Julius was right. They arrived at Lake Towering Greens with half an hour to spare as there was a carnival-like setup placed around the part of the grand-sized lake to the south. It could be luck or an inherently relaxed moment, but the team arrived with no casualties, which was what mattered the most. With him in the lead, they went past the security, protruding the barrier similar to the perimeter surrounding the new House of Kang near downtown.
It was a town-sized crowd spread out through the various venues and stations set up around the south circumference of the lake. Julius doesn't understand why this is happening when the Lake of Towering Greens is a dungeon. It was not supposed to be a place of entertainment. He landed at the empty spot on the main pathway from the entrance to the lake, surrounded by a couple of food shops.
The arbors structured across the entire path were filled with red, blue, yellow, white, and black spectrum flags. Each has a variant of one of the prior five colors at a minimum. It was different, to say the least. The vibe was friendly to get some relaxation before the objective of the job being here was to claim the dungeon. More so for the interest in power.
As the group scouted around the area and toured themselves, leaving Julius alone with the Skolritters. “You guys still have missions?” Julius whispered to the Skolritters. They all nodded while confused on why he asked them.
“You don’t?” Solomon asked.
Julius shook his head, biting his lips. “No, I don’t. Ever since I went in there and returned from the war at the swamp, it has dissipated slowly.”
Celeste, catching the premise, continued the conversation with her question. “Where were you for the past two weeks?”
“Cutting to the chase, what happened to that tanned guy with a black headband…I forgot his name, but he was there at the time with me and Empress Cai before I went into the foggy entrance within the arena that got me to that place.”
“He's dead…”
“Pardon me?”
“He was executed because they couldn't find a way to get inside after a few days.”
Julius grimaced. “On whose orders? Empress Cai?”
“Yes, but under when the five ruling families in the capital still exist. They hated him for past failures in technology, and she became the repeat, ending the cycle and his life.”
Darn, miss the opportunity. Julius grew disappointed. He had one more question before continuing to the lake. “Do we still have his records of anything left behind?”
“It's an ongoing investigation. We probably won't get results until we get back,” Solomon answered.
Julius nodded. “Ok, that works…We have to get to the lake. The fun here can wait.”
They headed further in through and past the main billboard sign that was hung on one of the ardors, confirming it was a festival. The Skolritters reached the end of the intersection, revealing the fencing that borders a portion of the lake’s circumference. Each leaned right onto the railing, viewing the lake. It was much more beautiful and purer in person compared to from the sky and book records where the scene was greener and mustier, like an algae infestation. When in reality, it was a friendlier part of the ecosystem as the playful dolphin-like creatures breached out into the air before diving back into the lake, around fifteen feet long, equal to an average earth Great White Shark.
Still twenty minutes left of free time, Julius used Skoltor’s capture feature, taking a photo of the dolphin and saving it in his virtual memory. As he was about to take another, something tingled behind his back. Being like a spider, goosebumps triggered his mental alertness. The Skolritters, all four of them, were to his right. He gave a quick look at the pathway space behind them. Unfortunately, being at the time less than half an hour from the first battle, the traffic was packed. A mix of cultivators and ordinary citizens with no sense of qi traceable, walking amongst the path it will take them.
Out of all times, in this damn crowd. Julius thought before he could feel directly from behind, prompting him to roll away, thrusting a gust of air that blew the Skolritters away. A pile of dominoes from them being pushed and crashed into a cluster of foot traffic, disrupting the flow, and all went to a stop. Julius straightened his back and saw two individuals standing in the crowd. Their flamboyant characteristics over ordinary traditional garments and clothing made it easier for him to detect. The crowd disperses away, leaving an opening between them and Julius.
“How rude for a stranger to interrupt my moment of peace,” Julius said as his mouthplate closed. “…in a crowd like this?”
“You are much taller than I thought,” the right individual said with a rough and hoarse, masculine voice.
“Excuse me?! Who the hell are you?!” Julius exclaimed through his mouthplate, sensing a threatening vibe from the two. They were all cloaked up to the head, leaving no physical distinction behind the clothing except the voice. The conflict began when both of them flashed away from his point of view.
Swoosh!
The sounds of swift movements similar to whistles swarmed past Julius in multiple directions, almost deterring him from focusing. And one took advantage of the brief second, arm locking around his neck. The other, Julius called it, Mask-one, attempted to anchor him from his calf to force him to kneel. But what they didn’t understand was when Julius’s legs didn’t faze and succumbed to their commands. Mask-one was thrusting it hard right on his calf with the soles of its combat sandals. Julius could hear their confused expression. Again, he is a hefty guy, and Xavier’s training with Mother Elaine began to pay off, as what they were unaware of at first was the flow of qi from his feet. It reached up to Julius’s legs after getting an arm locked around his neck from Mask-two.
