The next morning, Darian was laughing as they sat in the front room. He just found out, from Lakshman, what he had used yesterday so that Rumble passed right through him.

“An Afterimage technique? You mastered that as well? Haha! I’m impressed!” Darian said as he grinned.

“Thanks, but it took me so much effort to master. It’s like everything else I trained for, including the ability to fly,” Lakshman said with a sigh.

 Wolfenstine chuckled and said “It had to do with a lot of manipulation, right? Maybe you’ll tell me in more detail later for my research.”

“Sure, but what’s the experiment you’re working on, Wolfenstine?”

Wolfenstine grinned and said “It’s about the performance of a doll. It will look like a normal doll that’s human sized and all. Then you simply place a stand of your hair on it and it will transform to look like you. Then it will do things you ask it to and so forth.”

“Oh! That sounds cool!” Lakshman said in amazement.

Wolfenstine nodded importantly and said “I know, right? It’s going to so useful in the future. I can feel it!”

Darian snorted and said “What I can feel is the crazy experiments you’re going to conduct in the future!”

“Hey! I’m doing a lot better you, thank you very much!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m doing much better than you... as a Sword King!”

“Ooh ooh ooh!”

Just then, a brown skinned monkey got on top of Lakshman’s head. It was waving its fist at Wolfenstine while making noises. Lakshman looked up at the money in surprise.

“Mumble? What are you doing? Turn back into Rumble!” Lakshman said, but Mumble shook his head.

“Ooh ooh eee eee ooh ooh!”

“He’s saying he’s tired,” Darian said when Lakshman looked confused. Then he sighed and said “I don’t blame him. He probably don’t want to look ashamed for getting defeated by someone younger than him.”

“Ooh ooh ooh!” Mumble said loudly and waved its fist at him.

“Right, right... My bad...” Darian said as he sighed again.

Lakshman smiled and asked “So when will we be going?”

“Felix wanted to talk to you before we leave. So let’s wait and see what he has to say.”

“Sure you can because here I am!” Felix said as he appeared standing behind Lakshman.

“Ooh!” Mumble let out a shocked voice and he nearly fell off Lakshman’s head.

Seeing that, Felix laughed and said “Keep your cool, Mumble. I’m no stranger, right?”

Mumble did not look happy and Felix laughed at that expression on his monkey face. Then he sat down and turned to face Lakshman.

“Lucky, listen. No matter what, make sure to stay in your armour. If anyone tries to speak to you, just ignore them. Maybe nod or shake or stay still completely. Other than that, you shouldn’t have to respond to people. They know to stay away from the Phoenix Titan, but stay strong, okay?”

“I got it, Felix,” Lakshman said as he smiled at him.

Felix nodded and said “Good. Now... Do you know where the colosseum is?”

“It’s on the outskirts of the city,” Lakshman told him.

The other day, Darian had taken him out there to see it. He was stunned at how big the colosseum was. Comparing it to the one built in his village, he agreed this one was bigger.

Felix nodded at him and said “Then I think you should go now. Contestants will be arriving early at the battle field to be told about the rules, regulations and anything of relevance.”

“Alright. I’ll see you guys later then,” Lakshman said and he rose to his feet as Mumble got off. He turned towards Tetra sitting on a couch with a bored expression on her face. Then he asked “Tetra. It’s time to go.”

At his words, Tetra suddenly smiled and stretched her hand out. When he grasped it, she was suddenly covered by light. Then he found himself holding onto the handle of the Phoenix Blade.

Chuckling at her instant transform speed, he said “Phoenix Armour, Activate!”

In an instant, he was covered in a bright light. For a moment, the light swirled around him and then it vanished. He reappeared while looking taller and wearing the Phoenix Armour. With this, his appearance as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan was complete.

“Wish me luck!” Lakshman said as he walked towards the veranda.

“Good luck!”

“We’ll be there to watch. So don’t screw up and make our training a complete waste!”

At that moment, Ondine and Emilia came into the room to wish him well. Thanking them, he got onto the veranda railing and kicked into the air. He floated up into the sky and then zoomed into the distance.

Seeing him zooming away like a jet stream, Felix shook his head and said “I still can’t believe he learnt to fly...”

When Darian chuckled, Mumble jumped onto the chair next to him. Then Darian asked “Will Sevedant join us?”

“He will watch from where he can without getting hampered by a horde of humans,” Felix said with a grin on his face.

Wolfenstine laughed and said “Good man! By the way, what about you?”

“What are you talking about, Wolf? Felix certainly can’t co-!”

“I’m coming!” Felix just said which stopped Darian from speaking.

