The Last Dainv

Footsteps crunched on the gravel path behind them. Gale's tendrils caught the visual of Witch Ashen walking up to the scene, but he was more curious about where the twins were. They were supposed to walk around together and just enjoy the views, maybe even make some trouble.

From the looks of Ashley's eyes, though, she was calm and smirking, as if something had happened after their so called 'negotiation'. He'll find out later.

"What is happening here?" Ashley asked, covering her face with her hands and then stretching her mouth to get rid of the smile.

"I am conducting research on this rock," Erin said, continuing to trace her fingers along the etchings on the rock.

"She's being a hindrance!" one of the younger disciples shouted.

Ashley turned her attention to the old man. "Elder Haoyu. What seems to be the issue?"

Elder Haoyu glared at her. "Witch Ashen. This... woman is blocking the authorization section of the array. We wish to tour the coliseum before the summit begins."

"She's blocking it?" Ashley glanced at the rock behind Erin. There was at least two meters of space on either side. Plenty of room for someone to walk around. "Can you not simply go around her?"

"That is not the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

Elder Haoyu's finger jabbed toward Erin. "She is tinkering with the equipment! The array is not a toy for her to meddle with! Therefore, she is the one who should move. It is her actions that are improper, not ours."

Ashley tilted her head slightly. "And what is preventing you from walking around her while she tinkers?"

The old man reddened even more now, almost looking like he was about to pop. "Do not mock me, Witch Ashen! The problem is clear. The blue woman is meddling with summit equipment without authorization. This is a matter of rules and proper conduct!"

Amber snorted loudly from behind them. Her shoulders shook as another wave of laughter threatened to burst out.

Ashley snapped her fingers once. The effect of the snap was immediate, as Amber completely silenced her laughter, though she didn't bother to hold herself back from silently laughing.

Her laughter was contagious. Gale was almost about to laugh at this whole scenario of a senile old man trying to argue with a contract driven alien.

Erin finally turned to face the group. "This petty display of bureaucracy merits no one. The child's tantrum should cease at once to prevent more of his ugly display."

Elder Haoyu's eyes bulged. "Child?! Who are you calling a child?!"

"I merely state facts." Erin's head tilted slightly. "Use your eyes and see the mountain in front of you."

"You dare!"

"Erin," Ashley said, resignation in her voice was clear. "Please, please stop talking. I will handle this."

"You may do so at your own leisure. I am merely stating the situation," Erin said.

Ashley stepped forward, positioning herself between Erin and Elder Haoyu. Her smile was forced, diplomatic, and annoyed all at the same time, now that Gale could somehow understand expressions from 6 months worth of watching movies with the twins. He thought of it as the kind of smile that he's seen when he sees people dealing with Erin.

Alas! The floating bluey creates a situation so absurd that she makes them wear a face full of paradoxes.

"Elder Haoyu," Ashley said smoothly, "allow me to grant you access to the coliseum myself. I can lead you to the authorization array right now. There's no need for this conflict to escalate further."

Elder Haoyu's nostrils flared. "And how do you propose to do that? She is in the way."

"There's space on the left side-"

"She. Is. In. The. Way." Elder Haoyu said through his gritted teeth.

The standoff continued. Ashley's smile was starting to look strained. Amber was practically vibrating from suppressed laughter. Lily had her hand over her mouth. Rachel looked like she wanted to grab Erin and drag her away by force.

And it was now time for Gale to make his entry.

"Just go around," he said.

Elder Haoyu and his disciples turned to him.

"What's the big deal?" Gale continued. "It's not like your legs are broken. There's space. Walk around her. Takes like three extra steps. 5 calories max to do that many steps, unless you're broken or something."

One of the younger disciples beside Elder Haoyu stepped forward. He was tall, maybe a few years older than Gale, with a sharp jawline and sharp eyes like a hawk. His hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his hip.

"Shut up," the disciple said. "Mind your own business, outsider."

"This is my business."

"How is this your business?"

Gale pointed at Erin. "She's my teacher. That makes it my business."

"Your teacher?" The disciple's lip curled. "That thing is your teacher?"

