by John Nest
"The Spy who sold me Ouragan's Information has a new version," began Perdant. "He told me that its up to date, even to this morning."
With his face hidden behind the Paradox Mask, no one in the stadium could see Smoke's mischievous grin. "So? What's there to talk about? Of course I want to buy it."
"Is he here?" asked Smoke. He then looked around the stadium, searching for a man that would appear to be a Spy. However, he stopped himself after he realized that Spies do not tend to look like one.
"Yeah, he's here," replied Perdant, looking towards his left but clearly not seeing the Spy. "Well, he's here somewhere."
"Go on, buy the latest Info," said Smoke.
"Are you sure?" asked Perdant. "He's asking for seven million zecs."
At once, Smoke felt removing the Paradox Mask. He found it difficult to breathe after he heard the price. "That's insane. You know that this is robbery, right?"
Perdant shrugged. "Exactly what I thought, but I wasn't sure how desperate you were to defeat Ouragan. Perhaps, you would be willing to spend that much?"
Before Smoke could give him an answer, Avilo, Jack, and Mouche walked up next to him. Smoke heard the trio debating on who would win between Xantana and Ouragan.
'Looks like they already took me out of the running,' thought Smoke.
"Faux!" called out Avilo. "What's going on here?" he asked, when the three of them got to where Smoke was.
"Oh, he's just giving me the smoked ribs that I ordered," replied Smoke.
"Really? Smoked ribs? How many did you get?" inquired Avilo.
Before Smoke could reply, the young aristocrat did not give him a chance to answer. "Can I have some?" said Avilo. "Don't worry. I can pay you back," he added, signaling Mouche to give him some zecs.
Smoke clicked his tongue. "Sorry, but I already ate all of it," he replied, patting his stomach with an exaggerated motion.
Avilo then turned to Perdant. "Do you have any more? I'd like about six more pieces?"
Smoke rudely stepped in between them. "I'm sorry, Avilo, but their ribs don't taste good. Trust me, I'm doing you a service."
"Tell your Guy that I won't be ordering anymore ribs from him," Smoke said to Perdant. "And tell him, that most last minute meals aren't worth buying. Especially, if you're already done eating."
"I understand, Master Smo— Faux. I'll tell him, right away," replied Perdant. He bowed to Smoke and disappeared into the crowd.
"Their food was that bad, huh?" asked Avilo. "Thanks, for telling me not to order."
"Of course, anytime," replied Smoke. "Now, if the three of you will excuse me. I need to prepare for my matches."
As Smoke walked away, he heard Mouche ask Jack. "How did Faux eat those smoked ribs with his mask on?"
"I don't know," replied Jack.
"Silly old Mouche," interjected Avilo. "Of course, he lifts up his mask and exposes his mouth."
"Good Luck, Faux!" called out Jack. "I know you'll be the one to beat Ouragan!"
Without looking back, Smoke lifted his right fist. His silent way of thanking Jack's belief in him.
* * * * * *
A wave of restlessness filled the stands of the three-hundred-thousand spectators, as some of them stood up to go to the toilets while others bought food and drinks from the standing vendors.
Looking at the time on the jumbovision screen, Smoke stowed his scroll on Ouragan back into his backpack. "Well, that was useless," he grumbled to himself, annoyed that he could not find the move the Prime Wizard used to defeat Chrys.
Suddenly, the Announcer's voice boomed across the stadium. "Hello! Hello! I'd like to remind everyone that the battle with Xantana and Faux is about to start in five minutes."
The intense glare from the Zectas sun rays had diminished, as it was already almost two in the afternoon.
As he walked over to his area of the large circular ring, Smoke spotted a tiger Lioumerean. He recognized him as Chouchou, one of the defeated participants during his preliminaries and Xantana's lover.
This was not the first time Smoke saw an interracial couple here in Zectas, but he was curious as to how things were with them. A Lioumerean and a LightElf piqued his interest, and he wondered to himself what it would be like to be with a Lioumerean. He patted the forehead portion of his mask as he forcibly drove the thought of Laernea out of his mind.
'Where did that come from?' he wondered.
After hugging Chouchou, Xantana walked up to the ring. Without delay, Smoke followed suit and got on to the stage as well.
"I caught you staring at us," blurted out Xantana. "Are you some kind of pervert?"
"No, no," hurriedly said Smoke. "I just remembered a friend when I saw you two. She was a lioness Lioumerean."
"Was?" asked Xantana.
Smoke paused and gulped down the painful memory of Laernea's demise. "She died a few months ago."
"Really?" stated Xantana.
Judging from her reaction, Smoke could tell that she did not believe him. "Anyway, let's just have a good fight."
Xantana sniggered. "Even though you improved your equipment with those red decals, you still won't have a chance to fight me. I sure hope you won't be a sore loser."
