Chapter 303

Hiccups POV:

It's been two weeks since I took down the Marauding serpents and since then the people I rescued and brought back to Berk have been welcomed into the tribe, found work and had their own huts built in less than a week thanks to the dragons. Along with that Camicazi has been returned to her tribe with her mother insisting I stay for lunch and leave my ship out since it would be safe on the docks. Knowing my ship was safe for more reasons than it just being docked on an ally island since it has multiple defenses that would deal with all those who snuck onto it who wouldn't know what hit them. I should have remembered that the Bog Burgle tribe were an all-female tribe of thieves who were known to only invite men onto their island so they could use them to get some members pregnant with the next generation, sign peace treaties or to get them off the ship so they could loot it for items they could either use or didn't think the owners would miss or notice was gone before it was too late.

In this case, they were hoping to convince me to get either Camicazi or one of their top warriors from her generation pregnant, promising me that if it was a boy that they'd have him sent back to me while I wouldn't have to worry if it was a girl. I turned them down immediately right before someone came running in yelling that 'the demon ship had eaten their people' confusing everyone including me. She then went onto explain how they boarded my ship and it seemed to attack them with ropes launching out, trapdoors opening and the ropes coming out of those trap doors before dragging them in. I had to laugh which gained the attention of everyone before I left to get the women out of my cells while telling the other women around me how they shouldn't try to board a magic ship when its master isn't present to escort them and make sure it doesn't capture them. After that I released the intruders from the cells, they'd been put into by my ship's cells with Camicazi and Chieftess Bertha following wanting to make sure their people were alright and receive a short tour of my ship.

After that I went home and enjoyed a little down time with my family either playing with the babies or training with my wives and kids with my adopted kids training going great since they'd be a match for some pretty strong opponents. They still weren't any match for me and their mothers though except for Chiaki who mainly focused on using illusions to try and trick them like she'd done to travelers who wished to capture her. Unfortunately for her, their ninja training had taught them to open all their senses so they could see through her illusions and easily find the real her and take her down or surround her and force her to surrender. It was because of her many defeats about half a year ago, I'd started training her myself alongside Astrid and Blanca to help her develop her own fighting style that was coming along well.

As for the kids, my two blood daughters are growing up fast and were walking around more than ever now with them still speaking baby babble, but they were learning real words. Ajmal, was a perfect angel and spent most of his time sleeping and rarely ever put up a fuss and the only time he did was when he was left alone and often calmed down when me or Hadasa came for him. It was surprising at first but I'm guessing he already knew I was his father and Hadasa was his blood mother, so she was the one he trusted most out of all my wives although he did enjoy snuggling in Chiaki's tails with Xiu and Zephyr.

My adopted kids had also been busy continuing with their training under me, their mothers and my ninja when they weren't continuing their studies or just being young, but they were each maturing. I could definitely see it in Brant who was spending more and more Robyne while looking at her the same way I used to look at Astrid when I was young. It was because of this at dinner I'd joke by asking him how his day with my future daughter-in-law was, making him blush and cry out 'DAD' in annoyance and embarrassment while everyone chuckled. Chara on the other hand had been doing her best to avoid most of the kids her own age and some of the boys who were a few years older than her since the girls gave her looks of envy while the boys gave her the looks Snotlout used to give Astrid. Fortunately, avoiding them had served as great training for her ninja skills in avoiding unwanted attention, finding hiding places in an instant and in some cases, her acrobatic abilities. Egil on the other hand was social but not too social, preferring to be alone and mostly only interacts with his siblings or the animals of the island and unsurprisingly, he spends most of his time in the colder regions of the island, practicing with his sword. I did feel a little better when he'd stop training to play with Miyuki and Hubbard with the both of them doing their best to help him open up a bit more to others.

