19 Chapter 19

(POV From a budding Manipulator)

"Fire Lord, this weapon is a "Mallet", and I have called it , "Sulfuras, The Hand of Ragnaros".

When I handed Sulfuras to Ragnaros, I could feel his joy.

"WELL! YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY TO SERVE ME. NOW LET US BEGIN."

"So be it, fire lord."

I had made a similar deal with Neptulon, in which I would forge him a weapon of his own in exchange for being able to fight him and his princes. This was with the intention of improving my power before the coming of the old gods. And I also asked him to be an observer of the "friendly" combat that would take place. The water lord happily agreed. I guess he also wishes to carry a weapon even though he shouldn't specialize in close range combat... the hatred and competitiveness that beings can cause is unbelievable. Thank 'God' for giving me the power to feel emotions, it wouldn't be so easy if it wasn't for this.

To Therazane I proposed the same deal, as I needed to learn how to fight anything that was thrown at me. Obviously it has to do with fulfilling the mission of the "GOD / DEVIL" who sent me here. She accepted.

I didn't say anything to the air lord, because at this point it doesn't really matter if he participates or not, I have already bagged 3 of the 4 lords.

...

(Time after - Start of the fight)

"NOW, SLAVE. I WILL DEMONSTRATE THE POWER OF YOUR NEW MASTER. I WON'T BE TOO HARD ON YOU, I STILL NEED YOU TO ARM MY ARMIES. SO REJOICE, FOR YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO MAKE MY DOMINION OVER THIS WORLD POSSIBLE, HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Watch momentarily as the firelord rejoiced in a victory that was not yet set in stone. But it was preferable that it should be so, for an enemy full of arrogance is an easy one to impress. What I find most amusing is that he thinks that, if he wins, I can do the same thing I've done so far. Hahaha, Therazane only has to take her blessing from me and I will once again be an elemental with little forging ability. For without my land it won't be easy. As for Neptulon's blessing... There's not much to say, as soon as I lose I know his blessing will vanish.

"It is an honor for me to fight you today. I will do my best to get the victory and prove myself worthy of your blessing."

As much as his arrogance ruined my impression of him. My respect for his power is genuine, and I'm really excited to prove how strong I am now.

"STOP TALKING AND LET'S GET STARTED, SLAVE."

"Observers, please begin the fight at your leisure."

I looked at Therazane and Neptulon. They both nodded and Therazane spoke.

"INICIEN"

...

The firelord lunged toward me, intent on crushing me under the weight of Sulfuras. But his movement was slow. Not only did he lack the sledgehammer mastery he should possess in the future. If swinging the sledgehammer with the intent to crush requires a lot of technique or talent... But, he's also not used to the right amount of force he should use for each strike.

Ragnaros, before getting Sulfuras was a ranged mage with the beginnings of a battle mage, so, despite knowing how to strike with his fists, he doesn't know how to use weapons.

I for one am a somewhat versatile close range attacker. And now with Neptulon's blessing, that versatility has increased even more, thanks to gaining the "crowd control" powers that water elementals are known for.

As soon as the fight started, I used my body power to increase my mass. Surrounding myself with the stone around me, I grew to be a little bigger than Ragnaros. My intention was to test one of his blows and see if what I have theorized is possible.

My sudden increase in size surprised Ragnaros a little but he didn't hesitate even though my size exceeded him by a head.

I received his first swing with my left hand. But the force behind that blow was immense.

*BOOOOOOM*

I must say that the closer I get, the louder their explosions get. My hand didn't completely explode with the shockwave, because I managed to make the stone resist and hold together under the control of my ability. As it hit, in addition to the shockwave, it sent out a wave of fire that sought to consume my entire left arm.

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

I quickly summoned 3 stone walls that would give me a moment to perform my experiment.

"YOU RETREAT SO QUICKLY, SLAVE. DO YOU WANT TO GIVE UP NOW THAT I HAVE DEMONSTRATED A SMALL PART OF MY POWER?".

Without responding, I focused on the fire invading my left arm, and using the ability of body control, I used all my will to guide Ragnaros' fire into my chest. More specifically to the area where his blessing and my fire resided.

*BOOOOOOM*

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, SLAVE. NOW YOU'LL HIDE BEHIND THE STONE? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO BEAT ME IF YOU CAN'T HIT ME? HA-HA-HA-HA! JUST GIVE UP AND LET'S GET IT OVER WITH! I PROMISE NOT TO TREAT YOU BADLY. ONLY UNDER MY COMMAND WILL YOU BE TRULY USEFUL!"

While Ragnaros took his time destroying the walls that separated him from me, and bought me time, I had managed to easily move the fire to where I wanted it.

