Not even the ocean port of Radecross was free from the clutches of train gimmickry.

The port was located on the northeastern end of the city, situated in the Lionsblood — the wide ocean of reddish waters that bordered the eastern edge of the Dragonspine continent.

Being that Radecross was a major travel hub, the port was, ordinarily, an incredibly popular one, and quite spacious as well, facilitating anything from battleships to yachts — even pirates were able to find parking there without worry of arrest due to the sheer volume of ships providing camouflage.

However, it appeared to have been affected by the sudden appearance of the ultrapulse. While the newly-formed mountains had mostly kept themselves on the southern and eastern ends of the city, a few of the spires had made their way to the lower quadrant of the port, and just that little bit of contact had thrown things off balance.

Namely, the coast was….lopsided.

It was a strange sight to behold as the Class G members approached the port from the land side. The right side had slanted upwards at a near 45-degree-angle, but the water strangely did not trickle down the slope, instead maintaining stasis.

Underneath that diagonal line of water was a mostly empty space; the water did not appear to be balancing on anything in particular, making it appear as though it were resting on a giant pane of glass.

That slanted stretch of ocean reached for about a mile outward, and from there, it naturally descended into the normal portion of sea. This had made a long tract of land available that previously had not been, extending the coast along the right-side of the port.

And within that mile-long track of land, the city of Radecross had installed a new train line.

It appeared to be a new underwater train, offering tourists rides underneath the ocean before curving around and returning on the other side, where it finished the tour with a view of the countryside to the west of the city right as it reconnected to the city’s main roads.

“Hey, check that out!” Zeo said, pointing across the port to the strange, slanted slab of ocean.

“That’s so freaky!” Reina exclaimed, frantically digging into her pocket to retrieve her phone and snap some pictures.

Annabelle seemed particularly enthralled by the strange display of physics, looking to each of the others for some sort of explanation.

It was, of course, Cain who seized the opportunity to provide said explanation.

“Ultrapulses tend to cause disturbances like this when they appear,” he said, so strongly committed to the lecturer role that he even stepped forward, turned around to face the group, and began pointing to each part of the phenomenon as though it were a presentation at the front of a classroom. “Though the mountain isn’t making contact with this part of the ocean, it appears to be projecting some kind of aura of force that’s pushed the right-most edge of the ocean upward, creating the slope.”

“Will it go back to normal?” Annabelle inquired, with a tone that suggested she was genuinely concerned about the upheaved ocean water.

“That depends on the pulse,” came Cain’s answer. “Some pulses vanish and leave no trace behind of their existence, while some become permanent fixtures in the world. I theorize that the mountains here in Radecross are more likely to be the latter.”

He seemed to have captured Kiria’s interest, which delighted him, although he would never admit to that. “Oh? What makes you say that?”

“This is one of the largest ultrapulses that’s been recorded thus far, and those tend to be the ones that stick around longer.” With a smirk, he folded his arms across his chest in a very performative way, like he was setting up the killer final line in a dramatic movie trailer. “Of course, there is another theory, but none of you would be able to properly understand it.”

After sharing a collective rolling of the eyes, the group made their way to the ticketing center. While Zeo was customarily the leader and had physically led them to the port, for some reason, the role of purchasing the tickets had actually fallen onto Kiria, without anyone having said a word.

“Are there any ships headed to Chateau Aurum?”

The attendant on the other side offered her the polite customer service wince. That didn’t bode well. “I’m terribly sorry….all of our ships to Chateau Aurum have been delayed for another five days.”

Cain scowled. “Five days? It’s only open for a week; you’d only get one day there with that delay.”

Bowing her head, the attendant followed up with, “I’m so sorry….we’ve run into troubles getting ships in and out of the port smoothly with the new underwater railways. Lots of maintenance needs to be done on them, and it requires keeping the sea clear of ships.”

“You negatively impacted your port efficiency….” Cain began, a look of disbelief painting itself across his face. “Because you wanted to install a stupid underwater tourist train? How incompetent are you?!”

He lurched forward an inch as Tyger’s elbow pressed into his stomach. “She obviously wasn’t the one who did it, blockhead! Chill out!”

