I don't own Golden Sun.
Chapter Three
Kalirn gradually got more and more powerful, but Zinin barely improved. His father always described him as acting distracted. This was exactly what he was. He was wishing that he had the same power or even greater power than Kalirn. His brother's psynergy, as he had come to call it, got stronger and stronger. Zinin had no special abilities. His brother would make fun of him more often now that his power had grown. He had discovered a new attack, which he called quake. When used, the earth would begin to ripple, sending anyone standing within a short range flying several feet into the air. It didn't hurt majorly, but Zinin got tired of it extremely fast. By this time, Kalirn was seven years old. His father said that at the age of seven, he could begin competing in tournaments. However, the biggest tournament, called Collosso, required that the warrior be atleast nine. Zinin and Kalirn both looked forward to when they turned nine. Poor Zinin knew that Kalirn would be able to participate two years before he would. If he won, it would make him brag. Kalirn had several friends around the city, but none of them were nearly as strong as either he or Zinin. The younger boy got some pleasure out of beating kids two years older than he in arm-wrestling competitions, but he wanted to beat Kalirn.
One day, a strange thing happened. While Zinin was walking alone through the town, he suddenly caught sight of a little, red ball lying on the grass. He walked up to it, and looked at it closely. Suddenly, he realized that it was moving. It appeared to be an animal of some sort. It had large eyes, and was about eight inches tall. To Zinin's amazement, it began to talk to him. "H-h-hello," it moaned. Zinin jumped in fright. Then, he realized that the red furball he was holding was talking to him. "Um, hello," he replied, uncertain. "Your finding me was lucky, both for me and for you," said the furball, "My name is Deimos. I am what they call a djinn." Zinin didn't see how it was lucky for him to have found a talking red furball, but to be polite, he said, "Hello Deimos, my name is Zinin. What does a djinn do?" The furball began to moan again, and didn't reply. Finally, it managed to squeak, "Food, I... need food." Zinin rushed him inside and grabbed an apple. He drew his sword and carefully sliced it up. Each slice he broke into djinn-sized bites. Deimos happily took the apple, and soon had eaten the whole thing. "More," he said, happily. Zinin got another apple, and cut it up the same way. When Deimos finished eating both apples, he said, "Tell nobody that you found me." Zinin agreed, and decided to take him outside, where they could talk. Once they got out, the djinn said, "Your brother has power, and you wish you had the same power, right?" Zinin nodded, and Deimos continued. "What you don't know, is that there are four elements. The elements are Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. Your brother clearly has the power of Earth. I think that you have the power of Wind, but that is not clear yet. It could be Water. I have the power of Fire, but I may be able to teach you some Wind and Water powers." Zinin got very excited, but tried to stay calm. "I'll teach you the most basic abilities, and see which you are able to master more easily," finished Deimos. Zinin nodded, and carried him outside of the village to a big field. Once he arrived in the field, Deimos said, "You know, I can walk, and fly. You don't need to carry me everywhere." Zinin appologized, and the djinn began to teach him the basics of psynergy.
Zinin kept his new abilities secret. He didn't even tell Kalirn. Deimos had told him that he was a Wind adept, and said that Wind was probably the strongest power, but that each had their own abilities. Zinin didn't care what type of power he had, he was just happy to have the same sort of power as his brother. He was now able to read minds, and create tiny whirlwinds. Of course, next to anybody but Deimos, he never used the whirlwind. When he got home, Zinin walked up to his father, and read his mind. 'Why is Kalirn doing so much better in his training than Zinin? I thought Zinin seemed quite capable at first. Maybe I was expecting too much,' he read. Zinin laughed to himself, and went to find his mother. 'Oh my, I have to start cooking dinner! It's beginning to get dark!' he read from her mind. He was tempted to say, "Yeah, you'd better get going!" but instead he said nothing. He went to find his brother. Kalirn was doing pullups on the bar beside the house. "Seventeen," he finally said, dropping to the ground. "Hey, Zinin! I did seventeen!" Zinin laughed to himself and leapt at the bar. He caught it and began pulling himself up. Soon, he made it to seventeen, but didn't stop. One more time he pulled himself up. When he landed on the ground, he turned to the astonished Kalirn. "Eighteen," he said, grinning. Kalirn growled and stompted off. Zinin giggled to himself and followed. Once he was close behind him, he cast mind read. 'Argh! Zinin! How did he do that? He's never been able to do more than thirteen before, and suddenly he does eighteen and beats my new record! Argh!' Zinin laughed out loud by accident. Kalirn turned to him and said, "What's so funny?" Zinin shrugged and walked off. Kalirn glared and thought, 'Almost as if he knows what I was thinking!' Out of anger, he slammed a rock from the ground into the door of the house. It left a dent, and he gasped. He slowly walked inside and to his room.