Both of them simultaneously turned to the jumbovision screen as they heard the Announcer's voice. "King Kajou, Queen Ella, my Lords, my Ladies, and the rest of Vitzytl Kingdom, I welcome you back to the 999th Magi Gagnant Tournament!"
In reply, the audience erupted into a boisterous cheer. Yet, one name resonated clearly through the crowd, as they yelled out the beautiful LightElf's name, Xantana!
"With our last semi-finalists being a Pyro Mage and an Earth Elementalist, I can assure you that we'll get a better view of Xantana and Faux's battle this time around."
The were scattered laughter throughout Pulper Stadium, as some audience liked the Announcer's joke.
"Xantana, Faux, when you hear the bell, we want you to let all hell break lose," added the Announcer.
Smoke pointed his Digger's Wand at Xantana. Whereas, the LightElf placed both her hands together in solemn prayer.
GONG
The igniting sound of their battle rang.
Xantana was engulfed in red flames, turning her long white hair into a fiery blaze. Her feet levitated a full meter from the ground.
Sixteen earth-spikes launched from under Xantana's feet and came at her from all directions. A cloud of dust filled the ring as Smoke's earth-spikes made contact.
"I knew you were strong," said Xantana from behind the cloud of dust. "Beating you will surely grant me the right to challenge him."
An unscathed Xantana levitated up from dust, revealing her life bar to be (350,000/350,000 HP).
Smoke remembered that during their preliminaries, her life bar had reached up to 500,000 HP. However, she was then blessed by the flame flowers of the great god Tlaltezin.
'She must have some sort of Barrier ability,' surmised Smoke.
Needing time to set up his next attack, Smoke thought to taunt her.
"I know that everyone wants to challenge Ouragan," began Smoke. "But I'm going to be the one to face him!"
"Hahahahaha," chuckled Xantana. "You're wrong on two counts."
"First, I'm the one who's facing Ouragan," she said, as she counted with her index fingers. "Second, the person I'm challenging after you is Trottel."
'Why would she want to fight against the Prime Wizard I already defeated?' wondered Smoke.
Suddenly, a rain of fireballs fell down from above, as Xantana unleashed it upon him.
BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM
Loud explosions echoed around the coliseum, as Xantana's fireballs hit Smoke's ten-layer concave earth-barrier.
Slowly, Xantana lowered herself to ground, as her fireball attacks did nothing to destroy Smoke's wall. She wildly flailed her arms as the minutes went on.
"Looks like we're even in defensive terms," taunted Smoke from behind his earth-barrier. "I don't think you'll ever break it."
The truth was that S
moke kept on creating several layers to replace the ones that were destroyed on each of her attacks. His trick was the smooth layer change, which deceptively gave it the same earth-barrier appearance every time.
"Raaaaah!" screamed Xantana, as she got closer to the covered up Smoke. Her flurry of fireballs rapidly increased.
As the jumbovision screen zoomed in on their intense battle, the Announcer's voice began to commentate. "There you have it, Folks. Xantana has Faux on the ropes!"
The loud cheering of Xantana's name made it clear who the audience wanted to win.
With Smoke's earth-barrier still intact, Xantana landed back on the ring. She stopped her fireballs attack and gathered a large ball of fire in front of her.
"We're in for quite a show!" exclaimed the Announcer. "Xantana is about to use her signature solar flare attack!"
As the crowd got riled up, the floor of the ring rose up without warning and enclosed both Smoke and Xantana in a massive dome.
"No! Not again!" cried out the Announcer, as soon as their view of the battle was obstructed by the earth-dome. "Don't worry, Folks, I'm sure Xantana's solar flare attack will blast this useless hindrance out of the way."
btoooom
The audience heard the muffled sound of Xantana's solar flare attack exploding. However, Smoke's earth-dome remained intact.
* * * * * *
Only Xantana's flames were the source of light within Smoke's earth-dome-prison.
"What is this?" screamed Xantana. "Show yourself, Faux! You have the gall to trap me!"
Suddenly, the ground of the ring shifted once more. Before Xantana could react, she was enclosed inside another chamber made of stronger earth-layers.
Smoke restricted Xantana's mobility even farther. In spite of capturing her with his inner earth-dome, he still kept up the larger one.
This was a precautionary measure, and as a way to hide his true abilities from those Sonstwelters watching the Tournament.
Xantana then let out an ear-piercing cry.
"Waaaarraaaah!" screamed the LightElf, as she tried blasting the inner earth-dome.
In retaliation, Smoke reinforced his earth-dome with stronger layers.
"Where are you?" screamed Xantana.
As his training under Eleve was completed, he could now withstand Xantana's flames. Yet, he chose to hide himself outside of his inner-dome, trapping only an enraged Xantana.
"Let me out of here!" she screamed.
BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM
Xantana let out more of her solar flare attacks, but Smoke's inner earth dome still held her in.
Several areas of the inner-dome turned red and became molten hot. However, it was only for a few seconds.
