"…FUUUUUUUUUUUCK THAT SPELL TAKES A LOT OF MANA!" I bellowed as I collapsed onto the ground of the underground coliseum.
I had asked the Pharaoh to have access to that coliseums so I could test out that new spell I gained from the space station. Of course that was two days ago, as I wasn't used to casting spells spontaneously like everyone else had it took me a little bit to actually figure out how to cast a spell, once I did I learned that the spell; called Crystal Genesis; was a very difficult one to cast. It required a lot of mana and an evo that trusted you with its life to pull it off and even then it wasn't a guarantee that you would succeed.
Crystal Genesis turned out to be the spell that Viola has been searching for the last umpteen years. A spell that allowed you to fuse with your evo. I spent all day; from sun up to sun down for the last two days trying to use the spell and today was the only day I had any success.
"So…tiring…need…sleep…" Bone-lasher panted as lumbered over to me and collapsed onto the ground beside me. I reached up and placed a hand on Bone-lasher's paw then
recalled him.
"Then get some rest…you deserve it." I sighed as he was recalled to my crystal.
I heard the sound of loud and enthusiastic clapping clmeing from behind me and rolled onto my back to look and see what was the cause. It was of course Turak'Kahn and Jurirai. Over the last few days Turak'Kahn has been busy with meetings and drawing contingency plans for the plague that Ramus Azushal warned us about on the space station and basically left his honored guests to tjeir own devices, hence me trying out the spell.
"THAT WAS IT! THAT WAS THE SPELL THAT VIOLA'S BEEN LOOKING FOR!" Turak'Kahn yelled excitedly.
"This spell sucks ass!" I proclaimed with a tired groan then sat up. "It used about seventy-five percent of my mana just to create the spell sigil and then it has somatic components so I have to say 'Crystal Genesis Activate' in order to get it to work. I've never seen a spell with somatic comments before!"
The Pharaoh and Jurirai walked over to my place in the coliseum. Not wanting to be rude I stood up even though all my body wanted to do was pass out.
"But the results! Seeing that Majestic form, I can understand why my wife has been so obsessed over finding that spell!" Turak'Kahn said.
[Man is loud!] Bone-lasher groaned as a feeling I'd nausea washed over me from him. I grabbed my head then groaned.
"Fuck, please keep it down your Pharaohness. Bone-lasher needs a little peace and quiet after using that spell." I said. Turak'Kahn smiled and clapped me on the back.
"Of course, of course." He said then his tone suddenly shifted to serious. "I have a favor to ask of you Chase."
"Another one?" I asked, which made Jurirai arch a brow at me. Turak'Kahn nodded and sighed.
"Yes…sadly it's something that I think you are uniquely able to address." Turak'Kahn said. Turak'Kahn pulled reached into the pocket and pulled out a vial of blood. "Jurirai has told me that in several of the reports that Iris sent him she's commented on your ability to use mana to scan and read DNA."
"Oh she did…did she?" I asked, my brow twitching slightly with annoyance. Turak'Kahn handed me the vial of blood.
"Can you scan that and tell me what you see?" He asked.
"Okay…" I said then closed my eyes and channeled mana into the hand that held the vial.
My mind instantly started reading the DNA sequences and putting them into a lysdale script. I froze as I saw the full lysdale script in front of me. I'd seen it before and recently. It was Proto-thrad DNA, those thrads that Justice Technologies made using Ascended Thrad DNA with mine and KC's as a stabilizing agent. This sample was different than the one I saw in that facility though, this was completely degraded. Whatever thrad this belonged too had already succeeded to madness.
"…Where did you get this sample?" I demanded eyeing the Pharaoh.
"Judging from that look on your face you've seen this before?" Turak'Kahn asked. I nodded and held the sample up.
"Yes, now where did you get this?" I demanded again.
"Psrouket, a town that is home to one of our country's largest military bases. That evo and a bunch of others suddenly went insane and started attacking people, no one could control them. The son of the secretary of defense was stationed at that base and was severely wounded during the rampage." Turak'Kahn explained.
