It looks like me being able to go home is now entirely dependent on Will's abilities. My original plan was for me to find some druid monks and have them read the book for me. If they chose not to help me, or decided to make up some excuse, I was going to punch them until they helped.
I think having Will read it for me is a much better idea, that way I won't become a wanted criminal. If I got arrested, I wouldn't be able to read my books anymore and that has to be avoided at all costs. As for the past two months, they've been painful.
I'm getting better at exercising and I can use my aura for quite an extended period of time. That doesn't mean I like exercising any more than before. In fact it could be said it's gotten worse because Armstrong is making me workout for even longer durations due to my stamina improving.
On the bright side it's fun to look up from my book to see Will struggle ever since he decided to join Armstrong and I. After working out with Armstrong, Marianne and Luther have still been training me in combat.
I've gotten better at fighting against Luther, even hitting him a few times though he never looked like he got hurt by it. The problem is that I still haven't unlocked my specialization. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but for the past two months nothing has happened. I guess I have specialization dysfunction because it's not showing up.
Marianne is quite concerned about it but Luther says I'm a late bloomer. The school is mostly put back together and I've been going to classes, but to be honest, I've learned a lot more by reading books on my own as I suspected. Then at night, I go to my room and read to conclude my day.
I think the strangest part that has happened to me over the past two months is that I've obtained a social life. Every now and then I would go over to Dragon's Descent with Will just to hang out with Nerva and Adam. I read and socialize with them at the same time. There's no way I'm going to read less because I'm hanging out with people.
Nerva tells me she's been training with a very reluctant Adam. I wish that I was there to witness it but my schedule is packed enough already. She's also gone on her own adventures with him.
Nothing major but like the training sounds like something that would have been hilarious to witness. Warren has been a no show. Nerva tells me he's still around but rarely shows up at Dragon's Descent and is never there when I am.
He hasn't been going on adventures yet hasn't been frequenting taverns which I suppose is a good sign. I'm not worried about him, he's literally the most competent person in my party so I'm sure he's doing alright. Thus the two months of painful tranquility passed by and just like that it was the day that Will and I were scheduled to fight Emperor Marcus.
I wake up to the sound of knocking at my door. Groggily I make my way to it and upon opening it see it's Marianne.
"Today's the day. Did you go to sleep early like I told you? You look like you just woke up," Marriane notes.
"Yeah I did ...well I tried to. I couldn't sleep, the idea of getting my ass kicked has made me restless," I admit.
I did tell the truth but another reason is that I have a horrible sleeping schedule since I focus on reading so much. She doesn't need to know that.
"You're going to do better than you think. You've improved a lot over the past two months. While you haven't unlocked your specialization your power should be enough to impress anyone. I'm sure Emperor Marcus will go easy on you two," she assures.
"Well, if you say so. Where's Will?"
"If he's like you, then he's asleep. I'm going to knock on his door right now so get yourself dressed," she orders.
I close the door and change into my monk outfit. I wish I had some armor to put on like Will, but Armstrong keeps telling me aura is my armor and normal armor would be a hindrance. After changing I head into the hallway where I see Marianne knocking on Will's door. After knocking a few times the door opens but instead of seeing Will, it's a tired Nazuko.
"Ugh, what is it? Why do you gotta ruin my sleep?" she questions, rubbing her eyes.
Marianne looks really confused at seeing Nazuko. I'm sure Marianne has seen her before but perhaps hasn't been told she was living with Will.
"Hey, Nazuko, where's Will at? He's asleep?" I question.
"Nah he woke up like two hours ago. That Vasavir guy dragged him out of bed. Something about wanting to do some last minute training," Nazuko explains.
"Do you know where he's at?"
"I think he's at the stadium at North Point. I'm not too sure because I was trying to sleep while they were talking to each other."
"Alright, thanks Nazuko. You're going to watch the fight, right?"
"Yeah, of course. I have plenty of time to get there. I want to sleep some more."
"The fight starts in 45 minutes, you sure you don't want to get there now? The stadium is already almost at full capacity," Marianne interjects.
"Eh, I'll be fine, don't worry about me. That's future Nazuko's concern and she's a capable girl," Nazuko claims.
"Alright then, see ya" I say.
"Bye Quincy, make sure Will doesn't die. If he dies I can't sleep with him anymore. Bye, big-tall-lady," she waves, closing the door.
"Wasn't that the thief Will rescued from imprisonment?" Marianne asks in bewilderment as we make our way out of the castle.
