Cain smiled, and gave Vincent a fat stack of papers.
-"This is a project our technicians, chemists and scientists have been working on for a while now. It is for a device called the "Sovereign's Hammer"... a large crystal prism which will be delivered into a place beyond the sky using these objects we found earlier - gravity orbs. Its function will be to focus sunlight into a deadly beam. However..."
The scribe's smile faded.
-"After research and small experiments, it was discovered that the concentrated beam is quickly scattered and dispersed in the dampness of the atmosphere. Upon your arrival, however, this gave me an idea. Among these documents you will find unfinished plans and sketches for a rather large airship, with a crystal core in the middle. It must be able to soar high in the sky while withstanding moderate to heavy damage. Its purpose will be to catch the focused light and amplify it with the crystal core. There were also plans suggested for having reflection prisms to fire smaller, more precise beams of sunlight, but you will find all the details enclosed within that pack of papers. I must warn you, though - you must cherish this project with more tenderness than your own child. The crystal prism in the sky will burn out after only a few minutes of usage, and the Sovereign does not like mistakes. In any case, I suggest you get started. If you find you need something, please, do not hesitate to contact me."
--- --- ---
Another day, after day, after day... The torment never seemed to cease. It was a whole year before Kragos showed up in the meal hall again. Now, in Ein's group, only four others remained. The same went for the other two groups, give or take a person. Oddly, the Necrolytes were never seen by Ein, or any other of his groupies, so he couldn't judge their size.
By this time, Ein has mastered his spear weapon to a point almost beyond his own limbs. The weapon was covered in numerous glyphs and inscriptions, as Ein's knowledge of glyphs expanded. As inscribable space on the weapon ran out, he started using his own skin as a drawing board. His chest and back were covered in the demonic-looking sigils, many providing a local function for the body itself - for example, several increased his speed, strength and dexterity, while others provided resistance against fire, lightning and cold. Others still allowed him to breathe underwater and in hazardous gases. Ein was still extremely prone to mistakes when creating the glyphs - so before etching one into his weapon or his skin, he would have to practice that precise etching several times before getting it right.
Now, however, a final task was ahead of Ein, before completely graduating from the Academy. He and the other recruits were sent to the Arena preparation chambers. There stood Kragos, with all of the other instructors around him. The headmaster spoke.
-"Well, you've made it this far, and it's a lot further than a vast majority of recruits. One final task lies ahead of you - the Arena trials. Pass and leave. Fail, and die."
Without any further words, all of them left, other than instructor Gamall.
-"First up," she screeched. "Is Eris."
The aforementioned was ready ten minutes in advance, but obviously not expecting it.
-"Bes insane, hag? Me? Ugh... Fine... Insie I go..."
The heavy doors closed and locked after Eris went inside. For about an hour, Ein listened to various sounds coming from the combat grounds, many of which were creatures' groans. Finally, the blood-covered Eris emerged from the Arena.
-"Nasty blood... ew. Bes gross."
From the way she acted, Ein noticed no injury - however, it was difficult to tell, as her body was covered in blood.
-"Con-ugh-ratulations," coughed Gamall. "Now go see the Colonel. Next up is... what's your name here... Njord! You're up."
...and so it went on. By the time Ein got his own turn, it was evening - and neither of the other two ranged Stalkers returned from the Arena.
-"Einherjar! You're last. Go in."
Ein complied, and was let inside the vast dome.
It was quite awe-inspiring. The Arena was exactly that - a huge circlet of land, lit by nothing more than barrier-filtered moonlight. There were gates opposing Ein - from which came growling, roaring, cackling, and other mixed sounds.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Ein lit up, the light forming a gigantic "5" on the arena floor. The light vanished as suddenly as it appeared, and the gates squeaked open. Ein dashed to one of the arena walls, hiding beneath his chameleon cloak.
The opening round was probably nothing but a warm-up, because the creature from behind the gates was just a simple wyvern. Ein smirked, and fired his weapon, which was aimed directly at the wyvern's head. Nothing to write home about: the wyvern fell down and vanished in blue smoke. The ground flared again, this time with a "4".
Heh, so they're counting off the rounds, Ein thought. This means that there are four more to go.
The sound of grinding metal warned Ein of another newcomer. This one was a man-lizard hybrid, much larger than Ein himself. It looked to be semi-intelligent, because it was holding a sword. Another warm-up? Wasn't one enough?
This time, Ein amused himself by aiming at the heart. The spear weapon clicked...
...and after a squeal, hit the ground at the lizard man's feet.
-"Ha! Ha ha! Puny ranger this time! Ha! You no match for me, worm, and you arrow no match for metal shirt! Cor-nel train me hims-self. Come out and die like man! I find, you die like worm!"
The lizard scattered around the arena, searching for Ein, who lay motionlessly on the ground. For the time being, the lizard shouldn't notice him. The armour, whose luster Ein dismissed as moonlight reflecting off of the creature's scales, was indeed quite thick. Seemed as though he would need to use the overcharge...
Like a ghost, Ein followed the lizard around the arena, always behind his back and cloaked. The lizard, managing not to notice Ein, continued circling around the arena, as Ein hid in another shadow. Using the time, he took out the two remaining spears from the weapon, and slid one of them into a hole in the middle. He's never had to use this slot before...
Putting his weapon on the ground, Ein pulled up the bowstrings from all three of the crossbow devices forming the triangle around the slot. They were all empty, and all of their combined power would be concentrated into that one slot, for just one spear.
-"Hah! I hear you toy winding up, worm! See you, catch you, skin you, eat you! Hahaha!"
The lizard rushed towards Ein, who was drawing back the final string. He only gave the lizard a quick glance, who appeared to be very angered by the gesture.
-"Die, puny human! Feel the power of the DRAGON SLASH!!!"
From a good ten meters away from Ein, the creature leaped towards him with its sword pointed right at him. Utilizing his agility glyph, Ein ducked, and as the lizard went over him, he shot his weapon at its armoured chest. The tremendous shock power from three over sized crossbows fired at the same time threw the creature high up into the air. The spear, although highly deformed from the magnitude of the impact, was stuck deep in Ein's opponent's chest.