"I see…" I said with a nod understanding how something like that came to the Pharaoh's attention. "…that evo was bought from Justice Technologies I'm betting."
"Yes…our country buys evos from a multitude of Techno-splicing companies in order to keep our military strong." Jurirai said.
"Well stop buying them. Those thrads are defective. They're made using a Ascended Thrad's DNA as a base and had a young splicer's DNA in order to temporarily stabilize them. After a while they will degrade and start attacking like those did." I said. Turak'Kahn looked furious.
"Is this deliberate?" He asked.
"Yes, there is a woman that's being detained at jail in Andromeda city that was in charge of the whole project. The company wanted to cause a large massacre and weakening of a country's forces to force them to buy more evos from them." I explained. Turak'Kahn turned to Jurirai.
"Find this woman and have her brought to the palace! I want her interrogated!" Turak'Kahn ordered.
"At once your highness!" Jurirai replied and started casting a utility spell sigil. A small orb of light appeared in his hand then flew up towards the ceiling before disappearing.
"Well, thank you for your help Chase." Turak'Kahn said. I nodded then groaned as my knees gave put and I collapsed onto the ground again.
"Chase!" Turak'Kahn and Jurirai exclaimed and rushed to help me up.
"Note to self: mana consumption is increased after crystal Genesis is cast." I muttered.
***
"You feeling better now?" Turak'Kahn asked. I nodded and sat up. I got carried back to Bo and mine's room by a bunch of guardsmen at the Pharaoh's request and placed on one of the couches in the room.
Bo and Iris were already in the room when they brought me in. Naturally Iris deduced that I was suffering from low mana. Bo however had never seen me come even close to low mana or had the experience himself so he had no idea what was happening.
"Yes, totally fine now." I said. That was a total lie, I just didn't want to be carried around and fussed over anymore.
"Really? Cause you don't look good Chase." Bo said plopping down on the couch next to me. I narrowed my eyes at him as a warning.
"I'm not going to pass out." I said assuredly. The Pharaoh and Jurirai both nodded at my assurance then looked to Rowad and the other guards.
"That's good. I'm not lugging your fat butt into your room Star Child." Iris sighed.
"At least I have a butt Tri-clops." I rebutted. Iris rolled her eyes and walked over to the couch across from mine and sat down.
"He's perfectly fine." Iris announced.
"Well that's good to hear. We will not longer be needing your services." Turak'Kahn said looking to Rowad and the other guards. Rowad bowed respectfully but didn't leave.
"Respectfully your majesty, my men and I have business with Kingston." Rowad said. Turak'Kahn arched a brow at them.
"Business?" Turak'Kahn repeated. Rowad nodded then stepped in front of me and pulled his glove off and threw it at my feet.
"Chase Kingston, I Rowad Sulijir, challenge you to a duel on behalf of the entire royal guard." Rowad exclaimed. The Pharaoh and Jurirai both gasped in disbelief while Bo looked smugly at Iris.
"Told you one of them was going to challenge Chase before we left!" He jeered. Iris groaned and pulled off one of her enchanted rings and gave it to Bo.
"Double or nothing that Chase duels with Prince Leon." Iris replied. Bo smirked and held hos hand out. Iris quickly grabbed it and shook.
"Deal!" Iris exclaimed. Turak'Kahn coughed and covered his mouth to hide his smirk. Jurirai ignored his daughter's and Bo's exchange and turned his attention to Rowad.
"You want to challenge him to a duel after you just carried him into the room because he's too weak to stand thanks to mana drain!" Jurirai exclaimed. Rowad flinched slightly but stood his ground.
"I'm challenging him to a duel Sir, it doesn't have to be today." Rowad said.
"Nah, let's just get this over with…." I said then reached down and grabbed the glove off the ground. "…how tired I am won't matter if we fight using evos."
Jurirai looked surprised by my response. Instead he looked to Turak'Kahn for his input into the matter.
"As long as both party's agree I have no qualms about letting them duel in the palace." Turak'Kahn said. Rowad bowed gratefully at Turak'Kahn.
