming from, nevertheless he answered in honest.
"Was just curious on how you were handling things and if you had experienced the same thing we did".
Rozaria's curious nature got the best of her at that last part as she couldn't help asking what he meant.
"Did you know we could adapt to gain immunity to something if used enough times against us?".
"One of the bugs had control over time and-
"Wait, one had the power of time?" Avistro interrupted.
"Where is it, the one with the control over time".
"Ah, I ate him" Sarang confessed.
Avistro's heart nearly skipped a beat hearing that as neither he nor his teammates could believe it.
"Oh".
Avistro sighed and just sift through space before his eyes, the others shrugged and just left in different directions leaving just Sarang and the sedated Ishmael locked in the box alone there.
"Hm".
Then a second later he too was gone, everyone had simply gone their separate ways either to begin their training or for a different purpose ranging from harmless exploration to experimentation for some and just like that a month of their time had passed.
On a distant planet seated on opposite sides were Avistro and Shen playing a game of chess with one another, their seats were made of earth and the board of wood. The platform it rested on was made of earth and it's pieces were made of black obsidian and marble.
A little distance away was an active volcano which Ishmael currently was taking a bath in under the watchful eye of a golem made to jolt him back awake the moment he shows signs of slipping into hibernation once again.
And there was Velkos standing alone atop a mountain peak overlooking the horizon, Sarang and Bahu were off again for one of their little spars while Mordred and Mavion hung upside down from a tree chatting away.
To a different side was Selene resting on the legs of Zirsto while he played a gentle tune which reached every part of the planet and then there was a bored Rozaria casting some curses repeatedly on a tired and defeated Noctis but it all just kept breaking apart not even by his own will but as a by-effect of his own nature.
"I hate you" she uttered in a low tone full of spite.
"I hate you too, if only you could die".
Another amazing discovery they had come across on this trip was the fact every last one of them were undoubtedly immortal and frustratingly so for some people, if one were to ask what all of them were doing here on this planet instead of training then the answer would be because they had achieved what they wanted.
Avistro and Noctis to everyone's knowledge at the moment finished theirs the fastest only taking a full day, Rozaria took two, Shen took three tying with Selene, Velkos and Mordred four, Zirsto six, Ishmael took eight days, Mavion took nine, Bahu and Sarang took twleve days.
The mages themselves could not believe it when it happened, everything seemed so pointless and stupid all of a sudden because it seemed that they had severly underestimated the potential of what it meant to be one destined to become gods, three months was the peak to be the absolute peak of absurdity to them given what they were to achieve and how they thought it would play out within that timeframe but what was the point now.
They could not return any earlier, the time was three months with no room for reconsideration at the end and yet just a bit more than a week was all it took at the end, it was a complete and utter defeat.
At some point during the second week they all crossed paths and by the third they all come to know one another very well, by the fourth this was the result of it all when they had realized they had two more months of waiting before they were to return home.
But then there was the case of Emrys who was still currently missing, in fact no one had seen or felt him since they all decided to split up a month ago, not even Avistro who's senses were currently the most advanced of everyone present. But they didn't care much, none here could call themselves friends with him nor claim to know him so life simply just moved on.
"Checkmate".
Shen clicked his tongue "what's the tally now".
"Hm, mine would be 11 wins, 17 draws and 8 losses".
"That would of course make yours be 8 wins, 17 draws and 11 games lost".
Both reached out shook hands with each other-
"Good game"
"Mhm".
Both then leaned back into their seats and sighed, the feeling of having nothing better to do was a most draining one mentally, all of a sudden Sarang came flying in like a meteor into their midst and causing a big ruckus which startled Selene awake.
The beastman groaned and looked up at the annoyed gazes pouring down on him from all sides, he chuckled and flew out of the crater coming face to face with Bahu.
"What was that thing you used".
"A new skill I'm developing, a more advanced version of basic reflection"
"But I won't tell you all the details yet, if we meet in the tournament then you'll get to experience it's complete form".
Sarang shrugged "I hope so, destroying that thing would be fun".
A ball of water was suddenly summoned over their heads which splashed all over them, they both sighed and apologized to Selene for the disturbance caused of which she simply just smiled and went back to sleep.
