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It had been six whole months since Alice arrived in Valderon, in the time since she was summoned she had made great strides in battle. Her fighting style, however, differed greatly from many other soldiers. The way she wielded her sword was different from what her instructors knew, she incorporated aspects of modern martial arts into her techniques.
Generally, they let Alice train however she preferred as long as she could best or fight on equal terms with other soldiers, and that was precisely what she did. She trained alone, sparring against any soldier who challenged her to a match. She only lost when one of the nation's elites decided they wanted to fight her, but even then, it didn't happen frequently. There were still plenty of soldiers who refused to engage Alice because she was female, and others simply weren't willing to take their chances at being beaten by a woman. Even so, Alice continued training whenever possible, and her skills grew steadily.
One day, while walking through the castle corridors, she heard a pair of guards talking about something interesting. Lord Valderon was planning a tournament between the greatest soldiers and combatants in Valderon with no restrictions on participation other than nationality, as long as you were considered a member of Valderon, then you could join. Its purpose was for the Lord to find an heir, he himself was childless, so it was necessary to find a replacement for him sooner rather than later. This also meant there would be a lot more fighters coming from outside the castle walls.
Alice then continued on her way, she didn't exactly want to be the next ruler of Valderon, but it would at least be entertaining to test her skills against the greatest men and women in Valderon.
It was a week later that the king formally announced the tournament. He explained to everyone present that immigrants would be allowed to participate as long as they had citizenship in Valderon. The victor of the tournament would become heir to all of Valderon. That night, Alice went to bed thinking about the upcoming event, and how it might change the future of Valderon.
The following morning, Alice left the barracks just after breakfast to look around the tournament grounds. It wasn't too far away, a short walk along the main road took her directly to the entrance gates. There were still a few days left before the tournament started, but even so, quite a few people were already there, training. Many of the soldiers and guards she had seen before, but there were also peasants, and nobles as well, from the lowest farmhand to the highest lords, she rarely saw any of them but occasionally ran into some of the nobles. A number of these people looked at her oddly, and she felt like a circus freak, mostly it was because they knew her as the Hero of Valderon.
She found a place near the gate where she could sit down and watch the ongoing matches, and over the course of the day she watched many different types of battles unfold. Most of which involved duels among single combatants. She did occasionally see spell casting among the non-human species, which surprised her, so far, she had assumed that only the southerners and other members of the opened eye could use magic.
Once one of the elves left the arena for the day, she ran down to meet him. "Hey," she said, approaching him at the entrance. The elf raised an eyebrow curiously, his hair was dark and silky smooth. His skin was pale, and he wore green leather armour with silver embroidery along the collar and hem.
"Oh, I've heard about you, Second Hero of Valderon, Alice, right?" the elf replied. "How are you?"
"Fine, fine. You're going to be participating in this tournament, aren't you?"
"Yes, indeed, I am." The elf smiled slightly.
"What's your name?" Alice asked, eagerly, it was clear to see that Alice had things to ask the elf.
"My name is Elberos, Elberos Dawnrest. Are you really a hero? Everyone has always talked about you, but nobody ever seemed sure whether you existed or not."
"I do exist." She answered. "Though I don't think I'm much of a hero yet, I have my work cut out for me, haven't I?"
Elberos laughed lightly, and nodded. "Indeed you do. And what brings you here, anyway? Did you come to check out the tournament?"
"Originally, yes. But right now, I'm way more interested in you."
A flicker of interest crossed the elf's face. "I'm a very ordinary elf, well, until after the tournament, then I'll be king of Valderon."
Alice gave a little laugh. "You seem awfully certain of yourself."
"That's only because I know I can win, and that the others will lose." The elf smirked. "So, tell me, what brought you to approach me?"
"Well, from the moment I arrived, I believed that only members of the order of the opened eye could use magic." Alice began explaining. "But, I saw you using it in battle, and I realized I was mistaken."
Elberos tilted his head, "The order of the opened eye. The Arch-Wizard no doubt believes that magic comes from his god of the sun. But it doesn't, the progenitors of magic were those like me, the elves. Even Keazeiros Valderon, the founder, could use magic. But humans have forgotten the art."
"Do you think you could teach me? The Arch Wizard has refused to teach me because I don't believe in the sun god." Alice admitted.
"Maybe after the tournament, it wouldn't do to have you become the queen" Elberos offered.
"What's the matter?" she asked, "are you chicken?" she mocked.
Elberos' ears flattened, and he stopped, he turned to look at Alice "Clever girl. Use my pride against me, fine, I'll teach you the basics, but you'll have to learn how to wield it yourself."
Alice agreed. "Alright, I guess we should get started. What do you need me to do?"
Later on, in a small shack that belonged to Elberos, he taught her basic spells, and Alice learned quickly. She had a knack for magic, and was able to pick up the basics within a couple of hours. As she practised her new skills, Elberos was silent, watching her intently. After a few hours of training, the elf sighed, and sat back, "I think that will do, hero. You have all the basics down, you won't be able to challenge my powers with what you know, but at least you won't need the Arch Wizard and his sun god." He rose, and stretched. "If you're lucky, I'll let you be queen when I retire."
Alice chuckled, "I have no intention of being queen, if I win the tournament, I'll probably surrender the throne to the runner-up." she said and left the shack, heading back to the castle. She was quite excited, she would soon find herself in battle against the best of the best in Valderon.
Data Analysis -
Upon finalizing all the data they would acquire, they were then capable of identifying the origin of the large spires that surrounded the moon. It was apparent now that the spires were of the same make and nature of the previous spacecraft they had encountered in the dead star system. Whoever this civilization was, it was clear they had been active in this star system as well. A possibility there was yet more of their technology still in operation.
Perhaps the most fascinating detail of the data was just how familiar this alien technology was to their scanning systems. Finding the very basis of the raw code to be a type of reversed engineered auldran script. Having decrypted its programming, it is deciphered to have actually been designed to jam the signals coming from the planet of Lhantasia. Effectively silencing these people from the rest of the galaxy.
Crater of the Tomb -
As the king’s riders pressed on to their destination, the effects of the effluvia-like mist became inescapable as they made it through to the maw of the massive crater of the moon. This would be the very place the scilocybe mist would concentrate the most in all the northern hemisphere. This much mist was dangerous even to the Nisse as they proceeded to put on their respirators and then their chocobo’s before taking a single step further. Even still, it was not enough to stop the effects that had already began to take effect on them as their eyes began to dilate nearly completely in just mere moments. Their vision tunneling as it began to show too much to them. Their perception fragmenting as they began to see all that would come to be.
And as they did, the leader of the riders would take his scanner from his belt and activate it while aiming towards the night sky. As he foresaw the coming decent of the aliens from the dark heavens. He knew well, they were already too late to stop them. And yet they pressed on.
The Tomb, now in all its glory could be seen as it rested pierced through the sea of mist that blanketed the entire crater. A large stone sphere, intricately carved with the alien iconography of a lost people. Cracks and holes lining it all as a display of its very age. All around it were haphazardly stuck together communication relays and antennae. Wires strapping everything together and they all converged and entered the tomb through the same opening in the back. It was clear now, that this was the very place the transmission had once originally came from.
Recon Investigation -
As the recon teams would prowl on, the characteristics of the mist could now begun to be understood. As some of the mist began to accumulate on the nooks and crevices of their suits. Scans of the substance would reveal a bizarre chemical nature completely unknown to them. Some of its properties being understood as psychoactive in some capacity. As they would move through this mist, it would seem as if time itself began to be dragged through the air that surrounded it. Much like how when heat would radiate off of a surface and distort the visibility of the surrounding air.
