Chapter 9 Part 1 of 1 (Patreon)

Chapter: Door Kickers

David Mueller took his seat in the teacher’s booth, several professors had come to see the match, as had a few dozen students and people from Avegaaren city. The matches were open to anyone in the Ninth Realm to come and watch for free, allowing the academy to promote the talents of the students and for friends and family not in the academy to see their development and cheer them on.

“A nasty business dealing with gatekeepers, you did well to notice it,” Gars, an older teacher said, shaking his white hair. “The nations from the lower realms have grown so bold as of late. It is time they remembered who is the one keeping them safe. I hear these two are from that alliance?”

“Yes, they are supposed to be the emperors of the Alvan Alliance.”

“Emperors.” Gars let out an irritated growl. “If they were to meet the Head of the Imperium, they would be nothing but paper in the wind.”

Mueller had only seen the Head fight twice before, each match only lasting a handful of exchanges before his opponent was unable to continue. He was a force to be reckoned with.

“They’ve kept themselves hidden from prying eyes, and use our libraries and lectures to gain information that they share with their guards and funnel into the lower realms.”

“Despicable to think they can use our academy as their personal vault.” Gars angrily closed his robe.

“I hope that after this, they will know their place and adhere to the rules of the Academy, become true students or head back to the lower realms.”

“I’m not sure they have the ability to become true students. Those that don’t come from the Associations, I have always found to be lacking in the right kind of fundamentals and foundational information.” Mueller wanted to agree, but he was supposed to remain neutral in these matters. “It looks like it is about to start.” Gars said.

Mueller and the other teachers moved to the front of the booth, some sitting, others drinking or eating from the snacks at the rear.

Kujo Hikokie walked out into the arena.

Erik and Rugrat arrived on their teleportation formation bowing. They stood up straight and pulled on their helmets.

Two faceless warriors, their clothes, boots and armor, while different, were worn, not the clean and polished rune-carved formations artistically integrated into his flame-red armor, styled in the Japanese samurai’s of his family.

A Proctor stood between the two sides, he raised his arm, stopping them where they were.

The faceless emperors looked at one another. Rugrat the taller one and Erik the smaller one. They bumped fists and started to circulate their mana and elements.

“Begin!” The Proctor shot into the sky and out the way of the fight.

Erik cracked the ground beneath his feet, turning into a blur. Stone weapons tore free, attacking Hikokie in mid-air.

His sword shot free of his scabbard, escaping the first attacks with a burst of speed. The ground seemed to be coming apart underneath him as Rugrat’s attacks sprouted around him.

Erik weaved through Rugrat’s attacks landing his own. Hikokie fell back under the attacks.

Erik’s blows struck his weak points, slowing his reactions.

Erik drew power into his fist, going for a final blow. Hikokie dodged the attack and sliced at Erik. Erik detonated the mana gathered in his hand, pushing him out of the way Hikokie stumbled as his blow passed through air, his side open as a dozen mana blades hiding among the stone struck.

Hikokie was trapped by the attacks as his barrier activated and he shot away.

Erik and Rugrat moved forward for the kill. The proctor stopped in front of them. “Erik and Jimmy win.”

Rugrat stepped forward, but Erik put his hand on his chest.

“Fucking academy for the Associations.” Rugrat took off his helmet and spat, looking up at the teacher booth, glaring at them.

“Proctor, what rank was he?” Erik asked.

“Seven thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.”

“I’ll fight whoever is seven thousand seven hundred and forty-seven.”

“Jackass, fine I’ll take on whoever is one below that,” Rugrat said.

“I—” The proctor looked at Hikokie who was being checked by medical staff and glanced up to the teacher’s box.

Another proctor landed in the arena and talked to him. He looked at the new arrival quizzically.

“Very well.”

The new proctor tilted his head to Erik and Rugrat before departing.

“This might be a bigger problem than we thought,” Gar said.

Mueller grunted, his eyes never leaving the duo as they left the arena.

***

Rekha finished reading the latest report, looking out over the sparring room.

“Who are you thinking about murdering now?” Sam tilted his last word playfully.

“Those two emperors. They defeated the challenger, then went on to rise five hundred positions in a week. Their fights were quick and efficient. They’ve been hiding their strength this entire time.”

