Eik’s eyes went wide as he read over the message that hadn’t appeared on the wooden plaque for a very long time. Finally!

  [New skill available]

  [Choose one:]

  [Blades]

  [Concentration]

  [Persiste

  “What’s going on?” Heath asked. “Why does it just cut itself off like that?”

  Eik frowned as he stared at the glowing text that had suddenly stopped etching itself into the wood as if frozen in time. “I don’t— I don’t know. It’s never done this before.”

  If he was about to lose out on a new ability, he’d go straight into the realm of Profound Toxin and bust heads until all of his frustrations had calmed down.

  Quickly, the text erased itself only to reappear, starting from the beginning again.

  [New ability available]

  [Choose one:]

  [Blades]

  [Concentration]

  [Per

  “What the hell?” Eik muttered under his breath, shaking the wooden plaque like a broken TV remote. Again it tried to write out its message.

  [New ability available]

  [Choose one:]

  [Bla

  [Tox

  They kept staring in silence.

  [New ability available]

  [Choose one:]

  [(Unique) Armor of the Scourge — Alternative ability option derived from intimate relationship with — (Unique) Profound Toxin]

  [(Unique) Living Manifestation — Alternative ability option derived from intimate relationship with — (Unique) Profound Toxin]

  “Did… Did your Worldbreaker ability just take over your messages? Has that happened before?”

  “No, I’ve never seen it before,” Eik answered, puzzled.

  “Is it normal for Worldbreakers?”

  “How would I know that?”

  “So what are you going to pick?”

  Eik scratched his chin as he looked them over. “They both sound pretty interesting.”

  “Armor of the Scourge makes your toxin extra hard to protect you from harm, I would guess…” Michael said.

  “And Living Manifestation lets you create a cute little guy who is all blue and slimy, like a half melted gummy bear,” Heath finished.

  Eik gave the tank a look. “That better not be what it is.”

  Heath tilted his head from side to side. “Who knows, man. From what you’ve said, the little guy can be pretty goofy from time to time.”

  As if summoned by those words, a tendril of blue grew out of Eik’s cheek and waved around in the air like a little arm shaking its fist with indignation.

  “… But mostly very frightening and agony inducing, as I found out to my own regret,” Heath followed up carefully. The little limb seemed to be soothed at that and retracted back into its host’s skin.

  “This might be a bit unorthodox but,” Eik began, glancing from person to person. “Hey, little buddy, which one do you think I should pick?”

  “Are you asking me?” Michael asked with an arched eyebrow.

  Eik rolled his eyes and placed his finger on the corner of the wooden plaque where the glowing text still remained. “Yeah, sure I am, smart guy.”

  A string of Profound Toxin wiggled out from under his nail and snaked across the wood, feeling its way forward as it went. “Come on, boy! Come on! Which one are you gonna pick, huh, boy?”

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  “Do you always treat the deadly and dangerous poison living inside of you like an obedient dog?” Sonja asked.

  “No… Well, not all the time. Only sometimes,” he mumbled. The little branch of toxin rose up like a cobra and then slapped down onto the wood, covering the entry for Armor of the Scourge. “See? Totally useful. So I’ll pick Armor of the Scourge.”

  But before Eik could actually select anything a second arm of poison slithered out and slapped the Living Manifestation text. “What does that mean, then?” Heath asked.

  “I, uuh, you know…”

  “Just pick one,” Heath said.

  “Alright, alright! Well, I can already create shields of solid toxin with the base ability so maybe I can hold off on Armor of the Scourge for now. Living Manifestation sounds a bit more esoteric and unique, and unique seems pretty useful thus far.”

  Eik peeled the gummy-like arm of Profound Toxin off the wood and selected Living Manifestation. The text evaporated.

  Reaching inside himself for the newly awakened power, he tried to bring it out into the real world. Seeming to react with more eagerness that usual, a thick, glowing shape erupted from his palm, sloshing shapelessly onto the floor, Michael stumbling back in surprise.

  Immediately it regained its form and shot up toward Eik’s face like a missile. Snatching it out of the air before it could crunch into his nose, Eik held it up and studied it. It was most definitely the same small snake as the tier one toxic beast he’d so often encountered in the realm of Profound Toxin.

  “Welcome to my world, little guy,” he grinned. “I know you have a tendency to be squished under my boot but I’d appreciate it if you’d calm down and be a good boy for once, you know. I did go so far as to spend a precious ability on this.”

  For a while longer the snake wiggled and struggled in his grip but eventually settled down. “Good. Can you change size?” he asked. The living manifestation shrunk to the point where it could easily slip out from between his fingers. “Cool! How small can you get?” In response, the bright serpent became even smaller until it reached a point where it could potentially fit into someone’s ear.

  Sonja shivered as she watched.

  “That’s… a rather disturbing sight, I have to admit,” Michael mumbled.

  “So, that is going to be the stereotypical trusty sidekick animal buddy, is it?” Heath asked. “Isn’t it lacking a cuteness factor that’s usually kind of par for the course?”

  In the blink of an eye, the snake returned to its original size and rocketed up into Heath’s face, squashing his nose flat.

  “Oh, ow! Oh my— Oh, god, that hurts so bad! What the hell?” Blood spurted from his nostrils, tears streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks.

  “I think it might understand you, man,” Michael remarked and laid a Healing hand over the tank’s face.

