by John Nest
"Tsk, the Announcer is just lying," replied Smoke.
"Oh, don't be like that," coaxed Avilo. "Just because you're scared of fighting Ouragan, doesn't mean the Announcer is wrong."
Smoke ignored Avilo and focused his attention on the aerial battle. Chrys was zooming around Ouragan, which created a barely visible trail.
Then, the wind-trail left behind turned green. As Smoke was wondering what kind of attack Chrys was about to do, a foul stench descended upon the entire stadium. Unfortunately, the paradox mask gave no protection against such a repugnant smell.
Seconds later, Jack, Avilo, and Mouche were inflicted with the Poisoned status.
"What's going on here?" asked Avilo, clutching his chest with his right hand.
"I think it's caused by one of the contestants attack," said Jack.
Having a high resistance to Poison, Smoke was not inflicted with the affliction.
Then, the Announcer's voice echoed throughout the arena. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please do not panic. There is no cause for alarm. Magietrois Florissant will cure us from this ailment."
Not a second later, an orange phoenix flew across the coliseum. It left a trail of an orange flame and covered the entire area in a dome-like barrier. Then, golden dust sprinkled down to the entire audience.
At once, everyone was cured of their Poisoned status and were completely healed, even the noxious odor disappeared.
Quickly searching for Magietrois Florissant, Smoke looked around the entire complex but could not locate the phoenix's caster.
'Don't worry, I'll see you soon enough,' he thought to himself, positive of the tournament's outcome.
Looking back up, Smoke could no longer see Ouragan. The only thing visible in the sky was a flying Chrys and circular green clouds.
Zooming in on Chrys, Smoke saw him grinning widely.
'The Poison must be even more concentrated up there,' theorized Smoke. 'Too bad that won't do anything to Ouragan.'
Then, the green clouds were suddenly swirling faster and faster. Smoke originally thought that it was another part of Chrys' attack, but seeing the worried expression on the fellow DarkElf's face told him otherwise.
"That appears to be a poison-cloud attack coming from Chrysopelea," informed the Announcer, as the screen displayed a slightly closer view of their aerial battle. "I certainly hope Prime Wizard Ouragan is not affected by the Poison."
Three seconds later, the green clouds completely dispersed from the area, and an unscathed Ouragan appeared in its place.
"What did I tell you, Folks! As Expected of Ouragan!" exclaimed the Announcer, his voice resonated from the jumbovision.
'Looks like Chrys didn't know that Ouragan has high Poison Resistance,' mused Smoke, pleased that his Ouragan info was indeed correct.
"Hey, Faux, you don't expect me to believe that you can actually see them from here?" said Avilo, and tapped on Smoke's arm. "Why aren't you looking at the jumbovision screen like the rest of us?"
"Wind-wyvern," blurted out Smoke. "Ouragan is about to use his wind-wyvern attack."
"Oh, so you've brushed on Ouragan's moves, I see," said a pleased Avilo. "That's good, but I don't think he would use it against another Wind specialist."
Smoke then turned to Avilo. "Didn't he use it against an Aero Magi named Schwätzer, about four years ago?"
"Oh, yeah, he did do that," said Avilo, nodding with his knitted eyebrows. "But why would he use a finishing move this early?"
"Maybe Ouragan got pissed at Chrys' poison attack," suggested Smoke. "Especially since the whole audience was inflicted by it."
A few seconds later, a clear shape of a wyvern made of air blasted Chrys off the sky. The Sonstwelter was plummeting fast, but he soon recovered and flew back up to where Ouragan was waiting for him.
"That's what you get for not doing anything against Prime Wizard Ouragan's wind-wyvern attack!" cheered Avilo.
"Chrys' barrier just couldn't stand Ouragan's attack," explained Smoke.
Jack then tugged on Smoke's arm. "Faux, you can really see them from here, can't you?"
Facing Jack, only his smiling eyes were seen as he nodded at the young noble.
KATHUD
Everybody quickly turned to the center of the ring, the source of the loud sound. The circular ring was broken into several fragments, with a big hole at its center.
Then, Ouragan slowly descended towards it. When he landed, he shouted to the announcer. "He's technically inside the ring, but I don't think he will be getting up anytime soon."
"I beg your pardon, but who is inside the ring?" asked the Announcer.
"Chrysopelea! I blasted him down just a few seconds ago, didn't you see that?" asked Ouragan loudly.
"Oh, of course! As expected of Prime Wizard Ouragan!" exclaimed the Announcer. "Like I said, Folks, the winner of this match will be decided quickly. Prime Wizard Ouragan proceeds to the finals!"
"And may I say, that all of us watching are pleased with the results!" added the Announcer.
Smoke stared at Ouragan, bewildered at what move he used to finish off Chrys. While he was doing so, the old HighElf caught his gaze and grinned at him.
Ouragan then floated out of the stadium.
As Smoke was staring at the back of the old Prime Wizard, the Announcer's voice rang again. "Due to the unfortunate circumstance of our ring being destroyed, we will have to delay the next match for another two hours."