Rozaria got tired of pestering Noctis to his great relief and flew up into space to attend some other matters as did Shen just a bit later and Avistro simply returned to doing some more mental training.
And like that it became their new routine for the next month with little changes here and there, but the final month was the period most discovered their muses to obsess over.
Noctis found his love for training and romance novels during a casual visit to one of the civilized worlds of which he then 'borrowed' in stock to be kept inside his spatial ring, Bahu found gymnastics true to his elven instincts even if a dark anomaly.
Selene's muse was the most surprising as she found gambling which quickly became an addiction and a cause for worry of which everyone tried their best to wean her off it and successfully managing to do so though not completely, her new hobby for going on long strolls and the deep added a much needed helping hand in bringing a healthy balance.
Mavion found his love for blacksmithing courtesy of his dwarven half, Bahu and Sarang remained regular sparring partners like the brutes they were and Zirsto just kept playing all day everyday for nature and his friends.
Mordred found his love for suits and playing the piano while also taking up singing sometimes though not quite the best in that area relatively speaking, Avistro already loved training but he had come to love it a whole lot more.
Ishmael almost never left his larva bath and would be far into the process of hibernation if it were not for the golem still doing it's job of keeping him awake, Velkos remained the silent brooding one most of the time and kept going up to watch the horizon at random times.
"Is no one really curious now where the last guy went?" announced Sarang out of nowhere.
"I mean it's been nearly three months and none of us have been able to feel or see him, this realm is a pretty small one and it should not be possible to leave as i have tried and the mages won't allow it".
"You tried leaving?" Selene asked and he nod.
"In the earliest stages of our stay, the feeling of living in a glass house was a bit too suffocating but that's beside the point".
He pointed towards Avistro and asked "does it not bother you a bit that he's been able to ignore even your senses for this long?".
"You brag enough about how pretty much nothing is able to hide from or surprise you and yet that guy has been doing it for three months without fail".
Avistro raised a brow "so is that how you want to play it".
"Okay then, I will find the guy though I have no idea why you worry so much about him".
"It's not worry" Sarang retorted.
"It's just....something too glaring to ignore like you guys pretend it is".
"Mhm-hm, and what happens when I find him them, what good will this information do for us".
Sarang shrugged "I don't know, just satisfaction we've found one of our own I guess?".
Avistro's look turned a bit serious "He is not one of 'us', he's a perfect stranger just like we all were to each other at the beginning".
Sarang sighed "I don't know why you seem so aggressive when speaking of him".
"Wait I'm-I'm the one who's being aggressive about him? Seriously is no one going to back me up here".
"I agree with you..."
Everyone's eyes and mouth were wide open in shock-
"By the goddess it speaks!" Exclaimed Rozaria.
Almost immediately it was like they could feel him shrinking back into his shell of silence and panicked.
"No no no no we didn't mean that in a wrong way".
"We?" -Mordred
"Shut up. Ahh you see, he's gone back now" she sighed.
"What a pleasant voice he has, the complete opposite of Noctis".
He raised his head up from his book and looked around wondering what he had done to warrant the sudden stray bullet.
"Do you....like me or something?" He asked utterly confused.
Rozaria froze for a moment then her face morphed into a look of pure pity "those romance novels are turning you delusional".
"And I pray dearly that i am being delusional just this one time, also leave the book out of it".
Sighs were heard from everyone around them-
"Geez, either way are you going to try finding him now" Sarang returned his attention back to Avistro who gave him a stern look before resigning himself to do what he asked.
He heightened the limits of his senses from it's passive state and the further he went the more worried he became, soon enough he reached the limits of what he could do for now and yet had picked up not the slightest hint on where Emrys could be.
But then the strangest thing happened, his senses were telling him that right now he was being watched very intently by something but could not pinpoint it's location at all, then to his amazement a gigantic eye opened up right before him.
Sarang noticed the surprised and uneasy look in his eyes and asked "what is it? Did you find him".
Avistro looked to and fro between Sarang and the eye opened before him, it seemed not even the others could see it too.
"There's something-
Before he could finish the eye closed and a small ball of darkness was summoned in their midst of which all immediately sensed this time, the ball grew and slowly took on a humanoid form before fading away to reveal the form of Emrys in the flesh.
"Hm".
EnD.