Of course, with their training one piece of equipment was enhanced with it being Brant's boots, Chara's flute and Egil's vest with abilities that would be helpful in the future battles. Brants Boots for starters now had tendrils lining the sides of the soles which could sink into the ground, anchoring him to the spot so he wouldn't be able to be dragged away by foes or tumble over when being rocked. The enhancement to Chara's flute on the other hand was made for battle or to be more precise, for assassinations of foes who didn't know her or what she was capable of. The way it works is she could continue to play her flute so it would make her look like a humble musician who was simply practicing or enjoying a little tune on her flute to onlookers while a small needle like dart would slide out the end of the pipe. She could then launch it at her target while she continued to play and with the poisons on the darts having delayed reactions, any suspicions could be thrown off her and in addition to this, the poisons could either paralyze or knockout a victim for twenty-four hours if their poison doesn't kill them. As for Egil, the vest he wears beneath his coat could now grow small icicles from it that would cover his entire torso and could easily pierce gronkle iron while also being able to go through his coat without damaging it before shattering. This would make it hard for anyone to hold him still and if he wanted to cause even more damage to an enemy when he was charging and slamming into them or when one grabbed ahold of him from behind and pulled him against their body.

A week ago, though, my wives felt I'd been overworking myself and needed to get back to what made me happy and that's seeing a bit of the world and spending time with the family which is why they decided we needed a vacation. A place where we were all guaranteed a little peace and quiet with the only thing, we'd need to worry about is either frost bite or sunburn. In the end, we all decided on one of the Hawaiian Islands since they were peaceful, had some good beaches for the kids to play in, jungles that were mostly safe and would just be a good place to unwind.

A week later we left for Hawaii and were treated to a warm welcome from the tribes who were overjoyed to see me again which brings us to now with me and my family on the island of Hawaii, sat down at a long table covered in food with my family going down the right side while on my left was another table where my old friend and the tribes Kahuna, Pika who arranged the feast to welcome us. I know he was shocked to see my family had grown since the last time I visited and knew the small hut that Toothless and I usually stayed in was in no way going to be even near, big enough to hold all of us since it was barely able to hold Toothless with me under his wings. It was decided we'd sleep in my tent for the night and would help the islanders build a bigger hut for all of us to stay in with a stable for Toothless, his mates, Twilight and my wives' dragons who had joined us on this trip although the deathgrippers were reluctant to stay behind since it was their duty to guard them. I'm pretty sure Toothless was able to convince them that it was just a vacation for him, and the family and they should use the time to enjoy their own vacation since they backed off. I smiled and sipped from my coconut and prayed that this vacation would remain a time of peace and relaxation with no dark enemies for me to face before I can return to having fun with the family.

5 days later

It's been five days since we arrived on the island of Hawaii and to describe those days in a single word, it would have to be relaxing since there wasn't that much to do after constructing the new hut. Speaking of the new hut, it was a large one with walls made with traditional Hawaiian methods, so it was elevated on stones with wooden supports, wooden floor and had straw walls and a straw roof while taking the shape of a triangle that had a very long body. I admit it wasn't much compared to the other places my family stayed in, especially considering we all slept in one room against the dragons in the case of my adopted kids, but they didn't mind and actually liked it. Other than that, our days had been filled with nothing but fun in the sun, me surfing on Wavechomper with my adoptive children, playing in the sand with my three youngest, swimming in the ocean with my wives, walking on the beach with my family, flying around the island on Toothless, doing tricks with the dragons for the entertainment of my family and the islanders. Speaking of the islanders, the first three days were spent with all of them gathered around me and my family before I was pretty much forced to show them how me and my wives met, how we got together and other such things including my adventures.

Seriously, with these people it was amazing I had anytime to just enjoy some alone time with my family since people would pull me away to talk, I couldn't enjoy riding the waves in the ocean since people would join me and the wave would become crowded and I couldn't enjoy a flight with Toothless as people would lure him down with fish so we could talk while he eats. My wives didn't have it any easier as the women were practically begging them for advice on how to charm a man since in their eyes, I was the most challenging man as I turned down all their advances, so they wanted to know how they ensnared me. Along with that, the majority of unmarried men and some married men could often be seen admiring my wives when their bodies were exposed when they were going for a swim in the ocean.

