by Virlyce
Lucia ignored us while eating with her eyes closed. I thought it only happened in stories, but pink hearts were floating around her and her mouth had turned into a squiggly line with the end of a spoon sticking out of it. Some days, I think it would be nice to experience life as Lucia: something as simple as acorn stew or hot chocolate can make her so happy. But then I remember I don’t want to be crazy.
“She bought a ton of spirit seeds. I tried telling her it was a bad idea to have so many spirits around her, but she didn’t listen to me.”
“It’s just some qi, right?” Lucia asked after swallowing. “Puppers and Durandal are barely noticeable. What’s two or three or sixty more? Besides, they’re not going to be used for combat.”
“Servants, then?” my father asked. Some people had weapon spirits just to carry things around for them. Those who can’t afford interspacial rings usually load up a spirit with bags and use them as a pack mule. Of course, some people don’t want to spend their qi on that and recruit slaves instead. Lucia probably had to carry the human army’s supplies since she was a beastkin, huh? Anyways, using weapon spirits for combat has become long outdated since the rise of magicians. Sure, there are some spirits who can cast magic, but they’re highly inefficient with mana. At most, they can be bodyguards, but weapon spirits are limited by their owners’ qi. How come there aren’t any magic spirits that consume mana instead of qi?
“Nope!” Lucia said. “Comfy underwear! Ever since Puppers became my sock spirit, my feet have been in heaven. All my clothes shall feel that way!” Her eyes gleamed as she took a bag out of her ring and placed it on the table. It made clinking noises and a few marbles rolled out. “Show me the best seeds, Ilya.”
“Why would I know?” I really don’t. I’m not interested in spirit seeds at all. Without any qi to manipulate a spirit, what’s the point?
“Because you know everything?” Lucia asked and tilted her head to the side. “I don’t mentally call you my encyclopedia for nothing.”
“Please don’t refer to a sixth-circle magician that way….” I don’t know if I should be happy for being mistaken as smart or if I should be ashamed for being looked down on that much by Lucia. My abilities are more than just expositing information about the world like some crappy literary device! Didn’t she see how I disabled those guards earlier? I’m not inferior; I’m just younger than her by nearly a decade. You know what? I’m going to compete in the Godking’s Brawl as well. Maybe I don’t have the guaranteed spot, but I can still compete against all the commoners and work my way up! I’ll just have to surrender if I encounter Lucia though.
“Mm, no can do,” Lucia said and shook her head. “Even if you become a seventh-circle magician, I’ll continue to treat you this way. Only when you’re older than me will I acknowledge you as an equal! Just wait a few years, and you’ll be older than me in no time.”
…Sometimes, I can’t tell if Lucia is actually really smart or not. She says the dumbest things, but I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not. I’ll never be older than her! Alright, Ilya, new goal. Forget becoming strong enough to hold the position of duchess. Become strong enough to teach Lucia a lesson! …Though, it might be easier becoming an empress if she continues improving at her current rate. By the time I pass the wall to the seventh circle, will Lucia be at the peak of divine warriors?
Mm, well, all I have to do is do well in the upcoming competition. Cain is searching for talent to nurture; though, I don’t know why, he’s willing to invest in the talented. If I show my worth as a fourteen-year-old sixth-circle magician, my path to the tenth circle should be a smooth one if he helps me. My father might’ve asked Lucia to represent him, but that doesn’t mean he wants me to sit on the sidelines and be a cheerleader. I think. Does he? Well, even if he does, I’m almost an adult. I can make decisions for myself! Second place, here I come! …Realistically, I should aim for the top ten. Yeah. Tenth place, here I come!
19
Wow, time sure does fly when your own weapon spirits are trying to stab you repeatedly with spears while you’re drinking acorn stew. It’s already the day of the competition. You can stop trying to stab me now.
“Your Armor of Slaughter has greatly improved,” Durandal said and sighed as he stowed his spear. I think he’s been feeling frustrated ever since he lost the ability to abuse me. It’s not my fault he’s a sadist! “But how do you know where I’m going to stab when you’re not even looking at me?”
