Chapter 5- Colosso
Alex, Kunos, and Xeynen were sitting around a campfire in the middle of a forest, in perfect silence.
"Alex?" Xeynen asked.
"Hmm?"
"Where are we going?"
"Colosso."
"What's that?"
"You don't kno- Oh, right, hidden village."
"So what is Colosso?"
"A massive yearly tournament. It takes place in Tolbi and has been for over three hundred years. Originally, it was a test of pure strength, as Psyenergy was still sealed. Now it has become a several round tournament testing various aspects of your strength. They added a physical strength round because one year, an old man won. That doesn't make for a very good idol."
"Why are we going there?"
"It is the test of strength for the entire wor-" Alex paused suddenly.
"Alex?"
"Oh, sorry. I thought… it's nothing. Anyway, if the most powerful adepts in the world will be there, then at least one incarnation should be there."
"That seems a little…"
"Convenient?"
"Contrived seemed more like word."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't even know anymore."
There was a long pause, and then Kunos began to speak. "Why doesn't someone tell a story to pass the time?"
"How about the legend of the Elemental Capitals? I mean, I already told you what they are, but there is a legend about their origin."
"Sure, whatever."
"Well, okay. A thousand of years ago, in the prime of the First Age of Alchemy, there was perfect balance in the world. Everyone was a powerful Psyenergist, and everyone could perform everyday tasks without lifting a finger. This was the true Golden Age. This lasted until the art of multi-elemental Psyenergy came into being. Groups of people began to train themselves to use multiple elements other than the one they were born with. This skill also was passed down from generation to generation, building new races. Eventually, they split into factions. The two great factions were known as the Sol and Luna adepts.
The Sol and Luna adepts rose to positions of great power in the world, until they decided they were superior to all other Adepts on the face of Weyard. But they also fought for dominance over the other faction, and this led to a great war. Many countries were under the control of these Adepts, and these countries were forced to fight each other. Then, for lands decided they couldn't stand this war, and fled.
Anemos, land of Jupiter, used all of its Adepts and uprooted the land itself. Lemuria, Kingdom of Mercury, sunk its land to the bottom of the ocean. Pterox, Republic of Mars, disappeared without a trace. And Venta, land of Venus, sunk to the depths of Weyard. These countries knew what would come, and guarded their lives. Eventually, the war between Luna and Sol escalated to the point where most of Weyard was being destroyed. They decided to sign a treaty. For one thousand years, they would hide above and below Weyard, building their forces, until the day they fight again, bringing about the end…"
"Cool story." Xeynen stated, uninterested.
"Is it true?" Kunos asked.
"I am not sure. I had a file of evidence pointing towards it hidden in my palace, but it wasn't there recently. Which doesn't actually make sense, because it would be impossible for anyone other than me to open the file."
"Huh…"
"We should sleep now."
"Agreed."
A few days passed, and the group reached Tolbi. The first preliminary match had already ended, and all the tickets were sold out.
"How are we going to get in? Tickets have been sold out for weeks!" Kunos whined.
"There are a variety of methods." Alex said, walking over to the guard. "How much would it take for you to go on break for the next few minutes?"
"I will not accept a bribe. I am honest." Said the guard, unmoving.
"Are you sure? I can give you any amount…"
"I said no. I already have more money than I need."
"Hmm… Kunos?"
"Yes? Oh…" Kunos said, pausing. She then walked over to the guard. "Come on, let us in. I could make it worth your while." She said seductively.
"Uh… er… no… but… um… I can't let yo-you in."
"Okay… bribery failed, seduction failed, let's try one more…" Alex muttered, creating a fireball in his hand. "You WILL let us in, and you WON'T tell anyone. If you don't know who I am, read a history book. Know what I can do to you? Good." Alex meditates for a second, reading the guard's mind. "Oh, you have a family. You wouldn't want anything to happen to them…"
"Okay, Okay! Go in! Just don't hurt me!"
"Good man. Do you want that bribe still?"
"Wait. You threaten me, THEN give me a bribe?"
"Unless you don't want it."
"I'll take it. Whatever you wanted to give me in the first place."
"Here." Alex threw a pouch to the guard, walking through the gate.
They arrived in the stadium, and they saw the final round of the preliminaries. Preliminaries now are eight free for alls of five people each. The winners get to move on to the real rounds. When they 'found' some seats, three people were down. The two left were what appeared to be a male, teenager Jupiter Adept, and a large, muscular Mars Adept. The Jupiter Adept dodged every blow with incredible precision, and then pulled out a strange piece of metal, which fired out a small sphere of condensed Psyenergy, piercing the Mars Adept, which caused him to fall over, with his shoulder bleeding uncontrollably.
"And the winner is… IELIX, the Jupiter Representative from Lama Temple!"
"Think he'll win the tournament?" Kunos asked Alex.
"He might. But what is that strange device?"
"I don't know…"
"Lama Temple must be hiding secrets…"
"Now time for the first round… PSYENERGY DUEL! The two combatants will run through a labyrinth filled with puzzles to test their psyenergy, culminating in a deadly tug-of-war with a boulder! Now let the battle… BEGIN!"
Ielix started by pulling out the strange device and firing over his opponent. It caused a large chunk of the arena to fall onto the other combatant, and keeping himself alive used a lot of energy. While he was repelling boulders, Ielix ran through the maze with ease. At the end, Ielix forced the boulder at the center at his opponent, and since he was dealing with another boulder, was knocked into a wall, bleeding horribly.
"And in an incredible show of cunning and power, in record time, the winner is… IELIX!"
"He is a cunning one." Alex stated. "There are good odds he'll win."
"Think he might be…?"
