Author's note: At last, after 5 months, 1 week, 1 day and a couple of hours, it's finally here! Chapter 16 was a really long one to write, my longest one yet with 15 000 words to be precise, that exclude the two author's note. During the writhing process, I rewatched Freezing with a friend and ended up reading the whole manga. Plus, I watched a truck load of anime with several series that I would finish in a single night. I finished writhing the chapter mid-march, but that was when the project started falling on my head, one project in particular more than the others. I just finished my last project this Thursday afternoon, but I was too drunk that night to start correcting the chapter, plus I had a friend sleeping at my place, so I've spend most of my week end correcting. Hope you enjoy what I created! Here goes, chapter 16 starts now! By the way, only one week passed in the story, but almost one year and a half has passed since chapter one was publish.


He was greeted by the evils glares of the opposing summoners, but he didn't gave a damn as he turned to Shadow. The two fist bumped before leaving the summoning chamber. Shadow and Max walked out of the main building and, outside, many peoples, champions and summoners alike, cheered them and congratulated them for their total victory against the far higher ranked summoners. They savored their moment of glory and returned handshakes and props. Their friends Jayce, Jax, Twisted Fate, Gragas and Ezreal were also there looking at them with big smiles, and a barrel of beer in Gragas' case, in the face. Soon after, Braum and Olaf, wearing a jean and a t-shit with a Teemo head on the chest (because, bro, Brolaf rock!) joined the group and they all cheered with some Graggy Ice Brolaf brought just for that.

The crowd dispersed, but the bros remained there, (still) drinking to the victory, until they went to Max's room where they continued to drink and having a heck of a good time. The evening was quite advanced when Bro-Jayce and Bro-Jax carried a drunk Brozreal back home, followed by Brogas as Brom carried a passed out Twisted Bro so only Bro-Max, Bradow and Brolaf were left in the Elemental's room (I made bro-skin for each of them xD). Even if they did stop drinking, they were still pretty drunk and god was the world marvelous! They were now philosophizing about life and reached the following conclusion: life is beautiful.

Tired and less drunk than before, Olaf made his way out, somehow, and, maybe, reached his own room where he would have a well-deserved sleep, if he wasn't already having said sleep in the middle of one of the corridors of the institute. Max was preparing a makeshift bed on the couch for Shadow to sleep on when someone knocked on the door.

«I'll go get it, said Shadow, letting his friend finish his bed.
-Good, I'll be there in two minutes. »

Opening the door, the summoner saw several people waiting outside, but his vision was kind of fussy so he couldn't see quite who was in front of him. However, he managed to recognize some features of the ones at the door, like Ahri's tails, Morgana's wings, Elise's back apprentices and Sona's Etwahl. After several seconds, his brain made the connections and he let them in. They followed him to the living room where Max just finished turning the couch in a bed for Shadow. He greed his guess, not so sure who they were either. Ah! The joys of alcohol.

The Elemental offered to his friends, well he tough they were his friends, the couch turned bed to sit and managed, to his surprise, to create two more chairs. The crystalline furniture didn't look too safe and had a really strange shape. He pretended it to be modern art and, being the good host he was, took them himself alongside Shadow. In front of them, several women sat on the couch, awkwardly watching their two drunk friends. No one seemed about to say anything or make a move. The two group eyed each other, the first looked a bit nervous and the second was completely clueless about what was happening. The two boys decide to take their courage in both hands, razed their head, a fierce look in the eyes and ran to the bathroom, hand on their mouths.

They rushed to the toilet, pushing to have a chance to throw up anywhere but the floor. None of the two felt really proud about what just happened, in fact, they were ashamed of throwing up in front of so many women, they didn't know how much, but they kwon there was many. After he finished his business, Max reached for something on the counter. When he found it, he struck Shadow's right leg with the sharp nail at the end of it before piercing his own leg with an identic copy of the one currently stuck in the summoner's thigh. Quickly, the unpleasant feeling of vomit making its way up their throat came back and they were once again vomiting in the nearly full toilet with renewed vigor. For about five minutes, they vomit nonstop, even when they thought their stomach were empty, more came out. When it finally stopped, Max and Shadow felt like they never drank a drop of alcohol, it must have been Max's special concoction against hangovers, though Shadow.

«Yo, welcome back on earth, said Max.
- Yo, welcome back too. What was that just now?
- The same shit we took during the Harrowing. I thought that it was a called-for situation.
- Yeah, you're right, but still. I still have the taste in my mouth
- Drink this, then, Max hand his friend a glass of mouth wash.
- Thank, Shadow washed away the bad taste. Now I'm better. Should we go finally know what they're here for?
- Sure, right behind you. »

Back in the living room, they found the ladies sitting on Shadow's bed, all locking… somewhere between nervousness, disgust and confusion. Being out of the mist of alcohol, the two friends could at last fully recognise who sat in front of them. They had already recognise Ahri, Morgana, Elise and Sona, but now they also recognise Sivir, Fiora, Janna, Sarah Fortune, and three female summoners Max had never seen, but Shadow seems to recognize them.

«Sorry about that, we kindda abused alcohol in the last hours, started Max, breaking the awkward silence.
- It's ok, I guess, continued Ahri. We kindda abused alcohol too. At least we were sober enough to find our way to your room and say what we wanted to say to you two, I think.
- So, asked Shadow, what did you want to say?
- We all wanted to express our thanks to you, respond Janna.
- Thank us? But for what? Shadow and I haven't done anything to deserve thanks.
- You get us rid of the ones that continually hit on us, Sarah corrected him.
- Yeah, it was really annoying for us, explained Fiora. Being in a place generally associated with men that considered all the female in the institute being inferior to them really get on your nerves sometimes.
- Annoying? Scary you mean! One of the female summoner exclaimed. Almost all other male summoners and champions were eying us like we were a piece of ham or something!
- Why am I not surprise? No matter where, in my world or here, men stay men. It pisses me off! I piss myself off sometime.
- But thanks to you, almost no one even dared look our way when we pass in front of them and whispers quick salutations when they cross path with us, fearing you'll come out of the next corner and pass them through the wall, Sona's voice resonate in their head, followed by a giggle.
- Well… Euh… He! He! You're welcome, it's been a pleasure to kick their asses for you, Shadow shyly returned the politesse. Anytime anywhere, I guess?
- You're so sweet, the second summoner complimented her shy underclassman. You're pretty good for an unranked summoner, and it comes from a gold II.
- Thanks! I really appreciate it! You make me believe I can reach gold!
- And your friend here is a really strong pick! The first summoner compliment the Elemental. I wouldn't mind passing a contract with him.
- Yeah, me neither!
- Yeah, sounds fun! I'm glad to see Shadow isn't weird liking me. Ha! Ha! Ha! Sorry, bro, it was a free call!
- Shut up, man! You're ruining my newfound pride!
- Sorry. Hey, if we are to pass a contract, can I at least know your names?
- Sure! I'm Alesia. »

Alesia was an average height, blonde haired girl in her early twenties. Her golden curls fall to the middle of her back, some pulled in front of her shoulders, framing her face nicely. Here pale blue eyes were expressing the insatiable curiosity of those who show interest in almost anything. Her lips were curved in a sincere smile, the kind that spread happiness anywhere it goes. The rest of her body was hidden under her summoner's robe, except for her delicate hands and her long manicured nails. The purple of her robe put a nice contrast on her slightly tanned skin that resemble the skin color of the girls back where Max was from.

«And I'm Cilia! Nice to meet you Max! I think we met in a match once, Shadow. »

The dark brown haired summoners was about one or two inches taller than Alesia and around the same age, maybe a bit older, but not by more than two years. Her straight hairs cascaded all the way to the end of her back, the complete opposite of her pale creamy skin. The hairs on her forehead were pulled back with the rest of her hairs, leaving her jade green eyes for the world to drown in because of how deep they were, catching everything around her. Her crimson lips, coated with lipstick, displayed a wide smile, showing her white teeth. Like her fellow summoner, her robe hide the rest of her body, except her hands, manicured too.

«Come on, Rose, introduce yourself! » Alesia encouraged her silent friend to talk.

Rose was curled up in a ball, in the far left corner of the couch, like she was, not scared, but unsecured about something. The summoner's eyes were hidden behind her blood red bangs. The side of her really pale face that was visible to the two young men showed only her peach tainted lips twisted in a painful way and were… trembling. At closer look, Max and Shadow realised she was more unsecured that she appeared at first gaze. Maybe she was scared after all. But scared of what? They had no idea.

