As the last vestiges of the mega-storm began to disperse into the vast arctic ocean a strange phenomena occurred, the vast stormy clouds began to condense rapidly into a sphere-like shape that silently hovered over the geographical center of the arctic ocean.
With a mighty boom, the ball of storm clouds shot into the ocean, breaking the sound barrier and creating a massive tsunami. Lucky for the many islands in the path of the tsunami, a variety of experts had been monitoring the superstorm and had reacted almost instantly to the strange phenomenon, arriving in time to disperse the gigantic wave.
As the tsunami dispersed back into the ocean, a strange pit formed in the water. At the center of the bit was the churning ball of raging storm clouds, crackling with awe-inspiring power. As the 'storm ball' as experts would soon call it settled down vast amounts of energy began to be drawn into it, creating a gigantic vortex of energy centered in the middle of the arctic ocean.
After the tidal wave had been destroyed 3 figures silently stood in the air. If Egil was here he would recognize Headmaster Leopold as 1 of the 3 figures. The other two figures were a similarly old-looking woman with incredibly long hair reaching beyond her feet, and a middle-aged man with a muscular, scar-filled body. As the 3 figures stared at each other in the sky, a woman suddenly appeared in the air like a ghost. The woman looked fairly ordinary, with shoulder-length purple hair and an average build, looking in her mid 30's at the least.
"This is a fight for the kids, leave it be '' the woman spoke in a gentle tone. Unlike her tone, however, the other 3 people, headmaster Leopold included, listened to her words like the decree of a god, pretending the anomaly in the ocean simply didn't exist and heading back to their respective academies. That's right, the 3 people were the headmasters of the 3 arctic academies, and they all listened to the words of the mysterious woman.
…
Six months had passed since the mega storm had ended and the strange energy-gathering phenomena had begun. Egil had long since gotten over professor Night's display of power and the death of professor Graham. Like many among the elite class at Roaring Nature academy, Egil had just reached the peak of the body tempering realm and was waiting for the bonding ceremony, which took place after all students of the elite class reached the peak of body tempering. This was done because bonding with beasts used an array that costs a lot of energy from the teachers and headmaster to activate, making it 1000x more efficient to wait for every student in the elite class to reach the peak of body tempering.
Egil was spending the day like normal. After classes, he would practice his [Axe and Shield Mastery] technique until night when he and Elyse would get dinner at the cafeteria. Afterward, he would study the Bestiary and course material before sleeping. Egil had just recently mastered stage 2 of [Axe and Shield Mastery], Learning [Full Guard] alongside [Heavy Slash].
As Egil woke up for another day and dressed, leaving the dorms and heading up the long paths towards the cafeteria for dinner, he felt a strange cold energy sweep through his body, similar to the monolith from the Spirit Ceremony. As Egil's thoughts filled with confusion the strange energy began constricting him as if squeezing his insides while lifting him from the ground. As Egil lost consciousness, no matter how hard he tried to stay awake, he saw many of his fellow students staring into the sky with wary looks on their faces, a variety of beasts at their side.
…
Egil woke up with a start, the aking pain raking his body reminding him of the events prior to losing consciousness. As Egil stood up with haste, he observed everything around him, or more accurately the endless darkness around him. Everything around him, for as far as he could see, was nothing but endless darkness.
As Egil looked around he spotted an old man standing a few meters to his left. As he warily approached the old man, his fists raised like a boxer, he realized that no matter how he moved he couldn't get any closer.
"Hello, young seeds" The old man spoke, his words seeming to reach into Egil's very soul
"I am the collector, a long since dead powerhouse of the human race, who specialized in the collection, preservation, and breeding of beasts." The old man continued his words somehow, through some mystical means, calming Egil.
"All of you now stand in the heart of my inheritance, well, it's more of a vault than an inheritance but it matters little now. The person you see speaking to you is a recording I have created using a technique of the elven people, so you can't ask any questions."
"That's not the point though, this vault contains every species of arctic creature I have come across, and the reason you are here is to inherit beasts from this vault before the preservation array loses power and every creature in here dies. That being said, you have 12 hours to compete for the rewards, which I have split into 4 categories. The categories are as follows: 1st, 2nd-10th, 11th - 100th, and Losers."
"As the name suggests the event you'll compete in is a tournament, the winner getting the highest level prize, the prize getting worse every level lower you go. I'll tell you the prizes now. 1st gets their choice of beats, with the full assistance of the guide I have made to this vault to find any being they would desire. 2nd - 10th get full access but with limited guidance. 11-100th get limited access, and losers get nothing. Good luck" With a smile, the man disappeared from the endless void, his words still ringing in Egil's ears.
A vault of beasts from the arctic region. That meant Egil could achieve his dream of contracting with a [Bone-Chilling Behemoth]! As the implications of the man's words settled into Egil's mind a gigantic weapon rack appeared in front of him, with every weapon Egil could ever imagine. That was when Egil remembered the other part of what the man said, A tournament! Egil walked among the gigantic rows of weapons, quickly grabbing a Shield but having trouble choosing an Axe. Egil had narrowed it down to 2 choices: A traditional Bearded Viking Axe and an Axe with a spiked tip on the end, like a spear. Which Egil imagined he could use to pierce enemies after lowering their weapon with the hook of his axe.
As Egil struggled to make a decision a voice sounded out in his head '1 minute left before the tournament begins, make sure all weapons are in hand when the countdown ends, good luck' the emotionless voice said. Being rushed Egil decided to take the spiked axe, hoping the unique design would catch his foes off guard and allow him to win.
The 1-minute countdown soon ended, with the emotionless voice starting the tournament. The darkness surrounding Egil cleared as he found himself standing in a large circular arena, a boy standing across from him with dual swords in his hands. As the boy observed him and he observed the boy, Egil realized there was clear energy surrounding his weapon, but before he could think on the matter further the emotionless voice Egil had named 'Mr. Voice' began a 3-second countdown
'3'
'2'
'1'
'Fight'
With a surge of strength, Egil rushed toward his opponent as soon as the countdown ended, raising his shield to cover his body. As he rushed forwards his opponent dashed forwards, lowering 1 of his swords and raising the other. Although Egil had no idea what kind of attack the boy was planning he prepared himself to bash the boy with his shield.
As Egil neared the boy he pushed himself to sprint faster, shooting forwards and covering the few meters between the two in a second, before his opponent had a chance to properly react Egil's shield slammed into the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs and making him bend slightly over the lip of his shield, allowing Egil to thrust the 'Spear Point' of his Axe at the boy's eye.
Before the axe could properly pierce the boy's eye however he and his opponent froze in place, before Mr. Voice's voice resounded in the arena before Egil found himself back in the endless darkness, as he remembered what Mr. Voice Said.
"Participant #1591 has beat Participant # 627"
Egil felt relief as he lay against the 'floor' in the endless darkness. As much as Egil felt relieved he had won, he also felt guilt. Egil knew deep inside that he had been fully prepared to kill his enemy to win, and that thought brought him great guilt. Thankfully, as Egil ruminated over his fight, the strange energy from before washed over him, somehow calming him down and letting him focus on the battles to come.