by Jakob Tanner
“C’mon, Blake,” said Casey. “You can finish this tournament for us here and now. Harold won’t even have to fight in the end if you win.”
Harold nodded. “I’d like nothing more than to not have to step into that ring.”
Blake nodded at the A-rankers words and took a final drag of his cigarette before flicking it to the ground and rubbing it out with his foot.
He stretched his hands and cracked his fingers.
“Okay,” he said. “Time to finish this.”
Regulus watched as the human B-ranker walked onto the fighting square and joined the hooded figure there.
He looked at the two fighters with a nervous excitement in his chest.
So far all the matches had proven to be showstoppers and Regulus had a feeling this one was going to be no different.
He just wasn’t sure how and in who’s favor.
The powerful strength of a B-rank flamebringer against...well, actually, still no one knew exactly who or what the mercenary team’s B-ranker was capable of.
Regulus had hired researchers to find out, but they hadn’t been able to come up with anything.
I guess now all will be revealed, Regulus said to himself.
He sighed and then raised his mic to his mouth and said, “It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for folks. The battle between the B-rankers. Will the human team win and take the title as tournament champions? Or will the mercenary team be able to hold out and survive for their own shot at glory? Well, let’s find out. Everyone make some noise for our fighters and let the match begin!”
Blake didn’t want to waste any time.
As soon as the announcer called the match, he stretched out his hands and shot forth a massive fireball at the hooded figure, creating an explosion of flames.
Those who had chosen not to attend the arena that day would have seen a small mushroom cloud of smoke appear from the top of the coliseum.
Blake crossed his arms and waited for the smoke to clear.
He had trouble seeing the mercenary B-ranker surviving such a clearly powerful attack.
Sure, their stats would be roughly the same, but fire was fire.
There was also the damage over time effect.
Maybe a B-ranker’s endurance meant their skin could resist the heat at first; but there’s only so long one person could last in an oven full of flames.
The smoke cleared and Blake looked on with shock and horror.
First, it was just a silhouette.
Blake shook his head.
No way they could’ve survived that!
But then the smoke cleared completely.
The hooded figure stood there in front of him, unfazed.
The mercenary B-ranker’s clothing wasn’t even damaged.
Blake clenched his fists.
I guess I better get ready, he thought to himself. This isn’t going to be a short fight.
Max and the rest of the team looked on with shock and awe.
The smoke fully cleared and the two fighters in the ring stood exactly where they had been before the match had officially started.
“The mercenary B-ranker is clearly insanely powerful,” said Max. “The hooded figure was completely unharmed from Blake’s devastating attack.”
“I hope our former climber instructor can pull off something even more impressive than that,” said Casey, petting Toto on her shoulder.
“What’s more impressive than blowing up the fighting ring and creating a massive mushroom cloud in the sky?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know,” Casey shrugged. “But whatever it is, I hope it can harm the mercenary team’s B-ranker.”
“Watch,” said Harold.
All of their attention returned to the fighting ring.
In a second, the hooded figure flashed out of sight.
The B-ranker reappeared behind Blake.
Max was amazed.
The mercenary fighter wasn’t even teleporting, they were just moving with lightning speed.
Blake didn’t have time to react.
Soon the hooded figure was clutching onto Blake.
The flamebringer scrambled to get out of his opponent’s grip.
He didn’t have that much time to attempt the escape, because within less than a second, the mercenary lifted Blake and whipped him across the arena into a nearby wall, out of bounds.
Blake’s body created a huge crater in the arena’s walls.
Blake collapsed onto the ground.
The flamebringer now had ten seconds to get up and back in the square or the human team would lose the match.
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Hermia nudged Regulus in the ribs as they both watched the match in awe.
The nudge was exactly what the announcer needed as he was soon lifting up the mic to his mouth and declaring, “Is this it, folks? The human B-ranker has ten seconds to get up or the match will go to the mercenary team. Ten...Nine...”
Hermia watched the human B-ranker lie facedown out of bounds.
He wasn’t getting up.
She then glanced over to the mercenary team’s B-ranker.
The hooded figure—listed in their database as merely, “Unknown”—stood there, showing no emotion.
Whoever that is, Hermia thought, they are extremely powerful.
“Six...” shouted Regulus, the whole arena chanting along with him now.
Hermia looked at the human fighter with concern.
He only had a few more seconds to get up.
But Hermia had an even more frightening thought pass through her mind.
Will he be able to get up at all?
Many many years ago...
Blake ran into the courtyard of the climber academy out of breath.
His hair was greasy and his hands were covered in black charcoal.
“I’m sorry, I’m late, sir,” he shouted. “My manager wouldn’t let me leave early from my shift.”