As the recon teams moved to approach the settlements, the sight of their makeshift towns came into their full view. Massive mechanical devices all entrenched into the desert sand as they connected together from all sides and positions. All settlements were unique to each of their tribes of people with their own cultural identity and style. Some larger, some architectural. All of it quite a degree of sophisticated detail. The Nisse, a hearty people of clever decent.
It wouldn’t be long before the sun began to poke its way from over beyond the edges of the besieging valleys. Drenching all the world in its warm embracing light. The mist nearly immediately rising and evaporating as it became a soft morning dew. The Nisse now all returned home. And just as quickly, their very settlements began to lift from the surrounding sands and split into their many sections before falling into formation. They would soon discover why they are called the walking cities of Lhantasia.
Visai’s Discovery
Visai’s scans would reveal vast intricate details of the surface of the planet. Nearly if not completely mapping every continent and all its features all the way down to each of their individual settlements current location. Their largest city built deep into the cliff side of a large looming mountain. In fact, there were many of such cities all built into the earth itself. Many connecting with others hundreds of km away. Thousands of years of ruins and abandoned sights now marked on their maps on the surface for further investigation.
Apart from all this data, evidence of previous conflict to began to emerge from all over the western region. Massive graveyards of destroyed vessels and buildings would litter the land. And just above this location, orbiting it from space, the debris of a former possible space station of considerable size continuously falls towards the earth. The sheer amount of raw destruction astounding as the analysis of the area continued.
With all the technology found in this place, pointing to the same hostile species they had encountered earlier, Visai decided he should up their defense systems. He'd been planning on it already, but now with his mind focused on the existence of enemy forces that might be able to fight on par with them, he realized that something was needed to give them an edge over such a threat.
The problem lay not in the technology itself, since there were many new developments available to them, but rather in how best to implement it and where to put it. The current layout was still functional, and if nothing else, it would serve as a temporary solution until more permanent changes could be made. That meant going through the process of adding in the necessary components for each system, which wasn't exactly simple.
He sat down in the control chair and glanced at the schematics, taking note of what was missing from the plan, he had the information on each team on the planet on the other side, just in case his attention was needed. Meanwhile, he had a few more ships leave the hangar to establish a perimeter.
The Admiral, Aladia, seemingly having tracked down the source of the distress signal she received, took a direct approach to it.
She had the shuttle's pilot land not too far from the source signal. The shuttle landed with barely a thump, and the hatch opened, a beam of light extended to form a tangible ramp. And Aladia walked down flanked by a few of her own soldiers, mostly robotic. She herself was clad in a form-fitting black uniform, but with the enviro-field generator still keeping her safe from any foreign bacteria or viruses.
She ordered her troops to fan out and comb the area.
The recon teams took pictures of the city and recorded the movements of their structures, they didn't have any other orders from Visai, so they only continued their investigation as ordered. They were not to take any risks that would put them in danger.
As the sun began to rise on the horizon, the first rays of light began to illuminate the buildings. The team leaders watched carefully through their scopes for signs of movement or anything improper.
Visai was still looking over the plans when some new information was available, he turned his head to another hologram. The debris on the planet had most likely come from the same debris in space, he tapped a few buttons in an attempt to calculate the trajectory of the debris, the rate of movement of both it and the moons and planets as well as their gravitational pull.
With all this, Visai was attempting to use the systems of the dreadnought to find out what had caused the debris field.
A week passed by quickly, Alice had used the days to gain greater control of her magical powers. She didn't understand why someone like her seemed to have so much potential, after all, she was from a world where magic didn't even exist outside of card tricks and sleight of hand. Yet now she wielded true magical powers.
Her newfound ability in magic infuriated many members of the Order of the Opened Eye, if her powers became known to the greater public, then the Order would be unable to keep their ruse going, it would become common knowledge that the sun god had nothing to do with magic.
Alice armed herself with her weapons and armour, the equipment she had been given by the King, she then stepped out of her room and hurried along to the tournament where she registered and was guided into the dressing room, there were roughly 600 competitors by the end of the registration. Each competitor was weighed and measured both naked and in armour, every competitor had a maximum weight proportional to their height and body weight to make sure no one was better equipped than the others.
Alice was able to enter the tournament with her normal gear, as it wasn't all that heavy to begin with, for the first rounds the competitors were divided into sixteen blocks and will have a battle royal, the blocks were divided by letters found in the alphabet of Valderon.
So, the blocks were divided into blocks; A, B, C, D, E, F, Z, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P and Q. Alice looked over the list, she was in block N, she noticed that Elberos was in block C, and for whatever reason the Arch-Wizard, Haker D'Aetes was in block O. Alice was surprised that he had decided to join the tournament, there were many other names across the various blocks that seemed vaguely familiar, but none of them stood out in particular.
The opening ceremony began, and Alice watched on curiously at what was happening. The audience sat watching the arena below, the Arena itself was large enough to hold several thousand spectators, its walls were made entirely from stone which formed three sides of an enclosed area. The arena floor was covered with sand, and in the middle of the arena was a circle of stones about ten feet in diameter.
In the centre of each of the four corners of the arena was placed a tall post topped with a crosspiece, these posts acted as support beams for the arena roof. On either side of the arena were two long rows of seats which faced the arena's entrance, these seats were arranged in concentric circles around the arena, making the seating areas appear to form a half sphere. At the very back of the arena, opposite the seating area, were the dressing rooms, where Alice and the other contestants were still waiting.
One part of the seating area was raised high above the rest, with a set of three thrones forming the main viewing platform. Lord Valderon himself sat in the middle chair and behind him, to his left, was the Arch Bishop. The third chair was most likely meant for the Arch Wizard, but as he had joined the tournament himself. He was also in the dressing room, where he was glaring at Alice from afar.
Lord Valderon called upon the guards standing by the entrance to open the arena gates, the crowd cheered as the gates opened and revealed the arena floor. The arena was lit by torches hung at regular intervals on chains hanging from the arena ceiling, these flames gave off light without being too bright, they were just right for watching the fights. In addition to the lighting provided by the torches, there were small lights embedded within the arena walls which illuminated the arena when needed.
As the arena doors opened, the contestants of block A emerged, a man in a booth above the dressing rooms called out through a magical device of some kind, "Good people of Valderon, welcome to the Arena!" The crowd cheered again, and the contestants started walking down the steps towards the arena. As soon as the last contestant entered, the announcer continued speaking, "Today, we have a special event between the 592 contestants gathered here today. Let me explain today's competition!" The spectators cheered loudly, but the announcer's voice drowned it out thanks to the magic device.
"For the first rounds, competitors are divided into sixteen blocks, and it's going to be a battle royal!" he announces "A battle royal is a match in which all competitors fight at once, all other competitors are your enemy except yourself. The last one standing without being eliminated or killed will be the winner and progress to the next phase, we're about to get started."
With that, the arena erupted with cheers and shouts as the combatants took up position around the arena, swords drawn, shields ready, eyes sharp. It was clear from the beginning that the contestants didn't want to be seen as weak. "It's the first round of the special event in the Valderonian Arena! A battle Royal of the Block A's 37 competitors, let the battle begin!" with that he flung a large hammer into a gong at his side, signalling Block A's battle beginning.
