Choices and Circumstances

"It seems like little Rygeth isn't winning."

"Why did you say it like that?"

"Regardless if he passes the Trial or not, as long as that sorcerer is dead. . ."

"That healer is half decent, to be able to delay their death this long."

The respected Immortal felt like he was going to pop a vein, "All of you silent! Next person who speaks is getting kicked off."

The Immortals remained silent, they wished to see how the Trial ended anyway.

~ ~ ~

"Zenothoriath?! Isn't that one of the Mythical beasts?"

Desk Guy chuckled, "Indeed, this guy managed to convince all four Sages to team up with him. It's only natural he knows about Zenothoriath."

The devs looked at him, "What else do they have hidden?"

"I am sure you are all aware that most of them have War Sights."

"We know about that, it's still ridiculous though.", A developer responded.

"Akiol has Breaker of Stars, along with being his official wielder."

"Which reminds me, what was the condition to wield him? Many of the lower eight have difficult quests to even get a hold of them. Much less become their wielder."

"Johnny, take over on this one."

The developer named Johnny cleared his throat, "Breaker of Stars originally was supposed to have a difficult quest to even find him. Yet the player managed to find him before the scheduled event. Even then the requirement to wield him is possibly both the hardest and easiest out of all the twelve swords."

"That is?"

"He has to view you as cool."

". . ."

". . ."

". . ."

"I'm sorry?"

"Breaker of Stars has a childish personality, so being cool is quite easy for his eyes. You just have to be skilled in fighting, he would then soon want to be a part of the battles. There is another possibility though."

"What's the possibility?"

"Since the player had met him during the beginning of the game. . . it could be possible that Breaker of Stars had grown attached to the player."

"That sounds wrong."

"Don't view it as wrong."

Desk Guy coughed, "Alright, that's enough. For the other secrets of them we will just have to see."

A developer who had been silent this whole time suddenly asked, "Why is Rygeth holding back so much?"

"What?"

"I created the Crimson Immortals. I am very aware of their power. Even if Rygeth is no where near the strongest out of the group, he isn't this weak."

"How strong is he supposed to be?"

"He could fight on par with the current suppressed Zenothoriath easily. Yet he is, and pardon my unprofessionalism, getting thrashed thoroughly."

"So he's been holding back this whole time?"

"Yeah, and I don't know why."

"What could cause this?"

"I just said I don't know."

~ ~ ~

Rygeth stood up, every inch of his body ached. He felt several pops and cracks across his body. A sigh escaped his lips.

What was he doing?

Ever since his flare of anger when his Immortality was revoked, his emotions have been fluctuating.

Several memories passed through his mind.

-<>-

Rygeth slid back, wounds covering his body.

Another Crimson Immortal smirked, "It seems like I have passed this Trial. In accordance to the Trial, I now will receive your resources for the month."

. . .

Month after month the same thing occurred. An Immortal would invoke a sacred Trial, beat him senseless, then take what was his for a month.

Sacred Trials were one sided. If he denied the Trial then the same effect would occur if he lost. He found himself cursing such an unfair system.

An Immortal walked up to him, "Little Rygeth, I invoke-"

"Take it. I don't care."

The Crimson Immortal had a sickening grin, "Who said I wanted your resources?"

Rygeth's eyes widened.

. . .

Rygeth opened his eyes, his surroundings were bleak. White, grey, and a little bit of brown surrounded him. He had sensed a group of individuals surrounding him for a while now, but he no longer cared.

A barrier extended over him quickly. Rygeth could have easily escaped, but he remained unmoving.

He stood in this position for years, his mind constantly toiling between madness and inactivity.

More years than Rygeth could remember passed. A single thought raced through his head on repeat.

Kill them all.

More years passed and such thoughts faded, instead his head was empty. His perception of time became warped, what he felt like an hour became years, and Vice versa.

One day that same barrier than contained him for an unspeakable amount of time slowly faded.