"Yes. And you're being irrational." Gale's eyes twitched. They called Erin a 'thing.' Technically, she's an alien that's not a thing. "What kind of idiot gets mad at someone for just standing in one spot? You have legs. Use them. Walk around. Problem solved."

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"You feral looking bastard!"

"Looks like the idiots are you."

The disciple's face twisted. His hand moved. The steel of his blade scraped against its sheath as he lunged the space between him and Gale.

Erebus materialized instantly. Hazy Qi coated blade met the dark blade. Sparks flew out from where the metals clashed.

Weak.

Gale didn't even move. He stood exactly where he had been standing, not even budging one step at the impact. The only thing these other-human killers didn't have against him was brute force. Something like this wasn't even as heavy as a garbage truck.

The disciple tried to pull back, but Gale's blade followed, maintaining contact, keeping him locked in place.

Elder Haoyu's expression shifted, forming into more of a smirk.

"Good," the wrinkly old man said. "Good, good, good."

Ashley shook her head while Amber nudged Rachel, who had already drooped her shoulders. Lily was already patting her back. Gale was completely confused by their reaction.

"If the blue one is the teacher," Elder Haoyu said, "and the feral boy is the student... then let us settle this properly. A match. Your disciple against mine. Tomorrow, at the summit."

"I acc-"

"Your challenge is accepted," Erin said before Gale could finish his sentence.

"Noooooooooooo!" Rachel shouted.

Erin didn't even turn around. "The woman of fire does not command me."

"You can't just accept like that without my permission!"

"I have accepted the challenge on behalf of my student. The matter is settled."

Ashley stepped forward, positioning herself between the two groups. Her expression now replaced with complete resignation. "This is ridiculous. As one of the event organizers, I can say for certain that Elder Haoyu is the one making trouble here."

Elder Haoyu snorted. "Is that so, Witch Ashen? Then tell me, is there anywhere in the rules of the summit that explicitly allows guests to meddle with neutral grounds equipment?"

"Not really," Ashley said.

"I thought not," Elder Haoyu said, his thin smile returning.

"But there's also no rule against it," Ashley said.

"If something is not explicitly allowed, it should be assumed that it should not be done, especially when it concerns neutral grounds property. This is basic conduct that even children understand." Elder Haoyu gestured toward Erin. "Your floating blue woman should know better."

"The Caffeine Transcendent's machines are also publicly available for purpose of research. Even if it's not within the summit's rules, it would be allowed by the transcendent herself if she were here."

"But she is not, and you are creating rules on behalf of the transcendent who is not here."

Rachel grabbed Erin's sleeve. "Erin! Take back the challenge!"

Erin slowly turned her head to Rachel, making her even more annoyed. "The child needs to be taught a lesson. Hence, the challenge shall not be rescinded."

"What child?! The elder is over 50 years old!"

"All of them are children compared to me."

"That's not the point!"

Gale nodded, completely agreeing with Erin. She was billions of years old, an unfathomable number that the elder could never reach.

Rachel pointed at him without looking. "Stop nodding!"

Gale froze, then muttered, "But she's right..."

"She's not right! She's being stubborn!" Rachel made incomprehensible frustrated noises and turned to Lily. "Lily! Back me up here. Tell them this is a bad idea."

"Actually... it kind of makes sense," Lily said.

"What?!"

"Think about it. We came here for the summit. Part of the summit is the tournament. Gale was going to watch anyway, but this way, he gets to participate. It's a good opportunity to see how he fares under pressure against a new kind of opponent and in front of a stage."

"Lily, you betrayed me!" Rachel shouted.

"Relax, Rachel. The Jiuling have a completely different fighting style than what he's used to." Lily shrugged. "After what happened with Yuxuan, this could be valuable experience."

Rachel's eye twitched at the mention of Yuxuan. Her hands clenched at her sides. For a moment, Gale thought she might actually set something on fire. From the way Witch Ember's signature radiated, it looked like she was controlling the temperature to prevent the whole place from catching on fire.

Instead, she took a deep breath and walked over to him at a brisk pace until she was face to face with him.