“Oh, that just happens automatically.” The best part about the Armor of Slaughter is its autonomous function. I just have to circulate my qi like I’m using the Path of Slaughter, and the armor will detect incoming attacks and reinforce my body appropriately. It’s a complete cheat! I love it. The downside is it takes a lot of qi to maintain. But that’s okay because I have these improved bones of strength carved out of divine qi! …I’m not addicted, I swear. I can stop whenever I want. My willpower’s increased a lot ever since Durandal returned to my life. I’m fine. Really.
The door to my room swung open. “Are you ready, Lucia?” Ilya asked. She was wearing a set of blue robes. They looked normal, but I could see thousands of strands of mana crawling inside of it. Ilya blinked and lowered her head while lifting her arms a bit. “Like my robe? My father helped me enchant it. Anyways, we should hurry.”
“What’s the rush? I thought we got to skip the boring stuff since I already have a spot.” The preliminary rounds for all the people who weren’t nominated were supposed to happen first. There were thousands of people outside, but the people who hosted the competition guaranteed it wouldn’t take more than a few hours to sort through all those people. How were they going to do that? A giant free-for-all?
“I’m competing,” Ilya said and placed her hands on her hips. “And I’m not going to be disqualified for being late. So hurry up and finish your acorn stew.”
Ilya’s going to compete? But she’s so … tiny. I mean young, that’s the word, right? “Will you be okay?” I finished up the rest of my stew while Ilya nodded.
“I’ll be fine,” Ilya said. “Do you know how hard it is for normal people to cross the first wall before the age of thirty? Out of all the competitors, you and Daniel are probably the only ones who’ve crossed the second.” Who’s Daniel again? “Daniel’s the crown prince.” Nice one, mind reader Ilya.
“Didn’t I trounce Daniel at the banquet with Rogath’s spells?” I did, didn’t I? “I’ll just do that again. Doesn’t that mean I’ll get first place?”
“You probably will get first,” Ilya said with a nod. “But there won’t be enough mana in the vicinity for you to use your magic tool. And you can’t underestimate people, got it? The Godking stood at the top of the world despite never crossing the second wall by reaching the peak of spirit warrior and sixth-circle magician. I’ve asked around, and Algar’s supposedly managed to do the same.” Algar? “Algar’s the human crown prince. The one you made a deal with, remember?” Okay, stop with the mind reading.
“Mm, whatever.” I’m a divine warrior! I’m stronger than the Godking! What do I have to fear in this world? This competition’s going to be a complete walk in the park.
“You’re not listening to me,” Ilya said and shook her head. She walked out the room and I followed her. We headed to the giant coliseum in the center of the city that we weren’t allowed to approach before. On the way there, I saw the marquis that Snow was supposed to be representing, but that bastard was nowhere to be seen. I tried looking for him this past week, but I got tired of beating people up who were looking for Durandal. Ilya had to beg me to stay inside the inn before I started another world war.
“This crowd’s pretty big….” It was huge. The streets were completely filled. Could the coliseum even fit that many people? It was a two-story building at most, and it wasn’t that large.
“The coliseum was personally built by Cain,” Ilya said. “The space inside is larger than the space on the outside like an interspacial ring.”
; Oh, so it was like one of those pocket dimensions Durandal was stored in. I hope it doesn’t bring back bad memories for him. Well, it’s not like he can see anything since he’s currently inside mini-DalDal. …He can’t see anything, right? It wouldn’t make sense if he could. Everyone knows the saying swords and fists have no eyes. That’s definitely the context the saying was created for.
The coliseum was like a whole new world once we stepped inside. Literally. The skies were no longer cloudy, and the sun shone directly overhead even though it was only morning. There were no walls, and the floor was made of green grass and dirt. It was nothing like a coliseum. “Um, Lucia,” Ilya said with a furrowed brow. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“The space inside is larger than the space outside, right?” What about it?
“No, the part I said after that,” Ilya said and bit her lower lip.
“Nope, wasn’t listening.”
