Chapter 27: The Path to Power
Steam rose from the pipes of the train as its whistle blared out for all to hear. Seeing the weapon of the apostle of the train was a very rare occurrence. It sped by as a blur and disappeared just as fast.
The rumors of the train's destructive power led to the ban on it ever being summoned inside of any city outside of emergencies, only being allowed to ride it on designated railroads made for it. Only Rinoth is the one to not sign this ban and instead saw the train's power as a form of training. There, it was an honor to dodge, or even parry, the apostle's unintended attack. That was a skill only a select few could accomplish.
"Mister Flores!" Tommy called out as he ran up to the hero. "Thank you for taking care of me. This was the best few weeks of my life... you know, aside from the snakes." Tommy shuddered.
"That was a day for sure; the rest was crazy as well. But we lived; that's all that matters." Fores sighed. "Oh, Cadenza told me to give this to you." Flores reached into his bag and pulled out a blue spool of thread.
Magic Thread
Magic Damage Boost (Medium), Form Control
"Waaaah."
"She said she had some leftover materials from the charme forging and made something a bit extra. Since it's bonded to you, you'll be able to control its form, making your little charme trick easier to perform."
"Blimey!"
Tommy looked at the spool as it began to float and wrap around his neck, making a perfectly sized blue scarf for his body. Tommy tested it out by tossing a charme into the air and having one of the threads fly through the hole and tie itself to the charm.
The perfect thread amount he needed then flew out the scarf. Grabbing it, Tommy began to twirl the thread and charm around in a manner similar to a ribbon dance. The crowd cheered as he began his finale. Tossing the charm into the air, it exploded as the blue thread spun around him before reweaving itself back into the seems of the scarf, just as if it never left.
"So cool! Thank you, Miss! And thank you too!"
Tommy ran up and hugged Flores. "Oh right. Miss Cadenza also asked me to give this to you. She said she'll most likely be too hyper to give it to you personally." Tommy reached into his bag and pulled out two small jars. One full of feathers, the other, some rainbow glitter.
Placing it within his gem, Flores unlocked a flag and a banner. Both of them were high in stats, overpowering every flag he had up until now.
Pegasus Feather Flag Conditions met
Equip bonus: Agility 25, Spearmanship 4, Equip Effect: Glidee
Unicorn Dust Flag Conditions Met
Equip Bonus: Magic Power Up (Medium), Attack 15, Mana Up (Small), Skill: Second Banner, Prismatic Draw
Glide? Also, these unicorn stats are busted. How much energy do I have again?
Attempt a rank up to great?
Current Energy: 10,000
Oh, that's perfect. Alright, unicorn dust, let's do it.
Rank Up Successful.
Unicorn Dust Flag (G)
This is going to be easy.
It wasn't easy. Flores blew through all 10,000 points, attempting to get to legendary. The most he could get to was epic, much to the confusion of Tommy, who watched the hero go from happy to devastated multiple times within a minute.
"Epic it is. Anyway, thanks, Tommy."
"No problem!"
"Tommy, we're about to depart. Hurry up!" Clay called out.
"Coming." Tommy ran over to the train and got on. Peaking his head out the window, he and Clay waved to everyone as the train took off. Speeding faster and faster down the track, the train disappeared in a flash of light, successfully leaving the world.
"Alright then, goodbyes are done. Now what do you need?" Lizen asked.
"Right. I almost forgot about that. Let's head over to the training ground." Flores answered as he began walking towards the fort.
"Why, there's no training today."
"I know. I just wanna fight you."
"...you serious?"
"I just want to test my skill, nothing more."
"If you say so."
/~/
"Skybound Stormcall!" Lizen shouted.
The prism is tossed into the sky, cackled with purple energy, and fires down pillars of lightning.
Flowing lifeforce through his legs, Flores rushed forward, narrowly dodging them all. He then called down an Erst Banner and caught it mid-air. "[Waypoint Banner]" Summoning a waypoint banner, Flores threw the Erst Flag at Lizen.
The Lightning captain dodged, ducking up the hit. But another came his way, as Flores's boomerang flag went straight for his head.
Acting fast, Lizen leapedleapt over the flag, only to nearly get hit again. Reaching his hand out, he used his strength to push himself back into the air the second he touched the ground, narrowly dodging the waypoint banner. Once he landed back on the ground, he readied his bow, but Flores was nowhere to be seen. That's when he looked behind him and saw the hero behind him, ready to strike.
He used the flag? So it is different from Riala's skill.
"[Binding Melody]." Switching to a blue violin, Flores played it, firing off a blue that wrapped around and tied up Lizen.
"I have you now. [Order Change: Bundrill Mother Flag!] [Second Banner!] [Star Light Ray] [Prismatic Draw!]"
