“Using poison right away? I have heard that Young Master Ilwu is highly competent with poisons, but isn’t this too much?”
“Truly, the Willful Institute doesn’t care about their face. Shameless to the extreme!”
“They have the power. The Adventurer’s Guild might have some powerful people, but how can a small guild compare to the entire Willful Institute? See how they haven’t raised any objections? If they did, it would allow the Willful Institute to strike out at them.”
“I have seen the truth. The Willful Institute is a group of black-hearted cheats. Even the referee is on their side. See how he isn’t covering his face? They must’ve given him the antidote ahead of time.”
Sok Young-Min didn’t turn away from the poison. Instead, he ran forward, deflecting his prey’s slash.
Ice patterned the blade. Ilwu lashed out, his blade attacking Sok Young-Min’s openings.
Sok Young Min fought desperately, defending against the oncoming attacks.
Blaze watched, seeing the patterning of ice travelling up Ilwu’s blade with each strike.
Sok Young-Min cried out as Ilwu’s blade cut through his leg armor.
Blaze’s lips pinched together at seeing the skin blacken.
Sok Young-Min fought on. Ilwu’s reaction time slowed, and he fought harder to try, confusion on his face.
Ilwu left an opening, and Sok Young-Min kicked his knee out, grabbing his sword arm and punching Ilwu in the face.
Ilwu used an Air spell, pushing him away from Sok Young-Min.
The ice patterning wasn’t fading anymore; it was coloring Ilwu’s armor.
Sok Young-Min ran at Ilwu, who jumped to his feet and dodged Sok Young-Min’s attack.
Ilwu’s reaction speed and Agility had dropped, but Sok Young-Min was showing signs of poisoning across his body.
Sok Young-Min used his armor to protect his life, attacking Ilwu’s openings and un-armored body. While Ilwu grew up within a sect, Sok Young-Min had grown up in the wilds of the Ten Realms.
It turned into a brawl as Sok Young-Min used his fists and sword pommel instead of trying to slash, getting in close so his opponent couldn’t use his weapon. Ilwu looked punch drunk as Sok Young-Min hit him with a cross, breaking his jaw and sending him spinning to the ground.
Sok Young-Min staggered and coughed. Blood appeared around his helmet as he stared at the referee.
He stared at Sok Young-Min with vicious eyes.
Ilwu’s feet slipped on the ground as he tried to push himself up. Sok Young-Min kicked out his arm, coughing and staggering back. He glared at the referee, who watched the fight emotionlessly.
“Is he going to wait until Sok Young-Min dies to announce the winner?” Derrick hissed.
“A poison for a poison.” Blaze’s voice cut through the arena, which had grown quiet through the fights, everyone having given up on the farce.
“A poison for a poison.” Sok Young-Min glanced over to the referee. “This is upon you.”
He took out a pouch and threw it, sending a blade of Air at it. The pouch exploded in reds and blues, covering Ilwu.
Ilwu was still on the ground and had nowhere to go.
Sok Young-Min stepped backward, coughing blood through his helmet as he staggered over to his corner of the arena.
Ilwu coughed as the poison cloud settled over him.
“You!” the referee cried out as Ilwu’s face distorted and changed colors. Blood ran from his nose. He dropped his sword and grabbed at his neck as he writhed on the ground.
Ilwu stilled. A tombstone appeared above him.
Sok Young-Min showed a dazed smile as he coughed.
“Drink the potion, you idiot,” Derrick growled.
Sok Young-Min’s eyes cleared as he pulled out a potion, poured it down his throat, and followed it up with a second quickly afterward.
The referee looked up at the elder box and then at Ilwu.
Deathly silence fell over the arena. People’s eyes flickered from the dead Ilwu to the elders, who all bore terrifying expressions.
“A battle of arms turned into one of poisons. It looks like this is over with six wins.” Blaze sighed and stood. It was not his desired outcome, but what the Institute had started, they finished.
“This has been an eye-opening experience on the ways of the Willful Institute.” Blaze’s dry voice made some in the audience wince and pull their necks back as they felt the killing intent wash out from the elder box.
“It seems my students are in need of some further training, and that if we were wasteful and gave them high-level gear, then we might have another match,” Elder Mendes said.
Seems that they did notice the gear our people were using.
“We will take our leave now. Derrick, gather our winnings. Joan, check on our fighters. Don’t want any lasting injuries.”
Derrick jumped over the wall and went to where the prizes were kept. He took back the storage ring and waved a hand, gathering the materials the Willful Institute had put out. Even if they had vicious looks on their faces, the Willful Institute dealt with it in silence.
Like that, the competition came to an unsatisfying end.
Blaze got a message request. He opened it without anyone seeing.
“Looks like you guys really messed up their day,” Niemm said.
“You in position?” Blaze asked.
“Of course. A little birdy told me that things might get interesting today. Are you good on your side?”
“We’ll just have to see if they take the bait,” Blaze said. His hood hid the ruthless look on his face as he gripped his sword tight underneath his cloak.
“Once this kicks off, there’s no stopping it,” Niemm said.
“The guild is ready, the army is ready, and we have ears within every nook of the Institute. We’ve been preparing for this for months.”
