The cheers for Techxin's victory echoed through the arena, thunderous roars that filled the air.
As the blood geysers stopped spouting, Techxin fell down from his perch.
His beautiful pink hair flowed in the wind, like flowers descending from the sky after a great tornado, marking the end of a great disaster with something beautiful.
His figure fell down with an unsettling silence. He stared at the still form of Tengen.
He reached out and snatched the leg of Tengen's decapitated body with an almost casual gesture.
With a flick of Techxin's wrist, a blood hand emerged from one of the crimson pools and shot out towards Tengen's severed head.
It then loyally placed the head into Techxin's open palm.
Techxin muttered in a dark voice.
"Blessing REST."
The final remnants of Techxin's power faded. The entire arena seemed to fall still.
The blood that had poured from the geysers mixed with the broken ground beneath them and seeped into the cracks of the earth, leaving the broken battlefield the last evidence of the great battle of the two blessed monsters.
Techxin then chuckled as he held the head up.
"TECHXIN!!!!!"
All his siblings cheered for him in all their different ways.
Colan and Mreze, of course, clapped slowly. They knew long ago how this battle would end. If anything, they were probably surprised — or annoyed — it took this long.
Lung, Sophier, Dainyain, and Yung tried to make a rhythm from the cheers.
Apixain and Alkileva were on each other.
Wait, what.
Techxin had to look twice just to see if his eyes hadn't played tricks on him.
Nope.
His eyes were just fine.
Apixain was sitting on Alkileva as she waved her hands rapidly in excitement —
maybe too much excitement —
while Alkileva just gave a small, laid-back wave with a small smile.
The rest of his siblings were just clapping regularly, except for his three biggest supporters.
Mōkō.
Dallas.
And his full sister,
Hana.
Dallas threw fireballs in the air which exploded like tiny flash bombs of victory. It was quite the dazzling sight.
It wasn't just one color, but a tapestry of them that weaved together, complimenting and contrasting each other.
On the unoxygenated side,
Mōkō was dancing really, really hard and beautifully. He jumped up, spun in the air, break dancing as he kept himself floating by occasionally shooting bursts of fire.
And finally, Hana, his little sister and his number one supporter by far next to his mom, shouted.
"Give me a T!"
Everyone then shouted: "T!!!"
Mōkō then fire-jumped to the side and left the letter T.
"Give me an E!"
"E!!!"
Mōkō then jumped, leaving a fire E.
This continued for each letter:
T
E
C
X
I
N
Hana then shouted, "What does that spell?"
"TECHXIN!"
"What does that spell?!"
Lung, Sophier, Dainyain, and Yung all smiled as they summoned drums and started playing.
"TECHXIN!"
"TECHXIN!!"
"TECHXIN!!!"
"TECHXIN!!!!"
His face at this point was as pink as his hair.
"Wow, this is both endearing and embarrassing. I should really apologize to mama, because this is way, way more embarrassing,"
Techxin thought as he looked at his name blasted against the window in big, bold, fancy flames.
"But I guess this is both the benefit and disadvantage of having such a big family," Techxin sighed as he tried to hide himself using his crown.
But he soon realized it had fallen off at some point during the battle.
"Well, looks like I can't hide, so I may as well go with it," Techxin thought.
"This little guy is quite annoying, isn't he," Techxin said, holding up Tengen's head.
His siblings all agreed.
"Hey, since he humiliated me, it's only fair I do the same, right?" Techxin said.
They all cheered in agreement. Hana and Mōkō even shouted, "Do him worse!"
Techxin laughed. "Alright then, let's make it fun."
He then threw Tengen's head into the air, then jumped and slapped it to the ground, spiking —
as the head hit the ground it created a giant crater.
"Well, that isn't fun," Techxin said.
He then made a few two-fingered hand movements and cast a blood spell, making the blood in Tengen's body instantly go in the opposite direction of any surface the skin came in contact with.
Techxin then made the gesture: come.
Tengen's head instantly flew towards Techxin. He caught it. "Alright, let's test it now."