"Deimos," whispered six-year-old Zinin. The little furball had decided to live under his bed. "Psst, Deimos!" he whispered, this time a little louder. Suddenly, he turned around to see Kalirn standing at the door, smirking. "Who are you talking to?" he asked in a superior voice. Zinin shrugged. "Just, nobody," he replied, "I'm playing a little game." Kalirn laughed and walked out the door. Zinin sighed in relief and went back to looking for Deimos. Soon, a red head popped out, followed by a body. Zinin picked him up and put him in his pocket. 'Time to train,' he thought, 'my favorite part of the day.' He grabbed his sword in it's sheath from it's position leaning against the wall, and strapped it onto his belt.
Kalirn was very proud of his earthquaking abilities. His power had grown so much over the year, that he called his new ability Earthquake, instead of just plain old quake. All Zinin had was mind read and whirlwind, which he never showed anybody, and nobody knew about. Kalirn hadn't kept his abilites a secret. He had tried, but it had slipped to some of his friends. His parents still didn't know, but Zinin expected they would soon enough.
Zinin stood in the field, training his abilities. Again and again he cast whirlwind, until he was breathless. He caught up small bushes and threw them. Rather than training a lot with his sword, he practiced his psynergy a lot. He did also, of course, use his sword. After he finished training his psynergy, he would draw his sword and plan several points on a bush to hit. He would then carefully chop off whichever parts he wanted to, and tried to avoid the rest. He planned several targets to hit in a row, the faster the better. Eventually, he was worn out physically and mentally, so he went home. On the way, he met Kalirn. "Where have you been?" his older brother asked. Zinin calmly replied, "Training, and you?" Kalirn nodded. "I've been training too," he said, "I'll soon be extremely powerful. I can't wait for next year to enter Collosso! I'll be famous after that!" Zinin tried to treat his brother nicely, but he sometimes was too arrogant to be treated very nicely easily.
"Wow, Kalirn! That's amazing," said Kyle after Kalirn had finished showing off his psynergy. "Does Zinin have any abilities like that?" asked Dora. Kalirn laughed. "No way," he said, "He's so puny! He could never master such awesome powers as mine!" Dora sighed. "Kalirn, treat your brother with a little respect. He may have been adopted, but you don't have to treat him like an animal." Kalirn groaned. "Yes mother," he replied. Zinin felt like punching him, but didn't.
Zinin slowly trudged back into the city from his day of training. There sat Kalirn on the steps of their house, drinking a glass of water. "Hey Zinin!" he shouted. Zinin groaned. "Yeah?" he replied. Kalirn laughed. "Why do you always train out in the field? What's wrong with this place?" Zinin shrugged. "I guess because it's more peaceful out there. Besides, out there there is plenty of room and I don't have to worry about hitting anyone with my 'poor swordfighting abilities,' as you call them," he replied. Kalirn laughed, and added, "I know, they are pretty sad abilities." Zinin drew his sword, and Kalirn shut up.
Kalirn finally turned nine. His parents arranged to go to Tolbi, the city where Collosso was held. Tolbi was a huge place, they told Zinin and Kalirn. There was a large colloseum there, where warriors from all over the world came to fight. This was called Collosso. Kalirn was extremely excited. He couldn't wait to go. "We get to ride a ship!" he told Zinin excitedly. Zinin hardly cared. He was upset that Kalirn was old enough to enter, but he wasn't. He had told his father that he wanted to enter, and he had said, "Maybe they'll let you in. You're quite talented, and the best swordsman I've ever seen at your age." That was the problem, though. His age.
The wagon was finally leaving for Kalay. "We have to go to Kalay and get on a boat from there," explained Kalirn, as if he knew everything. Zinin already knew this, but he didn't say anything. Kalirn leaned out the back of the wagon and waved to his friends. "Oh boy, I can't wait! I get to enter Collosso!" shouted Kalirn repeatedly, the entire way to Kalay. By the end of the day, Zinin and Kalirn both wished they would arrive at Kalay. Zinin was tired of traveling, and Kalirn couldn't wait to enter the tournament. "Do you think I'll be able to beat everyone, Dad?" he asked. Kyle looked down at his son. His young son was entering Collosso. He didn't think he stood a chance at winning, but to make him happy, he said, "I'm sure you will, Son." Kalirn grinned at Zinin and said, "See? Dad thinks I'm gonna win! I do too!" Zinin laughed to himself. If he got into the tournament, he knew his brother didn't stand a chance. "You'll probably win, Kalirn," he said, and turned back to watch forwards. Within several minutes, Kalay was finally in sight. "Look!" shouted Kalirn, "There it is!" Dora sighed. "Kalirn," she said, "I know you're excited, but can you please stop yelling?" Kalirn started to pout, but said he'd try to stop.
