Chapter 56
After finding clothes that actually fit him, along with throwing out all the spare clothing Gideon had in his storage, they set off for the second trial across the top of Averia, just shy of Literia, along the path leading to the frozen mountains north of Calatos. Gideon managed to scrape by the test requirements thanks to Ryiah pushing her team to collect enough for him as well. That said, Gideon convinced the irked examiners to make an exception for him in return for vital information concerning how to enter the Cube outside the restrictions.
Gideon hadn't wish to part with this information, but the Cube was designed to give power to those capable of taking it, that and it was something someone would find out eventually so he decided to capitalise on it by scoring points with the clan. Building relationships is the core aspect of any merchant, creating opportunities to profit from, and it can open doors for him as a potential disciple of said clan.
Rowan and Maelie had no way to join the clan without an official invitation from an elder, and Lara was no where to be found. However, the examiners were intrigued in acquiring an Orc, and Maelie wasn't shy of showing off her void powers which lead to the examiners drooling over her, and in the end, they were given invitations by the examiners themselves after Gideon persuaded them that joining the clan could benefit them greatly.
The second trial wasn't anything on the calibre of the first, they were required to climb a mountain and acquire a Frostmare tail feather. The scoring of this trail wasn't based on how many or the size or power as the trial was to be done without the use of magic or enhancing one self with mana, the trial tests the candidates fortitude and resilience in the harsh environment of the Blizzard Peaks, an area known to be a perfect training ground for the strongest of ice mages.
The test had a hidden element that costed the lives of several candidates, even Gideon nearly found himself turned to a block of ice had he not quickly learned the secret. Frostmare's are insanely temperamental, but if their egos are tailored to then they are quite docile. Fighting them isn't an option as the weakest among them is easily Prince rank with the average at King rank, evading their wide arcing ice attack is also impossible, leaving the only options of stealth or diplomacy.
Ryiah and Gideon had their concealment ability which worked to hide them from the birds, as long as they kept their distance the hawks couldn't sense them, at least until they got close as they had a keen sense of smell. The Frostmare Hawks sleep close together, so when a candidate has to acquire a tail feather, they have to find one far from the pack and wake it carefully, then humiliate oneself in front of it long enough to get close and snag a tail feather. That's when the nightmare begins as no amount of pampering would ever make a Frostmare Hawk give up its tail feather willingly.
Gideon had been the first one to return, his new physique gave him practically endless stamina and a near immunity to physical environmental elements. He also ignored pampering the Frostmare and stole its feather, hence his near cryofreeze moment, but he got lucky when his enraged hawk met another enraged hawk moments away from devouring another candidate. The two scrambled away and made it to safety as the two hawks fought, though the moment the other candidate realised they weren't in danger they tried to stab Gideon in the back to get his feather as they had failed to acquire one.
The attack landed before Gideon could react, yet the blow held no weight to it, or at least it didn't feel like it as Gideon felt as if someone hit him with a snowball. When he realised the other candidate had tried to kill him for his feather, Gideon wanted to laugh as he realised that somehow his new form must have raised his rank up to Knight rank in physical strength as the candidate opposite him he had gauged to be Apprentice rank in physical strength.
Leaving the candidate to stare blankly at their own fist as if it had hit a brick wall, Gideon dashed back down the mountain and returned with the feather first. Two other candidates returned before Lily, both of whom glared daggers at Gideon for beating them to the goal first as Gideon recalled Ryiah saying she overheard the examiners stating that those two were the ace students to watch for the trial.
Pavel was fifth behind Lily, he was technically in his element with the ice mountain, but he had to stop and assist Lily through the trial secretly as she struggled immensely. Her Beastkin physiology wasn't ideal for the colder climates, they are geared more towards arid domains and deserts than freezing mountains despite their fur.
Ryiah was seventh behind another candidate, she had little trouble dealing with the Frostmare but had to take a longer route around the mountain after the second place candidate caused an avalanche to ensure their victory. She was upset coming seventh, though given there were twenty-one candidates that started this trial after around thirty were cut from the first, she fared better than most. Only twelve made it down the mountain, a harrowing reminder of how deadly these trials were meant to be.
The journey to the third trail was tense, those that came in nineth to twelfth were in a foul mood due to the avalanche and didn't care that they made their ire known. Eighth was held by Rowan, his stronger physique giving him an edge however his brutish nature clashed with the Frostmare and caused a few bouts that slowed him down. As for Maelie, she came dead last, as with Lily, her physique wasn't suited for the cold, but her prideful nature had her whining at the instructors for hours before she was forced to complete the trial when Gideon came back and glared at her, reminding her that if she wanted to get to the rank she needed then the clan was the best place for her.
The candidate in second place, a girl with pure black hair tied in a beautiful braid down her back decorated with jewels in the shapes of flowers, her elegant forest green gown was inlaid with a gold plating depicting wind spirits matching her soft green eyes, held no care for those bellyaching, her snobbish behaviour shining through with her nose turned to the sky. Trisha Stormwood, the first heir of the Stormwood Clan, one of the contenders for the six original clans and famed for their trackers and archers.
Pavel explained that the Stormwood Clan is the go-to place if you want something found, they are expertly trained in the field of hunting to the extent that they are second to none. If Ryiah wasn't trying for whatever this mysterious clan was then he would have recommended her to them as they excel in the art of the bow, except that offer only held when he was still the first heir of the Frostmare Clan.
The reason Trisha was chosen remained a mystery, where other candidates bragged about some secondary core they had or some special talent the elders found in them, Trisha kept her comments to referring to the others as second class. She was in complete contrast to third place, Simon Duskblade, someone who gave Gideon a run for his money on the stoic swordsman of few words.
Simon had short grey hair and bleak white eyes, he had rugged features and a scar running from his right cheek up across the bridge of his nose before it takes a sudden shift left across his left eye. Simon wore a simple set of dark grey shirt and trousers with bland leather padding over his vital areas, he had a single simple sword attached at his right hip.
The third trial took them down past Calatos towards the supposed empty lands of the south, they hadn't been told the test conditions until they were at the site itself, though the examiners did state that this time would be different. They were heading to a ground owned by a subsidiary of the clan, where they would climb a series of floating islands without the use of their magic where at the top of the highest island was a platform where they will then compete in a tournament to determine the final order of candidates.
This final trial had no elimination conditions, and the candidates can aid one another through the islands, they even can request aid of the examiners who would be following close behind if they were in trouble. The positions of the final candidates didn't make any difference either other than the first place getting a special reward, the entire trial was purely a showcase of character and skill.
The elders can hand out an invitation once a year until the trials, but they can only accept one of the candidates they invited. Therefore, after the tournament is completed, those that are grouped under one elder must either compete against one another, or the elder chooses their preferred candidate from the show case which is usually the case since candidates tend to differ drastically in power.
From the remaining twelve candidates, there are only two cases of groups under an elder, Gideon's group, and Trisha who is competing against the candidate in tenth place. The second group wasn't a difficult case, the tenth candidate had promise, but defeat shone in their eyes and did not hesitate to show their comprehension of their soon to be defeat at Trisha's hands. As for Gideon's group, it was a convoluted situation.
Pavel was guaranteed a place as Hildevane eyed him like a sailor eyes mead, that and her affinity for ice made her an ideal master for him. Ryiah had to bank on Lara pulling off the deal and gaining the elder status which would allow her to take Ryiah as her apprentice, which left Lily and Gideon as Rowan and Maelie were taken by the examiners who were both elders and lost their candidates in the first trial.
Gideon knew if the worst came to pass then he would forgo his position to allow Lily to stay together with the others, he had the Izulu Sect to fall back on as well as several errands he had to run, though he was hoping to impress the elders enough that one of them that lost their candidate would choose him instead. It wasn't technically allowed given that elders must make their decisions before the first trial began, but the examiners explained that sometimes under exceptional circumstances do the elders make an exception.
As for Lily, there was a chance that an elder might snap her up as the examiners kept muttering about her having a similar constitution to an elder. They wouldn't know for sure until they arrived at the platform as the elders would gather there to see whether their candidates survived or not, though the examiner did accidentally give away that there was a betting pool among the elders.
The arrival at the floating islands was a rather comical event, the examiners proclaimed they had arrived when they broke through the forest and stood before an open plain with little defining detail. When the others started laughing, the examiners clapped their hands together and suddenly a force overtook them and the plains disappeared, revealing beautifully floating chunks of land floating in the sky at varying heights, and there was no sign of the land being taken from the rugged terrain below.
Some of the islands were connected with vines or shards of floating rocks orbiting them which formed a sort of stepping stone across with a death defying drop. Rowan took the chance to share his understanding of gravity magic and explained that this was a gravity detonation, that at some point in ancient past a powerful Gravitation element user caused a major calamity in which the islands were charged with gravitational energy, giving them their own self-sustaining field of gravity. The examiners were impressed with his knowledge, adding onto his explanation that the islands would have been developed upon if their field wasn't unstable which sometimes causes them to suddenly fall or collide with one another.
Rowan countered with that the effects of the gravity detonation must have occurred recently, at least within the last few centuries as the islands hadn't fully settled. Further impressed by his knowledge, the examiners, after bickering with one another on who it was that officially gave Rowan the invitation, revealed that it was three centuries ago during the rise of the Tyrant King where one of his strongest generals was a gravity user.
The point where they emerged from the forest was close to the first bridge towards the first island, it was artificially made from vines by the use of magic, suspended as if it were held by the air itself. The trial started the moment each of them were given an augmented version of the Full Binding Bracers, something that was familiar to Gideon and Ryiah as they still had theirs. Gideon had returned his set back on when he reacquired his clothes from Rowan, but the effect had been largely diminished with whatever altered him into his new form.
Luckily for them, the power binding item was a necklace designed to prevent the user from accessing their mana. It was an odd effect applying it, especially for Gideon and Ryiah as the necklace and the bracers conflicted with one another causing feedback that made them nauseous.
After the years in this new world, they should have been free to unlock their full power, but they still held to the point of keeping themselves concealed despite the numerous acts that gave them fame. Technically, their full power was releasing the dam that was restricting their control over their own mana, allowing them to fuel more power into attacks and other aspects. However, with this much mana coursing through their veins, it would make them far more noticeable.
Traversing the islands was a difficult endeavour, Trisha immediately bolted off with Simon close behind, both taking the lone wolf act far too seriously. Gideon stayed with his group as his augmented strength gave him an edge that allowed him to scale the islands and cross the gaps easily, and he could carry them if need be.