At the command of the announcer, the contestants charged into battle, and chaos ensued. Within seconds of the start of the combat, blood was sprayed across the arena, and bodies littered the ground. There was no order to any of this, the only thing keeping things from becoming even worse was the fact that the arena was huge.
Within minutes of the start, the fighting was far more intense than before. Many of the fighters had begun to fall back, but there was still plenty of violence occurring. The announcer's voice boomed through the arena, calling out each competitor as they fell to defeat.
Alice was stunned at the display, the sheer amount of carnage was shocking, yet she could not take her eyes away from it. She had never fought anyone in person like this before, but now the reality of what was taking place became apparent to her.
The battle was over in just a few minutes, the last man standing was a human male, "The winner of Block A is the Human man, Gua Boulderfang!" the announcer announced.
The second round of the special event in the Arena was even more brutal than the previous one. 37 all new fighters stepped into the arena, everyone's eyes were on one of the Dwarves in the arena. A dwarf wearing a full plate mail suit and wielding a large axe. He was the strongest contender in the tournament, even among the dwarves, and was easily the most powerful of the lot. As he swung his axe with great force, he sent shockwaves through the air, knocking other opponents aside. Those unfortunate to stand within his range were sliced in two, it was a bloodbath until finally, everyone was either down or dead. Save for the armoured dwarf, "The - The winner of Block B, is the dwarf male, Karmir Halfbane!" the announcer announced.
Block C was the most deadly, in the first five minutes of the battle, every single fighter had fallen, except for the one remaining competitor. Elberos Dawnrest, the same elf who had trained Alice just a week before, surrounded by a sea of fire as he swung his hands around, flames kept appearing all around him.
He was so fast and nimble, and the flames surrounding him were strong enough to keep the other competitors from getting close, in the end, it was Elberos alone who won the block, "The victor of Block C is the elven man, Elberos Dawnrest!"
Alice looked on, she finally realized that Elberos had a real shot at winning the entire event, the battles kept on going until they reached Block N, when Alice herself had to enter the arena.
Alice walked onto the arena floor, her eyes fixed to the ground, the audience knew who she was, and there was no hiding the fact.
She looked at the other contestants, most of them were large, muscular men and women. Some more scrawny than the others, soldiers, guards, farmhands, all walks of life. Alice spun her sword in her hand, and her mind was racing with thoughts, she was about to enter the arena and fight to her death, and if she were lucky, then perhaps she would win the whole thing.
"Let the battle begin," the announcer declared as he threw a large wooden block into a metal gong, signalling the start of the match.
Alice tightened the grip on her sword, she wielded no shield as her style relied more on agility than defence.
Without hesitation, an orc female charged at Alice, and in one swift motion, she kicked Alice to the ground. The crowd roared in delight at the sudden show of power, and the orcs cheered. But it was short-lived as Alice used her free hand to push herself off the ground and landing on her feet again. The crowd was silent and looked upon the arena in amazement.
Alice then lifted her hand and electricity crackled in her hand, the orc backed away when it became apparent that Alice had magic, she took her sword in both hands and the electricity passed into her sword. She slashed in the air and the electricity struck the arena like lightning.
The orc that had attacked her was struck head on and fell unconscious from the hit, but the heat from the strike affected most other contestants as well. Alice then charged into the fray, using skills that the people of Valderon had never seen before. Abilities that could have only come from nations that did not exist in their world.
Alice had managed not to kill anyone, but some of her opponents were badly wounded, and the other contestants had managed to kill a few, but in the end, Alice stood alone as the victor of Block N. She took a deep breath; the announcer then said, "The Victor of Block N, is the Hero of Valderon, Alice Frost!"
Alice simply left the Arena and headed back into the training room. The next battle would be Block O, but she didn't bother watching, she was quite sure that Haker would win it, he wasn't the arch-wizard for nothing.
So, it would come to be, Haker would spend only a few minutes gunning down his opponent with bullets of water that flew about the arena, until he was finally declared the winner of Block O leaving Block P and Block Q, neither of which Alice bothered to watch.
Now that the sixteen victors were chosen, the bracket was decided as follows:
Gua, the human vs. Karmir, the dwarf;
Elberos, the elf vs. Carbellis, the half-elf;
Araglar, the half-orc vs, Belkyl, the dwarf;
Rizaren, the half-elf vs, Heixidor, the elf;
Erxidor, the elf vs, Brolvurk, the human;
Noroh, the human vs, Thardain, the Dwarf;
Alice, the human vs, Haker, the human;
And Lewul, the human vs, Vunkin, the human.
With these brackets in place, the tournament progressed.
The Tomb
From the depths of the evaporating sea of mist, the stairs that lead to the summit of the tomb would suddenly emerge before Aladia. Her shuttle’s ramp leading straight to it as they soon made contact with the ground. The echos of the clanking metal creating a deafening silence that followed it as a shift in the air could be felt amongst all there. As if something once wrong was suddenly realized, acknowledged, for the first time in ages.
The very view from this high up, astounding as there was nothing but this sole structure for miles all around as it laid in the dead center of this massive crater. Mist all around them like clouds. Slowly they would evaporate back to the skies it all once came down from. As the gentle morning light fell upon it all. Delicately caressing Aladia’s cheek it felt warm to all who could feel it. A sense of peace suddenly coming over everyone who witnessed it.
The Riders of the king soon followed as they would finally arrive to the very beginning of the stairs of the tomb. Taking just mere moments to collect themselves before instructing their chocobos to rush to the summit of the tomb. They’re respirators releasing the refined mist exhaust that would trail behind them. The leader would use his scanner’s lens to zoom in on the position of the aliens. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he would see it. After all these ages. Someone finally came. To his astonishment, a woman… was she ? Could it be ? He forced his chocobo to run even faster at the realization. His men close behind.
Aladia was now just a single step from reaching the stone stairs of the tomb. Before her she could now see that statues lined each side of the staircase and would lead all the way down and under the mist. And these monuments, were made in the very image of her people. Auldrans. Great legends she’s never once heard of before now standing true in her presence. Many of the statues half ruined, their names forever forgotten now. And at the very top of the stairs, the looming tomb was just meters from her grasp. The entrance, sealed by nothing but a massive stone wall which had been engraved with ancient sigils of a faith now lost. Above it, the lone and half crumbled emblem of the crescent of the old House of this world still hanging on as a final testament of time. The crescent of House Hypatia.
Walking Cities -
Within moments, the massive structures would begin to move through the sand. Slowly accelerating pace by pace as it appeared to swim through the thick, slippery desert sands. All across the surface, settlements from all over would begin their mass migrations to the north. To return to the great city of Irdyn.
Astonishingly organized and efficient were the lines that formed that lead the migrations. But the under the surface of their shelters, it was no easy task to achieve such a feat that would be the moving of entire cities hundreds of km.
The sun now finally present over the world. The remaining mist being absorbed by the environment itself.
Visai’s Inquiry
No matter how Visai would come to input the collected data to plausible calculations, all it would ever return would be an inconclusive result. Nothing that could concretely explain what could have caused this sight. More and more data began to be complied as he continued. Suddenly, an unlikely scenario became the central theory of the reconstruction of the seen. A like assault from the surface itself.
I’m fact, there were clear signs in the path of destruction that whatever occurred here happened within a relatively short time frame. In the realm of possibility that it did so in a single night. A sudden unseen assault that quickly overwhelmed the local forces. All semblance of control lost as entire buildings and city blocks lay in ruin. And the victim of this carnage, the Lunaelysian Empire. It was their technology that littered here. They suffered here. But at the hands of what ? The Nisse ?