"I hate boats," said Dora. Kyle laughed. "Come on, Dora," he said, "this is going to be fun! Besides, we get to watch our son win in Collosso!" Dora shivered. "That's the part I'm the most worried about. Collosso," she said. Kalirn laughed. "Don't worry, Mom, I'll try not to kill anyone," he said. Kyle laughed. "I don't think that's what your mother is worried about," he said.
"The boat is finally leaving," said Zinin. Kalirn nodded. "Now we get to go to Tolbi, and fight in Collosso! Or atleast, I get to fight in Collosso," he said. Zinin nodded sadly. He wished he could fight in Collosso too. 'Two years,' he told himself, 'just two more years.'
Several hours later, the boat finally landed in Tolbi. Kalirn and Kyle rushed over the boat to go and sign up for Collosso. Zinin slowly followed with his mother. "I wish I could fight too," he said. His mother replied, "Personally, I'm glad you can't. I'm worried sick about Kalirn, and I would be even more worried about you." Zinin sighed, and headed towards the city. When they finally arrived, Kalirn rushed up to them and said, "I already signed up. There are no more spots left for you, Zinin. Sorry!" He rushed off, and Zinin didn't think he was a bit sorry. He knew that winning Collosso would be easier without him in the way.
After several days, Collosso was finally starting. Kalirn stood in the hall, waiting for the battle to begin. He looked over the other competitors. There were seven men with huge bulging muscles. One of looked over to him and laughed. "You don't stand a chance, kid," he said. Kalirn grinned to himself. 'We'll see about that.' Then, a man came and told everyone to get ready. The man known to be strongest would fight the second strongest, and the third fight the fourth, and so on. Kalirn was eighth, and for that he was thankful. Finally, the man who had come and said to get ready led the first place warrior down the hall to Kalirn's left. Several minutes later, he returned and led the second place warrior to the right. Collosso was about to begin.
After a while, the two contestants returned, scratched up and worn out. They both left the colloseum. Two more men were taken away, and then two more after that. Finally, it came time for Kalirn's match. He was led down a long hallway, which eventually turned. From there, he entered the important part of the colloseum. He found himself in a room with sand on the ground. His weapons had been taken from him and left by the exit. They were well guarded, though. He looked around. Nearby, he saw a pool of water with a long in it. "This'll be easy," he said aloud. He ran towards the water and jumped as far as he could, landing about half way across. He then swam to the other side and pulled himself out. "I wonder what that log was meant for," he said. Shrugging, he continued to the next obstacle. This was a wall of vines. He climbed up one of them, and then to another one which was beside that. The vines were extremely thick, and could easily hold a full grown man. However they were flexible too. Kalirn began to swing back in forth, and jumped. He barely landed on the platform on the other side. "That was easy," he said, and ran to the next obstacle. It was a maze. The walls were about eight feet high, but Kalirn didn't feel like going through the maze. He cast earthquake and flew over the wall. He looked forwards, and could see the platform to fight on up ahead. "Only one more obstacle," he said, grinning. He walked to the next thing. A bunch of platforms stood in front of him. He had to jump from one to the next. This would be easy. He leapt over to the first one easily. He jumped again, landing on the second. There were three more platforms, each a little bit bigger. He cast earthquake, and soared over the remaining gaps. He heard a whistle from the croud. He grinned to himself and ran to the fighting platform. Sitting on the platform were two swords. One was slightly bigger, but the other was sharper. He grabbed the sharper one and waited for his opponent.
The other man came soon enough, and walked over to the remaining sword. He picked it up, and grunted. "Hey kid," he said, "I don't know how you got here before me, but I can tell you that you won't survive this day." Kalirn laughed, and thrust his sword forward. The man dodged to the side, and slashed at his chest. Kalirn easily pushed it away with his psynergy. "W-what?" asked the surprised man. "How did you do that?" Kalirn laughed and stabbed his sword towards the man, who dodged again. This continued for several minutes, until Kalirn got bored. "Bye," he said, smiling. The other man replied, "I'm only getting warmed up! I'm not done for yet," Kalirn shrugged. "Perhaps you are," he replied, still smiling. He pointed his hand at the ground and said, "Earthquake!" The man flew through the air, and landed a ways off. "There's something strange going on or I'm dreaming," the dazed man said. Kalirn laughed and cast earthquake again.