Kiria turned to the others to host a short intermission huddle. “So that means most of the visitors will be arriving on the same day….Maybe that’s when Mistral plans to strike?”

“Scumbags!” Tyger spat. None of the others had much else to offer.

However, the attendant suddenly spoke up, although there was a bit of unease in her voice as she glanced over at Cain. “U-um, we do have an airship flying out there the day after tomorrow, if that’s of interest to you?”

Kiria swiveled back around to face the attendant once more. “You do?”

The attendant nodded. “Y-yes….Mayor Virilitas will be visiting the Chateau on his personal private airship, and he’s allowing Radecross citizens on board.”

Zeo held a finger up. “That’s what Mistral’s targeting, for sure.” The others seemed to be in agreement.

“How much would it cost us to ride the mayor’s airship?”

They watched as the attendant typed something into the computer on her desk before providing the answer. “Let’s see….five adult tickets, and 1 child ticket would b-”

She screamed and jumped in place as Reina suddenly slammed her palms and face against the glass of the booth. “Hey! I am not a child!”

The attendant stammered out apologies while Tyger pried the chameleon girl from the glass like a glob of green gum. “That’ll be, um….4,000 forcens.”

“Holy shit!” Reina exclaimed.

“Um, each.”

Reina fainted.

“Give us a moment, please,” Kiria said before stepping away from the counter to join the others.

“So….anybody here rich?” Zeo asked with a chuckle.

From the silence that followed, the answer was clear.

Well, until Cain turned to Annabelle. “Aren’t you nobility? Can you cover us?”

Zeo’s face lit up as the realization hit him. “Oh, right! Your dad’s a baron, isn’t he, Annabelle?”

“He is….” Annabelle’s ears dropped low. “I’d be happy to pay for all of our tickets, but….”

“Lady Annabelle doesn’t have access to the Quinah family funds yet,” Kiria answered for her. “And she won’t until she passes the Butterfly Trial.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Now Zeo turned his attention to Kiria. “Butterfly Trial?”

“It’s a Quinah family ritual. I don’t know much about it,” she responded with a shrug of the shoulders before returning the conversation back on topic. “We were given some money before we left the manor, but it certainly isn’t enough to cover the ticket costs.”

“I could ask for my mother to send us some more,” said Annabelle. “But it would take a few days to arrive.”

Zeo stuffed his hands into his pockets, sighing. “That’d probably be too late, if they really are targeting the airship. We need that money in two days….”

Reina smiled. “What if we just sneak onto the ship?”

“That could work!”

A growl escaped from Tyger’s lips. “Hell no! That’s illegal! A hero doesn’t trespass!”

Narrowing his eyes, Cain said, “We’re trying to stop terrorists here, you boy scout.”

“We don’t gotta stowaway on an airship, dammit!” Tyger insisted, physically swiping his hand in the air as if to tear the very idea apart with his claws. However, once the motion had been finished, rather than the disapproving scowl one would have expected to be on his face following his words, there was instead a smile. “I can get us that money, don’t worry!” To emphasize his final point, he slammed his fist into his chest. “A hero’s always dependable when the time comes!”

The other members of Class G, unified in their skepticism, all raised a brow.

“How?” Zeo finally asked.

* * * *

ULTRA PULSE

* * * *

Tyger jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, directing the group’s attention to the area behind him. “See? I’ll get us that money, no problem!”

He had taken the group back into the city proper, and more specifically had led them to the community board. Of course, his thumb signal hadn’t been the clearest indication of which specific flyer on the board he was referring to, forcing him to unpin the paper he had in mind, handing it over to Zeo.

“‘Radecross Sports Arena ‘Crossroads of Combat’ Fighting Tournament….Single elimination….All styles welcome….’”

“A fighting tournament?” Kiria asked.

“Awwww, dang!” Reina pouted before handing a smirking Zeo a 10 forcen bill.

Tyger jabbed a finger towards them. “Oi! Hell’s all that about?”

Pocketing the cash, Zeo said, “We made a bet on what you meant when you said you knew of a way to make money fast. I guessed it was some kinda contest. Technically, I thought it would be, like, an eating contest or something, but I played it safe and just went with a contest in general.”