"Yeah, that was Nazuko. She lives with Will for some reason. "
"Huh, that's interesting. Wait, did she say she was sleeping with him?" she asks in a surprisingly excited voice.
"Will told me it's not what you think it is. I don't really know if I believe him."
"I can't believe the first hero fell in love with the girl he rescued from imprisonment. That's sooo cuuute! That's exactly what happens in one of my stories. Wait, but he's engaged, that means he's cheating on his fiance with a mistress. That's also like one of my stories… it's one of the more steamy ones, '' Marianne states with excitement, ignoring what I just said.
The f*ck is she on about? Note to self, don't talk about relationships with Marianne ever. If you do, her demeanor becomes that of a mom who watches too many Spanish soap operas.
"So, ugh, got any advice for handling the Emperor?" I ask as we are now making our way through the streets of Colonus.
"There's not much I can tell you. Just remember your training, and be careful," she advises.
Wow, such helpful advice. I was planning on being reckless and forgetting all of my training. Though to be fair, I don't think Marianne knows much about the Emperor so I'm sure that really is the only advice she can give.
We are now at North Point and it's crowded. There's a huge multitude lined up attempting to get inside. Reminds me of people tailgating before a football game.
"Are people really this excited to see Will and I get beat up?" I ask Marianne as she moves people out the way to get to the entrance.
"You don't understand how significant this is for them. They get to see their leader fight against the nation's heroes. It's a big deal, but don't worry about them, you just need to remain focused," Marianne instructs.
We are in front of the entrance where I see Ice Cube (yes I meant it when I said I was going to refer to her as Ice Cube) and a couple of guards guarding the entrance to the stadium.
"Anastasia, how's the security situation?" Marianne asks her.
"....." she answers, looking at Marianne with those big ole eyes.
"Alright, that's good news, keep it up." Marianne says walking past her.
"I thought you had to call her by her full name?" I inquire as we make our way into the stadium.
"Yes, usually that's the case but since you gave her that nickname she became self conscious about how tedious it is to say her full name, so she goes by Anastasia now."
I didn't think she would have cared about what I said. Come to think of it, I assumed she wasn't even listening to me.
Suddenly, I feel a cold hand on my left shoulder. I freak out and quickly turn around to see that it's Ice Cube.
"Sweet Jesus. Are your hands always that cold?" I ask, rubbing my shoulder to warm it up.
Marianne must have heard me as she whirls around.
"Anastasia, is something wrong?" she asks.
"....." Ice Cube says.
"Oh that's it? Ok but make it quick."
Ice Cube looks at me.
"...." she tells me.
"Uh huh," I say sarcastically.
"...."
"Oh ok."
"...."
"Right."
"....."
"I'll make sure to do that."
"....."
"Yep."
I have no idea what she's trying to communicate to me. A pause ensues making us awkwardly stare at each other. Why does this happen every time I talk to her?
"You don't understand her, do you?" Marianne asks.
"No! Don't act like I'm supposed to. She doesn't talk, how am I supposed to know what she's saying?" I reproach.
"Right, right, sorry. Once you get to know her you start to pick up on what she means. She just gave you advice. She said to wind up your punches if you want to hurt the Emperor. She also asked how her sister's doing," Marianne explains.
"Oh, thanks. Nerva's fine. She's just as small and angry as ever," I tell Ice Cube.
"..." Ice Cube responds.
"What did she say now?" I ask Marianne.
"She didn't say anything," Marianne remarks.
This is going to get annoying. I'm ending this right now.
"Thanks for the advice but we have to get going right?" I inquire.
"Yes, you're right. Let's go. I'll see you later Anastasia, keep up the good work," Marianne affirms, walking into the stadium.
I follow and as I do so I glance behind me to see Ice Cube still looking at me. She sends shivers down my spine. I'm inside the stadium proper and this place looks a lot different than when it's empty. The stadium is huge so to see it filled to the brim with people is a spectacle to behold. It really is like a football stadium.
It's so loud that it's hard to hear my own thoughts. Looking down from the crowd I spot Will and who I have to assume is Vasavir talking to each other. Will has told me about him but since I never accompany him to his portal training I've never had the chance to meet the guy. I read about him in my books however.
The guy is like a constant in the history of the empire, no matter what happens or who is in charge, Vasavir is there. He's been trolling people for hundreds of years. I make my way over to where they are only to realize Marianne is not following.
"Ugh, you coming?" I question.