The next day, it was time for the second round. Kalirn realized that he was going to fight the man who had been in fifth place the day before. He proudly stated that he was now in third place, and couldn't wait to finish off Kalirn. The boy laughed, and said, "We'll see about that. After all, I beat that other man." The man he was going to fight said, "Ha! I could have beaten that man with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back." Kalirn laughed. "I guess you're just too powerful for me then," he replied. Then, the man came to lead away the first place man and the fourth place man. Apparently, the guy who was in fourth had beaten his opponent. A while later, a sad looking fourth-place man emerged, and another man, looking quite triumphant followed. Kalirn giggled and waited to be led to his tournament. Soon, the man led his opponent away, and had returned. Kalirn walked quickly down the hallway behind him, and soon arrived at the first obstacle. Before Kalirn entered, the man who had been leading him said, "I'm really quite surprised you made it this far. Most of our younger people don't even win the first round. If you won this round, it would be a first. The last nine year old we had to make it to the second round is probably grown up by now." Kalirn grinned, and entered Collosso.
The second set of obstacles wasn't much harder than the first set, but Kalirn's opponent beat him to the battlefield. Kalirn picked up the little, dull sword and prepared to fight. He grinned at his opponent, who said, "You won't be grinning for much longer," and as he said longer, he lunged at him. Kalirn laughed, and several peices of thin rock fell down from above. Zinin, who was in the audience sitting with his mother and father, said, "I've never seen him use that move before, must be something new." Kalirn's opponent put up his sword and managed to knock the bits of rock aside. Kalirn frowned, but sent down more rocks. This time, one of them hit his opponent on his arm. This didn't seem to annoy him much, as it hadn't been his dominant arm. Kalirn cast earthquake, and the man flew back. He quickly stood up, and stabbed his sword into Kalirn's leg. In the audience, Dora screamed. Kalirn laughed, and healed his leg. "Wow, you're amazing," his opponent said, "I've never seen anybody who could do the same things as you. It's like... magic." Kalirn laughed, and fought harder. He vigorously went on the offensive, and soon both contestants were worn out. "G-give up?" asked Kalirn, panting heavily. His opponent shook his head. "Not over yet," he replied. The boy sighed and attacked again. The man dodged, but Kalirn quickly moved his sword over and hit him. Finally, the man said, "I give up." Kalirn smirked, and thought, 'Only one more contestant to go. I'm really doing quite well.'
It was the last day of Collosso. Kalirn's only remaining contestant was a tough looking black-haired man. Kalirn grabbed some of his own hair and began to twist it, while he waited. Eventually, it was time to start the fight. Kalirn's contestant grinned and him and said, "Best of luck to you," and walked away. Kalirn laughed, knowing that he would win. Nobody could match his psynergetic power.
Half an hour later, Kalirn found himself sitting and holding a sharp sword. He waited several minutes for his opponent to arrive. Soon, the tall strong man appeared and picked up the other sword. Kalirn stood up, and asked, "Are you ready?" The man nodded. "Ready when you are," he replied. Kalirn nodded, and attacked. He tried to bring his sword down on his opponent's head, but he blocked with his sword. Kalirn was pushed away by his amazing strength. "You're quite strong," he said. His opponent shrugged, and replied, "And you are quite talented. Let's see what else you have." He leapt forward, and tried to hit Kalirn in the leg. The boy laughed, and ducked under the blow, while swinging his own sword toward his opponent's feet. The man jumped, bringing his sword down. Kalirn barely had time to block before the blade caused him a serious injury. He cast earthquake. The man lost his balance, but managed to regain his footing before falling over. "You must be strong, to withstand that," said Kalirn, frowning slightly. He grinned and said, "Let's see how well you do against this." Large spires of rock fell from the air and flew towards the man. He leapt backwards, but several small bits cut his arms, legs, and a little of his chest. He appeared to be hurt, but didn't stop fighting. Kalirn frowned. "I'm running out of ideas," he said. He stabbed his sword at the man, and rained down more spires at the same time. Several of the spires hit Kalirn's opponent, and he fell down. Kalirn healed his wounds, and said, "I win."
"You can choose a reward. We have this sword, but it may be a bit too big for you. Over here we have a smaller version of the same sword. It's mostly just decorative, but it's sturdy too. We also offer ten thousand coins, or a nice Tolbi house. The house comes along with one thousand coins. You also have the option of a staff, but you don't seem to be the type to use one." Kalirn looked over the choices. He finally said, "I'll take the money." The man smiled, and handed him a large bag. Kalirn took it, but it was quite heavy. He grinned, and carried it to his father. "Here, dad. Ten thousand coins." His father gasped and took the money. "Dora!" he shouted. His wife ran over. "Look at this, it's ten thousand coins!" he said excitedly. Kalirn grinned at Zinin, who didn't appear to have had any fun the entire time. Zinin sighed. 'Just two more years, and I'll show him whose who around here,' he thought. This was a comforting thought, but meanwhile he would have to listen to Kalirn's bragging.
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Fifteen reviews for the next chapter! I hope you like this story. So far I think it's going much better than the last one. Oh well, REVIEW!
