Alexander stared blankly at the grey checkered suit neatly folded in the gift box. A black handkerchief lay over the clothes with a pair of cufflinks at the very top like a bow on a present, and black leather dress shoes on either side of the suit. The cufflinks and the handkerchief both had the image of a polar bear imprinted on them.

Beside him, the Beast Saint continued the explanation. “One’s first suit is as important as their first steps. Not only is it a fashionable outfit, but it can also protect you against most elemental attacks.”

“Wait, it’s not just a normal suit?”

“I do not know what you mean by normal suit, little one. All suits are a symbol of elegance and as such not normal by any means, but if you are asking about its usage, this one does happen to double as an armor.”

Kissing the suit, Alexander was overcome with jubilance. “Blessed be the heavens! I knew one of these days I would finally get myself a real treasure, but how does it work? You said it can protect me from the elements?”

With a knowing glance, the Bear Saint began to go over the effects of the magical suit. “It was created by the best mana crafters in my clan. Born of the silk produced by a Life Caterpillar, it not only has general resistances to all elements but also houses self-regenerative abilities. Now before you ask, I know it’s probably a nigh extinct art in Fausto, so I can explain what a mana crafter does.” The Bear Saint waited for Alexander’s nod of affirmation as he confirmed he did in fact have no clue what a mana crafter was. “To put it simply, much like culinary magic, mana crafters perform magic rituals to imbue physical creations with abilities. Typically, it requires a plant affinity to breathe life into the armor or weapons; however, most beasts over the Grandmaster tier have an affinity for the magic. Probably nature’s way of bringing balance since beasts have an abysmally low chance of understanding the orange color compared to humans. Anyways, I’m rambling. The point is it will protect you if you ever find yourself in battle.”

Putting his hands together, Alexander expressed his thanks. “This is probably the most useful gift I could have gotten right now. It seems my current path is leading me to more and more fights recently.”

With a somber tone, Cosmo replied. “You don’t know the half of it, little one.”

Alexander felt butterflies in his stomach. “Could I-”

“Return to the room you awoke in. Tomorrow morning, you will find a portal here. Walk through it to enter the third and final challenge. There are several proceedings I must lead so I must make my departure. The large polar bear lumbered to the edge of the top floor before stopping. Still facing away from Alexander, Cosmo left a few words before leaping from the pagoda. “Your questions will have answers, little one. All we ask for is some patience on your end. Once you complete the final trial, you will have complete transparency from Nidra and us three Saints.”

Left with a growing dissatisfaction at the secrecy, Alexander returned to the room, anxiously awaiting the next day. He set the gift box down by his pack and rolled unto the bed. Laying on the bed, his only consolation was his increase in strength. Look at all this mana. I feel like I could even regrow limbs right now. I thought Dr. Hernandez had said you needed to be Lord tier to do such a feat… Must be misremembering. Not thinking too much of it, Alexander shifted to his side and unlatched the portable stovetop from his backpack in preparation to cook himself some dinner.

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Sitting in a small fishing boat idling in the ocean, Kai was holding on to a metal fishing rod with his eyes closed. A vibration on the string of the rod captured his attention as he began the arduous battle to conquer a sea beast. Widening his stance, he pulled back on the rod. The line moved along the water erratically causing his arms to tremble under the strain. His trained biceps jutted out as he applied more and more strength into his pull.

Accepting the challenge, whatever sea monster lurked beneath the murky waters pulled harder, almost tipping Kai into the water as the fishing boat started to shake. Seeing his physical strength alone would not be enough, he activated his magnetic powers on the iron rod. Mechanically, it floated over the water as it reeled in the catch under Kai’s orders.

A dark shadow formed as the fishing rod was about to complete its task. With a snap, the string finally broke under the tremendous tension of the maritime tug of war but not before revealing Kai’s hunt. A large dorsal fin emerged out of the surface of the water followed by a jagged line of fangs on the mouth of the shark.

“Aghhhhh! Fuck this!” Recognizing the shark as a member of the cowardly family of sharks who had ganged up on him a few days back, he got on his greatsword and flew back towards the shore. In the air, he cursed wildly to ease his frustration.

The past few days had not treated him kindly. Once he retrieved his things from the cabin, an ambush of pirates awaited him, having been recognized by a greedy guest at the cabins. After he managed to plow through the obstacles, he was forced to flee Port Talan entirely. A veritable avalanche of pirates had swarmed him in a desperate attempt to claim his bounty.

He ran away to the north, hoping to lose them in the canyons of the desert. The plan had worked, but when he made it back to the outskirts of the port, he realized the crafty pirates had still left behind a plethora of pirates to guard against his possible return. With no where else to go, he traveled to the old fishing hut to wait for Pola. That proved to be the worst decision possible.