"Thank your Majesty, your largesse knows no bounds." Rowad said. Turak'Kahn smiled deviously at Roawad.
"No need to thank me captain. I simply want to see what my young guest is capable of, one look at his evos is enough to tell anyone that they are in a league of their own. It's obvious that you are going to lose, at least to me." Turak'Kahn said.
His words were like a punch to the gut to Rowad. Try as he might the disbelief was plain to see on his face. The words has a demoralizing effect on the guards that were with Rowad as well.
"I'll be nice and left them have a handicap. I'll only summon one evo while they can summon as many evos as they want." I said, playing on the Pharaoh's words to further piss off Rowad. He fell for the bait.
"You might be strong Kingston but do not underestimate the power off the royal guard! Your evos might have even beaten us during that test a few day ago but we were under orders to go easy on you!" Rowad exclaimed.
"I figured as much which is why I had my evos hold back as well. Had they been fighting to kill none of you would have had a chance." I replied. Rowad glared at me and clenched his fists as did the guards behind him.
I stood and looked over at the Pharaoh, hoping I looked steadier than I felt.
"Are we heading back to the underground coliseum?" I asked. Turak'Kahn shook his head.
"I believe that the training grounds by the gardens is sufficient." Turak'Kahn said. I arched a brow at Turak'Kahn. I didn't know there was a set of training grounds above ground. The way they had explained everything earlier, the coliseum was the only one in the palace grounds.
"Perfectly fine with me." Rowad said.
***
[Are you sure you can do this Boss? Your mana is really low.] Bone-lasher inquired.
[I'm fine. I'm not going to be the one fighting.] I told The worried liger shark.
I was standing outside the training field, now that I was here I could understand why it was chosen. While the coliseum was set up for more gladiator style fighting to test the proficiency of the guards the training grounds was solely for evo combat.
It was about as large a warehouse and fully open air. A stone fence surrounded the edge of the field that had runes etched into each post. The runes created a energy field that protected the spectators from accidental attacks from the evos inside the arena when activated. There was a set of stands off to the west side of the field that was protected by its own set of runes.
Turak'Kahn, Jurirai, Bo, and Iris sat in the stands to watch the duel. The training field sat in the center of a large courtyard that had massive walls surrounding it. I could see several guards stationed throughout the castle looking out windows to watch the fight.
[Boss, look.] Bone-lasher said then shared his vision with me. In a window behind me I saw Jane looking out a window with Leon and his guardian.
[Well that's lovely, avoid me for two days and now you watch one of my duels without saying hi!"] I grumbled.
The Pharaoh stood up and cleared his throat.
"We are here to witness the duel between Rowad Sulijir; captain of the royal guard and Chase Kingston; owner of Sho'lajah artifact company. The rules are simple: each party will battle with their evos. The winner is whomever evo is left standing. Chase has stipulated that he will only summon one evo while his opponent may summon as many as he likes, they don't even have to be just his."
"I highly suggest you take that offer!" I bellowed at Rowad. Rowad simply curled his lip up at me then looked back at the guards that were with him. Beside Rowad there had to be at least ten other guards.
"Rowad and company: summon your evos!" Turak'Kahn exclaimed.
"Simbrea!" Rowad yelled as he threw his crystalline structure into the arena. A large evo I hadn't seen before emerged from the structure. Judging from the looks alone it was the mix of a fox, wolf, and a viper. While mostly canine in appearance it possessed a large viper hood that extended from the tips of its large fox ears to the base of its neck, and four reptilian eyes. Two curved fangs descended just below its top lip hijting at the fact it was venomous. There was a hint of intelligence in that evos eyes that unnerved me.
<[Captian Rowad's Anebu. There is no way Chase can win! That evo's ascended.]> I heard Leon exclaim to Jane, thanks to Alpa'nagia's hearing I could hear it all.
'Ascended? That might be a problem….' I thought to myself.
As soon as Simbrea emerged from his structure Rowad summoned another Anebu, this one was significantly smaller than his ascended Anebu. About twenty other crystalline structures shattered onto the field behind Simbrea, most of them were other Anebu but there were five that weren't. I instantly recognized them as Wod Wolves.
