ACT V
THE GLORY WARS
A couple of hours later, as the sun directly beamed down upon Hans, he sensed the presence of people entering his forest. All surprised to see a lush forest on the outskirts of an active volcano.
"There they are," Hans muttered as he counted them. "All ten. This could make things a bit easier." However, he remained vigilant, having learned a valuable lesson about the consequences of not foreseeing things, which had cost his team dearly. He wasn't about to make the same mistake again.
As Hans's vines moved to capture the targets, he noticed a gradual corrosion taking place. “Shit! Someone's using poison, probably an alchemist among them," he mumbled. He scanned them with his ManaVision again, “These people were hiding their strength, each of them is as excellent as Chris and Deli. I need to be on my toes…” Increasing his vigilance he took a step back only step on a branch himself. “What the Fuck!”
Cursing his carelessness, he turned to them, praying that they hadn’t heard him but all ten were looking right at him. “What are these…” Hans asked himself as one of them started waving his hand, happily calling him down. “Ha.. these nut jobs. Why are they so happy, I was gonna take them out.” Sighing, he got off the high ground and reached them. And the scene which happened in the frozen tooth repeated, all ten kneeling and greeting him in unison, “Long live Prince Hans. We are here, waiting for your command.”
Hans shivered, “Hoo.. this gives me creeps. Their theatrics, Arat must have taught them… and here I was doubting their sincerity.” Coughing, he looked behind, wondering if the proctors were watching, but one of the Parvian instantly picked up his concern and answered, “They can only see but no hear, Prince Hans —”
“Easy on the prince part… I'm…not used to it.”
"As you wish," one of the kneeling members, probably their captain, who was responding earlier, said. Hans instantly asked them to rise and questioned, "Is your healer any good?”
"Yes, she is," the captain responded. "You can call me Eugene. I'm the captain here... wait... Do you have any injuries?" He looked at the back, at their timid but competent healer, hinting for her to be ready.
Meanwhile, Hans looked at them with ManaVision and SCAN. This bunch seemed decent and, fortunately for him, lacked any hidden intent. Sighing and doubting, he asked, "You were never here for the Glory Wars, so why are you h—“
The captain, Eugene, pointing a finger at Hans, interrupted him before he could finish, saying, "For you, Prince, to help you. Sir Dijkstra mentioned that if you ever need something in here, you will be contacting us.”
“Can I trust these guys? Like I have a choice, stupid.” Heaving, Hans asked, “How far are you willing?”
“Just ask,” Eugene said, standing, proud, patting his chest.
“I don’t wanna play this low,” Hans was embarrassed to ask, nonetheless he did, “How much you have?”
"Haa…" Eugene was embarrassed too, so he prioritized, "Let's talk after we fix your member. They are the ones injured, right? Please lead the way." He urged Hans to show them the way. On their way, everyone was quiet, but their relentless gaze bore a hole in Hans's back. Troubled by it, Hans asked them, "Can you not be so uptight in front of my team? They don't know... me... you got it, right?"
"Yeah," all nodded, following Eugene, but the Parvian captain was not done. He stated, "What eventually has to come, will come; why struggle delaying it."
“You don’t understand,” Hans explained, “my father is not so likeable outside the Parv.”
“Yet, no one dares to talk bad about him.” Eugene quipped.
Hearing Eugene’s ramble, a sudden realisation hit Hans, “Yeah, I never heard anyone bad mouth him, why? Heck, I never even heard someone talking about him.” He was in deep thought but while he was thinking, Eugene continued to speak, even excited for a change, “You used, VoidZone, right? It didn’t turn the area red, as I’ve heard. But that was the iconic domain of the King, right?”
“What red? This never happened…wait a minute. Chairman used this once too, yes… when Xandor attacked. His domain was so big that it contained whole Floatlands. Wait…no..no.. if he recognised this thing that meant almost everyone knew what it was. Damn it, so much for low key.” He cursed himself, forgetting that even if he didn’t use it, his face was a dead giveaway anyway. Mumbling he paced up, and soon they all reached the complex entrance he designed to cage his teammates.
As he stepped in, the trees and bushes started moving on their own, and the only mage of the group, the healer girl entered with Hans. Surprised, she couldn’t help but say, “It’s like a dungeon welcoming its master.”