When they looked at him quizzically, he smiled and stood up. He was bathed in a bright light which they had to hide their faces to avoid hurting their eyes. Then, as the light disappeared, they looked and saw a cloaked figure with red eyes gleaming through the uncovered eyes.

“I’ll come like this! It’s my art of illusion master piece!” Felix announced cheerfully.

They did not have any comments to say. Instead, Darian and Wolfenstine looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. Thus, Felix had joined the party later to see the fight for himself.

Meanwhile, Lakshman was travelling through the sky. The wind was flowing past him and the noise was cut out due to the noise suppression ability of his armour. It felt wondrous to fly while looking down at the capital.

“People look like tiny dots from all the up here!” Lakshman commented cheerfully.

“Yes, master, but please don’t forget be careful so you don’t fall! Even I won’t be of much use if we fall from this height!” Tetra told him as she spoke through the armour.

Lakshman laughed and said “You’re always so negative, Tetra. It’s fine... See?”

At that moment, Lakshman suddenly stopped being able to fly. In an instant, he plummeted towards the ground at high speed.

“GAAAAAH!!!” Lakshman heard Tetra scream and he decided to pull back up.

As he returned to flying normally, he heard Tetra taking deep breaths. Then she shouted “Master! What are you thinking?!” When he laughed, she cried out “It’s not funny!”

Once he finished laughing, he said “What you should do is calm down and enjoy this! Besides, we’ve left the capital and I can see the colosseum up ahead.”

A few minutes later, they arrived at the colosseum and saw a line of people gathering. It looked like the people from the capital and nearby towns have come to watch warriors fight. It was a hot topic among the people about who will the Legendary Sword of Justice.

“Fools don’t realise how powerful that sword is!” Lakshman said in an annoyed voice.

“It can’t be helped, master. They’ve forgotten the old legends about the Legendary Swords. So something like this was bound to happen,” Tetra said sadly to which Lakshman snorted angrily.

They arrived a moment later and descended and finally touched down. Lakshman, as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan, stood at the entrance of the where a crowd had gathered to buy tickets.

“One ticket, please!”

“Two tickets!”

“Family ticket!”

“Hurry up!”

The crowd were jostling to get in line which was turning into a mess. Lakshman looked at them and muttered “How am I supposed to get past them? Do you expect me to push past them?”

“Just create a path with your energy, master,” Tetra muttered to him.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Lakshman sighed before he raised his right hand and aimed at the crowd. He had his palms facing left while the back of his hand faced towards the right. Then he sent a wave of energy in a straight line that caused the people around to get pushed to the side.

He began walking forward just as the crowd began to recover from the shock of being pushed aside by a strong energy wave.

“What the?!”

“Who did that?!”

The crowd turned to look towards the back and saw a figure in shiny armour with patterns of flames on it. They instantly recognised it as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan.

“P-P-Phoenix Titan?”

“Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan!”

“Move aside, move aside! You don’t want to get in his way!”

They whispered to each other and quickly made a gap for him to pass. It seemed they did this out of respect and fear of getting injured. They know how powerful he was and that could be dangerous to mess with, especially when they are simply people from around there.

Lakshman walked past them and almost reached the entrance when he heard man’s voice cry out.

“Sir, sir, sir! Please wait!”

A man came running towards him while panting. He was clutching a few papers. Lakshman quickly looked at the papers and saw that it had the list of names. That was when he knew this man was the does the contestant attendance.

“Sir! You can’t cut in line!” the man said rather bravely.

Lakshman looked at him for a moment in silence. Then he said “I’m not a spectator. I’m one of the contestants.”

“R-R-Really? Let me check...”

As the man checked the sheets, Lakshman thought “I can’t believe this is happening...!”

“Calm down, master...” Tetra sternly told him in his mind.

“Sacred Armour... Sacred Armour... Ah! Phoenix Titan! You’re on the list, sir! Please follow me!”

The man led the way and Lakshman followed him quietly. Everyone watched him walk into the colosseum and felt nervous. They did not know why he was participating in the tournament, but their eagerness to watch the battle just increased.

An hour later, the crowd was finally let into the colosseum. They were directed towards the inside and then a flight of steps. After climbing them, they arrived at the top where there were rows and rows of seats made of stone. They moved along it and sat down to watch the battle.

“Stupid... crowd! Being so pushy!” Darian grumbled as he and his group got pushed around by the jostling crowd.

“R-Relax, Darian... It can’t be helped!” Marilia told him.

“Ooh ooh ooh!” Mumble said to him as held onto his head.