To support him and his family, he had to work extra hours at one of the tower-zone’s fast food burger chains.
All the other students snickered and laughed at him.
He was the only one of them who had a part-time job alongside his studies. The others came from rich successful climber families.
“What a loser!” laughed the other kids. “Barbecue Blake is such a clown! Always making mistakes! He should just give up!”
Even their instructor snickered at the other kid’s words.
Blake sighed and looked at the ground.
No one respected him.
They were all probably right.
He was nothing but a loser and should just give up.
His wallowing thoughts didn’t last long as they were interrupted with the sharp pain of a punch to his shoulder.
“Ow!” shouted Blake, looking up to see Sakura, looming over him, hands on her hips. “What did you do that for!?”
“You are a clown, you know that, right?” she said. “But you can be so much more than that if you try. Will you try, Blake?”
As Blake lay face down in the gravel dirt of the arena, he saw Sakura’s face in his mind’s eye.
Sakura was the only one who ever gave him a chance.
The only one who ever believed in him.
It was her belief that had always spurred him on.
His fingers clenched the dirt.
I can’t let Sakura down now.
“Four...” shouted Regulus along with the crowd.
Everyone cheered in amazement as the human climber picked himself up.
“Incredible,” shouted Will and Oliver at the same time in the stands. “He’s really getting up!”
Everyone was cheering him on as the human flamebringer quickly moved across the arena and back into the fighting ring before the countdown ended.
“What perseverance,” said Oliver. “I can’t believe he got up.”
The whole arena was amazed.
It looked as if the match was far from over.
Mother snickered to herself
on the sidelines.
The two fighters were back in the square now and the fight would resume.
Foolish human, she thought. You should’ve stayed out of that arena. Now you’re going to see what real pain feels like...
62
Blake winced at the hooded figure across from him.
He clenched his fists.
“No impressive taunt, huh?” he said to the mercenary.
He got no response.
Blake knew this was his last shot. If the hooded figure tossed him out of the arena like that again, he didn’t see himself getting up.
He had to hand it to the mercenary.
Whoever they were, they were extremely powerful.
But, Blake thought to himself. So am I.
He stretched out his hands and triggered his most powerful flamebringer ability.
Flames formed in his hands like they normally would when he was unleashing a fire projectile attack.
But this time things went differently.
His skin began to glow like hot embers in a fire.
At D- and C-rank, elemental-based climbers developed conjured weapons and equipment.
At B-rank, an elemental-based climber’s trait evolved into something far more interesting.
An embodiment of the element itself.
Blake triggered flame-mode and transformed into a spirit of fire.
“Holy crap,” said Max. “I didn’t know Blake could do that!”
The entire team stood at the side, amazed.
The collective gasp across the entire arena revealed that everyone was equally impressed.
“I’ve never wanted to hit B-rank as badly as I do now after seeing this,” declared Casey with a triumphant fist. “Go, Blake, go!”
Max wasn’t even sure if Blake could hear them. He had become a flame spirit: a humanoid being composed entirely of red and orange flames.
There was just one person who wasn’t fazed at all by Blake’s transformation and that was his opponent.
The hooded figure of the mercenary team.
Blake rushed his opponent and the figure quickly leaped back.
But Blake didn’t slow down.
Flame-mode made him faster and stronger.
He threw out fists, kicks, and projectiles but the hooded figure kept dodging.
Blake was controlling the match, which was good, but it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t land a hit.
And then it happened.
The hidden figure swerved left, but Blake was only feinting.
Unfortunately for the mercenary, they had left themselves wide open for an uppercut.
SMASH!
Blake’s fist of blazing fire smashed right into the hooded figure’s chin sending them flying upward in the air and then tossed back onto the arena floor.
The entire audience held their breath in stunned silence.
Mother stood, watching the match with a calm expression on her face.
She held her hands gently together.
Both Kai and Winifred turned to her with concern.
“Don’t worry,” smiled Mother, “our B-ranker will get up, you’ll see.”
The foolish human should have given up when he had the chance. Now, he was really about to enter a world of pain.
The announcer was counting down from ten to see if the B-ranker would get up from the devastating punch.
The hooded figure pushed off the ground and was back on their feet within seconds.
The mercenary raised their fists and a powerful aura began to emit from them.
And so it begins, Mother snickered to herself.
Max had hardly blinked, he was so engrossed in the fight.
The mercenary B-ranker stood up and immediately Max could sense a change.
Powerful hostile mana was overflowing from the mercenary.
It made Max feel sick inside.
Only a few seconds before, Max had thought Blake had pushed through and won the match. Now he wasn’t so sure.
The mercenary moved across the arena with deadly speed.
Blake was still in flame-mode and tried to keep up.
But the tables had turned.