Flores reached out his hand, firing a beam of light. He then circled around quickly and swung his flag, sending a wave of rainbow light at Lizen. As he did this, his Boomerang Flag came back around, with the Erst Banner he threw earlier rising out of the ground and launching at Lizen with a Drill Run. Finally, another Erst Banner fell from above, directly over the tied-up archer.
A 5-way assault from with a tied-up victim. Impossible to escape, or so Flores thought. Lizen quickly broke out of his bonds and ran towards the spell. Grabbing it, he twirled around with the ray of light, before tossing the beam of light in the air, successfully escaping from Flores's pincer attack.
"Bullshit. [Advanced Flourish!]"
Landing on the ground, Flores flowed lifeforce into his legs and lept at Lizen. The archer avoided the attack and lept away himself, but Flores didn't let up and pressed on his attack. He chased Lizen around the field as the archer danced around his attacks, gathering more and more lightning with every rotation. At one point, he captured him with another Binding Melody but failed to tag him as he teleported away.
Appearing on the other side of the arena, Lizen got into a track starting position as mist began to surround his body.
"Oh no, you don't. Light of the sky, hear my cry. Teleport me to the enemy I spy. [Star Teleport]"
Leaping into the air, Flores disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in front of Lizen. The archer already began running, a bolt of lightning in hand. But Flores had the range advantage. Thrusting the blunt end of his flag at the approaching archer, Flores grinned as he successfully hit him. However, instead of flesh, the flag went through Lizen as he turned into a puff of smoke.
"An illusion?"
"Not in the slightest."
Looking behind him, Flores watched as the smoke reformed Lizen behind him. Pivoting his foot, he swung his flag, attempting to attack. But Lizen had already changed a spell and hit Flores with a bolt of lightning that blasted him into the fort's wall. The wall held, and Flores came out of it with minimal injuries, but he lied on the ground instead of getting back up.
"First strike, I win." Lizen boasted as he held out his hand. Flores grabbed it and was picked up from the ground.
"Fighting you is impossible." Flores grumbled.
"Don't feel too bad; you almost got me. I wasn't expecting that binding skill either."
"I got it from the spider in the colleseum. It was pretty much the only useful thing there. Not that it matters. Every time I gain an advantage, you pull out even more bullshit I've never heard about." Flores grumbled. "I counted prism, rhyme, and I'm assuming motion magic. That means you need three magic systems in order to outperform me."
"I can't be too careful with you heroes. So I'll say like... six if you were actually going for the kill." Lizen answered as he gave Flores some water.
"Out of how many exactly?"
"Good question. I think I'm at… eight. Yeah, eight. After the orc raid, you've seen six of them already."
"Yeah. Your spirit Nox, your contract with Azriel, movement, rhyme, star, and charme. Now what are the other two?"
"And reveal my hidden trump cards? Not a chance."
"Joy." Flores took a drink from his flask. Satisfied, he fell back on his back.
"If only I had wild winds under control. Then I could have parried that attack effortlessly. You're definitely teaching me that later."
"Even if you had the wild winds, you still would have gotten hit."
"But you did against me?"
"Yes, because I've been doing this for years. The wild winds are basically a mimicked version of the dragon vein, a special type of magic wielded by the dragon king of this world and those who hold their blessings."
Tossing a bolt of lightning from his hands, he curved back and hit Lizen's hands.
"By flowing your lifeforce in tandem with the flow of the element, you can safely deflect it off of you and even influence it's direction with your movement."
Lizen demonstrated his lecture as he turned with the lightning bolt and directed it toward the ground.
"That's the basics of the technique. It's basically a dance and how quickly you can adapt to your partner's style. Mess up once in that process, and you're taking the full brunt of that attack."
"Ohhhh. Yeah, Neila did not explain that well at all."
"My sugar plum is a bad teacher, unfortunately," Lizen grumbled. "Even still. With how sudden and how fast the attack was, you wouldn't have had time to match its flow anyway. Besides fuck the Wild Winds, you're more suited for lifeweave anyways."
"I have heard of that one but never really understood it. Mind teaching me that instead?"
"You sure you don't want a break first? You've been working nonstop since you got back. Is something up with you?"
"Let's just say I've taken a deep look into myself and was disappointed. My strength may be beyond most people now, but I still feel inadequate. It's more or less a need to satisfy myself, you know?" Flores finished drinking his water and sat back up. "It just puts my mind at ease, knowing I have the strength to deal with most obstacles." Flores explained.
"So that's how you feel, huh?" Lizen muttered.
"Huh?"
"Nothing important. Just know I do want to help, but I can't. I'm not a master of lifeforce after all." Lizen shrugged.
"You aren't?"
"Nope. My skills align more with magic. Unlike my sister or my sugar plum, who could somehow shape elements with the wild winds, I'm only able to redirect. My skills with augmentation and life weave are the same. I'm adept, but nowhere near as good as the masters."
