Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn (26 page)

"What's going on?!" screamed Leshak from across the bubble. "What did you do?"
"You said this was a battle of our Leadership ability," began Sierra. "But you only gave out one command, thinking that you had already won."
Five tunnels plus the relic chamber were lit up with green dots. Sierra stared at the timer and smiled as the last seconds ticked by.
A notification window then popped up soon after.

After reading the notification window, Sierra noticed the blue bubble closing in on both her and Leshak.
"Hey! What's going on?" asked Sierra out loud.
The rate of the shrinking bubble rapidly increased.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Sierra, as she fell out of the bubble and dropped beside the blue sphere which held the relic blade.
"Where's Leshak?" immediately asked Sierra. "Did he appear after me?"
As soon as Sierra finished her question, the blue sphere blocking the relic lifted up in the air. It hovered in the center of the chamber.
Slowly, Leshak's silhouette became visible through the blue sphere.
SHATTER
The loud sounds of broken shards from the falling sphere made them all run to the sides of the chamber. Innumerable fragments scattered all over the dungeon floor.
Then, a notification window popped up.

After the final shard of the blue sphere fell, Sierra went over to the relic blade - Reglable. She instantly stopped moving when she saw it. It was nothing more than an ornate handle of a sword, lined with sapphires.
'Is this the first half of the relic?' she wondered.
With one swift motion, she picked up the sapphire blade. Her shoulders tensed, as she kept glancing around the chamber, waiting for some sort of trap to activate. Thankfully, nothing happened.
Only Sierra's fellow leaders walked up to her, as everybody else were still busy fighting against the remaining mob inside the plugged up tunnels.

A great smile came over Sierra's face. This relic had several possibilities, it almost felt boundless.
'I guess Darius was right as usual. This really is a worthy prize,' thought Sierra.
"Mamelon, can you come here for a minute," she said and called the busty Aqua Knight over with her hand.
"What is it?" asked Mamelon.
"Remember what Smoke said before?" said Sierra.
"That... we make sure to stay alive?" guessed Mamelon. "Oh! Especially our assigned Zectians."
"No, not that," replied Sierra as she lightly laughed. "He told you that you deserve a prize for all your hard work, and I also share this opinion."
"What are you talkin—" began Mamelon, but she fell silent when Sierra suddenly handed her the relic blade, Reglable.
"This entire Quest was for you," began Sierra. "I hope you continue to lead our fellow Sonstwelters well, and help us grow our Zectians."
"I don't know what to say," uttered an astonished Mamelon. Her eyes were fixated on the sapphire hilt, as she continued to read the information on her new sacred relic.
'She may not be able to use this now, but I'll make sure she'll be able to use it before our war with Burmistrz,' thought Sierra with conviction.
Then, Sierra caught Rear waving to her, trying hard to grab her attention.
"Yes?" she said.
"Um, Sierra, you should see this," replied Rear and gave her Leshak's heavy brown-fur cape.
She grimaced when she saw the bones stuck onto the cape. "Let me see that," she said. Her hands moved with blitzing speed as she removed the lodged bones.
Then, Sierra inspected the fur cape.

"Looks like I'll  have to work on my prize as well," said Sierra out loud, thinking of all its practical uses.
With a smirk, she tightened her hold on Leshak's Mantle.
Sierra then turned to her gathered friends. "Alright, we got what we came for. Let's use the five tunnels we've secured as our exit, and make sure to take the summoning monsters with you."
Posthaste, the Vigilantez and their converted monsters bolted for the passageways.
As they were running to escape Verleitung Dungeon, Sierra suddenly received a call from Smoke.
"Sorry, can't really talk right now," she answered, as she sprinted for the exit.
"Oh, bad time, huh?" said Smoke. "I was just reading up on Ouragan's notes, double checking something for the tournament."
"What? You haven't won yet?" joked Sierra.
"I know, right?" replied Smoke. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."
Sierra paused, before she answered. "Alright, I'm sure you'll do great in the tournament. Break your opponent's' legs."
"Will do," said Smoke, and ended his abrupt call.
Sierra's eyebrows crossed. She wanted to tell him about their recent development in Wysteria, but this was not the right time to tell him that the bastard Sagen had joined Macher and Duke Burmistrz.