As for the kids, Brant didn't have it any easier as a lot of the boys his age weren't too thrilled with the way all the girls their age had begun ignoring them and paying attention to Brant and began challenging him to fights to show off to the girls but all they did was get beaten in under a minute while making Brant more appealing to the girls. Egil also had some issues since the younger kids admired him and thought his ice sword and gear were cool, no pun intended, and kept begging him to show his abilities and make ice with his skates and sword. As for Chara, she had to deal with the males of her generation constantly chasing after her to flirt with some of the more handsy ones trying to touch her which ended with them on their backs, groaning in pain while Chara walked away with a little sway in her hips. Still though, it was because of them that Chara had been keeping up her ninja training and remaining up in the trees or on tall rocks, jumping from place to place while trying to avoid being spotted by her admirers.

Presently though, my family and I were enjoying lunch with the tribe which included fruits of the island, roasted pig, chicken and fish that had been cooked over burning fires. I enjoyed the savory taste of the pork while the sun shone on my bare torso since while in Hawaii, I decided to enjoy the freedom it allowed and wore only pants with no shoes, my kitsune mask in its bandana form and my eyepatch while the equipment I normally wear was back in my hut, in my spiderpack. I reached out for another piece but before I could touch the meat, I was cut off by one of the tribes' warriors who was thrown onto the meat, unconscious with multiple cuts and bruises covering his body. No more than three seconds after he landed, I was standing up, starsword out, eagle shield ready and leather armor active, my family members standing with their own weapons ready, Toothless plasma blast charged with the other dragons also ready with their own blasts. We weren't the only ones ready for a fight as every single warrior in the tribe was standing up and grabbing their own weapons while the women took the children away.

All weapons and blasts were aimed at a cloaked figure whose only uncovered body part was a hand which was gripping the hair of an unconscious warrior who had a bruised face. He let go of the guard's head, dropping him to the ground before kicking him aside allowing the dragons to fire their blasts at him, but what surprised me and I think the majority of the people who saw him, he didn't move a muscle to avoid the blasts and took them head on. When the smoke cleared, he was still standing there without a scratch on his robe before he let out a deep haunting laugh that actually sent a shiver down my spine. It was then he finally spoke in a deep voice, asking.

"Did you really think that would do anything to me?" I immediately recognized the voice as Persian which made me even more curious as to who this guy was before he removed his cloak. "A former champion of the gods." He held out his arms. "FEREYDOON, THE RING MASTER!"

I took in his body and saw he had sun kissed skin with no shirt on exposing his torso with the lower half of his face was covered by a black beard and his black hair was tied up in an upward braid. What caught my attention the most though was how his arms were completely covered in tattoos that took the form of patterned rings that went all the way up to his shoulders. Along with that, he was wearing black pants with a black belt that was lined with multiple rings made from some sort of metal I didn't recognize with each holding a single gem and an X shaped leather harness on his chest holding multiple other rings with a sword strapped to the back of it and in the center of the harness was a red gem with black metal circling it, with the ring taking the form of a bird of some sort. It was then my mind flashed back to stories told to me by The Ancient One and books I'd read in Akuhei's library and new this man was a fallen champion known as 'the ring master' because once he defeated an opponent, he'd turn their bodies into rings which he kept as trophies and imprisoned within them were the souls of the foes. However, he had become one who craved battle and the harder it was, the more he liked it, and it was because of this that he eventually grew tired of only going after bandits and the beasts the gods sent him after. He began seeking out other warriors and challengers, killing them and imprisoning their souls, no matter if they were villains, heroes, guards or simple farmers trying to protect their crops. If you were foolish enough to challenge him, it didn't matter who or what you were, he would take your life and imprison your soul in a ring either as a trophy or a warning to all those who challenge him.

Between his hunts for new opponents, he completely disappears so nobody has been able to take him down but there have been a few champions who have gone after him to try and end his fighting spree. They are never seen or heard from again which to me, meant one thing, that they had found him and had paid the price for it in the form of losing their lives and joining the rings that were his trophies. I glared at him knowing that he'd destroyed countless lives both directly and indirectly before I asked.

"What are you doing here, Fereydoon?" He chuckled.