Techxin tossed the head in the air, then jumped in and kicked it. The head hit the ground and crashed against the floor, then in a blur bounced to the roof and back down. It almost looked like lightning strikes with how fast it was going.
Techxin watched with a grin for a few seconds, enjoying the scene.
"Alright, here I go."
Techxin timed it. He dashed forward, holding the legs of Tengen's body like a bat. Then —
BUM.
Techxin hit Tengen's head with his body. The head bounced off the wall and quickly back towards him.
Techxin easily dodged out of the way and, as it bounced off the wall again, dodged with his back turned to the head.
Techxin continued to dodge while his siblings cheered him on.
Then Techxin remembered. He had gotten so caught up in the moment that he forgot the whole reason he fought Tengen.
Techxin's head dodged to the side as Tengen's head went past. He then turned and scanned the room.
Then he saw him —
his little savior
his little brother.
Maxi.
Techxin grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Maxi seemed to be a little shaken.
"Is he alright? He looks a little pale. I should probably end this and check up on him," Techxin thought.
"Alright, last one. This one is for Maxi!" Techxin shouted with a grin.
He cocked his fist back to its maximum, then turned around, and right on time Tengen's head dashed towards him.
Techxin then —
BAAAAAM!!
CRACK. CRUNCH.
The cracking and breaking of Tengen's skull rang out.
Tengen's skull went flying to the corner and in an instant buried itself in a deep, deep, deep tunnel.
Techxin turned his head and winked at Maxi.
Maxi seemed to have an expression of shock, awe, and fear all combined into a strange smile.
"He totally loved it," Techxin thought to himself as he flicked his wrist and made the gesture: come.
Tengen's head dislodged itself from the tunnel it had made and flew into Techxin's hand.
Techxin carefully placed Tengen's head atop his body, then, with a murmur, the blood around him shifted.
"Blood of life. Blood of the divine and blood of everything alive."
Techxin used blood magic.
Its power surged, weaving through the air like a dark force, and Tengen's wounds began to close. A shudder rippled through Tengen's body as his chest rose with a breath — shallow at first, then deeper — as he came back to life.
"Ouch, what the fuck happened? How am I alive?"
Tengen wheezed, the first breath he'd taken in what felt like an eternity.
"Because I wanted you alive. Now that you've tasted death, don't waste this chance," Techxin said.
Then the pain hit. Tengen felt a great deal of pain in his face, to the point where he felt like if he didn't hold it together, he would lose it.
"My skull. My skull is breaken. How did you—"
Techxin chuckled darkly. "Don't worry about that. All I need from you is confirmation. Will you do what I told you?"
"The Thousandth spiraling Hell no. Especially now that you broke my skull. I would rather die again."
Techxin looked at Tengen funny. Then he burst out into laughter — pure, blissful laughter.
"Even after death you're still prideful. By the Blood God, I am surprised you weren't blessed by the Demon King of Pride himself. My god."
Techxin continued to laugh as he started hitting Tengen.
"You're so—"
*pat*
"—so—"
*PAT*
"—VERY—"
*PAT!*
VERY.
*PAT!!*
FUNNY.
*BAM!!!*
Techxin looked at the ground as his eyes glowed crimson.
They looked as if they were an ocean of blood, and within that ocean there was a ripple.
His hand was still on Tengen's back when he performed the final pat.
He then used blood magic.
Every vein in Tengen's body felt like it was pierced with needles.
because it was.
Techxin made every blood cell in Tengen's body group into tiny needles.
Techxin's blood-red eyes rippled again.
Tengen wanted to scream as all the blood needles pierced through his veins and began to rain a world of pain inside his body.
But Tengen couldn't scream.
Techxin wouldn't allow him to.
Several of the trillions of blood needles cut off the nerve that connected his brain to his throat, which no longer allowed him to use it.
But that was fine.
Techxin's blood eyes rippled again.
Some blood needles stabbed themselves onto Tengen's throat and performed the function of opening the pathways for breathing and eating, while the rest of the blood needles pierced every single organ in his body.