Their teamwork gave them a significant advantage over the others who tried to cross the islands on their own. Lily and Rowan were the power breakers, their strength allowed them to charge ahead and forge a path for them. Ryiah and Pavel were the navigators, their skill and knowledge allowing them to determine the best course through the islands, leaving Gideon on rear guard support, aiding anyone that stumbled or watching for any change in the islands to inform the navigators. Maelie just whined the entire time, though she did have experience on floating islands which helped the navigators.
Trisha and Simon made good progress, but soon falling behind as they struggled to make their way through the islands. They tried to catch up to no avail, their stubbornness and pride preventing them from teaming up and working together. The other candidates in similar positions, though some grouped up and fared better than others.
The platform was an island high above the rest with a beautiful ornate coliseum built into the stone, they couldn't see inside, but light shone from the top of the walls in the form of magic of various colours. The sporadic flashes were indicators of a battle, one that was frightfully intense as shockwaves of energy burst forth from the arena and could be felt for leagues away.
Nearing their final destination, the sound of metal clinking could be heard as the battle raged on, a distinct note of metal, wind and water clashed in a flurry of vibrant waves of magical energy. The climb to the final island was treacherous, the island itself was stable but the only way up was a series of rocks and boulders floating around that constantly shifted in random paths.
Rowan's understanding of gravitation gave them the advantage as he could track the paths of the boulders by an almost sixth sense, he claimed it was the waves of energy generated from the motion of the boulders that he could sense. Gideon's own pulse sense worked in a similar way, though he used plants to send energy waves whereas Rowan felt the gravity itself.
"Those two are at it again, I swear it's becoming such a common occurrence I can't imagine not hearing them fighting." One of the examiners grumbled, Thrain Icefang, an old man with dark skin and shock white hair, his steely blue eyes glared at the arena with contempt.
"They're twins… surely they should have been inseparable?" The second examiner spoke, Powell Stone, a pudgy old man with a similar shock white hair, though with hazel eyes and such pale skin that he would be a vampire if they existed within this world. He was friendlier than Thrain, opting to explain things when the other examiner couldn't be bothered to utter more than the basic sentence needed to convey the trial. He was also the one that managed to win the bout on who got Rowan as an apprentice despite Thrain being far more knowledgeable in the arts of gravity.
"Who cares, the Blacksteels are the Pavilion's problem, I'm just glad they only come down during events otherwise I'd quit." Thrain rumbled angrily as the waves of energy roared violently as the arena shook. "If they crash the Gilded Arena… I swear…"
"You swear what? The Blacksteels are leagues ahead of us, that's why they are Pavilion's problem." Powell chuckled merrily at Thrain's ire, their conversation drawing the attention of the candidates as they try to decipher what they meant by the Pavilion.
"Regardless, we should wait until those two burn themselves out, it be safer for the candidates that way." Thrain ignored Powell's slight at his ego, opting to focus on their duty as examiners for the candidates. Though they weren't meant to aid the candidates, they did have to safeguard them outside of the trials, and that included from elders wanting to beat the living hell out of each other. "That, and they won't be bickering throughout the tournament, I heard the last trial tournament kept being interrupted by those two."
"There couldn't be a tournament with those two attending, we had to postpone until we got rid of them without offending the Pavilion… we were running out of excuses after the first hour with how impatient they were." Powell chuckled sourly, he had attended the last trials as he found a rather promising candidate but they failed to make it through the second trial. "I still wonder why the Pavilion sends them our way."
"Because they don't have apprentices, well, technically Kenji does but she's more his adopted daughter than apprentice. As for Nyssa, the last candidate she had tried to resign, and when he couldn't he hurled himself off the mountain headfirst." Thrain shuddered at the mess the poor boy made, the same one he had to clean up as well as explaining to Nyssa that her apprentice hadn't committed suicide but rather fell by accident as she didn't tolerate weakness. "I fear for anyone that has the misfortune of being chosen by one of them."
"Thrain, Powell, why are you standing out here?" A commanding voice demanded as a man approached them, he was clad heavily in mythril armour that was decorated with wind patterns. The man had a confusing array of features, his black hair held threads of grey betraying his age as his face was rugged and harsh, his sharp grey eyed glare pierced Thrain and Powell causing them both to shudder. "Are these all the candidates?"
"Kenji?!... Apologies, Master Blacksteel! If you don't mind my asking, if you are here, then who is fighting your sister?" Thrain boldly stated, trying to buy time for the last two candidates to arrive as Kenji may not be completely like his sister, but he still had a hatred towards failure.
"Hildevane and a new elder got into an argument, Nyssa fell asleep and woke up as the insults flew… somehow she thought she was the one being targeted. Now it's two against one as Nyssa lost her temper." Kenji sighed furiously, shaking his head at his sister's actions. "The candidates?"
"We're waiting on two more to finish, they shouldn't be far behind." Powell appeased Kenji as Thrain shuffled towards the edge of the island to find the location of the last two, who were supposed to be the aces to look out for. Trisha and Simon fell back even further when they started to bicker and fight, allowing the other candidates to race ahead. "I apologise Master Blacksteel, but I thought it prudent to let the fight mellow out before arriving with the candidates."
"Despite making me and the other elders wait… that is a sound call, Nyssa's in a foul mood and that has nothing to do with the fight right now." Kenji reluctantly admitted, glancing back at the arena as the thunderous elements of metal, wind and water suddenly gained an ice note that chilled the already cold air. "I'll go calm my sister, once the final two arrive, bring them in."
"Elders, its time for the final trial, the tournament!" A relatively young man announced cheerily, he seemed out of place amongst the elderly people sat in various states of boredom or annoyance as they scanned the candidates entering the arena. The elders lining the stands numbered around twenty, meaning of the fifty or so candidates, there was a minimum of two to three candidates per elder. "With twelve candidates in the field, I'll announce the elders of the candidates. Master Tau Hellblaze, Master Logar Kulltar, Master Thrain Icefang, Master Everlyn Firebird, Master Thomas Thorn, Master Jeremey Icefang, Master Powell Stone, Master Hildevane Crossfor, Master Lara Wolf, and Master Kenji Blacksteel."
Some elders grumbled and looked distraught at the announcement, others looked pleased despite not having their name called. Gideon and the other candidates all lined up in front of them by the entrance to the grand arena of white marble with several pillars of dark granite lining the edges.
"Master Hildevane Crossfor and Master Logar Kulltar have more than one candidate remaining, with Master Hildevane Crossfor having three candidates. I know law states no candidate can be taken by another elder, but from the accounts of Master Icefang and Master Stone, any of the three show promise." The announcer's words irked Gideon, he felt like an item on an auction stand with the auctioneer trying to hide the fact he was useless. "Now, the tournament will proceed as normal, however a slight change has been made. Instead of deciding the matches by luck of the draw, Master Kenji Blacksteel has requested that his candidate, Simon Duskblade, be faced with a worthy opponent from the beginning of his own choosing. Master Blacksteel?"
"I have conferred with the examiners and have decided that the best candidate to face Simon Duskblade is Rowan Massbear…" Kenji's choice to face his candidate was met with criticism, especially from the other elders who yelled at him that he was only picking the Orc based on appearances. "Fine! Rowan, do you believe yourself to be the strongest among the candidates, or is there someone you believe is stronger?"
"Gideon Voidsaber, though I doubt your candidate will last long against him." Rowan chuckled, uncaringly towards the look of rage that flashed through Kenji's eyes as well as the stunned silence through the elders as they watched the Orc laugh at Kenji. Gideon also shared a look of ire at Rowan as he got called out to the forefront of all, especially in front of someone he was certain wasn't to be disrespected.
"Then, Gideon, step forward and face Simon." Kenji growled angrily, his sister loving the show of defiance from the Orc, instantly cheering up her prior sour mood. Gideon stepped into the ring, a sold line of gold outlying the field of combat. Simon faced him from the opposite side, a note of disdain etched in his eyes. "Let the fight begin!"
Gideon didn't have time to get his sword drawn when the match begun despite Simon already having his out, the boy moved with surprising speed, his sword aimed at Gideon's neck with the intent to kill. Dodging effortlessly, Gideon spun around and slammed his foot into the back of Simon's legs, sending him to the ground.
Without missing a beat, Gideon twisted around and followed up his attack with his other foot swinging around and slamming into Simon's face before he could react, sending the boy hurtling out of the ring and into the wall of the arena. A stunned silence settled over the area as this bout lasted all of two seconds, with Simon immediately knocked out of the ring in two moves.
"Winner! Gideon Voidsaber!" The announcer called out jubilantly before remembering which elder invited the losing candidate, he suddenly attained a characteristic that shouldn't be physically possible as he went sheer white before vanishing into thin air.
The silence was deafening, the elders didn't know what to make of the situation as any candidate chosen by Kenji was bound to be greater than all the other candidates combined, but to witness that candidate get destroyed in a single two hit knock out, they didn't know what to think. The silence was suddenly broken by Nyssa, crying her eyes out as she fell into a hysterical fit of laughter that grew louder as Kenji's eye twitched violently.
"That… that… he cheated!" Simon roared as he finally extricated himself from the wall, his temper growing as Gideon looked at him then at his foot, wondering if using his foot to kick him out of the ring wasn't in the rule book.
"How am I the one at fault when I couldn't even get my blade drawn before the match started? Anyway, its your own fault for stupidly charging at me." Gideon countered annoyedly, once he was certain that using martial arts wasn't against the rules due to several candidates without weapons of any kind he redirected his attention at the sore loser. "I mean, seriously? I'm wearing light clothing with two light swords, that alone should scream speed type, so why did you charge at me thinking you had the upper hand?"
Simon's anger grew, and without waiting for the stunned elders to collect themselves, including Kenji who had a look that agreed with Gideon's assessment, he charged at Gideon faster than before with an even greater intent to kill. Gideon effortlessly dodged the attack that was again aimed at his neck, twirling around and slamming his foot into the back of Simon, sending him careering to the ground.
"Dude, stop. This is embarrassing, you were picked by Master Kenji Blacksteel, show some decorum and accept defeat." Gideon sighed as Simon got up angrier than before, turning to face Gideon with a blood lust that shouldn't be possible for a human. Fed up with Simon's attitude, Gideon empowered himself with mana and disappeared in a blink of an eye, appearing behind Simon with his sword drawn and a second later Simon's sword was cut in two. "Enough. You have no hope of facing me, your arrogance is your own undoing, the more you let your rage control you, the better my chances are at defeating you."