The mercenary was now dictating the terms of the match.
“This isn’t good,” said Harold. “Blake has revealed most of his powers and yet we still have no idea what this mercenary can do.”
Max shuddered.
It was true, which was only a testament to the sheer power and capabilities of the mercenary fighter.
Who was this person?
The hooded figure jumped back and, while their face was completely concealed in shadow, Max felt like the mercenary was staring right in his direction.
It was at that moment that the mercenary chose to reveal their ability.
Their hand mutated into a pointed bone and then shot forth in Blake’s direction.
The strange bone arm stretched forward across the fighting square and punctured right through Blake’s shoulder and chest, inches away from his heart in a deadly attack.
Blood splattered across the fighting ring.
63
Harold’s eyes bulged at the attack that harmed Blake.
He recognized it straightaway.
It couldn’t be.
A break-mode…!
It all happened so fast, Harold didn’t have time to trigger his trait as the bone tail spike attack ripped through Blake’s flesh and kept moving until it stabbed Harold right in the chest as well.
Blood gurgled to the top of the old man’s mouth.
Such power, Harold thought fearfully. I don’t think my trait would have made a difference.
His eyes then rolled into the back of his skull before he fell unconscious.
Both Winifred and Kai turned their heads immediately to Mother.
The old woman didn’t pay them any heed.
They were upset that they weren’t informed of the full details of the plan.
She had to keep them in the dark in case they were separated and tortured.
It was the only way, darlings, she thought to herself. My apologies.
It all happened so fast Max could barely keep up.
One second, Blake and the mercenary were trading blows. In the next, Blake was dying on the ground.
But it got worse.
Much worse.
The bone tail spike attack—whatever horrific power that stemmed from—had not only stabbed Blake through the chest, but it had gone further, stabbing Harold as well.
The old man gasped and fell to his knees. Blood spurted from his mouth.
By the time Max was able to connect all the dots, the mutated bone attack had slipped back into the hooded figure’s sleeve.
“Harold!” shouted Casey.
“Blake!” cried Sarah.
The arena was in stunned silence.
Max was still reeling from the shock, but he forced himself to stay composed.
“Sarah, Casey,” he said. “You two look after Harold, I’ll go check on Blake.”
Max hurried over to Blake to find two Caesarian healers placing him on a stretcher.
The B-ranker had returned to his human form where a huge red wound could be seen on his chest.
He was unconscious.
“Is he going to be okay?” Max asked, panicked.
“Not sure,” said the Caesarian healer. “Let us do our job. He needs to get to a hospital as soon as possible. Same goes for your A-ranker. Now please stay out of the way.”
Max looked around the arena with horror.
Both Casey and Sarah’s faces were pale as ghosts. Their eyes were brimming with tears as another group of healers carried Harold away as well.
How did this happen?
And what do they do now?
Regulus paced back and forth in the viewing box.
The crowd’s stunned silence was beginning to turn into murmurs and agitation.
“The audience wants to know what will happen next,” said Hermia.
; Regulus rubbed his forehead as he tried to sort through his anxious thoughts.
It’s happening all over again, isn’t it?
This was just like what happened over two decades ago.
A victory and defeat through a brutally violent technicality.
Regulus sighed and looked up to Hermia.
“I guess I’ll declare the mercenary team the winner then,” he said.
Hermia was about to interject before another voice beat her to it.
Sabriel.
The tower god.
“No,” she said. “Wait a day. See if the human’s A-ranker can recover. Even if he can’t, you can’t reward the mercenaries with a victory immediately after they’ve pulled such a foul move.”
“Agreed,” Hermia added.
Regulus shook his head.
“Okay,” he said. “Hand me my mic.”
A few hours later, Max sat in the hospital room where both Harold and Blake were placed on adjacent beds.
The healers were able to attend to the two men and it looked like they had both survived the worst of it.
“I hate those jerk mercenaries so much,” said Casey. “Especially that one with the hood. I bet he never shows his face, because it’s so repulsive.”
“I’m just glad Harold and Blake are alright,” said Sarah, rubbing her eye.
Max sighed. He felt a mixture of both sentiments. He was happy that Blake and Harold were okay and most likely going to survive the devastating attack, but then he was enraged that the mercenary’s would eke out a victory from the tournament in such an unsportsmanlike manner.
And then there was the burning curiosity about the mercenary’s B-ranker.
What the heck was that attack?
It reminded Max slightly of the bone basilisk he’d fought when helping out the frog-folk months ago; but it was an even more sickly and bizarre move. It was as if the B-ranker’s hand had mutated into a sharp and deadly bone pincer.
How powerful was the mercenary team’s B-ranker that their attack could absolutely wreck both Blake and Harold?