Mask-two, with one hand to spare, tried to take off Licht off his back. He thought that was the problem. Much to their dismay, Licht came off with loads of dead weight, turning the sword into a deadlift’s worth of mass collapsing on Mask-two. Julius heard the groaning noise coming right behind his ear. He then reacted by shocking right at the latter’s forearm, sending a massive load of electricity where the radius bone was located. Mask-two yelped in pain, surrendering to the attack, causing him to let go. Licht’s weight slammed Mask-two down, causing him to hit Mask-one, putting the two down on the concrete floor.
Crack!
A breeze blew his back, and Julius turned around, finding the two lying on the floor, struggling to lift themselves up from Licht’s deadweight. “Have enough with this?” he muttered.
“Please…get this off of me,” Mask-two begged.
Julius walked right up, parallel to the hilt of his greatsword. He gripped but did not lift it up. He has questions for them, mainly from Mask-two, who commented on his height as if they were acquainted with him. “Only if you tell me who the hell are you? Then I’ll let you go.”
He let go of the hilt and instead used his index finger to push onto the blade, adding more weight onto Mask-two’s chest when he refused to answer. “I didn’t hear anything coming from you. Are you refusing me? You and your partner didn’t come here for the fight with no intentions, right?”
“Julius, let him go,” Celeste said, walking right up closer to the scene. He looked up at her, shaking his head. She continued to display empathy to them, attempting to persuade Julius. He completely ignored her, returning his eyes back to Mask-two, only to hear a crack like a tree branch tore off from the trunk. Mask-two horrendously cried, gaining more attention all around the festival. Most around the scene can’t do anything but watch, waiting for the outcome to unfold. That was when a minority of the bunch foolishly launched an attack from the air.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Julius, feeling berated by his heart, violently twisted his torso and fired a spherical blast. A couple of inches away from his palm, the sphere turned into a beam, putting the attackers’ move into child’s play. They turned up fuel in reverse as the blast unintentionally redirected their attack right back to them, igniting a flashing circus light in the air. The shockwave dispelled from the blast's center, blowing through parts of the lake and the festival. He turned away, protecting himself from the explosion. Celeste summoned her barrier, covering the portion of the pathway to prevent any fire or debris from coming in Julius’s direction.
The explosion roared through for seconds, screaming through Julius’s ears. With his arm still up above his head, he saw both Mask-one and Mask-two’s cloaks unmasked slowly. Their eyes flinched tightly as the winds seeped through the unbarred spots that the barrier didn’t reach. It unmasked further off the cloak that covered their face, revealing Mask-one to be a beautifully complex lady. Gradually shaped nose and naturally red lips. That’s pretty common for the West Cai Dynasty from his recent attendance at social gatherings. It started to get a little strange as the further he went down where the jaw was recognizable. Mask-one also had the same jawline and overall facial shape.
“Are you okay?!” Victoria asked, running right under Celeste’s barrier. She kneeled next to Julius, checking him while having bloody hands.
“I’m okay…” Julius paused, looking at Victoria’s hands. “What did you do? You’re bloody!”
She pointed to the spot, prompting Julius to lift his head. He witnessed the fire frenzy and throbbing noises from fistfights in the air. Is this what the festival really is about? Julius wondered, turning back to her. “I should be the one asking you, are you ok?”
Victoria raised her hands right in front of her as if she had nothing else to say. “I mean, I’m not injured. However, I think because of this; the fights have begun, and we need to go to the arena now!”
“Where’s Solomon?”
“He’s still over there, dealing with the troublemakers. He’ll explain more to you later. Right now, we need to go.”
Julius lowered his left arm as he felt the blast had cleared from behind. “Hang on, there’s something wrong with these two that I need answers for,” he said, pointing to their facial features.
“Nobody other than me and the family has a deformity right at the end of the jaw below the ear. Who the hell are you?!”
Mask-two appeared in so much pain, as Julius didn’t lift the greatsword off of him yet. He broke the toughness, surrendering to talk. “We are testing you…after hearing about a new guy entering the Martial Arts Annual event. Now, can you please lift…that sword up…from my chest,” he muttered, struggling to finish the sentence because of Licht.
Victoria nudged Julius’s shoulder, to which he finally lifted the blade, allowing Mask-two and Mask-one to cough out loud. Julius stood up from his spot, helping Victoria up. He pointed the blade right at the rear of Mask-two’s back, not satisfied yet. “That doesn’t get me anywhere, but that’s a starting point. Who’s your father and mother? Tell me about them.”
Mask-two got up while hoarsely breathing because of the rib Julius’s greatsword broke from the weight, evident from Mask-two’s hand holding tight at his right side.
“What do you need to know?”
“Everything. If you tell me, we will heal your ribs. Is that fair?”
Mask-two nodded. Therefore, Julius eye-signaled Celeste to summon Vesper to hover him along as he and the Skolritters headed to the arena.
Solomon returned quickly, joining the conversation. He, too, was soaked in a load of blood. Julius grimaced at their appearance, insisting on cleaning themselves up as they walked. Mask-one sat beside Mask-two on the widened Vesper with higher walls that surrounded the platform. They can’t get out of that spot, putting them in a position requiring them to talk.