A masked Smoke sat on the bench for the Magi Gagnant Tournament participants, busy scanning through the scroll he bought about Ouragan. He tried to find focus amidst the full-capacity stadium, but the cheers of the crowd kept distracting him.
He had hope that calling Sierra earlier would give him the inspiration he needed to study through the notes. Yet, now he found himself even more distracted. He was curious as to what Sierra could be doing.
'It sounded like she was worried about something,' he thought. This triggered his paranoia to set in.
He immediately opened his Contacts Window, and swiped through it. His hands trembled as he read through their names, worried whether any of his close Zectian friends died.
 

His hand momentarily let go of the popped up window, and stopped his search. Seeing Sharur's and Laernea's names next to the Deceased status still drove a deep pang into his chest.
Letting out a deep sigh, a relieved Smoke closed the window, as the number of his dead friends had not increased.
Picking up the notes on Ouragan, Smoke tried to dive into what he was reading. Suddenly, he leapt up from the bench. "She got one of the relics!" he yelled out loud, excited at his own conclusion.
Some of the audience near him, heard him scream and ogled at him with judgemental eyes.
Lowering his head and slightly shrinking back his shoulders, Smoke sat back down, embarrassed at his sudden outburst.
'But why did she sound apprehensive?' he wondered further. Then, his eyes widened. 'She's afraid of hurting my feelings.'
Smoke remembered when Sierra told him how her level was now 116, and he thought that it could be even plus 118 after she got the relic. With a smug smile, he shook his head as he thought about how thoughtful Sierra was.
Patting his metallic orb on his chest, Smoke leaned in and whispered to Igniz. "We better win this Tournament, Bud, or else we might get left behind."
Igniz let out a small purple flame in response, which he understood as his symbiote telling him to fight on.
Suddenly, Smoke's face became contorted when he heard someone calling his name.
"Master Smoke! Master Smoke!" yelled out Perdant, the old stout Merchant ran to the side of the audience entrance and called out to him.
Equipped with the Paradox Pyro Mask, Smoke remained seated and paid him no mind.
After a few seconds, Smoke casually tilted his head at the old Merchant and gave the old man a deadly stare.
Instantly, Perdant stopped yelling and covered his hand over his mouth. It took him a while to recover, but he persisted to call out to Smoke.
"I mean, Master Faux, your smoked ribs are ready, Sir!" yelled out Perdant.
Taking in a deep breath, Smoke stood up and walked over to the Merchant.
'He's got great business sense, but keeping my identity a secret may not be one of his skillsets,' he thought while shaking his head at disapproval.
"What are you doing here?" asked Smoke. "I thought I told you to keep a low profile? We shouldn't be seen together in public."
Perdant lowered his head, but he lifted it back up again as he explained himself. "I know that, but there's this sudden deal offered to me that could be very important. But I can't decide whether to take it without consulting you first."