The old man constantly pestered him with snide remarks. Flipping all the mirrors in the house to “not give him a constant reminder of his disfigurement” was at least ignorable for Kai, but it was when Gertrude the sea lion offered him a black ski mask that pushed him over the edge. He stormed out of the shack going nowhere in particular. Frustrated from being apart from Pola and annoyed at his current situation in Port Talan, he stole one of the old man’s boats and a fishing rod on his way out and went to clear his mind out in the ocean.

Now that he had fled from another source of frustration, he landed harshly on the rocky beach. Lightning crackled around his fist as he punched down wildly on the ground only stopping when he heard a bird’s whistle resounding through the air.

“What’s got you so *grrr* upset, Kai?”

Turning his head, Kai stared at the middle-aged man leaning against a large rock. He had a crew cut with blue colored hair, including his eyebrows and goatee. A pronounced hooked nose brought away the spotlight from the scar running across his left eye, and he was wearing only a blue vest and black slacks. “What a shitty day this has been. First, I get annoyed to death by an old man, then I catch nothing all day but trash and a nasty shark.” Blue lightning crackled around Kai as he grinned at the man. “But my luck is turning around now it seems. You came at the perfect time, bird. Punching the ground simply wasn’t enough to vent.”

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The man cawed in response before shifting to talking again. “Leave it to the failed inquisitor to have nothing but a snarky remark as his last words.”

“Wow, hahaha, I’m not sure what kinds of rumors Celia is spreading about me, but there’s no way I would ever die fighting you, Isaac. You’re nothing but a dumbass bird.”

“That is Pirate Empress to you, scum.” A tall, broad-shouldered blonde man with a neatly trimmed hair and beard approached from the opposite side of the shore.

“And who might you be? A rookie pirate looking to rise up the ranks by claiming my head? I assure you. This will not end well for you.”

“That is Gabriel Antoine, son of the Storm Lord. You should offer more respect to your nobles, peasant.” A serene old man wearing a butler’s outfit stated, following behind Gabriel.

Kai’s eyes blazed with lightning. “I have nothing but disdain for the nobles of the Jupiter clan. If you expect his title to warrant anything near admiration, you are dead wrong. I am, however, flattered Celia would send one of her executives and a nobleman from Jupiter just to capture little old me.”

“Heh, your narcissism knows no bounds.” Gabriel scoffed in contempt. “Jacques and I are after the prince. You are merely an appetizer.”

“This appetizer hates to disappoint, but I will be the full course today. Prince isn’t here. In fact, the dear prince isn’t anywhere close by at all but enough talk. Like I said, shitty day. Cracking some skulls ought to make it all better.”

Kai moved to unsheathe his sword from his back but was quickly interrupted by hook to the jaw. A phantom parrot floated behind Isaac as he drilled into Kai. “Quit acting so high and mighty. This is your deathbed.”

A blast of wind blew Kai away, but he managed to roll to his feet. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he prepared for a hard battle. A few feet away, yellow lightning crashed down from the sky, circling Gabriel and Jacques. They’re Lord-tier Elementalist from the Jupiter Clan, and Isaac is a Lord-tier Hunter with a parrot bloodline. I- I don’t think I can win this one.

Summoning blue lightning to completely cover himself, Kai held his sword at the ready and armed himself with false bravado. “Let’s do this. I’m a little hungry so I’ll gift you with quick deaths.”

A haze of green filled Kai’s vision as he heard a booming thunderclap. He tried to jump backwards, but his body did not listen to his commands. A searing pain filled his senses as he felt Isaac’s claws dig into his chest. Finally breaking free from the temporary paralysis, he swung his sword but hit nothing but air.

Pushing forward, he flashed towards Gabriel and Jacques hoping to catch them by surprise, but a loud squawk made his vision go white. Blind once more, all he could feel was two currents of lightning piercing through his chest. His eyesight snapped back as he toppled into the rocky ground. “Not even brave enough to directly fight a guy you outnumber three to one? Pathetic.”

*Grrrrr* “Honor means nothing in a figh- ” Kai’s sword shot out like a meteorite imbued in a yellow glow as it stabbed into Isaac’s shoulder joint. An anguished scream erupted from the pirate. His right hand tried to contain the fountain of blood as his left arm hung limply.

“Happy to hear there’s no honor in this battle. Makes me feel better about the surprise attack.” A stifled laughter escaped Kai. He was sprawled out bare-chested- his shirt having burned away. Two tree-like scars writhed through his chest, the aftermath of tanking two direct lightning strikes.