"So where's Mihare then? She's a grandmaster, right?"
"Indeed, she is. But she'll currently be in Rinoth, helping to prepare for the wave that'll hit there in about two weeks. You'll be going there anyways, so if you wanna continue training, that's the place for you."
"I see. So if traveling to Rinoth is what I need to master lifeforce, then that's what I'll do."
"You sure. You have about two weeks till the wave and are certainly strong enough to basically solo it. You sure you don't want to take these few weeks off."
"I'm certain about it." Flores stood up and dusted himself off.
At his answer, Lizen sighed at the heroes stubbornness. "Understood. Meet me by Zell's outpost when you're ready. The path to Rinoth is quite treacherous and requires some guidance. Also, I'll be choosing who you'll bring, so only focus on packing."
"Why?"
"I'll explain later; just ignore it for now. Lightning teleported me before before he asked how."
Being struck by a bolt of lightning. Flores watched as Lizen flew away from the training grounds and towards the parliamentary building.
"I wonder what he meant." Flores pondered as he walked off the training field himself.
/~/
After grabbing his bag, Flores did a quick visit to Yomiko's office before his departure. The great minister wasn't exactly happy that their hero was about to leave again after just returning. But she relented and wished him a safe journey.
Finding Hollowtrix and Cinder fighting with each other for whatever reason, he gathered the two as they set off for the outpost.
"Finally, you were taking forever." Lizen rolled his eyes. "And you brought them." Lizen sighed.
"The hell do you mean by them!" Cinder yelled.
"Yeah!" Hollowtrix joined in.
"Unless you're a diplomat. Mounts and other forms of transportation are banned from Rinoth. Any and all travel must be done by yourself because they're extra."
"Oh, come on!"
"Ha." Cinder laugh.
"You too, Cinder. Magic users are frowned upon, specifically the style you use."
"Damn it." Cinder swore.
"Wait, so what about you?" Flores asked.
"Magic in general is fine. If you can't counter them, then it's just an issue in skill. It's just pure mages that are the exception, just a prejudice they have, you know."
That makes a lot of sense.
"Now lets get a move on. We can make it in a few days if we start now."
"But didn't you say you'd gather some people? Where are they?" Flores asked.
"See for yourself." Lizen opened the door to the outpost. Fonhare was inside, sleeping on one of the tables, while everyone else in the room crowded around a shuddering Jay, following along as he benched pressed a massive boulder.
After taco fest, Jay stayed in Ken'bitch to continue training himself. Specifically, he decided to abuse Flores's exp boost and methods. Though it took him a few days to finally muster up the courage to ask. Ray was dying in laughter once Flores told him how long it took to ask, along with how long it took to even get the sentence out. But he and his wife approved the stay, as long as he stayed with Lizen at the Sinclair manor.
"So that's where Fonhare was."
"I gathered them before I left town. Fonhare will benefit from augmentation training; the same goes for Jay with some Lifeweave."
"Are rifles a weapon they allow?" Flores asked.
"Ranged fighters are fine. Also, Jay's pretty good in hand-to-hand combat, at least better than Neila."
"He has been very reliable while out grinding." Flores patted Jay on the head, the cow blushing in embarrassment as the crowd joined in to praise him.
"He wouldn't be the son of Ray if he wasn't. Now let's get a move on."
"Wait, what about us!" Cinder yelled as the four began to walk off.
"Train with Yomiko or whatever; I don't care!" Flores shouted.
Hearing his dismissal, Cinder knelt in the corner and began to sulk.
"I wonder if Atorie is free."
/~/
The journey to Rinoth was simple. Contrary to what Flores thought, they didn't have to go through the Forest of Zell. In fact, Rinoth was a straight shot from the captital of Ken'bitch. Pairing that with their abnormal endurence and the monsters being absolutely no issue to the four of them, they made their supposed three-day journey to the lake of Zoe in only a day and a half.
"Here we are. The great lake of Zoe, the first trial blocking us from the mountain." Lizen explained.
"Trial?"
"Indeed. Rinoth doesn't allow just anyone to just waltz in. If you can't get through these trials, then tough case, you're not getting inside."
Lizen began walking and mimicked the power of Jesus as he casually walked on the water.
"The first trial is to get to the other side without a boat. Most people try to swim over, but I don't like water much."
Flabergasted Flores looked at Lizen, then back at the lake. "Wait! How am I supposed to get over there?"
"I don't know, lol. Figure it out." Lizen chuckled as he continued walking to the other side.
"Mis...ter?" Jay whispered. As he tugged on Flores's shirt.
"Huh?"
Flores turned around and watched as Jay signed to him. A surprising thing he had learned in this world was that the sign language was pretty much a one-to-one recreation of the Spanish sign language, something he knew very well. It was actually Miguel who taught it to one of his mute party members siblings, which then led to it's widespread use for children who have difficulties controlling their magic, allowing them to communicate without burning down the house.
