Ninecloud City was every bit as impressive as Moongrave, except with a rainbow theme instead of purple. There was no wall, either. Instead, hundreds and hundreds of enormous towers were arranged in rough rings, growing taller as they approached the single massive spire in the center of the city. Each tower was colored a different hue, and everything seemed to be made of some sort of glittering crystal. Impressive was certainly the word, even if the clashing colors hurt my eyes a little.
As we passed over the edge of the city, rainbow light sprung up around the ship, and a pleasant voice welcomed us. I'd read about the Ninecloud Soul, but seeing it in person was fascinating. Allegedly, it had been made from the Remnant of the first Ninecloud Monarch. "Can you talk to all of us at once?" I asked the air experimentally.
The rainbow glow intensified slightly around me. "Holding a conversation with everyone in Ninecloud City at once is unfortunately beyond my abilities. But I do my best to make myself available to anyone who needs me. If you need anything at all during your stay, just ask."
"You can always hear us?" asked Meira.
"I will observe the privacy of the Akura Clan and our other honored guests, of course. But my duty is to watch over the city and ensure the safety and comfort of all our citizens."
"In Ninecloud City, television watches you," I muttered under my breath in English. That was probably a bit hypocritical of me, but at least I was honest enough to admit I was just spying on people instead of trying to frame it as for their own good.
"Are you happy?" asked Mercy.
"I have dedicated my entire existence to the Ninecloud Court. I would have it no other way," it responded. "But it's thoughtful of you to ask."
The rainbow glow pulled us towards one of the towers a few rings into the city. I could easily see thousands of other cloudships gliding over the streets, or already docked. A few were even as large as the Akura ship, which was practically a floating palace.
The three of us made our way to the front of the ship as it approached the dock, where we found Charity already waiting. She offered us a slight nod, and we stood in silence for a few moments. "I see none of our other teams have arrived yet," she said abruptly. "When should we expect them?"
"The delegation from the Frozen Blade school is approaching the city now," replied the Ninecloud Soul. "They should arrive shortly. They… appear to have encountered some difficulties during their voyage."
"Difficulties?" asked Charity sharply.
"Their ship appears to have sustained damage. I'm sure they will be able to tell you more when they arrive."
"And our other two teams?"
"The delegation from the Blackflame Empire will arrive later this evening. The delegation from the Rising Earth sect has not yet entered Ninecloud territory."
"Inform my father, and give him the location of the Blackflame Empire ship," instructed Charity. "He will escort them to ensure there are no further… incidents."
"The Ninecloud Court is happy to guarantee the security of all participants of the Uncrowned King Tournament."
"That was not a request."
"...Of course. You are free to come and go as you please, so long as your actions do not threaten the safety of any citizens." With that, the rainbow light faded away.
"What does it mean?" asked Meira after a few seconds.
I smiled slightly. It'd taken me long enough to get her comfortable with asking questions when she didn't know something. But then my smile faded. "Most likely explanation is that someone ambushed our other teams on the way here. Dragons, probably, but it could've been the Dreadgod cults, too. Maybe even both. Frozen Blade fought them off, but the fact that they were even threatened means it must have been a Sage or a Herald. The Blackflame Empire… Maybe they just weren't considered important enough to bother with. But the Rising Earth sect only has an Archlord. If they're missing, we have to assume the worst."
"...Can't we do anything? Get revenge?"
"Not if their teams have already arrived. We'll have to wait. It's a risky play. If we win the tournament, they'll find themselves in a very bad position."
"Regardless of the outcome of the tournament, there will be a reckoning for this," said Charity coldly.
A moment later, there was a crack as Fury shot away from the ship at his usual extreme speed. "I hope everyone's alright," said Mercy sadly.
Ninecloud servants in colorful robes ushered the ship into its dock, bowing low as they stepped off. "Stay in our tower until we have a more complete picture of what's happened," instructed Charity as she swept off.