“All right. Well, you lead them out, and we’ll stab them right where it hurts,” Niemm said.
Mendes left the box with a flick of his sleeves. His cheeks burned from what had happened in the arena.
The elders grouped around him as his aide approached.
“Are our forces ready?”
“Yes, Grand Elder,” his aide said.
“Good! All of you, prepare your weapons and armor. If we let them get away with those resources, we won’t be able to raise even one Expert, and the other branches will start looking into our matters. If they find out we were schemed against by the small Adventurer’s Guild, we will lose our funding and possibly our positions. We cannot let that happen!” He glared at the elders. They all bristled with anger. Where they went, people would show them respect every step. The Adventurer’s Guild had gone too far, crossing their bottom line again and again.
“Yes, Grand Elder!” their voices rang out in unity.
They headed out of the arena, going their separate ways. They gathered their weapons and closest supporters and then headed out of the city.
Mendes commanded everything.
“The Adventurer’s Guild took their time wandering the city, showing off to other people. They didn’t take the totem,” Mendes’s aide said.
Mendes breathed a sigh of relief. If they had taken the totem, they could have gone to another city. In that case, Mendes would not have an opportunity to strike.
The heavens might have forsaken us before, but the arrogance of the guild will become their downfall!
It wasn’t long until the guild and their people appeared. Some were riding mounts while others walked, talking to one another. All of them wore their cloaks still.
Mendes waited as they became enveloped in the fighting formation of his Willful Institute. “Now!”
Archers and mages hiding in the trees along the road attacked; the archers’ arrows shot out as spell formations materialized.
A mana barrier snapped over the Adventurer’s Guild, covering them. The arrows struck and the spells hit; their force exploded against the barrier, throwing up dust and shaking the trees
around them.
“You dare!” The guildmaster’s voice came from near the front of the formation.
“Did you think you would get away with stealing the Institute’s resources? Kill them!” Mendes yelled.
From around the guild, dozens of fighters ran out with a yell.
The elders were right behind them, wearing their strongest gear.
“Defensive formation!” the guildmaster yelled.
The guild shifted their people as they tore off their cloaks and drew out their weapons. There were eager expressions on their faces as Mendes’s people ran through the barrier.
Yells filled the air as the two groups clashed. The guild held their ground as they viciously defended.
Mendes’s eyes thinned as his people were dropped to the ground. The guild’s weapons tore their lives from them, not giving them a chance to withdraw.
The bloodlust of the guild seemed to ignite like a wild animal.
“Send the mages and archers forward!” he ordered, as more of his people’s bodies were broken under the guild’s weapons.
One of the guild members was struck in the arm, cutting down to the bone. She yelled out in pain, and a golden glow covered her.
Mendes’s eyes snapped to the man behind her who had healed her, using a shield to defend.
The healed woman glowed with power. Her blade turned white, and it moved like a fish in water, slicing out at the attacker her comrade had defended against.
The attacker screamed as the blade tore through armor and drew blood.
“Advance! Don’t let the ranged get inside the barrier,” the guildmaster said. He and the two with him hadn’t taken off their cloaks as they remained in the middle of the formation.
Four assassins appeared around the guildmaster; their blades aimed at his blind spots.
He shot forward, kicking one. They were tossed to the side, their chest with an unnatural dent in it as his shield took one hit and his sword cut off another’s hand.
An arrow crossed his shoulders, hitting the handless assassin and a second unharmed assassin. The blocked attacker didn’t feel the blade that had stabbed through his back, into his chest, and was withdrawn before he dropped dead.
“Healers, watch your mana. Remember to use your potions.” The guildmaster spoke as if nothing had happened; his breathing hadn’t even increased.
“Send in the elders,” Mendes said, seeing that the students were unable to compete with the guild, who was getting in a rhythm and pushing the Institute backward. A dozen bodies lay on the ground.
The elders rushed forward, clashing with the guild members. The battle seemed to tilt in their favor. Two elders struck a guild member down before they were blocked.
The fighting was fast and savage. The clash of steel and the rush of spells filled the forest.
Mendes got a sound transmission but ignored it, watching the fight. The ranged fighters hit the barrier uselessly.
“Have the rangers and archers with close combat abilities join the fight.” Mendes wasn’t panicked. The fight was nearly even; with time, he would wear them down into nothing. But he didn’t want to spend more time. There was a possibility that others could find out about the fighting and spread word.
More sound transmissions came in, but he continued to ignore them.
The guild’s ranged fighters created elevated positions with gear from their storage rings. They shot over their allies’ heads and attacked those at the edge of the fight.
People from the Institute ducked their heads from the attacks, and some fell under the deadly rain.
They had the numbers on our side, but the enemy was stronger than he thought. Without knowing it, Mendes’s greed had overcome any cold calculations toward losses.
“Grand Elder, we’re under attack!” One of the older elders who wouldn’t have been useful in the fighting had remained behind to watch over the Institute and used a sound transmission that Mendes couldn’t block.
“What do you mean?” Mendes’s stomach dropped.