Hans’s ears picked up the word he didn’t know. “Now what the hell is a dungeon?” But he didn’t ask, and soon they entered the green cocoon. The inside people were on full alert, they were not equipped with Hans’s ManaVision but they were not some useless people either. They realised, another team, not far from their entrance and one of theirs entering inside. Being mana-less, Hans was not spotted by them. Chris, recognising the griffin emblem, finally shouted at the newly appeared Hans, “What the heck, who did you bring?”
“Shut up, helping her is our priority right now,” Hans responded, his attitude firm, not taking any questions.
Chris offered, “Then we should give up —”
"Give up? Give up? Why do you think they would allow you to?" Hans, frustrated, turned to the Parvian healer and requested, "Please, help her." As he spoke, the Parvian team's healer rushed to attend to the fallen Delimira. It was ironic for Concordia that their close-knit allies, the mage tower and knight association, dragged them down but the designated enemy of the world was helping them.
The parvian mage was trying to stabilise Delimira, unlike the method of healing known to the world, the Parvian method was different. Instead of transferring the mana, allowing the body to increase the self-healing process. The Parvian, mage turned her mana into fine threads. These threads of mana danced across Delimira's injuries, quickly closing the wounds as if they were being meticulously stitched together. The wounds began to seal, and fresh skin knit together, leaving only faint, barely visible scars in their wake. The speed and precision woke an inferior complex in Cherrina. They were both of the same age but the precision through which she was closing the wounds was something else. Soon Delimira’s painful groans stopped and her pale face finally regained some colour.
Meanwhile, when Cherrina felt ashamed of her skills, Lux, somewhat familiar with Hans asked, whispering, “Captain, can we trust them —”
“Thanks to your incompetent captain,” Hans mocked himself, “We have nothing to lose anymore anyway —”
“Don’t say that. You bought us this far.”
“That is not sufficient. I had one job, to think ahead.” Hans smiled, the sarcasm on his face, “And I aced it, didn’t I?”
“But, You’re our captain —”
“No, I'm not. I'm a reckless cannonball, and it's time for me to stop trying to be something I'm not. I'm no leader, I don't have what it takes to command. —”
“But —”
That doesn't mean we won't make it through these preliminaries. I promised all of you that I'd get you to the main event." Hans paused, stood up, and dusted off his pants. "And I always keep my promises. We just have to do things my way this time." He went outside, to Eugene, signaling Chris to look out for the team. He did this to ensure his friend stayed inside and didn't eavesdrop.
“So, about my earlier question?" Hans asked, trying to beat around the bush, but this time, Eugene cut to the chase and inquired directly, "How much do you need?”However, Hans’s answer of a total hundred surprised him. Confused, he queried, "I wanted to ask this earlier, but what did you have to fight against to end up in this... condition?”
“People.” Hans's answer was short and curt but Eugene understood everything with one word. As compared to people beasts were more honourable. Sighing he asked, “They took all?”
Hans nodded. “Yes."
"What do you need me to do?" Eugene asked, his tone conveying his readiness to follow any command.
"This event doesn't mean anything to you, right?" Hans inquired, rolling his eyes.
Eugene responded, "No, we came here to help you if you need it.”
"Then, in response to my earlier question, how much do you have?”
"Hmm..." Eugene pondered, recalling their loot. "About sixty."
“As I’ve said earlier, I didn't want to stoop this low, but can you hand it over?”
Eugene agreed. "Yes, of course. But you still need forty more, and with this day gone, you only have two days before the submission. As you’ve mentioned before, I doubt our proctors will let you collect more.”
“I know.” Hans paused, “That’s why I intend to split here.”
"But they will do the same. Even if our teams hunt separately, we can still be stopped.”
“We are not splitting our teams.” Hans looked far, his withheld murderous intent finally breaking out. “You'll take my team to the middle ring and hunt there.”
“Then what will you do?” Eugene asked, stammering. However, Hans’s wicked sneer sent shivers down Eugene's spine, and he provided his answer with a heavy voice, "Hunting."