"Gale~" Rachel's voice took a 180 degree turn, forming a lighter tone. "Do you really want to fight?"

"Yes."

"There's going to be a lot of people watching. The whole summit. Hundreds of Aurians from all over the world." Rachel stepped closer, her eyes locking onto his in an intense stare, yet her voice maintained its floaty tone. "And there's going to be picture taking. Recording. Your face might end up everywhere. Do you really want to stand on that stage in front of all those people?"

What mattered to Gale wasn't really about the cameras, the crowd, or beating up the stupid disciple of the old man. It was about the insulting tone he used against Erin.

"It should be fine," Gale said. "Probably. Most definitely. Certainly."

And honestly, he himself did not even know whether he'd be okay with the grand stage in front of the crowd. But he had to at least take a stand. Erin would definitely not give him a losing fight. Even if she did, he'd struggle with all his might to fight for that win as a testament to his 100% rift return rate.

"Gale. Are you sure? Like sure sure?" Rachel asked.

"I just..." Gale slowly turned his eyes away from her fiery stare. "I mean... they insulted Erin, and she taught me a lot."

"And?!"

"I'd be even more mad if it was you getting insulted."

Rachel froze. Her mouth opened. No words came out. Her cheeks flushed red as she took two steps backward like she'd been physically pushed. She tried finding her breath, but it looked like she was choking on it.

"Oof. Shot straight to the heart, Rach," Amber laughed.

Lily caught her by the back as she took more steps back, patting her on the back. "There, there. You'll be fine."

"I'm fine!" Rachel's voice came out higher than normal. "I'm totally fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?!"

"Your face is really red."

"It's the sea breeze!"

"The sea breeze is cold."

"Shut up, Lily!"

Elder Haoyu cleared his throat loudly, drawing everyone's attention back to him. The old man had pulled out his phone.

"Witch Ashen," he said. "We will formalize this challenge through proper channels. Can you send me the form link again? I seem to have misplaced it."

Ashley sighed heavily. She walked over to Elder Haoyu, pulling out her own phone.

"Here." She tapped a few times, then held her screen up for him to scan. "The link is in your messages now."

"Thank you."

Ashley leaned over Elder Haoyu's shoulder, pointing at various things on his screen.

"Name of challenger goes here. Affiliation here. Reason for challenge--just put 'personal dispute,' it's easier. Stage preference... leave that blank, the organizers will assign one. Time slot preference--do you care?"

"Morning," Elder Haoyu said. "My disciple performs best in the morning."

"Morning it is. And... submit."

Elder Haoyu tapped the button. A moment later, Ashley's phone buzzed with a notification.

She glanced at it, tapped once, and the notification disappeared.

"Challenge accepted and logged," Ashley said flatly. "Congratulations. You've officially made my job harder."

Elder Haoyu smirked confidently, turning his attention back to Gale. "Boy, prepare your body. My disciple will not hold back."

Gale met the old man's gaze with the same strength. "My body is always prepared, child."

The smirk vanished. Elder Haoyu's eye twitched violently. Behind him, his disciples' hands moved toward their hilts.

But the old man raised a hand, and all of them eased their stances.

"Hmph." Elder Haoyu turned away, his robes swirling as he moved. "Ferals have no sense of respect. We shall see how long that arrogance lasts tomorrow."

He walked back down the gravel path, his disciples falling into formation behind him. One of them shot a glare over his shoulder before disappearing around the bend.

Gale glared back with the same intensity. I'm watching you too, child. Don't think I'm not!

"So," Kyle said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and joining the group by the cliff. "Anyone wanna play some games?"

"This is your fault!" Rachel shouted.

"Yo, no shit, we just came here 2 minutes ago," Kyle said. "I didn't even do anything!"

"It doesn't matter! Why do you have to always be at fault! YOU TOO, CLYDE!"

"We should've stayed in our rooms..." Clyde said.

"How are we even catching strays..." Kyle said.

"Can we eat first before the games?" Gale asked.

"YES! LET'S GO EAT NOW!" Rachel shouted.

"Calm down, Rachel," Lily sighed.

Amber kept laughing while Ashley shook her head.