Sorry for the wait in this next chapter, that's unfortunately something that happens with my schedule outside of this website. But I have returned with the next chapter!
"Zeruk..."
As Brendan read the mysterious text aloud, the muscular man's arms began to glow and with a flex of his arms, his limbs suddenly grew a bronze armor that enveloped his arms all the way up to his shoulders, strengthening them and enlarging his muscles by about double the size. The man raised his fists and sharpened his eyes as he eyed the evil man and child down.
"Is that all you can do...?" The boy asked, trying to keep his bravado though the size of the man's armored muscles looked to clearly be intimidating him.
"You're gonna chicken out just because he looks tough? Come on! Petru!"
With another casting of his spell, the boy sent a stone out at the bronze-clad man. But with a single punch, the man obliterated the stone and turned it into a fine dust. Brendan almost didn't feel his jaw go agape as he watched this happen, a man suddenly grew armor that apparently made him strong enough to shatter stone in one punch. The greasy guy looked just as befuddled for a moment before his angry look returned.
"You must not have put enough juice into it! Put your back into this one, Craig! Petru!"
The boy, Craig, tried charging up another rock but found himself unable to conjure one up.
"Urgh..." Craig strained. "I can't, Glenn! I used up too much power!"
"WHAT?! What do you mean you used it up?!" The man, Glenn, shouted back. With an opportunity granted to him, the bronze man rushed to tackle Craig, battering him with his armored shoulder. Craig flew into Glenn, with the two crashing into a tree with enough force for the older man to let go of the strange book and allowing it to fly into the air above everyone's heads.
Both Brendan and his associate watched it with different expressions, Brendan's in awe and confusion while the other man in pure focus as he jumped up to it and punched it right in the spine.
As if Brendan wasn't confused enough, his jaw felt like it would straight up come off as he saw the punch delivered to the book caused it to burst into flames and burn quickly enough for it to break into two pieces.
"No! The book!" Glenn yelled.
"N-no! I can't go back this early!" Craig cried out, tears beginning to form in his eyes as he ran to his now burning book.
Glenn stood up and growled as the sounds of police sirens began to fill the air.
Brendan watched as Craig began to disappear as he watched his book burn. As the last of the pages burned into nothingness, the boy vanished into the air, Glenn's eyes went wide and sweat poured from his already greasy face as he watched the spot where his companion was. The mystery man's arms returned to normal as he appeared to lower his guard just a bit.
As the police sirens grew closer Brendan put the bronze book away, this whole scenario would be insane to try to explain and he figured he would likely get into some trouble if the police saw him with it. As two officers on motorbikes arrived, Glenn's already panicked demeanor increased tenfold as he tried to get away. One officer shouted at him and went to go chase him as the other went to gather evidence of what occurred.
One by one the remaining people who were still there were questioned, including both Brendan and the mysterious man...
"So you say you were attacked by the suspect after trying to apprehend him?" The officer asked.
"I... wouldn't exactly say 'apprehend', he just looked really shady." Brendan answered.
"And that boy he was with? Do you know if he may have been kidnapped? Other witnesses say this boy was cooperating with the suspect."
"Y-yes, they seemed to be... working in tandem, I suppose." Brendan said.
"I see. And where is this boy now?" The cop asked. Brendan couldn't answer, even he had no idea where the kid disappeared to. Was he dead? He was about to give an answer but his mysterious new associate beat him to the punch.
"He disappeared the moment he heard your... alarms. We have no idea where he is now."
"Eyewitnesses say that you fought them off, anything you'd like to say about this?"
"I saw someone being attacked and came in to help. The man appeared to be causing a problem and so I solved the problem. Simple."
The officer rubbed his chin inquisitively and gave the bronze man a suspicious look for a moment before his radio went off.
"We have the suspect in custody, will take him in for questioning back at the precinct."
"Copy that, be there in ten." The officer replied before turning to Brendan and the man. "Alright, well everything here seems to check out. But word of advice for you two, don't try to play hero, you're pretty beat up because of it and you may not be so lucky next time. Stay safe now!"
Brendan let out a silent sigh of relief as he shook his head and continued on his path home, he walked silently before he realized the man with the bronze book was following him.
"Um... thanks for helping me out." He said, handing the book back to the man, not even realizing he was still holding on to it.
"No worries, it's my responsibility to protect my book holder."
Book... holder? What is that supposed to mean? So much was happening so quickly that Brendan wasn't sure how to properly deal with it and he could feel his head beginning to throb and ache as much as his body was.
"Look... here's your book back, sorry you had to get caught up in all that and I'm not sure if you're a tourist or new around here but stuff like that doesn't happen often. Hope you enjoy the rest of your night!" Brendan said politely as he handed the man the book and hurried on his path home.
After about three minutes of walking through the rest of the park, Brendan arrived to the front door of an apartment complex, as he was about to step inside, he noticed that the bronze man had followed him all the way home.
"W-who are you? What do you want from me?!" Brendan asked, his eyes wide in fear and apprehension as he waited for the man's answer.
"My name is Kolm, and you are the book keeper linked to me on my path to become Mamodo King." The man said, Brendan looked at him like he was crazy for a second before he sighed.
"Alright... I'll tell you what, you can come in, have some dinner and tell me whatever story you have, and then you can head out on your way." Brendan said, heading inside so he could at least take something to relieve him of his headache. Helping out this clearly unwell guy, at least for a short while, would at least make him feel a bit better.
Brendan and Kolm entered the former's apartment, as Brendan removed his shoes, the latter looked around the room. The apartment was plain, but quaint and comfortable. The hard wood walls looked rustic and somehow fit with the navy colored couch, there was a small walk-in kitchen with a gas oven with a stove top, a fridge and sink and a counter. Opposite the kitchen was a short hallway with a bedroom that had a shelf visible from where Kolm was but he didn't see much otherwise. In the same mini hallway was a bathroom that was set up with a simple shower, sink and toilet. Not much else you'd really need to have.