***
AnnouncementNEXT : HELL HATH NO FURY AS MINE
ACT V
THE GLORY WARS
A couple of hours later, as the sun directly beamed down upon Hans, he sensed the presence of people entering his forest. All surprised to see a lush forest on the outskirts of an active volcano.
"There they are," Hans muttered as he counted them. "All ten. This could make things a bit easier." However, he remained vigilant, having learned a valuable lesson about the consequences of not foreseeing things, which had cost his team dearly. He wasn't about to make the same mistake again.
As Hans's vines moved to capture the targets, he noticed a gradual corrosion taking place. “Shit! Someone's using poison, probably an alchemist among them," he mumbled. He scanned them with his ManaVision again, “These people were hiding their strength, each of them is as excellent as Chris and Deli. I need to be on my toes…” Increasing his vigilance he took a step back only step on a branch himself. “What the Fuck!”
Cursing his carelessness, he turned to them, praying that they hadn’t heard him but all ten were looking right at him. “What are these…” Hans asked himself as one of them started waving his hand, happily calling him down. “Ha.. these nut jobs. Why are they so happy, I was gonna take them out.” Sighing, he got off the high ground and reached them. And the scene which happened in the frozen tooth repeated, all ten kneeling and greeting him in unison, “Long live Prince Hans. We are here, waiting for your command.”
Hans shivered, “Hoo.. this gives me creeps. Their theatrics, Arat must have taught them… and here I was doubting their sincerity.” Coughing, he looked behind, wondering if the proctors were watching, but one of the Parvian instantly picked up his concern and answered, “They can only see but no hear, Prince Hans —”
“Easy on the prince part… I'm…not used to it.”
"As you wish," one of the kneeling members, probably their captain, who was responding earlier, said. Hans instantly asked them to rise and questioned, "Is your healer any good?”
"Yes, she is," the captain responded. "You can call me Eugene. I'm the captain here... wait... Do you have any injuries?" He looked at the back, at their timid but competent healer, hinting for her to be ready.
Meanwhile, Hans looked at them with ManaVision and SCAN. This bunch seemed decent and, fortunately for him, lacked any hidden intent. Sighing and doubting, he asked, "You were never here for the Glory Wars, so why are you h—“
The captain, Eugene, pointing a finger at Hans, interrupted him before he could finish, saying, "For you, Prince, to help you. Sir Dijkstra mentioned that if you ever need something in here, you will be contacting us.”
“Can I trust these guys? Like I have a choice, stupid.” Heaving, Hans asked, “How far are you willing?”
“Just ask,” Eugene said, standing, proud, patting his chest.
“I don’t wanna play this low,” Hans was embarrassed to ask, nonetheless he did, “How much you have?”
"Haa…" Eugene was embarrassed too, so he prioritized, "Let's talk after we fix your member. They are the ones injured, right? Please lead the way." He urged Hans to show them the way. On their way, everyone was quiet, but their relentless gaze bore a hole in Hans's back. Troubled by it, Hans asked them, "Can you not be so uptight in front of my team? They don't know... me... you got it, right?"
"Yeah," all nodded, following Eugene, but the Parvian captain was not done. He stated, "What eventually has to come, will come; why struggle delaying it."
“You don’t understand,” Hans explained, “my father is not so likeable outside the Parv.”
“Yet, no one dares to talk bad about him.” Eugene quipped.
Hearing Eugene’s ramble, a sudden realisation hit Hans, “Yeah, I never heard anyone bad mouth him, why? Heck, I never even heard someone talking about him.” He was in deep thought but while he was thinking, Eugene continued to speak, even excited for a change, “You used, VoidZone, right? It didn’t turn the area red, as I’ve heard. But that was the iconic domain of the King, right?”
“What red? This never happened…wait a minute. Chairman used this once too, yes… when Xandor attacked. His domain was so big that it contained whole Floatlands. Wait…no..no.. if he recognised this thing that meant almost everyone knew what it was. Damn it, so much for low key.” He cursed himself, forgetting that even if he didn’t use it, his face was a dead giveaway anyway. Mumbling he paced up, and soon they all reached the complex entrance he designed to cage his teammates.
As he stepped in, the trees and bushes started moving on their own, and the only mage of the group, the healer girl entered with Hans. Surprised, she couldn’t help but say, “It’s like a dungeon welcoming its master.”