Understanding what he was saying, Flores reached behind him to grab what Jay wanted—a metal trash can lid. It was too big for Jay to carry it comfortably, so Flores carried it for him. What Jay would use it for, however, was beyond him, that is, until Jay grabbed it and chucked it halfway across the water.
Whispering some quick rhymes, the hybrid flexed his muscles and leapt into the air. Much to Flores's surprise, Jay successfully landed on the trash lid midair and grabbed onto it. Teal-colored lightning sparked from the bottom as Jay hit the water, and it propelled him forward as he rid it like a surfboard.
A kid with lightning powers floating on a metallic disc. I swear I've seen that before.
"I can take us across pops." Fonhare leaped off Flores'head, and, transformed in a puff of smoke, he appeared in his father's form.
"No. Imma handle this one myself."
"If that's what you desire." Getting into the water. Fonhare's tail began to spin rapidly as he began to propel across the waters.
"If I can't do something as simple as cross a lake... why am I doubting myself? Of course, I can." Similar to Jay. Flores held out his hand and made a disc of paper out of his arm. Though looking at it, it wasn't nearly large enough to carry him.
"No, that's not it. Maybe." Flores swapped to his new glider. It was a banner with no pole, leaving only the fabric grabable. The image on it was that of a pegasus with a similar look to Atorie soaring through the air.
"This is going to be stupid, but at least there's water below me and not solid land. It'll still hurt, but I'm not one to care. Light of the sky, listen, fly through the air!" Turning into a ball of light, Flores blasted into the sky, high above the lake and trees.
As the spell ended, he began to fall; that's when his flag's special ability took effect, slowing his descent as he fell with style. Flores laughed, glad that his plan worked, but he soon found out the lake was much larger than he imagined, and he was nowhere near making it across.
"Fuck. Okay, think think." Flores began to ponder for a bit before finally thinking of something "I got it! [Erst Banner]!" Calling down an Erst Banner, Flores grabbed it out of the air as it fell towards him. Switching to his violin, Flores began falling through the air as he wrapped the thread around the first banner and his arm before finally throwing it with all his might. "[Order Change: Bundrill Mother Flag!]"
As the banner flew, it shifted mid-air and shot forward like a bullet. Quickly wwitching back to his pegasus banner, Flores was dragged along as he held onto dear life. i
"FLORES! YOU'RE GOING TO OVERSHOOT THE LAKE!" Lizen yelled.
"I'LL SURVIVE. SEE YOU AT THE TOP!" Flores shouted back as the banner dissipated. His speed was still high though, and he passed over the entire lake with ease. He even made it to the steps of the mountain, though his landing wasn't as smooth as the flight there. He damaged stairs, and even crashed into one of the sign post. But he got up with minor scratches and walked it off like nothing happened.
"Thank the Lord for high defense." Flores exhaled as he dusted himself off. He was at an area where the stairs cut off, and a path forward was through the forest of the mountain. "Seems like I'm pretty far up; maybe I should wait for..."
"Successor?"
"Hmm?" Flores turned around and saw Silas walking up the stairs, carrying a massive boulder overhead. At the sight of the hero, Silas casually tossed the rock aside with one hand and got closer.
"There's no doubting it; I didn't think you'd be arriving so soon. I would have prepared a feast and everything."
"You're Mihares master. Tome was it?"
"Yep, but you can call me Silas." Silas held out his hand, which Flores immediately grabbed. He was expecting a simple handshake, but Silas's grip grew stronger and stronger, slowly crushing his hand. Flores strengthened his grip in response, easing up the pain, but still not enough to overpower the grandmaster's squeeze.
"Ow." Flores yelped as Silas let go.
"Apologies, I couldn't help myself with a little test of strength." Silas chuckled nervously.
I'm starting to not like this guy. Flores thought as he rubbed his hand.
"What are you doing here?"
"Daily training. I take the path every day to keep fit. Though it's been a bit too easy lately, so I've been adding more and more weight and reps every day until it gets challenging. Right now I'm at 400 pounds and twenty down and backs. It takes about two hours to complete."
… yeah, also going on the never-fight-ever list.
Flores took a step forward and activated a pressure plate. Hearing something shoot out, Flores raised his hand and caught a dart right before it hit him in the face.
"A dart?"
"Nice catch. The speed of the mechanisms was upgraded yesterday, so it's awesome that you were able to react." Silas praised.
Flores looked under him, seeing all the fake stones along the path ahead.
"What the hell is this?"
"Love it or hate it, it's the second trial. Can you wade your way through a path of enemies trying to kill you all at once? Let's see."
Silas stepped onto the path as well. Though instead a dart came at him, it flew harmlessly between them.
