Chapter 34 - First Draft (Patreon)

Chapter 34 - LOT

“All we need is for one of you to become a Semi-Finalist, and enter the Central Ceremony Building to attend the Tournament Dinner. You will then have to search the Central Ceremony Building, and find the source of the Spatial Waves.”

The room was quiet for a second.

“And if we don’t find any Spatial Waves?” Jack queried. Bale and Evan nodded at Jack’s question, looking at Liren.

“Just finish the dinner, and return to the city like the other contestants. I’ll meet you all back at where we are staying. If you don’t find the Gauntlet there, it means I have most likely found it, and will be on my way.” Liren responded, smiling confidently.

“What if you don’t return?” Jack looked at Liren, his eyes serious. Liren stared back calmly.

“Then you all need to lose your next round or rounds in the tournament, and withdraw without raising any suspicion. We will enter into the central city separately, and avoid any public contact.” Liren spread his hands out on the map in front of them.

“This is serious, and it’s entirely possible I, or any of you, may die. We are in this fight to win it, but we are currently losing. Us, our clans, everything important to us. If we want to break free from this cycle, risks are necessary.” His voice boomed charismatically, his eyes full of passion. Bale and Evan stared at Liren with eyes full of adoration, won over.

Even Jack felt the power of Liren’s voice, his eyes strengthening with determination.

“Alright. Let’s do this. It’s all or nothing.” Jack responded, clenching the Rank A badge in his hand tightly, feeling its edges dig into his skin.

Bale and Evan echoed his words, slamming their fists on the table before them.

“Excellent. Then, the first step of our plan is to join one of the caravans headed towards Idglebar, the city just outside the Magma Lake, and the connector city to the Forinth Stronghold!”

..

Atop a distant mountain peak, thousands of miles away, two dark robed figures stood facing each other. All was silent around them, the very picture of a peaceful meeting.

A gentle breeze brushed through the valleys down below, where a few small beasts moved about, the afternoon sun shining brightly. A lonesome river snuck through the valley directly to the south, carrying with it a few small ships from a nearby city.

Both figures were cloaked in black robes, their features indeterminate. One of them was very large, standing nearly seven feet tall with bulging muscles visible in the outline of the robe, while the other was slim and small, standing around five and a half feet tall. A strange aura twisted the air around each figure, giving them a very slightly repulsive air.

“Lionel.” The smaller figure nodded his head as he spoke, his voice rasping out like that of an aged man.

“Micheal.” The larger figure returned the nod, his voice filled with charisma and strength.

“I’ve managed to plant four seeds within leading younger generation members of the Impact Clan, and developed a seed within a former peak member successfully. Unfortunately, I’ve lost three entire branches of my agents in the process. Their Great Elders are far too vigilant for me, even with my cover. Chances like the internal turmoil that resulted in the Fourth Great Elder’s death are hard to come by, unfortunately.” Micheal, the man with the aged voice, shook his head, rubbing a pair of visibly wrinkled hands together. He continued,

“How is your progress in the Magma Clan?”

“So-so.” The larger figure, Lionel, shrugged, a heavy aura of strength causing the air to shudder around him as he spoke,

“The Burn Lords are at each other’s necks, and that’s not even considering their clashes with the Golden Flame Clan or the O’Bald Pirates. However, their Empyrean Burn Lord has the eyes of a vulture, and the senses of one too. I haven’t planted any Void Seeds in any peak figures, but managed two of the leading younger generation. That’s about my limit.” He shook his head, however, as he gestured around at the rest of the empty peak.

“Where is Kalla?”

The elderly robed shook his head in return.

“It’s been two years now since we heard anything about him and the Golden Flame Clan. Unlike you and I, he has almost no subordinates, so he’s not easily contacted. He’s either deeply under cover and can’t return or…” The man paused, shaking his head again.

A gentle breeze began to sweep through the air near the peak, ruffling the robes of the two men.

“There is a real chance he’s dead. The First Torch of the Golden Flame Clan is no pushover. Even I am not sure if I could take her on in my normal form. If she discovered Kalla and took him by surprise… especially with his unique body… Well...” The larger man grunted, his voice steady.

“The only report we have is two years old, where he was trying to plant a single seed on a younger generation member. To think we would run into such a problem now after so many years of hiding and planning.” The elderly cloaked figure continued, his voice exasperated.

“We’ll just have to hope he succeeded. The Grand Meet is rapidly approaching. We’ll be able to draw out the last of those rats then, too. If only the Lord had allowed us to act sooner, instead of wasting so many years on his obsession with fate.” Lionel grunted as he reached out from under his robe, tossing a sealed scroll to the elderly man.

