One Bugbear and serpentsia charged at one another. One serpentsia and Isa charged at each other. Rai and two bugbears charged at each other. The remaining serpentsia, wielding a staff, followed by the one charging at Isa. And lastly, Adamus remained at the starting point, quickly casting Dome of Protection to be safe.

All those charging clashed at the same time.

“Savage Silver Rush!” Isa roared. With a spinning diagonal slash followed by whirling the halberd and bringing it down vertically, she sent the green serpentsia to the ground, where it rolled limply over to its companion, who immediately cast a spell and tapped it with the staff. The wounds began to heal, and the injured serpentsia shot up and forward, sinking its fangs and venom into Isa’s chest before she could react, even as her Berserk Mode began. It coiled around her. She resisted the effects of the toxin and drove her claws into the side of what could loosely be called its neck, injecting acidic blood. It twitched, thrashed, and then fell still, fangs popping out of her chest and leaving only small, rapidly-healing holes behind. She climbed over its body to stand in front of the staff-wielder.

The staff-wielder panicked and tried to flee.

“Not on my watch!”

She chased it down and brought her halberd down hard on its back, severing its spine and making it fall dead to the ground.

At the same time as she was taking out the serpentsia, Rai met the bugbears head on. His sword pierced through one, arresting its own attack, while the other bashed him in the side of the head. He staggered to the side, and the bugbears both followed up with wild swings back and forth. One caught his Force Armor and knocked him back; the other broke through on his chest. Regaining his balance, he executed a Lightning Strike and pierced through the uninjured bugbear’s heart. He twisted out of the way of the other’s attack while withdrawing his sword, then slashed open its neck. It dropped its weapon to clutch at its throat with a gurgle, then fell over backwards.

The final confrontation between the bugbear and serpentsia lasted a little longer, so Rai just shot a Lightning Bolt through them, finishing them off.

Rai’s team was victorious, and they were given a half-hour break to recover (long enough to recover all their qi), during which Isa used several castings of Healing Blood to fix up Rai. When the break was over, they returned to the arena.

“And we have our champions!” the announcer shouted. “Now, they will have the honor of going up against the Emperor of Orochi himself! Should they win his approval, they will be not only granted safe passage to return to their homeland, but each survivor will be granted one boon! It has been six years since the last time champions have won the Emperor’s approval, so their odds aren’t high, but isn’t that what makes it all the more exciting?! All hail the Emperor!”

“All hail the Emperor!” the crowd cheered.

Then Rai spotted the Emperor. He didn’t have any fancy garb or adornments, but it was immediately obvious who he was as he slithered down toward the arena from the stands.

That is one big snake, he thought with trepidation. He has two heads!

“Is that the Emperor?” Isa said uncertainly. “I… uh… I’m getting majorly bad vibes from him. That guy is dangerous.”

With a body like a this tree trunk that split into two necks as broad as that of an ordinary serpentsia, each of which had its own head with massive always-out fangs that were the size of short swords, the poison-green snakeman with red diamond patterns stood nearly ten feet tall when rearing up. In each hand he held a massive spear with a glowing green head that dripped green acid. He slithered down the wall of the arena and continued forward until he was only thirty feet away from the team.

“Congratulations, weaklings,” the Emperor said with both heads in unison, which Rai found rather disconcerting. “You have bested all other contestants and earned a battle with the Emperor of Orochi. I will now explain the rules. If any of you manage to survive for two full minutes, or you manage to bring me to a point where I believe it would be dangerous for me to continue fighting, then I will call the match as your victory. On my name as Emperor, I declare that if you are the victors, you will receive your freedom and your boons. This I decree! As a favor, I will allow you to each cast one spell that targets yourself before we begin.”

“We thank you for your generosity, oh Emperor of Orochi,” Rai replied. “Isa, Adamus, you can cast a single spell on yourselves. As for me, I cast Invisibility!”

“Armor of Blood!”

“Dome of Protection!”

The Emperor lunged forward, stabbing one spear at Isa and ripping through her side, causing her to become coated in blood armor. She entered Berserk Mode and immediately countered with a Bloody Counter followed by stepping up and using Armor Piercer, which broke through the Emperor’s scales with ease. Her aura smashed into the same spot a moment later, compounding the damage, but the blasts of acidic blood from her weapon discharging Corrosive Claw did nothing at all, much as the acid from the Emperor’s spears did nothing to Rai appeared right beside him, stabbing deep with an Elemental Brand, the elements exploding inside the Emperor’s body and blasting him backwards. He rolled until he was upright again, now sporting a giant gash and two gaping holes in his body, one of which was bleeding heavily.

He shot forward again, this time with both spears aimed for a different person. Rai tried to dodge and failed, the spear absolutely savaging his side; Isa couldn’t dodge either, and now both of her sides were a complete mess. Isa and Rai stepped forward.

“Wrath Strike!”

“Lightning Strike!”

The emperor angled his body and Isa’s blow glanced off his scales, but Rai’s attack hit true, blowing another large hole open.

“Heal Severe Wounds!” Adamus cast on Isa.