"Oh, and the dart patterns are random. Have fun with that." Silas ran onto the path, triggering every pressure plate in sight while dodging through the hail of darts with ease.
Flores watch the grandmaster play around with the contraption deadpan stare. This is supposed to be a trial to get into the country, yet it's so deadly for no reason whatsoever. How any normal person was supposed to get through this was beyond him. But he wasn't normal, so getting through this wouldn't be an issue at all. At least he hoped it wouldn't.
Taking his next few steps, Flores moved slowly, dodging, blocking, and even catching some of the incoming darts. In between each volley, he would jump to the next step, hoping to activate as few pressure plates as possible. It also didn't help that Silas was already setting off almost every trap that put him in the crossfire. And unlike Silas, he didn't have the liberty of being able to flip around. Something had to take the fall for his all-around decent stats, and that was his agility. It was the lowest in his stat pool, and he got diminishing returns after he got to level 40. At most he could run pretty fast, but that was no help in this situation.
Each movement he did had to be precise. How far he leaned and crouched to dodge certain darts was crucial, as one mistake could put him in a detrimental position. He didn't know what these darts did, but he wasn't planning on finding out.
"So, successor, what brings you here so early?" Silas asked. He, for some reason, turned back and was now dashing around Flores, effortlessly dodging every dart that was launched, while striking up a conversation. Flores himself was trapped, as the constant hail of darts spawned by Silas blocked every path of escape. Though it seemed that every dart that would supposedly hit him was stopped long before it could actually reach him.
Really, starting to not like this guy. Flores sighed as he opened his mouth.
"I'm looking for some training; I want to get a better grasp on my Lifeforce training before the wave hits."
Silas had moved so fast that he was producing afterimages. And all of them tiled their heads at the answer.
"Lifeweave: First Symphony: Broken Song."
Silas suddenly stopped as his bracers glowed purple. Swinging his arm, a purple trail of his swing shot out, deflecting every dart coming towards them. Silas then picked up Flores and leapt clear across the second trial, bringing them both to safety.
"But aren't you on the second wave? Your magic and levels should be enough for like... awhile. Why not focus on them?" Silas asked as he put Flores down.
"Lizen said the exact same thing. I just want a decent understanding of the Wild Winds and lifeforce in general; I don't need to master them right away."
"Kiddo is right though; you aren't suited to learning the wild winds anyway."
"How come?"
"You know the three current lifeforce styles, correct?"
"Sort of. Augmentation, Lifeweave, and the Wild Winds, correct?"
"Indeed. And the Wild Winds are the hardest to learn of them all."
Silas picked up a stick and began drawing on the ground. Within three squares, he drew a lion, two hands shaking, and a top hat.
"Augmentation is the simplest of the three styles made many years ago as an imitation of the Adrene-lions. It's the easiest form to learn, since it's just flaring up your ki for a short burst of energy." Silas demonstrated by kicking a tree and breaking through it effortlessly.
"And Lifeweave is the style of the previous grandmaster's creation. It's not only a projection of your lifeforce, but a projection of the will of your weapon. You saw it when I defended us earlier; the will to defend lingered on and extended itself to stop all the darts from hitting us. But that requires you to form a connection to your weapon, something you can easily do since your weapon is alive."
"Oh right… I forgot about that. Ow." Flores shook his hand as he felt a sudden shock.
"What happened? A dart?"
"Nothing, just continue."
"... alright then. Anyways, the Wild Wind has the steepest learning curve of the bunch, as it requires you to know how the other two styles operate just to have a shot at learning it. It's like a very hard dance. You have to project your lifeforce in a short burst while simultaneously matching the lifeforce of the element in hand so it can flow harmlessly around you. It not only requires one being able to see the life energy of others. But it forces the user into a position where there's little room for error. Even I, a grandmaster, can only redirect it. I'm nowhere near the skill of the little hare, who can somehow morph and use said elements for attacks."
Silas did a similar demonstration to Lizens, where he tossed a bolt of lightning that curled back and was redirected by the wild winds.
"Now this doesn't make sense on a surface level, but you're off balanced. Your ki is off, cursed, and unstable. You can bring it out, but you don't have the focus to bring it to its full potential, almost like something subconsciously is holding you. Until you get that down, your chances of learning Wild Winds are straight zero. Understand now?" Silas asked. Flores nodded his head but still had some comment he refused to say.
He already knew what was holding him back, so he couldn't do anything but work on himself. Though this wasn't the only question he had in mind. He's been taking note of everything Silas does and couldn't help but notice he was eerily similar to Lizen in almost all regards. Even the examples and suggestions of a ki style were presented in the same way, almost like if they shared a braincell.
First the comment about Lifeweave, and now this.
"Unrelated question. Are you like... Is Lizen's uncle or something? You two are very similar."
"Nope. I'm his father."
…
"Oops… wasn't supposed to say that." Silas scratched the back of his head as he started to walk the mountain trail with a tree he picked up.