Chapter Three
Kalirn gradually got more and more powerful, but Zinin barely improved. His father always described him as acting distracted. This was exactly what he was. He was wishing that he had the same power or even greater power than Kalirn. His brother's psynergy, as he had come to call it, got stronger and stronger. Zinin had no special abilities. His brother would make fun of him more often now that his power had grown. He had discovered a new attack, which he called quake. When used, the earth would begin to ripple, sending anyone standing within a short range flying several feet into the air. It didn't hurt majorly, but Zinin got tired of it extremely fast. By this time, Kalirn was seven years old. His father said that at the age of seven, he could begin competing in tournaments. However, the biggest tournament, called Collosso, required that the warrior be atleast nine. Zinin and Kalirn both looked forward to when they turned nine. Poor Zinin knew that Kalirn would be able to participate two years before he would. If he won, it would make him brag. Kalirn had several friends around the city, but none of them were nearly as strong as either he or Zinin. The younger boy got some pleasure out of beating kids two years older than he in arm-wrestling competitions, but he wanted to beat Kalirn.
One day, a strange thing happened. While Zinin was walking alone through the town, he suddenly caught sight of a little, red ball lying on the grass. He walked up to it, and looked at it closely. Suddenly, he realized that it was moving. It appeared to be an animal of some sort. It had large eyes, and was about eight inches tall. To Zinin's amazement, it began to talk to him. "H-h-hello," it moaned. Zinin jumped in fright. Then, he realized that the red furball he was holding was talking to him. "Um, hello," he replied, uncertain. "Your finding me was lucky, both for me and for you," said the furball, "My name is Deimos. I am what they call a djinn." Zinin didn't see how it was lucky for him to have found a talking red furball, but to be polite, he said, "Hello Deimos, my name is Zinin. What does a djinn do?" The furball began to moan again, and didn't reply. Finally, it managed to squeak, "Food, I... need food." Zinin rushed him inside and grabbed an apple. He drew his sword and carefully sliced it up. Each slice he broke into djinn-sized bites. Deimos happily took the apple, and soon had eaten the whole thing. "More," he said, happily. Zinin got another apple, and cut it up the same way. When Deimos finished eating both apples, he said, "Tell nobody that you found me." Zinin agreed, and decided to take him outside, where they could talk. Once they got out, the djinn said, "Your brother has power, and you wish you had the same power, right?" Zinin nodded, and Deimos continued. "What you don't know, is that there are four elements. The elements are Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. Your brother clearly has the power of Earth. I think that you have the power of Wind, but that is not clear yet. It could be Water. I have the power of Fire, but I may be able to teach you some Wind and Water powers." Zinin got very excited, but tried to stay calm. "I'll teach you the most basic abilities, and see which you are able to master more easily," finished Deimos. Zinin nodded, and carried him outside of the village to a big field. Once he arrived in the field, Deimos said, "You know, I can walk, and fly. You don't need to carry me everywhere." Zinin appologized, and the djinn began to teach him the basics of psynergy.
Zinin kept his new abilities secret. He didn't even tell Kalirn. Deimos had told him that he was a Wind adept, and said that Wind was probably the strongest power, but that each had their own abilities. Zinin didn't care what type of power he had, he was just happy to have the same sort of power as his brother. He was now able to read minds, and create tiny whirlwinds. Of course, next to anybody but Deimos, he never used the whirlwind. When he got home, Zinin walked up to his father, and read his mind. 'Why is Kalirn doing so much better in his training than Zinin? I thought Zinin seemed quite capable at first. Maybe I was expecting too much,' he read. Zinin laughed to himself, and went to find his mother. 'Oh my, I have to start cooking dinner! It's beginning to get dark!' he read from her mind. He was tempted to say, "Yeah, you'd better get going!" but instead he said nothing. He went to find his brother. Kalirn was doing pullups on the bar beside the house. "Seventeen," he finally said, dropping to the ground. "Hey, Zinin! I did seventeen!" Zinin laughed to himself and leapt at the bar. He caught it and began pulling himself up. Soon, he made it to seventeen, but didn't stop. One more time he pulled himself up. When he landed on the ground, he turned to the astonished Kalirn. "Eighteen," he said, grinning. Kalirn growled and stompted off. Zinin giggled to himself and followed. Once he was close behind him, he cast mind read. 'Argh! Zinin! How did he do that? He's never been able to do more than thirteen before, and suddenly he does eighteen and beats my new record! Argh!' Zinin laughed out loud by accident. Kalirn turned to him and said, "What's so funny?" Zinin shrugged and walked off. Kalirn glared and thought, 'Almost as if he knows what I was thinking!' Out of anger, he slammed a rock from the ground into the door of the house. It left a dent, and he gasped. He slowly walked inside and to his room.