Wod Wolves were evos originally created in Norway and meant to be competition for Lyons. They were the combination of grey wolves, rams, and giant fruit bat. Retaining most of the wolf appearance, the only indication of its other bases were the large bat wings sprouting from its back and the curved ram horns sprouting from its forehead.
Simbrea's eyes glowed slightly as it howled and that same glow spread to every Anebu and Wod Wolves around it. I knew that Wod Wolves were very good at pack tactics as they were extremely social evos but combined with Anebu, which I knew nothing about the battle got a lot tougher.
[Savior, allow me to fight. Let me show you my strength.]
I was caught off guard by the voice that spoke. Since I saved him he hasn't really spoken much. Just spent time inside his biome getting used to his new body.
[You sure?] I asked.
[More than sure. With your blessings my victory is all but assured!]
[Okay! I'm counting on you!] I exclaimed then looked up at Turak'Kahn.
"Rowad and company has summoned their evos, Chase, summon your evo!" Turak'Kahn exclaimed.
"JINGL….!" I started the froze and shook my head. "…whoops sorry, not your name anymore…BELLIAL! LET'S GO!"
I flung Bellial's crystalline structure into the arena and he emerged with a monstrous roar that shook the ground beneath him. He stood proudly and stared down Simbrea and his pack, his black fur glistening in the hot Egyptian sun while his blue rings glowed faintly.
<[Jingles….?]> Jane gasped. I pretended to not hear her through Alpa'nagia's hearing and kept my attention in Rowad's group of evos.
"Both parties ready! BEGIN!" Turak'Kahn barked.
"Simbrea! Attack pattern Sigma!" Rowad bellowed. Simbrea howled and the other Anebu dashed forward while the Wod Wolves took flight and circled Bellial from above.
"Bellial, don't hold back. This either ends with them dead or you. Losing you is unacceptable." I ordered.
"Yes Savior!" Bellial growled and crouched down. All four of his eyes opened and scanned the battlefield around him. The pack of Anebu that approached split into two groups and moved to attack Bellial in a pincer move.
The first Anebu attacked from Bellial's rear, aiming to bite his right hind leg. One of Bellial's tentacle-like tails swung out and slapped the Anebu down into the ground so hard it's head left a impression in the dirt. He then grabbed the Anebu with another tail around its leg and flung it into another approaching Anebu. Two more Anebu tried the same tactic from the other side but with four tails at his disposal Bellial had no problem knocking them away.
Simbrea howled again and all the Anebu skidded to a stop then moved to surround Bellial instead of attacking at his flanks. The wod Wolves swooped in to attack now, attacking from above and in what they assumed was Bellial's blind spot. Bellial saw them coming however ans swung at them with his tails. The wod wolves were ready for this however and pulled a deft aerial maneuver that allowed four of them to dodge the attacks and grab hold of the tails in the process while the frist continued his dive towards Bellial.
The four that grabbed tails dives quickly to the ground and jumped back to hold Bellial in place with his tails. Bellial simply jumped forward slightly, his tails popping off with little to no effort, he spun to face his attacker, his mouth wide open and small vortex forming in the center of his mouth. A gust of wind fired from his mouth fast enough to generate a sonic boom. As the blast of wind struck the wod wolf it was as if it was being pushed through a blender. Currents of wind sliced up the wod Wolves body leaving nothing but a fine past of blood, gore, and viscera that splashed over the other Wod Wolves and some of the Anebu.
"Impressive! You manged to kill one of our evos but we have plenty more! That evo's end is certain!" Rowad bellowed from his end of the arena.
"You might want to count again." I replied.
No sooner had I said it did the four Wod Wolves that grabbed Bellial's tails suddenly collapsed on the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. The three Anebu that Bellial slapped with his tails fell too, exhibiting the same symptoms as the Wod Wolves.
"W-what the…?" Rowad and several others exclaimed.
"Blue ringed octopus. So small, so pretty, so deadly." I said pointing to the blue rings that outlined Bellial's spots. The spots glowed a even more vibrant blue as all four of Bellial's tails started to regenerate. In a matter of seconds he was back to perfect condition.