In most cases, Tengen would have bled out and died by now because of how many holes each of his organs had, or he could have died from the pain.
But no.
Techxin did not allow either of those options.
The bleeding-out problem was solved by the mere fact that Techxin now controlled how much and how little blood each organ had.
Blood magic allowed him to.
Even with the holes, he could perform this perfectly. In fact, each and every one of Tengen's organs were working, very, very painfully.
As for dying from pain:
Techxin had already replaced all the nerves in his neck with his blood to intercept the overwhelming kinetic current of pain and replaced it with a more measured amount that would be just as agonizing but far less deadly.
Techxin's eyes rippled again.
For Tengen, everything started to stretch longer and so did his pain. Every moment felt like it took a lifetime.
One blood needle pressed against his diaphragm. It felt like it took years just to break in and pierce the surface. And when it did —
Pain.
Lakes of it.
Rivers of it.
Waterfalls of it.
Waves of it.
Tsunamis of it.
Seas of it.
Oceans of it.
came, but each trickled at him slowly, like drops of water from a leaking roof.
He could sense and nearly feel every bit of pain waiting for him, because there wasn't just one needle.
There were trillions of them.
And the fact that time dragged along so slowly left Tengen with only two options: hyperfixate on the trillions of needles that kept causing him drips of agonizing pain, or distract himself as he waited.
Tengen chose the latter, and tried to gauge just how slowly time was going.
As he did, he could visually see small pieces of debris falling to the ground with the same speed a stone sinks in the ocean, but
ten times slower.
So to speak, it looked like nothing was moving at all.
Which made this a lot worse.
Techxin sighed as he patted Tengen's head like a wild animal's.
"Looks like no one told you to respect your elders. It's kind of sad, because you disrespected your grandpa too by doing exactly what he asked you not to. But don't worry — just for him, today I will teach you that lesson."
Techxin said with a devilish smile.
Techxin then gouged his hand into Tengen's eye and slowly pulled.
SNAP.
A light breaking sound could be heard, like a thread being torn.
Techxin then crushed Tengen's eye with an explosion of disgust.
He then waved the fluids away.
Techxin's eyes then rippled.
The blood from the eye turned into a blade.
The blood blade flew into Tengen's chest and stabbed into his stomach, then went back to being blood, staining Tengen's shirt.
Then, like a hive of blood hornets, the blood needles exited Tengen's stomach and formed a giant shadow above the battlefield.
Techxin's eyes rippled as his smile became more devilish.
He forcefully opened Tengen's mouth.
All the blood needles dove inside.
The sight looked like a giant worm entering its host's body, its oversized form causing it to struggle slightly.
All the blood needles stabbed themselves back into the veins and turned back into blood, functioning as if they hadn't just caused their host to experience something worse than death.
Techxin flicked Tengen's head and caused the blood in his brain to flow normally.
Making Tengen's view of time to go back to normal.
Tengen coughed raspily, his eyes dilated to the size of dots.
"Now, have we reached an understanding?" Techxin asked with a smile.
Tengen slowly nodded.
"Okay, that's good. Now act normal, or the rest of your life is going to be lived in slow motion."
Tengen's body shot up immediately. But he managed to nod.
Techxin's voice rang through the arena, breaking the tension between him and Tengen as he spoke to the king.
"Father, he survived five minutes, right? So, five conditions for each of us."
The King had been watching Techxin's lesson unfold.
Not everyone could see it with the way Techxin and Tengen were positioned, but the King got a full view and very much approved, with detached amusement. He nodded slowly.
The King stood up and opened his palm as a significant amount of blood poured out of it. The blood flowed through the glass and formed the silhouette of the King on the battlefield.
Snap.
The King snapped his fingers and swapped places with the silhouette of blood. As the King appeared on the battlefield, he fell from the sky, flicked his fingers, immediately stopped his descent, and floated in the air.
"Yes. Who will you be announcing their conditions first?"
Techxin gave a sharp, confident smile. "I'll go first."
With that, he began listing the conditions.