"Possibly. We might need to pay him a visit if he wins."
An old man, Apok, and a strange Proxian male were in a hotel room with Ielix.
"Come with us. You are one I seek." Said the old man in monotone.
"Give me one reason to. I'd rather stay here and win Colosso, then live off the fame for the rest of my life."
"Do you want to save Weyard?"
"Yes, but I can't trust you, so I won't go with you just on your word."
"Do you want me to hurt him?" Apok asked.
"You WILL come with us. My word is truth. I AM THE EMPEROR! YOU WILL OBEY MY ORDERS!"
"Yeah, right. Then where's your empire? And what's with the silent one over there?"
"He was like you. He didn't want to go with me. Will you consider avoiding the same fate as him?"
"I might. After I win Colosso."
"Grr…"
"Your next match in half an hour, Ielix. You should prepare."
"Goodbye, Emperor." Ielix said mockingly.
"TIME FOR ROUND TWO- PHYSICAL CHALLENGE! NO PSYENERGY MAY BE USED TO NAVIGATE THIS MAZE, TAKE THE WEAPON, AND DEFEAT YOUR OPPONENT! READY… START!"
Without the use of his strange device, this round was considerably more difficult. The fact that his opponent was a buff Mars Adept, not unlike the one he nearly killed in the prelims, made things more difficult. Ielix did his best, but his opponent reached the middle long before he did. His opponent got a Claymore, while he was stuck with a Short Sword. He managed to dodge his opponents many blows, then stood right next to the edge.
"Your blows are as clumsy as a cow." Ielix mocked, making his enemy clench his sword in rage. "I mean, I've seen clumsy, but this is just sad."
"What about you? You can't even land a blow. You fight like a dairy farmer!" The enemy said, charging at Ielix.
Ielix leapt into the air, landed on his opponent, and knocked him out of the arena. "How appropriate. You fight like a cow."
"AND THE WINNER IS… IELIX! STAY IN THE ARENA FOR THE THIRD ROUND, WHERE I TALK EVEN LOUDER!"
"Any doubt he'll win now, Alex?" Kunos asked.
"No. But… Why have you been so quiet, Xeynen?"
"I've been studying these matches to see how to beat these people. So far, I've only seen Apok's fighting style and that of bandits. Apok's is unpredictable and bandits are TOO predictable. This would be a good challenge."
"Somethi- No, no, nothing."
"What's wrong?" Kunos asked.
"It's nothing. Next year, maybe you can enter Colosso, Xeynen."
"Yes. Next year."
"AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR ROUND THREE: ULTIMATE BATTLE! NO HOLDS BARRED DUEL! EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT, SO I SHALL INTRODUCE THE FIGHTERS: IN THIS CORNER, THE JUPITER REPRESENTATIVE FROM LAMA TEMPLE, IELIX! IN THE OTHER CORNER, THE MERCURY REPRESENTATIVE FROM LEMURIA, FIGHTING IN HIS TWENTYTH COLOSSO, AQUAE!"
"Oh, come on. Like this will be a challenge." Aquae said.
"My thoughts exactly." Ielix pulled out his strange device and fired at Aquae's main arm. Aquae fell over, screaming in pain. Ielix continued by firing at each of Aquae's limbs, then knocking him off the ledge.
"AND IN A MIRACULOUS 30 SECOND WIN, THE YOUNGEST COLOSSO CHAMPION EVER, IELIX! THE GREATEST HONOR ON WEYARD GOES TO JUPITER AND LAMA TEMPLE!"
"Now should we go see him?" Kunos asked.
"Yeah, we should." Alex said, while some scantily clad women carrying money and a huge trophy walked into the arena. "…After the award ceremony."
"Ugh… men…"
Alex, Kunos, and Xeynen went to Ielix's hotel room to wait for him. When Ielix walked in, he groaned.
"Ugh, not more autograph seekers…"
"No, I don't want an autograph. I want something much more important."
"What, does your lady friend there want children?" Ielix said smugly, eyeing Kunos.
"If you want to keep those lips, I'd recommend you pay attention to Alex and stop looking at my chest."
"Point take- Alex? That's the name of the emperor…"
"That would be me."
"But… The emperor came by before the second round. Or at least someone claiming to be him came. You look more like the portraits, but the other one actually looked like he's almost three hundred."
"Hmmm… Interesting development. But will you travel with us?"
"On one condition." Ielix took out his strange device and a rolled up sheet of paper. "This is my greatest invention, a gun. Look at it, and the blueprints. Make some significant improvement on it, and I will travel with you."
"Okay." Alex took the gun and blueprints, placed them on the ground, and began to meditate on them. After half an hour, he got up. "Done."
"What? What did you do?"
"I haven't done it yet, but I figured out a way to personalize the gun so only you, or one of us, could use it."
"How?"
"I noticed it has a shell made out of Venus-purified steel. All elements but fire have a resonant frequency in them, but the element's frequency is unique within people. Just create a shell of an element, and have the resonant frequency match that of a specific person."
"That would work… A deal's a deal. I'll go with you."
"Perfect. Would you mind a mind scan?"
"A what?" Ielix asked, as Alex delved into his mind. After he was done, he fell to his knees.
"He is one."
"Why didn't you pass out like last time?" Kunos asked.
"I guess I can just cope with the shock now. Maybe eventually it won't phase me at all."
"I'm what?"
"An Incarnation. I'll explain on the way to Contigo. Something is seriously wrong in the balance of Jupiter."
"What do you mean?"
"An incarnation may be dead."
A/N: Nothing much to say here. This was the first chapter I didn't have written beforehand. Longer than usual too. No reviews since last time. That sucks. I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep now.