Chương 129: Space Mages

The second Star Shard competition arrived quietly as Joe studied the list of entrants just before the teleportation. He spotted Gale and the usual names, but Travesty's was absent, which lifted a heavy weight from his shoulders. At least he would not have to deal with that monstrous ice lion, or whatever the hell Travesty truly was. He shuddered as the memory of being frozen solid, helpless and unable to react, and he knew he never wanted to experience that again.

This time, he was the sole representative from Thropia. He had sent word to Kai and Sarah to keep as many people out of the lottery sign up as possible, while Corel ensured the clans followed suit. Luckily, no one who did sign up made it through. This would let him fight without worrying about collateral damage. Just before the teleport took him, his eyes lingered on the two names he had hoped to see. Gaston and Ark. A small smile touched his lips as the world dissolved around him.

__ Gaston cursed as he appeared in the starting area before the Star Shard competition began.

"He's going to follow us again, isn't he?" he muttered to the near-empty space, where only Ark stood beside him.

"There is only a ninety-nine per cent chance he follows us into the inner area," Ark replied, never looking up from his tablet.

"That's a guarantee then," Gaston exhaled.

"Can't I just kill him?"

"If you engage him with lethal intent, there is a forty per cent chance he kills you before I can intervene," Ark said flatly. He had repeated that assessment more times than he cared to remember.

"Forty per cent?" Gaston snapped.

"Why is it that high? He's just an anomaly with no experience. How did he get so strong?"

"Bloodline," Ark answered.

"Bloodline?" Gaston scoffed.

"Bloody balderdash. I hate this. What are the odds he takes the Star Shard before we do?"

"Ten per cent." Gaston grimaced.

"That's still too high. If we lose two shards, our task becomes practically impossible."

"Then we won't lose two if you stick to the plan and do not engage to kill, only delay," Ark said, placing a steady hand on his brother's shoulder.

"And absolutely no void skills!"

"Yes, yes. I know! No void skills," Gaston scoffed.

"Pah!" Ark shook his head as his brother began to pace. He chose not to mention the uncomfortable truth that there was a sixty-five per cent chance Gaston would still resort to a space skill if pressured, which would only spike their chance of failure. All Ark could do was hope they fell into the remaining thirty-five per cent where Gaston actually listened. He swore quietly to himself. __ Joe stared at the integration shop interface.

"Fuck!" he swore as he closed the screen. The teleportation array was ten billion credits, and even he didn't have that much. That meant there was only one viable path forward if his plan was going to work. He would have to claim a Star Shard. He had a strong suspicion someone had deliberately raised the price, but there was nothing he could do about that now. So it was back to plan A. Victory, at any cost. He teleported down to the surface as the second Star Shard competition began.

This competition took the form of a progressive race to collect five increasingly rare totems. each one granting access to the next zone. Claim the first totem and enter zone two, collect the second and advance to zone three, and so on. Until the final area, where the last ten remaining competitors would once again fight for the Star Shard itself. When Joe appeared and the countdown from ten began, he surveyed his surroundings.

He was suspended inside a small crystal high in the sky, surrounded by the other one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine competitors. A compact map floated before him, allowing him to choose a starting location. It reminded him uncomfortably of the old battle-royale games he had once tried and failed miserably at. With a shrug, he selected a random location just before the timer hit zero. Light flashed, gravity took hold, and he found himself plummeting toward the ground below.

He wasn't worried about getting hurt, as he doubted a fall from any height could damage his toughened body anymore. He was just about to adjust his descent and aim for what looked like the ruins of an ancient castle when the air suddenly screamed, and a figure slammed straight into him. He was reaching for his staff when a massive, wet tongue dragged across his face.

"Dammit, Gale! I told you to stop doing that!" he shouted as the pair hurtled downward and smashed into the castle he had been aiming for, the impact kicking up a massive explosion of sand and stone.

"Brother! Sister is here!" Gale declared happily.

'Kakakakaka,' Uriel cackled, still far too amused by Gale's antics.

"Gale. Seriously," Joe groaned as he wiped his face.

"I understand you are enthusiastic, but we humans prefer greetings like handshakes or hugs. Face licking is a bit much."

"Hahaha," Gale laughed, slapping Joe hard on his back and completely ignoring what he said.

"We have important things to discuss," Gale continued, her tone shifting just slightly.