“I thought you were gonna strip or be an escort for some old ladies or something!” Reina stated, making sure to use her bright cheery smile to help disarm any negative reaction that followed that statement.

“Wh-why the hell would you think that’s what I meant?!”

Giggling, the chameleon girl sheepishly shrugged. “I dunno! Male strippers are always buff, and so are you, so I thought it sounded pretty reasonable!” She looked over to the others. “You guys can see it, right?”

“I suppose so. He is in good shape.” Kiria said.

Annabelle timidly looked down at the floor. “Th-that’s not very appropriate!”

“What self-respecting woman would pay for him?” Cain sneered.

Zeo laughed. “Hey, maybe! Never know ‘til you try, right?”

Tyger’s face reddened as the rest of the group scanned his body up and down. “Knock it off, blockheads!”

In order to get the group back on topic, Kiria cleared her throat and directed Zeo to continue reading the flyer.

“Looks like there’s a 500 forcen entry fee….” he began. “Oh, whoa! 50,000 forcen prize for the winner!”

With a proud grin, Tyger said, “Yup!”

“Wow! That’ll more than cover the airship ticket cost!” Annabelle said.

Reina grabbed hold of Annabelle’s hands. “And we could afford to actually do stuff at the resort, too!”

As the two girls started to hop in place excitedly, making plans for their arrival at Chateau Aurum, Kiria looked over at Tyger. “Was this something you wanted to do when we decided to come to the city?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I didn’t see it until this mornin’, actually. I figured we were gonna be busy all week, so I didn’t put much thought into it until we needed some cash.”

After finishing his reading, Zeo handed the flyer back to Tyger. “Perfect timing, too. The tournament’s tomorrow morning, and it’s for one day only.”

“That’s probably on purpose,” Kiria theorized. “Since the Chateau is only open to the public on rare occasions, and the mayor’s offering a ride on his private airship, the winner of the tournament might feel compelled to jump on that opportunity, essentially giving part of the prize money back to the city.”

“Huh….That’s pretty smart,” said Zeo.

“And it’s a worthy investment,” Cain chimed in. “Since the venerable Gai Lea will be attending as well. Any fighter would jump at the opportunity to speak with, and potentially even spar with him.”

When he realized that none of the others had reacted to the name drop with any sense of familiarity, he clenched his fist and turned away in a huff. “Clowns, the lot of you!”

* * * *

ULTRA PULSE

* * * *

Registration for the Crossroads of Combat tournament was open until the morning of, but since the group was already fairly close to the arena, they decided to go ahead and drop by before nightfall.

The arena was a pretty spectacular sight. Circular in shape, and rising quite high into the sky. The outside walls were adorned with holographic video clips of various martial artists and athletes from past competitions.

Reina was the most excited by the display, giddily pointing out a clip as it scrolled by. The accompanying text labeled it as the UE 810 Ultrarush Championship match between the Grail Guardians and the Alttaelim Archangels. “Look, look, look! That’s when we won the championship and whooped those stupid Archangels’ butts!”

Kiria smiled, patting her on the head. “Yes, yes, we see, Reina.”

“You watch ultrarush, Reina?” Zeo asked.

The chameleon girl’s head bobbed up and down. “Heck yeah I do! It’s the greatest game ever invented!”

From the vague sound of disgust coming from his mouth, Cain didn’t seem to agree. “It’s a waste of time. Fighting is the only sport worth watching.”

“Shut your face, Cain!”

“Sounds like you hate the Archangels,” Tyger commented, holding the door to the arena open for the others to head inside. “Why’s that?”

A pout appeared on Reina’s face. “Cuz they’re cheaters! And they’re so overrated!”

“I think that means ‘they always beat my team,’” Zeo said, eliciting a giggle from Annabelle.

“Nuh uh!” Reina roared in defiance. “We’re 2-and-20 against them! We’re not down by that much!”

Kiria gave her best friend a worried look. “Um….Wasn’t that championship match 8 years ago? And you’re still that far behind in wins?”

“We’re turning it around! We’ll catch up and take the lead, no matter how long it takes! We’ll pay them back this year for sure!”

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be much of a line at the registration counter, so there wasn’t much of a wait.

“Oh, big group ya got there,” the attendant said. “Are you all entering?”