"I DON'T CARE!" Simon bellowed as he charged again, though this time his sword took on a grey note that completed the broken part with a slight murmur in the air. He charged at Gideon again, his reckless actions far more noticeable than before, in fact, Simon had a chance when the battle first started had he gone for a flanking attack than a direct strike.
"Nature's Fury, 2nd Form, Fallen Kin!" Gideon called out calmly, raising both his swords high above his head as a beautiful green outline of a large oak tree appeared above him, and at the moment he called out the name of the move the tree began to creak and fall following the motion of his swords as he led them down. The large tree stunned Simon for a moment, staring at it wide eyed as it fell directly down upon him.
"That's enough of that." A strange smooth voice spoke quietly from between Gideon and Simon, a relatively young man with sleek silver hair and matching eyes wearing a beautifully ornate silver robe stood between them. His soft stoic eyes gazed curiously at Gideon as he held a single finger up pointing at the tree that now stayed there as if it were held by nothing but sheer will. "Nature's Fury, a devastating art to wield though one that has difficult requirements to unlock. Your name is Gideon Voidsaber? Correct?"
"Yes, Master." Gideon bowed to the strange man as were all the other elders in the arena, even Simon couldn't stand defiant in front of this man as he knew him somehow, and that recognition shone in his eyes with a mixture of awe and fear. Gideon noticed a glint in the eyes of the strange man, one that spoke of profound intelligence and a keener eye despite his youthful appearance, and especially one that seemed to light up at the mention of the Voidsaber name. Quickly adjusting his pose, he saluted with the beast clan's signature move, lighting up his emblem. "I apologise, Master. Gideon is a nickname I commonly use. My real name is Garfield Voidsaber, First Heir of the Voidsaber Clan."
Silenced reigned in the arena, mainly due to the elder contemplating Gideon's words rather than Garfield's words themselves, though a stunned group sat to the side as they stared at him. Pavel and Lily both knew he belonged to a forgotten family, but to be a first heir was an official title, that and they didn't know what to make of his real name. Ryiah on the other hand just stood there wondering what could have happened in the Cube that he was so confident to utter such words and using them in conjuncture with the emblem on his hand.
"Boy, I offer you a challenge. If you are able to lay a hand on me within one turn of this time piece, you'll become my apprentice." The strange man pulled out an hourglass that floated in the air beside him, it suddenly turned and the sand ran down with a slight blue glowing tint to it, but Garfield didn't move. He stood there assessing the man with scrutiny, ignoring the other elders who looked gobsmacked at what the old man had offered him.
The two stood there as time trickled by, Garfield breathing slowly as he debated his next course of action whilst the strange man stood there curiously gazing at his opponent. Garfield knew his speed was nothing compared to the strange man as he could see flecks of lifeless grey energy peeking out behind his attempts of concealing his presence which resembled his own void energy, void abilities have a host of speed type effects that, at the strange man's level, put him on an entirely different level. The only way to win this game was a single moment, an instance of action defined by the element of stealth and surprise. The strange man wasn't going to let him win, but he would underestimate his true speed for a split second and that was what he needed.
"What ails you, boy?" The strange man asked almost jovially as the sands slowly drained out, time was ebbing away and Garfield still wasn't moving. "If you believe that you can overwhelm me with a single instance of speed then you're mistaken."
"But, I am not. I believe I have you assessed fairly." Garfield spoke calmly, his words causing shock and outrage among the elders except he didn't care. The strange man was powerful, and with his Void element it negated any tricks he learned from Maelie. "You're a void user, and at your current strength you would be able to alter time. Therefore, the moment I move, you'll slow time enough to decipher my move and act accordingly."
The crowd suddenly ceased their murmurings, staring agape at the strange man with confusing and shocked looks as if they didn't know he had this ability. The strange man grinned slightly, he almost gave Garfield an approving nod, though before he could react, Garfield was standing in front of him with his hand on his shoulder.
"However, in the game of illusion, I win." Garfield smirked as the old man stood there baffled for a second trying to understand how his opponent moved without him noticing, though at the moment he understood, he turned at the last second to find a second Garfield in his full beast form landing a fist against his face.
The strange man stood there holding his jaw in slight disbelief as Garfield cradled his hand, the hit had landed but it was like punching a solid wall of pure strength and Garfield was certain that over half of his bones in his hand were broken.
There was a trick with his Mystic powers that allowed him to form a mana illusion by using a special flower he learned through fantasies and fairy tales, the Ghost Lily. The time he used standing there in front of the old man he was using every ounce of knowledge and power he had to summon one, and when he succeeded to his own surprise, he immediately transformed and unleashed every ounce of mana he had along with his soul's speed boost ability and his void magic's ability to eliminate resistance along with his Phantom Veil. The speed he moved was frightening, if he wasn't so focused on the task at hand, he would have realised that if he lost control for even a second, he would end up with more than three quarters of his body broken and crushed if he hit a solid object.
"Clever… I must admit its been ages since someone was able to fool me… you're a summoner, they're pretty rare, and you have a powerful void Constitution… you'll make a fine apprentice." The strange man smirked amusedly, a chorus of gasps exploded from the crowd of elders the moment their shock wore off. "I am Zephyr Dawnbane, Grand Elder of the Divine Pavilion. Though the significance of that will be explained after the trials end. You are now my apprentice."
"Thank you, Master. I will endeavour to exceed your expectations of me." Garfield bowed to Zephyr, he had been hoping for an elder to take him as an apprentice, he wasn't expecting a Grand Elder, and one from the mysterious Pavilion the other elders spoke of in high regard, though he wasn't exactly sure if that was better or not. "If I may be permitted to ask a question, Master?"
"Proceed." Zephyr curtly stated as he seemed intent on leaving the arena as quickly as he arrived, not out of impatience but out of completion of his task.
"Why did you come to the arena?" Garfield boldly stated, once again ignoring the glares and ire of the crowd which seemed to be extremely fickle. "Your demeanour speaks of someone who does not care for trivial matters, and as a Grand Elder I'm sure attending events such as these aren't a normal occurrence, therefore I ask what brought you here."
"Intriguing, your eyes are as sharp as a sword and your comprehension is swift." Zephyr again almost nodded approvingly at Garfield as he contemplated how to answer. "When word reached me of someone finding a way into the Cube outside the restrictions, I had to find who that person was, purely out of curiosity, and to observe and understand how they came across this information… How did you come across this information?"
"A bad-tempered old ghost that wouldn't shut up for five seconds…" Garfield grumbled as he glared blankly into space as if he were trying to set alight an object far away from their current position with the sheer intensity of his ire. "That, and a mission to restore power to the Cube after a member of my clan foolishly set it into lockdown…"
Garfield glared at Maelie who suddenly found the ground in the distance very interesting, returning his attention back to Zephyr who now regarded him with even greater curiosity. He wasn't sure if revealing this information would be counterproductive, but something about Zephyr told him that the man could be trusted, at least in the sense that the old man was wise beyond his years and knowledge such as this would be another part of the substantial library he has already consumed.
"Intriguing… there is much we have to discuss, though I would reframe from speaking further on the matter for the time being. For now, you'll remain with the other candidates but there is no point in participating in the tournament, for you and the purple eyed girl behind you, both of you far exceed the other candidates by leagues." Zephyr nodded slightly towards Ryiah who glowed at the praise from a Grand Elder that forced Garfield to the absolute limit and only won because the crafty devil was sneaky and deceptive, something she'll make him suffer for later. "After orientation into the clan, Kenji will bring you to the Divine Pavilion where you'll be given quarters, meet me at the Central Square at the break of dawn, no later."
"Yes, Master."
The tournament results weren't surprising, Trisha's skills were formidable, unfortunately for her, she had the misfortune of facing Ryiah in the first round. Despite Zephyr's words on adding Ryiah to the tournament would be unfair to the other candidates, Lara had insisted after he left so the other elders could see why she chose her, and Ryiah did not disappoint, taking first place with relative ease.
She did struggle against Lily who's close quarter combat speciality forced her to reveal her enchantress core to the elders, but it was the fight against Rowan for first place that tested her skills to the limit. Rowan's brute force shrugged off most of her attacks, even spirit attacks didn't fair well against him, but the towering behemoth had a fault of his own in that his gravity attacks, something that stunned the elders and made Powell beaming with pride while Thrain withered with resentment, had little to no effect on Ryiah once she warded herself.
The two were stuck in a stalemate for several minutes before Ryiah revealed her ruse, she had learned a thing or two from Garfield in the art of illusion and deception, buying time to set up a trap that the Orc failed to see. Rowan didn't know Ryiah well, yet he did know she was nothing like Garfield, which led to his inability to see the trap until it was too late. The rune slammed Rowan into the ground, encasing him in a thick field of mana that suddenly launched the Orc into the stand with a powerful bolt of lightning, leaving a crater where several elders had to dart out of the way.
Pavel achieved third, he didn't want to fight Lily seriously and he wasn't fussed with coming fourth, sadly the cheeky wolf girl taunted him one too many times and the two got to finally discover who was stronger. The answer was surprisingly Lily, her physical strength combined with her fire and lightning powers made her a force to be reckoned with, and her speed greatly outmatched Pavel's, but like with the second trial, her Beastkin physiology was her undoing against Pavel's new attack spell he learned from Jorgan, Frost Field.
The spell was an area of effect attack that generated a strong frost wind around the user, slowing and freezing those within its effects. Lily's Fire element kept the ice at bay for a while, but over time she slowed down enough for Pavel's attacks to land. The difference between them isn't very much, where Lily excels in strength and speed, she fails in a drawn-out bout which is Pavel's forte. Pavel is trained to keep movements to a minimum and focus on targeting points that slow the enemy or weaken them, allowing for him to deal greater attacks when the enemy isn't able to dodge.
Maelie actually put up a decent effort, after complaining about the vulgarity of fighting for the amusement of others, she got faced with one of the other candidates in the first round that foolishly believed because she was a dual Beginner rank that she would be an easy victory. Maelie was brutal in her efficiency, though she struggled in controlling her human body, she was extremely adaptive when she puts her mind to the task and destroyed the candidate.
Her void powers made her impossible to face with any element magic, which her opponent being a caster like herself rendered them useless. That said, the true brutality came when Maelie revealed she had more than one element, firing a bolt of lightning that launched her opponent out of the ring once she broke their guard. Thrain lost his dismay at losing the Orc and beamed proudly when Maelie showed off her skill with the Void and Lightning elements.