"I heard you encountered our brother last time. Did he say anything?" They were seated on a sandy stretch just south of the ruined castle, both of their auras fully unleashed to ward off unwanted guests. Unfortunately, that seemed to have the opposite effect, as Joe noticed a small gathering forming to the south.

"He said a lot of things," Joe muttered as he summoned four scarecrows and sent them off toward the trees to investigate. Gale watched the animated straw-filled constructs dash away before turning back to him.

"Did he mention the coming reunion?" Gale asked.

"He mentioned something along those lines," Joe replied.

"But wait. First off, I still don't believe he is our brother. That doesn't make any sense." Gale nodded calmly as she folded her arms, her wings giving a slow idle flap behind her.

"You bumped your head."

"I don't remember that," Joe countered.

"You wouldn't. Because you bumped your head."

"Whatever." Joe decided it was probably best not to argue about his supposed heritage with Gale. Especially since, disturbingly enough, he was starting to think it might be true. Was he really considering it?

"Hypothetically speaking," he continued, "if what you're saying is true and we're siblings, what does that even mean? What's the goal of all this?"

"Strength. Power. Everything is about who is the strongest," Gale said, slapping her feather-covered chest with conviction.

"So we're supposed to get strong?" Joe asked. Gale nodded, but before he could press further, she continued.

"Brother. I know this is hard for you, having no memory of us. But it's very, very important that you get strong and fast. Together, you and I can save our siblings." Joe was starting to think that talking to Gale was even more frustrating than talking to Zevra. It felt like they were having entirely different conversations.

"Wait," he said, frowning.

"Save our siblings? From what? And how many of us are there?" Joe winced as he felt all four scarecrows wink out of existence, destroyed almost instantly. Their disappearance cut the conversation short as both of them rose to their feet, Joe's awareness lighting up with alarm as no fewer than a hundred dots now surrounded their position.

"We have guests, brother," Gale said pleasantly.

"Are you ready to stretch your wings?"

"What's it like having wings by the way?" Joe asked as he drew his quarterstaff, watching figures emerge from the trees around the ruined castle.

"I'm kinda jealous." Groups of ten or more advanced cautiously, weapons drawn and eyes locked on them. Gale licked her beak, what looked suspiciously like a smile spreading across her face.

"Wings are amazing, brother. We can play with them after we kill these mortals." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Joe shook his head as Gale blasted forward, crashing into the nearest group of challengers. As the battle erupted around them, Joe had the distinct feeling that this competition was going to be an exhausting one. Joe swung his staff in a tight arc, swatting a rain of arrows from the sky as he flowed through his footwork.

He slipped past three thrown daggers, vanished, and reappeared behind a rock man, bringing the staff down in a crushing blow. The rock man collapsed unconscious, and Joe rolled him onto his back just long enough to expose the glowing Star on his chest. He shattered it while dodging incoming strikes and mana blasts, then leapt clear and rejoined the fight without pause.

All the while, Gale loudly complained about how unfair it was that the system prevented her from killing as she smashed Star after Star, sending close to fifty challengers home in bursts of mana. Eventually, the remaining groups began to split and flee once they understood how hopelessly outmatched they were against the massive Corthegian and Feormere. Survival took precedence over glory, and they scattered in pursuit of the Star Shard instead of chasing an unclaimable bounty.

Joe allowed those who ran from him to escape, but anyone unlucky enough to cross Gale's path was sent home in sparks of mana as she ruthlessly tore through them. She suddenly noticed something to the west and, without a word, blasted into the sky and shot off toward whatever had caught her attention. Joe could only shake his head as he sprinted after her, struggling to keep her in sight. Having Gale around felt like chasing after a six-year-old sister who ran headlong toward anything remotely interesting.

"Gale! Don't run off!" he shouted as he sent her a party invite. She accepted, at least giving him a way to talk to her while she rampaged through the competition. [Going back to what we were discussing earlier. What did you mean by saving our siblings? You mean from the integration?] - Joe. [No brother. Now dance with me while we send these weaklings home.] - Gale. Joe groaned as Gale slammed back down into the forest below and ambushed another group of competitors who never even saw her coming.