"Allow me you to show you to your quarters," said the Ninecloud Soul, the rainbow glow returning.
Having no better options, we followed. Mercy sighed. "I was really looking forward to exploring the city," she said. "I wanted to last time, but I was too young."
"We'll still get the chance," I said. "Things will settle down once everyone has arrived. No one's going to be dumb enough to try anything in front of the Ninecloud Soul."
The rooms we'd been given were far more lavish than my own room back in Moongrave. I could have had something this lavish if I'd asked for it, of course, but who honestly wanted an actual fountain in the middle of their bedroom? Not that the rooms weren't comfortable; the bed appeared to be scripted for extra restful sleep, for example. But the main purpose was clearly once again to impress guests. I supposed it was inevitable when the entire tournament was effectively a dick-swinging contest on the grandest scale imaginable.
Fortunately, the Ninecloud Soul either hadn't noticed my scarabs or didn't care (probably the second), so I was free to scope out the rest of the tower. Several of the Underlords who hadn't been chosen to compete had come along anyway. They were staying a level down from us, in slightly less impressive apartments. Above us were rooms even larger than ours, where Fury and Charity would be staying. The top of the tower was taken up by a single suite shrouded in impenetrable shadow aura. I doubted Malice was actually there, but I wasn't about to stick my metaphorical nose in, either.
Since there was nothing much else to do, we passed the time cycling. I kept an eye on the comings and goings from our tower. The Frozen Blade school arrived half an hour or so after we did, and Charity spent quite a bit of time speaking to the Winter Sage. Not knowing what they said irked me a little, but I knew better than to try and listen in on a pair of Sages. Hopefully we wouldn't be kept in the dark for too long.
As promised, the Blackflame Empire ship pulled into the dock just as the sun was going down. I saw immediately that they'd suffered damage, too; a huge hole had been blasted in the top deck of the ship, and there were several other scorch marks. Honestly, they were lucky their ship could still fly at all. I headed down to greet them, and hopefully get some answers while I was at it. Mercy of course came with me, and after a bit of prompting, Meira decided to get it over with as well.
Yerin, Eithan, and Lindon disembarked from the ship first, followed by another woman I didn't recognize off the top of my head. She had large emerald wings, the Goldsign of the Path of Grasping Sky, so I figured she was the representative of the Naru Clan.
"Shall we meet in that lounge a level up from us, about a quarter of the way around the tower?" asked Eithan abruptly, apparently to thin air.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes slightly when I realized he was talking to me. "That looks fine," I responded, drawing confused looks from Mercy and Meira.
"Wonderful!" he said, clapping his hands together. "And perhaps our good friend the Ninecloud Soul can arrange refreshments for us?"
"It would be my pleasure," said the Ninecloud Soul to both of us at once, heightening my companions' confusion. Yerin and Lindon, I noticed, seemed to just take it in stride.
The lounge that Eithan had picked offered a spectacular view out over the Ninecloud countryside. "Colorful" was definitely the word I'd choose to describe it; the trees here apparently thought they were flowers, since they had leaves of every color of the rainbow. There were natural thousand-mile clouds, too, some large enough to have trees or even entire rainbow forests growing on them. Several large sofas and couches faced the windows at angles.
The others were already here. Yerin hopped up as soon as she saw me, walking over with a grin. "Burn my soul to ash if I thought I'd really be standing here a year ago," she said. "The Uncrowned King Tournament! Just wish my master was here to see it." The she caught sight of Meira. Her grin vanished, and her hand drifted to her sword. "Can't say I was expecting to see her here."
I couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Yes, I suppose you two didn't quite get off on the right foot the first time you met, did you? Meira?"
Reluctantly, she stepped forwards. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry for, ah, trying to kill you."
Yerin stared at her for a moment, then barked out a laugh. "Don't have enough fingers and toes together to keep track of everyone who's tried to kill me, but you're the first to apologize for it." She shrugged. "Past's the past, so long as you don't try it again."
