TS5: Chapter 23 (Patreon)

“Impudent!”

As the yell rang out over the crowd, Thorn saw a well-dressed young man flying through the air to land on the stage. Almost immediately, he recognized the symbol of the Suatrius family on the man's armor. The large, scepter-like mace the man held was pointed at Thorn's nose. In a sneering voice, he chastised Thorn.

"Just because you have some skill doesn't give you the right to look down on the rest of us. You got lucky against Garin, but I'll show you what it means to fight against an Ascendant who's taking it seriously."

After he finished speaking, his mace flashed to the side, stopping with abrupt force, releasing a flash of light that shook the air so fiercely that the ground underneath his mace cracked. Seeing the astonishment in Thorn's eyes, the Ascendant laughed with pride.

"I am Castus Suatrius, and you will not find the Scepter of Suatrius so easy to deal with."

Once more, he flicked his wrist, producing another explosion in the air as his mace accelerated and stopped abruptly. On the main platform, the five guardians had been watching the various fights quietly. Now, however, Guardian Artaith broke the silence with a sigh, causing Guardian Zahar to look over at her.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

"I just wish the younger generations weren't so foolish," she said, rubbing her forehead.

"Foolhardy is what," Guardian Adini chimed in. "It's one thing to challenge your peers. It's another thing to do so in a way that makes their families look bad. Our giant young friend is not making any allies with his attitude."

"Really? Because I kind of like it," Zahar said, flashing a savage smile at Guardian Adini. "A man should be willing to challenge the world.”

“But only if that man has the strength to back it up," Adini countered. "You can challenge anyone from your position, but it's foolish for someone like him."

"Is it though?" Artaith asked, one of her eyebrows arching as she looked at Guardian Adini. "You do know who his backing is, right?"

For a moment, Guardian Adini fell silent, but then a faint sneer flashed across his lips.

"I'm well aware, but as powerful as the steward might be, he holds no sway here in the temple. As soon as that young man became a saint, he submitted himself to the temple, removing himself from the steward's sphere of influence. He should act accordingly."

"Huh, you speak as if he has no strength of his own," Zahar said. "From what I can see, he doesn't need a whole lot of help to stand on his own feet."

"Little more than flashy tricks," Guardian Adini said, waving his hand dismissively. "His strength lies in his armor and weapon. I don't know who made them, where he got them, or who made them for him, but he probably pulled them out of the treasury of the tower. Take them away, and he'd be little more than a big oaf."

"No matter how powerful a weapon, it still takes skill to use," Zahar countered. "Or do you think that my strength is only due to my bloody blade?"

"Don't be foolish," Adini said, "but you and he are not the same. While it's true that his weapons are outstanding, the speed at which he picked up on the Flowlight art is pretty astounding."

"But is it?" Guardian Adini asked. "We have no idea whether or not he had experienced it before. There has to be a reason that he targeted the Vakatora family. Maybe it's because he already knew how to counter their art."

"Or maybe he's better than you're giving him credit for," Zahar said with a snort.

Anger suffused Guardian Adini's expression, and he was just about to snap back when a quiet voice interrupted him.

"We'll be able to find out if we continue watching."

Swallowing the words he had been about to speak, Guardian Adini settled back down in his chair, shooting a glance at the old priest who had spoken up. It was rare that Cassius the Eternal ever got involved in their squabbling, but when he did, the others had no choice but to listen.

Down on the stage, Castus Suatrius had just launched his first attack, a leaping strike that sent him hurtling towards Thorn, who seemed to be slightly distracted. At the last moment, Thorn jumped backward, his halberd stretching out to block the attack coming towards him. At the last moment, Castus let out a shout, and his mace and the head of his mace shifted directions, unleashing a shockwave in the air. The effect was twofold, knocking Thorn's halberd blade off course, while at the same time sending Castus in the opposite direction. From this new angle, Castus swung his mace around in a wide arc, trying to smash into Thorn's side, a victorious grin on his face.

At the last moment, Thorn's eyes lit up.