Further across the surface, data began to compile on the vast amount of discovered sights that resembled a form of possible enslavement camps. Evidence suggesting that there was an interest in burying these areas.
Aladia took another step, then placed her right foot on the stone step to the tomb and walked forward, trying to look as confident and regal as she could, she glanced at the statues. She wondered if she could dupe the inhabitants into thinking she was the same species as whoever the statues depicted. Aladia herself was oblivious that these statues did actually depict auldrans, like herself, with only minor differences.
Whe she reached the top, Aladia hesitated before running her hand across the engravings on the wall. The symbol of House Hypatia was unknown to her, it didn't look like the same symbol used by the queen of the auldrans in the modern age. Yet, there was something so familiar about everything here, she just could not place it.
The recon teams did not attempt to pursue the cities, which were clearly beyond their capabilities. The crews had been trained for espionage and assassinations, not pursuing mobile cities, if there was even a program for that.
Kaniros' capital, Landowar, was however mobile, but much larger considering it was a flying island that the Sorcerer King and later the Arch-Mage routinely moved around the continent, but this city seemed to be more nomadic in nature.
The teams theorized that they moved because of a need to expand outwards to new land or perhaps just as part of some sort of plan, though no one could figure out what that plan might be.
Most of the recon teams returned to their shuttles, however Recon-7 stayed behind to search the surrounding area, for anything else out of the ordinary.
Visai thought for a moment then ordered "Gather the alien debris, but do NOT bring it aboard, we'll tow it." Visai said, he looked at the surronding holograms and wrote down some improvements he could add to the ships once they returned to Kaniros. Visai imagined that it would be easier to investigate each part of the alien debris back at Hyras.
The crew were already gathering what they could from the area by using tractor beams and wires to move it into a large clump of materials.
The sixteen remaining contestants in the tournament were given two hours to rest up, the tournament would be finished today, so the remaining contestants knew they'd have to conserve their energy through their fights.
Everyone knew who their first opponents would be and had a vague idea of who they'd fight afterwards, none of them said a word as they all only sat there glaring at each other. It was almost like they didn't want to give anything away by looking at another's face too long. The tension was palpable and everyone wanted this over with already.
Finally, it was time for the tournament to start once more, and they heard the announcer once more "Welcome back to the arena, ladies and gentlemen. It is finally time for the real tournament to begin, our sixteen contenders have rested and are ready to fight, one of them will be the next lord, so let me invite to the stage 'Gua Boulderfang'! In his first battle, he laid waste to the battlefield with his greatsword, but will he be able to do the same against his opponent? His opponent 'Karmir Halfbane'! With his axe, he sent every opponent foolish enough to stand in his way straight to the afterlife, but will he be able to beat Boulderfang? Let's find out!"
Most of the contestants decided to look out the window at the arena, when the two combatants walked out, taking their positions on either edge of the arena.
"Let the battle begin!" the announcer said, and the contestants rushed at each other, Gua raised his greatsword and went into an overhead slash. Karmir lowered his stance and threw his axe at Gua, it spun in the air as it made its way to Gua who was unable to dodge it in time, the battle was over instantly.
Karmir walked over and retrieved his axe from Gua's gut. "Better luck in the afterlife, lad." he said.
The announcer was barely able to speak after the show, "Ka- Karmir Halfbane is victorious! Can any of the other contestants possibly stand up to that? We'll find out right away, now let me invite to the centre stage the druid who turned the stage into a sea of fire and took out the competition without even breaking a sweat, 'Elberos Dawnrest'! But will his magic measure up to his beautiful opponent, 'Carbellis Foresthold'? Both are magic users, let's see which one is the greater mage. Let the battle begin!"
Elberos chuckled, "Sorry about this, whelp. But in our art, experience is everything." Elberos said, Carbellis didn't respond, three orbs of energy appeared, and they flew at Elberos, who easily deflected them, much to Carbellis dismay.
Elberos copied the spell and Carbellis prepared to dodge only to find roots holding her feet in place, she cursed as Elberos' magic missiles flew at her, she was struck head on by all three. "Magic missile barrage, a simple spell, easy to block, easier to dodge, as long as you fuel enough power into it and keep your enemy still, it will be an easy victory."
"Elberos Dawnrest is victorious, can no one stop these powerhouses? Let's see what happens in our next battle." the announcer said as Elberos calmly left the ring, Carbellis was carried to the infirmary, she had lost, but she was still alive.
"Turn your eyes to the centre stage as I invite our half-orc contestant 'Araglar Hell Trasher' to the stage. In his match, he brought the full force of hell itself down on his opponents with two sledgehammers, his strength knows no bounds. But can sheer power stand up to centuries of warfare, such as found in his opponent, 'Belkyl Stormhold'? Let's find out, hammer to hammer, let the battle begin!"
Araglar raised both hammers, he roared as he ran at Belkyl, swinging both hammers wildly. They met, and the crowd watched with bated breath, could this powerful half-orc be stopped? He swung again, but Belkyl simply caught Araglar's attack with his own hammer. Then Belkyl began to swing at Araglar, until Araglar managed to catch his blows with his hammers, sending him staggering backwards.
He looked around for his chance and saw his chance, he lunged forward and drove his shoulder into Belkyl's chest, knocking him unbalanced.
Then he hit his legs with the side of his hammer, knocking Belkyl onto his back and leaving him helpless. He then used his momentum and pulled back with both hammers, slamming them together at the top of Belkyl's helmet and crushing it. The crowd gasped at the sight, some of them crying out in horror, but most cheering along with the others.
Belkyl lay there motionless, Araglar raised his hammers in victory, unknowing that Belkyl was gettin up behind him and picking his hammer up again, he had a bruise on his head, but seemed otherwise fine. Belkyl swung his hammer into Araglar's leck knocking him to one knee, before Araglar realized what was happening, Belkyl landed one more strike, now into Araglar's head. Knocking him out cold and causing him to fall to the ground.
Araglar had underestimated how tough a dwarf could be, but Belkyl had overestimated how tough orcs were, Araglar had died to the blunt trauma "Belkyl Stormhold is victorious! What is with those dwarves, is it possible that our next ruler will be a dwarf?"
"Let's move right along next up, this half elf, seems to fight traditionally for what he is, the ranger 'Rizaren Ascalhorn' can he truly fight with the cursed name of the elves on his shoulders? Against him is the spellsword 'Heixidor Stillheart' will he be able to take this powerful archer? Let's find out, let the battle begin!"
Rizaren came running at Heixidor, who was preparing a spell, but Rizaren didn't care, he swung his sword, and he did not hold back, he cut and slashed with abandon. When he reached Heixidor's side, he tried to drive his sword into his guts, but Heixidor moved back and avoided the blow, he didn't have to use his magic to defend himself, he simply dodged the incoming attacks and retaliated with his own, his sword striking toward the side of Rizaren's neck who managed to protect it in time with his bracer. Heixidor kept up his onslaught, striking at the sides of Rizaren with quick but weak attacks, Rizaren finally decided to change tactics, he stepped back, his blade raised to the sky, but then he slammed it down, almost slicing into Heixidor who jumped several feet back, he sheathed his sword and prepared a fireball.
