The Gamer's POV-Chapter 262: Goldie vs. Athena [1]
The gloomy atmosphere of the sunken city remained the same even when the next day arrived. However, the one thing that was always different was the tension, which kept growing with each passing day.
With just two more days left before the battle, it was becoming really suffocating.
...By now, the majority of the cadets were no longer training their physical techniques, but were instead spending their time drawing in mana to enlarge their cores.
Those of the fire element spent their time around giant communal bonfires, while those of the water element spent theirs near the small river at the outskirts of the city.
The wind and earth elements did not struggle much, as they were almost always in their element, and the darkness element Dominants had it even better as the eternal night of the city acted as a constant source of power for them.
As for the light element dominants, they had it the worst. They had to get creative just to fill their mana cores. Some of them joined the fire dominants around the flames, but unlike the fire dominants who drew mana from the heat, they drew theirs from the luminosity.
The problem was that the light cast from flames provided only tiny bits of mana... not even ten percent of their core capacity.
They could only hope to fill up their cores and stay topped off. They couldn’t even think about growing their mana cores like their peers were doing, because that would just be impossible.
There were a few among the wealthy Light Dominants, though, who had what was called Bottled Sunlight. These were small crystals shaped like bottles that, when shaken, could produce enough light to fill a room. Only the wealthy among the Dominants had them because bottled sunlight costs a lot of gold to obtain in the Empires.
Also, those bottled sunlights slowly lost their potency as the stored energy was consumed. As time went by, many found themselves needing more than one.
Anyway, that aside, the sunken city was awfully quiet. If not for the echoing sounds of blacksmiths working, one would think that the city was completely deserted.
Also, many cadets were no longer training their magic as they needed to preserve their mana. Because of that, the palestra had only a few dominants present by the time of the duel between summons.
***
Among those present at the Palestra were Princess Aurora and a few of her party members who were still training their physical skills. All of Cedric’s party were there too.
Well, except for Cedric who was still drawing in mana in his room and had completely lost track of time.
"You think he’s getting cold feet?" Alicia, who was sitting on a stone bench beside Leon, asked. She had just finished sparring with Leon and was wiping sweat from her forehead with a small cloth.
"Cedric?" Leon scoffed. "No. He’s probably got something keeping him busy."
He reached to the ground beside him where his haversack was resting. After picking it up, he dipped his hand in and pulled out a feather. He twirled it between his fingers, then called its name. "Bale."
The feather shifted into a raven that eyed him with an irritated look, just as Cedric would. Then it huffed a small breath of air and looked away from Leon to the side.
Leon chuckled at the bird’s behavior. "Where’s that boss of yours?"
The raven did not respond, but it began to mentally call out for Cedric.
Not long after, the bird flapped its wings backward, and when it flew from Leon’s fingers, it erupted into Cedric, standing in front of them with a feather in his hand. He was wearing a lazy long dark robe that hung loosely from his shoulders, still revealing his torso as that was all he could put on after being snapped out of his deep meditation.
"I knew you wouldn’t chicken out," Leon said as he stood up and reached out to retrieve the feather from Cedric’s hand.
Cedric smiled, looked to Alicia, and nodded in greeting. When she nodded in response, he looked back at Leon and added, "Why would I miss my chance of getting two hundred and fifty gold coins?"
Leon chortled, and together they began to walk side by side, eventually stopping a few meters from the arena’s edge.
Then, the tattoo on Leon’s skin began to brighten into a golden glow. As the silhouette of a woman began to manifest from the light, Leon said with pride, "Uriel will be the judge of this duel."
At that moment, Uriel’s form fully materialized, then she gave a small greeting nod to Cedric.
Cedric nodded back, only to have Leon clap a hand around his shoulder. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Cedric replied as he took Leon’s hand off and pushed it aside.
Leon grinned and clapped him on the shoulder once more, causing Cedric to exhale exasperatedly and roll his eyes. Ignoring the irritation, Leon reached out his left hand, splaying his fingers in the air.
In that moment, a golden ring began to appear on Leon’s finger. The ring was engraved with words Cedric couldn’t read, but he didn’t need to. He already knew what they said:
[Lord of the Retributive Architects]
Leon clamped his fingers back, leaving only his index finger pointed at the empty space a few meters from him. Then, his eyes changed from green to gold and suddenly, space fractured and a golden rift began to appear in front of them.
Looking at the pulsing rift take shape, for some reason, Cedric was suddenly reminded of the red and blue bridges. This rift looked awfully similar to the bridges with the only difference being that this one was smaller and golden.
Could it be that the bridges and their summoning rifts were similar in nature?
He was still pondering on the possibility, when Leon spoke authoritatively. "Come, Goldie!"
’Goldie?’ Cedric arched a brow. ’Is it just me or do all protagonists have really bad naming skills?’
At that moment, the foot of a creature emerged from the golden rift, after which the rest of its body followed.
’It’s even more beautiful seeing it in person,’ Cedric thought as he scanned the creature’s form.
It was a humanoid creature that looked like a beautiful, white angel. She had two large feathery wings on her back and a calm, detached expression on her face. Her hair was white, her lashes white, and even her eyes were white. She was dressed in a golden flowing dress with transparent, silk-like sleeves.
Two horns similar to those of a deer’s were sprouting from her temples, curving elegantly toward the sky, and she also had pointed ears that looked like those of a deer’s.
When the creature fully emerged, the rift vanished as if it were never there.
Goldie took a step forward, then she bowed deeply in front of her lord.
Leon smiled and began speaking a command to the creature in the innate native language of his sanctuary. When he was done, Goldie straightened her back and began walking to the center of the arena.
At that moment, Cedric exhaled and wisps of green and black smoke began to coil hungrily around his finger, after which a heavy obsidian ring appeared on his finger.
He then pointed at the space in front of them, and just like before, the air fractured and a rift began to form.
The black rift pulsed as it expanded to the height of a man, bleeding dark shadows onto the stone floor. Then Cedric called out calmly, "Come, Athena."
In response, the beautiful high elf stepped out of the rift in all her regal splendor. She surveyed the arena with a piercing gaze, then took a step closer to her lord, after which she genuflected gracefully.
Cedric’s voice then grew authoritative as he spoke in the native language of his inner sanctuary. "I believe your high mistress must have informed you about what this fight means to me."
Still avoiding his gaze, she responded with a voice like silk, "Yes, my lord." She finally lifted her head, her eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering loyalty. "I swear on the life that you gave me. I will not let you down."
Cedric grinned. Then, as he pointed to the center of the arena, he said, "Your opponent shall be that winged creature over there."
Athena turned her head, then narrowed her eyes as she sized up the angel. A cold, sharp smile touched her lips as she rose from her knee, then gripped the hilt of her blade tighter.
She then began taking steps toward the creature, eventually stopping opposite it. Then, slowly, she drew her blade from its scabbard and pointed it at the creature.
There was no fear in her eyes, only a purpose that sought nothing short of absolute victory.