"Isn't it obvious?" I glared at him. "I came to these islands hoping to find a worthy opponent but each warrior I fought didn't even put up the tiniest fight showing that they were not worthy of becoming one of my rings." He ran his hand over the rings on his belt as he smiled. "I came to this island hoping to find a true challenge from the local warriors but instead my good fortune has come forward with the prize of a new ring to be added not to my belt or harness but to my blade." He took his sword off his back by the hilt that had six rings on the top of the hilt before a blade extended from it with each ring now hooked to the blade which had a wind like pattern beneath the rings while the other half was smooth and looked sharp enough to cut the wind itself. "Take a good look at the rings that decorate my blade champion as they hold the souls of each champion I've killed." As he said this, I took notice of the rings and saw each had a glowing stone on them with each being a different color which from the top of the blade went, orange, dark purple, dark blue, light blue, light green and dark green in that order. (AN: Picture on Pinterest page.) "Each ring contains the soul of a champion of the gods, each of which were able to put up a decent challenge for me to enjoy." He then readied his weapon. "Now let's see if you're as good a warrior as I've been led to believe." He then quickly reached behind him and threw a dagger at my head, but I just raised my hand and caught it between two fingers making him smile. "You might actually be a challenge." I glared.

"You have no idea!" I saw everyone get their own weapons ready, but I held up my hand and shook my head. "No, this is a fight between me and one of my fallen predecessors." I then pointed my sword at Fereydoon. "Don't think just because I fight alone, I'll be an easy opponent to defeat." I smirked. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve." The blade of my sword shattered before the shards became full sized blades that then flew at Fereydoon who simply smirked and slashed his blade up and down a few times, sending all the blades stabbing into the ground.

"Those petty little tricks won't work on me." He then readied his blade with both hands as my swords blade reformed. "If you're going to take me on then you're going to need a bigger sword." I smirked and pulled my starsword back into my prosthetic and brought out my Giant Scimitar.

"Will this do?" He smiled darkly at me and readied his blade.

"It will, but first let's go somewhere a little more private for our fight."

He slammed his blade into the ground before the gem in the middle of his harness shined brightly and all of a sudden, it seemed as if fragments of glass began to form around us forming a dome before they left us completely in the dark. The darkness lasted a few seconds before things lit up and I saw that we were now in a large room with sand floors, sandstone columns holding up a second floor with a few wooden dummies laid up against the columns and a couple of wooden poles going from one balcony to the other above us. It took me a few moments before my eyes widened as I realized this was the same training grounds that were used by the Hassansins from Persia. I heard a chuckle and turned to Fereydoon who smirked as he said.

"I see you recognize my old training grounds Hiccup." I raised an eyebrow. "This is where I trained the Hassansins into the warriors they became but the reason was I wanted the city I called home to be protected in my absence." He then growled. "But instead, they became attack dogs for those royals, betraying me and my teachings that were only to be used against bandits and enemies of the city." He then looked at me and chuckled. "I'm actually rather grateful to you for getting rid of them." He shrugged. "Feels like they were punished for what they had done." He then raised his blade and got into a familiar fighting stance that I recognized as the one used by the Hassansin who used the large scimitar. "For that, I'll be sure to make your death nice and quick before returning your body to your family so they can at least give you a proper burial." I glared at him before he smirked. "Now let's begin." As soon as the final word finished leaving his mouth, he charged at me, and our fight began.

Nobodies POV:

Hiccup rushed forward to meet Fereydoon in the middle of the room with their blades striking as soon as they were only three feet away from each other, meeting in the center before the battle to gain the upper hand began. It was a battle of pure strength with each opponent pushing their blades against each other to try and get the upper hand with neither moving an inch until Fereydoonpushed his blade upwards, dragging it across Hiccups blade. As soon as the blade reached the end, he quickly shoved Hiccup back before quickly slashing his blade towards Hiccups face, but Hiccup leaned back when he saw the move and speed the blade was coming at him. Due to this he was barely able to dodge the blade by only three inches and he felt the air in front of his face be pushed into it by the blade as the top of some hairs on his head were cut, making Hiccup jump back a few steps. Fereydoon smirked while Hiccup glared at him before charging in and swinging his sword in various ways to try and land a cut of his opponent, but Fereydoonwould just raise his blade and block every strike as if it were nothing. He then did a quick spin before delivering a hard kick to Hiccups gut making him stumble back while coughing as Fereydoon smirked and said.