Her relentless assault continued for another thirty minutes as Joe gave chase, utterly failing to slow the Corthegian down. In the end, he gave up trying to keep pace and simply latched onto her ankle as she carried them both just above the treeline, streaking toward a small clearing about a mile ahead where six glowing tokens marked entry into the next sector of the event. [Are you calm yet? I think these things will unlock soon. There is a timer counting down on one of the stone podiums.] - Joe.

Gale licked her lips and, for reasons known only to her, pounced on Joe. In full view of everyone, she pinned him to the ground and proceeded to lick his face for a solid three minutes while Joe lay helpless beneath her, shouting for her to stop. When she finally did, she acted as though nothing unusual had happened at all, leaving Joe staring up at her in pure horror. For a long moment, he genuinely considered abandoning his goal and simply walking away from the mad woman.

Before he could act on that impulse, the timer he had noticed earlier reached zero, and the tokens of entry floated up into the air, revealing themselves to everyone nearby. Gale exploded into motion toward a group foolish enough to try moving around her. Gigantic, blade-shaped arcs of compressed wind tore from her fingertips, slamming into three competitors, sending them flying as she chased after them with manic enthusiasm.

Joe activated two scarecrows and sent them after her, both to ensure he did not lose track of her in the chaos. He was not worried about her safety; that would have been absurd, but he very much wanted her to answer his questions. Turning his attention to the remaining figures charging toward him and the tokens, Joe quickly secured two of them before activating a surge of seeds, transforming the clearing into a battlefield perfectly suited to a farmer.

His quarterstaff hummed in his grip as he wrapped it in purple luminescence and advanced. His opponents were hopelessly outmatched, and after shattering a handful of Stars, Joe decided there was no point lingering. He glanced upward and spotted Gale hovering just north of his position. He Space-Jumped neatly onto her back. [Let's go. We'll find stronger opponents in the next sectors.] - Joe. Gale grinned and surged forward, streaking toward the massive blue dome that marked the next stage of the competition.

With two tokens in hand, they passed through the barrier without resistance and entered the second area. [Are you willing to talk now? Did you burn off enough energy?] - Joe. Gale glanced at him but offered no answer, which was endlessly frustrating. So Joe gave up trying to extract information from her anymore. [Fine. I'll stop asking. We should head that way, though. I see something in the distance.] - Joe. He pointed east, and Gale adjusted her flight, angling toward a strange mountain rising on the horizon.

As they rapidly closed the distance, Gale suddenly tensed, sensing a presence drawing near. A heartbeat later, Joe felt it too, and a wide smile spread across his face. Fate, it seemed, was smiling on him today. At the base of the mountain stood two cloaked figures, bent over a strange metallic device. As Joe and Gale descended, the pair stopped what they were doing and looked up, seemingly unsurprised by their arrival. Gale set them both down and immediately began to drool as she stared at Gaston.

"Why is she drooling?" Gaston asked as he took a cautious step back.

"You smell nice," Gale gargled, drool dripping freely from her beak.

"Ark, can you hurry the hell up?" Gaston exclaimed, staring at Gale in open disbelief.

"She scares me."

"Brother. I'm going to dance and lick the handsome one," Gale announced cheerfully as she leapt at Gaston. Joe wondered how she was able to see through the pitch black cowl of his cloak. Even his Farmer's sight couldn't pierce whatever was hiding Gaston's face. Gaston ducked and smoothly avoided Gale's talons. For a brief moment, Gale looked genuinely shocked that he had avoided her before she shrieked with delight and lunged after him again.

Joe shook his head as the pair vanished from sight, a chaotic game of cat and mouse breaking out around the mountain.

"Sorry about her," Joe said apologetically.

"I don't think she gets out much." Ark stared at him for a long moment before looking back down at the device in his hands.

"Whatever," Ark grumbled.

"What's that you're doing there?" Joe asked, genuinely intrigued. Ark glanced at him but offered no reply.

"That's not very polite," Joe complained mildly.

"I was just curious, as a fellow space mage. Are you planning to break into the central area again?" Joe's eyebrows bounced in anticipation. Ark shook his head.

"I have no plans to give you an easy way forward. If you want to reach the shard, you'll have to do it the hard way."

"Shame. Well, I'm fine with that," Joe replied easily.

"You sure you don't want to help that other one out? Gale is pretty strong after all. She might be drooling on his face as we speak." He spoke nonchalantly as he stepped around Ark.