"What deal?" asked Smoke, intrigued.
If it was a simple haggling of prices, Smoke knew that Perdant would not be running to him now.
"The Spy who sold me Ouragan's Information has a new version," began Perdant. "He told me that its up to date, even to this morning."
With his face hidden behind the Paradox Mask, no one in the stadium could see Smoke's mischievous grin. "So? What's there to talk about? Of course I want to buy it."
"Is he here?" asked Smoke. He then looked around the stadium, searching for a man that would appear to be a Spy. However, he stopped himself after he realized that Spies do not tend to look like one.
"Yeah, he's here," replied Perdant, looking towards his left but clearly not seeing the Spy. "Well, he's here somewhere."
"Go on, buy the latest Info," said Smoke.
"Are you sure?" asked Perdant. "He's asking for seven million zecs."
At once, Smoke felt removing the Paradox Mask. He found it difficult to breathe after he heard the price. "That's insane. You know that this is robbery, right?"
Perdant shrugged. "Exactly what I thought, but I wasn't sure how desperate you were to defeat Ouragan. Perhaps, you would be willing to spend that much?"
Before Smoke could give him an answer, Avilo, Jack, and Mouche walked up next to him. Smoke heard the trio debating on who would win between Xantana and Ouragan.
'Looks like they already took me out of the running,' thought Smoke.
"Faux!" called out Avilo. "What's going on here?" he asked, when the three of them got to where Smoke was.
"Oh, he's just giving me the smoked ribs that I ordered," replied Smoke.
"Really? Smoked ribs? How many did you get?" inquired Avilo.
Before Smoke could reply, the young aristocrat did not give him a chance to answer. "Can I have some?" said Avilo. "Don't worry. I can pay you back," he added, signaling Mouche to give him some zecs.
Smoke clicked his tongue. "Sorry, but I already ate all of it," he replied, patting his stomach with an exaggerated motion.
Avilo then turned to Perdant. "Do you have any more? I'd like about six more pieces?"
Smoke rudely stepped in between them. "I'm sorry, Avilo, but their ribs don't taste good. Trust me, I'm doing you a service."
"Tell your Guy that I won't be ordering anymore ribs from him," Smoke said to Perdant. "And tell him, that most last minute meals aren't worth buying. Especially, if you're already done eating."
"I understand, Master Smo— Faux. I'll tell him, right away," replied Perdant. He bowed to Smoke and disappeared into the crowd.
"Their food was that bad, huh?" asked Avilo. "Thanks, for telling me not to order."
"Of course, anytime," replied Smoke. "Now, if the three of you will excuse me. I need to prepare for my matches."
As Smoke walked away, he heard Mouche ask Jack. "How did Faux eat those smoked ribs with his mask on?"
"I don't know," replied Jack.
"Silly old Mouche," interjected Avilo. "Of course, he lifts up his mask and exposes his mouth."
"Good Luck, Faux!" called out Jack. "I know you'll be the one to beat Ouragan!"
Without looking back, Smoke lifted his right fist. His silent way of thanking Jack's belief in him.
 