"Oh no. I'm getting nowhere near Vasavir. He's worse than Luther by a mile. I wanted to give you and Will some encouraging words but I'm going to have to leave now. Remember what I told you and you'll be fine, ok? Don't forget to make a plan. Take care, Quincy," Marianne says, making her way to the exit.
I join Will and Vasavir to overhear the end of a conversation they were having.
"Remember, Will. Now is the time to ask yourself the big questions," Vasavir instructs.
"Yeah, like what?"
"Tits or ass!? These are the questions a man must ask himself."
"Please, not this again old man."
"It's a serious question. A hero has to know who they are. Who are you, William?" Vasavir questions, pointing his finger towards Will's chest.
"The hell did I just walk into?" I ask, bewildered.
"Oh hey, Quincy. Don't mind the old man he's. . . deranged," Will greets.
"Look, William, even your token black friend can answer such a question for he knows who he is. Second hero, tits or ass?" Vasavir inquires.
"I'm not telling you but if that booty doesn't read I'm not interested," I answer.
"Hmm, I'm not surprised you have a book fetish," Vasavir comments.
"Wait I-I don't think that's a fe-"
"Ok William, Marcus will be here soon. If I had taught you how to become a woman you would be the victor but alas that's not the case. Good luck and try not to die. If you do die, I call dibs on your stuff. Farewell!" Vasavir says, disappearing into thin air.
"What just happened?" I ask Will.
"I'm not completely sure."
"Did you two just have weird conversations the whole time you were here?"
"No Vasvir dragged me here to do some last minute training. The weird stuff didn't come until the very end."
"Did you learn anything that could help us?"
"He tried to make me learn how to increase the size of my portals and he's said it worked but I can't tell the difference. Did you think of any strategies with all that history knowledge of yours? Like a weakness or something?"
"I tried but the books don't go into much detail about his fighting style, mostly his feats and tactical brilliance.
"So you learned what we already know. That he's stronger and smarter than us. Dang it Quincy, I was hoping your history knowledge could be useful for once,"
"Hey, my history knowledge is always useful. It's just never useful for you."
"Yeah, that's the problem."
"Hey you two stop fighting! You gotta work together if you don't want to die!" we hear a voice call out.
We look up into the stands to see in the first row our party members are sitting together. I even see Nazuko up there so she really did make it in time. Probably snuck her way in. Turns out it was Remi who yelled at us.
"Sorry, Quincy. Remi's right, we need to work together if we want any hope of doing well," Will points out.
"I'm sorry too, man. I really wish there was something I could tell you."
"Good luck Will!" Lilith calls out.
"Yeah good luck!" Azura adds.
"Will! Quincy! Do you need any weapons?!" Ryder yells.
"No thanks, Ryder, we're good!" Will replies.
I wouldn't mind having a weapon right now to be honest. But nooo my class doesn't use weapons. Curse the class system.
"Will! If you die, can I keep your stuff?' Nazuko asks.
"Yeah! Make sure Vasavir doesn't take anything!" Will says.
"Quincy! You beat his ginger lookin' ass!" Nerva screams.
"Be careful!" Adam meekly adds.
I check if Warren is up there but I don't see him. I don't think he's anywhere in the audience. That saddens me a bit, I thought we were friends and friends watch friends get their butts beat by their nation's leader.
"I'm about as ready as can be. Only question is where's the emperor?" Will asks aloud to no one in particular.
We hear this loud roar and there's a shade covering the entire stadium. Wait, it's 12:00 pm, that's not normal. Oh and the loud roar is also not normal. Will and I glance up to see what I swear is a freaking red and black dragon flying over us.
"Will? Is that what I think it is?" I ask in awe pointing upwards.
"If you think that's a dragon then yes it is."
"If we're fighting a dragon I'm outta here just so you know that."
"I'll be right behind you if that's the case."
The audience starts cheering loudly like a rockstar is about to go on stage. We see a figure jump off the dragon and plummet towards the earth. It slams into the ground causing dust to fly up into the air.
"Ack," I cough.
The dust settles revealing the emperor on one knee with a big smile on his face. He's in the same outfit he had on during the meeting. The crowd cheers even louder than before.
"Oh come on, that was not necessary. He could have walked here," I complain.
"That's true but I'm more in shock he has a pet dragon," Will comments.
"Sorry about that, you two! Julia begged to bring me here! Plus it made for quite an entrance don't you think?" Marcus asks excitedly as the dragon flies off to who knows where.