“So they weren’t gatekeepers.” Cayleigh wiped away her sweat with the back of her hand and rested an axe on her shoulder.

“No, but I think they are trying to crush the academy and use us as a way to look stronger.”

“All the resources they’ll get access to alone can’t compare to anything in the First Realm.”

“You don’t think they’ll really get that far? They have some confidence getting from ten thousand to the top seven thousand, but the higher up in the ranks one goes the larger the power difference,” Sam said.

“They do control most of the lower realms,” Rekha said.

“I heard they defeated a corvette warship and channelled a Sky grade dungeon core through their bodies.” Cayleigh smiled, full of challenge.

“You just want to fight everyone,” Sam said.

“And you like watching me.” Cayleigh winked.

Sam pursed lips that stretched into a smile.

Rekha rolled her eyes.

“Can you two stop flirting all the time. My master told me to look after the Academy in his absence. This seems like something we should be paying attention to.”

“We’re the top ranked team, there’s not really anything we can do to them right now. If they make it this far up the totem pole, well we can hammer them right back down.” Cayleigh spun her axes.

“The teachers know what they’re doing and it would be nice to see another challenger, been so long since someone has tried to fight us.” Sam threw a dagger, sinking it up to the hilt in a target across the room.

“There is always someone stronger. We’re a year from graduation, and we won’t be dealing with tasks in the Ninth Realm anymore, we’ll be on the front lines in the Tenth Realm,” Rekha reminded him.

“All the more reason to have fun now,” Cayleigh said.

***

“So, what’s next?” Rugrat asked.

“Next, Rugrat, you need to work on your smithing and you should temper yourself at the same time. Erik you should use the resources you gained to increase your mana cultivation. I have a feeling you might need the extra power.”

“Can I sell the resources?” Erik asked.

“Why would you do that, they are some of the strongest master level pills and concoctions in the Ten Realms.” Xun Liang frowned.

“Well they’re the strongest of Avegaaren, but it will take a few months to refine them. I should only need a few weeks, maybe, of Alva training to increase my cultivation.”

“The resources are yours to deal with. Would you need to go back to Alva to work on your cultivation?” Weebla asked.

“No, I could have it setup here, it might go faster that way.”

“Alright, well for the next month I want you to cultivate and work on your craft. See how you can use what you’ve learned in fighting in smithing, alchemy, and healing. Take missions from the Mission Hall,” Xun Liang said.

“We’ll have new challengers next month,” Erik said.

“Then challenge the person one position higher than you, maintain where you are, do five fights and you won’t need to deal with others. If you’re able to complete more missions in the Mission Hall then the overall number of people you need to fight decreases. In the higher ranks, you have a certain number of missions you have to complete every month to hold your position,” Weebla said.

Xun Liang finished up his orders. Weebla talked to Rugrat about smithing and agreed to give him some more private lessons.

Erik and Rugrat were set to their tasks. Xun Liang served Weebla tea as they sat down to the side of the training area.

“Do you think you’ll need to do something?” Weebla asked.

“About time we stirred things up here. The academy is too stuck in its ways and Alva and the people in their alliance will reach into the Ninth Realm sooner rather than later.” Xun Liang shook his head. “No, I think it might have been too long since the academy had a tournament.”

“A tournament, are you sure?”

“Avegaaren was built to bind humans, elves and gnomes together. Now we need it to break the divisions between the sects, clans and Associations.”

“That’s rather ambitious.”

“There is something happening in the higher realms, you know it too. The Devourers are playing it safe, so many tears have opened but none of them have come through. The Devourer in the Seventh Realm was the first one we’ve seen in nearly a century and a half.”

“Do you think Akran has something planned?”

“He’s the strongest Devourer I’ve seen in several centuries. There are few that are willing to attack him, and he has fifteen Devourers sworn to him and thousands of Ravagers. He made it to the top of the Shattered Realms aggressively and since he’s gained power, attacks have decreased against the realms.”

“He was waging a war to command more of the Shattered Realms.”

“He consolidated gains, but I’m more worried about the Devourers he brought to his side without fighting. Creatures from the Shattered Realms look to gain from any agreement. They must think they have a lot to gain to have so many allied with him.”