"FIRST CONDITION: You are not allowed to speak to Maxi as if he is weaker than you. You must call him 'Young Master,' just as his maid does."
"SECOND CONDITION: You must arrive here within ten to five minutes early, and you must stay for overtime as well, for about the same amount of time."
"THIRD CONDITION: In two years, you will have to go on a trip with Maxi so that he can see more of the world."
"FOURTH CONDITION: You will have to teach him magic."
"FIFTH CONDITION: If, for any reason, I am not available, you are responsible for training Maxi."
The King stared at Techxin for a long moment, then nodded. "Very well."
Then Techxin looked over at Tengen. "Now, you, Tengen."
Tengen scratched his head, clearly pretending to be irritated to cover up how truly broken he was. But soon he answered.
"Okay, my King. I'm going to use my first condition to cancel out Techxin's fourth condition."
The King raised an eyebrow. "I will allow it. But just this once."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Tengen muttered.
"Proceed," the King commanded.
Tengen smirked as he continued, staring off into space.
"My second condition is that I get my own personal early morning and overtime maid, who will tend to me in the mornings and when I stay late."
The King nodded, indicating Tengen could continue.
"My third condition is that I get a personal room, so I can be ready for early arrivals and late hours."
The King raised an eyebrow again, but said nothing.
Tengen grinned. "The fourth condition..."
He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Hey, Maxi, what should my fourth condition be?"
A few surprised gasps passed through the crowd, while Techxin simply smiled.
Maxi, in the midst of relaxing after realizing the fight was over, suddenly felt his body freeze as he heard the question. A single drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. The eyes of his siblings, his stepmothers, and even the King were now all on him.
Maxi swallowed hard. "I... I... I don't know. I-it's your condition."
Tengen showed his teeth as he laughed loudly. "I couldn't hear you, but you know what? It's fine. I've got something."
Maxi sighed in relief as all the eyes turned away. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Tengen turned to the King with a wide grin, knowing this condition would annoy him. Techxin knew it too, which is why he couldn't ask his father himself — his father would have refused immediately unless it were specifically under these circumstances. Which was why Techxin had created this circumstance in the first place. His father couldn't refuse an outsider, especially in front of such a large audience.
"Sorry, Father — your restrictions on my little brother are way too harsh. So I took it upon myself to help him," Techxin thought with a smile.
"I want Maxi to be able to visit the main castle a few times a week. How about the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 10th days?"
Maxi blinked, confused. He wasn't sure what Tengen meant.
Techxin turned to Tengen. "Did you not teach him the days in a week and weeks in a year?"
Tengen shook his head. "Didn't have time."
Tengen quickly and roughly explained to Maxi that there were ten days in a week, three weeks in a month, and twelve months in a year. Each month was named after one of the so-called main races of Pelady.
Techxin then clarified that each day doesn't have a name — rather, they call it by its number in that month.
So Maxi would be allowed to visit the castle on the 2nd, 12th, 22nd, 3rd, 13th, 23rd, 5th, 15th, 25th, 10th, 20th, and 30th day of each month.
Maxi looked a little stunned and blinked.
"The boy has to agree," the King said, turning to Maxi.
Techxin then saw Maxi's body tremble with fear as the King stared at him with killing intent.
Techxin chuckled as blood ripped through his skin and formed into a blood axe. He leaped and slashed.
SSSSHHHHK.
The spear from the start of the fight appeared in the way of his slash and blocked his attack as they clashed.
"Oh, Father — no, no, no. You can't just say it's up to the boy and then immediately intimidate the boy into disagreeing. That's not how it works," Techxin said with a devilish smile.
The King sighed and combed his hair back with his hands. He then reached out and grabbed his spear. "Fine. You have a fair point."
Techxin smiled as he landed back on the ground. He then gave Maxi a thumbs up. "So, Maxi — do you agree?"
Maxi nodded profusely.
The King's jaw twitched slightly.
Tengen raised a thumb in approval. "My final condition... has to do with..."
He turned to Maxi and pointed at him. "Why don't you take full control of this one, my dear student?"