"So that's how it's done," he said under his breath.

Instead of retreating or blocking, he stepped forward, moving into the blow, his hand shooting out to wrap around the shaft of the mace rushing towards him. At the last moment, his hand jerked, pausing for a brief second before pressing onward. From his palm, a flash of light appeared, along with a crack of thunder, as a tremor crushed the air, completely halting the mace's momentum. Unable to understand what had just happened, Castus tried to retreat, but it was too late as Thorn's hand wrapped around his mace. A moment later, a massive foot slammed into his chest, blasting him backwards.

Though he managed to maintain his grip on his mace, Castus could feel the damage done to his arm as his body jerked to a stop. With a yell, he jerked at his weapon, but it didn't move, caught in Thorn's impossibly strong grip. His senses screamed at him as Thorn's halberd blade fell directly towards his arm, a faint purple glow around its edge, causing his senses to scream at the danger it posed, at the very last second, his armor glowed with a golden light. A shield sprang up around him, covering his body in a thick layer of mana. Thorn's halberd blade bit deep into the shield, causing it to crack and ultimately shatter, but buying Castus enough time to retreat. He let go of his mace and retreated across the platform.

"You!"

Before his opponent could finish speaking, Thorn flashed across the stage, his fist slamming into Castus' chest. Once again, just before he made contact, there was a flash of light and an explosive tremor that sent Castus flying from the stage. Absolute silence covered the stage as everybody realized that the fight was over.

Then, a loud voice shouted from the stands, "Woo! Go Thorn!"

Waving to Alph with a chuckle, Thorn walked back across the stage and picked up the mace that he had dropped. It was well made, even by his standards, and he could feel the power it contained. After turning the mace over in his hands a few times, Thorn tossed it down to where Castus was just getting to his feet. With a growl, Castus, who wasn't that badly injured, grabbed the mace out of the air, glaring up at Thorn.

"I'll admit you caught me by surprise," he said, "but this fight isn't finished."

A murmur broke out in the crowd as Castus strode towards the stage, but before he could get there, a figure stepped in his way.

"You've been beaten like a dog, and you want to go back for more? As expected of the Suatrius family.”

“Domik, what do you think you're doing getting in my way?" Castus snarled, his grip on his mace tightening.

Standing in front of him, dressed in an elegant robe, was a thin young man who carried a languid look. A long staff rested in his hand, and if he was afraid of Castus at all, he didn't show it.

"Just admit that you're outmatched, and leave the job of disciplining this newcomer to your betters."

Lifting his mace, Castus was about to launch an attack when a calm voice caused him to still.

"You have failed your challenge. Do not embarrass yourself further."

The voice belonged to Muras, disciple of Petra the Immovable. He stood on the first stage, his arms crossed over his chest, calmly waiting for the end of the competition. He was the only one who had not yet been challenged, and from the looks of it, nobody was brave enough to try.

"Yes, listen to Muras," Domik said. "Stay down here, like a good dog, and watch while I do what you couldn't."

A faint glimmer wrapped around Domik, and a moment later, he stood on the stage, facing Thorn. Tapping his staff against the ground, Domik looked at Castus and said, "My name is—"

"Excuse me one second," Thorn interrupted.

Thrown off by the interruption, Domik straightened and stared at Thorn, who had already turned to the watching attendant.

"I believe you have something to announce," Thorn said.

"Ah, yes." The attendant quickly stepped forward. "Ascendant Thorn has won his second challenge against Castus Suatrius. You are now granted a 20-minute break."

"Thank you," Thorn said, turning back and looking at Domik. "If you don't mind just holding on a few more minutes, I’ll be right with you."

Domik, his momentum entirely gone, could only stare at Thorn in disbelief as the Titan sat down in a meditative pose. A wave of laughter ran through the crowd and a full thirty seconds passed before Domik snapped out of his shock and realized his position. If he stood on the stage for 20 minutes waiting while Thorn meditated, he would look like a fool. But retreating from the stage only to come back later would make him look equally foolish. Stuck between two equally bad options, Domik was at a loss, and Thorn could hear Domik grinding his teeth from all the way across the stage. With a theatrical sigh, he stood back up.