«He, sorry. I'm Rose. Nice to meet you. »

When she present herself, Rose finally turned her head to face them and brushing the right side of her bags over her ear revealing only one of her amber eyes.

«Come on Rose, what's up with that face? Cheerfully asked Cilia.
- I don't know, I'm just not in the mood right now
- Is something bothering you, Rose? Max's voice reached her ears, filled with concern. You can tell us, we're friends from here on, right? Friends are there to help each other.
- Max's right! Shadow followed his friend's lead. We'll always be there, no matter what!
- Yeah Rose, Elise entered the conversation, that's what friends are for.
- Thank you, guys. But it's all right, I'll be fine, a little smile started to appear on her lips. See, I'm just fine!
- That's it girl! Sivir encouraged her favorite summoner. Life is more beautiful when you smile!
- That's right Sivir, Rose changed subject. So, how much?
- How much for what? Shadow asked.
- To be Max's summoner, dummy! How much did you payed, Shadow?
- 7200 IP, if I remember correctly? Was it that, Max?
- Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was that, Max answered his friend's question.
- Ah! You're still a new champion, so you charge 7200 IP for your contract! Alesia remembered that little yet important detail.
- God, paying for a new champion is hard on the economy! Cilia add.
- Don't worry about it. Seems like it's ladies' night tonight, so it will 7200 IP for the three of you, meaning, Max divide 7200 by 3, 2400 IP each. Sound's good?
- Hell yeah! You're cheaper than champs that have been around for 3 years!
- What the hell, bros! Why did you made me pay 7200?
- Sorry, buddy, you're a dude, Max winked at his friend.
- That's sexist!
- I know right! Max laugh at Shadow's comment.
- It's so kind of you to do that, Max, Ahri compliment him. Does it mean that if we pay 2400 IP we can have you all for ourselves? She winked at the last part.
- Yeah, Max started awkwardly, don't take it bad, but I don't really want to continue that "sleeping around" business. It's just that I made so much bad things in the past and still hasn't repent of my crimes. I promised myself I wouldn't start any kind of relationship with anyone until I redeemed all that I've done, his tone was sad and barely loud enough for them to ear.
- What the fuck!? »

Three voices overlapped each other, each saying:

«You fuck us than throw us away! You treacherous bastard! You're just like the others!
- Is that why you were a jerk to me this morning!
- So you really had sex with them! Fuck, I envy you! »

Everyone looked at Shadow.

«Nop, nop… Forget I said anything… » he gestured his hand in front of him.

After a second of fixing Shadow, the female champions and summoners fixed Max, an indecipherable expression on their faces. They eyed him down like he was the worst scum on Runeterra, which was probably the case. Their words, except Shadow's, cut deep, especially Ahri's. Yeah, maybe he was still just a selfish, egocentric super human, even after trying to be another person in this new world. He hadn't change despite his effort to. Maybe he didn't tried hard enough. Maybe his overwhelming power continued to corrupt him, that power he never asked for, that power he gain from a fallen sky stone. He told himself that this time, this time, his power would be used to protect, to preserve, not kill and destroy. Yeah… this time… this time for sure… But, that cursed power had, again, killed peoples, destroyed friendship. But, to Max, it was understandable, it was that power's very nature. It was… No, he was created for this one simple purpose: kill. That's right. His nature, his very existence, was that of a killing machine. He was supposed to be an emotionless tool, a guiltless killer, a remorseless destroyer. How could he have been so weak, weak to the point emotions locked in the deepest parts of his heart brook free? He had become an insult to his destiny. He was so weak. Just seeing the faces of his so called friends, he almost felt sorry for causing them pain. Friends, such a meaningless word. Just some peoples he could take advantage of to fulfil his goal. What if they felt hurt? It was none of his concern, they were expendables tools, unlike him. He too was a tool to someone, but contrary to them, he wasn't expendable, he was unique. That's why he was superior to them. Just that was enough to justify him using them and if they refused to cooperate with him, he would just enslave them. He was going to rule this dimension, anyway. It was an undeniable fact. He was the ultimate power after all, no one could restrain him. He was the ruler and they were his servitor. He was free to use and disposed of them however he'd see fit.

As these thoughts pass through his mind, under the glare of the women in his room, a devious smile crawled its way to his lips. They wanted to have sex with him? And why did he refused? Because of some senseless guilt over killing others and doing things they would consider horrible? It was all their fault for being weaker than him. So why did he refused them? He had no reason to. So, why not give them what they wanted, what they craved, right there, right then? Oh, yeah. Shadow was there too. Well, whatever, he said himself he was jealous of Max for having Fiora and Ahri, he surely wouldn't mid joining in for some fun too. That's what he would do. He would enslave them and make them his, sharing with Shadow. He reached for his spirit skull, extending his mind to the ones in front of him. Slowly, he crawled his way in their heads, digging further in their minds. He was going to make everything they were his, mind, body and soul, starting with their souvenirs. He reached their memories, taking in every last bit of information contained by the neurones. The first bits of memories entered his head, but as soon as he took in the information, he saw something that pushed him back to reality. He saw, in everyone's minds, their childhood memories, filled with the friendship and the happiness that come with it.

His smile fade away almost as soon as it came to the view of the ones around him, replaced by a sad expression. Max realised it: he was wrong. His nature was not that of a killer, he never was like that, nor were friends tools to be used and discarded after. Friends are those who stand by your side, bringing you to your feet when you fall, those who cheer you up when you are sad, the ones you protect at all cost, because they mean so much to you, friends are your strength, friends are your support, your reason to live! How could he have been so weak, weak to the point his darkness locked in the deepest parts of his heart broke free? He had become an insult to his principles. He was so weak. Just seeing the faces of his friends, he felt guilt, remorse, knowing he was the cause of so much pain.

Soon, memories of his own past resurfaced, memories of his favorites stories when he was younger and quotes that marked him for life. "Comrade isn't simply a word. Comrades are about the heart. It's the unconditional trust in your partners. Please, feel free to lean on me… And I, too, will lean on you as well." Mavis Vermillion "There are people in this world who prefer solitude. But there is no one who withstand it." Makarov Drayar "We would rather die than abandon our friends." Erza Scarlet "Everyone in this world is here because we help one another people to survive." Elfman Strauss "You don't die for your friends, you live for them." Natsu Dragneel "It's not the face that make someone a monster, it's the choses they made in life." Naruto Uzumaki "The hole in one's heart is filled by others around you" Kakashi Hatake "In our world, those who break rules are scums, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scums." Obito Uchiha. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, rolling down the side of his face before falling to the floor. His mouth twitched, his teeth clenched together. Max did all he could to contain his wailing, but sad sobs made their way to his friends' ears. The elemental fall on his knees, face on the ground.

«I'm sorry! I'm sorry for all the things I've done to all of you! And I'm sorry for all the things I didn't do for you! I'm sorry for being the monster that I've become! I'm sorry for dragging you into my pathetic existence! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
- What the hell? Sarah was the only one to react, the others were too shocked by the action of the Elemental.
- What has gotten into you all of a sudden? Shadow was the second one to snap out of it.
- I just realised how worthless I really am, how poorly I treated you all. I don't deserve to have friends as good as all of you guys. I'm sorry for everything…
- Just stand up already, god damn it! Fiora ordered him. Friends are there to compensate for your weakness. If you have so many friends, it only mean you have that many weakness, she winked at him.
- She's right, Max. We're all you friends because we like who you are and we want to be there for each other, Ahri add to Fiora's point. If you don't want to have sex with us, that's you choice, but you already know what you are missing, the fox also wink at the Elemental.
- Thank you, guys, a smile returned to Max's face. Thank you for being my friends, from now own, I'll try being a better friend so I can return the pleasure!
- Start by helping me get out of bronze first, Shadow punched Max's shoulder.
- Seriously, I don't understand how you're still unranked, you seem talented enough to reach at the very least silver I.
- Know, I tried ranked games a couple of times, but I never did my 10 qualifications, at least, not in a single season. I want to have a ranking one day, but I never got the confidence to do so…
- I know! Alesia shout, hitting the side of her closed hand in the palm of her other. We will train you! Right, girls?
- Yeah! Sure! Cilia approved her friend's idea. If you train with us, you will have better skills and you will gain the confidence you lack! Beside, we will have a chance to see you and Max in action up close and hang out with our new friends, the unconfident perverted summoner and the emotionally unstable interdimensional being!
- Thanks for the analysis, Max said in a sarcastic and exasperated tone.
- Way to turn the knife in the wound, Shadow add in a less sarcastic, but equally exasperated tone.
- No prob! Any time!
- It's nice to see you guys are getting along, but what about us! We wanna help too! Sivir budged in on the conversation. And I'm sure Olaf, Ez and the other guys would want to help to.
- Yeah! You girls could summon us on the field to face Max and Shadow in two on two matches! Janna gave the idea. Max and I already know that we could be good lane partners.
- Sound fun, count me in! Ahri agreed. But how do you know you could be good lane partners?
- We trained together two days ago. It was pretty fun! What about you, Rose, wanna join the project?
- Ha, what? Yeah, sure! I'll help Shadow get gold, that way, he can battle with us in real matches! Rose still sounded a little out of it, but she was more present than a minute ago.
-Thanks, you guys are the best! Shadow thanked them all for their support.
- It's nothing, we just want to learn how to handle Max from the only one who has been able to, Cilia humorously respond.
- It's decided, Elise shout, we're training you, whether you like it or not!
- I second that! Max approved. I want to be summoned in challenger matches by Shadow somewhere before he dies!
- We all want to see you in challenger, Fiora add, but if you ask me, you'd better be summoned by these three, they're all gold and WAY closer to being challenger than the perv over there.
- Ah! Come on! Stop judging me, I'll have a complex!
- Speaking about those three, we still haven't pass a contract yet. Does the office still do contract at this hour of the night?
- They sure do, answered Sivir, they're open 24/7. The limiting factor here is whether or not the champions are willing to pass a contract at this hour of the night.
- Good, let's go, them, Max closed the conversation and jumped to the door.
- Wait, you mean like right now? Alesia asked
- Yeah, like right now! There's no time like the present! And if we want to start training tomorrow, better get that bureaucracy out of the way as soon as possible!
- Who ever talked about starting tomorrow? Shadow asked.
- I just did! Max cut his friend. Now stop whining and come with us, coming to, ladies?
- Right behind you! » they answered.