Then the Emperor unleashed hell. A flurry of spear blows rained down upon Rai and Isa, and both heads reached past them to bite Adamus. Just before his fangs reached the healer, he stopped and struggled against the spell protecting the mage, reluctantly pulling back, unable to follow through.

Rai Silver Parried the spear, knocking its first strike slightly to the side, then managed to dodge the next attacks. Isa took another solid hit, then tried to shatter his weapon, but only succeeded in turning it aside before his spear was blocked by her scales and blood armor.

“Heal Severe Wounds!” Adamus cast on Isa… again.

“Armor Piercer!”

“Swift Strike!”

Both fighters sank their weapons into the Emperor’s body, Isa’s aura bouncing off his scales.

The protective magic covering Adamus made a fizzling sound as it dissipated.

Holding his spears defensively, the Emperor lashed out with both heads, striking both Rai and Isa in the shoulders and injecting powerful, deadly venom.

“Heal the Wounds!” Adamus cast on Rai, his voice frantic.

When the two of them didn’t immediately fall, the Emperor dropped his spears and pressed his hands against his wounds in rapid succession, causing them to miraculously stop bleeding.

“It is your victory,” he said as he did, looking quite wobbly by the time he finished.

Rai immediately pulled out two green Cure Poison potions from his pouch, tossing one to Isa.

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“Drink it!” he said urgently, obeying his own instructions. She followed suit, slipping out of Berserk Mode.

The audience was completely silent.

“I have misjudged,” the Emperor said, exhaustion evident in both voices. “You are not weaklings. Had this battle continued, both sides would have perished. I have not faced such mighty opponents in many years. Your freedom and that of your people is granted. You may remain in my domain for as long as you desire, and may leave without harm, as I promised. Now, speak your desires.”

“I, Adamus Prinro, wish for our group to be allowed to study the relics and artifacts of the ancients, that we may learn more about them.”

“I, Rai Flamme, wish for the One-eyed Green One to be processed into qi medicine for Isa Bloodscale and me,” Rai said after translating.

“I, Isa Bloodscale, wish for Rai Flamme and myself to be able to visit the Sacred Tower, that I might undergo the trial of the True Spirits and evolve.”

Rai translated once more.

The Emperor was silent for several seconds, then let out a hissing laugh.

“Your requests for boons are not small! Yet I always keep my word. You shall have these boons; this I decree! Now is the time for rest and relaxation! Come, join me for a feast! This I insist!”

“It would be an honor, O Great Emperor of Orochi.”

The crowd finally cheered.

-x-

Before the feast, Isa and Rai took the chance to get healed up, including having Yua use Recovery to undo the effects of the Emperor’s venom. Rai was unsurprised that the feast was entirely meat-based, but it turned out that the serpentsia did cook their meals – at least when celebrating – so he was able to enjoy it, especially after using his Spicer to flavor things further. It turned out that the serpentsia had no scholastic mages, soul mages, or blood mages, so they were quite fascinated by the minor tricks that Rai and Isa could do with zeroth circle spells, especially the spell actually called Tricks and Telekinesis. Even the Emperor, healed up by a horde of shamans, enjoyed watching their performances, such as when they used a combination of Cacophony and Floating Lights to put on a show.

The highlight, however, was when Rai cast the first circle spell Lesser Illusion to illustrate the tale of his and Isa’s adventures and show the serpentsia what the continent and its people looked like. Since the spell lasted as long as he concentrated and was modifiable, he only needed to cast it once and could entertain with it for hours – though this left him mentally exhausted by the end.

The feast lasted until nightfall, upon which all of the expeditionary members were given a place to spend the night. It was the next morning when the everyone except Rai and Isa were invited to the holiest place in the city to study artifacts under the watchful eye of the head shamans. As for those two, the Emperor himself insisted on escorting them to the lake island where their Sacred Tower stood. He also gave them a clay jar with the qi medicines in it, which were of high quality: Rai discovered that the serpentsia, like the Dragonbreath kobold tribe, had an artifact to assist in making qi medicines.

The Emperor pulled one of the rafts that the expeditionary force had complete across the waters of the lake with them on it. When they were safely ashore, he looked down at them and said, “Go inside the Sacred Tower, and see what you must do. I will return every morning for the next ten days. If you are not finished by then, I will assume you failed and were slain by the True Spirits. Prove you deserve to evolve, little one.”

Then he swam away.

Rai’s face split into a smile. “Time to study the Tower Era, tower number two!”

Isa chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”

They walked through the shadowy opening, conjuring orbs of light. The moment they were inside, they stopped, staring.

“What the…?”

A large misshapen boulder, with a diameter of roughly eight feet, sat in the middle of a broken magic circle. The boulder was black with a green sheen and seemed faintly luminescent. There were small chunks missing, clearly deliberately broken off. Strange wisps of multicolored light that seemed to fade in and out of existence slowly flowed around the room.

And there was a truly massive translucent cyan snake coiled up behind the boulder, resting its head on top of the rock.

“Well now,” the snake said. Or rather, Rai thought, it’s not speaking a language at all, and I can still understand it perfectly. Can Isa?

“I haven’t seen anyone other than the Orochi in a very, very long time.”