"Over here." Brendan called out, placing two plates on a table just outside of the kitchen. The food was a simple set of steak, potatoes and veggies but they looked surprisingly well-prepared. With the food was a cup of juice for both of them.
"Alright, so what's your story..." Brendan sighed as he began to eat.
"As I said, my name is Kolm. The battle for the title of King of the Mamodo World has began and you are the book keeper linked to me in my quest to become king. I understand that this is very difficult for you to understand, but look back to the Mamodo we battled earlier, that was merely the first of many."
The mention of that weird kid caught Brendan's attention and stopped him from eating further. That kid... that obviously wasn't normal, and neither is this guy.
"So both you and that kid are... Mamoda?"
"Mamodo." Kolm continued. "And yes. Every millennia, two-hundred Mamodo are sent to your world from the Mamodo World in order to battle each other using these spell books." Kolm held up his bronze colored book as a reference. "Every Mamodo battles using their own element, some Mamodo may be from the same clan and, thus, share the same element. The key to victory in this battle is to burn the books of our enemies."
"You mean like what you did to that kid's book?" Brendan asked, remembering how Kolm eviscerated Craig's book with a punch.
"Precisely." Kolm nodded. "Any direct attack from a Mamodo to the book of another Mamodo will result in the book catching fire. Once a book begins to burn, the fate of the Mamodo is sealed: they are eliminated from the battle and return to the Mamodo World. The last Mamodo remaining in the battle is deemed the winner and becomes the new King.
Kolm now had Brendan's full attention as the man leaned back in his seat to try and absorb everything he was hearing.
"So... there are more like that kid, and I'm guessing that guy he was with is his book keeper."
"Yes, and with their book now gone, they are eliminated from the battle. The man also appeared to be malevolent and running from your world's law."
"Yeah... So I guess I'm your book keeper."
"That is correct. You are to help me win this battle and become king." Kolm reiterated, though Brendan noticed that the man's eyes looked away and to the floor, as if there was something else he wanted to add.
"But... what if I refuse?" Brendan asked.
"I'm afraid that you have no opportunity to refuse. You are the only human capable of reading my book. The only known way for a different human to become capable of becoming my new book keeper... is for you to perish. I would rather that not happen."
"You and me both..." Brendan gulped. "Well... there goes my normal life." He laughed nervously. "So you said that there are two-hundred Mamodo out there. Well, not counting you and the kid who's book we burned, that leaves one-hundred and ninety-eight more to go. I guess we have a long road ahead of us..."
"Yes..." Kolm said, looking out the window the two were sitting by. His face looked as though it were full of longing for something... Brendan noticed this and brought the man's attention back to him.
"So, uh, how do we find another Mamodo to fight? Are they all going to be in New York?"
"Mamodo and their partners tend to be drawn to each other, we will eventually encounter another sooner rather than later. They can also be spread out all over the world." Kolm explained, his answer as the the sheer range of where they could be made Brendan's heart sink.
"The whole world... Joy..." Brendan sighed. "So even if we were to theoretically become the last remaining team in the entirety of the United States, there's still the rest of the world to deal with."
"That is how this battle will work, yes." Kolm replied.
"I mean, I'll do my best to be your partner, I guess. But going around the entire world... it ain't exactly cheap, especially since I'm in college and that's already burning a pretty big hole in my pocket."
"What is college?" Kolm asked.
"Y-you don't have education in the Mamodo World?" Brendan asked flatly.
"We have education, but mostly for our younger Mamodo to learn life skills and when they learn basic skills, they learn a trade in order to support their tribes. That is the way our current king; King Bell, has set the standards to be. Speaking of King Bell, both his sons are also in this battle and will surely be major threats."
The topic of Mamodo to look out for caught Brendan's eye.
"Are there any others we should watch out for?"
"Aside from the Bell twins, I suppose my old pupil, Vincent Bari, would be a challenge to defeat if he is paired with a strong book keeper. There is also a rather devious Mamodo by the name of Zofis... eh but he is weak in terms of overall power. If we encounter him then my strength should be enough to defeat him rather easily. Hmm... there is a rather unruly one by the name of Brago that I have only heard of in terms of strength. He is said to be strong, perhaps on par with Bari, but I don't think he would be a true threat, at least not at what his current level.
The possible biggest threat would have to be a Mamodo by the name of Ashuron. He is a Draconid Mamodo that, in terms of size in his humanoid form, towers over me, and his strength is as large as he is. We are not on bad terms and he is a warrior of valor. If we were forced to fight each other this early into the battle, it could go either way."
"I got it..." Brendan sighed, not wanting to imagine what this Ashuron Mamodo must be like in person if Kolm says he's that tough. But the fact that he said Ashuron might not be that bad got him thinking.
"What about any Mamodo that we should look out to ally ourselves with?" Brendan asked.
"Ally ourselves with?" Kolm asked in confusion before his eyes lit up in excitement, as if realizing something for just the slightest moment before shaking it off, though his excitement was caught by his partner. "I suppose going into battles with ally Mamodo and their partners could serve to help us, at least before the numbers begin to dwindle."
"You got excited about something." Brendan noted. "Is there a specific Mamodo that you want us to ally with?"
It was Kolm's turn to sigh as the Mamodo leaned back into his seat and looked at Brendan right in his eyes.
"Yes. I am looking for a specific Mamodo..."
And our protagonist finally learns about the battle. But it looks like our Mamodo companion has an objective besides becoming King. Who is he looking for? Stay tuned and find out!