Ilya sighed and hung her head. “I said you were supposed to enter the other doorway to go to the spectator area where my father was waiting. Why’d you enter the competition grounds with me?”
“Oh. Well, that’s fine, isn’t it? Anyone can compete, right?” This’ll be a good warmup! Who wants to fight me? I’ll take on anyone! Hear me roar!
Ilya sighed again. “I know what you’re thinking, but the preliminary isn’t about fighting. It’s about talent and ability.” She shook her head. “Well, you have both of those, so you should be fine.”
***
If Lucia wasn’t going to take our guaranteed spot, then it should’ve been given to me instead…. Why did she enter the competition grounds as well? Everyone already knows what she looks like due to the posters plastered all over the city, so all their eyes are going to be on her. It’s a good thing we’re in a massive crowd; it should be a little difficult to pick her out at least. Right?
Dozens of lights flashed as circles appeared on the ground. Was this part of the competition? From above, a giant screen displayed tons of spectators, all of them looking down on us. A few of them stood up and leapt towards us. Were they trying to enter the competition grounds? As their bodies hit the screen, the circles on the ground erupted with pillars of light. When the light dispersed, the people who had jumped were in front of us. What the heck!? Why did so many people with guaranteed spots decide to join the preliminary?
“Lucia Fluffytail!” a voice rang out as a beastkin with green scales growing on his arms and face pointed towards us with a spear in hand. “For the grievances against my blood brother, you must be punished.”
Wasn’t this snakelike person the crown prince of the beastkin kingdom? Don’t tell me his brother was the lionkin that Lucia nearly killed over stew. And how are lions and snakes even related at all? Unless, of course, their father was a promiscuous fellow with multiple wives. Ugh, that just leaves a massive headache for all the descendants fighting over the throne later.
“Lucia Fluffytail? That’s her?” a few voices murmured. The people stepped away, and the crowd parted as the nobles with guaranteed spots approached us. There were at least four dozen of them. How come they all forsook their spots? What if they failed the preliminary round and disappointed the nobles they were representing?
A few more whispers of Durandal, betrayer, and acorn stew drinker rang through the air. Before the nobles could reach us, a voice boomed throughout the competition grounds. “Silence. Everyone has gathered.” Floating above us, a demon with long red hair that flowed down to his lower back crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at us and furrowed his brow. “The fifty of you wish to compete in the preliminary as well? If you fail here, you won’t be able to partake in the brawl even with your seeded spot.”
Everyone looked up at the demon without saying a word. Sweat dripped to the ground, and a few people had even fallen to their knees. Lucia was frowning at the demon, her tail twitching rapidly. I whispered to her, “Is your tail stiff?”
“A little,” Lucia whispered back. “I didn’t think it’d ever stiffen again after reaching the divine realm. Mm, it’s a good thing Durandal didn’t let me slack off.”
“Very well then,” the demon above said. “Some of you may know me; my name is Cain Thunderfire, the host of this year’s Godking’s Brawl.” Ten circles appeared around his body, each of them golden in color. Hints of lightning and fire flickered around them, crackling like thunder. “There are some simple rules: no killing, stop when I say stop, and no magic tools allowed. Any questions?”
Lucia’s hand shot up into the air. “Question!” she shouted. Cain’s gaze landed on her. “What if there’s this really, really slimy bastard that I want to kill in this competition? Can I kill him anyway even if it breaks the rules?”
“You’ll be disqualified and judged by your respective empire’s laws,” Cain said.
Lucia frowned and furrowed her brow. “Oh! What if he’s just too weak and dies in one hit?” she asked, her tail perking up. “I’m super strong; and I’m not good at controlling my strength. Accidents happen all the time, right?”
Cain frowned. A few other people chimed in before he could say anything. Daniel’s voice was the clearest. “I agree with Lucia. Accidents happen all the time. How do we show off our abilities if we have to tread on eggshells? If I cast any seventh-circle spell right now, hundreds of these people would die. Am I supposed to limit myself? I’m willing to bet some people here can’t even survive a fourth-circle spell. What if I underestimate the opponent and limit myself too much, causing a loss?”
