Mythshaper

With the prefectural competition drawing close, all of Klearon was brimming with festivity. The streets were bustling with crowds, now adorned with bright tapestry and illusory illumination. Many food stalls and vendors were crammed from the periphery of the inner city wall to all the way towards the hippodrome, where the competition would be held.

There were still a couple of days until the tournament. My other three companions finally made their way to Klearon that afternoon. They were accompanied by Headmaster Larius, Magistratus Claudius, and some of the guardians of the kids. Eran's entire family, including little Lilia, came to encourage him.

Reunited after two whole weeks, the first thing Eran and I did was confirm all the improvements we had made in that time. The spars were full of energy, and Eran was clearly not slacking in the meantime. In the absence of my father, Delric and Uncle Dalin had taken over the duty of his training, polishing his swordsmanship by another notch. He had begun training with real weapons as well.

Eran was still some steps away from reaching Swordsense. He did not have the same shortcut I did and had to make his way through gruesome training every day to get there. On another note, Eran had advanced another step in his path, standing at the sixth step of Common Class.

So far, all he had learned from his mysterious gift was that he could take a beating better than anybody. I could not help but feel a little depressed, thinking of his gift. If only he had gotten something more common like Empower, I could easily say that Eran stood a chance at becoming the champion of the Common Class Duels.

"I don't think much about my gift anymore," Eran told me after our fourth spar. "Father's gift, Beastbond, ultimately does not empower him physically or mentally. It was only later in life that he found his soulbound companion. So I wonder if my gift was anything like his, and I still haven't found my other piece... Hmm, does this make sense?"

I studied his furrowed face and nodded. "It's very mature of you to think that."

"That's because I'm mature."

I saw no lie in that, but could not help but tease. "Mature enough to only steal glances at Diana, is it?"

Eran's exterior instantly paled, and then he became flustered. "I do not."

"You know my gift is Perception best, right?" Although I did not need Fractal Sight to see that.

"Then have you noticed she only looks at you," Eran replied with a scathing glare.

"That's different," I snorted. "It's like how one looks at a mountain they cannot traverse. It was merely respect and reverence she feels towards my insurmountable skills and expertise."

Eran blinked and returned a snort. "It sounds like you need a good beating..."

"You cannot," I grinned. "I'm insurmountable."

"I'll try anyway."

With that, Eran bolted at me, swinging his sword.

Ending our sessions quite early, I was planning to surprise Eran with his new set of armour, but Headmaster Larius called to lead us all to the administration office at the rear of the colosseum. Our names were already registered for the competition, though some changes had to be made since both Priam and I had advanced to Noble Class. Moreover, we needed to choose which categories we would be participating in.

There were only eight categories pertaining to Strength, Endurance, Agility, Archery, Craft, Fencing, Shaping, and finally, the most prominent, Duels.

I wanted to list my name in all of them. Unfortunately, a participant was restricted to only two. I guessed there was a concern for executing the competition within the time frame, though the bigger concern was likely to dissuade a single person from hogging all the honours, despite there rarely being anyone who could thrive in more than a couple of categories.

For example, most shapers could not contend with an augmenter in Endurance or Strength. Agility might prove plausible, but I reckoned there were half a dozen speedsters like Priam contending in that category. Crafting was largely limited to those with Enchantment essence, whereas Fencing was ultimately a physical challenge. Shapers could flourish in Archery, however, though I reckoned most only trained aiming with spells instead of a bow and arrow. Ultimately, it was in Duels where all the strong awakened converged.

Thus, I gave up on both Shaping and Fencing to select Craft and Duels.

Eran went for Endurance and Fencing, his strong suits, whereas Priam, despite knowing his own strengths, still ruminated over the categories for a long time before going for Agility and Fencing. Knowing his father, the magistratus probably had chosen the two categories for him. Regrettably, Priam had to fight in the Noble Class bracket. He had accidentally advanced to Noble Class not long after I did, or else he really would have been a strong contender for either category in the Common Class brackets.

In the meantime, since his advancement, he had reached the second step in his augmenter path, but his aura control remained flimsy, and there were plenty of people over the fourth step in the competition. He would have better luck next year.

Lastly, Charis went for Archery and Fencing. I did not have much of an impression of him other than him always trying to suck up to Priam, and nowadays to Eran and me.

"You did not choose Shaping?" Headmaster Larius asked, his brows knitted together. "Why? I believe that would be an easy win for you."

I shrugged.

"Are you sure? We can still change it."

"There's no need," I said. I already had a discussion with my parents. The honour the champion of Crafting and Shaping received was effectively similar. Although I did want to have a weaving battle with other shapers of my age, I believed crafting would be far more riveting.

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Can't disappoint Mum, can I?

"I feel like you'll win in fencing too if you join," Eran whispered to me.

Maybe, I thought, still having no clue how good the other contestants would be. The friends I had made in Elinum were all elite, especially Tellus and Valeria, but there were already talents a notch or two higher than they were out there.

"It's good that you did not join," Priam said, fearing for his own chances.

I blinked at him. Despite the number of times I had defeated him, Priam was never one to admit his shortcomings, always believing he could win the next time. Yes, he was overconfident at times, but he was no slacker. For him to admit this...

"Did you eat something bad?" I asked.

Priam snorted. "Now that you said it, I'm actually starving. Let's go, I saw a meatball shop not far away from here."

"I saw half a dozen of them on the way," Eran said.

"Hmm, how about we check out which one has the best skewers?"

"No, I'll pass," Eran said.

"Come on, there was still a day to the tournament, you don't need to be worried about a bad stomach."

Eran mulled it over and gazed at me, as though leaving the decision to me.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to enjoy the festivity a bit," I said. It was rare that I got chances to spend my wealth on anything other than my crafting endeavours.