"...Just like that?" asked Meira hesitantly.
"Why not?" said Yerin, shrugging again. "Got enough enemies already without asking for volunteers. If Taylor trusts you, that's good enough for me." Her grin came back. "Not that I'd turn down a rematch, if the Tournament happened to give me one."
Mercy could no longer contain herself. "Hi! I'm Mercy," she said, leaning around me. "You're Yerin, right? Taylor's told me lots about you! I'm so glad I finally get to meet you!"
Yerin looked her up and down. "Could be she mentioned me to you once or twice," she said. "You really reach Underlord when you were fifteen?"
Mercy looked down, blushing slightly. "I had lots of help," she said. "I'm sure there are lots of people out there who could advance as fast as me if they had all the resources I do. And I couldn't have done it without Taylor, either." She looked back up, smiling. "You should introduce me to the rest of your friends!"
"Sure," said Yerin, turning. She immediately found herself facing a beaming Eithan, who had come up just behind her while we talked. She scowled and deliberately turned past him. "This is Lindon."
Lindon pressed his fists together and bowed. "Wei Shi Lindon Aurelius. It's an honor to make your acquaintance. I look forward to fighting by your side in the Tournament."
"Likewise," said Mercy, offering him a small bow in return. "I've never seen anyone with a double core before. What kind of Path is that?"
"I… follow a Path of my own creation, although with a great deal of help. The Path of Twin Stars."
Mercy nodded. "Sometimes I wish I could've made my own Path," she said. "But I never could have made one as good as the one I actually got, so I can't really complain."
"...And this is Eithan," said Yerin, finally acknowledging the blonde Underlord who'd been shuffling closer and closer for several seconds.
He immediately sprang forward, giving a flowery, elaborate bow. "What an absolute pleasure it is to meet a sacred artist of your talent and eminence! Eithan Aurelius, janitor extraordinaire, at your service!"
Mercy giggled. "Taylor told me about you, too. She said you're annoying, but I think she was just being grumpy."
"A terrible, slanderous accusation!" said Eithan. "Anyone who knows me can testify that my presence brings nothing but joy and enlightenment!"
"You're silly," said Mercy, smiling. "I like acting silly, too, so people won't be scared of me. Did people used to be scared of you, as well?"
For just a instant, Eithan froze. Then he smiled, and I thought it was maybe just a bit more genuine than it usually was. "I'm sure no one here could be frightened of such a delightful young lady," he said.
The fourth member of their group had stayed silent, hovering towards the back and looking slightly nervous. I stepped around the others as they continued their conversation. "I don't think we've been introduced yet. Naru Clan, right?"
"Naru Saeya," she said, pressing her hands together and bowing. "I saw you, during the battle at Night Wheel Valley. It's an honor to actually meet you."
I gave her a small bow in return. "Likewise. I assume you represent the Blackflame Emperor?"
"My brother," she said, nodding. "Publicly, he's deeply honored to have three Blackflame citizens competing in the Uncrowned King Tournament. Privately, he's a bit annoyed that all three are named Aurelius. Not that any of them don't deserve it," she said quickly. "I've been training plenty against Lindon and Yerin, and it doesn't hurt my pride to admit they're both more talented than I am. And Eithan is, well, Eithan."
"Of course," I said. "Well, we're happy to have you here, regardless of whether you end up competing in the tournament or not."
She raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that had been settled already."
"It was," I said, grimacing. "But one of the ambushes on our teams seems to have been successful, so we suddenly have three slots to fill."
She frowned and nodded. "Right, the Rising Earth sect."
"You know something about that?"
"That Gold Dragon Herald came over to taunt Akura Fury about it while he was escorting us into the city." She shivered. "I would be just fine with never even being in the same city as two angry Heralds again, let alone the same cloudship, let me tell you."
"So it's confirmed, then," I muttered. "Let me get everyone together. I want to hear the whole story."