“I can’t tarry any longer, you’ll have to pass my report off to the Lord. The Magma Clan’s Recruitment Drive and Clan Tournament is happening soon, and I can’t be seen absent.” The larger man leapt off the mountain peak, cracking the rocky surface beneath him. His figure blurred as he raced away, the strange aura around him fading away.

The elder man caught the scroll with a sniff, tucking it into one of the pockets of his robe. He watched the figure of the larger man disappear, his eyes twitching. Sparks of pure, white light floated in the air around him, at odds with the strange, twisted aura he gave off.

“Act arrogant while you can, Lionel. Don’t forget who we serve… We’ll see how you act when the Grand Meet comes around.” Silence reigned once again, as the old man folded his hands together, standing there and waiting patiently.

..

Far to the west of where those cloaked figures met, a young girl stood, looking up at a very large tree. Lustrous, dark black hair fell across the white and gold robes she wore as she shook her head, frowning. Her warm brown eyes gleamed as she let out a small laugh. A myriad of freckles covered her face, partially obscured by a colorful pink headband she wore.

“Come on out, you rascal! I know you’re up there!” Her voice was cheerful and full of energy, spirited.

The enormous tree in front of her shivered, as if it was about to fall over. Then, abruptly, a handsome sixteen year old boy dropped out of the upper branches of the nearly sixty foot tall tree, a wry smile on his face. He also wore similar white and gold robes, with a dark orange headband over his forehead.

“How’d you find me, Diana? I thought I’d hidden my presence completely!” He shrugged, giving her a questioning look.

Diana smiled as she looked at him. The large, golden pavilion of the Yullen Stronghold spread out in the background behind the young man, filled with various students and trainees moving about. The traditional style buildings, with red roofs and white walls, decorated the large mountain the stronghold was built into. Several large trees, just like the one before her, were all integrated into this key base of the Golden Flame Clan, giving it a very prosperous look.

“Haven’t you already learned?” She said, still smiling. “Master says my Awakening was one of the strongest in the entire history of the clan. Anyone that has even a hint of the Golden Flame Clan’s aura about them can’t escape my detection!” She smiled triumphantly.

The boy shrugged, waving his hands in defeat.

“Alright, you caught me, you win this round. What are are we up to?” The boy gave her a winning smile. A warm aura of fire wrapped around him as he spoke, giving him a friendly air.

Diana rolled her eyes. The humor in her smile faded, however, as she looked at the boy seriously.

“I told you about my big brother, right? And how he’s going to be at the Grand Meet?”

The boy nodded, giving her a serious look in return. He waved for her to continue.

“I’m just a bit nervous after so long. I’ve wanted to see him so badly, what if he doesn’t want to see me? Master wouldn’t let me go out looking for him, and I couldn’t write him anything.” Diana began pacing back and forth as she talked, wringing her hands.

“I made him a present, but what if he doesn’t like it?” Out of her robes, she pulled out a gleaming, golden dagger. The shape was a bit crooked, with a few rough edges, clearly the work of an amateur. But, if one looked closely, an extremely dense aura covered the golden blade. The aura was a very pale, gold and red mix, an extremely concentrated aura of fire, tinged with the natural ability of the Golden Flame clan.

“Oh, wow.” The boy’s eyes opened up widely as he stared at the dagger.

“Did you… The aura of Golden Flame is so concentrated on that blade, you must have tempered it daily for more than a year.”

The Golden Flame of the Golden Flame Clan had many unique characteristics. One of them was a strong, purifying ability, and if one tempered a weapon in Golden Flames, constantly flowing the unique fire over the blade, the weapon could gradually take up that purifying power. Doing so, however, was a long, arduous task that required at least an hour of intense concentration every single day.

Weapons like this had been sold in the past for an extraordinary price. They were extremely effective in fighting creatures of the Void, though in recent times sightings of those had become relatively scarce. The purifying edge had a much lesser effect against most other things, but still maintained the same golden luster, promoting an aura of healing and peace.

“Yes, but just for practice. I made the blade myself too, but I’m no good at forging.” She muttered, frowning intensely. The freckles on her face scrunched up as she looked at the small blade.

The boy stepped forward, giving her an encouraging pat on the back.

“I think he’ll like it just fine, Diana.” He said as he smiled.

“You really think so, Kalla?”

“Yes.” Kalla smiled, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious light.

“Yes, I do.”