Chapter 41 - Second Draft

Chapter 41 - LOT

“How strong am I now…” Jack muttered quietly, looking at the wooden practice blade in his hand. It felt heavy in his hands, a solid, resounding weight. It had to be made of some type of heavy wood, or have a metal core.

He was currently about to begin a large battle royale.

The Recruitment Drive for the Magma Clan was the first of the two events that happened at around the same time. In this event, anyone could sign up to participate in the elimination round, as long as they passed a few physical tests. A small number of judges would watch as participants competed in a battle royale, deciding if they proved strong enough to join as external members of the Magma Clan.

The scale of the event was massive. There were tens of thousands of participants. Thus, there were several different testing sites.

The physical tests had been easy. Jack had constantly trained his body over the past several years, and when this combined with his Spirit, his strength was already something that stepped above the level of normal humans.

In terms of weight, Jack could confidently lift over 500 pounds. If he went all out, lifting a plate of iron that weighed around 800 pounds would be close to his limit. An extraordinarily level of strength for someone that was only 16.

The physical tests were easily accomplished by him, and he was sure to score well on them. One of the requirements to participate in the Clan Tournament was to be an exception recruit or warrior in the Recruitment Drive.

After that, he had been organized into one of the six battle royales happening at this test site. The site itself was located in the Magma Clan controlled section of the city, inside a large arena. The facility, normally used by warriors practicing or competing, was shaped like a small coliseum, with intricate black stands set up on the sides and a large, several hundred meter wide dirt floor.

On the dirt floor were six separate wooden platforms in the shape of a circle, each roughly 100 meters wide. Several dozen Magma Clan officials were currently standing off near each platform, nodding or shaking their heads as they watched the participants fight. Several of them had sheaths of paper in which they took notes.

There were almost no spectators. The Recruitment Drive was a grand occasion, but only for the participants and the clan. The Magma Clan preferred to keep a more secretive outlook on their recruitment, as least as far as the initial new recruits. It was only the Clan Tournament that would be open for others to view, because this was a formal event showcasing the strength of the Magma Clan, and its subordinate members.

His blade had been replaced with a wooden one. During the Recruitment Drive, no warriors were permitted to use anything other than wooden, or otherwise non-lethal, weapons. Showcasing one’s Natural Ability was fine, but the Magma Clan wanted to recruit powerful warriors, not kill them off. As well, oftentimes a fighter will be placed in a situation where they can’t respond optimally. It was a test in and of itself.

Jack looked around at the participants in the wooden stage he was standing on.

There were around 100 warriors, all dispersed around the platform. The closest ones to Jack were a lean fighter wearing a set of bear skins, holding a large wooden greatsword, and a huge woman wearing a pair of white pants and a tight yellow leather vest, wielding a long wooden staff. Jack could faintly make out a blue sheen of Spirit covering each fighter.

They each looked to be in their early 30s. Neither of them were talking. In fact, almost none of the contestants here were making any noise as they eyed their adversaries, looking about with faces of determination, nervousness, or some mixture.

Neither of them gave Jack an overwhelming sense of danger, but he kept alert. You could never tell if someone had a powerful Natural Ability they kept hidden, though the chances of him randomly encountering that here seemed slim. He needed to achieve a high level of success to ensure he was entered into the Magma Clan Tournament, and could sneak in to the Forinth Stronghold.

“On my mark, the elimination round will begin! Jumping off the stage, audibly surrendering and raising your hands above your head, or being rendered unable to fight are the conditions for losing. As stated, the winners of the elimination round win the chance to participate in the Magma Clan Tournament!”

A curt voice broke out across the stadium, silencing a few of the officials who had been talking. A middle-aged man wearing a full set of bright red plate armor was speaking, a bright red sword shining at his hip. He seemed to be a man of some authority.

"I am Byron Gweld, the Overseer for the 5th District of the Recruitment Drive. I wish you all the best of luck." The man continued,

“Ready…”

“START!”

The battle began.

Jack entered his Slowed State immediately. He drew upon the Time Essence in his soul, feeling the silver energy cover his body. As he did so, he drew strongly upon the Spirit Pool in his soul, covering himself in a layer of Spirit energy.

He slowed time to around 1/5th its normal speed. Slowing it to 1/24th was powerful, but not something he could maintain for a long time. 1/5th speed was much more manageable, and wouldn’t make him stand out too much. He needed to maintain a low, but also respectably high, profile.