"You know, it's really hard to rest when you're just looming over me," Thorn said, clearly looming over Domik. "So why don't we get this fight underway?"

"You think this is funny," Domik spat, his gaze furious. "You think you can make a mockery of me. You will come to find how incredibly wrong you are."

Even as he finished speaking, Domik lifted his staff and bright light flooded the stage. It was as if a miniature sun bloomed from the tip of Domik's staff, immediately robbing Thorn of his vision. Through his other senses, he could feel mana being woven together into four different spell constructs. Not wanting to give Domik a chance to finish them, Thorn launched himself forward, traveling across the stage at tremendous speed, his halberd hacking out at the place where Domik had stood.

As he struck, though, he knew that his opponent was no longer there. One of the spells Domik had cast caused his aura to fade away, transforming into the same stuff that surrounded them and making him indistinguishable from the other light.

"Pathetic. You've walked straight into my trap."

The words rang all around Thorn, yet no matter which way he directed his attention, he couldn't detect the mage. At the same time, the other spells that Domik had cast were unleashed, forcing Thorn to defend. Two of them sent piercing rays of light shooting towards Thorn, while the other sent a stream of disorienting mana to attack his balance.

To Thorn, it appeared as if he was standing in an empty golden space with nothing around him. There was no up, no down, and while he could tell his left from his right, the landscape swam in such a disorienting manner that Thorn felt as if he would lose track of even his own body if he wasn't careful. His halberd spun, knocking aside the two beams of light, but before he could reorient himself, he felt the space behind him compress, crashing towards him like a wall of pure force. Pulling his mental sense  close to his body, Thorn honed his focus and turned, his halberd slicing down through the crushing wall that approached him. Though he knew that he had hit something, his halberd felt no resistance, adding to the disorienting feeling of the spell that surrounded him.

[Thorn, do you need me to counterspell it?]

Shaking his head at Eve's question, Thorn took a step to the right to see if he could get out of the spell's range. When that failed, he tried to connect with the earth mana under him to use it as a means of orienting himself. To his surprise, he felt nothing but the pure golden light that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. He had never encountered a spell like this before, but even as he began to analyze it, more attacks rocketed towards him.

With a shout, Thorn unleashed his own mana, flooding the area around him as he tried to push the spell back.

"A futile effort," Domik's voice rang out around Thorn. "Until I say otherwise, you will remain trapped in the prison of light, forever unable to escape."

With a laugh, Thorn shook his head.

"That's unlikely," he said.

Ignoring the attack shooting towards his back, Thorn lifted his halberd above his head and let out his breath. As he finished exhaling, his weapon fell, stopping just above the ground. As it stopped, the golden light around it fractured and cracked, revealing the stage beneath him. Shifting his back foot, Thorn twisted his waist, slashing through the air with his halberd, leaving a thick crimson flame behind. At the end of his slash, his blade halted once more, unleashing another explosive blow that shattered the air. More of the light began to fracture and fall apart as his spell construct struggled to keep up against the destructive strikes Thorn was unleashing.

Even as spells hammered into him, Thorn didn't stop, slashing apart the prison of light that surrounded him. As he cast off the last glimmer of gold, he saw Domik Kessel standing at the other end of the stage, staring at him in horror.

"It's a clever trick," Thorn said, whipping his halberd to the side to shake off the last remnants of golden light. "But it's not strong enough to hold me. Would you like to surrender, or will I have to throw you off the stage?"

As he spoke, he walked towards Domik, an easy smile on his face. Swallowing, Domik raised his staff, his face white. Seeing him prepare for a desperate defense, Thorn shrugged and lifted his halberd, getting ready to attack. At the last possible moment, Domik suddenly turned and jumped from the stage, leaving everyone watching dumbfounded.

"Huh, talking so big and then running away with your tail between your legs. Who's the dog now?" Castus muttered under his breath as he glared at the pale-faced mage.