Rizaren quickly drew his bow, and fired two arrows at Heixidor, he dodged one only for the second to hit him in the gut, cancelling his spell as the spellsword couldn't keep his concentration like that, but he recovered fast, casting a bolt of lightning that hit Rizaren squarely between his shoulders, he staggered, but he wasn't done yet, he suddenly seemed to fade out of existence only to appear next to Heixidor mid-strike with his sword, he plunged his weapon into Heixidor's stomach and twisted, the crowd gasped in shock and fear when they saw blood pour forth from the wound, but they soon cheered louder than ever as the battle ended, Rizaren had won the match.
"That's the battle 'Rizaren Ascalhorn' is victorious, that's half of the first eight battles, let's move on to the next eight quickly!" the announcer roared, Alice thought he was getting very annoying.
"Let me call to the ring 'Erxidor Sagebreath' his style seems very similar to Heixidor, even though they have no other relations, will he be able to beat his opponent, 'Brolvurk Hawkstream'so the elves can save face?"
Elberos seemed a bit angry at the remark about the elves saving face, but kept his cool.
Erxidor and Brolvurk made their way into the ring and took their positions. The arena was silent as the two combatants faced each other, Erxidor readied his sword, just waiting. His opponent drew his two swords in response. "The battle begins." The announcer said.
Both men charged at each other simultaneously, Erxidor parried Brolvurk's first attack with his sword and was pushed backwards slightly by the force of the blow, he recovered quickly and struck with his sword as well, but Brolvurk blocked that with his blades. Then Brolvurk swung his swords downward at Erxidor's torso, which he deflected with ease, but instead of going for another attack, Brolvurk took his chance to charge straight at Erxidor, who had no choice but to step backwards again. This time, the weight of Brolvurk forced him to drop his sword to avoid being thrown unbalanced, so Erxidor was free of its grasp, disarmed, Brolvurk saw his opportunity and stabbed with both swords only to be thrown back by a magical wave.
Even without his sword, Erxidor was a force to be reckoned with, with both hand stretched forwards, he unleashed wave after wave at his opponent, steadily knocking Brolvurk back, before finally using his telekinetic magic to throw him across the arena, slamming him against the wall. He knocked the human out cold. "Erxidor Sagebreath is victorious, the battles are really getting heated now! Get ready for the next fight, people! Cold as ice, but with the strength of a mountain, 'Noroh Ashcaller' beat her competition with nothing but her fists, but can she knock down the man forged by the rock, 'Thardain Bloodanvil'? Let's find out if a human female can take down a true dwarf."
The announcer called out the names as they entered the stage.
Cold as ice, but with the strength of a mountain, that was Noroh. But Thardain had been trained by an expert fighter since childhood, that much the audience knew already from the previous matches. The crowd began cheering loudly, as did the contestants themselves. They took their places. "Let the battle begin."
They circled one another slowly, neither one wanting to give the other an opening. Then the moment arrived, Thardain lunged forward and rammed his fist into her stomach, causing her to stumble away from him. She turned around, preparing herself for more of his punches, but instead she found herself on the receiving end of a kick to the stomach, sending her flying towards the edge.
"Now this is more like it!" shouted the announcer as the crowd applauded, Thardain raised both fists to signal he meant business, but Noroh darted out at him and punched him in the gut. He doubled over, and she struck him once more before kicking him in the chest, sending him tumbling back. The dwarf got up and tried to counter with his own fist, but she grabbed his wrist and threw him back. He landed with a thud on the ground and struggled to get back up, but was met with a swift punch in the head and sent back to the floor. But then he rose again, swinging at her. Her head jerked to the side, dodging it. Then she hit him with her knee, forcing him onto all fours before she stomped on his chest, sending him back down. He got up quickly and aimed a kick at her head, but it didn't connect because of the momentum she had gained. Instead, she drove her elbow into his ribs, and then kicked him in the face. He fell again, and she jumped onto his body and delivered three solid blows with her fists into his gut, followed by a few kicks to make sure he wouldn't get up again. But he did anyway.
She stood there panting, shaking at what had happened. She looked at the dwarf, who had managed to stand again despite her attacks. Then he charged at her, finally drawing his sword at last.
He swung at her legs, but she easily avoided it and hit him in the arm, making him drop his sword, but then she had no time to recover from this attack because of the next one, where he smashed her into the wall, breaking her nose and knocking her unconscious.
"Well, that's a bloody mess! And a bloody victory for our victor, Thardain Bloodanvil!"
"Aye," the dwarf grunted, holding his arms up in triumph. He took his sword and headed back inside as the staff went and got Noroh. Back inside, the two other dwarfs stared at him, "What the hell was that, lad? Use yer blade next time, will ye?" but Thardain only laughed.
"And now for a treat, ladies and gentlemen, they both serve the king directly, one is guided by destiny, the other by a god. I invite to the stage, the second hero of Valderon 'Alice Frost'!" the announcer roared. "Her opponent was the one who brought magic to our people, the leader of the order of the opened eye, the champion of the sun god, Arch Wizard 'Haker D'Aetes'."
The two walked out into the arena. "You may know some magic, but I'll teach you the difference between the power of the sun god and what you have." Haker said, Alice didn't respond. "I've had enough of your arrogance, woman."
Once they both reached the stage, the announcer said, "Let this legendary battle, begin!"
With that, the two combatants prepared their magic. Alice readied herself with a spell, while Haker prepared his fireballs. With a blast of flame, he blasted the spell out of Alice's hands. Before she could prepare another spell, he fired several more, which caused the walls to ignite. When the flames died, Alice was left standing in the middle of a crater that was scorched black from the heat, her clothes burned off, her hair singed and her skin blistered and red.
Alice looked at herself, "Oh great." she whispered, "That's the second time I've been forced into the nude in front of strangers since I came here." The crowd was silent. She sheathed her sword and lifted her arms, lightning crackled all around her, Haker could feel the sting of electricity several metres away from her. "You know, Haker, I really hate being stripped, and both times it was your magic." She paused in thought for a moment. She suddenly pointed both arms at him, "Take my full power!" Lightning flashed from her hands, and a massive bolt of lightning struck Haker in the gut, sending him to the ground, his burns at least three times as bad as Alice's.
The announcer stared, even he had felt the sting of the electricity in the air, "The - The battle is over, Alice Frost is victorious."
Alice walked back into the dressing room to find a set of armour to replace what Haker had broken., Haker meanwhile, was carried to the infirmary.
"That brings us to the last battle of the second round "I call to the centre stage, the human pair 'Lewul Richwind', a master of assassination and subterfuge, she watched silently as the others attacked each other in the first round, and only took out the last one herself. But her tactics won't work in a duel, can she take on the crossbow wielding 'Vunkin Blackstar', the master archer?"
The two made their way to the arena and placed themselves opposite of each other and the announcer gave the word "Let the battle begin!" Lewul charged at Vunkin with her sword, but Vunkin already had his crossbow loaded and fired a bolt at her face before she was halfway through her attack, but instead of deflecting the attack, Lewul was forced to dodge, leaving Vunkin the time to fire another bolt. She was forced back, but she quickly recovered from her stumble and charged again, only for Vunkin to shoot again. This time, he hit her shoulder, causing her to drop her sword, but she still continued her attack on him. The crossbow took a bit of time to reload, so Lewul was able to close the distance, and kicked Vunkin in the face. He fell backwards, stunned by the blow. Lewul then drew her daggers and drove them into Vunkin's arms. He tried to draw his swords to defend himself, but she stabbed him in the stomach before he could manage anything. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. "Lewul Richwind is victorious! The secound round is over." the announcer said.