"Bellial, don't waste anymore time with them. Show me the full extent of your power!"
"Yes! My Savior!" Bellial growled.
His eyes glowed with a bright white light that spread across the blue spots on his body. The air around the courtyard; which had been sweltering before; started to cool down to the point of was getting freezing. Black clouds formed overhead and blocked the sun as snow flurries started to fall from the clouds.
"Snow? In Egypt?" Rowad gasped.
Bellial threw his head back and roared. The small flurries quickly turned turned into a severe snowstorm and then a full blown blizzard. Visibility was at zero and the only thing that could be heard was the winds whipping violently past your ears. It was a white out.
Thanks to Bone-lasher I could see what was going on around me. Rowad and the other guards were bumbling around and bumping into each other. The Pharaoh and the others had cast a spell that protected them from the cold and winds. Inside the arena Simbrea and the remaining Anebu were scrambling to stay together. Despite the Anebu all being under Simbrea's control he couldn't coordinate them since he had no idea where they were in relation to him.
Bellial stood comfortably inside the blizzard, his vision not obscured by the snow and winds. He watched and observed the Anebu, not as foes but as prey. Watching their habits and feeble attempts to link up. Once he identified the weakest of the pack he popped his wings from the hollow points in his back and took to the sky. The whipping winds and howling gales silences the sounds of his wing beats as he swopped down and grabbed the first stragglers in all four of his front paws and tore into it with his Saber fangs. The poor thing didn't stand a chance.
Bellial went to work picking them off one by one. I paid close attention to Simbrea as Bellial started killing its pack. While it couldn't see what was happening thanks to it taking control of the other Anebu it could tell when one other were killed. It's head twitching I'm the direction of each slain Anebu the instant it died. It took a defensive stance, snarling at the wind.
When the last of the Anebu was slain I saw it's demeanor change. It went from aggressive and ready to fight to scared and fearful. It was of course a pack Evo, one that can only survive in a pack or group. Without its pack it was nothing even with it being a ascended.
The blizzard suddenly slowed down to a light dusting of snow. Bellial was descending slowing from the sky above the Simbrea. The ascended Anebu looked up at the sound of Bellial's wing beats. It's eye's widened and it's tail curled between its legs. From its point of view Bellial must have looked like a God of death descending from the heavens to take his soul with his paws and fangs bloodied with the fresh blood of its former pack members.
Bellial landed in front of Simbrea then sat down and started cleaning his front paws of blood. The disrespect from that move alone should have sent Simbrea into a rage but the ascended evo instead lowered its head to the ground, prepared to accept whatever fate Bellial would deem worth for it.
"SIMBREA ATTACK!" Rowad ordered his ascended however the evo resisted the command, its fear of Bellial was strong than its allegiance to Rowad.
"The fights over Rowad! Look at your poor evo! It's shaking so much it looks like he's about to piss himself!" I yelled at him.
"Do you wish to conceded Rowad? I'd rather not lose one of the strongest evos in the garrison over your pride." Turak'Kahn asked. Rowad gritted his teeth then recalled Simbrea.
"I conceded." He muttered as Simbrea's crystalline structure went back into his farm crystal.
"WINNER! CHASE KINGSTON!" Turak'Kahn bellowed. The second Turak'Kahn announced the winner the storm clouds above quickly disappeared.
"Good Job Bellial!" I exclaimed then hopped over the stone fence and trudged into the arena. Bellial galloped over and skidded to a halt in front of me, looking rather leased with himself.
"Thank you Savior! Was my fight satisfactory?" He asked.
"More than satisfactory." I replied and reached up and scratched his head. Bellial's eyes glazed over and he let put a loud purr.
<[By Ra's wisdom! That thing was once Jingles! Your evo?]> Leon exclaimed. <[He turned it from a abomination to a monster!]>
<[OH shut up Leonard!>]> Jane snapped at her brother. I could feel Jane's eyes on me and her former evo but chose to ignore it.
"Get some rest Bellial, we can both use it…"