“A group of people rushed through our defenses. We don’t know who they are. They were able to get through everything, as if they were students and elders of the Institute itself. They cut their way to the warehousing district!”
“The warehouse district? Why? The resources! They dare to steal from us! The Adventurer’s Guild is bolder than I thought!”
“I don’t think they’re from the guild. They are fighting as a group, and their equipment is all the same. They aren’t different like the guild, and they are much more powerful. Their power is greater than people from the Fifth Realm!”
Mendes gritted his teeth so hard they hurt down to the root. He had brought most of the combat strength with him to take down the Adventurer’s Guild, leaving his Institute open to robbers and bandits. He felt that the Adventurer’s Guild had something to do with this, but there were no signs that they and the other group were connected, and the other group’s power was much higher!
“We are using our formations and Experts to try to slow their advance, but they are breaking into all of our warehouses!” The elder’s panicked words drew Mendes out of his thoughts.
“If we lose the warehouses, we lose all paths to advance! I will be there soon!” Mendes cut the sound transmission.
“Break off the attack and get back to the Institute!” Mendes yelled.
“Pull back!” Roska yelled as she kicked a wall. It shattered, transforming into blades under her spell. They stabbed into the Willful Institute fighters behind her.
Tully roared as her spear cut one fighter down, and she kicked another; they slammed into a wooden stall.
Yang Zan threw daggers, taking out three ranged fighters on the roofs.
The group rushed through the maze. Imani was waiting for them with the rest of the special team. They had six new members, rounding out to a total of ten.
Two mages used Earth spells to throw up walls as another member called down multiple spells; fog and smoke spread across the area.
Roska used a special spell. Her world turned purple, but she could see through the smoke. The group ran away from their position, perpendicular to where they had been heading.
Imani led the way. Her arrows cut down any of the Willful Institute members chasing them.
“Seems we really pissed them off,” Yang Zan said.
“Might it be because we just cleared out their treasury?” Tully laughed.
They reached a side street as the first group spread out, covering the area.
The rest pulled out gray beasts that looked like a mix of bears and rhinos.
Roska jumped onto her mount as those already on mounts covered the first group.
“Contact!” Imani called out, standing in her stirrups. Five arrows shot out from her bow. It was as if they had eyes of their own as they killed two and wounded another two.
One arrow missed as the axe-wielding attacker slid on the stone, saving his life.
Ras Mangath, one of the newer members of the team, yelled. He turned into a blur, leaving smoke trails behind him. He took a hit on his shoulder armor. He didn’t even slow as his left blade tore through the first opponent’s leg and his second blade stabbed into their neck.
Roska didn’t have a clear line of fire.
Ras pushed the man he’d stabbed to the side as Yang Zan’s dagger forced the next attacker to defend.
Ras hit with his sword, blowing the weapon to the side. His blade shone white, creating an arc in the air.
His opponent had been cut in two and was bleeding. Ras tried to push them away and to the side to reach the last attacker, the second axe wielder.
They turned and started to run as Tully raised her spear.
Roska held up her arm.
Tully glanced over to her in question.
“We need some witnesses to say it was the Grey Peak sect,” Roska said.
Tully lowered her spear.
Ras threw out some pieces of metal that looked inconspicuous but co
uld be linked back to the Grey Peak’s sect if one studied them.
“Get on your mounts!” Roska yelled to the few who had been half-mounted. She snapped her reins, and they moved forward. They were big beasts but soon picked up speed.
People yelled as they appeared out of the smoke and mist. The games had only just ended when the attack was carried out. People were only now coming to find out what the noises and commotions were in their city.
“Gate,” Imani said.
“Don’t worry. I have a key.” Roska grinned as she circulated her mana.
She saw the gate ahead of her. A few sect guards on duty looked at the approaching group, years of boredom making them slow moving to their positions.. They wouldn’t make it in time.
Roska raised her arm, and several spell formations appeared in front of her hand. Mana from the surroundings dropped in seconds, and her spell glowed brighter.
A drill made of spells and mana shot out from the formation. It lit up the ground, blowing wind in every direction as it passed.
The guards turned pale. None of them dared to face incoming drill head-on. They jumped out of the way.
The drill struck the stone gatehouse and drilled in deep.
Yellows, reds, and blues appeared inside the gatehouse.
The world took a breath and then returned in thunder and light.
One of the new members cast a mana shield over them all; it shimmered with the rocks and parts of the gate, gatehouse, and wall that had been blown apart.
The nine-foot-deep walls spread out across the road.
Roska led her people forward, making it through the rain of rubble. They exited the city and rushed down the road, past surprised traders and people who had been waiting on the other side of the wall.
They had been far back as the gates were closed. Roska felt relief upon seeing that the stone had rained down to the side instead of directly on the road.
Roska pulled out her map and checked it quickly. The location of the elders, the guards, and the Adventurer’s Guild were all highlighted. She used spells on the beasts to enhance their speed as she activated her sound transmission. “Eagle One, this is Special Team Two. We’ll be at the rendezvous in four minutes.”
“Special Team Two, this is Eagle One. Understood. Be ready for pickup,” Kanoa replied.
Sixth Realm Part 2: A litRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 7) Page 32