Then came the hard part. The struggle of my will against the residual will that possessed his attack. Still, by attacking its remaining will with the weight of my own, I managed to make all that fire now obey me.

It wouldn't be so easy if I wasn't in my control zone, where my will was like a fortress. Everything would be at my mercy once inside.

HAHAHAHAHA, I internally laughed at the result. Now that I know I can take his attack, the fire lord lowered his danger to me a little. And I say little, because all the fire I can't drag into my will field will be dangerous. But no matter, I just have to let him keep hitting me, I'm sure he won't like what I have in store for him one bit.

"Fire Lord, as I told you before, I'm honored! "

I lunged at him now with reckless abandon. Ragnaros was momentarily surprised to see that I was completely unaware of my own safety.

And even in surprise, his next attack was on the move. He aimed for my chest, I suppose with the intention of incapacitating me at once. But I received it like a champ.

*BOOOOOOM*

Again his attack imbued its fire into the site and the broken stone remained bound by my skill, or should I say, by my will. I absorbed the fire from his attack with gusto, slowly increasing the power I stored up.

*BOOOOOOM*

An attack on my shoulder.

*BOOOOOOM*

To my head.

*BOOOOOOM*

On my side, where my ribs would be.

*BOOOOOOM*

I just held on, and when he finished his last blow, I initiated my own. In addition to withstanding his attacks, absorbing his fire and crushing the remaining will, I was also calculating his attack times.

*POOFFFFFFFF*

"AAAARRRRG"

My blow pushed him and he let go, pulling away from me. I guess it did hurt.

"WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU SLAVE!"

"First of 3 hits, fire lord."

"HA-HA-HA-HA, REJOICE, BUT THAT'S THE LAST HIT YOU'LL EVER GET."

Then he proceeded to cast his spells on me. Balls of lava and fire. I let them hit and steadily approached. The fire lord moved away each time I approached, keeping me at a distance to continue casting his elemental spells. Not that they would do me much harm, I had only to guide the fire and its will would be crushed by mine.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, I decided to take a chance and provoke him. Well, not that I care about his hatred, he already hates everything else besides himself.

"What is it lord of fire, does a single blow from me now cause fear in you, where is the arrogance of your words, lord of fire?! FIGHT!!!!!

"INSOLENT SLAVE!!!! I'LL SHOW YOU YOUR PLACE!!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! TRY IT, FIRE LORD! SHOW YOUR POWER!"

I knew he was really angry now. But that's better, hahaha. I hope his fire can stand up to the pace of his own arrogance.

Again we approached. As Ragnaros was getting a little used to using his new weapon, he had already prepared the attack. So as soon as I entered his area, the hammer fell on my head. But I didn't care, I returned his blow with my own. Precisely to his head.

*BOOOOOOM*

*POOFFFFFFFFFFF*

"AAAARRRRG"

My blow again pushed him away, as he allowed me to retreat. But I didn't want it to end like this. I just needed one more punch.

"2 FOR 3 FIRELORD, I FEEL MY VICTORY ALREADY!!!"

"SLAVE!!! BOW DOWN TO YOUR MASTER!!!!"

Suddenly a huge wave of fire began to heat up the whole environment. The lava that was already flowing with its presence, increased. Rivers formed around it, but this was not a change of scenery, it was an area attack where it sought to consume my existence in fire. I think I went a little overboard... and the words too, HAHAHAHAHA.

...

(POV Therazane)

With Ragnaros' attack flooding the area with fire, I worried. The Earthforge could hold out, but for how long? I had challenged and enraged Ragnaros constantly, at some point his short patience would wear thin. It took longer than I thought. He must have really valued the Earthforge.

But I did not stop the encounter, and I would not allow Neptulon to do so either. I could sense that he was still alive, and if he died I would enforce the warning I had given him. To hold him deep in the earth, until he could get out on his own... if he could get out at all.

(POV A manipulator beaten, is a growing manipulator)

As it could not be otherwise, to survive I consumed all the fire that hit me. The waves were like the sea, giving way to larger and more powerful waves of fire. As I could not see an end to this, I decided to end this once and for all, as I had a limit to the amount of power I could maintain without collapsing.

I approached the sun that Ragnaros had become by releasing the great waves of fire, and using the tentacle I held in my hand as a harpoon, I managed to thrust it into his chest. Then, pulling with all my strength and the weight I could muster, I managed to catch the fire lord off guard.

"GET OVER HERE!!!!"

When I had Ragnaros in front of me, releasing all those waves of fire, I decided to release the power I had been accumulating and returned it to his caster.

*POOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFSSSSSSSSTT*

"AAAAARRRRRGG. SLAVE!!!"

A great cloud of black smoke and foam shot out of my mouth and the tentacle still stuck in my chest. The foam and smoke smothered Ragnaros' fire. And it was all thanks to his own power fueling my attack.

When the smoke dissipated, my current appearance was visible. The rock I had used to maintain my current mass and size had a strange appearance. As if a candle had melted and then solidified.

"I have won, Fire Lord. It was a great battle, thank you for allowing me such an honor."

Moving as fast as I could away from a slightly more muted Ragnaros in color, I headed towards Therazane and Neptulon. I was waiting for them to finish the fight.

"THE FORGE EARTH HAS WON"

Therazane said.

...

I didn't stay any longer and quickly retreated to the mountain where I was forging. As soon as I was inside, the whole mass of stone I had used and attached to me fell down.

Broken and molten pieces fell, revealing my current form. All the stone I had forged for my body held, but the places where Ragnaros' fire flowed were melted.

Ragnaros is the most powerful elemental lord, for his flame is the most powerful. If I had to give an example. The flame of a candle versus the flame of the sun. Both are fire, but their intensity, heat and power are different. Besides, what makes Ragnaros' flame powerful is precisely his, and by this I mean, his spirit and will. He is the personification of the flame of this world.

If it weren't for the fact that Ragnaros wasn't taking his control over fire seriously in battle, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to subdue his will. My fight would have been different and my victory harder to obtain... Ragnaros held back, I'm sure.

I was getting very "sleepy". I think fighting against Ragnaros' will, even if they were remnants in his fire, exhausted me. I must practice more the correct use of my fight against a powerful will... But already... I cannot... think... any... more... any... thing.

And without realizing it, I "fell asleep".

Author's Note: Good, (Further down my rant, there is an explanation of this chapter and the trap I left in the previous chapter), I want to apologize for not updating, as I had planned to, but couldn't keep up with the plans. I was busy traveling home to spend it with my family this 24th and 31st. That was the day before yesterday.

Yesterday, a friend I've known since I was in 1st grade got married... Even though he said he never would. I guess this proves once again that what is planned doesn't always go the way we want it to. But hey, that's life. A series of events whose reaction culminates in a "gift" or "present", where our actions will guide our future...

On the other hand, much to my regret, I feel bad. I made a mistake and mixed liquor... And now my stomach is protesting against me for doing it. An example of how our actions affect us... I don't drink liquor, in fact, my friends and I don't even drink at events. But I drank because whiskey changed the taste of Pepsi. I found out that if you put a little splash in it, that drink would taste like bubble gum XD. So I don't regret it. But what killed me was combining that with a pina colada cocktail (which of course I ordered with low alcohol)... *Sigh* I don't want to say, "I'll never drink again in my life" because thanks that I controlled myself, I don't feel as bad as if I hadn't done it... Within the bad, there's something less bad XD.

Leaving aside my decisions and plans that don't go as expected, I will explain what I meant in the previous chapter and some things that happened in this chapter. I'll try to explain everything as best I can.

Chapter 18 was left with a "challenge" from me. Unfortunately, few participated and among those who did, they couldn't find it. I'm talking about finding the "trap". The answer: I mentioned that 5 (old gods) were coming. No one mentioned it, nor did they think it was weird. If I'm honest when I wrote it I did it without thinking, because there are 4 not 5. But like, believing it myself made it something you guys could overlook without realizing it... XD. What a thing.

I would explain WHY it is a "trap", because when I wrote it and reread it I realized that mistake. But I decided to give a reason to the mentioned text and not change it.

But since it's possible that it was my mistake for not explaining it WELL, then I'll make another "challenge" where the prize will be kept for the winner of the "challenge" of chapter 18.

Finally, "the explanation of this chapter". Some may ask "Why was Ragnaros so easy to beat?"... and for now I'll just say it. Nothing is exactly what it seems. I'm not trying to just move the plot along, even though it may seem that way. I'm trying to make everything have a reason behind it.

If I'm not doing well, just comment and I'll try to improve. If not, then I'm doing fine for now. I REITERATE, I invite you to comment, advise and criticize me CONSTRUCTIVELY. We can all destroy, but only the wise can guide.

For now, I'll post this chapter. If I can stay well and not release my life in an act of purifying myself, I may post today. Something that might motivate me, even if I'm dying, would be your comments. Today I won't post a minimum of comments to update, because I feel like I've looked bad, not only with you, but also with myself and the daily update plans I had. U.U

Anyway, I invite you to comment and express yourselves, because every comment is a motivation for me. I wish you a great day or a good night, ^^

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