Unfortunately for her, she got faced with Trisha in the next bout which ended badly despite both of them being ranged combatants with Trisha being an archer while Maelie a caster. Trisha wielded Wind and Nature elements, the first was fairly useless against void although Nature held physical type attacks that void struggled to dissipate, especially with how weak her magic currently was.
Simon was the odd case, after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Garfield, he vowed to defeat whoever stood in his way, which happened to be Ryiah. After learning she and Garfield were connected, he got a dark gleam in his eye and went directly for a lethal shot. Except, instead of defeating her like he had hoped to, Ryiah displaced the ground with a rune which sent him face first into the arena floor before being launched out of the ring with a bolt of lightning.
Nyssa spent the rest of the tournament after that match crying with laughter as she couldn't take the irked expression on Kenji's face after his chosen candidate was not only beaten easily once, but twice, and the second time left the poor boy sparking slightly with his hair on ends which only added to Nyssa's amusement. Kenji managed to regain some ground as he defended Simon using Zephyr's words that that both Garfield and Ryiah weren't in the same league as the others, yet that did little to stop his sister from roaring about how useless Simon was as he could have drawn the fight out and get to show off his skills rather than being taken out instantly by underestimating his opponents twice.
Once the tournament ended, the candidates were presented before the elders who invited them, Lara holding a box that she presented to Ryiah for coming first. The box held a single jade token with a strange sigil resembling a scroll meshed with a book on it wrapped with jasmine flowers, this was a pass to an ancient library of tomes and scrolls that she was allowed to pick one to learn from. Yet again, the full weight of that wasn't revealed until after the candidates became apprentices.
Each of the masters took their apprentices with only a few being rejected, they had fared better than they had hoped despite the shining stars amongst them. Trisha was almost rejected had the other candidate contending for the place not acted so defeatedly in front of Master Logar Kulltar, she had scored highly on the second trial with an average score in the first, but it was her stubbornness and refusal to cooperate during the third trial that gave the elder pause.
Ryiah was instantly accepted by Lara who tried to apologise for not finding a way to bring in Lily only to have an elder burst into the field and demand she take Lily as her apprentice. The commotion this caused was hysterical as the elder in question dared anyone who opposed her to fight her, which by the mix of deadpan looks and winces of phantom pain showed she was one to constantly start fights and could hold her own. Her name was Wren Ironfist, and she was the one that Thrain and Powell spoke of in regard to the elder with the same Constitution.
Wren won the right to take Lily as the constitution in question was finally revealed to not only the others, but to Lily herself. The Striker Physique, it was the kind only available to the rogue class as it augments the user's speed with strength and vice versa to create an infinite loop. The faster they are, the stronger they become, and they had the ability to continually fight at peak form regardless of their condition. The downside of this was the insane appetite that they needed to maintain or they could be crippled, not in the physical sense but when they run on an empty stomach for long enough the Striker physique slowly dissipates until food is consumed at almost ten times their usual rate to replace what was lost.
The revelation of the blight that has casted her out of family and home finally revealed to be a hidden power stunned Lily for a long time, she just stood there blankly as Wren tried to offer her to become her apprentice. Garfield had to speak up for her, explaining to Wren Lily's plight and the reason for her sudden inability to speak which broke her out of her stupor only to be tackled into a bear hug by Wren who cried at the wolf girl's suffering.
Wren was a rather tall woman who was comparatively the youngest amongst the elders, her dark grey hair tied into a single ponytail showed no signs of aging nor did her porcelain skin that shone in the light. She wore a pair of insanely thick gauntlets made of mythril that ran up to her elbows, the same pair of gauntlets that now crushed Lily as her dark grey eyes quivered with tears.
Once Wren was finally calmed down and had released Lily who somehow managed to turn a shade of blue that made Pavel jealous, the proceeding continued until it came turn for Kenji to accept Simon as his apprentice. The stoic man stood there for several moments debating his next course of action, unsure of whether to take the headstrong boy who held a clear as day note of burning anger for Garfield and Ryiah.
Eventually, out of sheer annoyance from the still laughing sister of his, he accepted Simon as his apprentice begrudgingly. An act that didn't go unnoticed by the newly appointed apprentice who now gleamed a new light of disdain for his new master.
With the candidates chosen, those that failed or weren't accepted by their master were sent away, leaving only nine in the arena. Garfield, Ryiah, Lily, Pavel, Rowan, Maelie, Trisha, Simon, and a boy named Torus. The final candidate was someone who had remained in the shadows until the tournament, when he was faced against Rowan he nearly took the victory had he not underestimated the Orc's speed.
Torus Jadestone, he wasn't of noble birth, rather adopted into it as the Jadestone family were knowing for having jade like eyes while Torus had blazing red orbs burning with a hidden desire to succeed. He had a slight uneven tan that looked more like long term sun burn, short blond hair that held several short braids with various colour beads, this style matched his attire of hunter garments, a leather tunic with various feathers running a line from his right shoulder to his left hip and a set of leather trousers that were modified for holding anything from arrows to spare pouches.
The boy was by far the youngest amongst them, it almost seemed as if he had just unlocked his magic core as he barely used it during his bouts. That said, his skills with a bow outmatched even Trisha as a second round of fights took place amongst the losers to determine their position in which the pair were against one another, and she was on the ropes had she not had experience with her elements.
"Congratulations, Apprentices! You have overcome serious obstacles to prove yourself to not only your own master, but to the elders around." The announcer cheerful spoke after he suddenly regained a physical form in a miraculous display of proving humans could become ghosts through sheer force of will, he did still sport a pale complexion despite his beaming smile. "In the coming times, you'll find impressing not only your own master can be advantageous towards your own growth, so remember to participate in annual tournaments or other events to gain fame and prestige. Now, for introductions into the clan, may I have the honour of presenting Master Powell Stone!"
"Thank you, Jonathan. Yes, I have been elected to give you the proper introductions, so please listen carefully as there is much to confer, and these honourable elders have the patience of a starving dire wolf in front of a mound of meat." Powell's joke got mixed results, some elders chuckled along with him while others looked ready to retort in defence of their impatience only to catch themselves in the irony of that action. "I welcome you all to the Jasmine Order! The number one merchant group on the land of Altharia, I know what you are thinking, but the Jasmine Order doubles as a clan with its own family, though don't go messing with them as they are very private people."
"They aren't private, they just don't like bumbling buffoons making jokes at their expense." Hildevane snapped angrily, glaring at Powell viciously as the pudgy man quickly surrendered. "Which reminds me. You! Green Eyes! The clan leader of the Jasmine Order wants a word with you, make sure you meet him before tomorrow so you don't annoy Grandmaster Dawnbane."
"Yes, Master Crossfor." Garfield bowed slightly to the woman, thanking her for her advice as he knew the general topic of the discussion that the clan leader wished to speak with him, but he would have left it to focus on his training which wouldn't have sat well with anyone.
"Someone's going places… Anyway, the Jasmine Order is a powerful clan that focuses on building strength through the exceptional, giving them chances to gain power they wouldn't otherwise have. The Jasmine Order also seeks to keep the balance in Altharia, not through dealing with the various major powers, but eliminating dire threats to the land as a whole quickly and quietly." Powell continued once he was certain Hildevane no longer wished to remove his head from his body through the means of the most painful method possible. "There's a lengthier description than this but the general gist is that the Jasmine Order seeks to acquire power to ensure no force threatens the land of Altharia as a whole. You'll participate in various quests given by either your master or at the Hub, the central place for all apprentice's needs and one you'll be spending a lot of time at when you are not in training, so remember to familiarise yourself with the best route between your training grounds and the Hub."
"Also, the Hub isn't accessible to elders nor can your masters request you to acquire something from the Hub for them, that is strictly forbidden." Thrain chimed in with a pointed glare at Powell who merely waved him away as if it weren't important. "That, and its not just apprentices that are allowed access to the Hub, all other disciples have access. Outsiders from the clan must become an apprentice to gain entry to the clan but remember that this doesn't give you a higher standing than even outer disciples, at least not until you have proven yourself."
"Yes, the clan hosts a large contingency of disciples that have proven themselves to the clan from families who were born here, you have not. Regardless, the rest of the information you need will be given by your masters, the only other matter is how the clan works in regard to acquiring resources and materials." Powell continued, pulling out several jade tokens with various different flowers carved into them. "These tokens are used as a point storage system, completing quests and challenges reward points for certain coloured flowers which represent various aspects of the clan. The Rose Token represent materials, anything from items required for crafting to pieces for self growth, this does not include general trade and is only accepted at official Jasmine Order buildings. The Marigold Token represent training grounds, areas with dense magical element energy that can aid in training greatly. The Bluebell Token represents general trade and auction, basically its used for anything that isn't specifically tied to a token. Finally, the Violet Token represents knowledge and skills, these points can be used to borrow books or skill scrolls as well as tomes of arts and so on."
"I remember the old days when we had one token and things weren't so complicated!" Hildevane grumbled aloud as she absentmindedly palmed the pouch tied to her waist. Some of the other elders joining in with her musing, each mimicking her action.
"They changed the tokens because people kept exploiting the system and gaining an unfair amount of points that they used to suppress others, the cycle of abuse wouldn't have stopped otherwise." Thrain grumbled, his expression of resentment spoke volume to how personal the issue was to him. "Anyway, as apprentices you won't have access to the Marigold and Violet Tokens as these areas would be covered by your masters. Also, the Bluebell Token will be limited to the Hub only until you get access to the other two when your master has deemed you worthy of acquiring them."
"Yes, you will have limited access, but that doesn't mean you can't acquire points for the other tokens, all quests or challenges are recorded and when you acquire the specific tokens you can get the points added." Powell chimed in, his happy demeanour did little to fix the confusion in the eyes of the candidates who blindly followed along in hopes of understanding how the system worked eventually. "Among other things, there are three buildings of interest for you to get acquainted with beside the Hub. These are the Three Pillars, the Elysium, and the Market Square. Master Thrain is more knowledgeable in the areas of the Three Pillars with Master Wren in the Elysium, but the Market Square is my forte. It's a place connected to the Hub that offers literally anything from scraps of metal to powerful magical gear, and the area does allow use of Rose Token points for the most part with only a few areas taking Bluebell Token points."