  “Well, I don’t feel like talking,” Heath said, voice muddle by Michael’s palm.

  ***

  The headquarters of the Nidafjeld Alliance was alive with the hustle and bustle of festival preparation. As it turned out, the Championships were more than just a series of fights. It was an excuse for people to celebrate and share in each other’s cultures.

  While the fighting was considered the main event, for many of the people coming to enjoy the festivities the most important was the opportunity to meet new friends, taste dishes from different worlds, and expand their own businesses.

  The noises of hammers and saws could be heard no matter where one went, even this close to the start of the tournament. Every outdoor area of the headquarters was practically overrun with all sorts of stalls and stages.

  Eik and the team brought the newly arrived Earthlings around the grounds, showing them all of their favorite spots. People were in high spirits as they put up signs for the stalls, colored flags and banners, and lots of other festival miscellany. Booths with games and prizes lined one side of the path they were walking on while the other side had a variety of stalls setting up to make and sell food and drinks.

  They even passed a raised platform on which a group of girls from many different races were practicing a coordinated dance performance dressed in colorful, flowing clothes.

  In a couple of days, this area along with all others around headquarters, as well as a portion of the town of Gimleh below, would be absolutely flooded with people of all shapes and sizes.

  “This is… so amazing!” the F-ranked darkness manipulator exclaimed, his head swiveling from exciting sight to exciting sight with an enthusiasm that didn’t fit the gloom of his ability set. “Do you think the Nidafjeld Alliance would give us a bigger stipend?” All participants had been awarded a token sum of credits to spend at the festival as a reward for attending.

  “You know what,” Eik said. “If there’s something you really want, John, then I’ll get it for you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, sure, buddy,” Eik said cheerfully and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve made it this far with your own power. I don’t mind pitching in to make it more fun for y—” Eik froze in his tracks.

  Already there were many people running around and preparing for the big even but the sight of four Gohkamorians was impossible to miss. Whether they had been a part of the delegation they had encountered in the fracture room before was unclear, and they weren’t dressed in their ceremonial garb now. Instead they wore simple, unadorned robes tied together at their massive waist with a colored rope.

  Eik held out a hand to stop the others and directed them off to the side. “What are they doing here?” Heath snarled as his fingers sought the hilt of his sword. Eik also felt his temper flare up but Mikla’s words echoed in his mind. These four Gohkamorians making their way quietly along the road weren’t necessarily directly responsible for any of the suffering the people of Earth. They could no more be blamed for the misfortune of Eik, his brother, his family, Olivia, Heath, Michael, Sonja, and any other person than Eik could be blamed for Merchant Lord Greggers screwing over randos in the marketplace of Forest.

  And yet, Eik could barely control the urge to leap in there and rip the lot of them apart, limb by limb as the blood showered his body like torrential rain fall. Profound Toxin bubbled just underneath his skin, its wordless, soundless voice screaming for him to kill and maim.

  The others looked on uncomprehendingly as their guides tensed up like cats whose house has suddenly been invaded by four thousand dogs. “What’s going on right now?” the D-ranked swordswoman whose movements resembled Sonja’s asked, looking from face to face.

  “Those guys over there… The big guys in the robes,” Heath muttered, glaring daggers at the Gohkamorians walking only a few paces away. “are Gohkamorians. They are the civilization responsible for sending monsters to Earth for the past almost ten years.”

  Eik ground his teeth together. He couldn’t attack them like this, but maybe he could try something else.

  “Buddy,” he called and a Profound Toxic beast answered, slithering out onto his palm. “Extra small, please,” he requested. It obeyed. “See the biggest one of those guys over there? Invade him. Don’t let him notice and don’t kill him.”

  ***

  “Now, ladies and gentlemen. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you all have been waiting for this moment as eagerly as I have, but I hope you won’t mind if I take just a short moment to make sure even those of you all the way in the back know exactly what’s happening today!” The voice was somehow projected audibly across the entire crowd. It might actually have been funneled directly into each pairs of ears by some ability.

  “I would like to welcome all of you… to the greatest showdown of the Unified Mass, the Championships of the Nidafjeld Alliance. I simply can’t wait to see what all of the mighty challengers have to show us!” Deafening cheers erupted like thunder. With so many Awakened roaring at the top of their lungs, the Earthlings felt like their ear drums might just pop.

  John, the darkness manipulator shuffled up to Eik. “Do you think the Gohkamorians are here somewhere as well?”

  They were standing nearly on the edge of perhaps the biggest throng of people Eik had ever seen, even before Earth had gone to shit. Gigantic screens floated freely in the air, displaying the face of the announcer. He had a humorously tall top hat and a confident smile under a mustache even bigger than Frank of the Black Fang.

  “They must be.” He could vaguely feel the presence of the one carrying the Profound Toxic beast somewhere among the thousands and thousands of people but the exact location eluded him.

  “And as you know,” the announcer continued. “we like to make sure that each Championship tournament has new and novel twists — for your viewing and fighting pleasure. So of course, this time is no different.” He broke into laughter as he raised his hand high.

  “Challengers, get ready…!”

  “Ready for what?” Eik wondered out loud.

  In the next moment, a swirling fracture sprang into existence just above his head. The other challengers from Earth were no different. Portals speckled the air all over, likely marking the location of challengers.

  “What the hell is going—” Before he could react, an unseen force sucked him up and through the fracture with a scream.

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