* * * * * * 

A wave of restlessness filled the stands of the three-hundred-thousand spectators, as some of them stood up to go to the toilets while others bought food and drinks from the standing vendors.
Looking at the time on the jumbovision screen, Smoke stowed his scroll on Ouragan back into his backpack. "Well, that was useless," he grumbled to himself, annoyed that he could not find the move the Prime Wizard used to defeat Chrys.
Suddenly, the Announcer's voice boomed across the stadium. "Hello! Hello! I'd like to remind everyone that the battle with Xantana and Faux is about to start in five minutes."
The intense glare from the Zectas sun rays had diminished, as it was already almost two in the afternoon.
As he walked over to his area of the large circular ring, Smoke spotted a tiger Lioumerean. He recognized him as Chouchou, one of the defeated participants during his preliminaries and Xantana's lover.
This was not the first time Smoke saw an interracial couple here in Zectas, but he was curious as to how things were with them. A Lioumerean and a LightElf piqued his interest, and he wondered to himself what it would be like to be with a Lioumerean. He patted the forehead portion of his mask as he forcibly drove the thought of Laernea out of his mind.
'Where did that come from?' he wondered.
After hugging Chouchou, Xantana walked up to the ring. Without delay, Smoke followed suit and got on to the stage as well.
"I caught you staring at us," blurted out Xantana. "Are you some kind of pervert?"
"No, no," hurriedly said Smoke. "I just remembered a friend when I saw you two. She was a lioness Lioumerean."
"Was?" asked Xantana.
Smoke paused and gulped down the painful memory of Laernea's demise. "She died a few months ago."
"Really?" stated Xantana.
Judging from her reaction, Smoke could tell that she did not believe him. "Anyway, let's just have a good fight."
Xantana sniggered. "Even though you improved your equipment with those red decals, you still won't have a chance to fight me. I sure hope you won't be a sore loser."
Both of them simultaneously turned to the jumbovision screen as they heard the Announcer's voice. "King Kajou, Queen Ella, my Lords, my Ladies, and the rest of Vitzytl Kingdom, I welcome you back to the 999th Magi Gagnant Tournament!"
In reply, the audience erupted into a boisterous cheer. Yet, one name resonated clearly through the crowd, as they yelled out the beautiful LightElf's name, Xantana!
"With our last semi-finalists being a Pyro Mage and an Earth Elementalist, I can assure you that we'll get a better view of Xantana and Faux's battle this time around."
The were scattered laughter throughout Pulper Stadium, as some audience liked the Announcer's joke.
"Xantana, Faux, when you hear the bell, we want you to let all hell break lose," added the Announcer.
Smoke pointed his Digger's Wand at Xantana. Whereas, the LightElf placed both her hands together in solemn prayer.
GONG
The igniting sound of their battle rang.
Xantana was engulfed in red flames, turning her long white hair into a fiery blaze. Her feet levitated a full meter from the ground.
Sixteen earth-spikes launched from under Xantana's feet and came at her from all directions. A cloud of dust filled the ring as Smoke's earth-spikes made contact.
"I knew you were strong," said Xantana from behind the cloud of dust. "Beating you will surely grant me the right to challenge him."
An unscathed Xantana levitated up from dust, revealing her life bar to be (350,000/350,000 HP).
Smoke remembered that during their preliminaries, her life bar had reached up to 500,000 HP. However, she was then blessed by the flame flowers of the great god Tlaltezin.
'She must have some sort of Barrier ability,' surmised Smoke.
Needing time to set up his next attack, Smoke thought to taunt her.
"I know that everyone wants to challenge Ouragan," began Smoke. "But I'm going to be the one to face him!"
"Hahahahaha," chuckled Xantana. "You're wrong on two counts."
"First, I'm the one who's facing Ouragan," she said, as she counted with her index fingers. "Second, the person I'm challenging after you is Trottel."
'Why would she want to fight against the Prime Wizard I already defeated?' wondered Smoke.
Suddenly, a rain of fireballs fell down from above, as Xantana unleashed it upon him.
BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM
Loud explosions echoed around the coliseum, as Xantana's fireballs hit Smoke's ten-layer concave earth-barrier.
Slowly, Xantana lowered herself to ground, as her fireball attacks did nothing to destroy Smoke's wall. She wildly flailed her arms as the minutes went on.
"Looks like we're even in defensive terms," taunted Smoke from behind his earth-barrier. "I don't think you'll ever break it."
The truth was that Smoke kept on creating several layers to replace the ones that were destroyed on each of her attacks. His trick was the smooth layer change, which deceptively gave it the same earth-barrier appearance every time.
"Raaaaah!" screamed Xantana, as she got closer to the covered up Smoke. Her flurry of fireballs rapidly increased.
As the jumbovision screen zoomed in on their intense battle, the Announcer's voice began to commentate. "There you have it, Folks. Xantana has Faux on the ropes!"
The loud cheering of Xantana's name made it clear who the audience wanted to win.
With Smoke's earth-barrier still intact, Xantana landed back on the ring. She stopped her fireballs attack and gathered a large ball of fire in front of her.
"We're in for quite a show!" exclaimed the Announcer. "Xantana is about to use her signature solar flare attack!"
As the crowd got riled up, the floor of the ring rose up without warning and enclosed both Smoke and Xantana in a massive dome.
"No! Not again!" cried out the Announcer, as soon as their view of the battle was obstructed by the earth-dome. "Don't worry, Folks, I'm sure Xantana's solar flare attack will blast this useless hindrance out of the way."
btoooom
The audience heard the muffled sound of Xantana's solar flare attack exploding. However, Smoke's earth-dome remained intact.