After informing Headmaster Larius, the four of us strode down the bluestone path to line up at the first chicken skewer stall. A few people were already dining in gazebos at the side, with a dozen people crowding to place their orders. Each skewer costs four copper Leafs, no matter what sauce one chooses. Missing spare copper coins, I decided to go for six meatball skewers, costing only two gold coins.

"This is robbery," Charis grumbled. "The last time I came here, it cost half of the price."

"It's called the festival tax," Priam said, taking two meatball skewers in both hands. He took a bite, overlooking the spicy heat that could burn any common man's tongue. "Taste not too bad. I'll pay in the next stall."

I chose one without any sauce, and it still tasted savoury, with a little spice for my liking. At the next stall, we got something not quite native to the empire. Two plates of dumplings and ramen were served. Eran and I ate from the same plate, while Charis joined Priam. They tasted much better than the skewers, in my opinion, though the cost was higher as well. I liked them so much that I decided to take some home.

"What else to eat?" Priam mumbled, running around with his superior speed to locate the best stalls.

"You still have the stomach to eat?" Eran asked, letting out a burp.

But there was no Priam to answer him, his figure already fading into the crowd.

"He probably burned half of what he ate by running around," I commented.

With our stomachs satisfied, we ventured into other shops. There were plenty of outlets selling jewellery, clothes, toys, and even magical trinkets. Eran bought a mask for his sister to play with, while I could not find anything that I fancied. There were book stalls, but I refrained from checking any of them. For the coming week, my headspace needed to be occupied by the competition alone.

There was much to view in the festivity, but it had not even begun in full spur. With that in mind, we decided to call it a day, if only we could find Priam quickly. Thankfully, he had not gone far. On one far side wall of the inner city, he was participating in a gambling game. He even waved us over, showing all the silver he had won.

I studied the game silently and found it rather simple and easy to win. A boy, perhaps only a year older than us, was shuffling cups with marked chips in them. So long as one could guess the correct chip and bet on it, one would win.

Charis joined easily after watching Priam with his handful of coins. Even Eran joined with smaller bets. Not to be outdone, I played my hand as well. It might have been abundantly difficult for common folk to see through the swift hand movements, but that was not the case with my high perception.

Then a few minutes passed, and I had already lost two gold Leafs and some silver spare. Not only I, but all three of my companions were in the same boat. Even Priam's beginner's luck seemed to end, and he lost his coins in one bout.

He brought more coins to rejoin, while Eran was more controlled. I did not join this time, instead studying with my full capability.

As it turned out, they were cheating. The boy shuffling the cups had a similar agility-based gift to Priam, but he was far down the path. He was no unjaded scammer either. When juggling the cups, he barely put his gift to use, but when it was time to reveal, he swiped the chip with lightning-fast reflexes, hiding it in his sleeve.

I felt like a fool for not noticing it the first time.

And now, Priam lost another wager and whined about being a dolt.

"They are cheating," I informed. "He's swiping the chip at the very last moment."

Although I merely wanted to relay the message to my companions, others heard it as well. The cup shuffler glanced at a rotund fellow beside him, and before we knew it, we were politely guided out of the gambling circle.

"This is robbery!" Priam shouted, almost on the verge of tears. "I'm going to call an enforcer, you heard me!"

The croupier and his group paid no heed, carrying on with their business.

As a matter of fact, Priam really did go to the first enforcer we saw on patrol. The constable listened attentively to the story about the gambling ring and then burst into laughter. My mood, already sour, worsened at being ridiculed.

"Looks like it's your first time gambling," the man said, patting Eran on the shoulder. "Well, it's best you do not gamble more."

"I have no more pocket money to wager," Priam cried. "Can't you do anything?"

The constable smiled and sent us on our way.

Priam's pitiable expression immediately shifted to a fume. "I knew it, all these enforcers are useless."

I returned home with a pensive look. Mum immediately noticed and asked what had happened.

"I gambled two gold coins," I said. "And I lost."

Even she snickered. "Heh, that's good. It should teach you never to gamble."

Thankfully, I had something to lighten the mood, which was to surprise Eran with the armour set I made for him.

Guess his face when he learned he could fly wearing it. Well, I worked hard to see it, and even recorded it with my illuminator.

Eran was beyond elation. He left everything to try it right away.

****

I was running late on the morning of the grand opening of the Klearon Prefectural Competition. Nothing had gone amiss with my sleep schedule. I even dressed in fine adventurer attire, with an enchanted leather jerkin and cloak, and a prominent belt on my waist that lacked a sword. There was even a simpler elite-class protective ward hanging by my neck so that I did not have to rely on my relic.

I paced back and forth on the pavement, waiting for the sword delivery. It was not that I lacked good swords to spare. In the last few days, I had crafted a handful, though most were essence swords. It was Father who asked me to wait, as he had something special prepared in the form of an aura sword.

Sure enough, on the very eve of the ceremony, an elderly figure strode into the courtyard with a sheathed blade in hand.

"Pardon me for the delay," Master Kaius said. "It was quite a hassle to get a fine blade forged at such short notice."

He handed me the blade to examine. It was a long, single-edged blade, plain in appearance. I made a few test swings, feeling its centre of inertia to be just right, if a little on the light side. Additionally, I hardly noticed anything otherworldly about it. It seemed to be made of cold iron mixed with some other metal I did not recognise. Then again, Father's Ouroborus was plain as well.

"Disappointed?" Master Kaius asked.

"It's a lot lighter than I used to." So much so that I feared it would bend or shatter on impact without aura reinforcement.

The elder took the blade, sheathed it, and crouched beside me. "Well, it's up to you to make it heavier, as you see fit." He latched it onto my sword belt and stood, studying my form. "If everything goes accordingly, then you'll get to name the blade too once you become a true swordsman."