I herded them all onto a couple of couches facing each other. "So I understand it was the Gold Dragons who ambushed our teams, no surprise. But since the four of you are here, I assume you weren't attacked by a Herald. What can you tell us?"
"It was that same Underlady we fought back on the island," said Yerin after a moment. "Sophara or something, think that's what her name was. Went after Lindon like a starving wolf after a hunk of beef. She was… strong. Stronger than an Underlord should be."
"That's within expectations," I said, nodding. "After the way we humiliated before, my master predicted that she would try to become more powerful by any means she could, no matter how dangerous. Those sorts of shortcuts never come without a price. I take it the four of you managed to defeat her, though?"
"Landed a couple of decent hits, but nothing likely to put her down for the Tournament," said Yerin. "It was still a pretty near thing. She probably would've wrecked the ship if it weren't for Lindon, and he just about got burned to a crisp doing it."
"It wasn't that bad," objected Lindon. "But I agree. She was much stronger than I expected. Forgiveness, but… If this is part of a plan, I would very much like to hear the rest of it."
"The ambushes certainly weren't part of the plan," I said. "It's never been an issue before, since we usually don't field so many teams. We'll complain to the Ninecloud Court, but I doubt they'll do anything, since it happened outside their territory. But as for Sophara… You'll just have to take my word that it's being handled for now."
After a moment, Yerin shrugged. "You say so. Anyway, shall we get to training? Sparred with these two so many times, it's like fighting my left hand with my right," she said, gesturing to Lindon and Saeya. I noticed that she didn't include Eithan in that.
"No training tonight!" said Mercy firmly. "We just got here! I want to get to know all of you first."
"Always thought the best way to get to know someone was in the arena," muttered Yerin.
"That's what tomorrow is for," replied Mercy. "And also the day after that, and every day until the Tournament starts. That's why tonight, we're just going to enjoy ourselves. So how did you meet these two, Lindon? I don't think I've ever heard of the Wei Clan."
Lindon startled slightly at being addressed. "Ah… You wouldn't have. I come from… an extremely remote region. I doubt my past would be of much interest to you."
"I disagree! You must have quite the story, to make it from such a remote region all the way to the Uncrowned King Tournament."
I got the distinct impression that Lindon was deciding how much he needed to lie, or at least leave out. Interesting. Yerin had told me a couple of stories about him while we'd been on the Ghostwater island together, and none had seemed particularly implicating. What was it he didn't want to share?
I shook myself slightly. It wasn't any of my business. Lindon wasn't a threat, and he wasn't my responsibility, either. Whatever secrets he wanted to keep, none of them were going to bite me in the ass if I didn't figure them out ahead of time. Old habits died hard. I leaned back and let myself just enjoy whatever sanitized version of his story he wanted to tell.
The next day, as promised, there was a brief competition among the Akura Underlords to select replacements for the missing team from the Rising Earth sect. To no one's surprise, Grace easily secured herself the position as the team's captain. She'd shown very little bitterness over being beaten by Meira for the final spot on the prime team, but I was glad that she'd ended up with a chance to compete anyway.
Pride also managed to secure himself a spot on the team, although narrowly. Mercy's little brother had only advanced to Underlord a few months ago, and although he was talented, he hadn't been through the same kind of exhaustive training the rest of us had in preparation for the tournament.
The last spot ended up going to Naru Saeya, who outfought Akura Courage for it. She was perhaps not quite so talented as some of the other Akura Underlords, but she was also more than a decade older than them, and her experience showed. It was also, I understood, a politically convenient move to have an actual vassal on the supposed vassal team.
Then it was time to train. Not that we'd ever really stopped, but it was important to keep ourselves in absolutely top shape. Sparring against new and unknown Paths was also extremely important, since we'd facing nothing but once the tournament started.
Two days after we arrived, I fought Lindon for the first time. The Akura tower had a miniature version of the arena for just this sort of thing, and while it didn't give me as much space as I might've liked, it would do. The two of us faced off about fifty feet apart while Mercy judged.
