Anything ~ 6!

“The Four are permitted to enter the Grand Hall.” A royal guard announced after they had been left waiting outside the doors for at least a full hour. Luke was staring at the man near-hungrily; he could practically taste the Etheric Xenograft Potentia surging through this man.

The others might have felt suppressed by the powerful aura of an expert that swirled around the guard, but all Luke wanted to do was test his mettle. There was something almost… fluffy about the high-leveled Ascender, as if his accumulated exp was cotton thread that ran through him - while the exp within Luke’s own group was like steel wire. They accomplished the same thing, but the steel thread would be able to bear a massively higher load. “Like a suit of armor filled with feathers. Weak.”

“What did you just say to me?” The guard paused and looked at Luke, rage filling his eyes as he registered the Murderhobo’s contempt. Before Luke could open his mouth and implicate himself further, the court herald announced them and they were ushered inside. Taylor took a moment to sidle up to Luke, and gave hima  harsh reprimand.

“Every royal guard is at least level eighteen.” She whispered at him, showing a smile to the surrounding crowd of nobility. “Please don’t get us killed here. Let us do the talking, you just relax and ignore everything as best as you can. Do that for me, and I’ll pull in a favor to get you back to your world a week ahead of schedule.”

Luke nodded, though a sharp glance at Taylor made her realize that he now knew she had been able to use a favor like that, and had held off. She sighed and tried to get into the moment; Taylor knew she had lost a lot of trust back in the mountain pass when she had been willing to sacrifice everyone to save the Kingdom. Even so, she hadn’t realized that every little action she took was going to be scrutinized by them. “Gonna have to do something big to get them back on my side…”

“King Alexander speaks!” The herald’s voice boomed across the room, stilling the voices and softly whispered schemes.

The King of the Hollow Kingdom looked around the room and nodded as if he was seeing something he approved of. His eyes turned and lightly rested on them in order, touching on Taylor, analyzing Andre, zipping past Zed, and finally landing on Luke; where most of his attention remained. “Thank you.”

The simple statement caused the Grand Hall to buzz with confused whispering. The King ignored all that and leaned forward slightly. “Thanks to your efforts, this land is sprinting toward a golden new age. The sheer quantity of resources recovered by the four of you will outfit our armies, build and rebuild our cities, and push our research capabilities forward by decades at the least.”

The room filled with polite clapping as the King paused in his speech. He raised a hand a fraction of an inch, and the room went silent once more. “As you know, your small group has been awarded a percentage of the worth of those resources as a recognition of your contribution, and I had hoped that-”

“Pfft.” A surly young man seated next to the King scoffed lightly, but not softly enough.

The King turned to look at him with calm eyes. “Did you have something to say, Prince Vir?”

“You know my thoughts on this, Your Highness.” Crown Prince Vir looked at the team before him with disdainful eyes. “They are doing their duty. Why award them with such high honors for simply doing what they are supposed to do?”

“Interesting.” The King looked into the distance and went quiet for a moment. Then his eyes twinkled as he looked at the four standing awkwardly before him. “You seem to think that these four Ascenders have only done as they are supposed to do. In that case… tell me why no other fifty Ascenders that this Kingdom raises has ever been able to replicate their act?”

Before the Prince could say a word, King Alexander began listing their accomplishments. “As new Ascenders, fresh from initial training, they repelled an invasion. They closed a Scar. A literal mountain of resources was returned to the Kingdom, instead of being squirreled away through a portal for personal use. I think they’ve gone far beyond simply ‘doing their duty’, and I will award them accordingly.”

“This is a farce.” The Prince spat loudly.

King Alexander whirled on him with fury in his eyes, and the Prince knew he had gone too far. Before he could apologize, the King’s soft voice issued a challenge. “In that case, how about a bet? I have faith that these four new Ascenders can crush any of your sponsored teams with the same amount of time as an Ascender. If your team is able to win in a mirror match, I’ll gift each individual with half of the total Potentia they have collected for the Kingdom. If your team loses, you’ll need to offer this team full of ‘farce’ half the Potentia collected. As we cannot use the Kingdom’s resources for something of this nature, the cost will be taken from our weekly resources for sponsorship until the debt is paid. What say you?”

“Against them? Right now, not after you equip them?” Prince Vir shook his head in amazement as King Alexander nodded grimly. “Absolutely. I look forward to bringing my team to higher heights. Herald, bring out the Knights of ‘Heaven’s Earth’. We have a duel!”

The room erupted in cheering, and the four Ascenders waiting patiently looked at each other with complicated gazes. Taylor leaned in to the others, “The King knew this would happen. Others must have guessed as well… now the attack against us in the inn makes sense.”

Luke spat on the highly polished floor, earning a wince from the other three. “I don't perform.”

Zed slipped into the budding argument before anyone else could make Like dig his heels in further, “I’ve always wanted to know how much exp was being drained from us. I always knew it was a possibility, but…”

That gave Luke pause. He looked down, then up, and finally into Taylor’s eyes. “How much have they stolen?”

“What? Why would I know?” Taylor looked at the others for agreement, getting only flat stares in return. “All I know is that they do it. They use it as pay for guards and people that can’t go into their own world since they are serving the Kingdom directly.”

“That’s an option?” Zed hissed at her, shocked that he had never even heard of this as a possibility. “That would literally solve all of my problems in no time flat!”

“Is that why that guy was fluffy?” Luke’s grunt derailed the conversation, as the others weren’t sure what to make of it. “Was it a lack of earned Potentia? I’ll be careful not to use too much of it.”

“What do you-” Zed’s reaction was interrupted by a small team walking into the room. As soon as they did, pressure pushed the majority of the Nobility back. Their auras of the newcomers were powerful and wild, raging like unchained tigers. They smoothly moved before the King and bowed with perfect court etiquette.

One of them, the team leader if Luke had to guess, removed his shiny helmet to reveal perfectly coiffed golden hair. “Your Majesty. Your Highness. We welcome this opportunity to display our skills before the court.”

“Feel free to humiliate them, Sir Edward.” Prince Vir casually ordered. The team slammed a fist to their breastplates and turned as one to face Luke’s group, who were suddenly feeling very ragtag. Only Taylor looked as perfect as these Royal-sponsored Ascenders. Luke and Zed’s clothes were torn and stained - both for different reasons - and Andre’s clothes were entirely natural; a mix of animal furs and plant matter.

“Archmage, if you will.” King Alexander nodded to another seat. Both Luke and Taylor’s eyes snapped to that space, in time to see Archmage Don nod and start to chant a spell. The King took the few moments of needed casting time to explain what was happening, “The Mirror Moment spell will allow you to fight at full force until one team has been fully eliminated. Once a team has been wiped out, you will return to reality. All damage done in that time will be as a dream, so don’t hold back. The winners will be granted bottled Potentia in the amount of half of the accumulated amount gained from them over the last two and a half years.”

“I wish you luck.” The King’s voice echoed strangely as the surroundings faded. Only the four members of Luke’s team and the five members of ‘Heaven’s Earth’ remained. “Begin.”