“Nah,” Tyger said, shaking his head. Collectively, the group didn’t have enough money for all of them to register (not that they wanted to anyway), but they were able to pool together the 500 forcens needed to cover Tyger’s registration into the tournament. It didn’t leave them with much else to work with, but it didn’t bankrupt them either, and if he won the tournament, they’d obviously have no financial worries at all.

“What’s your name, son?”

“Tyger.”

The attendant typed the name into the computer. “And….where ya from?”

“Thunder City.”

That seemed to have made a splash in the attendant’s mind. “Oh, really? Wow….you’re the first from there. Competition just got stiffer.”

Thunder City was a major, well, city in the country of Fighters Heaven, a nation renowned for pumping out some of the best martial artists the world had to offer. Having a contestant enter the tournament from there was a pretty big deal. While there was definitely no guarantee that a fighter from Fighters Heaven had any innate advantage against a fighter from anywhere else, people had a tendency to buy into the stereotype that their people were a cut above the rest, and perception tends to have a strong influence.

“Alright, you’re good to go. Your first match will be tomorrow morning at 9. Good luck, kid!”

“Thanks.”

Turning away from the counter, the group began to make their way to the exit.

Reina poked her finger into Tyger’s ribs. “Hey, Tyger! Are you nervous?”

“Nervous? Nah, I got this.”

“Confident, are we?” Kiria asked. “Just don’t get cocky. We really need that prize money.”

Tyger stepped out in front of the group to once again hold the door open. However, before they could exit the building, a woman entered from the other side.

“Thank you, dear,” the woman said as she stepped inside with a smile and a bow of the head. Tyger’s eyes followed her the whole way, as did the other members of Class G as they crossed paths with her. She wore a fashionable dark blue coat that was clearly some kind of luxury designer brand. It covered her upper body completely, but her legs appeared almost completely bare, allowing everyone to see the thick muscles they were built upon, like they were carved in stone.

“Daaaang!” Reina said as Tyger shut the door. “Did you guys see the thighs on that lady? She could juice a boulder with those things!”

“She was beautiful,” Annabelle added. “And so tall, too!”

Not wanting to be the first guy to comment on an attractive woman’s appearance, Zeo glanced over at Tyger, chuckling as he noticed his eyes still fixated on the doors to the arena. “Hey, Tyger, you’re drooling.”

That seemed to have snapped him out of him. “Piss off.”

“Try not to get distracted if you have to fight her, alright?”

As the group shared a laugh, Kiria looked around the circle, noting that there was one head missing. “Where’s Cain?”

Cain exited the arena a mere second after his name was spoken, prompting everyone to ask what had taken him so long (and no, he had not been in the bathroom as Reina suggested).

“I was registering for the tournament,” he answered.

“How did you pay the entrance fee?” Kiria asked. “We only had enough for Tyger.”

“I have my own money, of course. I’m always prepared.” He glanced over at Tyger with a grin. “Besides, we need that prize money, so we’ll need someone who can actually win to enter on our behalf, don’t we?”

“Oooooooooooh!” Reina and Zeo said in unison.

Unlike the others, Tyger didn’t seem to be very surprised at the revelation. Instead, he simply nodded his head. “Alright. I finally get my rematch, huh?”

Another wave of surprise washed over the members of Class G. “You two have fought before?” Kiria asked. While they had bickered back when they were in elementary school, they definitely hadn’t had any formal matches or anything of the sort. From what Tyger had said, it seemed the two had had some sort of duel in between then and now.

“Yeah, back at the ULTRA RUMBLE,” Tyger answered, keeping his intense violet eyes locked on Cain’s.

Reina gasped. “Whoa! You guys got into the ULTRA RUMBLE?!”

They spoke of the biggest martial arts tournament in the world, hosted once every four years. Fighters from all across the planet dreamed of competing in and, of course, winning at the ULTRA RUMBLE, as it would be the greatest test of their skills, and would be showcased to the entire world.

“It was in the Jr. Division preliminaries,” said Cain. “Neither of us made it to the tournament proper, but yes, we faced each other there two years ago. I won, of course.”

Tyger smirked. “Yeah….And I’m payin’ you back for it.”

Eyes widening, Reina pumped her fist. “Yeah!”