"Begin!" announced Mercy, and I immediately unleashed my Ruler technique. My swarm emerged from the shadows, blanketing the arena. I dodged sideways just in case Lindon rushed me or sent an early Striker technique my way, but he did no such thing. Instead, he kept standing where he'd started. A sphere of pale blue madra surrounded him, and all of my insects which touched it instantly dissolved back into aura. I glided into the air, considering. In function, the technique was similar to a Ruler technique, but there were no true pure Ruler techniques. In that sense, it was more like an omnidirectional Striker technique.
Experimentally, I sent my own Striker technique at him, and I didn't hold back. This technique had started as an adaption of Mercy's Nightworm Venom technique, but with Charity's help, I'd refined it considerably. Instead of a simple bolt of madra, the technique took the form of a long centipede which writhed through the air towards him. And instead of a single technique, I launched half a dozen simultaneously. Each took a curving path, so as to come at him from different angles. I'd named this technique the Dream Parasite.
Unlike the insects in my swarm, which had barely any power in them, the Dream Parasites penetrated the madra bubble surrounding Lindon. But the bubble still caused them to lose cohesion, so that they were just vague black streaks by the time they actually reached him. He reacted almost instantly, twisting aside to dodge three of them and deflecting another with his Remnant arm. The last two hit him, but seemed to have little effect.
Well, that was fine. I could probably punch the technique through if I infused it with soulfire, but there was no need. Even if he had vastly deeper madra reserves than me, which he probably did, that sphere had to be hideously expensive to maintain. He'd run out of madra far sooner than I would if he didn't take the offensive.
No sooner had I thought it than he leapt out of the sphere and straight towards me, covered by the glow of an Enforcer technique. Reflexively, I dodged down. He hadn't actually been quite on target, passing a few feet to my left, but he was certainly a lot closer than random chance should have accounted for. His trajectory carried him passed me, so I sent another half dozen Dream Parasites at him. Just before they reached him, the sphere popped back into existence, once again diffusing my technique.
How had he seen me? I activated my own Enforcer technique, which I honestly should have done already, and concentrated my swarm a dozen or so feet away to form an illusion of myself. He lunged for it, and I fired off another swarm of Dream Parasites so that they would hit him just as he was trying to hit my illusion. But instead, he activated his sphere technique again in mid-air, while also using soulfire to adjust his trajectory with wind aura. Had he realized it was a trick?
Apparently so, because he pushed off the floor as soon as he landed, once again coming right at me. My surprise nearly got me hit, but reflexes save me. Whatever ability was letting him see through both my swarm and my Umbral Mantle, it wasn't perfect, because I was able to juke to the side. Then I roundhouse kicked him.
He went flying across the arena and slammed into the far wall, and I was pretty sure I'd at least broken some ribs. I kept the pressure on, sending another volley of Dream Parasites after him. He landed on his feet and immediately had his sphere technique up again. I shook my head slightly. What was this kid made of?
I reused my Ruler technique, and this time I put soulfire into it. The swarm grew denser and thicker, and dozens of illusions sprung up around him. He didn't go for any of them, but he also didn't drop his sphere, proceeding more cautiously back towards the center of the arena. I darted around to the side of the arena, and then behind him. Even if he'd walked it off, the kick had done a lot more than any of my techniques had so far. Maybe another one would do the trick.
My illusions faked at him, or launched fake Striker techniques, or just circled him. I came at him from above and behind, preparing to knock him right into the floor and then unleash Striker techniques at point-blank range. My foot crossed the edge of his bubble-
And he whirled with impossible speed. He slammed his palm into me my chest, and a huge Forged echo of his hand accompanied it. My Enforcer technique was wiped away by the blast of pure madra, and even my wings lost the ability to carry me. I landed in an undignified heap. Fortunately, my swarm wasn't disrupted, so no one saw my humiliation.