"You're meant to be the one who has slain some of the deadliest beasts and bested some of the world's strongest opponents?" He let out a laugh. "Don't make me laugh."

Hiccup glared at him but took a breath knowing Fereydoon was just trying to get beneath his skin and make him do something that would leave him open to another attack. With this in mind he put a little distance between him and Fereydoon while smiling down at his blade, remembering how it contained sunlight from the last time he trained with it. Hiccup quickly slashed his blade down, throwing the concentrated slash shaped sunlight at Fereydoon whose eyes widened in surprise for a second before he smirked and slashed his sword down at the slash, cutting it in two. Both halves flew by him and instead struck the pillars behind him before he rushed forward and delivered a strong punch to Hiccups face, sending him stumbling back and holding his now bleeding and broken nose. Fereydoon chuckled and said.

"I have to admit that you caught me by surprise with that burning slash of yours, but it'll take more than that to beat me." He charged at Hiccup again and swung his blade at him with Hiccup raising his own to meet it and as before, it was a battle of strength. "Face it Hiccup, your soul will join the rings on my blade but don't worry about your family." He pushed harder. "I'll be sure to train those sons of yours into true warriors serving me while your daughters will make excellent servants and your wives will do well to warm my bed." Hiccups glare intensified before he replied through grit teeth.

"My family would never follow you." He chuckled.

"The families of my former opponents said the same thing but a little exposure to my power always makes them see things my way." Hiccups eyes widened.

"You can use your power to control others?"

"I can and I will do the same to your family and when I get tired of them, I'll throw them away as I have done the others, I grew bored of." Hiccup growled in fury.

"You seem to have forgotten to consider two things that will lead to your defeat." Fereydoon raised an eyebrow.

"And what would those two things be?" Hiccup growled.

"First I'm a Viking and we fight rough." Hiccup brought his knee up, striking Fereydoon right between the legs making him gasp in pain and loose the force in his push as he leaned down. "And second, you just told me that you plan to enslave my family and that just gave me an even more important reason to defeat you than simply surviving." Hiccup then slammed his head into Fereydoons, headbutting him right in the face and sending him stumbling back. "And that reason is to keep my family safe from the likes of you."

Hiccup then used his ninja and kung fu training to channel his strength into his legs to enhance his speed and his arms to increase the strength and speed of his strikes. As soon as he was within range of Fereydoon he met him with multiple slashes from his blade and punches from his left arm which he had his chains wrap around the knuckles to strengthen the pain of his punches. The mix of speed and strength allowed Hiccup to deliver multiple blows in seconds which made it difficult for Fereydoon to keep up with, so he couldn't block most of Hiccups strikes, but he was able to get a few strikes back. Within five minutes, Fereydoon was covered in cuts and bruises, but Hiccup also sported a few cuts from the blade of his opponent although they did nothing to slow down his attacks or movements, unlike the wounds now covered Fereydoons body.

Now, Fereydoon was leaning up against a pillar and holding his blade in his right hand that he was using as a walking stick to support himself while his left hand was being pressed against a deep cut on his right hip which was deeper than the other cuts littering his body. He panted while Hiccup glared at him as he said.

"It's over Fereydoon." Fereydoon looked at Hiccup and began letting out breathy chuckles making Hiccup raise an eyebrow before he asked.

"What's so funny?"

"You forget, this is my world that I brought you into and it serves as more than just a place to fight my opponents." He leaned back against the pillar and sunk in before Hiccup could react and reappeared above on the balcony looking down at Hiccup with a smile. "It also serves as a cage for the beasts I find on my hunts that I think might be useful in the future, like this creature I found in that realm of monsters that I passed on my way to the islands." He raised his hand with his right hand with his middle finger pressed against his thumb. "Including this beast."

