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Tournament of Champions 2 Rematch (The game has begun)
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Tai walked down to the library again, only thinking of Sylva.
Why did she have to leave? I must become one of the goddess's champions, for Sylva. Then, maybe I’ll have the power to grant my wish. Maybe, I’ll learn who I really am as well and bring mom and dad back.
Tai entered the dark, dusty library. It was particularly cold inside the library today, but it didn’t bother Tai. She grabbed a small lantern and walked among the vast library shelves. Tai held her lantern close to the shelves, hoping to find a legend of her gods or the Faerie sisters. Saw a scroll labeled “Gods across the multiverse,” but she found only information on the gods that ruled the tournament. Tai started thinking of the monsters of the abyss and Sylva’s match.
“What if the knight that attacked Sylva and Nya during their match was planning to release all the monsters?” Tai whispered to herself worriedly.
But Tai doubted that. No force would be strong enough to defeat the gods. Tai then quickly shifted back to what she was looking for: Tales of Thirea.
After an hour of searching, Tai found nothing...again.
“I wish Sylva wrote back,” Tai sighed to herself while writing another letter to her friend, knowing that a response was unlikely, “I know it may not happen now, but fate always finds a way.”
Tai paused
“At least I hope it does...”
————————————————————-
@TenebrisNemo Is the match coming soon? I’m really sorry if I’m being annoying.
I'm at their place this weekend again, but I've also promised to do some stuff during these days. Not sure when I'll manage to host the match, but I hope I can do it very soon.
Grey clouds filled the sky as the fourth tournament match was approaching. Midday sun's bright rays shined through the cracks of the clouds upon the land as the hosts, watchmen, civilians, and the contestants made their way to the abandoned town. They walked upstream from an old bridge in Legorna until they reached the vineyards. From there, they kept walking a mile along an old road between large hills. It didn't take long until the contestants could see the first tall buildings behind the hills.
"Welcome to Sirkonda," Fedron said to the contestants behind him. As the group reached the town, the contestants noticed that the city was not completely abandoned; some small buildings actually had residents. Only their shadows could be seen from the windows of their dimly lit rooms as they watched the tournament group's arrival. When the contestants passed those buildings and reached the center of the city, it became more abandoned looking. The streets were cracked, grey, and covered by wild plants. No souls resided in the large, dilapidated buildings, where the wind howled and creaked the structures. The group went over a stone bridge that led them to the other side of a canal, where an old theater was located. Oliver and another, shorter watchman, who was obviously a woman in an ashen armor set, opened the large doors for the others to walk inside.
The dimly lit theater looked well treated and preserved, just like the other arenas. Large chandelier, wooden carvings, and the red carpets suggested an artistic ambiance. The red seats of the auditorium were facing an empty stage, and the civilians were led there to pick their seats. The hosts' seats were on the box seats on the left side of the auditorium, and the contestants' seats were on the right side. Those seats were above the ones where civilians were, and they were right in front of the stage, providing an excellent view for those who used them. But when the contestants eyed the stage, some of them started to complain.
"Are we supposed to fight within that small area?"
"That's ridiculous!"
"What if someone gets thrown at the audience?"
"Maybe we can use them as human shields!"
Many other kinds of questions and comments flew from the contestants' mouths until the female watchman next to them clapped her armored hands a few times to get their attention. "Silence," she shouted in a firm tone. "Of course you won't be fighting on the stage! The abandoned city area around the theater is your arena, and master Eetu will conjure his orb at the stage, which allows us to see and hear everything that happens during the matches."
The contestants fell silent, and some of them noticed that Oliver was no longer watching over them. The female watchman didn't seem as menacing as Oliver, which was a relief. When people stopped coming to the theater and the time for the match's beginning was approaching, some contestants noticed that two hosts were not present; sir Killian and sir Robin. Eetu walked to the center of the stage, and when he raised his slender hands after whispering a few words, water seemed to appear to his hands from thin air. The water quickly formed a massive orb that was almost as large as the whole stage. When it was complete, Eetu left the stage and the hovering orb began to show clear images to the audience, as if they were looking through a window. They also started to hear sounds from the orb when the area and the three figures within the orb began to take familiar shapes.