"Hold on what!?"
"Well, there's no hiding it now. Contrary to popular belief, Lizen is not the heir of the Sinclair lineage, but instead, the bastard."
/~/
"Achoo!" Lizen sneezed.
/~/
"Well, I thought as much when I heard about his past. So you're the unknown father his mother was unfaithful with."
"It was." Silas sighed. "She was the daughter of my master, the previous grandmaster, believe it or not. She was just married off to the Sinclair clan due to an arranged marriage, as she was a pure mage with little capability for lifeforce. She wanted a way to break the marriage if things went south. I was her target; I refused at first, but after a party with the omega and drinking... yeah, you can put the rest together."
The same as how Lizen and Riala met. These two are definitely made from the same flesh.
"Then why lie? Many people believe Mihare is the bastard of the family when she's supposed to be the heir."
"You'll have to ask the kiddo for that one. The Sinclair family secret has only been shared between the three of us; even Riala doesn't know of his true lineage. Whatever convinced those two to come up with this "scandal" for is something only the two of them know."
"So I need to ask Miahre for her account of the story. I always did wonder why she left and never returned."
"I know it's connected to her mother in some way. She never went into detail, but it's as if she discovered something new about her death." Silas explained. "Well, that's all I know. Now hurry up; we're approaching the final trial."
"Got it." Flores replied as he matched Silas pace.
Their walk quickly turned into a run as Silas and Flores sped through the mountainous forest. There were some traps along the path, none of which posed a threat to him but would absolutely mess up a normal person if they were hit. Silas claimed no one had died ascending the mountain, but Flores had doubted this claim.
"Hold up." Silas slid to a stop and blocked Flores from moving forward. "We're here."
Flores looked over over Silas's shoulder and saw an area with a single metallic-looking slime sitting there.
"Huh. First slime I've seen in this world."
"It's a special slime, a mimic specifically. It was deemed too powerful and hard to control even with a behemoth collar, so they gave it to Rinoth so we could kill it. But it took a liking to us, so it's now our patented third trial." Silas explained proudly.
"So what's it do?"
"It appraises your stats and transforms into a person it's fought before; that it believes is your hard counter. Though it can only mimic abilities to a certain extent."
"Fallum made that? What are they, mad scientists?"
"Yes. No joke, that's literally what they are."
Silas stepped forward as the slime bounced up and down. Glowing silver, the slime shifted its form into that of Shiku and brought both of its knuckles together.
"Rules are simple. Once a person is on the ground for five seconds, they lose. What is defined as "on the ground" is lying on your back, side, or stomach after receiving a direct attack. So you can sit down with no penalty, but I advise not to do so in a real fight."
"Understood."
"Now, let's begin." Silas tossed a coin into the air as he stepped over to his side of the arena.
"[Shockwave: Magnitude 7]"
Once the coin hit the ground, Mimic Shiku punched the ground, cracking and rumbling the earth.
Silas was unhindered though and effortlessly navigated through the shaking earth and threw a punch.
Mimic Shiku blocked it and threw her own. But Silas and countered with a kid to the slime head,
knocking it off balanced. Shifting behind it's body, Silas's gauntlets produced a blade that stabbed into the back of the mimic, but it shrugged it off and attacked back. Silas narrowly dodged the hit as the shockwave from the punch continued and broke through several trees.
Using the moment to gain some distance, Silas ran back into the fray to continue his assault.
I see. Silas is built like a rouge, quick, and high attack. So the mimic went for a highly defensive build with a high attack. It's also using the rumbling earth to limit his approach and account for the speed difference. This thing really knows its stuff. Flores thought as he continued to watch.
Silas the slime went at it, one unable to do any significant damage, with the other being unable to hit its target. A back and forth that got nowhere real fast. Despite this, Silas didn't admit defeat and went faster and faster as the battle went on, a trail of lightning following behind him now.
After knocking the mimic off balance with a kick to the head, he used the mimic's face as a platform and lept off it. Calling a bolt of lightning to his hand, he gathered it into a ball and tossed it onto the mimic. An explosion of lightning expanded, paralyzing the mimic as Silas came in.
Before he could hit it, however, he withdrew from his attack and did another swing, only to feint again. By then, the mimic had already recovered, but it didn't attack, instead opting to defend itself as Silas dashed around it, doing feint after feint. The lighting generated from Silas grew stronger and stronger; that's when he finally made his move.
Stopping in front of the mimic, he thrust his bladed gauntlet at it's face, a powerful bolt of lightning following behind it. The attack was obvious, however, and the mimic attacked back with its own fist, willing to take the hit. But it's fist never connected as Silas pulled back at the last moment and flipped over the attack.
"[Lifeweave, Second Cycle: Waxing Cresent.]"