"The Elysium is my home turf, it's the arena much like this one where fights and tournaments take place. Its also the place for duels which happen more often than you think, though duels aren't open to apprentices without their master's permission, at least until the first year." Wren nearly jumped in front of Powell the moment he finished speaking, rattling on without pausing for a breath as she excitedly spoke. "That said, the Elysium offers challenges that reward a large amount of points along with special prizes you won't find any where else. Also, please read thoroughly through the rules regarding duels as many newcomers to the clan have fallen prey to traps from other disciples as both sides must offer up something of equal value before a bout can begin."
"Yes, another thing that still needs to be fixed… anyway, the Three Pillars are special training grounds that have nothing to do with the ranks or their aspects. The pillars are called the Tower of Insight, the Tower of Reflection, and the Tower of Souls. Their names are slightly misleading and accurate." Thrain began once Wren bent double trying to get air back into her lungs, ignoring the confusion on the faces of the apprentices. "The Tower of Insight focuses on meditation and each floor offers different and better areas where one can attain enlightenment on a particular area or subject. The Tower of Reflection isn't about the past, but rather facing oneself in combat, granting a person a chance to overcome themselves. Lastly, the Tower of Souls grants a person a chance to unlock their Soul rank and, with an extremely remote chance, gain an Astral Embodiment, though don't worry if you don't know what that is, your masters will explain this in due course."
"There is one last piece to explain, and that is the Divine Pavilion. The Jasmine Order is powerful in its own right, but its technically a branch of the Divine Pavilion, one of the oldest clans on the land as well as the strongest. Even if the six original clans were at the height of their power and teamed up with the Jasmine Order, it still wouldn't be enough to challenge the Divine Pavilion." Powell spoke carefully, measuring his words in front of the Blacksteel twins. "The Divine Pavilion doesn't have disciples, only apprentices which have more authority then even the elders of the Jasmine Order, this goes thrice for you, Garfield. As an apprentice of a Grand Elder, you are considerably high up on the chain of authority, but it's a double edge sword as the Divine Pavilion only accepts exceptional individuals, and you'll have to prove yourself constantly to remain, and that's just being an apprentice to an elder."
"Great, just when the easy life was in sight." Garfield whispered under his breath, he got an elbow to the ribs that should have winded him, but he barely felt it, Ryiah on the other hand rubbed her elbow as if she hit a wall, ignoring the cheeky grin from her intended victim.
"Grandmaster Zephyr Dawnbane doesn't accept just anyone, the last apprentice he had was nearly three decades ago, and she didn't fare so well… the old man has a tendency to push his apprentices far beyond breaking and still forces them to move." Kenji shuddered recalling the sight of Zephyr's last apprentice, the other elders who knew of Zephyr's so called training regime joined in. "That said, if you manage to keep up then the power you gain will be beyond measure as Grandmaster Dawnbane focuses on training his apprentices in both strengthening their weaknesses and turning their strengths into peerless weapons. So, no matter what, do not give up, the pain and suffering will be a living hell, but the end result is unimaginable."
"Thank you, Master Blacksteel. Though, there is little that Master Dawnbane can do to me that will force me to surrender. They're goals I must achieve regardless of the cost." Garfield spoke with iron in his tone, locking into a contest of wills with the stoic warrior for several minutes before Kenji nodded slightly in acknowledgement of Garfield's determination. "If I may, Master Blacksteel, can I ask why Master Dawnbane is quick to hide his true intentions with falsehood?"
"HAHAHA, this boy's eye is sharp!" Nyssa cried out while Kenji winced harshly, their reactions proving Garfield' suspicion that Zephyr wasn't there for the reason he gave. "Aye, the Wise Man is notorious for never giving a direct answer, though he's even more renowned for doing things randomly. He most likely wandered over here while he was contemplating something else entirely and saw the fight, or he had another reason for coming to the arena, but good luck getting anything out of him, the man's got a response for everything that'll leave you believing there is no other possible truth."
"Grandmaster Dawnbane is a recluse, he keeps to himself mainly, if he isn't in the library or out pestering the clan leader of the Divine Pavilion. He's fairly docile in the sense that he doesn't care about your existence unless it matters to him, his current project, or threatens the clan." Kenji carried on from his sister's explanation, glaring at her use of the informal name given to Zephyr. "He care's little for honour, but he does for integrity, if you make a stand on something then you better follow through otherwise you'll find yourself in serious trouble. Other than that, don't make unnecessary trouble for him or ask questions that you can easily find out yourself."
"Thank you, Masters Blacksteel, for the advice." Garfield bowed slightly to the twins, grateful for the information as he didn't want to make a bad first impression on the man that gave him the opportunity of a lifetime that he thought he would have to fight for with tooth and nail
"Alright, its time we moved this to the main site, this mountain air maybe refreshing but I'm freezing." Nyssa gripped as she generated a pair of metallic wings and disappeared into the sky, she was shortly followed by other elders until the only ones remaining were the masters and the apprentices. Several massive eagles appeared from over the side of the arena with riders garbed in full leather gear including a solid helmet that covered their face including the eyes.
"These are Rocs, they're magicless birds but very powerful if underestimated, they'll take you to the main site and are the main mode of transport around the areas." Powell explained as he ushered the apprentices towards the birds that crouched down awaiting for them to climb onto their backs. "Hold on tight, they don't stop for anyone who falls off."
Powell wasn't exaggerating when he said the Rocs don't turn back for anyone who fell as Pavel tried to mimic Rowan and Garfield who sat on the bird's back without need for holding on for dear life and fell off the bird instantly, luckily for him Rowan caught him in a gravity field while Garfield used his Psion element to pull him back onto the bird's back. As for how Garfield held a perfect balance on the turbulent ride was down to his void element, he was eliminating the effects of the wind and gravity, it was perfect training for controlling his void energy to handle a specific task without over exerting himself.
The main site was something to behold, like with the floating islands, this area was protected by an illusion spell, hiding it from the world. The area was split into four distinct segments around a large mountain and an equally large floating island that somehow maintained a circular orbit around the peak of the mountain in a slow measure, and said island hosted the most beautiful buildings that could only be the Divine Pavilion.
The first of the other three segments was a main platform high up on the mountain side with stunning green and white buildings that had a central building like that of a palace in a kingdom, one with several spires at the edges and a large glass greenhouse attached at the rear. The second segment was an open area with various decorative buildings that resembled pantheons in various colours representing elements, this area had to be the training zone as there were small versions dotted around the area. The last had to be the Hub as it was a large theatre with several other buildings around that shared the common appearance of that of the three areas the masters' spoke off.
To the right of the theatre was the Market Place, it sported lines of stalls and tents with several buildings akin to auction houses or storehouses lining the edges, from their distance the stalls and tents looked like brightly coloured lines. Close to the mountain to the north of the Hub was the Three Pillars, they were rather underplayed in their majesty as they were towers of shining gemstones gleaming high above almost everything else that sported the most beautiful garden of flowers around all three. Lastly was the Elysium, it was an arena much like the one they had fought in though it was somewhat more stretched out to host several rings for larger tournaments as well as pits to fight beasts in.
The mountain itself was mainly for the first segment, but between the first and the Hub was a densely packed collection of buildings that grew in grandiose as they moved from the Hub to the palace. This had to be the residential area as it was akin to that of the Heaven's Mountain layout with the elders or higher ups having entire mansions to themselves.
The Rocs landed in a designated area south of the Hub, several perches lined a cliff side with buildings resembling something between a warehouse and a bird cage. This was the Bird's Nest, it's the main source of travel for quests outside the immediate area of the clan site, though to use the services require points from the Bluebell Token which left the apprentices stranded until they acquired one.
"Alright, this is where we part ways, Simon, Garfield, you'll be joining me to the Divine Pavilion. You can descend to the Hub later once I've completed the tour." Kenji grumbled as he motioned for Garfield and Simon to follow him towards a specially decorated Roc with white pieces of fabric wrapped around its neck and legs. "Only Rocs with these white banners are permitted to travel to the Pavilion, they are only available to those of the Divine Pavilion and will not take anyone other than official personnel. They do not cost any points, but they do require a special token that I'll give you two later."
"I'll see you later, and this time I won't stay away for several months." Garfield whispered to Ryiah as they parted ways, chuckling at his own joke that Ryiah just raised her eyebrow at, reminding him that his track record in these cases wasn't perfect. Aurelia chiming in with a slight chirrup directed at him filled with disdain, reminding the boy that the bird still existed and shared in her owner's ire of his reliability.
The short ride to the Divine Pavilion was tense as Simon held a look of throwing him off the bird if he could get away with it, though Garfield was unfazed as he was fairly certain he could survive a fall, if just barely. He tried not to use his Psion powers if he can avoid it, not out of common decency of others but rather to hone his own skills of perception and not rely on a power that doesn't always work on others.
The floating island gleamed with beauty, the architect who designed the marvel had somehow taken reference from a pure crystal based fantasy city meshed with a sci-fi marvel of structures. The buildings glowed with a thrum of light blue mana that light up the city, light blue and red crystal formations grew on several patches on each building with major clusters in between a few of the larger structures.
As the Roc got closer to the landing pad on the edge of the island, the density of mana skyrocketed to levels not thought possible for man made formations. This island and the crystals had to be of the created variant than a naturally forming phenomenon, though given the Divine Pavilion was a secret clan hidden from the world, the crystals could have formed naturally and a master of gravity could have separated the place from the land to form a base.
Regardless, the island captivated Garfield thoroughly, he felt at peace by the intense presence of mana, and enthralled by the beauty of the design. A part of himself wondered if he could stay here after everything was done, when the lands were at peace, the armies dealt with, Ryiah home safe, then he could retire here while he amassed his clan's power to reclaim its homeland. He could imagine himself like Master Dawnbane, mysterious and recluse as he took on an apprentice from time to time and taught them in the ways of magic and combat.
"The Divine Pavilion has existed for untold millennia, the clan originally existed to protect some secret that the grand elders have long since forgotten, but the clan's true purpose lies in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the world, and that beyond it." Kenji broke the quiet as he motioned towards the rider guiding the Roc to take them on a slow lazy turn around the floating island. "There are rules governing the island that aren't with the Jasmine Order, though they only affect the island itself, as a member of the Divine Pavilion, you are expected to follow them regardless of your location. There are three major rules that I'll explain, the rest will be listed in a book which you'll find in your rooms, so be sure to read them."