A wooden podium was placed in the middle of an old plaza, and sir Killian stood upon it. Cold wind howled, which made Kift's flames and Killian's scarves flutter. The efreet was standing quietly on his spot, and after a moment, he saw his young opponent walking towards him from one of the countless, shadowy street at the edge of the plaza. Pele's dark hair and clothes were also caught by the wind as she calmly walked to her spot in the arena. Sir Killian cleared his throat after he glanced at the two contestants.
"Kift and Pele. Both of you fought in the arenas of Eternstor and achieved victory, but today only one of you can be victorious. The defeated competitor's journey in the tournament ends and they are free to return home. No matter how your battle shall conclude, mine, and many others' heroes will never die as long as we have faith in them."
The wind kept howling in the plaza, and the three didn't hear anyone repeat the saying, but they knew those within the theater, which could be seen in a distance, repeated it with passion. After a moment of silence, sir Killian raised his right hand toward Pele.
"A young pyromancer, whose fire keeps burning even within the darkest shadows; Pele, Shadowed Flameweaver."
She stretched her arms when sir Killian presented her. Then the knight raised his left hand toward Pele's opponent.
"An efreet from a world of dragons, whose fire burns in all forms; Kift, Deceptive Flame."
His flames burned even brighter as he took a stance and prepared to fight. Finally, sir Killian raised his both hands toward the two contestants.
"Let the fourth match of the tournament begin!"
Pele opened her hands and a large flame appeared on her both palms when Killian announced the match's start. Kift just stared at his opponent, who immediately shot two fireballs at him. The efreet dodged the spells easily, but Pele kept shooting while walking toward him and moving her both hands as if she was punching something invisible. Whenever she reached her burning hand toward Kift, a fireball quickly flew at him. Since the rate of spells kept increasing, Kift had no choice but block some of the projectiles with his hands. Pele saw that her fire seemed to eat Kift's arms, making him unable to use them at the moment. The pyromancer stopped shooting and started to channel a great flame with her both hands.
The flames spiraled up and around each other when Pele raised her both hands toward the grey sky. She gritted her teeth as the flames merged and burned even hotter than before. After a few seconds, Pele weaved an enormous Hellion from the tall flame tower, which then charged at Kift. The efreet managed to extinguish Pele's unfriendly flames from his hands, but he wasn't fast enough to do anything else when the hellion's maw caught him. On that moment, the hellion turned into a fire vortex, and Kift fell onto his knees at the center of it. Pele, who was breathing heavily and watching from a safe distance, saw as Kift's shadow within the inferno slowly started to break apart, his physical body being completely burned away. When there was no trace of Kift left, the vortex raged for half a minute before it began to fade away.
Did I get him?
As the vortex vanished, Pele noticed that there was something still burning on the ground. She slowly walked closer to have a better look until it suddenly started to slowly stand up. The flames began to diminish, and Pele was shocked to see herself so badly burned. The fake-Pele opened her bright, burning eyes, and angrily stared at the young pyromancer.
Before Pele could think of what to do next, the enemy channeled flames onto their palms the same way as she did at the start of the match. Fake-Pele kept shooting fireballs, and the young pyromancer could only dodge a few of them before one hit the left side of her chest. Pele screamed and fell onto the ground as the pain made her left arm shake. Smoke and the smell of burnt flesh caused her to grimace. Pele stood up to her knees, then she saw as the doppelganger walked toward her while channeling a large flame with their both hands.
When the fake was ready to finish Pele, she stood up and slashed its left leg with a half-broken sword, which she quickly unsheathed from her belt. The fake-Pele's leg was inflicted with a deep wound, but it wasn't bleeding. They backed off and saw as Pele used her shaking left hand to produce a flame that made the sword's blade burn and look complete.
"I won't lose to Kift nor myself... For the sake of my friends!"
