Chapter 8 - Dregbane

On leaving the arena, Arthur waved Merlin over as they had plans after the rites, he also motioned for Rick but a quick hand sign told him that he had to go home, since his dad was just a two steps in front of him, leading him home.

Seeing Dante he said with a smile

" wow your really strong Dante, we almost didn't make it "

Turning his head, Dante had a stern look in his eyes as he answered

" next time you wouldn't be so lucky " turning around, he moved off

" what's his problem? " Arthur inquired

" just let him be, some people like to be left alone " Merlin speculated

"Anyways, let's head over there, there's something I've been meaning to show you " Arthur spoke, this tine with his usual corny smile

"Alright then, race you there " Merlin said as he soon dashed off towards their destination.

Following suit, Arthur soon joined him as they jumped off trees and sped through the forest with the most graceful strides

It took them about 30mimutes of them running at full speed to finally reach the checkpoint - their secret training grounds, it was nothing fancy, just another clearing, but this time the space was limited as well as tailor made to their liking, with ropes tied here and there, showing their territory.

" so, what is it? "

"Well actually its a new ring I've been working on " he answered

" well then let's see it "

Getting to a stance, with his right hand hiding his blade in a piercing form over his head and his left hand showed off a hand sign of his two fingers (before his thumb) out stretched, while the rest were packed tightly around his palm.

"Lightning style - 3rd ring - Lightning bolt" he chanted

As time went by, the tip of his blade began emitting a pale blue essence and in no time sparks flew from it and finally the show ended with a dwarf sized round orb of lightning leaving the swords tip with a speed akin yo a lightning bolt, its target being a tree of in front of it.

On impact, the spherical orb disappeared but after a brief moment, streaks of light spawned on the tree's bark and in but a few seconds, the tree look like a pillar of fire as the streaks of lightning scorched the leaves of the tree to a crisp.

" so what do you think, although the effect is substantial for now, its size is laughable and also it consumes a lot of runes" Arthur spoke, taking a seat on the ground, as he was too dizzy to stand - the ring had taken a lot out of him than he had expected.

"I think this could be tour strongest ring yet"

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" how so? " Arthur asked

" well if I'm not wrong, then this ring shows promise for runic distortion" he answered

"runic what?!! "

"Runic distortion - its a phenomenon present in some rings, its basically the ability to conceal a spells true might in order to deceive or bait the target" he said

Seeing Arthurs confused face, he continued

" imagine launching the lightning bolt at some one and then using rune perception, the person knows the intensity of the ring, runic distortion enables you to hide the try strength of a ring so that a ring that looks weak would still pack quite a punch "he finished

"Ohhh - now I get it " he said as he stopped scratching his head

" so does it work on all rings " he asked

" No, energy distortion is only possible in a handfull of rings because of its high concentration aptitude "

" alright then, can you show me what you've been working on, 'cause I could tell you weren't going all out in the tournament" Arthur said

"Ok" was the reply

" and what's it called!? " he asked

" I call it 'Terra Teleny ', its an earth art " he said

"Well then show.... "

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The gong sounded three times, informing them that it was time to head back to the village for the usual evening briefing

" another time then " Merlin said

"Ok; let's go" Arthur replied as the two rushed back to the village

The gong was to signify the village's meeting time ; a one bang gong, to mark the end of hi ting or farming e.t. c, a two bang gong to announce the bed time for all the minors in the village and then the three bang gong to call the entire village into the town square for a meeting

They got to the Later hall a great building which stood at the town square, it peaked an outstanding 30 metres high and covered an area of about 40 metres on diameter, in a word it was simply magnificent, easily dwarfing the other structures around it

They arrived just in tine as the fates were closed afterwards. At the large podium at the centre stood the Order

The crowd pilled in and soon enough everyone was present .Asake held out his hand in August signalling for silence .

"We called this meeting to warn you all of the impending danger ,we all face ,as you all know the hexi have begun closing in on us ,spreading past our boarders and into the forest "

" The danger is imminent and so we have decided that once the rites are over,we are to retreat to the asylum to seek refuge " Asake spoke ending his speech .

The village comprised of about a hundred and fifty people with the exception of children and right now ,those whispers echoed through the hall

" Impossible!! , how will they treat us " a voice spoke

" Are we to become their slaves ?" another said

" No! , I'll rather....." A third voice began to say but was rudely interrupted

" Die?... Well if you welcome the idea then I guess you can stay behind " This time it was a ring leader who spoke and it was none other than Sinbad Belmont, he said so with a smile on his face.