The group made their way through the corridor, Alesia, Cilia and Rose opening the march, followed by Max and Shadow and, closing the march, Sarah Fortune, Morgana, Fiora, Sona, Janna, Sivir, Ahri and Elise. About ten doors away from Max's room, two male summoners entered the hallway and crossed path with them. When she saw them, Rose panicked and hide behind Alesia. At the same time, the two male summoners spot her and throw her a somewhat evil-intended glare. Nether Alesia nor Cilia remarked it, but Alesia still pass her arm around her friend. On the other side, Max and Shadow saw the other summoners looking evilly at their new friend and, worst of all, recognised them. They were two of the summoners who got their asses handed to them by Max and Shadow, not even 6 hours ago. After terrorizing Rose, the two male summoners shift their gaze to Max and Shadow. Their eyes threw daggers at them. Max's right iris covered in a thin layer of crystal while Shadow's hand started to heat up and his eyes narrowed in anger. The two pairs eyed each other for less than a second, but the intensity of their glares made is seemed like an entire minute had passed. Finally, the two summoners derived their eyes and continued their way, not even daring a look at the female champions behind.

Without other interruption, the group made their way to the office. They were greeted by the incredulous, half asleep gaze of the two man sitting behind the counter. At first, they thought they were going to made a contract for each and every champions present, but Max reassured them saying he was the only one making contracts «on this good night» to quote him. And so, Max made a contract with Alesia, one with Cilia and a last one with Rose, each for the price of 2400 IP, for a total of 7200 IP. Not questioning the odd choice of price, especially for a new champion, the two men filled the contracts, assured that everything was in order and in accord of all parties and, finally, one of them put a seal of approval on all three contracts before handing them to the three summoners who quickly put them away in their robe, allowing both Max and Shadow eyes to gaze at their bodies, but not long enough to be describable.

Once they had finished with that matter, they parted way, planning on meeting at the training ground after a good night of sleep. Max and Shadow went back to Max's room, passing by the god forsaken stairs. Shadow fall on the couch and Max enter his bedroom before heading to bed and falling asleep quickly.

After 6 hours of sleep, the Elemental woke up and tried to stand up. The second his arm started to move, he heard an all too familiar ripping sound and the pain resonated through the entire limb. It seems like the side effect of his dance of death were not avoided even if he had been in almost full god mode when he used it, a night being immobile was all it took to rip his damaged muscles. He knew that if he tried to get up, he would only end up on the ground, if he had luck, and in great pain due to having the integrality of his muscles ripped apart, so he stayed put and waited for his body to regenerate itself.

On the other side of the door, Shadow was only half conscious and he didn't had the energy to move a centimeter. The mental effort he deployed in the match of the day before had caught up to him and he wasn't sure he would be able to train right away. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep again, his brain trying to regain its lost strengths. Two hours and a half later, someone knocked at the door, waking Shadow up. The summoner got out of bed and opened the door, not realising he had nothing except his pants on. On the other side stood Alesia, Cilia and Rose. When they saw him, they blush a little, not expecting him to be in such a good shape for a summoner. Shadow's abdominal muscles weren't six packs, be they could still see the side of his muscles. His pectorals were a little more developed, clearly defined and they seemed hard to the female summoners. He had strong arms, not the kind Garen had, but still pretty descent, the muscles clearly visible under his skin.

«Yo, Shadow greeted them in a sleepy voice.
- Good morning, sleepy head! Cilia greeted him in return. I hope you haven't forgot your training today.
- No, I'm just exhausted because of yesterday. And Max isn't up either.
- I see. Yeah, I guess that make sense, seeing how much of an effort you and him deployed to win yesterday. What do you say we go and wake up Max?
- I don't know, he has a habit of sleeping with not much on…
- Bah, let's not bother with that! Alesia enter the conversation. We all know what a man looks like and, besides, you too doesn't seem to have lots of clothes on when you sleep.
- Shit, Shadow just became aware of his lack of shirt and went on the other side of the door to hide himself. Just come in so I can close the door. »

The three summoners enter and Shadow closed the door behind them before putting on his shirt. Alesia and Cilia went toward Max's bedroom door while Rose stayed by Shadow. They opened the door and where greet with a most unexpected view. On the bed was Max, laying on his side, not moving a millimetre, eyes wide open. The two girls stayed at the door and simply stared at him, not knowing if he was awake or asleep. They didn't wait long for an answer as they heard a very faint voice calling, they thought, to them.

«Hey, good to see you, I can't move a muscle.
- What the hell are you doing, you lazy ass!? Cilia exclaimed.
- I can't move a single muscle or they will rip apart. Go fetch Shadow for me.
- Shadow! Alesia called said man. Your partner needs you!
- What's the matter, Max? Shadow asked while entering the door.
- Heal me, can't move…
- Oh! Ok… Hep! Girls! Would you help me help this bastard? I'm more provident with ignite that heal.
- Sure! I'm more of a healer type myself! Cilia answered the call.
- Looks like we don't really have the choice if we want to start one day, Alesia reluctantly agreed. Rose! Would you mind lending a hand here? We need your healing!
- I'm coming! »

The four summoners went to Max's side and all of them started to heal him… well nearly all of them. Alesia tried to help, but she had so low providence in healing magic that it had little to none effect on Max's damaged muscles. Now Shadow knew why Alesia was reluctant to use her healing magic. Cilia had a mocking smile on her face, looking at her friend from the corner of her eyes, her healing spell being the most efficient of them all. Quickly, Max felt the pain dissolve and his muscle tissues reformed the link between themselves. It was a quick way of counter acting the side effects of his technique, but he suspect it didn't allowed for the creation new muscle fiber and formation of new link between the tissues, resulting in the gain of muscular mass and development of the strength, like normal human healing would.

«It feel so much better now! Max exclaimed. I can finely move! »

While saying that, the Elemental jumped out of his bed, blowing away the cover. He land at the foot of his bed, which made an unpleased sound from the great force applied on its middle section, and saw that he was only in his underwear (Play the Whaaaa! From Fairy Tail). Recovering from the blast, the summoners looked in his direction. Before them was Max's exposed backside, his chiseled back and defined leg complemented by his well-toned shoulders and arms thick as steel pipes. Shadow's expression became that of jalousie with a slight point of admiration while Alesia and Cilia where in ah looking at him (play the Wow! From Fairy Tail). Rose hide her eyes with her hand, but she was looking through the spaces between her fingers in a really cute way. Max quickly grab the nearest pair of pants and put them on just as quickly before doing the same with a shirt. Not bothering to put on socks since he was at his own place, he turned toward the others and took in their expressions. Shadow's expression was priceless in his opinion, but he best to him was Alesia and Cilia who had the kind of expression that boost the ego of a man. Behind himself, he saw Rose and his heart nearly melted. She was so cute, he could have eaten her!