Kenji waved his hand a greenish grey light flashed before showing the three rules written in the air, though they were only the short hand name of the rule which didn't give much reference to their purpose. They shimmered out of existed for a moment before the first one returned larger than before, it read 'Clan Decorum'.
"The first rule is a little vague as it isn't actually referring to behaviour, rather the rule dictates that major actions of the individual represent the clan as a whole, therefore every member must always ensure they understand the ramifications of their decision first before they act. Though this is the same with all other clans, Divine Pavilion doesn't believe in throwing their members to the flames to save itself, therefore if you get the clan into a situation, the clan will back you, but once all is done, there will be serious repercussions which can be worse than the alternative of the action taken unless the action taken is in direct contention with the clan's principles in which case the exception to the rule will be made." Kenji made sure to emphasise his point with a scathing glare, driving home the notion that the clan will exact its revenge ruthlessly the moment the situation was over. Garfield ignored the man's attempt at a warning as he thought on how he could use this to his advantage, he thought he would have to somehow gain prestige to get the elders to listen to his request to aid Altharia in the coming war, but if he played his cards right he could force them into the battle without needing permission, as he mulled this over the second rule appeared, reading 'Knowledge is Sacred' "The second rule is also misleading, but it basically means that anything you learn from the Divine Pavilion is to be kept secret unless the situation is beyond dire and the only solution is that of what was gleamed from here. Though the grand elders are hoarders of information, this rule has a reason for existing as the knowledge here can be detrimental to most outside."
Garfield winced at this, he hoped he could sneak books to Ryiah to help her study whatever topic that took her fancy but chancing his place here isn't worth the risk. Not that he didn't want to help her, or didn't think she wasn't worth the risk, just that he could do more good maintaining his position here than the immediate benefit through knowledge. That said, there was something else that took his attention, the records here are secret and never existed outside these walls, which means there could be references to his clan, the Endless Nexus, or other Beast Saint Clans. The third rule blazed to life in the air, reading 'Limited Interaction'.
"This one isn't so misleading, the clan operates from the shadows, and all their members are to avoid contact with anyone outside the clan other than those at the Jasmine Order unless its unavoidable. There is a stipulation that if it was someone known prior to enrolment to the clan then an exception can be made, however Rule 2 is enforced in this case with the addition that the existence of the clan and the Jasmine Order be omitted from any conversation regardless of relation. The same applies to the Jasmine Order but they have far more leeway than the Divine Pavilion." Kenji waved this rule off as if it were common sense, a fact that was exclusive to the clan itself rather than the Jasmine Order which took Garfield's interest instantly. "Failure to follow any of these rules will result in immediate expulsion regardless during your first year as an apprentice, once you gain recognition then a tribunal will be held which will debate the action taken against the actions done in favour of the clan. However, I should mention that expulsion isn't pretty, it involves the use of a binding spell that prevents you from speaking on anything from the clan under pain of death."
Even Simon shuddered at that one as Garfield thought over how serious the clan was in protecting its secrets and existence. He worried that joining such a prestigious and secretive order could be counterproductive to his goals if he got caught, which sent a spike of depression through him at the thought of having to hide himself yet again.
"Alright, now for the quick tour as the vast majority of the Divine Pavilion is off limits until you gain recognition, as well as depending on your master. So be mindful of where you go as there will be three tiers of markers indicating the level required to enter that area, and you won't be in the first one just yet." Kenji made a point to motion towards a black token that hung from his belt, it was engraved with what looked to be a bright sun and if Garfield's memory wasn't wrong then the one he saw on Zephyr had a secondary sun coloured in a darker red hue blazing behind it which represent the differences of ranks. However, the real point to notice was a special mark on the edges, Kenji had a darker green edge around his token while Zephyr had a crimson gold edge. "The sun represents elder status while the edge represents tier. Cobalt is Tier One and has access to most public areas in the clan, Mythril is Tier Two and has access to some exclusive areas as well as special areas limited for higher up personnel. Tier Three is a pipe dream for even grand elders as its reserved for those who are trusted by the main family of the clan as well as the main clan family themselves, it is represented with crimson gold so if you see anyone with that lining their token then they are extremely important regardless of their position."
The Roc landed carefully in a similar styled layout of a Bird's Nest as the one at the Hub, except there were far fewer Rocs and perches for them to rest on. Each of the birds there had the special design with one of them having a black and white mix, Simon looked interested in this one but Kenji dismissed this and pressed onwards along a path from the nest that led directly to beautiful fountain that partially floated in the air with an amazing display of stone birds in flight through waterfalls and streams.
"This is the Central Square, I know its not in the centre of the island but it connects to the major areas for most in the Cobalt tier so it got the nickname. You can find all the important buildings here with only a few that are off the beaten path, but they aren't important to you unless otherwise stated." Kenji walked briskly, ignoring the fact that Simon had to practically run to keep up with him and Garfield who did slightly struggle but fared well. He passed by many buildings that looked important, including one that seemed to be a forge which took Garfield's interest immediately. "There are only four buildings to take note of for fresh apprentices. The first is the Storehouse, its off to the right and is fairly easy to find as its one of the largest buildings on the island, it contains items that not even the Jasmine Order has access to but they are restricted by tier unless your master sent you to get them. The second is the Field, its an area off to the left and easily found as its flat grounds, this is the common training grounds and sports an illusion crystal to create battle arenas, more will be explained by the host of the grounds whenever you visit. The third is the building directly forward from the Bird's Nest, this is commonly known as the Lounge as its where most elders and their apprentices hang out but its used for meetings and handing out quests and challenges. Lastly is that tower in the distance, it's the Proving Ground, climb it and the higher you go the more rewards you get."
Kenji rattled at a speed that made it difficult to hear him and gawk at their surroundings, the boys were constantly tripping up, even Garfield struggled to walk, listen, and gaze at the buildings in question simultaneously. The tower was a large structure that gave the Three Spires a run for their money in beauty, the store similar in the sense that is impressive size was noticeable from a distance, while the other building were a slight struggle to see and they didn't both looking for the Field.
The Lounge was similar to the Hub as it was a theatre of equal size, except it sported a similar glasshouse to the left of it that shone brightly and had various recreational areas from lounging chairs to even a pool. In all purposes it looked more like a fancy hotel than an important building, but given that the majority of elders and apprentices spend their time there then its not surprising it was upgraded to have luxury and relaxation items.
Kenji dived down a path that led past the Lounge to a small area behind it with a row of buildings that looked identical from their simple rectangle form and slanted roofs. They were white with black roofs, the windows all sported a dark tinted glass that shone with the light of the crystals that grew out of the walls and the ground.
"This is the residence for apprentices, you'll find all of them here regardless of their status or tier, but there is a slight divide as those under a grandmaster live in that building further up." Kenji pointed towards a slightly larger building that resembled the Lounge in a smaller more compact form, and it was more brightly lit by the crystals. "I have to see to my own apprentice, but seeing as its in the afternoon there'll most likely be an apprentice in there that can show you around as well as show you to your room, they'll have a lot of space available as there is only two other apprentices to grandmasters in a building that sports ten rooms."
Kenji didn't even wait for Garfield to thank him for the painfully short tour and departed with Simon in tow to a building nearby, he glared at an apprentice leaving the building who darted out of the way instantly at the sight of the elder. Garfield sighed and made his way to the building, hoping there was someone there he can make a friend with and not cause a scene like he suspected Kenji was trying to set up by his insistence of sending him alone with little information.
The building felt inviting as he approached the door, yet when he tried the door it wouldn't budge, then he remembered that Kenji was meant to give them tokens which meant he couldn't leave the island and probably not open the door. Groaning, he thought about chasing down the irksome elder and hoping the weight of being Zephyr's apprentice gave him enough leeway to reprimand the elder.
"Got on Kenji's bad side, huh?" A soft female voice spoke from behind Garfield, turning around he found a Beastkin with the most beautifully blue hair that ran down past her hips and her cat ears twitched slightly as she stood there gazing at him with her magnificent azure eyes. She was stunning, but in comparison to his one true love, she was a close second. She wore simple garments that he suspected were for comfort over appearance as they were soft and a simple light blue colour. "I'm Sapphire Bluetail, I know, great name, but my parents weren't exactly original. Anyway, I heard a new apprentice to a grand elder was chosen and thought I'd come make introductions as quiet and brooding wouldn't bother to."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sapphire. My name is Garfield Voidsaber, I am the apprentice to Grandmaster Zephyr Dawnbane." Garfield politely introduced himself, bowing slightly to show respect to her as he wanted to keep himself on her good side as she would be an invaluable wealth of information. The reaction to who his master was sent Sapphire recoiling violently, her sleek tail twitching threateningly as her ears flattened. "I take it that Zephyr isn't normal?"
"That's an understatement, just hope you know what you're getting into becoming his apprentice… all I can say is that I've heard the rumours and they don't do him justice." Sapphire offered a sympathetic look towards Garfield as she brushed passed him and opened the door as if it wasn't locked in the first place. "Anyway, you need a token to open anything here on the island, and Kenji has a habit of not handing out one to new apprentices he doesn't like. It should be addressed but since this place is about proving oneself as something outside the norm, complaining about such a trivial matter isn't worth it. Anyway, there's always a spare in the rooms so you can use that until your master equips you with one that is specially tailored to his."
The interior of the house stunned Garfield instantly, he thought this place on the rather small size for ten people to live in as well as the other apprentice buildings, but the architect who built this place outdid themselves as it was larger on the inside than the outside. How he knew this came from the large garden and koi pond off to the right of the entrance was nearly the width of the building and it still carried on past it.
There was a second floor that he suspected lead to the rooms, but the stairs were off to the side and floating in the air without anything supporting them, and they were made of the crystal that coated the buildings. A kitchen sat beyond the interior garden, a training area filled with various items and equipment off to the right along with the stairs to the upper floor, and at the back was a large table made of crystal that looked akin to a living room dinning table.
"Welcome to Tranquillity, its our little nickname for this place as its so peaceful here… that has nothing to do with the lack of residents and the other apprentice's reclusive behaviour." Sapphire chirruped happily as she waved her arms around the area, a rough grunt jolted the two towards the third in the room. He was hidden behind the garden as he was tending to the beautifully bright fish in the pond, that and he wore an equally green robe that made him almost invisible in the foliage. He had dark skin and bright green eyes, his grey hair was short and tailored perfectly and he wore a pair of silver glasses that almost felt odd in the fantasy world they were in. "Speak of the silent devil and he shall appear. Hello Hush, you finally out of your cave?"