"We will give our contestants an hour to rest up, and then we'll be back!" The bracket had changed now the next matches were
Karmir vs Elberos;
Belkyl vs Rizaren;
Erxidor vs Thardain;
And Alice vs Lewul.
The hour of waiting was over, and finally the battles could resume, the tournament's quarterfinals began, with Karmir vs Elberos. The Dwarf and the Elf walked into the ring side by side, but their eyes were focused on only one thing: the other. Both were terrifyingly powerful fighters.
"Here are our first two quarter finalists, 'Karmir Halfbane' and 'Elberos Dawnrest'. Both won their battles with barely a scratch, but can they keep that streak going in the face of the strongest warriors in Valderon?" The announcer called out, drawing cheers from those in attendance.
But for both sides, there was no cheering—only silence as each warrior took his stance at the edge of the ring, ready to strike.
As the bell rang, Karmir charged forward and tried the same strategy, throwing his axe like a boomerang only for Elberos to deflect it, "Child's play." He said with a sneer as he struck back with a magic arrow shot straight for Karmir's neck. But Karmir parried this blow with ease before closing the distance and delivering a punch to Elberos gut, it stunned him for long enough for Karmir to retrieve his axe.
Elberos grunted "Brat." Elberos glowed in a red light as his body contorted and changed into that of a wyvern, he roared at the dwarf who turned to stare at Elberos who had turned into a huge beast. As Karmir drew near Elberos, the beast's tail lunged at him with its venomous stinger. But instead of dodging or blocking, Karmir jumped up onto Elberos' back and landed a few hits before the wyvern spun around and caught hold of him, pinning him down with a leg, Elberos brought the stinger down again and plunged it into the dwarf's gut before he flew back and changed back to his elven form.
Karmir clutched at his wound and coughed blood. "Not bad," he wheezed through clenched teeth, "but you should know, toxins don't work on dwarves." Karmir raised his axe again. Elberos clenched his teeth, in the heat of the moment he had forgotten, so he changed again, this time into a large dire boar, an unusually agressive breed of boar with red glowing eyes and numerous spikes growing out of its head, neck and back.
Karmir looked up at the animal, "A blasted pig, this time?" Elberos charged him and opened wide with his jaws. With a quick dodge, Karmir swung his axe and connected with Elberos' snout; the force knocked the animal back. A small cut formed where Karmir hit Elberos. The boar shook its head and charged again, this time knocking Karmir back, knocking him into the air, as he came down, Elberos changed again into a dire bear, much bigger than any bear Karmir had ever seen. With its claws outstretched, it mauled Karmir into the ground, knocking him unconscious.
With Karmir out of action, Elberos returned to his elf form, shaking off the dust from his clothes. "Now, stay down."
"Elberos Dawnrest is victorious, embodying ever animal under the sun, can anything stop this elf?" After the battle, Karmir was moved away by the staff as the announcer announced the next combatants.
"I call Belkyl and Rizaren to the stage, Belkyl did well against the half orc, he might win in brute strength, but what about against a skilled ranger? Rizaren has shown that he can beat a mage, but now he must show that he can beat a dwarf. Let us see what happens." The announcer continued.
Belkyl stepped onto the arena floor with Rizaren beside him. Each had their weapons drawn. Rizaren seemed to have gained some confidence after his previous victory over the mage, while Belkyl appeared nervous. They approached one another and faced one another across the arena floor, swords held ready. The audience cheered them on. The announcer hit the gong as he said, "Let the battle begin!"
Rizaren leapt forwards and stabbed at Belkyl's chest with his sword. The dwarf lifted his mighty hammer and blocked the blow easily, then belted Rizaren with the weapon. The RAnger stumbled backwards. Then with a swift kick, Belkyl sent the young half-elf flying towards the far wall of the arena.
Instantly, Belkyl turned and rushed at the downed Rizaren, swinging his hammer wildly. Rizaren managed to quickly draw his bow and fire a string of arrows at the dwarf. Three arrows went wide, but the last two pierced the dwarf's left arm and right thigh. In response, Belkyl's hammer slammed down onto Rizaren's back, cracking ribs and sending him tumbling to the ground.
Both fighters rose to their feet and stared one another down. The crowd watched, holding their breath.
Finally, Rizaren smirked slightly, "Well, I'm impressed, even though your hammer didn't break my spine. It's been a pleasure fighting you, Belkyl, but I'll be taking this prize home."
Unexpectedly, Rizaren pulled his dagger and threw it at Belkyl. The dwarf ducked low to avoid being hit by the blade. But suddenly, the dagger was thrust directly into his stomach, and he collapsed to his knees. The dagger had stuck deep in the dwarf's flesh, but Rizaren yanked it out, leaving a gaping hole in his guts. The crowd gasped. "I guess you didn't catch that, I have plenty of daggers." Rizaren laughed. "You're done." Rizaren sheathed his dagger. The dwarf was out of commission.
"The fight is over, Rizaren Ascalhorn advances to the semifinals! That's the first half of the quarter-finals down, but don't go anywhere. We're finishing the tournament today!" The announcer called out as the two sides were dismissed.
But for the two defeated contestants, there would be no rest. They were carried to the infirmary, where they were tended to, each with a bandage wrapped around their wounds. Rizaren needed magical care to make sure he was ready for the next fight, but Belkyl was beaten.
"The second half of the quarter-finals it is 'Erxidor Sagebreath' he has done well so far with both magic and blade, will he be toppled by the dwarf, or will he take them out of the running? His opponent is 'Thardain Bloodanvil' armed with his bastard sword." As the announcer said, the two fighters were brought onto the stage. Their faces were grim. "Let the battle begin!"
Thardain charged forward with his heavy sword, swinging it back and forth, looking for an opening to strike. He wasn't fast, but he knew how to use his weapon. But for every swing Thardain made with his sword, Erxidor parried with his own, never letting the blows connect. Both fighters grew more tired as the fight wore on. Eventually, Thardain's stamina began to fail him, as did his grip on his sword's hilt. He couldn't keep up a constant attack as he used to.
But Erxidor was tired too. He had not rested since the day before, and his body ached. Yet still, he fought. He swung his sword with all his might. At the same time, he cast a spell, and the surrounding air rippled as he conjured a ball of magic. He launched the ball straight toward Thardain. "For Valderon!" He shouted as the ball of magic sped toward the enemy. But dwarves had many resistances, magic was one, the spell did no harm to him and his thick armour blocked the blade.
Thardain leapt up and punched Erxidor square in the face. This caused the elf to stumble backwards. With a grunt, Thardain then kicked him in the shins to bring him down before punching him in the face over and over until Erxidor was knocked unconscious. "That's the battle Thardain is victorious, and the dwarves are still in the game! This brings us to the last battle of the quarter-finals. I invite back into the ring the Second hero of Valderon 'Alice Frost' and her opponent is the deadly 'Lewul Richwind' we got a full on catfight on our hands, boys." this caused a few chuckles from the men in the audience.
Alice and Lewul entered the ring, Lewul kept her gaze on Alice, the hero of Valderon was a powerful foe, nothing like her usual battles. Could she hope to defeat someone who was named a hero?
They took their positions and Alice pulled out her blade, Lewul armed herself with her two daggers. "Let the battle begin!" the announcer said.