A unified groan was heard all over Pulper Arena.
"If you want to leave, please feel free to do so. The tickets you hold will still be useable then," added the Announcer.
The announcement ended as soon as Ouragan disappeared from Smoke's sight. Just then, he felt a cold wind breeze through him, and he felt the familiar ominous feeling of being watched from pincer island once more.
Chapter Seven:
A Prize in the End
Red flowers which looked like trumpets lined the famous mountain range. Their sweet scent added to the grandeur of these highlands. Overlooking the vale from above, the beauty of the serene mountains that bordered Veneficatl Valley came at a price. One wrong move and it could spell death for anyone who traveled on its perilous steep roads.
Yet, Sierra's smiling face conveyed the sense of belonging instead of fear. As she breathed in the view from above, it reminded her of the time when she and her mother would take treks up the mountain.
Looking back to observe her army following her, she smiled at them. She thought that they also shared her sentiments.
'I knew taking this route was a great idea,' she thought to herself, thinking that her men would build fond memories of the tall mountains.
Currently, thousands of mounted Druids, Acolytes, and Mercenaries were huddled together on it now, as they hurried to cross it.
To protect themselves from the cold, everyone of Sierra's army clutched on to their fur-cloaks tightly. The chilly winds blew hard against the shivering travelers on this precipitous pathway, and did its best to hinder their advance.
"Brr. Why do we have to be here? Look at my skin! It's turning blue," complained Ardu, riding on top of his own ruby bear. His breath was clearly seen through the cold air, "I was getting used to the warm weather in the Kitsune Forests too."
The young man, who could fully Transmogrify into a brown Werebear asked the female ruby rider beside him. "Do you even know where we're headed?"
"No clue. All I heard was that we were going to meet up with Mamelon's group," replied Vrai, while she strongly rubbed her shoulders to warm them up.
The two youthful Zectian leaders followed some distance after the red-haired HighElf. They were positioned in the middle of her ten-thousand strong army. They could not see her clearly through the crowd, but her ruby bear helped them spot her.
As a symbol of leadership, it was only Sierra, Phen, Rear, Ardu, and Vrai who were given the ruby bear mounts.
Suddenly, two other ruby bear riders were riding against the flow of the army, and one of them quiet
ly called out their attention.
"Shh!" said Rear, with one finger covering her mouth. "They say that the red mountains dislike noisy travelers. They don't need to hear your complaints."
Sierra's Werewolf Lieutenants, Phen and Rear were headed for the tail of their army. They were instructed to oversee a safe passage through the red ridges.
"If you're cold, just Transmogrify a portion of your arms," said Rear, and pointed to Phen's arm which displayed a thick gray Werewolf fur.
"Um. We still can't do partial Transmogrifications," sheepishly answered Ardu. "But don't worry, we're not skimping out on our daily exercises," he quickly added.
"Alright," said Rear with a disappointed tone. "But I don't want to hear anymore complaints about this mission. The two of you should know better than to question Sierra's command."
Ardu fell silent and shamefully lowered his head.
"I wonder just what kind of mission this is," blurted out Vrai. She turned to Phen and Rear, who merely shrugged at her. "I mean, just what kind of mission would require our ten-thousand strong army and Mamelon's manpower of five-thousand?"
Phen and Rear did not respond and went straight to the tail of their formation. Sierra's army silently continued their travel through the red mountains for the next three hours, until they reached the plains of Veneficatl Valley.
Sierra spread out her arms, and signaled her army of Druids and Mercenaries to fan themselves to her sides. At once, her lieutenants led the front and commanded their own divisions. A total of five groups were formed.
"We'll set up camp here," loudly ordered Sierra for everybody to hear. "Vrai and Ardu, you two are in charge of our food. Phen and Rear, secure the grounds. Mamelon should arrive sometime before noon."
"Let's go, Rear Scout Team!" ordered Rear, and took her platoon of 2,500 Mercenaries and 70 Druids to the eastern and northern side of their basecamp.
Whereas, Phen silently signaled his own group of 2,500 Mercenaries and 30 Druids to the southern and western area. He had lesser Druids in his team, as only those that could understand his silent commands worked well with him.
Ardu and Vrai immediately began delegating their assigned work. Half of their Mercenaries were tasked to set up walls, traps, and early warning devices, while the rest were divided into two more groups. One were tasked to put up tents and the others were assigned to cook a meal that could fill more than ten-thousand people.
As they worked on their assignments, they nibbled on bison jerkies to sate their hunger.
Meanwhile, Sierra was staring into a map of the valley. Her gazed drifted to the rising sun, where a supposed cave filled with Darius' promise awaited them.
At eleven in the morning, Mamelon and her group of more than five-thousand people arrived from the west. They had come from the opposite side of the red mountain ranges.
Sierra stood in front of their basecamp to welcome them.