" Ha - hau - how can you say that ,well what do we expect ,you are a Belmont after all, all of you are just blood thirsty animals " a fat man stood and shouted at Sinbad ,shutting the others up with his booming voice

" What did you say ? " Sinbad asked with his face forming a frown

" You heard me " he shouted "you pigs were lucky enough that we let you hide after all you've done ,even making one of you our leader ,yet you have no shame do you ,...you're just a bunch of freakin' animals " he finished , unafraid of Sinbad's glare

" Animal!! ? Animal!! ?.... You dare call me an animal ... Ha ! ha ! ha ! Well then I guess I can't betray my tag , can I ?" Sinbad asked adjust his hysteria

" Wha -- what"

" Animals hunt, don't they? " he asked still laughing ,but this time he began moving towards the man

" Sinbad stop ! " Ember shouted but he remained oblivious

"Animals also feed, don't they? " he continued

Rengen walked forward and held his arm, but a single stare from Sinbad made him retract his hand

" Animals also fight ,don't they " he was now admist the crowd, getting down from the podium. They have way anytime he came by forming a long snake trail

" What do we do Asake , if we don't do anything ,Sinbad may kill him " Akila asked pleading with Asake

" I'm afraid we can't do anything,we all know that it's against ring custom to insult a ring leader , that alone is punishable by death , so he is already a dead man " Asake replies simply

Inake began moving towards Sinbad in a quick fashion ,dodging and ducking past the people as he went through

Finally Sinbad was face to face with the man " Ah! ..I forgot one , animals decide the fate of their prey .... don't they? " mere metres away from him, the man still stood his ground not shaking in fear

" And what do you think you can do you dog, your family destroyed my entire clan and for that I myself shall have your head - men!" he shouted

" HA! HA! HA!, well you can try "

Out of the shadows three men appeared, clad in armour ranging from an alpha tier to a beta tier. The three drew out their swords and proceeded to unleash their rings

* Water style - 1st ring - water whip *

* Larva style - 3rd ring - partial eruption *

* Storm style - 4th ring - hollow tornado *

Like clockwork , a water whip ensnared Sinbad, the the ground beneath him began boiling and a tornado formed with him at its centre

" Ha! - " the man cheered for his men ,but in a blink of an eye , all the rings disintegrated and all that was left was Sinbad still with a grin on his face, uninjured and unfazed

* Blood ring - 4th ring - ..* he started chanting

" Sinbad Nooooo!!! " Ember shouted

* ...Blood boil* he ended

Immediately, the three guards dropped to the floor and began clutching their chest, sweat dripping from their entire body.They swayed left to right until finally, none could move again, blood flowed from their nose, mouth and eyes covering their backs In a steaming reddish puddle

Then he focused his attention on the now scared man

" Oh please, i beg you, I'm sorry, spare me " the man begged as tears streamed out of his eyes

" Oh ! , Does the prey beg ?, no he doesn't he accepts his fate , doesn't he " Sinbad inquired with a serious look on his face

" Oh!, Please have mercy "

" Sinbad!, not here not now " Inake said

" Oh!, You here you want to see me hunt my prey " he asked Inake with a terrifying smile

" I'm serious Sinbad, this isn't the time for this" he stated

" Well what do you know, it's your lucky day, I'm in a good mood " Sinbad said to the man with a smile

" Ah! Ah! ,Thank you " he said

" For what?... ,you will still die"

" I thought .....You just said.."

" Yes I did, my plan was to end you slowly ,but with Inake here I'm forced to finish you quickly " he answered

" You bastard! ....you!" The man yelled and ran towards Sinbad

But mere moments before he was to reach Sinbad's neck with a concealed blade, his body splattered on the floor, diced to a million pieces, blood everywhere and a puddle of his organs stewed with the blood

" Ah! Inake , how could you , he was mine" Sinbad said this time he was dead serious

" You wasted too much time, next time be more efficient " Inake answered swinging his sword to remove the blood on it and then sheathing it back in place

" Well then , next time I promise to be quick " he replied once again with a smile

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The death of the fat man - Mr Tyrone seemed to shut the crowd up and the meeting went on till it finally ended with Asake asking everyone to start preparing for the move

The clouds grew dark and eventually the twinkles above it emerged, lighting up the night sky

Arthur layed on his bed still pondering on what he had witnessed

What ring was that ? .....how was it able to do that much damage without any runic discharge .... And he didn't even take a step in order to cut a million times .....isn't that impossible...

By this ,he was referring to the ring Inake used ....no trace ...no incantation ....no sigil ....no nothing but suddenly a man died .

" Oh well , they are the highest ring's, so I guess this would be child's play to them" he reasoned

Slowly, sleep took him away and surely within a few minutes he was in the land of dreams.

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In his dream a voice called out to him - " today a man died, a hero for some, a terror for others, but know this, every voice has a consequence, we either pay now or in the future".

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*BOOM* *BANG* *CRACK*

" What the hell is going on out there " Arthur groaned as he was rudely awakened from his sleep by the condition outside .

Checking his window ,he noticed that still the sky was a but dark , meaning it was still the early hours

" Are they throwing a parade out there ? ...or what "

Another bang caused an earthquake, rattling the foundation of his hut

Then it suddenly stopped . After a while of silence , he presumed that it was safe to go out , slowly getting up he was just a step away from his bed when he heard a loud shout

"DREGBANE!!, IS HERE!!".....

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