Chapter 10: Battle of Seeds
1440 Words
Wanda called this his lost form. The repercussion he must suffer for fourteen days whenever the Phoenix Soul in his Soul Realm revives him from the dead.
Fortunately, even though his strength is reduced to a tenth over the duration of the form, he had already fully immersed his fighting style in relying solely to Magnum and the Reviver and therefore, there’s no true detriment to his fighting capability. Still, as someone who had been a blind man and an adult for the most part of his centuries of existence, having a smaller body and regressing back to the time when he still has his sight are both uncomfortable.
He blinked several times to adjust to the light while Magnum returned first their interspatial pouch so he can pull out his junior-size spare clothes they prepared around eight years ago. The same numbers of years since the last time this happened.
Afterwards, he declared, “Let’s get out of here.”
They then faced the white stone again, hoping that the legacy sponsor had also left an exit portal. It’s an unwritten courtesy to always prepare an exit portal when leaving behind a trial but oftentimes, those sponsors would tend to forget.
*Swooong!
They sighed in relief. Thankfully, this Lich was not one of them.
Mounting onto Magnum’s back, they entered the portal. The exit point, though limited within the local realm, can be determined by the user and they choose a secluded place half the world away from the dig site. From there, they entered the dimensional stem.
“Where to now?” Magnum asked.
Another penalty of regressing back to this point of his life is the severance of his connection to both Lugiel and the Radiance Grave. In other words, as long as his lost form is active, both their residences are inaccessible.
“Where do you think?” He passes back to him. “Any place in mind where we can lay low for a couple of weeks?”
“How about heading to Eluard itself?”
That took him slightly aback, “Why there?”
“Well, for starters, it’s familiar, and second, we are around in case House Talene or the Tower requires help while being Lugiel is unavailable.”
“Fair points,” he nodded, ultimately agreeing. “Sure, let’s head there.”
“Okie-dokie!”
Couple of hours later, Magnum recovered enough Mana and they hyperjumped to an outer rim Grimland realm called Lexa. There, Magnum used his shapeshifting to take a human form and pretending as siblings, they rode an airship to Regulus and then another one from there to finally reach Eluard.
Given its strict military structure, their customs is far stricter to foreigners than the fascist One Empire. The travel from Lexa to the border of Eluard lasted for three hours and they spend an hour more than that to enter its capital city of Hogan. Again, the transition when it was finally their turn was smooth thanks to the faultless set of documents they prepared beforehand.
Afterwards, they started to tread the path towards Seeker’s Point, the sector of capital where the Alchemy Tower and House Talene both stood.
Wanda then took this temporary recovery of his sight to look around. He’d been here before and as Lugiel, this city is his home for the last nineteen years but this is the first time he is here with his sight intact. It’s an unfamiliar perspective.
“Ugh, finally!” Magnum moaned as he lay on the bed. After settling into an inn, he immediately returns to his original but miniature Dragon form. “That was unbearable!”
They are booked here until the duration ends and hopefully, no accident would occur until then.
◆◆◆◆◆◆
After ten days.
Despite being among the leaders required to be in attendance, he didn’t give it mind in the first place so ultimately, it had also slipped completely off his mind but today is the start of Clan Fawkes’ Battle of Seeds.
As mentioned already, it is the quinquennial tournament for the Clan’s younger generation between the ages of sixteen to twenty-one that managed to achieve at least 60% mastery of a single Martial Art or Sorcery.
Achieving 60% on a single art is an outstanding achievement for a young cultivator and doing so while under the age of twenty-one makes one a genius or a Seed as Clan Fawkes would address them.
Today, the clouds are of hues of grey and from time to time, it would drizzle. However, it did not stop the spectators and supporters to attend the inauguration of the tournament. On the other hand, since they have absolutely nothing to tend to, Magnum convinced him to attend and spectate. Give it a look.
A total of ninety-seven, the Seeds wearing grey robes were gathered in front of a huge stone slab in an open field located just a couple of miles west of Hogan. Each youngster carries a solemn expression on their faces.
In front of them, the leaders of the Clan led by the Clan Master himself stood before them.
“Let us begin!”
The Clan Master announced and to that cue, the leaders of the Clan start retrieving a tablet either from their storage items or underneath their robes. After which, they injected Mana into these tablets before pointing it towards the huge stone slab.
Conducting that, the stone slab shone and strange formations started to emerge on its surface. Afterwards, the Clan Master extended his right arm and a golden spear made of light had flashed forward, striking the said formations.
*BANG!
The stone slab thundered and to where the Clan Master had struck, a huge portal opened.
*BANG!
Countless thunders and noises of explosions roared from the portal before calming down a couple of minutes later.
“The Battle of Seeds will be held here, a pocket dimension called the Worm Field,” the Clan Master started his introduction to the Seeds. “It is a pocket dimension of great size but sadly, due to its location of being right beside the rift to the Voided Reaches, it was already drained of its life and resources way before it was discovered. However, due also to its unfortunate placement, apart from the absence of Unkgoods, its environment is nearly identical to the realms inside the rift.”
The rift to the Voided Reaches is not just a massive portal an Eluard inhabitant can see clearly over the horizon. Beyond it is an equally massive tunnel with several barren realms in between. It is there where the greatest of Clan Fawkes gather and make their first line against the Unkgoods.
“The Battle of the Seeds is simple. Inside this environment identical to the rift, all of you are to battle one another,” he said and raised his hand. A red number “1” appeared and glow on the Seeds’ foreheads. “It will last for five days. In these five days, you will all be transported to different areas in the Worm Field. Whenever you knockout or make your opponent admit defeat, their number will be transferred to you. Only those with a minimum of ten points will receive rewards at the end of the tournament and the best three contenders especially the Top 1 will receive separate and greater rewards. On the other hand, I beseech all of you to prioritize helping one another in case of the rise of an accident. It is generally without Unkgoods but some strayed from time to time. Above all, killing your opponent is extremely prohibited. Violators will be punished severely, understood!?”
“Understood!!!”
The Clan Master nodded. “The Battle of Seeds now officially begins!”
He waved his hand and the Seeds were engulfed by a layer of light and like meteorites falling, they rose to the sky and streaked down towards the portal.
Meanwhile, Wanda and Magnum started to head back to the city after that conclusion but ceased on their track when suddenly, their bodies also started to emit light similar to what sent the Seeds into the portal.
There was a brief pause but Wanda immediately understood, he grumbled, “You have got to be kidding me!”
A second later, they were catapulted at lightning speed towards the portal.
“What was that!?” Someone exclaimed before the portal closed behind them.
- Writer