Their battle of attrition persisted. Smoke's mana regeneration was now higher than the cost of his Master Level - Earth Manipulation ability. This allowed him to replenish the walls. He also continually shifted the earth around. Thus, foiling Xantana's pin-point attacks, as she attempted to force her way out of his trap.
Using his Cunning of the Dire Fox, he could easily locate Xantana's general position. He occasionally dropped a few earth-knives over her head, to which Xantana would block.
Despite being trapped, she was still unscathed as none of Smoke's earth attack could penetrate her fire-barrier.
Even though none of his earth-knives damaged her, he still kept on going, just enough to keep her on her toes and use her mana.
"Fight me like a man, you coward!" sneered Xantana. "This isn't how you fight in a Magi Gagnant Tournament!"
"Really? I thought it was about using our abilities to their full extent," jibed Smoke from outside the inner-dome.
Then, he attacked her with eight earth-spears which protruded out from the inner dome.
"Youwch!" she screamed in pain.
The inner dome glowed a pale red. A smiling Smoke surmised that Xantana increased the power of her flame-barrier, but he also knew that some of his attacks finally damaged her.
'Good, use your flames even more,' silently encouraged Smoke.
Two more minutes of Smoke's earth-knives and earth-spikes plagued Xantana, but she persevered. She kept on blasting his attacks away and continued to blast his inner-dome as well.
"Give up, Faux," she said in between breaths. "You and I both know that I'll eventually escape from this stupid prison!"
"I don't think so," replied Smoke. "In fact, don't you feel a little out of breath?"
A few seconds went by, before he heard any reply.
Then, he perceived a muffled sound.
"Aaacck," croaked Xantana, as she had burned up almost all of the oxygen inside Smoke's inner earth-dome.
"No! I have to beat you," she gasped. "I have to challenge that stupid Trottel for his title of Vlahui City's Prime Wizard."
After he heard this, Smoke stopped using his earth-attacks on Xantana. "You want to be a Prime Wizard? Why?" he asked, intrigued.
"Trottel is Chouchou's older brother," began Xantana. "When he became the Prime Wizard, he has banned the mixing of the races. But my love would not abandon me. Because of this, he was excommunicated from their bloodline."
Without responding, Smoke listened to her story. He contemplated whether to release her from the inner earth-dome to get a better feel of her sincerity.
"Faux, it looks like you're petty tricks won you this time," she said, while panting for air in between words. "I hate to do this, but you're the only one who is qualified."
"Qualified? What are you talking about?" asked Smoke from outside the inner earth-dome.
"Please challenge Trottel for the title of Vlahui City's Prime Wizard," begged Xantana.
Then, an unexpected notification window popped up.
+ Quest: Full On Trottel
Challenge Quest
Level: A
The Pyro Magi Xantana has asked you to challenge
the tiger Lioumerean Prime Wizard of Vlahui, Trottel.
She hopes that you can lift his idiotic ban on interracial marriages
and allow her Chouchou back into their royal bloodline.
Note:
> If you beat Trottel, you need to fulfill the roles of Vlahui's Prime Wizard
and protect the city until a new Prime Wizard takes your place.
Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]
Smoke instantly canceled out his inner earth-dome, and stood over the half unconscious LightElf sprawled on the floor of the ring.
After reading the Quest a second time, Smoke turned to her and said. "No! Sorry, I can't do this right now. I have a more important mission."
"Why did I lose to you," angrily said Xantana before she fully lost all consciousness.
At once, Smoke canceled the outer earth-dome and revealed himself to the entire audience of Pulper Stadium.
The jumbovision screen zoomed in on Smoke standing over the passed out Xantana.
"No!" cried out Chouchou from outside the ring. "Monster! What did you do to her?"
Smoke reflexively raised both his arms up in surrender. "Nothing, we just fought and I won."
He then picked her up and carefully walked over to the edge of the ring. The spectators yelled in protest, but Smoke kept on walking. When he got to the edge, he gently placed her down outside the ring.
The Announcer's voice then boomed across the arena. "I'm sorry, Everybody, but it looks like Faux is much trickier than we expected."
"Booooo!"
"That's not how you win a Magi battle!"
More than half the crowd jeered at Smoke, unsatisfied with the results. While the rest stared at Xantana, confused whether she was alive or dead.
Chouchou ran faster than the medical team, as he reached the fainted LightElf first. They brought a stretcher with them and picked her up. As they carried her out of the stadium, one of the Medics gave out a thumbs up signal for all of the spectators to see.
"I have great news, Folks. Xantana is alive! I repeat, Xantana is alive!" exclaimed the Announcer. "But on a sad note, the contestant
who will be facing Prime Wizard Ouragan will be none other than the Earth Elementalist, Faux!"
"Boooo!" heckled the crowd.
After he heard the official announcement, Smoke ran after them. An overprotective Chouchou blocked his path.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked the muscular tiger Lioumerean.