He snapped his fingers before the walls in front of Hiccup opened up to allow lava to flow out as he got ready for a fight since if this beast lived in lava, then it was not going to be an easy opponent, but a few seconds passed and the only thing that came out was lava. After a few more moments of nothing happening, Hiccup began to think that whatever it was that was captured had perished until the lava began to rise up and take form. It eventually took on a large human like shape made entirely of lava that seemed to be constantly flowing, while its eyes were made of hardened lava, and it was also dripping lava from all over its body before it looked as if it were being pulled back into its body when it landed on the ground. Hiccup stared at the creature in shock right before it let out a roar, spitting a few drops of lava out of its mouth. It then swung its right arm down at him, but he was quick to jump back to avoid the strike. As the arm struck the ground though, lava flew off it with a small drop landing on Hiccups left shoulder and much to his surprise, it burned and made him hiss in pain until he knocked it off to reveal a burn wound. This surprised Hiccup since he was given an immunity to flames and lava, allowing him to literally swim in lava which he had done before in multiple volcanoes. He wasn't going to run away from the fight because of a little burn though, as he knew it just meant he needed to be more careful when dealing with this beast.

Hiccup did a quick backflip to avoid another strike from the beast as Fereydoon laughed from his place, looking down at Hiccup as he did his best to avoid the blows from the beast he had captured and smiled when the lava droplets hit his bare skin, making him hiss in pain. Hiccup ignored his laughter though and focused on avoiding becoming a charred corpse from the creatures strikes and tried to figure out how he could defeat it. Knowing that every creature had a weakness, he didn't give up and fortunately he had a magic eye which has the ability to see the weak points in enemy bodies. With this in mind, Hiccup used the eye of the dragon to try and find the weak spot in the beast's body and saw it beneath the lava on the upper part of its chest, just beneath its neck.

With his target now in sight, Hiccup charged forward and began slashing at the beast in order to try and get through to the weakness beneath the lava. This however was proving to be a challenge as whenever he made a single cut on any part of the creature's body, it would almost immediately heal up and make it look as if the wound was never there. Every time it healed its wounds, Hiccup growled in annoyance while trying to figure out how to beat this beast before his mind flashed back to Mala and Dagurs wedding when he was given an Eruptadon trinket made of hardened lava rock and how lava rock was lava that had hardened sue to either water, time or coldness. Hiccup looked down at his blade smiling, remembering how he still had moonlight within it and how a slash of the moonlight freezes whatever it cuts through which means he might be able to cut open a path to the weakness of the beast. With this in mind, Hiccup took a few steps back to ensure he'd have enough room while preparing to launch his slash the creature raised its head and roared, believing Hiccup was retreating. This however just gave Hiccup the opportunity he needed, and he sent the slash right at the spot where the weakness was meant to be while equipping his left arms prosthetic form.

As soon as the slash struck, a large chunk of the beast that was struck with the slash turned to hardened lava before Hiccup launched the spike from his left arm into the hardened piece before pulling his chain in allowing himself to be pulled right onto the hardened part. He then slammed his golden prosthetic into the solid rock while channeling his strength into the strike using a technique he was taught while undergoing training to become a Zodiac Master, shattering the rock and exposing a large ball that looked to be filled with lava that was wrapped up in lava rock that had been rubbed smooth. Hiccup didn't take much time to admire it since the beast was now reaching for him and slammed his scimitar into it, but it left no scratch so thinking fast he slammed it into the surface beneath the jewel and pushed the handle downwards to lift the blade and push the gem out of its spot. The jewel went flying out from its spot after one hard push before Hiccup pulled his spike free and somersaulted off the beast as it roared in pain and began to fall apart.

He landed on the edge of where the lava was pooling and watched as the beast turned to nothing more than a large puddle of lava on the floor that quickly hardened. Hiccup took a breath and glared up at Fereydoon who was staring at him in shock before Hiccup threw his scimitar at him like a javelin, putting all his strength into the throw. The scimitar flew at the warrior with such speed that he was barely able to react and even then, he wasn't fast enough to do anything other than raise his sword a little right before Hiccups blade impaled his stomach, right up to the handle before it threw him into the back wall with the blade piercing it. Hiccup used his ninja climbing skills to climb one of the supports and over the balcony to see Fereydoon barely holding onto his life but when his eyes landed on Hiccup, he gave him a smile making Hiccup raise an eyebrow until his dying opponent said.