"Deimos," whispered six-year-old Zinin. The little furball had decided to live under his bed. "Psst, Deimos!" he whispered, this time a little louder. Suddenly, he turned around to see Kalirn standing at the door, smirking. "Who are you talking to?" he asked in a superior voice. Zinin shrugged. "Just, nobody," he replied, "I'm playing a little game." Kalirn laughed and walked out the door. Zinin sighed in relief and went back to looking for Deimos. Soon, a red head popped out, followed by a body. Zinin picked him up and put him in his pocket. 'Time to train,' he thought, 'my favorite part of the day.' He grabbed his sword in it's sheath from it's position leaning against the wall, and strapped it onto his belt.
Kalirn was very proud of his earthquaking abilities. His power had grown so much over the year, that he called his new ability Earthquake, instead of just plain old quake. All Zinin had was mind read and whirlwind, which he never showed anybody, and nobody knew about. Kalirn hadn't kept his abilites a secret. He had tried, but it had slipped to some of his friends. His parents still didn't know, but Zinin expected they would soon enough.
Zinin stood in the field, training his abilities. Again and again he cast whirlwind, until he was breathless. He caught up small bushes and threw them. Rather than training a lot with his sword, he practiced his psynergy a lot. He did also, of course, use his sword. After he finished training his psynergy, he would draw his sword and plan several points on a bush to hit. He would then carefully chop off whichever parts he wanted to, and tried to avoid the rest. He planned several targets to hit in a row, the faster the better. Eventually, he was worn out physically and mentally, so he went home. On the way, he met Kalirn. "Where have you been?" his older brother asked. Zinin calmly replied, "Training, and you?" Kalirn nodded. "I've been training too," he said, "I'll soon be extremely powerful. I can't wait for next year to enter Collosso! I'll be famous after that!" Zinin tried to treat his brother nicely, but he sometimes was too arrogant to be treated very nicely easily.
"Wow, Kalirn! That's amazing," said Kyle after Kalirn had finished showing off his psynergy. "Does Zinin have any abilities like that?" asked Dora. Kalirn laughed. "No way," he said, "He's so puny! He could never master such awesome powers as mine!" Dora sighed. "Kalirn, treat your brother with a little respect. He may have been adopted, but you don't have to treat him like an animal." Kalirn groaned. "Yes mother," he replied. Zinin felt like punching him, but didn't.
Zinin slowly trudged back into the city from his day of training. There sat Kalirn on the steps of their house, drinking a glass of water. "Hey Zinin!" he shouted. Zinin groaned. "Yeah?" he replied. Kalirn laughed. "Why do you always train out in the field? What's wrong with this place?" Zinin shrugged. "I guess because it's more peaceful out there. Besides, out there there is plenty of room and I don't have to worry about hitting anyone with my 'poor swordfighting abilities,' as you call them," he replied. Kalirn laughed, and added, "I know, they are pretty sad abilities." Zinin drew his sword, and Kalirn shut up.
Kalirn finally turned nine. His parents arranged to go to Tolbi, the city where Collosso was held. Tolbi was a huge place, they told Zinin and Kalirn. There was a large colloseum there, where warriors from all over the world came to fight. This was called Collosso. Kalirn was extremely excited. He couldn't wait to go. "We get to ride a ship!" he told Zinin excitedly. Zinin hardly cared. He was upset that Kalirn was old enough to enter, but he wasn't. He had told his father that he wanted to enter, and he had said, "Maybe they'll let you in. You're quite talented, and the best swordsman I've ever seen at your age." That was the problem, though. His age.
The wagon was finally leaving for Kalay. "We have to go to Kalay and get on a boat from there," explained Kalirn, as if he knew everything. Zinin already knew this, but he didn't say anything. Kalirn leaned out the back of the wagon and waved to his friends. "Oh boy, I can't wait! I get to enter Collosso!" shouted Kalirn repeatedly, the entire way to Kalay. By the end of the day, Zinin and Kalirn both wished they would arrive at Kalay. Zinin was tired of traveling, and Kalirn couldn't wait to enter the tournament. "Do you think I'll be able to beat everyone, Dad?" he asked. Kyle looked down at his son. His young son was entering Collosso. He didn't think he stood a chance at winning, but to make him happy, he said, "I'm sure you will, Son." Kalirn grinned at Zinin and said, "See? Dad thinks I'm gonna win! I do too!" Zinin laughed to himself. If he got into the tournament, he knew his brother didn't stand a chance. "You'll probably win, Kalirn," he said, and turned back to watch forwards. Within several minutes, Kalay was finally in sight. "Look!" shouted Kalirn, "There it is!" Dora sighed. "Kalirn," she said, "I know you're excited, but can you please stop yelling?" Kalirn started to pout, but said he'd try to stop.
