No, she didn’t make anything up. No matter how hard Vasa tried, no good ideas came to her mind. In the end, she just showed up at my room with a barrel of strong alcohol bigger than herself.

  “Kid, we have to celebrate your platinum token!”

  “Lady Vasa, that’s really not necessary…”

  “Don’t give me that! Quiet now! I celebrated mine with friends for half a year!”

  “Does the great Goddess of War even have friends?”

  “Well, loads of them!”

  “Alright then, if you say so.”

  “Used to, at least. Till they all croaked from old age. Munk’s still around from those days.”

  Vasa put the barrel on the floor and tore off its top with her fingers. She scooped out a full mug and downed it in a few large gulps.

  “Ughhh! Dwarven booze!”

  But the smell alone nearly made me gag. The alcohol content must have been close to a hundred percent, if not more.

  “Lady Vasa, I still have things to do in the city!” I shouted, running out of the room.

  “Hey, brat, I came to see you!”

  “Next time, Lady Vasa!”

  Phew, barely escaped… Sorry, my lady, but I’m not chugging that brew with you. I’d rather go see Butch for the last of my ordered spears. But… damn, I really did feel sorry for her. Loneliness weighs on even the strong.

  “Mister Butch, it’s Aney, please open up!”

  I knocked on the door several times before I heard the lock click, then walked inside. Butch was in his workshop, so I headed over, giving a brief greeting to his great-great-something-granddaughter.

  “You’re early. But come on in, it’s all done.”

  He handed me the spear, and I noticed how his hand was trembling.

  “Mister Butch, are you alright?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “Well, it’s not great if a master of your level isn’t feeling well.”

  “You don’t say!”

  “But your hands, still…”

  “Listen here, you little punk, live to my age and then you can talk back!”

  “Alright, Mister Butch, sorry…”

  I took out an eighth-class core and handed it to him. I was about to say goodbye when Butch waved a hand, pointing to a chair.

  “Sit down for a bit, we need to talk.”

  I sat in the offered chair, and the old man pulled his closer and began gesturing at me. I covered us with an aura so no one could overhear our conversation.

  “Listen, Aney, you’re a good kid, I can tell. I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”

  “Go ahead, Mister Butch, if I can help…”

  “You see, Aney, I’m old. Really old. And as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t have much time left…”

  I wanted to protest, but he raised a hand to stop me.

  “Listen, I’ve tried everything, and no medicine will help anymore. A year, maybe two – that’s the most the gods will give me… But I’m not asking for myself. It’s for Alika… She won’t have anyone once I’m gone…”

  “Mister Butch, I…”

  “Hold on, I’m not asking you to marry her, just look out for her if you can, make sure no one messes with her… And in ten years, she’ll be the best craftswoman on the continent, I guarantee it. Her hands and her mind are better than mine ever were. She’ll repay you a hundredfold, that’s the kind of person she is. What do you say?”

  “Mister Butch, your request is as sincere as it is unexpected. But before I agree, I should tell you – I have a lot of powerful enemies. Wouldn’t it be better for me to stay away from her?”

  “Heh-heh, enemies, Aney, that’s good. Strong enemies make people either stronger or dead. I believe you’ll end up the former, not the latter. So I’ll ask again. What’s your answer?”

  I thought about it. Having the best future weapon master on the continent by my side was tempting, no doubt. But my feud with the powerful of this world… Though, I could easily hide Alika either in Lygote or in the duchy next to Hek. So the future pros far outweighed the cons.

  “Alright, Mister Butch. If something happens to you, I’ll find Alika and help her however I can. If I’m still alive, of course.”

  “Heh-heh, a champion with a platinum plaque afraid someone’ll off him… What pitiful times we live in…”

  “You already know?!”

  “Why wouldn’t I? You think champions like you pop up like flies on dung? I haven’t seen one in eighty years…”

  “Wow, I had no idea.”

  “It’s strange, really, where did you crawl out from?”

  “Yeah, it is what it is. Alright, Master Butch, can I go now?”

  “Wait a moment, kid, I’ve got something for you—a trifle, but it might come in handy.”

  He pulled a scroll made of several sheets from a hidden compartment and handed it to me.

  “What’s this, Master Butch?”

  “This, you could say, I made especially for you. The Formation of Nine Spears, can only be used with the spears you ordered from me. I wanted to make it work with ten, but I couldn’t—my knowledge wasn’t enough. It’s my gift to you.”

  “Thank you, Master Butch…”

  “Ah, forget it. Though this formation won’t be able to kill a true God, regular Gods of War are no more than fleas to it—I guarantee that. There’s just one drawback—it requires a lot of high-grade monster cores…”

  I grinned.