«Good morning everyone! Slept well? Max greeted his friends.
- You're just a show off! Shadow respond in the most unexpected way.
- *Whistle* Wow! Now I see why they were after you, was all Alesia said.
- You're just as handsome as Jayce! Cilia compliment him instead of greeted him.
- I didn't look! Rose yield at him when he turned is gaze to her, even if the opposite was obvious. I didn't look! I swear!
- Rose, would you be ashamed of thinking he is handsome? Cilia teased the poor girl.
- I am not ashamed! I didn't look!
- Ah, come on, Shadow followed the joke, we all saw you peeking at him through your fingers.
- It's not true! I mean… maybe just a little!
- There, it wasn't that hard.
- Well, I slept horribly! Max tried to avoid the subject. Let's go training now…
- Ah! Come on, Max! Shadow tried to make the conversation go on a side he preferred. I haven't eaten anything yet! And you want me to go train? Do you know how much energy it takes to summon a champion?
- I'll be frank with you, I don't know how…
- A lot! Just a lot! I need to eat!
- The institute has a cafeteria, I believe, we could simply go there. I don't feel like cooking today, in case you were trying to make me cook you something.
- Shit, you saw through my plan! »

While the two friends were talking, Alesia and Cilia were still teasing Rose about guys. Shadow invited them to go eat with them, an invitation they accepted right away. The five of them left the room and walk toward the cafeteria. When they reached the stairs (ouhhhhhh! The stairs!) Max descended with aversion, saying it would have been faster to simply jump down the window. Once arrived at the first floor, the group exited the summoner's dormitories and crossed to the main building and to the cafeteria.

Max, as usual, ran from stand to stand, taking plates upon plates of foods from every single parts of Valoran, but his favorite was Ionia food, so he took a bit more. When he rejoined his friends, the three female summoners looked at him incredulously while Shadow didn't seemed to make a deal of it because he was used to his friend's habits. The Elemental sat down and started eating. Despite the greatly superior quantity of food he had, he finished only a few seconds after the others, but he still enjoyed every bits of his meal. Once again, he received incredulous look from Alesia, Cilia and Rose.

Not wanting to waste any more time, they all made their way to the training ground where they were greeted by Sarah Fortune, Sivir, Sona, Ahri, Morgana, Elise, Fiora and Janna. All of them were, training: Sarah and Sivir were doing moving target practice, Sona was practicing a new song that filled Max with fighting spirit, Ahri and Morgana were having a duel, Janna was trying a new spell she read about in a book and Fiora was slashing at a wooden mannequin. When she spotted then, she went in the direction of the group.

«You sure took your time.
- Sorry, Alesia apologised. Max and Shadow were a pain to drag out of bed.
- And after that, they wanted to eat, added Cilia. They others are not there?
- Nop. Jayce wouldn't tell any coherent words and seemed to still be puking. Jax was still asleep and I didn't wanted to wake him up because he was clinging to his lamppost. Twisted Fate respond to my suggestion with a card that passed half way through his door. Olaf was already somewhere. Ezreal swore he would murder anyone who would try to get him out of his bed. Finally, Gragas was way too lazy to get his fat ass through the door.
- Oh, was Max's only reaction.
-These two were not that violent, Alesia explained. If there's anything, we got to see both of them without shirt, she winked at the last part.
- Not bad, hein?
- Not bad, indeed.
- Hey, Max! Fiora called for him.
- What's up?
- Would you care for a duel?
- I'd be honored!
- We get to see Fiora and Max duel? Rose was exited. This is going to be so awesome!
- Hey! Hey! Go get popcorn! Cilia suggest. And take a seat while you're at it. It's gonna take some time. We can train Shadow after that. »

The two duelist took place in the middle of a platform. The platform recreated the magic of the fields of justice, allowing dead fighters to be brought back to life, even without the help of a summoner. Both took swords, Fiora unsheathing hers while Max materialized one of his katana, and adopted their battle poses. Fiora held her sword in front of her face and her weight more on her front leg, which was her right leg to match her sword hand. She had her left hand behind her back, holding the parring blade that was passed in her belt. Max, on the other hand, had a different pose, his center of mass was lower, his left hand was held in front of his slightly bended chest with his left foot being the front one supporting most of his weight and his sword was about 10˚ under the horizon and the tip pointed toward his right.

«Now then, Fiora spoke again, are you ready?
- Ready when you are.
- Wait! We aren't ready yet, they heard a voice on the side of the ring, Cilia. Just give us a second.
- It's not every day you get to see Fiora Laurent duel in live, Alesia completed.
- Do your best Max! Shadow encouraged his friend. You can do this!
- You bet I can, I've already done it, he winked at Fiora. And I intend to do it again.
- You are quite cocky all of a sudden.
- All right, Alesia called the two opponent. Ready?
- Yes.
- Yup!
- Fight!
- Here I come! » Max yield as he rush to Fiora.

The tip of his sword trailed on the ground, behind its wielder before the Elemental came a meter away from the grand duelist. He delivered a strong diagonal blow from bottom right to upper left. Fiora parried the blade with ease, having seen the attack coming a mile away with his stance, but the force behind the swing was so great that her wrist twisted and her guard opened. Luckily for her, Max put too much into his attack and ended up over throwing the swing, unable to stop his sword. Trying to take advantage of his move instead of working against it, he followed the movement of the blade, turning on himself. When the sword neared the top of its course, Max controlled the trajectory and curved it toward the upmost position it could reach, over his right shoulder. Once it reach its zenith, Max grabbed the handle with his left hand and swung the blade on Fiora with both hand in a powerful two handed diagonal down crushing blow. Fiora had the time to regain her posture and simply deviated the attack, realising it was useless to try to block suck strong blows.

Profiting of her opponent's momentary pause, Fiora riposte quickly with a succession of short slash and poke concentrated on the thorax, where the major organs were. However, Max managed to escape most of the damage by letting go of his sword and using his superior agility to circulate his body around the attacking blade. At the end, the Elemental back flipped to get out of Fiora's range while dodging a large horizontal slash, his feet barely passing over the blade. He rolled backward several time when he landed to make more distance between his now exposed body and Fiora's threatening rapier. Fiora was at an advantage, Max no longer had a sword to protect himself, but she most surely still had hers to attack him. Even more in her favor, she was now standing between him and his weapon. Now it was her time to be cocky.

«You intended to beat me again, is that so? I would like to see you come back from this situation. You are unarmed and your opponent stand between you and your sword. You should surrender and preserve your honor.
- Yeah, yeah, like I would be one to back down when the odds are against me.
- The odds are not simply against you, the odds make it impossible for you to win.
- I won 1v5 just yesterday! I won't lose to only one person today! »

While speaking his last sentence, Max crossed his arms in front of his face, hands curled into fists, bend his torso slightly and bend his knee about 150°. When he let the last part out, yielding it out, he uncrossed his arms, his fist now on each side of his hips, but pointing on the side and a little bit upward. His torso uncurled, stiff and straight. On the side of his forearms, blue energy, seemingly emanating from the ambient air, accumulate and formed really dense crystals. The whole rear of his forearms covered in his signature material and it reached out about thirty centimeter behind the elbows. The whole process took no longer then five seconds, but during these five second, Max screamed his lungs out and the phenomenon was accompanied by intense winds coming from the Elemental.

After his transformation, Max dashed straight forward, destroying a part of the ground and leaving dust in his wake not bothering to protect himself, because he was too fast to be attackable anyway. His right fist neared Fiora's plexus, but she managed to dodge the blow, the wind near the fist scratching her breastplate. Stopping just behind her, he turned around and delivered yet another blow, this time, in her lower abdomen. The curled hand connected with the flesh and Fiora was projected several feet away. She had suffered damage, put not enough to prevent her from fighting. She stood up, only to find Max already on her, readying a third punch. She rolled the side and saw the ground under her being destroyed by the raging fist. Finally able to stand up, she mercilessly attacked Max, she had to finish the battle in the next minute or she would be overpowered by his new found speed. She delivered attack after attack after attack, but nothing passed his defense. He wasn't paring the blade with his protect arms, no, he was stopping her hand with his palms and deriving their trajectory to keep the rapier away from his body.