I coughed a few times before I managed to stagger to my feet. Then I needed to cycle for a few moments just to get back enough control over my madra that I could dismiss my swarm. "I yield," I announced, mostly for Mercy's benefit.
"Wow! You beat Taylor?" she asked, skipping forwards.
"Well fought," he said, offering me a bow. "You hit a lot harder than I thought you would."
"Swordhand Iron Body," I said distractedly. "How did you do that? No one at the same level as me has ever been able to see through my Ruler technique like that before." If there was a weakness in my technique, I needed to address it now, before the Tournament began.
"Ah… Apologies," said Lindon. He was silent for a few moments, almost looking like he was arguing with himself. Then a… thing popped into existence over his shoulder. It was a little purple ball with a single large eye, and two tentacles for arms.
[Hi! I'm Dross. That technique was really cool! It took me a long time to figure out how to see through it, almost ten whole seconds!]
I tilted my head. The voice had been projected directly into my mind using dream aura. I scanned the… Spirit? Construct? With my spiritual senses and saw that it had its own, fully developed madra system.
"It's so cute!" squeed Mercy. "What is it?"
[I told you! I'm Dross. I guess that's probably not that helpful, though, if you've never met a Dross before. Which you haven't, cause I'm the only one. I think.]
"Dross is my… companion," said Lindon.
"Your companion," I repeated dryly.
[His closest companion! I'm the only one who actually lives inside his head, after all.]
I knew some Sacred Arists bonded mind spirits, especially at the higher levels. But a mind spirit shouldn't have been able to see through my technique like that unless it was at a higher advancement level than me, and I was quite sure this Dross wasn't an Overlord. But then, Lindon had spent a good couple of months inside a facility where a Monarch had researched mind constructs, hadn't he? I threw out a shot in the dark. "How come none of the Heralds took you? Or at least the Truegolds who came after?"
[I don't know! I certainly talked to enough of them! Well, at them. It wasn't really much of a two-way conversation, if you know what I mean. Wait, I think that was supposed to be a secret. Forget I said that.]
I was pretty sure something like Dross would catch the eye of even a Herald, let alone a mere Gold. There was no way he'd been left sitting there for fifty years as he was. That meant he must have been… unfinished. Dismissed as another failed project. It fit with the name, too. But then Lindon, the lost Lowgold trying to find a way to escape, had actually paid attention to the failed project yammering at him. He'd taken it with him, and… Then what? How had a Lowgold managed to create something like this? Because I was willing to bet that Dross, or something like him, was what Northstrider had been trying to create in Ghostwater in the first place.
"You're an actual artificial intelligence, aren't you?"
[Artificial intelligence? I guess that is kind of what I am. No one's ever called me that before. Is there another Dross out there somewhere?]
"I knew someone… similar to you, once." I smirked. "She was much less annoying."
[Annoying!? Did you hear that? She thinks I'm annoying! Well, I think you're just mad that I beat you!]
I turned back to Lindon, who was looking rather nervous. "I'd like to hear the full story of how you made Dross sometime, if you're willing to share it. In the meantime, I suggest you use a little more caution in showing him off."
Lindon pressed his hands together and bowed, looking a bit relieved that I wasn't going to try and take the construct. "Gratitude."
I nodded. "Be careful. On the off chance that… Ghostwater's creator is less dead than publicly advertised, I'm sure he would be extremely interested in what you've done. You understand?"
"I do."
[Next time you beat her, you should take some of her madra! It smells much tastier than yours.] I considered him for a moment, then Forged a scale and tossed it to him. He jumped up from Lindon's shoulder and swallowed it whole. [Wow! That is tasty. Lindon's is all bland and watered down. I guess I can forgive you for saying I'm annoying.]
"Good, because the two of you are going to help me improve my technique until you can't see through it anymore."
[Ha! Haha! She's joking, right? Oh, she's not. I mean, um, of course I'll do my best to help you improve your tiny little human brain. I'm… sure you'll be able to fool me in no time!]
I rolled my eyes.