Hans’s ears picked up the word he didn’t know. “Now what the hell is a dungeon?” But he didn’t ask, and soon they entered the green cocoon. The inside people were on full alert, they were not equipped with Hans’s ManaVision but they were not some useless people either. They realised, another team, not far from their entrance and one of theirs entering inside. Being mana-less, Hans was not spotted by them. Chris, recognising the griffin emblem, finally shouted at the newly appeared Hans, “What the heck, who did you bring?”
“Shut up, helping her is our priority right now,” Hans responded, his attitude firm, not taking any questions.
Chris offered, “Then we should give up —”
"Give up? Give up? Why do you think they would allow you to?" Hans, frustrated, turned to the Parvian healer and requested, "Please, help her." As he spoke, the Parvian team's healer rushed to attend to the fallen Delimira. It was ironic for Concordia that their close-knit allies, the mage tower and knight association, dragged them down but the designated enemy of the world was helping them.
The parvian mage was trying to stabilise Delimira, unlike the method of healing known to the world, the Parvian method was different. Instead of transferring the mana, allowing the body to increase the self-healing process. The Parvian, mage turned her mana into fine threads. These threads of mana danced across Delimira's injuries, quickly closing the wounds as if they were being meticulously stitched together. The wounds began to seal, and fresh skin knit together, leaving only faint, barely visible scars in their wake. The speed and precision woke an inferior complex in Cherrina. They were both of the same age but the precision through which she was closing the wounds was something else. Soon Delimira’s painful groans stopped and her pale face finally regained some colour.
Meanwhile, when Cherrina felt ashamed of her skills, Lux, somewhat familiar with Hans asked, whispering, “Captain, can we trust them —”
“Thanks to your incompetent captain,” Hans mocked himself, “We have nothing to lose anymore anyway —”
“Don’t say that. You bought us this far.”
“That is not sufficient. I had one job, to think ahead.” Hans smiled, the sarcasm on his face, “And I aced it, didn’t I?”
“But, You’re our captain —”
“No, I'm not. I'm a reckless cannonball, and it's time for me to stop trying to be something I'm not. I'm no leader, I don't have what it takes to command. —”
“But —”
That doesn't mean we won't make it through these preliminaries. I promised all of you that I'd get you to the main event." Hans paused, stood up, and dusted off his pants. "And I always keep my promises. We just have to do things my way this time." He went outside, to Eugene, signaling Chris to look out for the team. He did this to ensure his friend stayed inside and didn't eavesdrop.
“So, about my earlier question?" Hans asked, trying to beat around the bush, but this time, Eugene cut to the chase and inquired directly, "How much do you need?”However, Hans’s answer of a total hundred surprised him. Confused, he queried, "I wanted to ask this earlier, but what did you have to fight against to end up in this... condition?”
“People.” Hans's answer was short and curt but Eugene understood everything with one word. As compared to people beasts were more honourable. Sighing he asked, “They took all?”
Hans nodded. “Yes."
"What do you need me to do?" Eugene asked, his tone conveying his readiness to follow any command.
"This event doesn't mean anything to you, right?" Hans inquired, rolling his eyes.
Eugene responded, "No, we came here to help you if you need it.”
"Then, in response to my earlier question, how much do you have?”
"Hmm..." Eugene pondered, recalling their loot. "About sixty."
“As I’ve said earlier, I didn't want to stoop this low, but can you hand it over?”
Eugene agreed. "Yes, of course. But you still need forty more, and with this day gone, you only have two days before the submission. As you’ve mentioned before, I doubt our proctors will let you collect more.”
“I know.” Hans paused, “That’s why I intend to split here.”
"But they will do the same. Even if our teams hunt separately, we can still be stopped.”
“We are not splitting our teams.” Hans looked far, his withheld murderous intent finally breaking out. “You'll take my team to the middle ring and hunt there.”
“Then what will you do?” Eugene asked, stammering. However, Hans’s wicked sneer sent shivers down Eugene's spine, and he provided his answer with a heavy voice, "Hunting."
***
AnnouncementNEXT : HELL HATH NO FURY AS MINE