Max was seeing each and every one of Fiora's movement with his enhance sight. The time seemed to slow down a little bit for him, allowing him to block the incoming attack. He was waiting, waiting for his opponent to make a certain move, a mistake in her attacks. He was deliberately controlling the blade in certain directions, at certain speeds to, slowly but surely, provoke that one awaited mistake. His hand to hand trade with Fiora last precisely thirty seven seconds and four sixth, just like he was planning to. Fiora, having her hand pushed back, thrusted her rapier forward, aiming at Max's right eye. He effortlessly dodged the blade witch flied between his head and his shoulder. Fiora's wrist was grabbed by Max's left hand as he pulled her toward his body, taking advantage of her weight transfer from back to front and destabilising her in the process. He pivoted, left shoulder moving forward. Passing Fiora's arm over that shoulder and tackled her against his back. With a violent bending of his chest and rapid pull on her arm, Max's swung Fiora over his shoulder and flatted her on the ground. She heard several of her ribs broke and blood filled her mouth. Max lift his right fist and readied his last punch. The crystals on his forearm started to glow. His arm launched like a rocket, faster than any of the previous one, and by far stronger. A thousandth of a second before the impact, the crystals exploded, propelling the fist down on its victim. Fiora didn't had the time to register the pain before her heart, lungs, stomach, rib cage, and everything around was literally flattened on the ground. The shockwave resulting from the impact between the ground and the fist resonated all the way to the other side of the training site, destabilising the marksman and mages there. The impact itself was comparable to that of a smile meteorite, creating a crater several times the fist in diameter and twenty centimeter in dept. Dust lift in the air, mixing in blood ejected by the quickly building pressure in the veins and arteries, covering the scène and choking the spectators.

A minute or so after, the dust cleared and all could see the scene of violence. Blood was everywhere in the crater, all of it coming from the broken body of the grand duelist. Max right arm was covered in it from fingers to the middle of the humerus. He was looking blankly at his creation, like it was a vision coming from another world. The Elemental then looked at his blood socked arm and didn't seemed like he acknowledged it to be his own limb. All around him, vision from a different dimension, blood everywhere, destruction everywhere, bodies everywhere. And then, in the corner of his vision, a movement, a hand moving he thought. He turned to face the vision and he saw them. Several peoples were waving their hands in his direction, but they couldn't be direct at him, they must had been looking at someone behind him. Turning around again to see behind him. There were other people moving, going around, doing stuff, following their occupations. Everything around him was so lively, so full of color and so full of life while his world was silent, monochromic and dead. A grey flash emanated from under him, catching his attention, but by the time his eyes moved in that direction, there was nothing there but dirt. Someone put his or her hand on his shoulder and he faintly heard a voice reaching his ear from really far away. Turning toward the invasive hand, he barely had the time to distinguish another hand coming toward his face fast and said hand landed on his left cheek, brutally. He made a 180° rotation on himself before falling to the ground.

«That should bring you back to reality, a feminine yet strong voice now clearly reached his ears.
- Come on Sivir, another voice reached his ears. You didn't had to hit him THAT hard! What if you messed up his face?
- Ah! Shut up, Sarah, you know it's gonna take more than that to leave a mark on him. Plus, he made me miss my 157 consecutive bull's eye!
- Uh! Mad you lost to me again! »

Max slowly turned his head to the side to see whose voice he was hearing. Over him, he could see two women. One of them had black tight leather pants, a white blouse under a black corset and fiery red hairs under a black pirate hat. The other one was clad in something along the lines of a leather armor with gold embroideries and ornate with sapphires. In her right hand, she was holding a strange weapon that looked like a cross, probably meant to be thrown. He stood back up the moment Fiora returned from the dead.

«Dying here is such a pain. Every time you have to walk from the institute because the platform here is busted!
- I know, Ahri was fallowing her. It's been three month now and no one tried to solved the problem or even cheek it out.
- The head summoner's are so useless, they keep claiming how great the institute is, but they spend their time in their offices doing political stuff, never taking care of the institute itself.
- Seriously? You mean no one has took a look at the platform here since it busted down? Cilia asked.
- Nop! No one.
- You know, Shadow talked from the sideline, I could always take a look at it. I can't guaranty anything, but I did study how these work.
- Really? all champions asked, hope in their eyes.
- Yeah, sure! I'll go take a look at it right now!
- Are you sure you're not trying to delayed your training? Alesia suspected Shadow's good intentions.
- No? Why would I do that? If I want to be gold someday, I need to train, so might as well start today. Plus, I have you as coaches, he smiled at them at the last part.
- All right, big shot! You go fix that altar. During that time, we will come up with a training for you!
- Be right back! »

Shadow went to the nearby fountain, waving to his friends. Max was still a bit away, but Fiora came to talk to him, bringing his full attention back to reality.

«Question.
- Yeah?
- What was that you pulled on me back there?
- Ok, that's a bit complicated to explain, are you sure you want me to explain it?
- Nothing is ever easy to explain with you anyway.
- I'd really like to learn to! Ahri exclaimed. It felt really familiar to me, I don't know why.
- If you're going to explain it anyway, I think I will listen too, Sivir showed her interest too.
- Come on, kid, impress us again with that body of yours, Sarah said it in a too sensual way.
- Since you are my newest champion, I want to know as much as possible about you, Alesia stayed true to her curious personality.
- Same here! Cilia stepped near her friend.
- Me too, Rose did the same.
- I'd like to know too, we could be match make together or even against, Sona's melodic voice jingled in their head with a giggle at the end.
- You are an interesting person, Max, Elise joint too.
- That, he sure is, Morgana was following the spider queen.
- That last blow, it felt kindda like a wind based attack, but not entirely, I want to know what is was, Janna was the last to joint.
- Ok, if you're all going to listen, then you might as well take a seat, I'm going full detailed version. The source of my power is something known as Elemental energy. It's flowing from a giant piece of crystal that fall on my planet and pierced all the way to the core from where it's emanating Elemental energy by degrading itself. Elementals, peoples like me, utilized that energy and use our brains to transform it in other forms of energy. These forms of energy are thermal energy, inorganic energy, organic energy, electromagnetic energy and electric energy. There is also those that we call the abnormal, because their power didn't match any known energy pattern. For the most part, we class them in thirteen elements. Fire Elementals release thermal energy to ignite everything they see, even the air. Opposite to them, ice Elementals steal thermal energy from their environment and later release it in the form of Elemental energy. Metal, earth, water and wind Elementals use inorganic energy to create inorganic materials, even if water is somewhere between that energy and organic energy, used by plants Elementals and metamorphic Elemental. Only light Elementals are categorized as electromagnetic energy user and electric Elementals are also the only ones to use electric energy. Finally, the abnormals are spirit and shadow Elementals and me, the only crystal Elemental. Everyone following so far? »

Everyone nod, not sure what was the link with their questions.

«Now then, the real explanation. Even if Elemental energy is really powerful by itself, there is a way to make it even more powerful, by mixing it with another form of energy that we call nature energy. It comes from all plants and vegetation of a planet and is derived from the planet itself. That energy links all living beings of a world together, but no one ever figured out why. The important point is that it is possible to harvest nature energy and combine it with Elemental energy to perform more powerful abilities. Plus, nature energy is naturally present in human body and if someone add more nature energy in his or her organism, he or she will become faster, stronger, more agile, more resistant and resilient, have quicker reflexes, see clearer, ear better, and, overall, be better. To gather nature energy is quite tricky. The first ones to discover that it was possible to add to our nature energy had tried for decades and many of them lost their life because taking in too much nature energy in an unprepared body can result in said body to explode due to the great instability of the excessive nature energy trying to make its way out of the system. Finally, after decades of trials and errors, someone found the answer, the missing requirement, staying perfectly still and simply let the nature energy flow inside our bodies by itself. The down side is that it's a very slow process and it's quite hard to gather nature energy while in the middle of a fight. To parry that inconvenience, some peoples would stay still for days, accumulating nature energy in their bodies and waiting for a battle. They are known as the hermits because they stay locked up in their sanctuaries away from the rest of the population. Among those hermits, there are those that surpasses them all, possessing such a high compatibility rate with nature that they are able to take in nature energy even if they are moving. Not moving like jumping, sprinting or fighting, but more like having a conversation, walking at a slow pace, writing, etc. They are known as the Sages and there is twelve of them, one for all elements except crystal, because I am still a Champions, an apprentice of the Sages and those who will carry on when the current ones will retire. However, my body's compatibility rate with nature is so close to perfection that I can gather nature energy almost at almost any time and extremely quickly, all I have to do is remove the barrier preventing it from entering my being and stock it in my crystals. If I didn't stopped it, I would quickly lose control and explode. So, long story short, what I did against you Fiora was accumulate nature energy to overthrow you with speed and brute force.
- I see, there really was nothing I could have done to win against you, isn't that right?
- No, if you had cut me down when I was powering up, you would have won the duel. Even if my body is extraordinary, I still need to stay somewhat still and my movements are slowed down a lot.
- How much energy do you accumulate when powering up, at what cadence, compared to the others?
- A hermit will need about a week to gather enough nature energy to last ten minutes in a fight. A Champion would need about three days to accumulate the same amount, but he would waste a lot less, meaning he could easily last about thirty minutes. A Sage would take in as much energy in less than thirty five hours and last an entire hour with it. I, who as an extremely explosive body, will accumulate the same amount of energy in around five seconds, but I would waste it all in merely a minute, but with way more power. With my last punch, I dumbed 29.86 sec worth of nature energy in a time laps less than one thousand of a second, it is even faster than what my eyes can see. That mean my fist was 29860 time more powerful that the rest of my punch before. Not only was it fast, it had also an extreme amount of force behind, allowing me to break through a human thorax like butter and still have enough energy to create a crater around me. Ok, I thing that about wrap things up.
- You still have so much secret behind your power, how many tricks do you still have up your sleeves? Sarah asked the Elemental.
- If I was to tell you, you would know when I'll run out, he winked to her.
- You really are amazing, do you know that? Ahri complimented him.
- Thank you, Max's cheeks tainted almost imperceptibly but Ahri still noticed it. You ladies are also really amazing, ten thousand time more than me. »