"I hate boats," said Dora. Kyle laughed. "Come on, Dora," he said, "this is going to be fun! Besides, we get to watch our son win in Collosso!" Dora shivered. "That's the part I'm the most worried about. Collosso," she said. Kalirn laughed. "Don't worry, Mom, I'll try not to kill anyone," he said. Kyle laughed. "I don't think that's what your mother is worried about," he said.
"The boat is finally leaving," said Zinin. Kalirn nodded. "Now we get to go to Tolbi, and fight in Collosso! Or atleast, I get to fight in Collosso," he said. Zinin nodded sadly. He wished he could fight in Collosso too. 'Two years,' he told himself, 'just two more years.'
Several hours later, the boat finally landed in Tolbi. Kalirn and Kyle rushed over the boat to go and sign up for Collosso. Zinin slowly followed with his mother. "I wish I could fight too," he said. His mother replied, "Personally, I'm glad you can't. I'm worried sick about Kalirn, and I would be even more worried about you." Zinin sighed, and headed towards the city. When they finally arrived, Kalirn rushed up to them and said, "I already signed up. There are no more spots left for you, Zinin. Sorry!" He rushed off, and Zinin didn't think he was a bit sorry. He knew that winning Collosso would be easier without him in the way.
After several days, Collosso was finally starting. Kalirn stood in the hall, waiting for the battle to begin. He looked over the other competitors. There were seven men with huge bulging muscles. One of looked over to him and laughed. "You don't stand a chance, kid," he said. Kalirn grinned to himself. 'We'll see about that.' Then, a man came and told everyone to get ready. The man known to be strongest would fight the second strongest, and the third fight the fourth, and so on. Kalirn was eighth, and for that he was thankful. Finally, the man who had come and said to get ready led the first place warrior down the hall to Kalirn's left. Several minutes later, he returned and led the second place warrior to the right. Collosso was about to begin.
After a while, the two contestants returned, scratched up and worn out. They both left the colloseum. Two more men were taken away, and then two more after that. Finally, it came time for Kalirn's match. He was led down a long hallway, which eventually turned. From there, he entered the important part of the colloseum. He found himself in a room with sand on the ground. His weapons had been taken from him and left by the exit. They were well guarded, though. He looked around. Nearby, he saw a pool of water with a long in it. "This'll be easy," he said aloud. He ran towards the water and jumped as far as he could, landing about half way across. He then swam to the other side and pulled himself out. "I wonder what that log was meant for," he said. Shrugging, he continued to the next obstacle. This was a wall of vines. He climbed up one of them, and then to another one which was beside that. The vines were extremely thick, and could easily hold a full grown man. However they were flexible too. Kalirn began to swing back in forth, and jumped. He barely landed on the platform on the other side. "That was easy," he said, and ran to the next obstacle. It was a maze. The walls were about eight feet high, but Kalirn didn't feel like going through the maze. He cast earthquake and flew over the wall. He looked forwards, and could see the platform to fight on up ahead. "Only one more obstacle," he said, grinning. He walked to the next thing. A bunch of platforms stood in front of him. He had to jump from one to the next. This would be easy. He leapt over to the first one easily. He jumped again, landing on the second. There were three more platforms, each a little bit bigger. He cast earthquake, and soared over the remaining gaps. He heard a whistle from the croud. He grinned to himself and ran to the fighting platform. Sitting on the platform were two swords. One was slightly bigger, but the other was sharper. He grabbed the sharper one and waited for his opponent.
The other man came soon enough, and walked over to the remaining sword. He picked it up, and grunted. "Hey kid," he said, "I don't know how you got here before me, but I can tell you that you won't survive this day." Kalirn laughed, and thrust his sword forward. The man dodged to the side, and slashed at his chest. Kalirn easily pushed it away with his psynergy. "W-what?" asked the surprised man. "How did you do that?" Kalirn laughed and stabbed his sword towards the man, who dodged again. This continued for several minutes, until Kalirn got bored. "Bye," he said, smiling. The other man replied, "I'm only getting warmed up! I'm not done for yet," Kalirn shrugged. "Perhaps you are," he replied, still smiling. He pointed his hand at the ground and said, "Earthquake!" The man flew through the air, and landed a ways off. "There's something strange going on or I'm dreaming," the dazed man said. Kalirn laughed and cast earthquake again.