“What are you?” Isa asked in awe.

“What indeed. What are you, little lizard?”

“I’m a kobold. I wish to evolve into a saurian; that’s why I’m here. I thought maybe I’d find clues.”

“Evolution… evolving is a tricky thing. Dangerous. Uncertain. Perhaps you should be content with your current self.”

“Kobolds have limits, and I have reached those. Kobolds have short lifespans. I want to live forever, and to do that, I must become a dragon.” She nodded. “I will evolve, as many times as it takes.”

“To live forever… for a mortal creature, that would be a curse. All you know and love would die while you lived on. Even the very rocks would erode, while you lived on. Immortality is no blessing. Do not yearn for it.”

Isa crossed her arms. “And who are you to tell me that?”

“One who has lived far longer than you can imagine.”

“Since the time of the Tower Era?” Rai asked.

“The Tower Era… the age in which this structure still served its original purpose? No, scaleless one, I have lived far longer than that. Once, I dwelt among the stars.”

Wait a minute… Rai’s eyes widened.

“That rock… is it a fallen star?”

“Wait, what?”

“Indeed… or at least a fragment of one. With the passage of time, its powers have waned, but once, it shone in the sky above. It was with this star that, ages ago, I came down to this world.”

“The Black Sun Starfall… the end of the Tower Era.”

“Why is it inside the Tower? Did the ancients try to study it or something?”

“That is correct. It drove most of them mad, until eventually, there were none left. And yet, I felt this place deserved to be inhabited by people, so I directed its powers. Thus were the serpentsia created from mere snakes.”

“You created the serpentsia?” Isa said in wonder. “Are you… a god?”

“A divine being… or perhaps you’re a powerful spirit?” Rai suggested. “After all, those wisps… they’re spirits, aren’t they? Spirits aren’t normally visible, but…”

“Perhaps I am, perhaps I am not. The Orochi revere me as the master of the True Spirits, which you see here.”

“I thought that the True Spirits were supposed to be born of the ancients?” Isa said.

“In a sense. The souls of those driven mad were transformed, and in that transformation they lost their former sense of self, but regained their sanity. They are extensions of my will, spirits born of dead souls who could not travel on to the hereafter.”

Rai shuddered. “That’s… terrifying.”

“Is it? The alternative would be to forever wander this plane as mad ghosts.”

“To lose your sense of self… to stop being you… that is more horrifying than madness. But both are awful… to never be able to find real peace, or be reunited with your loved ones in the afterlife.”

The snake was silent for a time. “You wish to be reunited with a departed soul,” it stated.

“What? How did you know?” Is this thing reading my mind?

“I can see into the intent of those who speak to me.”

“If you’re a divine being… do you know if it’s possible to bring someone back to life?” Rai said hopefully.

“And what price are you willing to pay?”

“To do that, or to learn the answer to the question?”

The snake flicked out its tongue, hissing in amusement. “Either. Both.”

“Well… I’m willing to pay a lot for the answer. And willing to pay nearly anything to do it.”

“Do not speak so lightly of paying an unknown price for something forbidden. The costs may be more than you can bear.”

“Forbidden?”

“To meddle with the souls of others is not the domain of mortals, and the gods will not grant you your wish for a mere prayer. But I will answer you freely: in the ancient age you call the Tower Era, it was indeed possible to retrieve a soul and restore it to life. The method, however… not even I know.”

Isa nudged Rai and smiled up at him. “Hey, now we know it’s possible! We just gotta keep exploring ancient ruins and studying the Tower Era, and we’ll find the way eventually!”

“Yeah… yeah. This is great news.” Rai smiled. “Now, let’s figure out how to work on your part of the deal. How can Isa evolve?”

“Once again, I caution against this. There is a high likelihood of catastrophic failure.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep searching until I find the way on my own. Make things easier for me, yeah?”

“…Very well. There are three requirements. For one who does not cultivate their qi nor build circles around a mana heart, being suffused in external energies is necessary to simulate a peak qi core and peak mana heart. This can also enable evolution before the peak of one’s species has been reached. If, however, you have one of those two, you need less external energies to supplement, and if you have both, you need to build them to the extent of what is possible, just short of reaching the next tier and circle.

“The second requirement is that you meditate on the form you wish to evolve into. You must understand the differences between your current kind and your new kind. You must have a strong will, to impose those changes upon your body. Deep, powerful meditation far beyond what is required to build one’s core or create mana circles. You must be able to guide the qi and mana throughout your body and mind for days on end, concentration unbroken.

“The final requirement is luck. Even with the necessary energies and a strong unbroken will, if you are unlucky, you will fail. And if you fail, death is the most likely outcome – but you could be twisted into an abomination.”

“Why do the shamans think a blessing from the True Spirits is necessary?” Rai asked.

“Because this tower, which is full of those spirits, is also a place where several different types of energies gather, allowing those who have not met the first requirement to suffuse themselves – such as the Emperor of Orochi.”

Right… he didn’t use any arts when we fought him, Rai realized. So he wasn’t a combat artist, yet he still evolved without a perfected qi core.

“Now that you know… what will you do?”