  “Master Butch, if there’s one thing I’m not lacking, it’s monster cores.”

  “Well, then, good to hear. Go on now, before Alika gets suspicious—things are too quiet around here.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I dismissed the aura barrier and, saying goodbye, left the workshop. A formation that made Gods of War seem like fleas… Not that I doubted Butch—I trusted his skills as a weapon master—but such power… If it was true, escaping the capital would be no problem. I had to learn the formation as soon as possible. The auras of two Gods of War followed me all the way to the hotel.

  But what awaited me in the room… I never should’ve left the Goddess of War alone with a barrel of booze. The first thing I saw was a half-naked Vasa asleep on the floor, hugging an empty barrel. And that wasn’t even the worst part. In the room, I also found two completely naked, bull-like men. And not in the sense that they were just big—they were literally half-human, with massive, thick horns and beast-like faces. I patted one of them on the snout.

  “Hey, man, wake up, it’s time for you to go…”

  He blinked at me, trying to understand what was going on.

  “And don’t forget your buddy,” I added as he got to his feet.

  The guys were still extremely drunk, and I barely had the patience to wait while they dressed and stumbled out.

  “Watch the doorway! Damn, how do they live with those horns?”

  I pulled the tablecloth off the table, draped it over Vasa, and carried her to the bed. How did she manage to get that wasted? I’d only been gone for a few hours… And what a crew she found… I already had a sense of her tastes back in the palace, but this? In my room?

  I didn’t want to stay here, so I went down to the lobby and booked another room. Once inside, I took out the scroll Butch had given me and dove into studying it. Honestly, it wasn’t that complicated. The core principle of the formation was already embedded in the spear shafts themselves. All I had to do was place them correctly in space using aura. Once the spears were properly positioned, a formation seal would ignite, into which I had to insert eighth- or ninth-grade cores. Then the spears would attack the enemy like ordinary puppets, obeying verbal commands.

  Damn, this really was comparable to ninth-class puppets, and with spatial element properties of the ninth circle! The old Butch was a genius, and if Alika ever became a master like him… I wouldn’t regret today’s deal.

  Unfortunately, the room was too small to set up the formation. Otherwise, I would’ve tested it right away. What was interesting was that Butch had started working on this idea from the very beginning, when he first began forging the spears. Had he planned to ask me for a favor even back then? Before I won the one-against-a-hundred fight? And if I’d refused, he wouldn’t have told me any of this? I probably wouldn’t have noticed the formation embedded in the shafts myself, mistaking it for simple ornamental scale work.

  Clever old bastard!

  Morning found me still at work, when Vasa entered my room wrapped in the same tablecloth, having broken the lock. She walked over and slapped me hard.

  “You abandoned me, you damned bastard!… Hey, Aney, got any recovery pills?”

  What an idiot… I pulled out the bottle, intending to give her a couple, but she snatched it from my hand and dumped as many as would fit into her mouth.

  Right, when it’s not yours, it doesn’t hurt to waste.

  “I didn’t abandon you, Lady Vasa. I left you with a barrel of booze. I had no idea it would end like that…”

  “Screw you. You’re a fool now and always will be…”

  She threw the pill bottle back at me and left the room, dragging her feet. Foolish woman…

  The lock was broken, so I took the spear Crow had given me and propped it against the door. I stared at it for a moment and burst out laughing at how history repeats itself. I first saw this spear almost four years ago when Crow used it to prop a door the same way.

  “Well, old piece of metal, I guess that’s your fate—propping doors.”

  But what was my fate? Hell if I knew… But definitely not propping up anyone’s doors or well-being.

  The day of the competition had finally arrived. I left the hotel early and made my way to the central arena of the capital. The sun had just begun to rise over the horizon, tinting the buildings’ walls with a weird pink hue. The city was waking up, and as I walked the streets, I overheard people getting out of bed, preparing breakfast—or, in some cases, singing in their bathrooms. I smiled, wondering if I could live that kind of life. Maybe. But not for long. Trouble finds me so often I never even have time to deal with it.

  I stepped into the still-empty arena and looked around. Not a soul, just the gray stone beneath my feet and hundreds of thousands of identical blue seats in the stands. Total silence and calm. I sat on the ground, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. In a few hours, I’d give them a show the capital would remember for a long time.

  I still wanted to punch Vist in the nose again—and the scapegoat was going to be the capital academy’s team.

  I spread my senses out over several kilometers and watched as people slowly began moving toward the arena, often stopping at street vendors to buy snacks. It was going to be a long, hot day. My watchers, the two Gods of War, had also positioned themselves a few kilometers away—one to my right, the other to my left.