Pele shouted and charged at her opponent, who wasn't able to walk very well. She adjusted her right hand and prepared to thrust her opponent's chest with the flameblade. Then suddenly, fake-Pele pushed the blade's tip aside with their left hand, and placed their right palm against Pele's forehead as she was right in front of the clone. A blast of fire erupted from the fake's palm, and Pele fell onto her back. She dropped her sword and the doppelganger kicked it away, causing the weapon's fire to die. Pele was keeping her both palms over her eyes while rolling on the ground and crying.
"My eyes! Aah! My eyes are burning! It hurts!!"
The fake-Pele stared at the crying kid with its burning eyes, then its whole body began to burn. After a short moment, the fire faded and revealed Kift. The efreet moved its gaze from Pele to sir Killian, who was slowly walking toward the two contestants from the podium at the center of the plaza. Then Kift noticed watchman Oliver next to him, who had been observing the whole match from nearby shadows most likely.
"Congratulations," he said, his hands crossed over his chest. "You're the winner of the fourth match."
Sir Killian knelt down next to Pele, who was still weeping. He gently put his right hand below her back, left hand below her legs, then picked her up and started walking to the theater's direction.
"Is that you... Killian? My eyes... hurt so much! I want to see... my friends again!"
"Calm down, Pele," Killian said while sounding a bit sad. "Bristana will heal you completely, you have nothing to worry about anymore."
@Faiths_Guide
Kift walks to the 2nd round after enduring a battle of hellish flames!
@pjbear2005 - Pele burned out from the tournament, but her journey continues! If you want to, you may share her later versions and write what she does next.
After a month, the tournament bracket has been finally updated again!
In about 2-3 days, the match between @shadow123's Tai, Midnight Trickster and @DoctorFro's Koorir, Chief of the Pass will begin. The arena will be revealed at least 2 hours before the start of the match.
I try to raise the speed of the matches because of the long breaks I've had. In two days, I'll go to a vacation with my family, but I'll take my laptop with me and try to host the tournament even more efficiently while I relax for a week.
"Mmmm, flames."
Tai had gone to the match, eager to watch Pele defeat the Efreet. Pele had trained so hard. She had her flameblade, her illusions, and perfect tactics. How could Pele have lost?
Tai tried extremely hard to contain her sadness as she waved goodbye to one of her dearest friends.
Pele helped me develop heat resistance for the powder, she deserved to win. Sylva deserved to win...
"Bye, Pele!" Tai called, "I'll always remember you!"
Pele smiled weakly and waved back to Tai. The moment Pele's figure disappeared past the horizon, Tai felt a small drop of water form on her left eye and run down her cheek. Then another, and another, and even more. Now, tears streamed down her face as she cried silently.
Jaholion, Nya, Bab Yagara, Sylva, and Pele lost. How can I live with this sadness? I thought the tournament helped me escape from my lonely life, now it's coming for me again. I must win, I must win for the sake of my friends. I must win to help Onara train for her match. I can't let either of us lose.
Tai suddenly felt her vision darken and she collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Flashback
It was a beautiful day, there were no clouds in the bright sky and two faeries walked across a bright green hill together.
"I heard he was coming again," the younger faerie said.
"Really? The last time this happened, my parents died. It was terrible. I've distanced myself from my last alive sister so that she doesn't know about him. I've talked to Ervin about this threat, he says that Atesh disappeared from this plane a while ago," the other faerie said.
"Ervin!?" the young faerie shouted, "Your majesty, Atesh is Ervin."
"But, they don't look alike," the Faerie queen said.
"That's because when he went away, he trained and took on a new name and appearance. A person that us Faeries would soon fear. Someone that had nothing to do with his previous losses against your parents."
"Where is he now?" the queen demanded.
"I'm here," a voice said from behind them.
"Azure," the queen said quietly, "Give this to my sister. It is my final order."
"Yes," Azure responded as she accepted a golden ball of magic.
"Now, leave me at once."
Azure ran.