Midair, the lightning on Silas combined with his glowing blade and sent out an electrified slash that effortlessly cut through the mimic's neck. Landing the flip, Silas unsheethed his hidden blades as the mimic's head fell off.
"And five. I win once again." Silas laughed as the mimic finally finished molding itself back together. Dropping back into the form of a ball, it wobbled violently, almost as if it were expressing frustration as the grandmaster.
"Welp, you're next Successor."
…
"Successor?"
"Don't mind me, I'm just... whatever." Flores stepped onto the field, facing the slime.
After reading his stats, the slime changed to Lizen, just as Flores expected. Except it didn't stay in that form for long. For whatever reason, it changed to a different form, that of Silas, before changing once again. It continued to shift to different forms, unsure of which one to choose.
"Uhh, what's going on?"
"Legends say the morale hero was an all-rounder in it's stats, so it probably doesn't have a specific person to counter you. So it's going through everyone's memory to see which one has better stats in general."
"Isn't that cheating?"
"How do you cheat in a fight?"
"Well you… huh." Flores pondered this until the slime finally decided on a form.
"Eh? That farmer?"
"Oh, I remember him. Farming tool hero."
"I have to fight another hero." Flores grumbled.
"Well, I guess the best hard counter for a hero would be another hero."
And I can barely fight Lizen. Man, my 1v1 record stinks.
Stepping into the ring, Flores held out his flag towards the slime. Reaching out its hand, the slime ejected a hex-sphere. As the ball hovered over it's hands, darkness seeped out, forming itself into that of a hoe. The mimic then grabbed the hoe, twirling it around a bit like a staff, before touching the end of it on Flores's flag.
"Same rules as last time, and try not to kill each other." Silas tossed a coin into the air, the tension rising as both fighters were ready to strike down the other. Finally, the coin hit the ground, and both fighters jumped back.
"[Attack Order!] [Beginners Flourish!]" Flores wasted no time and immediately deployed his attack order. Pushing Ki into his legs, Flores lept across the field and swung his flag in a horizontal arc.
The mimic saw this attack coming and swung it's hoe as well, stopping Flores's attack with little difficulty. Stepping onto Flores flag, the mimic punched the hero, launching him back across the field.
"[Weave Ravine Strike.]" In a watery voice, the mimic lept forward as his hex spear shifted from darkness to earth. Swinging his weapon down, Flores raised his weapon to block the hit but was still slammed into the ground, shattering the earth around him.
"One! Two! Thr-"
At the third count, Flores pushed the mimic off of him with his paper and got back up. Using the boomerang flag, Flores tossed his flag at the mimic midair, but it was deflected easily, and the mimic reached the ground unscathed.
He's shrugging off everything I'm doing, even with attack order up. I need a solid hit off.
Flores stepped forward, but the mimic suddenly disappeared into the ground. Searching for where it could go, Flores narrowly dodged a strike, getting his arm cut as the mimic came out of the ground.
Taking advantage of the moment, Flores grabbed the arm of the mimic, turned around, and threw it over his back. Flowing ki into his legs once more, he lept into the air and came down with an Electro Flourish that connected with the mimic. It took some damage, but not nearly enough to take it down, let alone stagger it long enough to secure the win. Immediately after taking the attack, it's hex sphere turned from earth to wind as it struck Flores with a gust that launched him into the air.
"[Erst Banner!] [Second Banner!] [Change Order: Prism Trumpet, Drum Roll!]"
Sending down two banners, the mimic flipped off the ground and dodged the two banners. The flags, however, manifested a drum and trumpet above them and began firing their notes at the slime.
It had no issue deflecting them, but Flores landed and ran back at the mimic with his flag on fire. Just as he was about to hit the mimic, a second hex-sphere popped out of it's arm, forming another hoe out of darkness. It then used it to block Flores flag and push him way.
"[Weave: Dual Lunar Strikes.]"
Crossing both hoes, the darkness collided with each other and sent an x-shaped slash at the hero. Flores dodged the flying slash, but both banners were cleaved through in an instant.
Turning back around, the mimic was already upon him and grabbed Flores by the face.
[Weave: Lunar Strike.]" Tossing Flores into the air, the mimic spun around and hit Flores with a slash of darkness, knocking him through several trees. As Flores tried to get up, he quickly summoned his defense order as another cross slash crashed into him.
The mimic laid its weapons down, thinking it won, but Flores was far from out. Rushing out the smoke with, he swings his flag, launching a barrage of feathers that put the mimic on the defensive. He used this moment to change his defense order to strength order and ran for the mimic.
Raising his flag, the mimic raised its hoes to block the attack. But Flores feinted at the last second, and Flores grabbed the hoes instead.
"Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelop the desert in your glow, and cast your rage upon thy foe; summon the power from deep within so that together we may win. Thank you, duel monsters. [Galaxy Ray!]"