"Its Horus, Horus Lightvine, and I am not a hermit, I just dislike nosy brats with blue hair." Horus deliberately directed his ire at Sapphire and the two glowered at one another as if ready to fight one another. Garfield sighed almost happily as he realised he wouldn't be the problem child in this place. "Anyway, you the new apprentice? Heard you through the door that your master is Dawnbane? That's unfortunate, but you have to be skilled in order to get his approval… unlike some…"
"Hey, I earned my spot here!" Sapphire growled at Horus angrily, getting defensive as Horus stood there with his arms folded, glowering at him.
"How? By being born oldest in your family? Or because you are the only girl in a house of boys and the grand elder teaching you happens to be your grandmother who complained for years on end about not having a granddaughter?" Horus spit harshly, his obvious disapproval of Sapphire coming from her ease of acquiring such a prestigious rank through unfair means. Garfield wasn't surprised as he recalled what he had to go through to get his position, but he didn't really find himself caring in the slightest as he knew this kind of situation happens regularly and it did no one any good to dwell on it. "Garfield is it? Welcome to the Lodge, and not Tranquillity as someone calls it…, don't get comfortable, from what I know of Grandmaster Dawnbane I doubt you'll be here often, but if you have questions or need help finding somewhere then ask me as directionless over there has been since she was born and still gets lost."
"HEY!" Sapphire cried angrily, her glare trying to intensify but it wasn't within herself to be as angry as that to burn a hole through Horus. Her kind nature shining through, one that Garfield found endearing as it showed her character as plain as day.
"Anyway, there is three rows of rooms upstairs, my room is on the far left row, Sapphire is on the far right, so I'd recommend taking the middle row. Don't try the door at the end of the corridor as once you touch a door it becomes your room regardless and that room is… well… lets just say we've can't access any door other than our own but heard… voices… coming from within…" Horus and Sapphire shuddered at the memory of the voices that came from the room, though from Horus's words it meant they couldn't get inside as the rooms would most likely be locked until opened by a new apprentice. "I'd also recommend hitting the Lounge as soon as possible, you'll find a lot of the lazier elders there and they're easy to get good quest and challenges off of if you find them in a good mood. It's a quick way to get points and prestige as they'll come in handy early on. Oh, and remember that the point system here differs from the Jasmine Order, you'll get the same four tokens eventually but the only one that matters up here is the Violet Token, so focus on getting points for that token over the others as it's worth more than the other three combined."
"Thanks for the advice, I hope to one day repay the favour." Garfield politely returned, quickly realising that his earlier assessment of Sapphire was premature, and that Horus was the one to go to for information. That wasn't to say she didn't have her uses, the girl was born here and would most likely have insider knowledge that others wouldn't be privy to so keeping on her good side would still benefit him.
"That reminds me, I heard you humiliated Kenji's apprentice?" Horus's sadistic nature suddenly shining through as he grinned greedily as he awaited Garfield's response, the man had a slight gleam to his eye that spoke of a repressed hatred towards the Blacksteel elder.
"Not exactly, Simon underestimated me and charged directly at me as a warrior against a rogue… not exactly sure what he was thinking but he obviously didn't realise a rogue's speed is greater than a warrior." Garfield replied honestly, he knew he could have embellished the story slightly to garner a better relationship with Horus, but something told him that honesty was a better route. Sapphire growled angrily at his words, upset not at what he said but rather the implication.
"Why do warriors think their faster than us?! I can run circles round those blockheads, but they always act so shocked and surprise that I can move faster than them!" Sapphire cried annoyedly, Garfield took stock of her words and remembered to ask her questions on the type of training rogues can get around here so he wasn't wasting time trying to find what worked. "Urgh! Those block heads have meat for brains!"
"That's the only thing we can agree upon, I'm a caster and they still think their magic is better." Horus spat angrily, sharing in Sapphire's hatred of warriors. Garfield could understand their plight, but given his strength could easily outmatch a warrior of the same rank, he doubted he would get the same treatment, at least until he reveals he's a rogue, then he would be in trouble as he was sure if they treated other classes like these two spoke then they would be enraged by him.
The conversation took off from there as the two traded insults against warriors before the topic turned to clerics and holy magic, that's when things really took a turn for the worse as Sapphire didn't have much dealings with that class and magic, but she did have some respect for them. However, Horus held an intense hatred for them, and it wasn't understandable until Garfield realised why he found the man's surname familiar. Lightvine is a Holy Order family, one that was rather high up, and judging from the lack of holy magic within Horus and his disdain for them he could only guess that he was thrown out of the order for some matter related to that.
Whilst the two argued back and forth, an action that seemed commonplace for here they somewhat went in a broken circle of topics that added in new topics occasionally, he left for the rooms upstairs in search of a room for himself. He initially went with Horus's suggestion of the middle row simply because he didn't want to be seen as favouring one over the other as their dispute could easily break his relation with the other if it was seen as him favouring one.
Yet, as he stood at the beginning of the row that was just a simple corridor with white walls and black stone doors with blank nameplates on them, he couldn't help himself from glancing towards the door at the end of the corridor. This one was identically to the rest, but it had claw marks across it, and he could sense a strange pulse coming from the room, one that felt strangely comforting.
He couldn't quite place the sensation, but he somehow knew that whatever lied beyond that door wasn't a threat to him, and as he found himself absentmindedly making his way to the door, he wondered if it was actually a room on the other side. Standing before the door, he mulled over choosing this room as his as he doubted he could change it afterwards, yet for some reason he felt compelled to open the door, to claim it.
Turning the handle sent a thrum through him as his name suddenly burned into the plate on the door, and the moment he pushed the door opened a violently cold air burst through the area, silencing the argument downstairs instantly. Garfield pushed inside the room and entered what could only be described as a dim cave that was hotter than a volcano despite the cold air erupting from it seconds before. He knew the place had some sort of spatial magic that allowed for the interior to be larger than the exterior, but his senses told him that this wasn't within the building, or this world.
Entering the cave, he paused to glance behind him at the door he entered through only to find it missing, only a bland cave wall stood behind him. Sighing at the irony of his words not minutes ago of not disappearing without warning, Garfield pressed onwards in hopes of wrapping up whatever this place was quickly. Walking through the dim darkness, he found himself wondering if this was some sort of trial, something set by his newly appointed master as the Void element did have the ability to open doorways in an abstract sense, but he threw that idea out of the window instantly for the same reason.
Technically, the ability to open doorways to other areas or planes lies with the Dimension element, but void surrounds the realm they were in which allowed one to pass through to it and back into the realm in the same way the Dimension element operates. So, if he were to be transported here by the means of void then he would have felt the lifeless intangibility of the void no matter how skilled his master was, and the Dimension element could create doors except they must have a film that separates them which also would have been noticeable.
The only possible way that he could open a door and enter another area entirely, and from the feeling of the air and mana surrounding him, the Astral Realm, was the Cosmic Element. There existed three Tier Five elements, Light, Darkness, and Cosmic, these are the pinnacle of all elements and have no weakness to any of the other elements except for Spirit and Psion which are neutral elements and sort of exist in their own bracket despite being listed as a Tier Two element.
Of the three, the Cosmic element is the combination of Gravitation, Dimension, and Void, along with spatial magic, all rolled into one. It's uncommon name is Reality magic, the ability to bend and warp reality to one's whim and is sometimes misunderstood as godhood. How Garfield knew of all of this was courtesy of Ryiah going on one of her triads on magical elements, she had a habit of ranting about the lack of information and the painfully obvious mistakes in the books she found on magic, one of which was how it defined beings called Celestials that wielded god powers. She deciphered, through the combination of various works of the records from Navara that there was a fifth tier of elements, and that these three were the only ones she could define from the information.
The Light and Darkness elements have no concept of good or evil, they are pure forms of magic similar to the Primal element in a vague sense. These elements have some aspect akin to their degraded versions, Light magic focuses on healing and protection while Darkness magic focuses on stealth and damage. Their real power comes from their malleability, the Primal element cannot stretch beyond the simple aspect of pure energy based form but Light and Darkness elements supposedly have a massive range of freedom to create and develop one's own style of combat, this is also how the Holy and Chaos magic came into existence through the user's own personal understanding of their belief which then imprints on their element.
As for Cosmic magic, there is a similar sense of freedom of imprinting onto the magic itself, but from Ryiah's understanding of the magic, it has set rules that have to be followed without anything to prevent the user from breaking these rules. The repercussions of breaking these rules are insane, she found a story where a user of the element broke a rule pertaining to travelling back in time and caused a rift to occur in which a town is now permanently frozen in time, not that anyone has ever found said town but the message still stands on the ramifications.
To create a doorway like the one he had passed through completely unaware of the existence of travelling through to another realm required a powerful user of the Cosmic element. That alone wouldn't have been cause for concern as doorways like these can exist for centuries without even the slightest decay, but because the door closed behind him, whoever opened it is still here and he was now at their mercy with no hope of defending himself against such immense power.
Treading carefully through the bleak cave, he felt the heat increase drastically as pools of sparkling dark blue magma coated the edges of the cave walls, and even on the ceiling above him without showing signs of gravity affecting them. They emanated a heat that flowed through him as if he were intangible, phasing through him to heat his very lungs which now arched and burned violently.
Forcing himself to carry on through the cave, Garfield knew his only option of escape was finding whoever brought him and hoping they weren't evil or had any agenda that involved anything nefarious towards him. The further he traversed the cave, the harder it became to breath, his blood boiled and his bone felt brittle, though the sensation of feeling like his eyes are melting gave him pause to continue.
When the pools of magma now coat all but a thing line of a rock path the cave suddenly expanded outwards into an area nearly twice the size of the Divine Pavilion itself. The sparkling dark blue magma now coated the walls completely all around the massive chamber, providing a minuscule amount of light that illuminated the one whom Garfield believe was the Cosmic user.
There, partially submerged in the magma, was a magical beast of immense proportions that could easily wipe out a town with just a paw. This beast wasn't just any kind of beast as its appearance was impossible to misplace, from the massive snake like head to the four paws and the set of massive wings all coated in starry black scales that dully twinkled like stars, and a set of shining dark blue eyes that gazed directly at him.