"First blood to me," Lewul said with a grin. She lunged at the hero, stabbing with one of her blades as she slashed at Alice with the other. But the heroine of Valderon parried both blows with ease and countered with a quick slash of her own, causing Lewul to fall back. "Not bad. Not good enough. Now, you know what to do." With that, Lewul drew her swords together. "Remember, I am the assassin. You just play the part of the victim. The only thing you need to remember is that you can die here, but I can't. If you want a quick death, it's yours."
With that said, Lewul charged at Alice with the speed of a snake. But Alice dodged the attacks effortlessly, parrying each blow before returning the favor by slashing at the assassin's back. But Lewul had anticipated that. She twisted, throwing Alice unbalanced and catching the edge of her cloak with a dagger as she slipped past, making her way to the arena's centre, then heading to the arena wall.
"I could run circles around you," Lewul said as she approached the wall, "but I'm going to finish this now."
With a sudden leap, Lewul flung herself against the wall and landed on top of it. From there, she leapt, using its height to launch herself into the air, and soared across the arena towards the arena floor.
"Enough with your theatrics." Alice said, and charged a bolt of electricity in her hand, Lewul was in the air, she couldn't possibly dodge. Alice threw the ball of lightning at Lewul, catching her in its blast.
The explosion was strong enough to knock the two down. With a groan, Lewul rolled onto her back; Alice simply stood there, "Are you done playing around?"
Lewul nodded and managed to get to her feet. She glared at the hero. Lewul had suffered injuries during the fight; her arms were bloody and bruised, one of her eyes had been damaged by the explosion, and it had begun swelling shut.
But despite these things, Lewul showed no fear at the sight of the hero. She held up her daggers menacingly and advanced on Alice. Alice simply sighed and lifted her blade, she walked calmly towards the assassin and with a single strike sent her to the ground, before kicking her in the face, "I read the rules of the tournament, surrender."
"Surrender? Why would I surrender?" Lewul sneered.
Alice kicked her in the face again. "Really?"
"How does it feel? Getting repeated headbutts to your feet?"
Alice spat, then raised her blade and drew it through Lewul's leg.
The assassin screamed and grabbed at the wound. "You bitch!"
Alice then repeated the process with her other legs and then her arms. The pain brought a new wave to Lewul's face, Alice then grabbed the assassin's neck and choked her until she ran out of air and fell unconscious. Then, the hero pulled back and released her hold on the assassin's neck.
"That's the match, Alice Frost is victorious, that finishes the quarter-finals, we'll allow the combatants half an hour to receive magical healing." The announcer said as he called for the referee. The staff approached and helped Lewul off the floor. "Then we'll move on to the semi-finals."
The bracket now said, "Elberos vs Rizaren and Alice vs Thardain." One elf, one half-elf, one human and one dwarf, who would win the throne?
The Tournament continued on after the half hour was past and everyone was healed, the first match was between the mighty druid, Elberos and the ranger, Rizaren. Alice and Thardain watched them enter the ring, Elberos seemed like he would win this fight easily with all the magic he had at his disposal.
"Welcome back to the arena, we're into the semi-finals now people!" the announcer said, "You know their names already, the druid, Elberos, and the ranger, Rizaren. Let's not waste any time, let the battle begin!" with that, he hit the gong.
Elberos changed his shape to that of a Dire bear, as far as the world of Valderon knew, the dire bear was a monster bear, it weighed in at over three metric tons and was almost four meters long, in Elberos' case, he was even bigger. He had sharp claws and powerful legs. The beast roared its challenge against Rizaren.
Rizaren didn't seem worried, though. He had taken down dire bears before, none this large, but he should be able to handle it. The two circled each other warily for a moment or so. Then they charged headlong into combat. They crashed into one another with a force which made the ground shake beneath them. With an incredible burst of speed, the giant bear tackled the smaller man, knocking him backwards into the dirt. Instantly, however, Rizaren was up again, dashing forward and plunging his sword through the bear's chest. It felt like cutting stone when the blade slid across the creature's hide. Blood sputtered from the beast's chest and its massive bulk collapsed to the ground. The bear transformed back into the druids form, the elf Elberos.
"That's the match, Rizaren Ascalhorn is victorious! And he moves on to the finals, could it be that our next king will be a half-elf? Is Valderon returning to its roots?" the announcer said "We'll find out today, I call to the stage, the hero of Valderon, Alice Frost and the Sword master, Thardain, Blade against blade in the last of the semifinals."
Alice and Thardain walked onto the arena floor. She looked at Thardain and readied herself, Thardain spun his bastard sword as he locked eyes with her. "Let the battle begin!"
Then they were off, leaping forwards with blades flashing in the sunlight. Thardain took the lead instantly, swinging his blade around to strike at Alice's arm, she blocked the blow and then brought the edge of her sword down upon his shoulder. A wound blossomed there, but Thardain's thick armour protected him well enough.
He lunged forward, his sword extended towards Alice's throat, but she swung her own blade downwards and caught his weapon mid-air. Then she struck upward, striking him just below his chin, causing him to stumble backward. Before he recovered, Alice had reached behind him and grabbed hold of his belt buckle. Instantly, she yanked him closer and plunged her sword into his stomach. She released her grip on his belt and stepped away.
Thardain staggered backwards, clutching his bleeding belly, trying desperately to keep himself upright. He spat up blood before collapsing, the announcer then called out "That's the match! Thardain is eliminated and Alice moves on to the finals!" Alice walked over and started healing Thardain so stabilize him before the staff came to take him away. "Let's waste no more time, and call the other finalist, Rizaren Ascalhorn!"
Alice watched Rizaren as he walked out to face her, "I never dreamed I would stand here facing the Hero of Valderon. My apologies, but I cannot afford to lose now, I'm going all out." he said.
Alice nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Let the final battle begin!!!" the announcer roared, and the two warriors rushed forwards. Rizaren attacked first, swinging his blade about wildly, aiming for every exposed part of Alice's body. He was too fast for Alice to dodge many of them, and a number of blows found their mark. One cut her leg, while another sliced deeply into her side. But still, Alice kept fighting, dodging, blocking, stabbing.
A wild slash by Rizaren slashed across Alice's torso and sent her flying; however, she managed to land on her feet, only for one leg to buckle underneath her. She quickly used a healing spell to close the wound. Rizaren drew his bow and aimed a shot at her. Alice dodged, spinning aside to avoid the arrow.
With her injured leg, she couldn't run away from the bowman as fast as she would've liked. Rizaren raised the bow higher and fired once more. This time, Alice was unable to dodge. The arrow pierced her other leg, and she fell over, Rizaren quickly ran over and placed a foot on her chest, pointing his blade at her throat.
Alice sighed, "I guess victory is yours…" she said, "I surrender."
Rizaren grinned, "Well fought, Alice Frost."
The audience cheered and applauded, and the announcer said, "That is the end of the finals, the heir to the throne of Valderon is Rizaren Ascalhorn." meanwhile, Rizaren reached out a hand, and helped Alice up. "The world is in good hands with you as the hero."
"And I know Valderon will prosper with you as the ruler." Alice smiled.
Lord Valderon then stood from his throne and looked at Rizaren as a few healers came out to give them both some first aid. "Every man and women, whether human, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, half-elf or half-orc has fought valiantly." Lord Valderon said. "To Rizaren I will grant 10,000 irons, to Alice I grant 5,000. Elberos and Thardain will each receive 3,000 irons, the quarter finalists will receive 2,000 irons, the remaining contestants will each receive 1,000 irons. You all deserve these rewards, as do all those who lost their lives in this tournament, let us all remember them and celebrate their bravery in the afterlife. To each of you, may your families and loved ones know peace."