He raised his head. "I forfeit my last condition to Maxi Bloodheart."
Techxin side-eyed his father with a smirk.
The King took a slow breath in and slowly said, "Then it is done."
His eyes flashed red as he looked up at Maxi. Everyone else's gaze followed.
Maxi froze as he felt the weight of every single eye. Each one of them wielded power far greater than his own, and the combination of them all made him feel more than a little nervous. His throat went dry. His heart raced. His mind went blank.
The King's voice rang out, heavy with expectation.
"SPEAK, BOY!"
"Father, calm yourself. He's only five. Shouting like that will only do the opposite of what you intend," Techxin said.
His father side-eyed him. Techxin simply smiled.
Maxi took a deep breath, his thoughts racing back to life. He had to think carefully.
His blessing awakening ceremony wasn't going to happen until his tenth birthday, but there was one thing he would need for the future if he even hoped to close the gap between himself and other kids his age.
Thinking about it, let alone asking for it, terrified him to his very core.
But it wasn't the thing itself that terrified him. It was the person he needed to ask.
Despite the fear, he stood tall, summoning every ounce of courage in his body.
He pointed to the left side of the sitting area, directly at a man with long white hair and dark blue eyes, a man who had the elegance of a true noble. His dear brother Colen.
Maxi's voice was shaky as he stammered.
"S-since... my tutor... isn't going to teach me magic... I wish for my brother Colen Bloodheart to teach me instead."
A ripple of laughter passed through the room. But Tengen's laughter was the loudest of them all.
"Oh, that just reinforced my first condition. I'm not teaching him magic. Checkmate, Techxin, you evil bas—"
Tengen's words were cut off by deep, hollow, and deadly stares from all around the arena. He quickly bit his tongue and held back the word he was about to say.
The King spoke in a tone that made the air grow still. "Hold your tongue when you speak to one of the nine main kingdom's royal family members, or you may no longer have a tongue to hold."
Tengen nodded with an awkward smile.
Techxin sighed, laughing despite himself. The thought of Tengen trying to teach Maxi magic, while he himself could barely cast a basic fire spell, was absolutely hilarious.
"That's only if Colen agrees," the King said plainly.
Techxin then turned to Colen and put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "If Colen says no, I'll have to use one of my favors — and I'm currently in favor debt with him," Techxin thought.
Colen's voice cut through the room, low and cold. His eyes gleamed with calculated amusement.
"Sure, I agree. But let us continue with this theme of conditions, shall we. My condition is that he has to pass a test of mine in intelligence and agility."
Colen slowly raised his head as he rested it on the back of his hand.
"You see, you need to meet a minimum requirement before I can even consider you worthy of my acknowledgment, let alone my teaching. That is the condition of my agreement. Do you still accept?"
Maxi held his head in thought for a short time. Then he nodded with determination.
"I do."
Colen's lips twitched into the faintest of smirks — barely perceptible, but a very special few could tell it was there.
"Very well. Your hint for the intelligence test is simple: when you come to the main castle, I'd advise you to start reading about magic and magical creatures."
Maxi nodded, understanding the importance of that challenge.
"For the agility test,"
Colen continued, his tone as cold and detached as ever, "it will be a fight like this, but your only goal will be to stay alive for as long as possible. Don't worry — this test will be happening right before your seventh birthday. You won't be facing me or Techxin. That would be overkill. You'll be facing another sibling about the same age."
Maxi nodded again, this time with more confidence, looking forward to what the future would bring. He knew the challenges would be difficult, but he was ready to face them head-on.
He also realized that Techxin and Tengen's fight had been just a sneak peek of what the power of blessings had to offer — a glimpse of what powers he would have when he finally had his blessing awakening ceremony.
Maxi didn't know what powers awaited him in the near future. But he couldn't wait to see.
"♤♡. And with that, Maxi held his hands together and smiled in anticipation for the adventures that awaited him in this new world called Pelady. With that, the first arc of Maxi's journey came to an end. ♧◇"
But it was only just the beginning of a long adventure.
---
End of Arc
LOST