All of them turned different degrees of red, Rose and Sona were the ones whose faces turned the redder. They didn't know why he tough they were ten thousand time better than him, but none of them were the kind who turned down a compliment.

«Hey, Max, Ahri brought his attention to her.
- What is it?
- Could you teach us how to become strong like you? Ahri's eyes were so sparkly they remembered him of the Milky Way and so were the others female champions' eyes.
- Sure! I'll see what I can do, Max answered with a wide smile on his face.
- Yeah! all of them cheered.
- When do we start! Ahri was jumping all around him, livelier than ever.
- Hey! Hey! Hold down your horses. Let me settle in my home that I still haven't started now that I think about it. The minute my home is habitable, we start training. I should probably tell the other that they can joint too if they want.
- Ah! Come on! Janna made a bold move. Don't you want to teach only to us, be surrounded by beautiful women?
- Don't tempt me like that! It's kind of weird. Not in a bad way, it's just that I'm still not accustomed to that kind of attention. Not that I dislike it, saying the last sentence more to himself.
- So it's a yes!? Only to us? Sona's melodious voice reached his mind.
- Yeah, sure, why not? If they want a lesson, they can always come and ask me but for the moment I'll teach only to you. It's true that you all hold kind of a special place in my heart. You too Elise, even if those spiders of yours creep the hell out of me.
- That's so nice! Elise respond. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult.
- Trust me, it's a compliment!
- Can we come too? Cilia was as lively as the other girls.
- Sure thing you come! Sivir was encouraging her friends. Isn't that right Max?
- Of course they're coming too, whether they want it or not! You'll be able to train Shadow too. You're coming I hope, buddy? Max turned his head toward his arriving friend.
- I don't know, let me thing for a minute, he made it seems like he was in a deep interior conflict and that respond quickly. Hell yeah I'm coming! There's no way in hell I'm not coming!
- Then it's settle! We start when I finish! But for the time being, let's train here, Shadow still hasn't trained today, he made a devilish smile in the direction of said summoner.
- Max, you traitor… »

And so, Alesia, Cilia and Rose started teaching Shadow while Max was sparing against each of his soon to be students. He wanted to see what they were really made of. During their training, other champions and summoners came to the training grounds and mixed with Max and his friends. Most champions seemed to really get along when they were out of matches. Max even caught a glimpse of Darius and his brother training on the other side of the training grounds while he was sparring with Lee Sin. The tall Noxian general had noticed him too, but he didn't seemed to mind the young man's presence.

A couple minutes later, Draven came toward Max as he was fighting Leona. When the Elemental noticed the Executioner approached the sparring ground he was using, he called for a pause with his hand and place himself between the Solari and the Noxian.

«Good morning, Executioner, what can I do for you.
- Hello kid. I wanted to apologize for yesterday, it wasn't very cool of Draven to do what he did. I lost my style. I guess Draven was jealous that you stole the light from him. I have to say you're pretty strong to take on a full team by yourself like you did, you've got the style.
- Thanks, I apologize too. I wasn't in the best of moods yesterday. Still, you and the other weren't what I would qualified as manly either.
- You're right, kid. Draven and the others, we were way off limits and Draven decided that he wanted to change a bit. I heard Darius mumble something about wanting to be a better example too, he was saying something along the lines of showing the younger generation of Noxians what was the Noxian pride.
- Clad to hear it, I guess I can have respect for you again. I have to say you're not half bad yourself, I've heard of you carrying teams once in a while. I look forward to having you on my team one day, Max extended his fist toward Draven.
- Same here, Draven connect his fist with Max's. What would you say about a little competition of force between you, Draven and some of the other strong guys for the enjoyment of everyone here?
- Sound like fun! I'm in! Max agreed and so did the crowd.
- I like your spirit, kid. Come with me, the athletic and muscular parts of the training ground are that way.
- Right behind you. Oh, wait! I haven't finish my duel with Leona!
- Nah, you lost! Leona's triumphing voice sound from behind in as he felt the tip of her sword poking his back.
- All right, you win… »

And so Leona was the first to defeat Max in a one on one.

The event quickly made the tour of the institute as more and more peoples were arriving to the training grounds to see the competition. The participants were Garen, Darius, Draven, Max, Jayce, Braum, Graves, Ziggs, Kennen and Rumble for the men and Akali, Irelia, Katarina, Sivir, Ashe, Sejuani Nidalee, Fiora, Poppy and Tristana for the women. Draven took a microphone out of freaking nowhere because he was Draven and greeted the crowd.

«Welcome to you all to this little event organised by the one and only Draven himself! Today, we have some of the most courageous champions battling against each other in numerous display of strength, speed, agility and athletic disciplines! Please give a round of applause to our participants! »

The crowd cheered the contestants and some whistled to encouraged their favorites and others shouted their names. The champions lined up in front of the bleachers waved their hands to salute the crowd.

«And now, let me introduce our judges for today's competitions. Starting from de left, we have Nasus, Shen, Kayle, Azir and Karma. »

All five judges stud and salute the crowd before sitting down.

«And finally, let the little event officially begin, starting with an ultimate strength challenge. All contestants please step fort. »

Among the tweeny participants, ten stepped fort, seven male and three female. On the female side where Irelia, Sivir and Sejuani. On the male side were Garen, Darius, Draven, Max, Jayce, Braum and Graves, the Yordles clearly not fitted for that kind of competition and preferred to preserved their strengths for disciplines more fit for them, mostly speed disciplines.

«The rules are simple, Nasus explained in his usual calm voice full of wisdom. You select the weight you lift and try to lift it. You can lift the weight standing up, in a sitting position or while laying down on your back. You are attributed points depending on the weight you lift, the ratio between the mass you lift and your own body mass and finally the height you were able to achieve compared to the starting height of the weight. That will be all, he sat on his chair.
- I will call you in order, said Shen. You will than get to the dumbbell bar, add weight to it and lift. We will announced the final score at the end. First male participant, Darius. »

The Noxian general went to the dumbbell bar and started to add plates. He had chosen bench press and so laid down under the bar. The Noxian started to lift the bar almost three times his own weight. Veins were bulging on his arms and his muscles contracted under his tense skin. The bar slowly rose up and he finally reached the limit of his arm reach before putting the bar back in place.

«Next is Grave. »

The Outlaw's choice was sitting position and he had less weight than Darius, but he had longer arm reach because if his position. He finished his lifting and returned to the line.

«Next is Sivir. »

The first female had chosen classic bench press and quickly charged the bar, like she already knew what her max lifting force was and proceed with her lifting. She returned to her place, a smile on her face.

«Next is Draven. »

The glorious Executioner add plates to the ones Sivir had already places and he prepared to lift. Even if he hadn't put as much weight as his brother, he still made honor to the Noxian reputation of strength. After lifting, he showed off a little and the crowd cheered him loudly.

«Next is Max. »

The Elemental walked toward the unused dumbbell bar laying on the ground and started putting plates on it, but, as if remembering something, he walk away from it. Max reached Ahri who was cheering hard for him directly on the side of the lifting area. He took off his necklace and, while looking directly in her eyes, handed it to her.