There's an awkward pause. I don't think the question was rhetorical.
"Yeah!" I finally answer.
Marcus gets up from his kneeling position. I don't see a weapon on him which is confusing me. If he's a monk then he wouldn't have armor on. I would then say he's a magician but they wear robes so I'm at a loss.
"I'm ready whenever you are! Come at me!" he commands, keeping that huge smile with his arms wide open.
"Will I have a plan," I whisper.
"What is it?"
"We give him everything we have. We beat him so badly he doesn't even get the opportunity to fight back," I elaborate.
"Better than nothing," Will says, opening a portal to take out his swords.
"Oh Gods and Goddesses! You have an affinity for space as well!? Now I'm really excited," he declares, motioning for us to come to him.
"Now!" I yell.
even more hype fight music
Will and I dash apart from each other in order to attack from two sides. I start to make my way up to the emperor so that I attack him from his left, Will doing the same from his right. I give Marcus my hardest punch to the face and Will does the same with sword in hand. They both connect as a shock-wave results from our punches.
Without giving the emperor time to react I give him a right hook to the body which makes him roll backwards a few feet. Before he gets a chance to get up Will runs up to him and stomps on his head with all his might, causing another visible shock-wave.
After that I give him a punch to his face, grab his feet and using my aura enhanced strength start to spin around in circles. After a few rotations I throw him up into the air. Will drops one sword to unleash a flurry of wind bullets from his fingers. Each blast connects, causing the emperor to stay suspended in the air.
After about ten shots the emperor starts to fall. Before he hits the ground I give him a punch to the gut causing him to fly into the wall of the stadium. Will and I stop attacking to catch our breath. That should have done something. If that didn't cause any damage I'm quitting life.
"You think we did it?" I ask Will.
"I really really hope so," Will says in between breaths.
The entire audience is in shock. The whole place went quiet in light of what they just saw. Unfortunately the silence doesn't last long as a laugh starts to be heard throughout the arena. From the hole in the wall emerges the emperor laughing. There goes all my hopes for a quick fight. The emperor claps and the audience cheers.
"That was something to behold. I gotta hand it to you two, that was better than I expected," he congratulates before spitting out a tooth.
Good news, I think that means we did some damage. Bad news, those were some of our strongest attacks unless Will has a trick up his sleeve I don't know about.
"Oh sorry about that. I had a cavity, that tooth was due to come out any time," The emperor explains.
So there's only bad news.
"Alright now it's my turn!" the emperor says.
All of a sudden a group of portals pop into existence. They're everywhere but the majority of them surround us. The emperor throws a punch into a portal next to him and the next thing I know I got hit in the side of the head. My head slams into Will's causing us to both fall to the ground.
We both get up quickly and dash away from the portals causing us to separate. Some of the portals start disappearing only to reappear next to our general locations. This is going to be a problem. The emperor starts rapidly punching into portals next to him. Fists start coming at me from multiple directions.
I attempt to block them but I can only block the punches that come at me from the front. My sides and back are taking a pounding from the flurry of blows. In the midst of me trying to turtle with my arms I see Will's in the same predicament.
In an act of desperation I attempt a counter blow. I throw a punch into a portal in front of me but instead of hitting his face as I hoped, I feel something grab my arm. Oh no. I am pulled through the portal.
"That wasn't a bad idea, second hero. There was a major flaw though--you're slow," he tells me as he keeps his iron grip on my arm.
I attempt to hit him with my other arm but he blocks it with his palm. He throws me into the stadium's wall. My shoulder dislocates as I'm thrown. I moan in pain as I reattach my shoulder to its socket. Aura does not help with that! I emerge from the rubble to spot Will in front of the emperor.
Will starts to attack the emperor with his swords but the emperor dodges all of his attacks while laughing heartily. He's not even breaking a sweat. During the attack a portal opens behind the emperor and he falls through. Another portal opens behind Will where the emperor steps out.
"Will! Behind you!" I shout.
It's too late. The emperor got the drop on him. The emperor puts his arms around Will's waist. With a wicked smile the emperor performs a freaking suplex. I get up and run to them. Avoiding the portals along the way I shoulder bash the emperor causing him to roll back a few feet, enough space to give us breathing room at least.
"Will! You ok!?" I ask, checking his neck to make sure it's not broken.
"Owwwwww. I'm alive. What about you?" he asks, slowly getting up.
"I've seen better days," I tell him.
The emperor is still smiling. I can tell he's toying with us. He's not fighting seriously. We'd be dead if he was.