"Fancy meeting you here, Ashoka," the pyromancer said.
Ashoka didn't respond. She launched a ball of golden light at her opponent, but he easily dodged the attack. She cast another spell of black draining magic. Ervin overpowered her attack with a wave of pure flame. Ashoka's eyes and hands glowed a dangerous blue as she changed the direction the flames towards Ervin.
"I must admit," Ervin said, "You've learned much from your mother."
The flames had no effect on Ervin at all. Ashoka now pointed her green, glowing hand at the forest north of them. Animals suddenly came stampeding out of the forest, chasing the pyromancer down. A circle of flames erupted around him, and her attack was stopped, the animals ash on the destroyed hilltop. Ashoka now took to the skies, her golden wings casting a shadow on Ervin below her. With one mighty beat of her wings and some added magic, the fire was dissipated and Ervin was knocked to the ground. The faerie swooped down, her tiny palms glowing with dangerous magic and Ervin launched himself at the faerie as well, his body surrounded in dark, destructive flames. They collided, and a large explosion followed. Ervin and Ashoka had both disappeared.
The sky was getting darker as the match finished due to the brewing storm clouds.
"Certainly... that was an interesting match." Muttered Rin Yuu with a frown from the audience's area. The said ronin also noticed about the faerie contender who was suddenly fainted with teary eyes, that was also quickly encircled by curious eyes of the crowds.
"Please stand back." Shouted a watchman that was accompanied by another watchman and a mage in a white attire. The said mage also picked the unconscious fairy contender up, bridal style, to bring her towards the nearby apothecary, or so the ronin assumed.
'Well, that was certainly a turn of event.' She thought with a raised eyebrow.
'Kinda miss that kiddo though, heh...' A wave of sadness hit her, but she just smiled towards that thought.
Then the rain came, leaving the crowds to quickly disperse themselves, except for the lone ronin who just stood alone in the rain.
And she just lighted her pipe to drag another dose of tobacco instead.
'I need a godforsaken drink.'
She studied her surroundings, she was in a small white room with a glass roof that let the moon's rays into the room.
What did Azure have to do with Queen Ashoka? I know she died shortly before I left. Who is that last surviving sister and what did Ashoka give her?
Tai's mind was swimming with questions once again, but she now fought tragedy as well. She had lost Pele.
"I must train," Tai muttered to herself as she got up to walk back to her room, "I must win for my friends. Tomorrow, I'll wake up at dawn."
XII. Revelations
Coltras held up his staff, which glowed with red light and illuminated the jet-black doorway in the stone wall. A set of worn, crumbling stone steps led down into the gloom. Without a word, Zintius stepped soundlessly into the stairway and beckoned for Coltras and Koorir to follow.
Under the crimson glare of Coltras’s staff, the trio beheld decrepit moss-covered walls. Koorir let out a small yelp as part of a stair crumbled under his weight. The stairs continued down until the faint moonlight from the entrance was all but gone.
The path leveled out and continued still further. Collapsed arches and doorways now interspersed the tunnel’s length, and sections of the floor were covered in rubble or sunken into the ground. “We must be out of Eternstor by now,” grunted Koorir. “Half a kilo away, I think.”
“Who could have built this place?” asked Coltras, stepping gingerly around a fallen column.
Zintius shrugged. “Whoever lives in Eternstor now were not the first,” he rasped. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was built on the ruins of a long-dead city. Or, this could be a collapsed dungeon from Eternstor’s colonial days.”
“Whatever it is, this place gives me the creeps,” said Koorir.
“The fact that this one tunnel remains suspiciously intact with stairs leading to the surface is a sign of dark magic,” agreed Zintius.
The tunnel turned a corner and abruptly dropped off. A sheer cliff lay before them, and Coltras’s light could not penetrate to the floor nor to the opposite wall. All three could feel the overwhelming, nauseating evil radiating from the chasm. “I will investigate,” said Zintius. He leapt off the edge and flew up into the void, out of sight.
