Chapter 43 - Second Draft

Chapter 43 - LOT

Jack yawned, rubbing the red, cross shaped scar on his face as he looked up at the star lit sky above him, the dying evening light fading away.

After wiping the floor with the rest of the contestants, the Overseer of the district Jack had joined and personally come up and welcomed him. The show Jack put on had worked, and he had been successfully invited as one of the new recruits to participate in the Clan Tournament.

According to the Overseer, this was a rare opportunity to make a good impression on the Magma Clan upper echelon, and a chance to experience the might of the internal members of the Magma Clan.

The Clan itself was split into two large groups. External Members and Internal Members. The only way to be an Internal Member was to have some form of the Natural Ability the Magma Clan was famed for. The ability to manipulate fire, magma, and even, at higher stages, transform ones body and control massive amounts of magma,.

Everyone else was limited to being an External Member.

That wasn’t to say External Members were treated poorly. After all, one of the Burn Lords, the equivalent of the Impact Clan’s Great Elders, was an External Member.

However, though that were Internal Members usually had a higher rank than External Members, and it could be more difficult to advance for External Members. If one had a great deal of strength, however, none of that mattered.

Jack didn’t particularly care, in the end. He wasn’t planning on staying within the Magma Clan for any extended period of time. He only needed to do well in the Clan Tournament tomorrow and make it to the Semi-Finals. After that, he would attend the Tournament Dinner, and take the opportunity to sneak around and look for the Space Gauntlet.

Bale and Evan had seen similar results. The two brothers were powerful fights in their own right. Even when handicapped by being unable to make full use of their Natural Abilities, both brothers were easily equal to an above average Rank A Hunter, mostly thanks to Liren’s guidance and support.

If they went all out and made full use of their Space bloodline, they would at least be on the level of an elite Rank A Hunter in the top 100,000.

Jack took a deep breath, taking his attention away from the sky above. He, instead, opened up a small book he had purchased after participating in the Recruitment Drive battle royale.

Idglebar City was currently teeming with people, and, as a matter of course, teeming with merchants. Jack had passed by several stores on the way back to the inn, and had decided to go in search of a manual that gave advice on entering into the Third Stage of Spirit.

There were grand Artifact shops, massive auctions, esteemed alchemist emporiums, a veritable wonderland where Spirit Crystals, rare beast bodies, and Artifacts reigned supreme.

Due to the sheer volume of shops, Jack had eventually just checked in at the local Hunter Association headquarters. He avoided popular places, wanting to stay relatively out of sight, not stirring up unnecessary attention.

Upon arriving there, he found that he didn’t even need to go to a shop at all. He could get a manual right there at the Association. As a Direct Member of the Hunter Association, he was giving preferential treatment. He didn’t even need to pay for the manual.

He already owned a few books that went over the basics of the Stages of Spirit. For the Third Stage, however, Jack wanted something more indepth.

He looked down at the small booklet, reading its cover.

“Entering the Silver Body Stage: A complete guide by Elwood Ribord.”

The world around Jack shifted to a grayer tone as he entered his Slowed State, and began to read, taking advantage of the slowed time.

..

“You’ve stayed inside all day… This doesn’t feel quite right.” Lee Hiro extending his senses to cover the inn he had rented a room at. He could feel a very minor sensation that indicated a person was still in Liren’s room.

After tracking Liren down and following him, he had maintained a constant watch on Liren’s room. If anyone exited or entered from the door, window, or even the floor, he would know.

For some reason, however, Liren had remained inside the entire time.

“Damn it. I’ll bite the blade here, and just go. The worst that happens is I confront him.” Lee knew that Liren valued the little freedom he could garner very strongly. He was just too important to the Clan, however, for Lee to let him roam freely. Lee was already breaking the rules by not reporting his unruly nephew’s actions.

Lee closed his eyes briefly, and then made a small, clapping motion.

Instantly he vanished, and then reappeared in Liren’s room. He didn’t bother trying to mask his presence. Space Clan members could easily detect other Space Clan members that were hiding in the fabric of space.

As he materialized in the room, his eyes were instantly drawn to the bed, where a figure lay resting under the covers.

“Liren?” He said aloud, walking over to the bed. He pulled the covers off in a smooth motion, concern showing through his urgency.

“I didn’t me- what?!” Lee stopped, staring down in shock.

Instead of seeing Liren, what he saw was a solidified collection of Space Energy, in the form of a human, giving off extremely minute spatial waves, the equivalent that a regular human would give off.

A split second later, this clone of energy fell apart, dissipating and vanishing. All that remained was a small piece of paper, lying atop the bed.

Lee grabbed it, feeling his heart drop.

Dear Uncle,

I greatly appreciate your concern for me, and I apologize for tricking you into coming out. However, there are some things I need to do that I cannot do while constrained by the Clan.

The Clan is my home, and my family, but they are constrained by tradition, held in a prison of their own conceiving. Staying stagnant will only lead to the continuous decline of the Space Clan. I will not allow my brothers and sisters to waste their lives hiding in darkness.