Darian, Mumble, Wolfenstine, Marilia, Ondine and Emilia followed the crowd up the stairs. After coming up, they moved along the rows and sat down when they found an empty space. Sitting alongside them was a dark cloaked figure with red eyes gleaming through his uncovered eyeholes.

“I can’t believe you came!” Darian muttered to him.”

Felix smiled and said “Naturally, I would! I can’t miss watching how our little boy does!”

“Um... Fe-!” Emilia began, but she was cut off as he instantly placed a hand over her mouth.

“Ssh! The name’s Zelix!” Felix told then,

“Z-Zelix?” Ondine asked with a raised eyebrow. When he nodded, she shook her head and said “You do realise you just changed one character in your name?”

“So? I don’t want to have to change my entire name and be somebody else! Zelix has a nice ring to it, I like it!” Felix said firmly in a satisfied voice.

“Um... Zelix, sir... Will master win?” Emilia asked in a worried voice as Ondine sighed.

Felix shook his head and said “Who knows... But! We’ll find out soon enough! So pray that he will win!”

“I will, sir!” Emilia said and she closed her hands together and began praying wordlessly.

While they were looking away, Felix leaned down and muttered “Phintex Rajas! Stay undercover and keep watch. Be observant of any kind of trouble and inform me about it immediately!”

“Did you say something?” Ondine asked him curiously.

“Nope! Nothing at all!” Felix said as he straightened up.

Just then, a man arrived at the centre stage of the colosseum. He appeared to be carrying something in his hands. Once he stepped onto the platform, he raised the object and spoke into it.

“Well, well, well! Hello to all your crazy people out there!” the man’s voice boomed and everyone cheered loudly.

“If you’ve come to watch action and battles, you’re come to the right place! If you haven’t, get out and get lost because... today will be a massive Battle of Prematria!”

At those words, the crowd went wild and cheered loudly. Darian yelled at the crowd, but his words were drowned by their cheering.

When the crowd finished cheering, Emilia turned to Felix and asked “What does Prematria mean?”

“In the ancient language, it meant a lot of things. Battle of guts, battle of wits, battle of pride, battle of honour, battle of strength, battle of wits and battle of power.”

“So it’s a combination of all of that? Wow...!” Emilia said in awe.

Felix nodded and smiled as he said “Yes. It’s a powerful word in the ancient language.”

At that moment, the speaker continued and they went back to listening.

“Today is the day of battles! Today is the day of power! Today is the day of craziness!”

At those words, loud cheering and clapping ensued. Everyone was fired up to watch battles rage below them.

“Just for the safety of the people, we have applied powerful layers of barriers around! They are there to make sure you are safe! They are there to stop energy attacks from smashing into you! Like this!”

With that, the man aimed at and released what looked like a ball of fire. It shot straight at a crowd of people who yelled in shock. Then it hit something invisible and exploded instantly. The people let out a sigh and began clapping with everyone else.

“Show off...” Darian muttered irritably.

Then the man said “And now...! Our one and only rulers of the Floria Kingdom! The king, Bernard IV Sargold! The queen, Floria Sargold and the princess, Venezuela Sargold!”

At his voice’s command, the king, the queen and the princess made their appearance at the central tower. Everyone stood up to get a better look at them. The king looked firm and strong while the queen looked nice and sweet. At the appearance of the princess, most people let out voices of awe.

“The princess is so gorgeous...!” Ondine and Emilia whispered in awe like the rest of the crowd.

“Yeah, but she’s not the biological daughter of the king and queen,” Felix said with a displeased expression on his face.

“Eh?!” the group exclaimed in surprise. Then Marilia asked “She isn’t?”

Felix shook his head and said “No. She’s been adopted from the Phoenix Clan.”

“Why?” Emilia asked, but Felix just shook his head.

He wore a serious expression on his face as he looked towards the central tower. It must be a secret involving the king and queen for him to not tell them.

Just then, the king walked forward to speak and his voice boomed across the entire colosseum.

“My people of my kingdom! It moves my heart to see you all present on this day! Today marks a brilliant day to see the shine of a true warrior! We will witness the rise of power and strength as they fight to obtain a powerful instrument! The Legendary Sword of Justice!”

As he said, he pulled out a sword and held it high. It was a magnificent sword which gleamed in the sunlight.

Felix narrowed his eyes and angrily muttered “Get your filthy hands off that sword!”

“Now...! Without a further ado, with my greatest pleasure, I commence the Battle of Prematria!”

At his commanding words, loud cheering rang in the colosseum as the tournament finally began with great gusto.