«I entrust you with my life. If you lose my necklace, you'll regret it for the rest of your existence, be it in this world or the other, she had never saw him so serious about something and it scared her a little.
- I will take really good care of it until you are finished. Thank you for you trust. »

With that matter taken care of, he returned to his lifting. Until now, he was the male who had put the less plates on his bar, but he was also the only one to have attempted the deadlifting from the ground to the top of his head, so he had extra points for the additional height. Now that he stripped himself of his powers and immense strength, it was his only chance to compete with the others. He took a deep breath and bended forward, reaching the bar. The Elemental crouched a little and, with a rapid motion, lifted the bar all the way to his chest. He then unbend his knees and, finally, pushed upward with his arms. He held there five seconds before letting the bar fell in front of his feet.

«Next is Irelia. »

The Ionian chose to lift in a sitting position and lift the same weight as Sivir. She returned to the line in the same seriousness as she always displayed.

«Next is Garen. »

The Vanguard, same as Darius and Draven, lift the old bench press way. Not letting his rival going ahead, he put as many plate as the general and lift with the same difficulty. When returning to the line, Garen and Darius exchanged a fist bump, showing that one's affiliation is nothing compared to sports (that comes from the Olympic Games' opening of Vancouver 2010 if I remember correctly).

«Next is Jayce. »

The Defender of Tomorrow too chose bench press, but didn't put as much plates as the other three man, but still more than Graves. He returned to the line and launched a mocking smile at the Outlaw and clapped hands with Max.

«Next is Sejuani. »

The woman of the north went like Max and decided to lift from the ground. She put as many plates as him and lift the dumbbell with a victorious cry, soon followed by the war cries of other Frejlordians. She returned to the line, pride emanating from her.

«Final contestant is Braum. »

The tall man too went to the free dumbbell and, to the surprise of everyone, put as many plates as Darius and Garen. He flashed a wide toothy smile in their directions before lifting it with no apparent difficulties. He turned around and started repetitively lifting the bar from his shoulders to the maximum he could reach. Darius, Garen and Draven were pale and their mouths almost fell to the ground because of the shock (anime style face of shock with the four black line on the forehead). Braum then dropped the dumbbell and laugh with his fists on his hips.

«Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! The heart is the strongest muscle! »

The tall man then moved back in the line and gave a friendly tap on the back to Jayce and Max. With that, that contest was over and the judges announced the results.

«In the female category, Kayle announced, third place is Sivir. Second place is Irelia and first place is Sejuani. In the male category, seventh place goes to Graves, sixth place goes to Jayce, Draven takes fifth place, forth is Max, equality for second place, Darius and Garen and first place goes to Braum. »

After the ultimate strength contest, it was a contest of speed, 100 meter sprint. This time, more female and less men participated. Those who participated were Akali, Irelia, Katarina, Sivir, Ashe, Nidalee, Fiora, Poppy, Tristana (finally all except Sejuani), Max, Jayce, Ziggs, Kennen and Rumble. All of them stepped on the starting blocks and had their hands on the white line. From left to right facing toward the finish line were Nidalee, Jayce, Sivir, Irelia, Max, Fiora, Ashe, Ziggs, Katarina, Akali, Kennen, Poppy, Tristana and Rumble. While Karma was readying Zap (Jinx's electric gun), Rumble turned his head toward Tristana.

«Look at me Tristana, I'm gonna impress you for sure in that race and prove you that I am better than Teemo!
- You can always dream! Tristana respond. Start by beating me in a race, I've never been able to out run Teemo! »

Just as she finished her sentence, a gunshot was heard, signaling the start of the race. All of them dashed forward, the leader being Max with his incredible speed. Tailing him was Akali and right behind Nidalee. The three leaders were shoulders to shoulders for the first seconds, but Max leaned forward more, almost parallel to the ground. His legs were repetitively bending and unbinding, propelling the Elemental almost one meter every step with easily twelve cycles per second. He let out a mighty roar as he approached the finish line, leaving the other contestants at least one second and a half behind.

«Are you even human? Nidalee asked him between breaths when she arrived second.
- Hum, about 60% of my body is, yes.
- You are really fast, Akali add just after. You would be fit to be part of the Kinkou order.
- Thank, but I've had enough battlefield time for one life.
- Max you really are fast! Is that how you built that giant skyscraper in Piltover? Jayce asked his friend.
- Nah, speed alone isn't enough for something like that, it's thank to my other powers that I was able to do it.
- You run pretty quickly, but I don't think you will beat us in the next competition, Fiora entered the conversation. It's uneven bars.
- You're right! And you know what? I'm even gonna pass that one!
- Ah! You're not cool! I'm sure you can at least do something.
- Nooooo! I lost! Rumble cried out his defeat. I'll never be able to beat Teemo!
- Maybe you would have won if you weren't speaking when the race started, Tristana was beside him.
- One day Teemo! One day, just you wait!
- In your dreams, I'm unbeatable, said Yordle shouted from the side.
- Curse you, mushroom addict!
- Well that one was arch, Sivir spoke from behind Jayce.
- All participants please proceed to the gymnastic area, the first discipline will be uneven bars.
- Count me out of this, almost every males said that.
- You guys are no fun! »

The women each demonstrated on the bars with Akali coming out on top and Ziggs won by default being the only male to participate. After came trampoline. That time, Max participated along Ziggs, Rumble and Kennen and finished second behind Kennen. After trampoline, they were doing floor gymnastic. That time, Max emerged on top of his opponents, but not by far. The last discipline was a triathlon. Each and every one of the tweeny participants were doing it, because it was their last chance to prove themselves. Unfortunately for them, with his half crystalline body, Max had far more endurance then the others and thus had a huge advantage.

They lined up on the cost of a nearby lake and waited for the signal to start. Upon hearing the gunshot, all dashed forward in the cold water. The leaders were Max, Jayce, Nidalee, Fiora and Katarina, but the remaining fifteen weren't far behind. They went around a small island ten meter from the other cost and went back to their starting point. Max was the first to get out of the water and he swiftly jumped on his bike. He flied like a rocket, rapidly kicking his gears up to stay in the effective range of 95 RPM. The bike part was mostly in the forest on roads used to travel from nearby villages and cities to the institute and for champions to have access to their house. However, they were told to be weary of bandits in the forest. Max knew them well, too well if you wanted his toughs about it. When he looked back, he saw Fiora and Jayce chasing him. They weren't able to catch up, but they weren't letting more distance building between them and simply relayed the front, waiting for the moment Max would lose it. Somewhere between the start and midway point, Akali and surprisingly Draven had caught up with them and they were now four to chase the Elemental. After an hour of pedaling in the forest, they emerged on the other side of the Institute of War, behind the summoners' dormitory. There, summoners and champions took their bikes and they started running the last 10 kilometers. The last part of the triathlon was around the institute of war, about half of the circumference of the institutes ground with the finishing line in the middle of the training area. Still up front, Max gave what he got left and ran like there was no tomorrow, literally, he was almost sure he would vomit the moment he passed the line and the next day would be quite hard to pass through. He put a hand on his heart and count for what seemed like six second. During that time, he felt nineteen pulsation of his heart, meaning around 190 BPM, well above his 85% of maximum pulsations per minute. His mind was focused on one single thing, the approaching finishing line. He was getting so close he could almost hear the crowd's shouts. He passed the front gate, meaning he only had less than three kilometers to run. In front of him was a two kilometers long, straight road leading to the fountain in the middle of the three main buildings. The moment he passed the gate, he passed in sprint mode and to hell with his breakfast. The fountain was getting rapidly closer, and he soon made a sharp turn to the left, dashing full speed in the direction of the finishing line. His breath couldn't keep up with his muscles and his vision started to become blurred. He lost his focus and almost tripped but he caught himself just in time and pushed forward with every last drop of energy his body contained.

Around the finishing line, all the spectators could see a figure making its way from the gate and coming their way. All of them started to shout to encourage the person closing in on a victory. They saw him turning at the fountain, engaging on the last straight line and finally recognised him as Max, the Elemental.

«It's Max! Ahri shouted first. He's arriving! He's first! Go, Max! You can do it!
- Go Max! You're the best! all his friends shouted.
- Come on, bro! » Olaf send a manly shout of encouragement.

They saw him nearly fall and gasp but he regained his balance. He let out a roar, the kind you let out when you are on you last reserves and need one more push to finish. He crossed the finishing line and tried to stop. He ended up colliding with a fence, the shock knocking out what little air he still had in his lungs. Not having time to regain his breath, Max felt something climbing up his throat and vomit flowed out of his mouth. The unpleasant experience lasted two minutes before he could breathe again, but the taste remained. Lifting his head and wiping his mouth he saw his friends coming toward him.