From his hand, a bright light glowed and shot out as a massive beam of light. The mimic was caught in the light and was carried off with it, soon colliding on the side of the with a massive explosion of late following.
"Too… far?" Flores asked, breathing heavily.
"No, that's quite the necessary amount of force. You might wanna look up though."
"Huh?" Flores looked up and saw a bolt of lightning fall to the ground. Leaping out the way, the bolt crashed into the ground, revealing the mimic in its wake. It's body was a bit melted, but it was still up and ready to throw down.
Rushing at Flores, the hero made an attempt to parry the attacks, but the sheer speed of the mimic got through and smacked him across the head with its hoe. It then struck again with the second, faster than the last. It continued the assault for another seven hits before finally delivering the final attack to Flores stomach. Being launched across the ground, Flores roll for a bit before coming to a stop.
He attempted to push himself up, but the mimic was right on him. Hitting the downed hero with a whirlwind, Flores was launched into the air. As he fell back down, he noticed the mimics waiting for him to return. Bracing for the attack, Flores was hit into the ground with a thunderous strike before being slammed even further into the earth by another ravenous strike.
This final attack did him in, as Flores lied on the ground, unable to get back up.
"And that's five. Mimic wins." Silas announced.
The mimic danced around in its original form, happy for its victory. Silas, during this dance, went over to Flores and handed him some milk.
"Here, milk from the maiden cow. It may not be an instant heal, but it's the best we got."
"Appreciated." Flores coughed as he drank the milk. The fatigue of his body went away as his wounds began to heal slowly. Pushing himself up with his flag, he slowly limped his way over to Silas.
"This won't prevent me from entering, right?"
"It won't. The third test is to test your proficiency in combat; it doesn't matter if you win or lose; you got a passing grade."
"Good. Cause I wasn't going down that mountain." Flores chuckled. "Ow."
"Ha!" Silas laughed. "Your hilarious. Now come on, let's get you to the guest rooms." Silas grabbed Flores by the shoulder and helped him up the mountain. It was a short walk from the final stage, and after a few minutes, Flores and Silas rached the top of the mountain and stood at the gates of Rinoth.
"OPEN THE GATE!" Silas yelled.
At his command, the gate opened up, revealing Rinoth in all its glory. Unlike Foo, whose architecture was Mexican-inspired. Rinoth instead got its inspiration from China, with many of its buildings and temples built, just as Flores would see in any show on television.
"Come on, successor. Once we're done, I'll show you to your room."
"But where are we going?" Flores asked, now able to walk himself now that his exhaustion is gone.
"Simple. A sneak peak of Rinoth glory, it's very first wonder!"
/~/
"Silas. This is the girls' bath."
"I'm aware. This is what I meant by the first wonder of Rinoth. You'll be able to see the fruits of their labor. Their chiseled abs, their naked muscular legs, their powerful biscept, the mightyness of their chest... well, that last one can't be trained, but I don't discriminate." Silas drooled.
Muscle fetish got it. Flores mentally sighed as he slapped his face.
"Are you the grandmaster? Shouldn't you be a bit more reserved than this?"
"My master once said that behind every great master is an even greater pervert. Therefore, it is my duty to see this through to the end."
Silas cracked open the door, hoping to get a glimpse into paradise. Instead of the chest and muscles of the woman inside, it was a foot to his face, covering his eyes and pinning him against the wall.
The foot belonged to Mihare, who was in a pretty compromising position herself. Her kick exposed plain white underwear for Flores to see. She also had no bra on, but it was protected by the arm she wrapped around herself.
Shiku was also in the room, her chest wrapped in a sarashi and waist covered by a fudoshi. Though she showed no embarrassment and was ready to attack the grandmaster as well.
"Master. I respectfully ask that you turn away and leave the girls locker room be." Mihare demanded.
"Sorry, tophat, no can do. Boys will be bo-" Silas received a second kick from Mihare, sending him through the wall. Mihare then turned to Flores, a little blush on her face as she faced the hero.
"Flores."
"Mihare," Flores replied nervously.
"Stay pure."
/~/
Journal of Flores: Maiden Cows
With the destruction of the old world order and of Alexandira 2.0. The new world lost plenty of things, one of which was healing potions. It seems the concept of a potion goes way back but earned the status of a rare item that could only be found in the ruins of the old world.
Without this useful item, alternatives were searched for in order to imitate it's power. One of these items was the maiden's milk. Coming from the maiden cows, maiden milk acts as a weaker healing potion, quickening healing fatigue and small wounds while taking a bit of time to heal larger injuries.
This was thought to be the answer to their problems, as the milk was easy to produce from just a few cows. But after a group of poachers hunted many of them down, the maidens milk became a commodity only the richest of adventurers and nobles could own. For comparison, it will cost about 100 notes to buy one bottle, which is about 11.000 dollars in American dollars.