"At long last, an opponent who has been able to give me the death I desired."

"What do you mean?"

"Hiccup, I am a warrior and as such I would wish to die in battle to an opponent who is actually worthy of taking my life." He ran his hands over the rings on his belt. "The souls of the fools trapped in the rings I wear all thought they'd be able to beat me and paid for it with their lives." He coughed up some blood. "You are a true warrior Hiccup with the tales I've been told about you not doing you justice and you are more than worthy of the title of 'Champion of the Gods'." He gave one last smile. "Thanks for giving me a great final battle and a good show with that lava golem." As soon as the last words left his voice his head dropped, and he died with a smile on his face.

Hiccups POV:

I looked at him and took a breath hoping this was over and find a way out of this place but before I could even relax all the jewels on the rings that were on his harness, belt and sword shined and shattered before balls of light flew out which threw him over the railing and back into the arena. The balls flew down and surrounded him before a few seconds later they all took the form of various people and not just warriors of various cultures but also farmers, blacksmiths, merchants and more. Despite there being so many people, the ones he was most focused on were the ones who came from rings that were on the sword as they were fallen champions. The champions turned to those I recognized as blacksmiths which included a dwarf before they nodded to them, and they walked up to the core of the lava beast as a ninja jumped from the upper balcony and passed something to them. They then brought out their forging hammers and began beating the core and what the ninja had given them but what they were I had no idea. Before I could get close to see what they were doing the champions cut me off and each gave me a look that clearly said to not get any closer to the blacksmiths. I backed off knowing they had their reasons, and it gave me a chance to examine each of them and try to identify each of them since they were my predecessors.

The first one was from the orange crystal and was a man dressed as a Roman general whose face was covered by his helmet, but I knew to be a general named Caius who was known as the giant slayer. The reason for this is he's famous for taking on not only some of the largest most dangerous bandit groups, but also hunting giants who wreaked havoc on villages and cities single handedly. With every victory though, his forces grew until he commanded an army that numbered in the hundreds which when serving under leadership and with his superior strategies, no foe could defeat them. The only thing about him that was as admirable as his leadership and mind for strategy was his skill with the spear and shield which were said to make him near invincible. His only weakness was his refusal to allow his men to join him in his battles against the giants and other mystical enemies as he didn't want to endanger them which led to his downfall when Fereydoonchallenged him to one-on-one combat. After his defeat, his army was disbanded and with no family, his fortune was taken by the royals and spread out for various projects, mainly related to the army which would later help Caesar bring glory to Rome.

Following him was the champion from the dark purple gem who was dressed as a ninja with his face being covered by a mask and the only visible part from the eye slit which showed his face was covered by a kabuki mask and out the back was a high ponytail. (AN: Picture the ninja guy from 'Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings' just in black instead of blue) I knew immediately that this was Isamu, a ninja champion who second only to the Ancient One in skill since he became a champion came after 'The Ancient One' retired and didn't have as much time to sharpen his skill through battle before Fereydoonkilled him. Still though, before that he was known for being able to break into fortresses that were said to be impenetrable and kill some of the deadliest yokai, warriors, warlords and magic users, ever to threaten Japan.

Next to him was the one who came from the blue gem who was dressed in a Japanese Montsuki that was dark blue almost black in color with two katanas sheathed at his sides and his long hair rolled up and tied to the back of his head. I knew this man was named Botan who was a legendary samurai whose swordsmanship was second to none in all the Shoguns army and had a reputation for defeating entire bandit groups singlehandedly in mere minutes. He was also known to hunt demons and dangerous yokai in the countryside who were known to harm the people and rescue anyone that they were either attacking or had captured. Despite his skills though, he would always be respectful to those he'd defeated and was always humble in all he did which is why he lived in a small house out in the countryside and never accepted a lot of money for his deeds other than a small bag of coins and only from those who were well off.