“You’re Daniel, the crown prince?” Cain asked. “What you say makes sense, but the competition is structured in such a way that killing another person will be very hard to do. You’ll see when it starts. I decided to modify it a bit compared to the previous decades’.”
“I understand,” Daniel said and nodded.
Lucia tilted her head. “So can I accidently murder him or not?” she asked and scratched her nose.
Cain sighed. “A judgment will happen if it comes to pass,” he said. “If you really must kill someone, make it look like an accident as much as you can.”
“Nice,” Lucia said and gave me a thumbs up. …Wasn’t her motto, ‘I’m not a murderer’?
“And without further delay, let the competition begin,” Cain said and waved his arm. A glass ball fell towards the crowd and landed in a beastkin’s hands. “The first test is simple—a measure of talent. Squeeze the glass and insert your mana or qi or both. If the orb lights up, you pass. If it doesn’t, you fail.”
I wonder how it works. Does it measure the amount of mana or qi you can produce and match it with your age? How would it even tell your age in the first place? Well, everyone has to pass the same test; it should be fair. One orb seems kind of slow though…. Oh, and there’s another. An orb fell towards my head, and I caught it before it hit me. Squeeze and insert mana. The orb lit up, and a second later, my surroundings distorted. I was no longer in the meadows but a gray flatland with nothing to be seen as far as the eye could see. A few others were with me—this was probably the next stage for those who passed?
***
Ah! Ilya vanished! Did the orb teleport her somewhere? It stopped glowing and fell to the floor after she disappeared. Hmm, I really don’t like teleportation magic after being tricked by that stupid acorn in the forest. But I have to do this to pass the preliminary and find a chance to kill, err, accidently murder Snow. Let’s see, what did the man in the sky say I had to do? Squeeze and…
Ping!
“Uh, Mr. Announcer! Host! Mr. Firethunder!”
“You again?” the man in the sky asked. Hey, if you didn’t want me asking questions, you shouldn’t have asked if anyone had any questions. Jeez. What do you mean, me again?
“The orb broke.” I pointed at the shattered fragments on the ground. I didn’t even insert my qi!
“It broke?” the man in the sky asked. The other nearby contestants turned their heads and stared at me. It’s not my fault! I just followed the inst
ructions! “Let me see.” Another orb dropped from the sky and landed in my hands.
“See, squeeze…”—ping!—“and it broke again.” It’s a good thing my hands are so calloused from swinging mini-DalDal all the time or I might’ve been injured by all these fragments.
“Interesting,” the man in the sky said and rubbed his chin. What are you doing trying to look so profound for? You don’t even have a beard! “Let’s just say you pass for now.”
Ah? But it didn’t light up. The man in the sky waved his hand, and my vision spun around like Rogath casted Topsy-Turvy on me. A few seconds later, the world cleared up and I was standing in a land of gray. Just gray. Even the sky was a slightly lighter shade of gray than the ground. Oh, it’s Ilya. “This is the next testing ground?”
“Apparently,” Ilya said with a nod. She looked around and scratched her head. So far, there were only a few hundred people in the area with us. It was a lot less sweaty and gross compared to the previous place. I swear, some of those catlike beastkin had no idea how to bathe themselves, thinking licking their skin would keep them clean instead. “Cain’s really rushing this competition compared to the previous ones. Is he in a hurry?”
“Maybe he has a date.” That’s possible, right? He’s supposed to be the strongest person in the world. If he were single, that would be a little disappointing, no? At the very least, he should have a harem of five people after struggling to reach the top. No doubt, he should’ve swayed one ice-cold maiden’s heart with a lively barbeque, or he saved a fiery beauty in the nick of time when she was being hunted, or perhaps he even took care of someone stronger than him while they were injured. Who knows? As the strongest person in the world, there’s no way he lived an uneventful life. …Now that I think about it, my rise to divine warrior was pretty uneventful. If anything, I only met two people: Ilya and Snow. And they’re both women! Well, Snow’s not, but he looks like one.