“Your answer earlier was vague…tell me more about why you are here. Surely, you can’t be testing me as the key priority,” Julius said, still gripping the hilt of his greatsword that was resting on his shoulder.
“Like I said…we were actually testing you. Specifically, under the orders of my mother, who is leading our family team in the arena. She knew you were coming, so she sent us. If we had won, nothing else would have happened. However, we lost. Which means—”
“Mean what?”
“You’ll be fighting her head-on at one spot in the arena. Final and set.”
Who’s this lady's mother we are talking about? Julius grew curious about the mysterious family. He tried to go further, detouring to a different related topic. “Let’s head back to the question earlier.” His mouthplate opened, and he pointed, with his index finger through the beard, to the end of his left jawbone under his left ear, showing right to Mask-two. “Other than me, you two have a deformed shape at the angle of your lower jaw. Does anybody else have this unique physical characteristic?”
“Everyone in the family does…wait, no…” Mask-two suddenly went bombastic, realizing what Julius meant. He turned back at Mask-one for a moment and swiftly back to Julius, staring right in the eye. “I want to confirm this. Describe your father. No fabrications,” Mask-two demanded as he gripped his left rib when the pain progressively got worse, causing him to spit blood.
“Brother!” Mask-one cried, attempting to relax his pain. She carefully eased her palm right onto it before he spit more, splattering onto her hand.
Mask- two turned right at her. “I went overboard…damn it…and got too emotional for a moment; I’ll be fine,” he said, then resuming the conversation with Julius as he began describing.
There were already halfway walked a quarter of the lake’s circumference, and as Julius began to talk, his multitasking eyes noticed the open arena across the other side. He muttered as he paid attention to it. “My father, he’s a typical tall man, no beard, same jaw as a square, and a typical dickhead when I was in my early teenage years.”
“Good Yinhai, I’ve never heard anyone speaking about their parents so vulgarly.”
“Because he was vulgar all the way to the grave. Unfortunately, that day was when my mother was also out with him. The two had a fatal accident, killing them on the spot. They left me alone for four years until I was damn eighteen. Since then, I have never gained value from them as I was an adult.”
Mask-two was visibly showing some discontent at the brief description of his parents with a loathing attitude. “I don’t know if I will ever get used to this…anyway, what else could describe your father? Did he tell you any stories about his life that you remember?”
Julius stopped, thinking deeply through his mindful brain. What moments? Do I have any? Come on…come on. He stressed his mind, further diving into the depths, hunting for the mysterious treasure chest hidden on the ocean floors. It took a considerable amount of time to remember something and only one key came through. “I never met any relatives for all I remember. I’m supposed to have like six uncles and ten aunts. Never believed that because I never met them. They never proved it to me. No photos, no records, none. So, at least twenty-eight years of my life, I’ve met none of my family tree at all. Paternal and Maternal. Empty.” He saw Mask-two counting with his fingers following with a nod.
“One more question…did your father ever bring up his rivalry with my dad? And what was his name>” Mask-two asked, while having six fingers out.
“Oh yeah, yes. He did, vaguely. His name was Yijun.” Julius affirmed. In the blink of a light bulb, he blinked his eyes as if his mind were blown. “Wait a minute, both of you are…” he immediately turned fully, facing them with his index finger pointing at the two. “…my fucking cousins?!”
Mask-two and Mask-one stared at each other, and everyone stopped. Celeste, Solomon, Sally, and Victoria’s ears are like magnets. They eased themselves into the conversation, wanting to be sure what Julius had blurted.
“Oh my, imagine mother being cured from wrath,” Mask-one said to Mask-two, as she let her palm go from her brother’s side and pulled the rest of her cloak around her head off. As she fixed her hair, Julius eyed Celeste and the other three, giving them a nod. He rested his grip on the hilt, dissipating the greatsword, and rested down his right arm.
Celeste went right to Mask-two’s wounded rib at the left side of his chest. She thrust her qi-engulfed palm to his chest like a hard slap, causing him to jolt upwards and back straight ninety degrees. Quickly within five seconds, he relaxed and eased the tension around under his face. One breathing cycle and thanked Celeste, feeling better.
Mask-two walked the remaining distance. He walked right up next to Julius, only to be standing right up to his neck despite being a tall individual himself. Same with Mask-one where she was almost equal to his. My paternal family really are tall trees. Good to know. Julius thought, recalling his father being a tall, skinny guy. And his newly met cousins appeared to take that physique partially. Julius was more balanced with his torso and legs, while his two cousins shared longer leg lengths with a short torso and long arms, matching his father’s outline.
The family vibe overrode his violent mind, introducing himself to his cousins. “My name is Julius Vaillant, Emperor of the West Cai Dynasty.”
Mask-two went first, replying: “Emperor?! You can’t be serious…I’m Tang Cheng.”
“I’m Tang Li-Mei. You can call me Li-Mei, or any of the two.”
Julius chuckled. “Alright, well, nice to meet you…awkwardly. Let’s head to the arena, shall we?”