He was ecstatic, immediately he went to visit his saviors. Yet was disappointed upon seeing they weren't even First Stage.

An idea struck, if they were skilled enough to disable the barrier... they could have high potential!

Immediately he offered for them to be under his command. He began planning ways to grow their strength to take revenge. But they declined...

He couldn't let such potential go, what if another Immortal found them? Yet they still were adamant about their decision.

He couldn't let others get their hands on such talent. If he couldn't have them, then he would have to kill them.

Yet they kept surviving. One by one they deployed everything they had to survive. Even he was shocked with their tenacity.

Then that Tortoise came along and prevented his plans. Rygeth couldn't let the others have them. . . nor could he let them go.

So he initiated a Trial, with it he would be protected until he could carry out hit plan.

It was at this point he found out the secrets about the Trials. They weren't sacred, they were created by the Immortals as a binding contract to those weaker. An individual cannot initiate a Trial to someone with greater strength.

He returned home sometime later. Immediately after returning several Immortals attempted to initiate a trial to obtain the stockpile of resources he had. But they couldn't for he was already bound to one.

He took this stockpile and used it to regain his old strength which had degraded over time.

And soon came the set date for the Trial. . .

-><-< p>

Rygeth was slammed into the wall.

What was the purpose of this?

Whilst he had spent a long time stagnating in strength, the rest of the Immortals have grown. The gap between them was far greater than before.

He was bombarded by a barrage of elements. Yet he couldn't think of the danger.

Why was he doing this?

This group's general increase of strength was something he had never seen before. Their current strength had well surpassed their past self.

They would be able to protect themselves, he didn't need to worry about it.

Yet the victor would only be decided once the other party dies.

And he. . . he still had to take revenge!

He freed himself from the rubble. Clenching his fist he felt power course through him. He took a deep breath, it was time to end this.

Rygeth vanished and reappeared in front of Zenothoriath. The beast released a powerful gust of wind, but Rygeth moved his palms and redirected the gust with sheer force.

The beast stepped back and swiped a powerful paw. Rygeth caught the paw and gripped it, "Tell me. . . can an ancient beast such as yourself feel fear?"

Wham-!

Rygeth slammed his fist into Zenothoriath's jaw. Making them stumble in surprise. He heard the summoner shout something, but the words missed his ear.

The beast grinned, "Good, this is worthy of our arrival."

A far more powerful gust of wind pushed Rygeth back. Yet it wasn't as far as before...

Zenothoriath began to use their own body for the fight. The beast looked like the kind to barrage its enemies from afar, but its real strength was in its physical body.

Rygeth jumped, barely missing the vicious jaws that aimed to tear him into two. He flipped forward and aimed a kick towards the beast's back.

Zenothoriath jumped with a surprising amount of speed for its size. Rygeth was slapped out of the air with their powerful tail.

Walls made of stone rose around him, a powerful wind arrow filled with elements shot towards him.

Rygeth shouted, "Not enough!"

BOOM-!!

A shockwave dispersed the attack Rygeth leapt into the air, several runes appeared behind him, "[Negative Buddhist: Palm Strikes]!"

Several silhouettes of a palm rushed towards Zenothoriath. The beast raised a stone wall to defend, but this was easily smashed through.

Before the beast got hit, an orange-brown shield appeared and blocked the attacks. Rygeth eyed Tilia, "Troublesome ability. . ."

Zenothoriath released hundreds of small water needles. They shot forward, making the scene seem like it was raining sideways. Rygeth dodged many of these, but some managed to slice through him.

"Tch!"

He pushed his palms to the side, "[Negative Buddhist Path: Bell]!

A grey bell descended onto Rygeth. The needles bounced off of this, proving ineffective.

Zenothoriath spoke, "A shame. . . it seems like this is where we part."

The bell was raised and Rygeth saw Zenothoriath slowly fading away. He sighed with a hint of relief. Now to deal with the rest of them.

A silver haired individual shouted, "Thanks for the time Jarvis! It's time to end this!"