The world around Jack settled into its dimmed, slowed world. The movements of the various fighters slowed from quick and sharp to dull and slow.

Immediately Jack jumped to his right, aiming for the girl wielding the wooden staff. His eyes gleamed as he locked onto her right shoulder, swinging his sword forward. He didn’t prepare a special technique or anything, relying on his physical strength and speed.

The woman noticed his attack, and began swinging her staff around to counterattack. She didn’t seem to activate any Natural Ability, however, relying purely on her body to fight Jack.

For many people, Natural Abilities were minor powers that made some part of their life easier. It was rare to have a Natural Ability that could be used in combat, and those that did were usually part of powerful clans or families. Most people only had normal Natural Abilities.

The warrior Jack was fighting, a female Hunter named Mesaz Lyth, was from the plains to the north. Her Natural Ability allowed her to dim or brighten the colors in various beast hides for several hours. A fairly useless ability. She had traveled all the way to Idglebar City, hoping to make a name for herself and join the Magma Clan as an external member, using the staff skill she had spent nearly 20 years training. She was a Rank B Hunter that had the fighting skills of a Rank A Hunter, but had yet to complete a Ranking mission to achieve a higher rank.

Jack’s attack, even at only 1/5th slowed time, was blindingly fast. Before the woman could even get her staff to properly face Jack, his blade had already slammed into her shoulder.

Her eyes widened with shock as the heavy weight of his attack slammed into her, spinning her around as she flew off the stage. A hint of fury and astonishment was the last thing Jack saw of her as he spun around, moving on to his next target.

“Weak.” He muttered, shaking his head.

..

"Welcome, Child of Fate."

Liren started, looking at the orb of darkness in astonishment.

“Child of Fate? What are you?” He responded, taking a step forward. As he moved, he extended his senses, using his Natural Ability to feel the air around him. All Space Clan members were able the ability to directly sense and feel the space around them.

The source of spatial waves was definitely coming from the orb in front of him.

It seemed the Spatial Gauntlet must be in the Forinth Stronghold after all. Jack, and his two loyal warriors would have to be the ones to acquire it.

“I am a man, just like yourself. This is merely a Seed I have left behind, to communicate with others, to help spread the mission I seek to accomplish.” The voice answered Liren, smooth and melodic in tone.

“And what exactly is that mission?” Liren felt no threat from the orb in front of him. If anything, he felt that he was able to snuff it out easily if he so willed. He frowned, deciding to gather information from it. He had never seen anything like this before.

“I wish for there to be peace between all mankind. For years, there has been countless fights, countless struggles, countless wars. I have seen millions die over time, through senseless, brutal struggles of violence. Death, famine, disease. It never ends. It is meaningless.” The voice began, the orb pulsing slightly.

“Can you imagine it, child? A world where all men and women were treated equally. Where peace and tranquility reigned. No more wars, no more violence, no more brutal deaths.”

The voice was robust, and filled with passion. Liren could hear the dedication and commitment the speaker had.

“Your mission doesn’t seem to be going well, huh?” Liren’s thought of his Space Clan, an entire group of people discriminated against and treated as criminals for something they never did.

The voice was silent for a brief moment.

“I understand your pain, Child of Fate. The tragedies your Space Clan suffered are far from fair. Like much of the evil in this world, it is something I hope to help right.”

Liren’s eyes opened wide as he jumped backward, towards the entrance, holding his hands before him.

A shimmering orb appeared in the air before him, twitching. An orb of Space Energy, the energy all Space Clan members used, similar to Time Essence, to power their abilities. The energy could be used in an offensive manner, either through applying it to one’s fists or weapons to crack space, or forming balls or weapons from it for longer ranged attacks.

Most warriors in the Space Clan opted for close encounter attacks and abilities. Longer ranged abilities were excessively difficult to master.

“How do you know that? How do you know who I am?!” Liren’s voice was rough, his eyes on alert. He prepared himself to unleash one of his trump cards, ready to escape at a moment’s notice.

The black orb twitched, before it responded, its voice tinged with sorrow.

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize one of my own Clan’s closest allies?”

Liren turned his head, his eyes lighting up with realization.

“Who are you?”

The orb stood absolutely still.

“I am a Seed left behind by the last surviving member of the Time Clan.”

“My name is Darfur.”