It was finally the day of the contest, Grandpa Matt, Joaquin and Steve stood at the training ground as the portal to the Infernal realm crackled fiercely with red energy before them.
The past few days had been fun, stressful and emotional for the Heracles.
Steve's use of Mana with swords had improved tremendously in those few days, he learnt how to emit beams of energy from his sword, he also learnt how to enhance his body to make himself faster and more durable during battle, Phoebe woke up from her coma and her family took her and moved out of Graylon city
But the most impressive of all was that he had activated both Grandpa Matt's sword of grace and his red's fury though his red's fury's activation was unstable.
With that, Grandpa Matt and Joaquin came to the conclusion that Lord Forger was right about Steve's hands been different because no one in the history of divine swordsmanship had been able to activate a bonded weapon.
Joaquin named Steve's hands "Shark" because of his impressive ability to activate weapons that are not bonded to him.
Steve also wanted to learn how Grandpa Matt always had a sword whenever he needed it, they explained to him that it was called 'spatial storage', a special skill every Mana swordsman awakens when they achieve level four that enables them to store swords in a pocket dimension and retrieve it whenever they need it.
So Steve put the idea away till the day he would become a level four Mana swordsman.
Finally, Steve was ready to participate in the contest as a level two supernatural swordsman.
"Haa…. I'm so proud of you boy"
Grandpa Matt said as he held Steve's shoulders with a sad smile on his face,
"I….I don't know the words to describe how happy I am that you have come this far, you are a strong man and you have been through a lot…you may not have been able to go to college because of your low grades and your inability to find a good job must have been disturbing for you but your heart of gold and compassion have brought you this far, I have watched you grow as a father would, I have been with you through the ups and downs of your life and…"
At this point, Steve's eyes became watery but he willed himself not to cry
"….and to be honest, you have become an indispensable part of my life, you have been more of a son than a grandson. You know, a part of my heart doesn't want you to go, so that we can stay back here in Graylon city and remain as father and son but your quest now is for the greater good… of us and the world…"
Steve was speechless as his grandpa spoke, a heavy sense of sadness hung between the two of them.
"….so go to that contest and show them who's boss"
Steve hugged Grandpa Matt tightly as he quickly cleaned the tears in his eyes so that he wouldn't know that he was crying but his voice betrayed him when he spoke
"What if I don't win?"
"It doesn't matter whether you win or not, what matters is that you stay safe and give it your best"
"Yes Grandpa"
Steve said as he detached himself from Grandpa Matt's embrace
"Wait.."
Grandpa Matt said and brought out a small book and gave it to Steve
"These are the Litanies…in case I'm not here to teach you when you return, study them well"
Steve smiled and gently pushed Grandpa Matt's outstretched hand back,
"No, you'll teach me when I return"
'I may not be here to teach you when you return'
Grandpa Matt said in his thoughts but he smiled sadly and said something else as he gave the book to Steve,
"You have to fight the fiends as soon as you return, that's why you need to study it"
"Okay fine, it'll be an honor to fight them alongside my amazing grandpa!"
He teased and turned to Joaquin
"Let's go Joaquin"
Joaquin had turned away during their exchange because their bond made him feel strangely nostalgic,
as they talked, Joaquin had a feeling like they were been watched but he didn't want to disturb the Heracles because the watcher didn't seem hostile but rather, familiarly divine.
He was still searching for the watcher when he heard Steve's voice and he turned and said
"It's Grand Master Joaquin to you"
"Pfft… you're barely older than me, how can you be a grand master?, Stop kidding yourself, let's get going"
Joaquin shook his head gently and walked forward.
As they were about to enter the portal, Steve turned with a broad smile on his face and said
"Bye Grandpa!, Be safe!"
Grandpa Matt smiled sadly as Steve and Joaquin disappeared into the portal and it closed.
A young lady with red hair watched silently in the distance as Grandpa Matt turned and walked away slowly.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the portal disappeared, she thought that Joaquin had seen her,
'He had always had a keen sense…. good to see you again in the flesh….Joaquin Idan'
She thought to herself as she turned her back and left.
***
Steve felt a nauseating sensation as he stepped through the portal, it felt like he was passing through a sea of colours because all he could see were blinding flashes of different colours as he was projected to the Infernal realm's dimension.
Grandpa Matt once told him that all the contests that the council had ever organized were held in the Infernal realm. It was an alternate dimension to Earth where fiends go to when they die. In the Infernal realm, fiends are weaker and they come back to life when killed hence the council decided to use it as an arena to test worthy swordsmen.
As Steve stepped out of the portal in the Infernal realm, he turned away and retched uncontrollably.
"Ugh….why didn't you tell me that…"
He stopped his sentence mid way as he realized that Joaquin was no longer with him
'Huh?….this guy….'
Steve then looked around for the first time since he landed and he almost swooned in surprise as he saw the number of swordsmen and women that had arrived for the contest.
There were more than three hundred people there for the contest.
There were people of different sizes and races and their combined aura was so powerful that he felt another nauseating feeling in his stomach but he held it in.
There was a full moon in the night sky, Steve admired it as it resembled that of Earth's.
Standing there in a simple all black long sleeved military style collared shirt with silver buttons and white outlines of the breast pocket and collar with red's fury covered in a sheath that was strapped to the belt and the book of the fiend Slayer Litanies tucked safely in his pocket, he began to observe the swordsmen around.
Some seemed to know each other as they talked amongst themselves while some stood alone just like him.
The first person he noticed was a young man in black baggy overalls who stood at one corner alone just gazing coldly at nothing, his honey brown eyes looked empty and cold, he had a burn scar on his left forehead but nevertheless he was still good looking in a scary kind of way, he had unruly black hair of uneven lengths that stuck up in tufts around his head and he looked like he was in his mid twenties but the aura he was emitting was very close to that of Grandpa Matt's, he also held a katana that had weird etchings on it,
"Just like Grandpa Matt's sword"
Steve turned away to a group of about five goth swordsmen, four men and one woman all clad in black shirts and jeans, they had tattoos on their hands and faces and piercings on their nose and ears, one of them held dual swords, two held single swords, one held a sword and the last one also held a sword.
"I am the most talented swordsman"
The one with the dual swords said, he seemed to exude the strongest aura among his group
"Ha ha ha ha"
"We're gonna trounce this contest!"
"Yeah!!"
His group members shouted in unison.
'Stupid'
Steve thought and turned his attention to two black girls who looked like they were just about twenty speaking softly to each other like they were whispering.
One had olive skin, long black hair and amber eyes but she wore a gas mask over her nose as if she had breathing issues. The other one had short black hair with a small mouth, they both giggled as they talked.