The one who came from the light blue gem was dressed in an all to familiar armor that brought back memories as this was the armor belonging to a knight of Camelot, knighted by King Arthur himself. His name was Sir Adam, and he was one of Arthurs most trusted knights who was known to go after bandits and enemies of the kingdom with no sense of fear or hesitation. He was a natural born swordsman and a true gentleman who could calm any woman who were in a state of fury which got him a lot of lesson requests from married men. He was also a great horseman who was considered one of the greatest fighters on horseback and was always the one to lead the charge against enemies and slamming into the enemy ranks, destroying all in his path. One day though he rode off on a scouting mission after getting word of a strong bandit roaming around and killing the knights and warriors who guarded villages. He never returned though and when they found his horse, they discovered a small crater and nothing more, so they assumed that there was a battle and whoever it was too Sir Adam away. They searched for months after that but there was no sign of them, and he was never seen or heard from again, but they did build a monument to honor him.

After him came the one from the light green gem, an Indian male who had hair that reached the bottom of his neck in length with a feather braided into the left side, black paint going across his eyes like a blind fold, nothing on his torso except a beaded necklace with a carved horse head in the middle, tan leather pants with tassels on the sides and on his upper arms were tattoos of running horses. I knew this man was named 'Hooved Spirit' who was given this name since his spirit guide was a horse and he was also the tribes horse trainer. When it came to training the horses, he was said to be able to tame even the most wild and unruly of horses and was also able to fire arrows that would always strike their target as if guided by the spirits. This wasn't a complete exaggeration since he'd used magic arrows like mine that would allow him to easily hit his opponents which were normally corrupted spirits who would then be cleansed by the arrows. He was also an expert tracker and horse breeder who was also known to raise the best horses which was good for the tribe as it allowed them to offer the horses to other tribes for alliance purposes. One day though, he went out hunting and never returned so his tribe believed he'd perished by the hands of one of the corrupted spirits he hunts.

Finally, from the dark green gem was a large man with more muscle than any Viking male I'd ever met with his hair cut short and close to the head and the dark green, Greek loincloth showed he was a wrestler from Greece. I remembered him as Evander who was a famed wrestler in Greece and known to wrestle any opponent to the ground in seconds and said to be invincible in wrestling. It wasn't surprising that the son of Poseidon and Gaea, Antaeus took an interest in him and went looking for him for a match but instead of battling him to the death after Antaeus defeated him, he took him on as a pupil which led to him becoming a champion. During his time as a champion, he was known to take on any beast both normal and magical with his bare hands, wrestling them to the ground before he finished them off. This got him a lot of attention from the royals and nobles who all wanted him to work for him which is why he never stayed in one city or village for too long as he didn't want to cause trouble for the citizens or local villagers with the fights that would break out. He did take great joy in some of the perks his fame brought him though such as being welcomed wherever he went with good food, a place to stay and occasionally a woman would join him in bed.

It was as I finished my examination of the defeated champions that the sound of the hammers stopped, and the blacksmiths stood lowered their hammers. They then turned back to me before all the souls smiled at me before the blacksmiths parted with two of them approaching me, each holding something in their hands. The first one was holding a black strangely shaped black blade with orange engravings decorating it with a rope handle that had a loop at the bottom before I turned to the second one and saw he was holding the red gem with black metal circling it that was on Fereydoon's harness. Now though it had orange gems embedded in the metal circling it and saw the metal was in the shape of a simurgh bird but before I could even touch them, the spirits returned to being balls of light which then flew right into me. As soon as they entered my body though, my head felt like it was being ripped into pieces with so much pain that I couldn't take it and blacked out.

AN: And another chapter has come to an end and yeah, I know it's been weeks since I last updated but for some reason the spark that lit my fire of passion for writing hasn't been lighting up that often and even when it does it's barely above a small matches flame. Along with that work piled up a bit but lately it's been quiet and not being able to write has been driving me up the wall since I'd like to write but I lack the drive for some reason so I'm mostly sitting there bored out of my head while trying to think of ways to pass the time. Anyway, I've got a ton of ideas for this story so don't worry as it won't be ending any time soon, but it's hard to decide when it's time to bring the ideas in since there are ideas that don't fit into the other future ideas or will not be able to use due to the past ideas that were used already. Anyway, thanks for your patience, please review kindly and have a nice day.