  Don’t worry, boys. Your time will come too. Just not today. I had other plans for this day.

  Spectators began appearing in the stands, staring at the weirdo sitting alone in the middle of the arena.

  “One against a hundred! That’s him! That’s Aney, I recognized him!” someone shouted from the stands.

  “Yes, that’s right, I recognized him too!”

  “Good luck, Aney!”

  “Crush them!”

  “Put those bastards in their place!”

  “We’re rooting for you!”

  The noise in the stands kept rising. The more people arrived, the more of them wanted to shout something at me—greetings or wishes of good luck. Unexpectedly, I became famous throughout the capital. Wanting to thank them, I opened my eyes and took to the air.

  “Thank you to everyone who came here to say something kind and wish me victory. Believe me, I’m very grateful!”

  I spread my aura and gently patted their shoulders. Tens of thousands of throats roared with excitement.

  “Today, I hope I can show you a new path in mage battles! Even though I’m only a sixth-circle mage, I’ll fight all the tournament battles alone! I hope you, my dear viewers, enjoy the show!”

  For a few seconds, silence fell as they tried to grasp what I had just declared.

  “Yeeeeeeeees!” — the roar of the stands shook almost the entire city.

  I thanked them once more and landed. Well, I definitely had their attention now. People kept passing my statement to the newcomers in the stands, and the cheers didn’t stop.

  Teams of mages participating in the competition began to enter the arena. I grinned, savoring the anticipation of the coming battle. The officials responsible for the tournament entered the stands. Leading them was that skinny hag Vyst.

  “Greetings, dear friends, and thank you for the interest you’re showing in the competition for the title of the best academy in the Northern Empire! Today, I, Vyst, will be your host and head judge! First of all, I must remind all participants of the competition rules and inform you of a few small changes.

  To protect the lives and health of participants, each of them will receive a magical teleportation token. When a student’s damage level approaches critical—that is, a life-threatening state—the token will break and teleport you outside the barrier!”

  She waved her hand, and a small token of transparent green stone flew to each of us. Damn hag, she ruined everything for me! Now she not only robbed me of the chance to destroy her team, but she also jeopardized my own participation. After all, according to her plan, it didn’t matter how strong my body was—untouched by any sixth-circle mage’s attacks—the decision would rest with this stupid stone, and if it crumbled, I’d be thrown out of the arena.

  Clever monster! I bared my teeth, staring at Vyst. But you’ll lose anyway.

  The mage announced the start of Group A matches. I climbed with the other participants to the seats reserved for us and sat down to watch. It was so boring I honestly felt like falling asleep. Watching two rows of mages, lined up opposite each other, hammer each other’s mana shields with various spells…

  Damn, there wasn’t even a hundredth of the fire and dynamism of warrior battles in this! Four battles of eight teams dragged on for nearly two hours, leaving only four teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Among them was the capital academy team.

  No matter. I hope to meet you in the final. I was already starting to figure out how to bypass the damned green stone’s limits.

  The Group B competition began. My match was to be the third, so I patiently sat through nearly an hour while teams one through four fought.

  Finally! The organizers called up teams B5 and B6. I jumped straight from the stands onto the arena, sparking applause and cheers from the crowd.

  “So, where’s your team?” the judge asked as ten opponents lined up across from me.

  “I’m more than enough for them alone!”

  The judge shrugged. Maybe there weren’t enough fools in the world… and announced the start of the match.

  As soon as the barrier rose, I activated all six of my magic circles at once. Large, bright-red magical seals appeared above my head and lowered to knee level, beginning to slowly rotate.

  Sixth-circle time-element spell—Steady Time!

  I used it immediately, not giving my opponents a second to raise their mana shields. Now, in this field of frozen time lasting a few seconds, only I could move—along with anything else that would appear after my spell was cast.

  First-circle fire-element spell—Fireball!

  A volley of ten small blazing balls flew at my opponents at breakneck speed. They understood everything but couldn’t even move their pupils.

  As soon as the first fireball hit one of them, he turned into a thin white beam and was transported outside the arena barrier.

  So that’s how it works—the stone is definitely stronger than my sixth-circle magic. Well then, I’ll destroy the capital academy team another way.

  Our battle lasted less than two seconds before all my opponents were thrown from the arena.

  The judge removed the barrier and declared me the winner.

  The crowd in the stands went wild with excitement. They had never seen one mage fight against ten—and win.

  I looked at the pale Vyst, who was clutching her chair with her fingers. She already understood that victory for her team was impossible, but she still hoped to save their lives.

  No worries—just wait a few more hours, and you’ll see…

  I jumped back to my seat in the stands. The judge announced the final match of the round of sixteen…