The sounds of two combatants grunting as they were locked in their fight could be heard all over the colessium. Vivienne wasn't shocked as to how his brother was able to hold on this well when facing against Isilindil.
'I didn't think that he'd last this long. It would seem that Isilindil hadn't expected this as well given the occasional brunt's that he was forced to face. But how is the question.'
Julian, a tier three expert on the fourth array was surprisingly able to hold his own against Isilindil, a tier four expert. Any chance Isilindil would have was immediately cut off by Julian and those that were present turned out to be traps.
But he still held a firm domination over him, the problem was that he wasn't able to completely thwart him off. 'I didn't think that such a weak pest could be so bothersome.'
Isilindil mused as he saw Julian's fatigued body. He had the advantage given his high tier making his physique better than Julian however the edge Julian had over him was tactics and moveset.
Julian was replicating some of the moves from earth in sports such as boxing and at times martial arts which took Isilindil by surprise. "To think that Isilindil would struggle with such a person. Julian is truly the dark horse of this competition!"
Sch comments could he heard coming from the audience which irked Isilindil. 'Time to end this.' A devilish smile formed on his face as he charged at Julian, his body brimming with power.
A hazy white light could be seen which made it hard to distinguish his body as it was too glaring to look at directly. As if shooting like a star, he charged towards Julian who was wary of what the result would be from the exchange.
'I can't dodge it given his superior physique and I can't reveal that card so soon wouldn't be ideal. It would be better to take it head on.' Raising his fists, Isilindil was met with Julian's arms which shielded his face and chest.
Regardless, like a bull fueled with rage, he crashed hard into Julian resulting with a large cloud of dust forming from the after effect. 'It seems that he was able to tank that attack however given his situation, he had no choice.'
Sensing through the dust, Vivienne could tell that his brother was alive, a couple of bruises and a broken arm but nothing too crazy unlike Lirale who had multiple fractured bones, internal bleeding and cracks within her skull.
"I forfeit." A voice could be heard coming from the cloud of dust and it was naturally Julian.
Him winning this could be considered a stretch not to mention he couldn't display his full prowess in front of everyone thus he had to quit. Given that a lot of people had taken such a route, the points for one were not deducted from doing such an act thanks to Vivienne.
Because a lot of people kept on forfeiting, Tavian realized that Vivienne would have the victory handed to her on a silver platter thus he implemented such a rule. If not then Julian would have kept on going but alas there was no reason to do so.
"And with that, Isilindil wins the first section of the Sphin trials!!" The commentator voiced with radiance as he said this. "As expected from the royal noble family." He added on to which Vivienne could barely hold herself from rolling her eyes.
There was a festival that was to be held to celebrate the end of the first section of the Sphin trials however Vivienne wasn't planning on going to it. Luckily it wasn't mandatory thus she could afford not to go.
"Did you hear? Sablestone is holding a meeting for all the king's and queens of the land in less than a week's time!" Such murmurs were spreading all over the place to which she couldn't bother herself with.
Julian was quickly attended to by the healers that were present and in a matter of minutes, he was ready to take his leave. "You fought well Julian!" A comment of praise escaped Thalion's lips as he saw his son.
"Thank you father however if I had a little bit more time and improve my tier ranking then I would have been able to change the tides of the battle." He mused as they made their way towards the carriage.
"As for you Vivienne, such a domineering play from you yesterday has landed Lirale in a coma however she should recover by the time the Matoreas test starts."
"..." Silence was his only response from Vivienne who seemed apathetic to what had occurred. "Try to control your output after all, we cannot exit without each other." Thalion added however the result was the same as before.
Hopping on board, they headed back to their palace. "I still can't believe that Sablestone has three kingdoms in their grasp in such a short time." Narandial started off which raised the twins attention into the matter.
"The Queen barely did anything, Aurorise and Rien were taken care off by Ashley." Julian shot back, his tone slightly cold. "Exactly why everyone is so hell-bent on attending. Sure she may not have done all that but her background isn't simple."
"I heard that the two will be present at the meeting." Narandial added as she took note of Julian's shift in attitude. "Yeah but what amazes me is that she was able to take over Miragestia in two days by herself."
"What?!" Julian was baffled as he heard this. "But how?" He posed however a simple shrug from his parents was his response. "That's the crazy part which both amazes and terrifies me. If she can do such a feat on her own, then it would be foolish to underestimate her."
Julian had a lowly image of Sevyn as a mere servant in place of the two but seeing that she was a threat as well, it terrified him. "And with her conquest over Miragestia, Leopold isn't happy in the slightest."
"I can't believe that she did such a thing." The feat of the ten convicts hung and displayed for all was something that spread all over despite how much Leopold wanted it silenced.
