“What the hell were you thinking?” Artemis half whispered, half shouted.

The wait-time in line passed much quicker when my mind and ears were distracted. After us, and the two men, Ernie and Axel, entered the city, we agreed to stay in touch, as they told me to come to them if I had any other questions.

I could tell they were good and sincere people, especially when in this day and age, all the information in the world is at your disposal with a single verbal command.

“Well you were being petty and chose not to tell me, so I asked them. Also you’re acting like I was wearing a sign around my neck that says ‘I’m here to kill the big bad ruler of this place,’ so just relax.”

Just as Artemis was about to speak up once more, the innkeeper finally greeted us.

We’d found a small, relatively inhabited inn near the tournament ground. The place certainly wasn’t terrible for its price, and I was glad to finally be able to sleep on a bed after two very uncomfortable sleeps.

“Hello.” Artemis put on a creepy, overly nice face and smiled at the innkeeper. “Me and my son would have a room, just until the tournament ends.”

Her calling me her son was enough to make a cold shiver run down my spine.

“Well, aren't you a good mother?” The innkeeper began to rummage around his desk. “You excited to watch the tournament, kid?”

I gave an awkward smile and shook my head. It was weird hearing people call me kid when I was clearly a grown man.

Though I would never say that to Enzo.

“He’s not much of a talker.” Artemis chuckled and pinched my lower back. “But he really loves watching fights. Practically begged me to bring him.”

Now it seemed like this was her form of pay back. Humiliating me in front of a stranger.

The innkeeper smiled and handed a key over to Artemis.

“Well I hope you guys enjoy your stay.”

We both gave our thanks and made our way to the room.

Artemis attached a small metallic box to the doorframe, and quickly entered the door.

I watched as the box went invisible, and followed after her.

Once inside, Artemis already had one foot out of the window.

“You ever pull something stupid like that again, I’ll send you back to the dwarf in a body bag.”

“Pull what? Talking to people?” I questioned sarcastically.

Oddly enough, she didn’t seem agitated by my words this time around. She simply tossed me the keys, pulled the hood over her head and disappeared into the night.

I closed the window once it was confirmed Artemis wasn’t coming back, and allowed myself to fall down on the floor. I thought back to the words of Ernie and Axel.

From their explanation, I gathered quite a grand amount of information on the so-called Eight Great families. There were already set in stone bodies of government scattered across the globe, known as the world governments which were all under one organization, which organization exactly? I never asked, nor do I really care currently.

And aside from those authoritative powers, there are also hundreds of thousands of factions, a lot of which have their own scopes of influence and power. Eight of such factions, the Eight Great Families are major factions that's’ power equal to and slightly greater than the world governments. They are only kept in line by the Federation, essentially a world military force but that is actually united.

Though they’re called the great families, in actuality they only comprised a few dozen actual direct lineage members from their progenitors. The main power of the families came from the recruited Azenci, Arimus and Ateran. Warriors, medics and support.

Axel got severely drunk halfway through the story, so they only got up until that point before he passed out and Ernie had to put his attention on not dropping his friend, but he did also mention some I found quite interesting.

Though Heartile typing's were completely random and the odds of getting any of the five could not be modified anyway, the Great Families had found a way to increase their chances of giving birth to heirs with the desire typing. Of course no matter of modifying or trial and error could produce an Empo, but they found success in other typing's regardless.

It was probably a form of eugenics or another kind of selective breeding, but it was still fascinating that they’d made such a large breakthrough on research pertaining to such a mysterious thing.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

‘I’ll have to ask them what the names of the families are, the next time I see them.’ I thought as I allowed myself to lie down on the bed.

‘That’s unnecessary Infra. You know you’re overworked as is, take the month off.’ I smirked before allowing my eyes to close.

For some reason, my cheek began to grow severely itchy as I drifted into sleep. But it was probably nothing.

⥁

SMACK!

I shot up immediately and jumped out of bed, my hands curled up into fists and stretched out in front of me, aura already surging around my body.

“Not bad.” Artemis started, looking at me with a mischievous grin. “But if I were a real intruder you would have been long dead by now.”

“What the hell was that for!” I shout in protest. My aura retracted and I let my hands gently caress my burning cheek.

“I told you to be ready at nine a.m. sharp, otherwise I got to slap you awake. Clearly you’re quite the little masochist.” She tossed my robe at me.

“What? No you-” I was about to cry out in protest once more, but then thought back to her exit the night prior. It was clear to me now why she hadn’t said anything to me after my remark, but it was pointless to argue now.

I tossed on my robe and gave my breath a quick smell.

“Can I at least brush my teeth first?” I questioned, but she already had a foot out the door.

We walked out of the Inn in silence, only giving the innkeeper a small wave.

The city was much livelier today compared to the day before, as thousands of people crowded the streets.

The city felt almost alive with movement, a constant swirl of people and noise.

As we walked down the crowded street, I had to weave between groups of pedestrians, some strolling casually, others rushing like they’re late for something important. The scent of street food hits me, only worsening the growl in my very empty stomach.