"My brother won't have any problems avoiding the female," Ark said, never lifting his focus from the keypad.

"You are the real issue."

"Brother? But you guys look nothing alike," Joe commented with a shrug. Though he had no idea what either of them looked like. Where Gaston was always shrouded in shadows, Ark, he noticed, had a metallic mask beneath his cowl. Joe continued to encircle Ark. He was probing for an opening, but no matter where he moved, it felt like there was no way to close the distance without Ark reacting first.

"I can read your movements. There is only a one per cent chance you can wrest the keypad from me," Ark announced calmly.

"That's pretty slim, I must admit," Joe mused as he scratched his chin. The keypad let out a soft beep and vanished into Ark's storage. Only then did he finally turn his gaze toward Joe. As if by an unspoken agreement, the two clashed in that instant. Joe had seen Ark fight before and had exchanged brief blows with him during the last Star Shard competition, but this was the first time they faced each other head-on.

Joe tried to weave through the floating orbs circling Ark's body, but they moved like living serpents, sealing off his angles with unnerving precision. He nearly lost his footing when Ark's foot slammed into his knee, but he twisted with the momentum, turning the stumble into a spinning kick that knocked one orb out of the air as his foot struck Ark's guard. Joe was not aiming for Ark's star. His goal was not to defeat the space mage, but to learn from him and force him to reveal a skill.

He had gained his second space skill after interacting with the remnants of the space gate they left behind during their last intrusion into the inner area, and he was hoping to trigger something similar now. But no matter what he tried, no matter how aggressively he pressed the attack, Ark did not activate a single skill. Because of that restraint, the exchange gradually began to tilt in Joe's favour as he adapted to Ark's rhythm and the precise way he used the orbs for both offence and defence.

Soon, Joe was the one pressing forward, and Ark began to sweat beneath his cloak, the first flicker of unease finally appearing in the space mage's mask-shrouded eyes.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked lightly as he pressed the advantage.

"If you don't use a skill soon, I might just send you home. Then who will stop me from claiming the Star Shard?" He was deliberately goading Ark, even though he had no real intention of shattering his star. Ark snarled and Space-Jumped away. Joe followed with Spatial Traversal and appeared in front of him once more. This time, Ark swore under his breath and pulled out six additional orbs, unleashing a rapid bombardment.

The attack turned out to be a diversion, as Ark jumped again and again in rapid succession, clearly trying to shake Joe's pursuit. Joe grew increasingly frustrated at Ark's refusal to use any overt skills, and a sinking suspicion formed in his mind that Ark knew exactly what he was trying to accomplish. With a click of his tongue, Joe finally stopped chasing him and let the space mage escape.

Instead, he turned toward the flaring auras at the base of the mountain, deciding that the more emotional of the two brothers might present a better opportunity. When he arrived, he was met with an unexpected sight. Gale was no longer chasing Gaston and instead sat opposite him with a bored expression, while Gaston sat across from her, tense and watchful. Both of them turned as Joe approached.

"Am I intruding?" Joe asked dryly. Gaston grunted, while Gale rose to her feet and walked over to Joe. She planted a massive talon on his shoulder and gave him one final lick across the cheek.

"I must go now, brother. This place bores me," Gale said cheerfully.

"Remember, be strong and grow. Soon we will meet again." With that, she shattered the star on her chest and vanished back to her home world. Joe had long since given up trying to understand the bird woman, so he simply turned to Gaston, who looked very much like he was about to flee.

"Seriously?" Joe said as he appeared directly in front of Gaston.

"Are you and your brother both scared of me?" Gaston straightened, though his body language still screamed readiness to run.

"Look, anomaly. I told you to stop doing that. Don't use space like it's a toy. Just leave, and we can pretend we never met. How about that?" Before Joe could reply, Gaston vanished. Joe groaned and was just about to follow when Uriel's voice echoed in his mind.

'If you want to goad them into a mistake,' she said calmly, 'you need to use more force.'

"More force? You mean attack them head-on? No more holding back?"

'Precisely. Strength is everything.' Joe pondered her words for a while. He also thought about what Gale had said. Be strong and grow. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Maybe it was time to stop being casual and start being a menace. He thought about the fight with Travesty and how he had not held back when fighting the Space Brothers. Joe took a deep breath.

"No more Mr Nice Guy."