“Let that be the last happiness you enjoy then.” Gabriel spoke apathetically before concentrating an indigo spark of lightning within the palm of his hand. It thrashed ferociously as it grew before leaping at Kai.

His greatsword freed itself from Isaac’s body following his command as it flew back to protect its master. A blue and yellow glow emanated from Kai in preparation to meet the indigo lightning which had now transformed into a snake. He easily stopped the snake’s rampage, but Jacques flawlessly combined with Gabriel to summon a barrage of lightning strikes unto Kai’s defenseless body.

Holding his greatsword with only one arm, he shifted his left hand upwards to try to divert the lightning. The adrenaline pumping through his system gave him the extra boost in strength required to hold back the storm. Yellow lightning bolts trembled in the sky, struggling to move any closer to Kai. It was as if had met an impenetrable shield. Slowly, the lightning began to curve away and headed towards Gabriel and Jacques.

It instead dissipated when Isaac, now wrapped within the phantom of a giant blue parrot, body slammed Kai. Sharp gusts cut into Kai’s forearm as he defended his body with upheld arms. The bloody onslaught under the claws of the parrot allowed the snake to bite into Kai’s side.

Even while his body was being ravaged, he still managed to counterattack. Controlling his sword with the highest accuracy he could muster, it jetted past Gabriel, leaving a long gash in his neck, and stabbed straight through Jacques’s stomach.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Gabriel was engulfed in lightning as he prepared a deadly attack.

A short cough interrupted everyone as it defused the battle. As if a mana EMP had gone off, all the lightning and wind attacks had simply ceased to exist. Stretching his arms behind his back, the old fisherman, wearing jean overalls and his green bucket hat, sauntered unto the beach. Susanne trotted a few steps behind. “My, oh my. You’re being so noisy! Susanne and I were napping up there! I swear, just when I think you younger people might not be so bad, you go and do something like this. Back in my day-”

A knife landed between the fisherman’s legs as a furious Gabriel spoke. “Old man, my morals do not prevent me from killing you where you stand. Get your pet and get the hell out of my sight.”

“RAHAHA, you intend to kick me out of my own land? You are in my backyard, youngster. If anyone should leave, it’s you!”

Isaac flew over to the fisherman, still cloaked in the phantom of the parrot. “Don’t waste time on scum like this, Gabriel. This old man looks like he’s on his deathbed already. Whether we kill him now or not, makes no difference.” Raising his wing, it glinted in a heavy concentration of wind mana before exploding downwards.

A timely sneeze from Susanne snuffed out the parrot’s wind mana before blowing him away into the ocean. “Thanks for your assistance there, Susanne. I’ll make sure to catch some extra fishes for dinner.” Walking a little closer to Gabriel, the fisherman barked out. “It looks like your friend the squirrel decided to go for a swim. I suggest you beat it unless you want to join him.

Slack-jawed, Gabriel faced Jacques, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “What the hell was that? Is- is that an emperor tier beast? How did a sea lion just blow away a Lord-tier hunter with a sneeze?”

The old butler had already wrenched the sword out of his stomach and cauterized the stab wound. “Not at all, young master. I would say that is a beast that has comprehended the black color for the wind element. A commendable achievement but nothing to worry about as we are Lightning Elementalists.”

The moment of fear left Gabriel as he came to understand the mysterious powers the sea lion had exhibited. Stepping boldly towards the fisherman, he yelled out. “I know your tricks now, old man, and my patience wears thin. Fuck off or suffer the consequences. My only goal is to kill this traitor right here.”

Squinting his eyes, the fisherman craned his neck to make out what Gabriel had pointed at before Susanne barked cheerfully. “The ugly boy, you say? A darn shame! He should’ve worn that mask you gifted him, huh, Susanne. I told him over and over his wretched face would get him into trouble.”

Groaning in pain, Kai had barely recovered his consciousness when he heard the fisherman’s voice. “Run, old man. I have this totally under control.”

Having had enough of the pointless chatter, Gabriel resummoned his lightning snake to lunge towards Susanne and the old fisherman. This time, Susanne clapped her flippers, an action which seemed to obliterate Gabriel’s snake.

“T-T-That’s… that’s a double, black-colored specialist, young master: lightning and wind.” Jacques sputtered out. Not waiting a second longer, Gabriel grabbed Jacques and ran away.

The old man continued walking slowly until he reached the bruised and bloodied Kai. “Don’t you worry, ugly boy. I’ll help you out. Since you can’t go about this life with your sorry face, Susanne and I will teach you a trade. It just so happens I need someone to help me gut fish.” The sea lion eagerly clapped her hands as the old man dragged a stunned Kai away.