I prayed that someone would come someday… though I wasn't expecting one such as yourself… A weak gentle voice spoke in Garfield's mind, it was difficult to place but it was feminine which placed the one before him a female dragon, something that gave Garfield a moment to wonder if dragons are like other species where the females are drastically larger than the males. At least, that was better than the alternative as one of the topics Ryiah got onto was dragons and how they have near infinite lifespan and their size was a good indicator of their age which also doubles as an indicator of their power. There is little time… my life ebbs away as my blood fills this cavern…
Garfield nearly shuddered at the thought that the dark blue magma wasn't actually lava but the blood of a dragon, that said it did make a lot of sense, especially Draconium. Then, after learning of the dragoness's plight, he saw the gaping wound that his mistook for her being submerged in the magma. Across her belly from his spine by her tail to her front left paw was a gash that oozed the blood he mistook for magma, the wound itself was jagged and torn violently which could only mean she was attacked by another beast, one with a serrated claw or other appendaged to make such a devastating wound on her.
I have been languishing here for at least a millennium in your human time frame… I'm incapable of healing from this wound nor is there any way to save my life… but when a dragon refuse to leave this worldly plane then not even death can claim us until we decide it does. The dragoness spoke almost pridefully, acting superior and defiant in the face of her current situation, not that Garfield could blame her as the mana bleeding from her was anything to go by then even a fraction of her power would have practically anyone bragging. The one that dealt this fatal blow still lives, and is hunting me… but my time isn't infinite, and I must pass on my charge to another… one I hoped would come from the Divine Pavilion as they are an ally of the Seven Celestial Families… except bear no mark of their clan…
"Great Dragoness… I may… not… be of… the… Divine… Pavilion… but… I… am… an… apprentice… of a… Grand… Elder…" Garfield croaked feebly, the molten effect of her blood melting his lungs and forcing him to pool his mana around his throat and vocal cords just to attempt to speak, and the words caused arching shots of pain to race through him. "I… am… Garfield… Void…Saber… First Heir… of the… Voidsaber… clan…"
Voidsaber! Yes, that explains your familiarity… the Voidsabers are close allies of the Seven Celestial Families, if it weren't for your clan then we would have all gone extinct… yes… you would be perfect for my request. The dragoness shifted sluggishly, her paws moving with such jaggedness that it seemed like she hadn't moved them since she was interned in this cave. As her paw moved, an object slowly floated out from under her belly, it was a sparkling dark blue smooth egg, one that pulsed as dimly as its mother. This is my daughter… her name is… Nova… Nova Starscale of the Starscale Dragonic Family… Unfortunately, she will not survive here in this cave for much longer… and I can't send her to the lower plane without leading my foe to her directly… I had hoped to tie her to whoever came through my gateway, but that method would cause problems for her survival... but you are a Summoner… one without a contracted beast…
The egg landed at Garfield's feet as he stood there stunned at the dragoness's words, if he understood her correctly then she wanted him to make her daughter in his companion, something he thought dragons wouldn't ever stoop to nor thought possible. Yet, as the egg pulsed dimly before him, he could sense the dying life force of Nova, one that he thought wasn't possible for something to have so little of left and still be alive.
Garfield, know this… dragons are proudful and the only reason for one to submit to become a summoner's companion would be out of friendship or necessity, and this is the latter. Once bound, she is in your care, and I hope that one day you return her to the Seven Celestial Families… if they still live… but for the time being she is to remain hidden and protected as the one who hunts me desires her more than me. The dragoness's words were starting to sound more connected and less of that of a dying person, that and the magma all around them was starting to glow brightly as she spoke, both things should have taken Garfield's attention except all he could think about was having another enemy that he would have to face eventually, one he doubted he could challenge in a million years. I will use the last of my life force to bring Nova out of her slumber and give her a chance to hatch from her egg, when that happens you must form a contract with her immediately as there will be little time between then and my last breath which will send you back through the door you came through… remember, keep her hidden, and tell her nothing of me or her true origins until you reach the Saint rank. Take good care of her, she means the world to me…
Before Garfield could even attempt to tell her he had absolutely no idea how to form a contract, the magma suddenly withdrew towards her as her power swelled. Then, as if summoned by the mana surge, a thunderous roar echoed through the earth above, and whatever made that sound was something that Garfield wished he didn't know existed as the next moment that followed was a massive claw shredding the ground apart as if it were butter to a sword made of molten steel.
A single crimson eye peered through the gap it had made, a sight that chilled Garfield's blood if he weren't trying his hardest to focus on the egg before him and how to form a contract. The light from the dragoness exploded outwards for a second, spiralling around herself before surging towards the egg at blinding speeds, encircling it and piercing into it. The creature above howled in rage as it now frantically tore into the earth to break the barricade between it and its price, and from the appendages that it was using, there was no way this thing was a dragon, which was little comfort to Garfield who was starting to wonder how lives he had left if he were born a cat.
The creature above managed to shove half of its hulking frame through the gap it created, its appearance a combination between that of a lion and a scorpion, though before the word Chimera came to mind, this thing had wings of a dragon and several insanely fast tentacles sprouting from its neck that tried to stretch towards him and the dragoness. Whatever this thing was, it was a living embodiment of a nightmare, and it did not disappoint this statement as when it opened its mouth, instead of just the lion's mouth opening, it almost split in have as its mouth extended practically to is stomach and was filled with the most gruesome teeth and three tongue like tentacles filled with spikes whipping out towards him.
That is a Devourer… they are Eldritch creatures that come from the Void Realm… they shouldn't be in the Astral Realm but somehow this one managed to break through and now requires insane amounts of magical energy to sustain itself. I had hoped to out last it, but it seems as if something else sustains it… for now at least. The dragoness spoke as the egg slowly stopped glowing violently and now started to crack far faster than anything born from an egg, at least by Garfield's knowledge. The egg erupted seconds later and on the ground before he laid a small pitch black lizard, there were no identifying features of a dragon anywhere on its body at all. Time is short, bond with her so I can send you both out of here before it devours us all.
Reaching out a hand to the little lizard, Garfield let impulse lead him as common sense told him to run and his knowledge side of his mind concurred with common sense. The little lizard looked up at him curiously, one of its eyes agape slightly enough to show off its beautifully bright dark blue and purple eye that gleamed of innocence and confusion. When his hand was close to its snout, Garfield held it there for a moment, deciding to let Nova close the gap, and she did a moment later after smelling his hand curiously. The moment contact was made, an explosion of pain erupted from his mind and his core, the same pain that the little lizard now felt as it writhed on the ground. Forcing himself to move, Garfield picked up the little lizard and held it close to his chest, trying his best to accept the pain in its stead, yet when he tried to, Nova pressed a paw against his chest and stopped him.
The two stared at one another when suddenly a light emanated from both of them and a mark appeared on the right side of their chests, one that bared the resemblance of yin and yang except once side was bright green while the other dark blue. Then, as sudden as it appear, it disappeared, and the two were left standing there for a single moment before collapsing to the ground, exhausted from the mental fortitude of the task they both had underwent.
A bond of equals… it seems Nova likes you… take care of her… and take this as a debt repaid… my name is Solstice Starscale of the Starscale Dragonic Family… Goodbye Garfield, may we meet again in the Great Forest… The dragoness's lasts words echoed in Garfield's mind as the darkness swept over him, and for several moments he existed in nothingness with the vague sense that something shared this darkness with him.
Author's Note: Sorry for long upload time, interviews have been hectic and time so random that I'm all over the place.
I skipped the trials as they would have taken a chapter each to write about and this story is carrying on for far too long without a major antagonist, so I'm speeding up a few parts that would have been good to write about but are slightly generic to get the story moving towards a better point as I have so many arcs that happen after the Hidden Clan Arc. (Not sure if I should make arcs, I had a pre-established list of arcs that I forgot about)
Ignore what I said about Garfield being an idiot about Empty Secrets, I have found a plot line that would make thing so much better and it will involve unlocking that ring so disregard my words.
I didn't explicitly mention it in the story, but the journey through the trials took months where Ryiah would spend all available time with Garfield just to be within each other's company whilst things were quiet and she got a chance to read through the mountain of books they had in storage. Also, I need to focus more on her and their relationship so I'll try my best, but I do have something forming in my mind that might take place in the next few chapters, nothing concrete.
If there are any continuity errors, please inform me as I can think of a few but don't have the time to scour through my work (I'm surprising myself with how long this story is) so if you notice something then please point it out to me and I'll fix it.
Ironically, Simon was meant to be a sort of tertiary ally when I initially wrote him but I was somehow drawn to Trisha in the sense that I wanted to give Ryiah an archer friend, not saying that will happen but the two will have their encounters. Whether they'll be good or bad depends on my mood when writing that chapter.
Torus is also another character I don't know what to do with, so for now he's there and I will use him as its easier than making up new characters (yes, I'm that lazy, further to this point the masters listed were taken from parts I had scrapped).
The Striker Physique has other benefits, but I cant find my notes on that as I made them literally as I made Lily, so when I finally find them then I'll showcase them, but to put a broad point on the matter, the Constitution is essentially a high class resistance combined with insane strength that converts the user's speed into strength.
I know I've constantly made those that appear as allies become enemies, I can guarantee that Sapphire and Horus are good. I like them both, especially their dynamic of one serious and the other carefree, however I don't know if I'll add them as more than background characters.
Lastly, the dragoness… that was something I didn't know if I should put in. I've always known I was going to give Garfield a dragon that he would call Nova himself, but I couldn't find a way to justify it. Yet, when I was writing the story, I suddenly found that I could use the Seven Celestial Families, I would love to go into detail about this, but all I can say is that this is one of three major plotlines I have in the works, one of the other two being the reclamation of the Voidsaber homeland… not hinting at anything set in stone but you can see how long this still is going to be as that is at least chapter 80, I think.
Comments:
Frog31791 – Thanks for the comment. Yep, Ryiah is gonna kill him, if he lives through his meeting with the dragoness, and the following event I have planned which will make him even less liked by Ryiah. I don't know why I keep putting obstacles in their despite being a massive fan of their relationship, but I enjoy the tension and conflict for some reason.
Ryiah will forgive him, and not because I'm the writer. Raven is kind and compassionate, even if she hides it. As for leaving without him, you're right that she wouldn't want to leave him, but if Garfield had his way then she wouldn't have a choice… but I've been having strange thoughts about a story arc that might make things insanely confusing, but in a good hysterical way which will ensure the two stay. However, (and this isn't definite) the understanding of the Endless Nexus is still up in the air as what Hawke learned was from rumours so I can change it to allow Garfield to leave, though I'm not sure he would want to leave after all he has done.