"Sorry, we took so long," called out Mamelon from on top of her bronze jackal. "We ran into some trouble along the way." She said strongly and grumpily looked at Virer and Courant, the Flame Knight and Electro Knight, who rode directly behind her.
"I told you, Cheri had me questing for fairy trumpets!" reasoned out Virer. He stuck out red flowers which went well with his crimson full plate armor. "That's why I had to collect over three dozens of those red flowers growing on the mountainside."
"And Aime asked me to get her a pair of copper goat horns, indigenous to the red mountains," added Courant. He displayed two yellowish-horns which blended magnificently with his bronze armor. "Who would have guessed that the copper goats would cause a rockslide?"
Courant shrugged, raising the horns over his head.
WAPAK
The two horns were suddenly hit by aqueous spikes, and knocked out of Courant's hands.
"What the— I had to go to a lot of trouble to get that!" exclaimed the Electro Knight, dismounting to pick up the horns.
"Alright that's enough, Guys." replied a smiling Sierra, diffusing the tension between Mamelon's second-in-commands. "Anyway, you're just in time for an early lunch. Ardu and Vrai may be lacking on their Transmogrify training, but they've greatly leveled up their cooking!"
"I told you, Two, not to get involved with those Zectians," reprimanded Mamelon.
"Hey! We don't tell you to stop fawning over Ilad, do we?" pointed out Virer. "Besides, doing quests for Cheri really pumps up our Intimacy, and I really need those numbers to be high. You know, in order for me to—"
"Too much information, Virer!" said Mamelon, stopping her friend from explaining further.
Sierra laughed. She missed being with other Sonstwelters. Sure, Phen, Rear, even Ardu and Vrai were also fun, but something was missing when she was with other Sonstwelters.
As they headed to where the food was, Mamelon called out to Sierra.
"So, our lowest ranked Mercenary is now at level 102," began the Aqua Knight. "But I have to tell you something, that I feel should be said face to face."
Sierra's eyebrow crossed. "Go on," she said, intrigued.
"My men have increased their levels, but we suffered a terrible tragedy. Because of it, I only have 4,325 Mercenaries left."
"What? How could lose so many men? What happened?" asked Sierra.
"We were ambushed by Duke Burmistrz's men," somberly said Mamelon. "We were suppose to be in a safe area, and were hunting dirus wolves to capture, but Macher and his Cavalry Knights suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked us."
Sierra tightly squeezed her fists at the mention of Macher's name.
"He had about 3,000 Cavalry Knights with him, all of them riding dirus wolves," said Mamelon. "That's why we met them there, because they were also hunting for more mounts."
"How long ago?" asked Sierra.
"About three weeks now," said Mamelon.
"He's already grown his private army by that much, huh?" said Sierra. "We can assume that his numbers will only grow even more."
"Sierra, there's one more thing," said Mamelon. "When Macher came to attack us, the reason many of the Avendre were unable to escape was because Sagen and his guild joined up with Macher."
"Sagen? That name sounds so familiar," said Sierra. "Who is that again?"
"He was the guy that went against Ilad on the Swordsman to Knight Tournament," answered a peeved Mamelon. "He even tried to eliminate us during the Mounted Race. But something must have happened to him, because he never got to finish that race."
Sierra grinned. She remembered how she and Smoke's private army ambushed them before they could ambush Smoke.
"Really? I guess he never learned his lesson," said Sierra. Her knuckles cracked as she tightened her fist.
"Yeah, but he got a lot stronger," said Mamelon, disturbed.
She paused, as she let out a deep sigh.
"Luckily for us, most of us had already gathered mounts for the Avendre Mercenaries," further explained Mamelon. "Most of the Mercenaries rode by threes, but the bronze jackals and aardwolves could easily carry their weight."
Mamelon paused before going on. "And the main reason we escaped, was because of those who were left behind. The Avendre Mercenaries' sacrificed themselves and made sure to hold off Macher and his men."
Sierra fell silent, pissed at the fact of Macher's treachery and Sagen's return.
"But don't worry," added Mamelon. "We've learned our lesson. Macher and his men won't get another chance like that again."
"That's good," said Sierra, forcing a smile. "Good job, on keeping the casualties low."
Sierra then turned to Mamelon's surviving Avendre Mercenaries. "After seeing their comrades sacrificed themselves, these hardened men should be really helpful in this quest," said Sierra.
"Yeah, what exactly is this quest, anyway?" asked Mamelon.
"Well, Smoke asked Darius on how we could improve ourselves for the coming war," began Sierra. "He told him that there were certain relics that could prove helpful to us."
Mamelon nodded as she f
ollowed Sierra's lead and sat down on the prepared table for them.
"But Darius told me that acquiring the relic alone isn't the only prize," said Sierra. "He said that when we do clear the dungeon, the second reward will appear on its own."
"Um, one thing I don't get is why we're just doing this now?" asked Mamelon with a confused look. "Why didn't you and Smoke do this before he left?"
"Let's just say that clearing this dungeon wasn't possible for us until now," explained Sierra. "I also don't know the exact details except for the location of the relic."