The crowd had changed. The once-silent atmosphere with members of the crowd unsure of who to cheer for, now filled the arena with cheers.And who could blame them? The battle that ensued was intense. Earl the human and Polka the Drakeman had started their battle mere moments ago, and the tension riled them up.Who would win the clash? The scorn of the Drakeman, or the terrifying human?The two now stood opposite one another, pacing in a circle slowly, each sizing up the other.Polka drove his heels into the floor and launched at Earl, throwing his arm back and launching his attack.Earl moved his head to the side dodging a punch, however he felt his stomach churn as the sharp reptilian knee of Polka drove itself into him."The punch was a feint!?" He thought to himself as he felt his feet lift off the floor, however, instead of flying off,after his feet left the floor, he found himself hovering in mid-air.Polka's tail remained tightly wrapped around his body, squeezing him and holdin
Tyger was sitting down in the cell curled up like a ball when he started hearing voices, "No!! I didn't want to do it!... I didn't mean to... No!!" Tyger uncurled from his ball and took a step back.A nervous sweat ran down the side of his face. "Shut up! You're awfully loud for someone who's lost so much blood!!" Another voice yelled, this one closer, this one he knew all too well "Kipple?" He said as he took a step forward, and then another, walking to æathe cell bars."I...! I said I wouldn't but I...!" "For the last time shut up!!!" Kipple's voice echoed even louder, followed by the sound of a fist hitting flesh.Now that he thought a little more, he recognised the former voice as well, especially now that the voices were closer, "Earl?"Not a moment later Kipple came marching with Earl in tow, with a bag over his head as usual.With a vein in his head, Kipple kicked open the cell door and threw Earl hard against the floor, not caring for him at all.Tyger managed to move out the
In a cell somewhere in the pit was Skull, seated in his cell with Drakeman guards in front of his cell.A smile sat on his face, "is everything in place?" He asked, one of the guards turned and faced the other. His fellow guard gave him a nod, he turned back to face Skull, "you have what we asked for?" He asked.Skull snapped his fingers, one of his cellmates immediately came beside him and opened his hand. Within it was a vile, a vile full of blue cloudy liquid.Skull took it from the clutches of his cellmate and held it in front of the guards face, "I don't lie," he smiled.The guard reached for it but swiped at the air, Skull placed the vile back into the cellmates clutches."With this, you'll be able to outclass anyone and achieve true power..." A smirk sat on his face, "Storm. Even one of the elders will protect you from those that come against you... When the time comes that is. You'll truly be the ones that'll rule the future!" The guard turned to his other guard, "it's true..
Tyger was standing in the middle of the ring once more. He stood with bandages around his arm and with a determination in his eyes.The crowd was louder than ever before, cheering for him and singing their praises and support, "Tyger!!" "Well done surviving Tyger!!!" "How's your arm Tyger!?" The screams came.Tyger paid them no mind, he had something else he was much more worried about, his match.Kipple was stood at his usual post, standing alongside his fellow Drakemen warriors. He held his spear at the ready and kept his eyes glued to Tyger."Kipple," one of the Drakemen warriors approached him, "oh, hey," he answered, "I heard the chief is coming today!" His ear twitched, "really?" "Yeah, don't know what for though," he answered. Kipple returned his gaze to Tyger, "you're no fun anymore," the Drakeman warrior said as he threw his face to the side."Huh?" He asked confused, "can't blame him... Ever since he got sent here to watch the human and Tyger, he's been all nasty. Guess it'
Earl sat down in his cell, confused, conflicted, alone, with only the voice of Yen in his head to keep him company."Rai?... As in the current leader of the ORA?" Asked Earl, "that was the one who betrayed you? Who backstabbed you? Who killed you? During the Retusian war?" Earl was baffled."What he currently leads is none of my concern, but that snake of humans deserves the cruelest of deaths!" Said Yen.Earl could feel the anger in his voice, the pain, the sadness. Maybe it's because they were souls bound to the same body, no—it's most likely because of the weakening of his control over him, or rather the strengthening of the Retusian soul."Yen, what happened between you and Rai?" Earl asked with a sad expression on his face, "... What happened?" Yen repeated, "... What happened... Why do you wish to know child? What good would telling you do?" He asked.Earl stayed silent. He gathered his thoughts, his feelings, not like much of that was hidden from Yen... Regardless, he spoke."R
Chief Uvo was running as fast as he could, straight towards the pit. He had to get there fast before anything happened to Tyger, to Kipple, to Earl... He couldn't let anything happen.He ran even faster and faster. The innocent civilians lives were in danger. A huge vein popped on his head. Why the hell was this happening now!!?His destination was now in sight. He could see smoke erupting from the top of the building, that wasn't a good sign.It would still take him about 40 seconds to get there... He was hoping he wouldn't be 40 seconds too late. "Damn that Hank! I'll find and kill him myself!" Thought chief Uvo, "if he lays a hand on the king, Emilia, Earl, Kipple, my wife, or Tyger... I'll break every bone in his body!!" He yelled.****Within the pit, Tyger was still sat down quietly in his cell, waiting for Earl's match to finish and for him to return.That's when he heard a loud sound. It was a metallic noise. It was slightly out of sync, but he recognised it... It was the cel
Austin was standing in the middle of a vast forest. A confused look on his face and some gear laid at his feet.Standing nearly 5 meters wide and 10 meters tall was an enormous tree, right in front of Austin. It was the tree he'd come to.There were more than one of these trees in the area, but for some reason he was fixated on this particular one. Probing and poking at it, searching desperately for something."Austin!?" A voice came from behind. Austin spun around and got into a battle stance, "who goes there!?" He began circulating mana within his body."Chill out man," said Annie as she poked her head from behind a tree. Austin lowered his guard, and with a confused expression asked, "Annie?" She finally came out completely from behind the tree and walked towards him, "I thought it was you," she said, "what are you doing here?" She asked."Well some poachers attacked me, and then their boss told me how to get here... So I'm here to bust their operation!" He grinned."You too huh?"