I dream of a day where our Clan can step forth proudly, and declare who they are without shame and fear. A day where we are treated equally. Where all the wrongs we have been given are righted.

By the time you are reading this, I will have already infiltrated the Forinth Stronghold, in search of the Spatial Gauntlet the Clan scorned finding.

If you want to find me and ensure my safety, the best method would be to watch over Jack, Bale and Evan as they compete in the Magma Clan Tournament. If you check with the Innkeep, I have already obtained you an Entry Pass for a spectator.

Once they enter the Semifinals and make it to the Tournament Dinner, they will check the other source of Spatial Waves you pinpointed, using a few Spatial Compasses I borrowed from the Conclave Treasury.

If all goes as planned, we will all meet up at the Yellow Tooth Inn before leaving the city, after the Tournament Dinner, but before the Finals of the Magma Clan Tournament.

Best Regards,

Liren

“Damn brat.” Lee’s face was a sight to behold as he read the note over several times. He sighed after a minute, the look on his face changing to that of defeat.

“Very well, nephew. You got me good this time. Your skills far exceed my expectations.” He muttered, rending the note into scattered trash with a wave of his hand.

He stood there for a few more moments, lost in thought, before turning around and leaving, headed downstairs to talk to the Innkeeper.

..

Lionel stood on the side of the Sacred Volcano, peacefully meditating on a large, rocky outcropping. The faint evening light in the sky above gave the air a burning splendor, an ocean of warm light receding in the face of an unending pool of darkness.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, a grimace appearing on his face, tinged with a hint of fear. He looked around carefully, the bright red robes he wore gleaming faintly. He was the only one visible on the Sacred Mountain.

“My Lord… I can wait no longer. The Clan Tournament begins tomorrow, and I have already neglected the orders from the Empyrean.” Lionel whispered softly. As he spoke, a very faint, twisted air surrounded him, giving off a strange, unnatural feeling.

He snorted as he felt the air around him. Lionel was an Ancient Magma Dragon, and had incredibly keen senses. He also happened to be extremely familiar with this section of the Sacred Volcano. In particular, the hidden passage sitting just a few dozen meters away.

He could still feel the presence of a human there, next to the Master Seed left behind by the Great Lord. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. The Master Seed was incredibly important, something the Great Lord had created personally.

His mission depended on the Master Seed critically. He couldn’t create Void Seeds on his own, only with the help of the Master Seed.

Detecting the presence of the Great Lord had nearly sent Lionel into heart failure. He hadn’t expected to meet with the Great Lord till the Grand Meet at the soonest. It had been more than six hundred years since he had last seen the Great Lord, and been given the Master Seed, ‘to prepare for the future’ he had been told at the time.

He had only been ordered to spread the Void Seeds within the last ten years. In particular, to target strong younger generation leaders of the Magma Clan, and any peak strength members if he could manage.

Even he himself didn’t know all of what the Void Seeds did, only that they were crucial to the Great Lord’s plan. Each Seed contained a great deal of power, and served to enhance the strength of anyone that accepted one. In addition, it made one able to channel the power of the Void.

It didn’t have any aspect of mind control, or the ability to effect the emotions or thoughts as far as Lionel could tell. Even when channeling the power of the Void, all it did was ease the mental burden.

Lionel should know. After all, he had wielded a Void Seed for more than 8,000 years, with no detrimental effects.

He shuddered as the memory of how he received the Seed started to rise up, instantly shaking it from his head.

“If I delay any further, I am afraid I will only create suspicion.” He said aloud, shifting on the rocky ledge.

He received no response. Throughout the entire night, day, and now almost night again, the feeling of the Great Lord’s presence had yet to fade. However, he hadn’t received any order, or indeed, even the slightest acknowledgement.

Despite that, he didn’t dare to be impolite.

He waited patiently for several more minutes before lightly sighing, and bowing deeply towards the hidden cave.

He then turned around and leapt up into the air, a majestic red light blasting out as he transformed into a huge, red scaled dragon with great red horns on his head, and blasted off in flight, headed towards the Stronghold down below.

..

Many hours later, in the deepest hour of the night, a young man slowly opened his eyes.

He sat alone, in a cave surrounded by darkness. A cool breeze managed to slip in through the protective barrier, gently stirring the air in the chamber, setting his long blonde hair to ruffle.

Liren blinked, a strange light in his eyes. He took a few steps forward, exiting the chamber.

The world outside came into focus. The enormous volcano he stood upon, the Forinth Stronghold down below, the massive Magma Lake farther out.

And he sighed.

“Some say knowledge is power. This knowledge of mine now, however, is far more a curse, than anything else.” His voice was tired, and filled with sadness and pain, far more so than any young man should have to bear.

He looked down at his fist and then clenched it tight. Spatial cracks tore faintly in the air, the shivering power of the Space Clan rippling out.

He flicked his hand gently.

Slowly, those cracks began to gain a twisted, unnatural feeling. Small streams of darkness flickered in these cracks, distorting the air.

He sighed again.

“A curse indeed.”