“Koorir, stand guard a minute if you please,” said Coltras, as he shut his eyes. The heavyset minotaur saw a flash of red light shine from Coltras’s staff, and then it grew dim, patterns of ghostly flame flickering across it.
Probing with divination magic into the looming darkness, Coltras tried to discern its nature. This location wasn’t an accident, he saw: it was a nexus of black mana. Coltras gasped as he detected hundreds of tormented souls anchored to this chamber and the surrounding ruins. But why was this nexus forming now? Coltras looked into the leylines.
The sounds of a fight behind him almost broke his concentration. However, an axe swing and an unearthly scream brought an end to the scuffle. “Shade,” grunted Koorir.
“My gratitude, Koorir,” said Coltras, before extending his magical awareness along a leyline. It lead inland, to – Eureka! – Salaxum! A torrent of unnatural black mana flowed from the abandoned town into the nexus. This nexus must be powered by whatever is going on in Salaxum, with the shades manifesting, reasoned Coltras.
Something didn’t feel right, though. This was no ordinary black mana nexus. There was something else – something tugging at the edge of Coltras’s consciousness. Coltras strained, focusing his power to find the abnormality. Then he found it.
The nexus had rent the planar fabric like a knife. The essence of the Multiverse was warped and twisted, allowing another world to leak through the tear. But what was that world? Coltras touched the gash with his mind, then screamed in horror and pain.
Raw aetheric energy from the Blind Eternities washed over Coltras, burning his body and mind alike. And from beyond it, a trickle of raw black mana, pure negative energy, and unadulterated evil. A trickle from an ocean – no, an Abyss. The Abyss of a world called Avelaide.
Coltras collapsed unconscious on the stone floor. Zintius landed beside him.
Koorir slung the limp merfolk over his shoulder and they marched back to the surface.
Coltras’s eyes adjusted to the light. A few empty beds lay around him on a polished wood floor, and a paper partition separated the area from a larger room. He must be in the tavern of contenders. A healer, noticing Coltras was awake, came over. “I see you’re awake, Contender Coltras,” she said. “You’re free to go. Try to rest tomorrow.” She handed him a tiny pot of ointment. “Apply this to your burns tonight. And,” she said sternly to Koorir and Zintius, “don’t train so hard next time.”
The healer walked away, and the other two helped Coltras to his feet. “We need to talk,” croaked the weary merfolk.
Back in Koorir’s room, strewn about with his few possessions, the three adventurers discussed the night’s events. “I flew up to the roof of the cave,” said Zintius. “It was below the forest surrounding Eternstor. There were some sinkholes leading up to the surface.
“It was disgraceful. Dark magic everywhere, corrupting the wildlife. I spotted a couple shades. The desecrated area is almost in sight of Eternstor. It seems to be growing as more lost spirits awaken to roam the earth. This could threaten the town within weeks.”
Koorir spoke. “I fought a shade when it appeared in the tunnel. It just broke off from the void and attacked Coltras and me. That one was hard to kill, I tell ya. It kept drawing more shadows from the void to make it bigger. I got it eventually, though.” The minotaur unsheathed his great axe. “Take a look at this, though. The black rust grew.”
The thin layer of black on the edge, which had been present since Koorir first fought a shade, now covered the entire blade of the axe and the top part of the hilt. It made the weapon look dark and demonic. Koorir shrugged. “I hope this don’t cause me any harm,” he said.
“I can only confirm what you have said,” said Coltras. “I found the source of the corrupting darkness. It comes from another world. A place called the Abyss in a world called Avelaide.”
Zintius was shocked. “You found a planar portal?”
Coltras shook his head. “No, not a portal. More like a gash. It’s exposed to the Blind Eternities.”
Koorir was confused. “Gash? Gash in what?”
Coltras sighed. “You came from another world, right?” he asked. Koorir nodded. “Think of it like a piece of fabric. This world is like another piece, and the space between them is called the Blind Eternities. It’s filled with hostile raw energy. See what I mean?” Coltras pointed to his burns.