The next day, it was time for the second round. Kalirn realized that he was going to fight the man who had been in fifth place the day before. He proudly stated that he was now in third place, and couldn't wait to finish off Kalirn. The boy laughed, and said, "We'll see about that. After all, I beat that other man." The man he was going to fight said, "Ha! I could have beaten that man with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back." Kalirn laughed. "I guess you're just too powerful for me then," he replied. Then, the man came to lead away the first place man and the fourth place man. Apparently, the guy who was in fourth had beaten his opponent. A while later, a sad looking fourth-place man emerged, and another man, looking quite triumphant followed. Kalirn giggled and waited to be led to his tournament. Soon, the man led his opponent away, and had returned. Kalirn walked quickly down the hallway behind him, and soon arrived at the first obstacle. Before Kalirn entered, the man who had been leading him said, "I'm really quite surprised you made it this far. Most of our younger people don't even win the first round. If you won this round, it would be a first. The last nine year old we had to make it to the second round is probably grown up by now." Kalirn grinned, and entered Collosso.
The second set of obstacles wasn't much harder than the first set, but Kalirn's opponent beat him to the battlefield. Kalirn picked up the little, dull sword and prepared to fight. He grinned at his opponent, who said, "You won't be grinning for much longer," and as he said longer, he lunged at him. Kalirn laughed, and several peices of thin rock fell down from above. Zinin, who was in the audience sitting with his mother and father, said, "I've never seen him use that move before, must be something new." Kalirn's opponent put up his sword and managed to knock the bits of rock aside. Kalirn frowned, but sent down more rocks. This time, one of them hit his opponent on his arm. This didn't seem to annoy him much, as it hadn't been his dominant arm. Kalirn cast earthquake, and the man flew back. He quickly stood up, and stabbed his sword into Kalirn's leg. In the audience, Dora screamed. Kalirn laughed, and healed his leg. "Wow, you're amazing," his opponent said, "I've never seen anybody who could do the same things as you. It's like... magic." Kalirn laughed, and fought harder. He vigorously went on the offensive, and soon both contestants were worn out. "G-give up?" asked Kalirn, panting heavily. His opponent shook his head. "Not over yet," he replied. The boy sighed and attacked again. The man dodged, but Kalirn quickly moved his sword over and hit him. Finally, the man said, "I give up." Kalirn smirked, and thought, 'Only one more contestant to go. I'm really doing quite well.'
It was the last day of Collosso. Kalirn's only remaining contestant was a tough looking black-haired man. Kalirn grabbed some of his own hair and began to twist it, while he waited. Eventually, it was time to start the fight. Kalirn's contestant grinned and him and said, "Best of luck to you," and walked away. Kalirn laughed, knowing that he would win. Nobody could match his psynergetic power.
Half an hour later, Kalirn found himself sitting and holding a sharp sword. He waited several minutes for his opponent to arrive. Soon, the tall strong man appeared and picked up the other sword. Kalirn stood up, and asked, "Are you ready?" The man nodded. "Ready when you are," he replied. Kalirn nodded, and attacked. He tried to bring his sword down on his opponent's head, but he blocked with his sword. Kalirn was pushed away by his amazing strength. "You're quite strong," he said. His opponent shrugged, and replied, "And you are quite talented. Let's see what else you have." He leapt forward, and tried to hit Kalirn in the leg. The boy laughed, and ducked under the blow, while swinging his own sword toward his opponent's feet. The man jumped, bringing his sword down. Kalirn barely had time to block before the blade caused him a serious injury. He cast earthquake. The man lost his balance, but managed to regain his footing before falling over. "You must be strong, to withstand that," said Kalirn, frowning slightly. He grinned and said, "Let's see how well you do against this." Large spires of rock fell from the air and flew towards the man. He leapt backwards, but several small bits cut his arms, legs, and a little of his chest. He appeared to be hurt, but didn't stop fighting. Kalirn frowned. "I'm running out of ideas," he said. He stabbed his sword at the man, and rained down more spires at the same time. Several of the spires hit Kalirn's opponent, and he fell down. Kalirn healed his wounds, and said, "I win."
"You can choose a reward. We have this sword, but it may be a bit too big for you. Over here we have a smaller version of the same sword. It's mostly just decorative, but it's sturdy too. We also offer ten thousand coins, or a nice Tolbi house. The house comes along with one thousand coins. You also have the option of a staff, but you don't seem to be the type to use one." Kalirn looked over the choices. He finally said, "I'll take the money." The man smiled, and handed him a large bag. Kalirn took it, but it was quite heavy. He grinned, and carried it to his father. "Here, dad. Ten thousand coins." His father gasped and took the money. "Dora!" he shouted. His wife ran over. "Look at this, it's ten thousand coins!" he said excitedly. Kalirn grinned at Zinin, who didn't appear to have had any fun the entire time. Zinin sighed. 'Just two more years, and I'll show him whose who around here,' he thought. This was a comforting thought, but meanwhile he would have to listen to Kalirn's bragging.
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Fifteen reviews for the next chapter! I hope you like this story. So far I think it's going much better than the last one. Oh well, REVIEW!