Everyone bowed their heads and offered a prayer, even Rizaren did. After that, the victor, Rizaren, was escorted to the castle and given a permament residence in one of the rooms, he later noticed, his room was right next to Alice's room.
She took a moment to admire him. "Wow, I must say, you are one of the most fascinating-looking people I've seen." She politely complimented him with a smile and blush.
She extends her hand towards him. "Could you come with me please, we should get out of this stuffy and sterile room."
The transport ship connected to the docking bay, and dropped off a total of five individuals. All of which were there for diplomacy and coordination for the ongoing conflict.
One was adorned in a Cascadian military formal dress uniform, of which closely resembled that of the WW2 American dress uniform. It was paired with a black tie and a matching-colored cap. The epalluettes he bore was adorned with a silver oak leaf, which in the Cascadian Army, was the symbol of a Lieutenant Colonel. He appeared to be in his mid-20's, and stood at the height of 6'3. His hair was blonde, and his eyes blue; overall, fairly young for a person of his rank. The name-tape on the left-side of his uniform read "Chambers."
Another man stepped out of the ship. He wore a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath, along with a black tie. He had a pale complexion, and stood at the height of 5'11. Black hair, and brown eyes. He appeared to be in his late 30's or his early 40's. He wore a calm demeanor, and maintained an attentive expression on his face. He was the Director of Intelligence for Cascadia, Patrick Mitchell.
The third person to step out was a woman. She wore the same general kind of clothing as Director Mitchell. She wore her brown hair short, and had blue eyes. She stood at a height of around 5'7. She was the diplomat assigned to this mission, by the name of Savannah Monroe.
The next two were security detail, dressed in the same attire as the two government personnel, granted unlike the both of them, their suit-jackets were fully buttoned up, concealing the tactical vests and rigs behind them. One was a man, standing at 5'9, with brown hair and hazel eyes, and a woman, standing at 5'8, with black hair and hazel eyes. They were both fairly well-built.
Together they emerged out from the transport ship, and awaited further directions.
(RP over d: )
(Inconclusive results, I may or may not explain what would've happened...)
At the edge of the universe, a planet drifted silently towards the howling, on its surface stood the single most ancient lifeform in this universe, predating it by an immeasurable amount of time. The planet was a world with no name, for the species that had reigned over it were long since gone from this universe, the only living creature there was a clone of Egregius Ultimus, E-U-2844.
His head ran billions of calculations a second, he had measured the curvature of the universe, the size, the age, and the distance between each galaxy. He knew the age of every planet and star he could see, the composition of all known elements. He knew the number of atoms in the surrounding air at any given moment, as well as their weight and chemical signature.
In his hand, he held a small device with a red button on it, with a single label that said 'Press this sucker'. He smirked and placed his thumb on it, with one swift motion he pressed down the button and the entire planet stopped dead in its tracks, less than a second away from falling into the howling.
He twisted the button and the planet began to turn until he was facing the centre of the universe, and it moved, it moved opposite of its original location, heading to the universe's centre. The planet was travelling at 3 times the speed of light, he dropped the device on the ground and crushed it underfoot.
He then went into his vast underground complex, the interior of the planet down to the core had been replaced by machinery, all kinds of devices, wiring, and computers. There were several dozen large tanks filled with water, each contained hundreds of different creatures, some were human shaped, others were just a few inches tall. Each tank was connected to dozens more, which in turn were connected to hundreds more. All told, he had thousands upon thousands of tanks, holding millions upon millions of beings, all controlled by him through a network of computers spread across the planet.
He sat down in a chair and crossed his legs, as dozens of screens took shape in front of him. On them appeared images of the stars and planets he watched pass by, another screen showing the current speed of 3 C, slowly increasing by the decimals, all according to plan.
A new image appeared before him, it showed the reports of a black hole in front of him, with a flick of his wrist, it dispersed into a million particles. He folded his hands and waited for his planet to reach its destination.
The scientists of Kaniros were hard at work at Rimessor, the planet where the Maw had been located for a few decades by now. Visai was looking at a set of readings, several contraptions and magical devices were keeping it stable.
He scratched his chin, “Hmm, I see now. The rift is a wound in the time-space continuum.” he said as he read off his Computer Implant System's screen.
Sybil Luxford was standing next to him, the Grand Admiral in charge of Military Defense, “A wound, so it's healing?” she asked, concerned about the future of Kaniros and the interdimensional nations.
Visai nodded “Yes, as we see it, the rift is a passageway through the void, by using it we can transfer between our universe to the next, even outside the Ithskjall. The gate operates by directing outgoing traffic to the correct pathway inside the rift.”
Sybil listened to his explanation intently, she knew this much, but Visai wasn't one to waste his words.
“Some of these pathways are being closed, completely, some have already closed, and there isn't much we can do about it.” he said and lowered his arm, his implant's screen disappearing, he turned his eyes to look at Sybil.
She crossed her arms and said, “Meaning?” although she already knew the answer.
Visai took a deep breath, exhaling, and said, “Meaning we cannot enter, and neither can they leave, unless they find a way to reopen the gates in their universes. I don't know what other effects closing the rift may have.” he turned his gaze back to the maw, high in the sky above him, “There is a lot of energy in the rift, far more than a mere quasar.” he said. “Closing it might unleash a powerful explosion powerful enough to wipe out an entire star system, perhaps an interstellar neighbourhood, maybe, an entire galaxy.” he said, “I've been unable to measure the full power of the rift, and I doubt anyone else ever did.”
Sybil was worried that much was clear, she had a very grave expression on her face. “What of FT-13?” she asked, concerned about the people on the other side of the rift.
“Most of them were called back to Kaniros rather than having to face extinction, but that universe was closed, it seems FT-01 is still open, and several others. We haven't lost anything valuable in this.” Visai said.
Sybil nodded, she wasn't too happy about the news, but the good of Kaniros came first, after all, and FT-13 wasn't their concern.
The Grand Admiral sighed, and asked, “Have you told the other Grand Admirals yet?”
Visai shook his head, “I didn't tell you because you are a Grand Admiral, Sybil. I told you because you will be the next High Councillor after Snowdon's assassination.”
Sybil's eyes widened, she was aware of Snowdon's assassination, but the idea of becoming the High Councillor had been a new one. “You want me? In charge of Kaniros' Military Command?” She asked, astonished at what Visai had said, “Virra is almost a thousand years old, compared to her, I'm a little girl.”
Visai looked at her, smiling, he knew she was fit for the job, “Grand Admiral Virra is a warrior to the bone, her experience, and wisdom is invaluable, but the time of a warrior has long passed, Kaniros needs someone who can use words and diplomacy to solve a situation, a person with a vision for the future, and you are just the person for that.”
Sybil blushed slightly at the complement, “Do… Has the rest of the high council agreed to that?” she asked, looking up at Visai.
“Not yet, but I'm sure they'll see it my way.” he turned and headed back to the spaceship, leaving Sybil on Rimessor, she had her fleets on standby, as Visai left she smiled, she was finally reaching the highest point a military person could reach.
As Visai sat down in his ship, he crossed his legs and folded his hands. He smirked as he thought The High Council always thinks that they are controlling Kaniros, but alas, I've been controlling them from the start. he scratched his chin. Maybe I should think about my successor, Altiris Essor could be a good choice.
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