“When you travel between worlds, it’s sort of like – the two pieces of fabric are pinched together, and where they touch you can travel between them. That’s how you came to the tournament.
“But what we saw tonight was different. That was like a hole was cut in the fabric. Which allowed something from another world – Avelaide – to leak through. That something is, unfortunately, a torrent of evil and darkness. Does that make sense?” Koorir nodded.
“So what caused this – this hole in the world?” asked Zintius.
“An influx of dark mana from Salaxum, combined with – I presume – the unrest of the murdered natives of this land.”
“What’s happening in Salaxum?” asked Koorir. “I mean, we saw the shade there during Kift vs. Mettir, but nothing else.”
Coltras grimaced. “There’s another match there the day after tomorrow. Nya vs. Sylva. I guess we’ll find out.”
"I'll train my speed first," Tai said to herself.
Tai darted into the thick trees, flying as fast as she could while dodging branch after branch. In the forest, there was a small breeze and the sunlight dimly lit the forest floor. It was a mysterious place. Tai quickly zoomed out of her obstacle course and landed.
"One minute, thirty one seconds," a voice informed from the left of her, "You're going to be faster."
"Whoa, Onara!" Tai exclaimed, "Where did you come from?"
"I thought I might find you here," Onara said, "Now, go again."
"Alright," Tai said, "Here goes nothing."
Tai sped back onto the forest, on the same course, except Tai dodged with more speed and grace. Finally, Tai made it out of the woods again.
Suddenly, a blade flew at her from the right. Tai barely dodged it.
"Excellent, Tai!" Onara said, "You reacted to that well!"
"Thanks," Tai responded cheerfully, "What was my time?"
"Fifty-nine seconds," Onara grinned, "I don't know how you suddenly got so fast, but that was awesome!"
"We should train now," Tai said, "I think I should try and defeat Koorir using my speed and trickery. If I can out speed Koorir and he gets tired trying to chase me, I'll be able to finish him with my draining powder."
"That's a good idea," Onara though aloud, "But, what if Koorir can match your speed?"
"Then, I'll use the terrain against him," Tai said, "I can hide, then hinder his movement with a combination of my red and black powder."
"What if he can still withstand that?" Onara pressed, "He won his match before, just like you."
"Then," Tai hesitated, "I use this."
Tai showed Onara a flute with dark black patterns engraved on it. It radiated with dark magic.
"But I prefer not to use it," Tai continued, "I can't control it's true power yet."
"Why don't you train against me using all the strategies you talked about?" Onara suggested.
"Okay," Tai said, "I can do this."
Both creatures took to the sky. Tai flew quickly in a circle around Onara, this made it hard for Onara to track Tai's movements. Onara swung her lighter sword over and over again, but kept missing. The faerie flew into the sky above Onara and threw some purple sleeping powder on Onara. With a mighty beat of Onara's wings, similar to Ashoka's in the dream Tai had, the powder was dispersed, just like Ervin's flames.
I need to fight like Ashoka did.
Tai quickly flew into the forest, patiently watching Onara look for Tai. Onara flew forward a little bit and Tai found her opening. She dashed forward and slashed at Onara's left wing joint with her wooden blade, and watched as Onara crashed to the ground.
"You were great Tai," Onara said, "We'll continue a little bit later."
Tai smiled and applied some healing powder to Onara's left wing joint.
"Thanks Onara!" Tai shouted.
Then Tai flew into the forest again, aiming to increase her speed.
But the locals call it he Bird’s Nest
Or the Nest
It is called Red Bird for the high end courtesans it has there
And Red is specially for the red curtains that you have to enter through to enter the brothel.
If @Jonteman93 shoots this down then eh
But u can use this for now
I’m just not using sexual scenes and just more as a place and characters
I totally would but the forum is not the place for that XD
@TenebrisNemo when are we gonna get this next match
A brothel is no problems and is logical to have in Legorna, specially since it is the last major port before Caerul Silva (The blue forest) to the south and thus many people pass through there.