The man took another step forward. "They call me Adam," his gaze was like daggers in Annie's eyes, "it's the last name you'll hear before you die."A cold sweat ran down Annie's face, "I miscalculated. I waited to see if anyone would come out so that we'd find their entrance, but since no one did I assumed they knew our position and were waiting to strike," thought Annie."Striking first using Proper Impact and Thorz should've knocked down their base, but who would've thought that they already had someone on the outside!? Or maybe he dodged it and got up here before Thorz hit?" Thought Annie."Your deduction skills are commendable, but lacking," said Adam. Annie's eyes shot open in shock, "w-what?" She asked."I didn't simply dodge the attack or Pop out from the outside, that Thorz attack of that boy on the ground did in fact connect... And as great as it was, it wasn't enough to put me down!" He took a step forward."What's going on? How does he know what I'm thinking?" Thought Annie
With the pact made amongst one another, talks about the ORA continued, and eventually everyone started sharing their experiences specifically with them.One-way or the other, it eventually divulged into a topic of backstorues, making all the students share details of their transformations during the search for Sidney and Earl.They all were glad to hear that Williams lost his stutter. Hearing his back story and what happened to him only lit a fire in their hearts concerning the ORA.They'd hated them deeply already, but to think they'd take advantage of abandoned children like that... It reminded them that there was nothing the ORA weren't willing to do for their goal.Giving them all the more reason to train and become strong enough to fight them and take them down.Henry revealed the promise he made with his village elder, and everyone showed their support, especially Crystal and Ruby.Earl, Sidney, Annie, and Ruby never knew anything about this, and how could they? Henry was always
Jake laid down on his back, completely shocked silent. He watched Earl distinguished the attack he would've hit Jake with, before smiling and saying the words, "I win."It took a moment for Jake to realise it, but he'd lost the match. The final match in the mini tournament that they were holding, he'd lost that match. He'd lost to Earl.He was completely shocked by the whole thing. The moment he and Earl's fists collided, he felt the brunt of Earl's attack send him flying backwards, and he saw Earl fly off too.But it seemed Earl either recovered insanely quickly, or Jake was thrown a lot harder by Earl's attack than he would've liked to think he did.Before he knew it, Earl was standing over him with an attack ready to be launched straight at him.For some reason his mind went back to when they were kids, back when he'd bully Earl, call him names, and always boss his around because he was stronger than he was.He then remembered the fight that happened back in the entrance exams, the
"Flaming lotus!" Said Earl. "Vortex!" Said Jake. "Whoa!" Said Sidney, "what the hell are those moves?" He asked. "I don't know... But this is getting fun," said Crystal.Both Crystal and Sidney knew that Earl was going to lose the contest no matter what. It didn't really matter what happened when it came to him, he'd already lost two matches, nothing could make up for that now.However the situation for Jake was different. If he won, he would 'officially' be the strongest soon to be second year student in the entire school.Earl wasn't fighting to win, or at least not to win the current mini tournament they were all having. He was fighting for his pride, he was fighting to win and prove himself.Jake was fighting for the same reason. For the longest time he'd been on top of Earl when it came to power and fighting prowess. Ever since Earl got his alchemy, he'd been growing extremely fast, but he still hadn't been able to beat Jake once.This fight wasn't just for the title of strongest
As the smoke cleared from the battle fought, on the floor was Jake and Sidney, both with satisfied looks on their faces.Earl and Crystal had their mouths held open in complete shock. They had a feeling the match would end quickly, but not in one attack.Both of them had their mouths held open in complete and utter shock and confusion. Crystal slowly turned to look and Earl, and Earl slowly turned to look at Crystal."That was..." Said Earl, "... So cool," said Crystal. Their shocked expressions slowly turned into huge smiles."Those guys are crazy," laughed Crystal. "I know right... They're even crazier than I am," said Earl with a huge smile on his face.Both of them hopped down from the training dummies and made their way over to the middle of the training grounds.Sidney and Jake were both huffing and puffing on the floor, breathing heavily. Blood ran down the side of both their faces."Wh-what... are we gonna... do now?" Said Jake. "What do you mean?" Said Sidney, "I won that fig