"You know. I think you two are worthy enough to witness my weapon," he tells us.
He puts his hand into a nearby portal to take out what I swear is a freaking sledgehammer. It's got all of these weird gold symbols covering it.
"Will please tell me you have an idea," I beg.
"I think I do. This is going to be a battle of portals," he states.
"Are you going to cancel his portals with yours? You can summon that many?" I ask.
"No, not even close. But we can use his portals against him in addition to my own. Quincy, I'm going to have you fly through portals, gaining so much momentum so that when you throw a punch at him, it'll hurt like nothing else," Will explains.
"Wait, you want me to fly through portals until I'm at terminal velocity?" I ask.
"Yep," he affirms.
"F*ck it, I can't think of a better idea let's do it," I curse.
Before either of us could do anything to carry out our plan the emperor leaps high into the air and slams his sledgehammer into the ground between us upon landing, blowing Will and I back. We've been separated to opposite sides of the arena.
A portal emerges next to me. This one has a purple outline instead of orange so I think it's Will's. Taking a gamble I jump through it to arrive next to him. The emperor slams his sledgehammer into the spot I was just at. The Emperor has a surprised look on his face seeing I'm not there but then chuckles.
I'm about to sigh in relief when he throws the sledgehammer at us. In response, Will summons a portal in front of us. The sledgehammer goes through it to reemerge on the side of the emperor. It's about to hit him but he opens his own portal making it disappear again. The sledgehammer flies from portal to portal.
The portals keep changing locations to ensure the thing doesn't fly into the ground or to the audience. It's gradually gaining more and more speed. It comes towards us again but Will summons a portal in front of us once more. Once again, it's flying towards the emperor but this time from above.
This doesn't matter as the emperor summons another portal. It flies towards us again but this time from our right. To counter Will moves his portal to intercept it. A pattern starts with Will closing and opening up portals to redirect the sledgehammer only for the emperor to do the same.
"Quincy! You gotta do something! I can't keep this up forever!" he yells as he redirects the sledgehammer yet again.
The emperor is laughing hard like it's some sort of game. At least one of us is having fun.
"Alright, alright, you keep redirecting the hammer. I got a plan. It's a slight modification of yours," I tell him.
I get on my hands and knees preparing to take off running.
"What are you doing?!" Will yells.
"Just trust me! You'll know what to do when you see it," I yell back.
I take off running as fast as I can to a nearby portal of the emperor's and leap into it. Since the emperor rearranged the portals in a way such that whatever flies through them gains as much velocity as possible, I can do exactly what Will wanted to do with his portals. I'm going to gain enough momentum in the hopes to give him a powerful blow to the head.
Of course there's the chance I'll end up next to the emperor before I gain enough speed and there's an even bigger chance I'll get hit by the sledgehammer but that's a risk I have to take.
It's weird, it feels like I'm constantly falling with no hope of hitting the ground. As I fall through the portals something comes to me, what did Ice Cube tell me to do? Oh yeah I remember her advice now. She said "....". Wait no that's not helpful.
It was what Marianne told me she said; I have to wind up my punch. As I do so the flying sledge hammer almost hits me in the face but I'm able to narrowly dodge it by moving my head to the right.
I make it to the emperor. With all of my might I throw my punch making a good connection, causing him to fly back what looks like 20 feet. Problem is that I was flying so fast I flew with him.
While we're both lying on the ground I call out to Will.
"Do it now!" I scream.
Luckily Will knows what I meant as a portal opens over the emperor. The sledgehammer flies out of it at terminal velocity hitting the emperor square in the chest. Will runs over to help me up.
"That was insane," Will comments.
"Oh definitely," I concur.
We are both wheezing due to fatigue with our hands on our knees.
"Watch some bullshit happen," I joke.
Right on cue we start hearing more laughter. The emperor jumps up like it was nothing with his sledgehammer in. There's this huge dent in his chest.
"Hah! My ribs are broken!" he cheers.
"Will," I say.
"Yeah?"
"I wanna go home."
"Me too."
"Hah don't be so sad you two. We're done. I've seen enough. You two are definitely good enough to go to Ayana. But... the people want a winner in this fight. Don't worry kids, I'll make it painless. I loved this, we gotta do this again A.S.A.P," he says.
The emperor drops the sledgehammer, moving so fast we don't have time to react. He grabs my head with his right hand and Will's head with his left. He smashes our heads together, knocking us out instantly.