* * * * * * 

Only Xantana's flames were the source of light within Smoke's earth-dome-prison.
"What is this?" screamed Xantana. "Show yourself, Faux! You have the gall to trap me!"
Suddenly, the ground of the ring shifted once more. Before Xantana could react, she was enclosed inside another chamber made of stronger earth-layers.
Smoke restricted Xantana's mobility even farther. In spite of capturing her with his inner earth-dome, he still kept up the larger one.
This was a precautionary measure, and as a way to hide his true abilities from those Sonstwelters watching the Tournament.
Xantana then let out an ear-piercing cry.
"Waaaarraaaah!" screamed the LightElf, as she tried blasting the inner earth-dome.
In retaliation, Smoke reinforced his earth-dome with stronger layers.
"Where are you?" screamed Xantana.
As his training under Eleve was completed, he could now withstand Xantana's flames. Yet, he chose to hide himself outside of his inner-dome, trapping only an enraged Xantana.
"Let me out of here!" she screamed.
BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM
Xantana let out more of her solar flare attacks, but Smoke's inner earth dome still held her in.
Several areas of the inner-dome turned red and became molten hot. However, it was only for a few seconds.
Their battle of attrition persisted. Smoke's mana regeneration was now higher than the cost of his Master Level - Earth Manipulation ability. This allowed him to replenish the walls. He also continually shifted the earth around. Thus, foiling Xantana's pin-point attacks, as she attempted to force her way out of his trap.
Using his Cunning of the Dire Fox, he could easily locate Xantana's general position. He occasionally dropped a few earth-knives over her head, to which Xantana would block.
Despite being trapped, she was still unscathed as none of Smoke's earth attack could penetrate her fire-barrier.
Even though none of his earth-knives damaged her, he still kept on going, just enough to keep her on her toes and use her mana.
"Fight me like a man, you coward!" sneered Xantana. "This isn't how you fight in a Magi Gagnant Tournament!"
"Really? I thought it was about using our abilities to their full extent," jibed Smoke from outside the inner-dome.
Then, he attacked her with eight earth-spears which protruded out from the inner dome.
"Youwch!" she screamed in pain.
The inner dome glowed a pale red. A smiling Smoke surmised that Xantana increased the power of her flame-barrier, but he also knew that some of his attacks finally damaged her.
'Good, use your flames even more,' silently encouraged Smoke.
Two more minutes of Smoke's earth-knives and earth-spikes plagued Xantana, but she persevered. She kept on blasting his attacks away and continued to blast his inner-dome as well.
"Give up, Faux," she said in between breaths. "You and I both know that I'll eventually escape from this stupid prison!"
"I don't think so," replied Smoke. "In fact, don't you feel a little out of breath?"
A few seconds went by, before he heard any reply.
Then, he perceived a muffled sound.
"Aaacck," croaked Xantana, as she had burned up almost all of the oxygen inside Smoke's inner earth-dome.
"No! I have to beat you," she gasped. "I have to challenge that stupid Trottel for his title of Vlahui City's Prime Wizard."
After he heard this, Smoke stopped using his earth-attacks on Xantana. "You want to be a Prime Wizard? Why?" he asked, intrigued.
"Trottel is Chouchou's older brother," began Xantana. "When he became the Prime Wizard, he has banned the mixing of the races. But my love would not abandon me. Because of this, he was excommunicated from their bloodline."
Without responding, Smoke listened to her story. He contemplated whether to release her from the inner earth-dome to get a better feel of her sincerity.
"Faux, it looks like you're petty tricks won you this time," she said, while panting for air in between words. "I hate to do this, but you're the only one who is qualified."
"Qualified? What are you talking about?" asked Smoke from outside the inner earth-dome.
"Please challenge Trottel for the title of Vlahui City's Prime Wizard," begged Xantana.
Then, an unexpected notification window popped up.