Vendors shout from their stalls, trying to catch the attention of anyone passing by. I glanced over at one stand, where bright piles of fruits and vegetables are stacked neatly, next to another stall selling handmade jewelry that glints in the sunlight.

I can hear the occasional bark of a dog from somewhere down the street, and farther away, the faint sound of a street performer playing guitar adds a soft melody to the chaos.

I pass shop windows displaying everything from clothes to electronics, the glass reflecting the sun and the faces of people moving all around me. The buildings rise up on either side, a mix of old brick and modern facades, some with laundry hanging on lines between balconies. Every corner of the town feels full—full of noise, full of life.

Kids ran past us, all cheering excitedly and making bets on who they thought would take home first place in the tournament. Men dragged along what seemed like very uninterested girlfriends, boyfriends, parents and just about anyone they could get their hands on, and before I knew it, a crowd of almost a thousand people were making their way to the same place.

“I’ll do all the talking, so keep your head down and don’t say anything stupid. Hand me your ID” Artemis whispered into my ear as we approached the stadium.

I nodded softly and discreetly handed the card to her. The mission was finally set in motion, and I no longer had the luxury of taking it lightly.

The crowds began to split up into two as the stadium inched closer. Many, nearly ninety percent head straight through the gates and into the stands, others found themselves in the sign up line.

Though many tiny arguments and conflicts arose among those standing in front of us, all of which were quickly dealt with by large men in red armour, The Ukorin, the lines moved relatively fast. We’d arrived at the front within less than a few minutes of waiting.

“Name of participant” The guard in charge asked without even looking up from the paper before him. His helmet, unlike the others guards, was removed and placed on the table in front of him, revealing a face only a mother could love.

“Jai Boone” Artemis spoke without hesitation, placing my card down on the paper in front of the guard.

He picked it up and examined it, after bending it and playing with it, he looked up at me and then back at the card, several times.

“The kid seems a little pale to be a Jai, don’t you think?” The guard asked Artemis, his words coated in confusion.

Artemis smiled and pulled me in closer, ruffling my hair.

“I always tell this kid to get out more, but you know the younger generation, all they wanna do is spend the entire day on their Tenus.” She laughed. “Actually his father was Jacasi, and wanted to name the kid after his father.”

“Was?” The guard asked, his tone unfaltering.

“He died some years back. Got caught up with those damned Hunters on an Adventurers mission, sacrificed himself to let the rest of his squad get away.” She spoke slowly, real emotion flowing through her words. If I didn’t hate her so much, I would almost be in awe of her ability.

The guard nodded before looking back at me.

“How old are you, kid?”

My back straightened on reflex, shocked by his sudden question. I scrambled to regain my composure, trying to remember if my age was the same on the card or not.

“18.” I said as confidently as I could, praying they hadn’t changed my name. I looked over to Artemis to see if there was any change in her expression, but her gaze was still fixed on the guard.

Moments of tense silence trickled by, then finally the guard wrote something down on the piece of paper and pulled out a wooden tag from under his desk.

“Sorry to hear about your dad kid, those no good sons of bitches wouldn’t know a good man if he was thrown into their ranks. You’re in lot two, so you’ll go after the first group is done.” He motioned to the guards standing behind him and quickly moved to open a path to the stadium.

‘He’s surprisingly a good person.’ I smiled to myself, giving him a nod before walking past.

“Next!” I heard him yell as entered the tunnel.

Artemis’ expression returned to normal, which was in no way surprising but it felt weird to see just how fast she could change.

I wanted to laugh about the ‘no good sons of bitches’ thing, but ultimately refrained from doing so.

Through the tunnels were two sets of stairways. One leading back to the stands, another down into a waiting room for the participants.

“Don’t lose.” Artemis muttered before turning to enter the stands.

“I’ll never understand that lady.” I sighed before walking down.

The waiting room was certainly nothing to write home about. Wood flooring and walls took over the room, and a few lights and chairs were apparently all the décor they needed. There were some metal training dummies on the far corner of the room, but they looked untouched.

There were about fifty other people waiting alongside me, the ratio of men to women fairly equal.

I quickly found an empty seat near the large display in the middle of the room and let my focus zero in on the first round.

The first round of the fighting tournament, funnily enough, consisted of no fighting. The participants were thrown into an underground maze, littered with both regular and magical beasts. The two ways to pass were to either find one of the three flags scattered across the maze, or collect twenty-five beast Heartiles.

It was a fun experience finding out that beast Heartiles could be used to increase one's own strength, or even to fuel ships and other magical tools.

Horns blared out and on the fifty split screens, the contestants were off.

My eyes immediately scanned for people who stood out greatly, taking them to probably be the members of the Great Families.

“You looking for someone in particular?” A high voice called out next to me.

“Yeah those guys from the Eight Great Families.” I responded without even thinking or looking.

A moment of silence followed, then a second voice sounded out.

“But we’re right here?”