«You did it Max! Ahri felicitated him. You're the best!
- Pretty impressive, Max, Ezreal gave Max his fist.
- Thanks, Ez, Max fist bump with Ezreal.
- You just keep in impressing us, you know? Elise noted and all agreed with nods.
- We should celebrate that! Jax proposed.
- Nah, I can't drink right now. My body is to beat up for that.
- What a shame! Will you be alright tomorrow?
- Probably, but I have a skyscraper to finish. How about you coming to my "place" and have some good time around a campfire? Max proposed with a quoting motion when he said place.
- That would be great! Alesia expressed her agreement.
- It's gonna be great! Jana said. Plus we will have the lake!
- What are you planning now? Fiora who just arrived joint the conversation, she was still breathless.
- A night around a campfire tomorrow at Max's "place", Ezreal explained with the same quotation motion.
- That sound great, I'm coming for sure, Jayce just made it too.
- So it's decided, tomorrow, 5 o'clock at my "place". »

Max sat on the fence he just vomit over and saw all the other contestants arriving one after the other. After him, Fiora and Jayce came Nidalee and Akali almost ex aequo but it seemed Nidalee took it by a centimeter according to Heimerdinger's photo finish, Katarina, Sivir, Ashe, Kennen, Ziggs, Poppy, Irelia, Tristana, Rumble, Graves, Draven and Sejuani in that order with about thirty to forty five second between them. After the Winter's Claws' chief woman, none of the remaining three runners were seen passing the gate. Having a lot more mass to move around was sure to slow them down more than the other participants, but still, it has been at least three minutes since Sejuani crossed the line. Everyone was wondering when Garen, Darius and Braum would reach the gate and some even left the area, having other things to do or being bored of waiting.

After ten minutes of waiting, someone yield:

«I see them! I see them! »

Immediately, they all shouted to encourage the three running men. Braum seemed in relatively acceptable shape, but Garen and Darius were evidently at their limits. Both of them were barely running, their torso limp and moving around at every laborious step they took. Slowly making their way to the finish line, the three men competed for the best position among them. Braum was faster by a little, but not enough to guaranty victory. With the end getting closer and closer, they conjured all their remaining strength and approached a speed that would almost be good enough to be called running. The battle for eighteenth place was getting ferocious, even more than the battle for fourth place. In the end, Garen, Braum and Darius passed the line exactly at the same time. No matter how the judges looked at the scene, from whatever angle, at whatever speed, the three men crossed the line at the same time, at the same speed so they were all declared eighteenths.

After he recovered and vomit as well, Darius walked toward Max ant started with:

«Our Noxian way teaches us that the strongs command respect and you, Max, are worthy of our respect. From now on, we will not bother you or any of your friends, but know this, our Noxian way also teaches us that you are not to make a woman cry, teaching that I myself forgot. Take good care of them and if I ever hear that one of them cried because of you, we will personally beat you up.
- If it comes to this, I will take your beating without a word, knowing I brought it upon myself. So, peace? Max asked, extending his hand forward.
- Peace » Darius agreed and they shock hands.

Darius went on his way and Max returned to his friends. They decided it was enough training for the day, but Shadow was held there by Alesia and Cilia who told him he was going with them to the library to study. With a face of horror, the young summoner saw his new friends under another light, like executioners. The two girls dragged him to the main building toward the library as he kicked the air and struggled in hope of getting free with Rose following close. The rest of the gang parted their own way. Hunger was tormenting Max since he finished, but he didn't wanted to be disrespectful toward his fellow competitors and stayed. Now that he was free to go eat, he didn't wanted to cook something. Not even taking time to think about it, he followed the same path as the four summoners and enter the main building. The Elemental walked toward the cafeteria for the second time of the day, waving hands to some summoners he didn't knew while most of them part way to make space for him, and chose food for at least five persons. When he tried to find a place to eat, his eyes spotted bright blonde hair he'd recognize anywhere with the dark blue jumpsuit they rested upon. The young man walked toward the table of the Demacian mage.

«Mind if I sit here?
- Ho! Hello, Max, Lux's checks became a little red. Sure, go ahead.
- Thanks! So, what have you been up to during the last week? I haven't saw you since, well the day before my first match!
- Ah, not much really. I had one match, practice a bit of light magic and that's about it. You?
- Well, quite a bit actually! I had two matches, went to a Halloween party, I got kidnapped, killed some bandits, got a job, collected a huge bounty, I dueled Fiora and won, twice and I won a 1v5! But you probably already knew that one.
- Yeah, I kindda knew that, you just fought my brother.
- You're not mad at me, are you?
- No, not at all! That big idiot need to have his ass beaten once in a while. Thank you for bringing him back to his senses by the way.
- Anytime! I always enjoy a little fight from time to time.
- You call that a little fight? You were literally alone against five others! No one could have pulled that one off!
- Hey! I did it, don't I count as one?
- Yeah you do. Ok, just to make you happy, not much could have pulled it off.
- Thank you! Hey, care to come to my house once I finished it? I offer teaching to other champions, would you like to join?
- Yeah! That sounds great, if you can teach me new light magic, I'm all in! Wait? Have you started your house already? You've just begin working a week ago!
- I haven't started the actual house yet, but I have bought the deed and I have several blueprints in my room at the moment. I will finish the tower tomorrow so I should started my house the next day…
- You've finished your job in a week? Wasn't that supposed to take you a whole month!
- I guess it was! But it seems I'm really a one men army. I've been working insane shifts to complete it. Heimerdinger himself came to watch my work and approved it. I can't wait to start my house and finally get out of the dormitories and back to my hobbies!
-What kind of hobbies do you have? I'm curious to know what peoples of your world could possibly do to pass time.
- Well, most of them spend their time like anybody in this world, shopping, chatting, doing sports, etc. For my part, I used to study robotic before, so it kind of became my hobby. I love tinkering in a basement, creating stuff, turning and milling metal and programming a whole bunch of stull. When I was younger, I wanted to rise an army of robots and dominate to world! Never thought I would really dominate to world, but another way. I also like meditating, it calms my mind and help me think and solve problems. Lastly, I'm a gamer, I love video games! Don't know if you have those.
- I've never heard of "video games" before, what are those?
- They're kinds of games displaying instant visual and audio feedback taking place in imaginary or real worlds with tons of stories! If you want, I'll make you try some so you can see what I mean.
- Sounds fun! We'll do it sometime soon! Maybe when you finish your house.
- Sure, I'd love to! Is there more romantic games?
- Yes, there are plenty »

The two of them chat about their week and laugh a lot together. When they, or more when Max, finished eating, they parted ways. Walking calmly in the numerous corridors of the main building of the institute, Max was visiting that part of his new home he had never really ventured to. It was quite peaceful to say the least, the sunlight shining through the open windows, the slightly cold wind blowing past his hears, carrying the gentle songs of the numerous birds in the nearby trees. The Elemental was so calm and lost in his little word that he failed to notice a slight discomfort around his heart.

Time didn't seemed to move as fast as it normally did in his current state of mind and he could no longer tell how many minutes, hours or maybe even days it has been since he began roaming the institute. All he knew was that the sun was considerably lower now and the cold blue sky from before was now ablaze with the flaming ray of the setting sun reflecting upon the clouds. That is when he finally realised it, that deep, abnormally calming pain stock to his chest. Max's hand reached his heart, griping his bones through his clothes, menacing to break his own ribs cage. The Elemental's vision became blurry and his legs lost their strength. He fell to his knees, than face on the floor. His free hand reach far in front of him, trembling like a leaf. His dry lips moved, murmuring a single word, a single name, but so faintly not even an ear right in front of them could hear that last request.


Author's note: Hello again! As you can see, that one was pretty long! Precisely 15k words without both author's note. My thought behind that one, as I said before, part just kept adding to the chapter as I was writhing it. First, I had to make Max stop being a fuck boy and, by the time I finished that part, because of Freezing mostly, 2016 was here. This year is supposed to be the year of peace so I told myself: «Well, this year's first chapter as to have a sense of peace to it» and I didn't what to have Noxus as the bad guys for the rest of the story. My nest tough was: «Okay, what usually bring peace? I got it! Sports! And we have Olympic Games this year! Jackpot! I'm making Olympiads in this chapter! » And in the end, I had a scene I really wanted to put in this story, put it was getting to long and I think that leaves it with a good cliff-hanger. Final note, I encourage all of those who don't have an account to make one and if you have an idea for a story, just go for it! Your story is bounded to have some attention! Plus, it's a great writhing practice as well as imaginary practice. Until next time, the Elemental_Qc, out.