The explosion was large and huge, far bigger than what anyone was expecting. Not Jake, not Sidney, not Crystal, not Earl.However as the dust slowly settled, the aftermath came into view. The dome of crystals that Crystal had made to protect herself from Earl's attack was shattered to pieces, with only a few stems of crystals sticking out of the ground.Earl was standing there, with his hand held out, and with dust all over him. He began coughing as he waved his hand in front of his face, trying to clear away the dust.It didn't work very well. Earl opened one eye, looking at the place where Crystal was supposed to be. The dust hadn't cleared up, and as a result, he hadn't seen her to confirm she was down.'On second thought, maybe I used way too much firepower,' thought Earl, 'I hope she's okay,' he thought to himself.As he looked down into where she was once—the shattered dome of crystals, he saw a silhouette, one that closely resembled Crystal. It wasn't moving, and it was laid d
Sidney was there, holding himself up using nothing but one of his hands, and with a crystal spike not too far away from his throat, he accepted whole heartedly that he lost the fight."I can win her in close quarters combat," said Crystal. "That's probably what you were thinking right?" She smiled. Sidney couldn't help but see the irony of the whole situation.He'd known that the Lloyd's were stronger than normal, but he'd put his hopes in his enhanced body holding out. And it was the right call at the end. He bet on himself and won.His enhanced body proved strong enough to withstand the 100% force of the Lloyd's, but what he'd misjudged was Crystal's battle iq.She waited for the instant his hand made contact with the floor and picked her moment to strike perfectly.As Sidney remained upside down, he dispersed the mana he'd gathered in his throat, allowing the tiny alchemy circle to show itself.A mouth came out from the alchemy circle, biting repeatedly like a pair of jittering tee
Earl was panting on the floor, pinned down by a butt load of straw, which doubled as the other end of Sidney's arm.Earl messed up. He'd let the curious side of him out too much, egging Sidney on to press on the offensive. This was what ultimately caused his failure. Earl hadn't even shown all the tricks he had up his sleeve. But to be fair, neither had Sidney, both men had simply fought, and one ended up being the winner.Earl didn't feel bad in the slightest though. The thrill of fighting Sidney for the first time left him with a smile on his face."That's the match!!!" Yelled Jake, "Sidney wins, and Earl loses!" He added. "You're amazing, Sid," said Earl, wide grin on his face as he remained pinned down. Sidney reverted back to normal, the straw dissipated.He walked over and held out his hand, "that was a lot harder than I expected," he smiled. Earl grabbed his hand, Sidney pulled him up."So you can like, transform into Gy now?" Asked Earl. "It's a new spell I got," said Sidney
Chapters 225: A winner, Earl Vs SidneyCrystal still stayed in shock as she slowly turned her head around to see Jake. He had most likely used his wind to slow his fall so that when he landed next to her it would sound like he was farther away.She was still completely capable of fighting. They'd only just started the fight after all, and she hadn't shown all she had to offer, but the fight was already over.If this was a real fight to the death, he would've lopped off her head in that moment. Perhaps she was just overconfident before, but she'd been sloppy in her first match.No, she couldn't even make herself think she would've done better. There were still two people she would fight later, she could show more of her power then.As for now? She'd totally lost. A smile sat on her face. "Whoa... You weren't playing around," said Crystal. "I kept your face in tact, now you can seduce Henry another time without worrying about how pretty you are," Jake smirked."You think I'm pretty?" As
The rules of the mini-tournament were clear enough for everyone to follow. Whoever won the most battles would be the winner, and the ones who lost the most would be the fourth strongest.Though it wasn't completely official, it was still going to be had. The four of them knew that the difference in power between them would most likely be miniscule at best.Crystal was a natural talent, and she came from the family of the Lloyds, known for being incredible combatants. She was bound to be one of the strongest in the school from birth alone. Jake was the epitome of hard work. Luck was on his side from the beginning, so he was something of a big fish in a small pond.But now that he'd been introduced to the river, he still held his own. Wind alchemy wasn't seen as something incredible or noteworthy by most, but Jake had changed that fact in the minds of the students.He'd held his own as one of the strongest people amongst them, and he didn't look like he would stop growing anytime soon