Not to mention the other kingdoms could tell that he too had his sights on Miragestia so for Sevyn to claim it so boldly was a harsh slap on the face for him. "She did it to relocate her capital to Miragestia due to the possibility of Sablestone overrun with demons from that ungodly crack."
'To think that she could move so freely, insulting Leopold and settling right next to him was a ridicule and mockery of the highest degree.' A tinge of wariness gnawed in his head as he concluded this.
"The Matoreas test however will be pushed early because of this meeting." Thalion remarked as his eyes landed on the duo. One invested and the other dowsed in her own world.
"It should start two days from now." Thalion concluded as they arrived at their palace. The two took off each in their rooms leaving the pair heading towards Thalion's office. Thalion contemplated about the results of the Sphin trials.
"To think that Tavian would be such a coward that he'd make such a rule." He had every right to be mad as victory was clearly in the hands of Vivienne however due to other reasons, Tavian decided to change the flow of the game.
"But the between Isilindil and Vivienne isn't that big. Considering that the Matoreas test will be harder to counter than the Sphin trials, Vivienne should emerge as the winner."
"And from there Isilindil won't be able to make any absurd changes to the Sphin trials considering it will be held at the capital cementing the chances of Vivienne's victory."
Narandial beamed a smile as her dainty hands landed on Thalion's shoulders, coddling them to release the tension that he harboured. Thalion felt at ease as his mind cleared up.
"You're right. But we mustn't forget about Julian. Seeing that he was able to hold his own, we must take him into consideration as well. With our help, he could be on par with his sister." He mused as he relished the tender and soft hands resting on his body.
"After the Matoreas test, I've already prepared something for him before the second half of the Sphin trials begin." Narandial added which made him bewildered.
"What?" His answer was with held from him. "You'll have to wait and see for that." Her voice filled with allure and charm rang through his ears. "Provided it helps him, I don't mind."
...
"So that was Hedon." Lirien mused as the two were locked in combat.
*BAM-BAM-BAM*
The sounds of their fists could be heard reverberate throughout the training dome. The pressure within it was a hundred times that of the outside world which would pose a threat to others however for them, it served as a hinderance to their movement.
"Yeah! I didn't think that he would be there!" Arabella shot back as the two dodged each others attacks. Unlike before, Lirale had the upper hand as she was more fluent with the art of combat unlike Arabella who was a trader.
But to others, she could be considered a monster. "The difference between the two is too huge!" Lirale mused as her thoughts fell into a comparison. One of them was a wolf in sheep's clothing while the other didn't mind hiding his presence.
Each harbouring their own threat. "So when do you plan on completing that quest?" Arabella asked before her face collided with Lirale's fist. "Later on, at the end of the year probably. Seeing that she's way too far deep into uncharted territory, I'll have to hold it for now."
There was no need for her to give chase if she knew that she would come back and confront her. "We have invitations to the meeting if you want." Arabella posed.
"Oh yeah, I don't think that my presence will be welcomed to warmly. Given that the kingdom I'm from was wiped off the map." Arabella had a look of sarcasm on her face. "Really? You do know that-"
"I know that I can alter my appearance it's just that I couldn't be bothered. Besides I've noted some irregularity from the elven kingdom, want to check it out?"
"Yeah, I'm not that interested in it. Sure let's go." Arabella shot back as the two came to a stop. "So these creatures have been roaming around and given that they haven't been sighted by the outside world still baffles me."
"They have been sighted, its just that they finish off any witnesses in a matter of minutes. But Andrew told me that that won't be the case with the first sighting being tommorow near Bramblewood."
"Why there?" Lirien posed wondering why he would choose such a location. "I don't know, but it's pretty close to where that irregularity is. Maybe he wants to play games with said individual or something."
Their bodies, battered and bruised healed back to full form. "Andrew also added that we will have three more girls aboard so I wonder when he'll get on with it."
Lirien added as they made their way towards outside their rooms. "Apparently one of them is going to be a vampire so at least you'll be able to relate." Arabella joked.
"And the other two, he didn't exactly tell me what we'll be dealing with but one of them is actually in Bramblewood. An elf is what I can assume given that it's so close to Bramblewood." Lirien finished off.
"
Realizing something, Arabella pointed out. "So one of those irregularities is an elf but what about the last one?" Lirien shrugged off her shoulders. "I don't know but I guess it adds a hint of charm to the mystery."
[{New mission!}]
[{Recruit Vivienne Caldwell during the Matoreas test.}]
[{Time limit: Three days}]
The two got the notification at the same time. "I'll get on it after the shower." Arabella brushed it off as she went into her room.