Divine Beast Ascension

All of Reginol’s men nodded, standing and turning to leave immediately. They offered a small bow to Graent as well before walking away.

But the hawk suddenly flapped and left Reginol’s shoulder for the shoulder of one of his men. And though it didn’t cause Reginol to say anything or stop that masked bodyguard, it did cause Reginol to bite his tongue and almost call out to the bird.

“It looks like someone got caught!” laughed Keldon.

“One must do something illegal before getting caught breaking the law...” Reginol scoffed, immediately beginning his descent toward Jarrit on the stage.

“Master Jonon...” A new but familiar voice called out, getting Jonon to turn and find the female bookie. But her face was riddled with hesitation and uncertainty as she continued, “Master Jonon... As Master Hurman isn’t here, I’ve brought his earnings as well. Sadly, we weren’t able to bring the full amount that Master Hurman has won but we can assure you that we’ll be sending someone to discuss the matter before the end of the day.”

“Of course... Thank you.” The moment he accepted the two void rings, the bookie nodded and scurried off. “I don’t see what... HUH?!”

.....

“What’s wrong?” Cethlin asked, grabbing her husband’s hand.

“This... How much did they bet... And this isn’t all of it?” Jonon quieted down but still couldn’t fully contain his mixed emotions. Inspecting the ring again and again only confused him more, letting Jonon feel that Oli and Hurman were both genius and insane to even consider making such bets.

At the same time, Hurman was making his way across the competitor area and up the stage.

‘I told you we were in for a show.’

“You weren’t kidding...” Hurman whispered, reliving the small heart attack he felt when Burt had shown his fourth essence type.

“Hurman, you chose well,” stated Jarrit, greeting his old student with a hug.

Nixt was next, lightly punching Hurman’s shoulder with a proud grin. “You’ll have to tell me more about him! He might become our best warrior yet!”

“Right...”

While Bastol joined the conversation, followed by Lizbeth, Reginol quickly hopped onto the stage. And before Hurman could question Reginol about it, Jarrit smiled wide and looked at the announcer. “This year, I’ll be taking both of our finalists directly to our territory leader.”

“What do you–”

“Make sure to follow protocol while we’re gone...”

Hurman wanted to speak out to Jarrit but wasn’t given the chance. The dean had already slammed his staff into the ground, casting purple energy over the surrounding stage floor and engulfing everyone there apart from the announcer on the edge. That energy suddenly collapsed on itself, seemingly imploding before the crowd’s eyes. But the crowd cheered and shouted in celebration as the announcer riled up the crowd one last time.

In an enclosed courtyard not too far away, a large bubble of purple energy suddenly came into existed and popped simultaneously. In its wake, Jarrit, the other hosts, both finalists, Hurman, and Reginol were left behind.

‘Hurman, what just happened?’

Speaking carefully, Hurman loudly asked, “Professor, why did you bring us here so suddenly?”

“You have an audience with Rhyner, right? Well so does Reginol, as do these two young men. This is simply the fastest way to make that happen,” stated Jarrit, still smiling. “Come, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

While those from the Institue began walking toward one exit, Burt suddenly bolted toward the opposite pair of heavy doors. And before anyone could say anything to him, Burt bowed his head to Oli. “Thanks for the match! But don’t think I’ll lose next time!” Without another word, Burt left the group and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Excuse me, but what’s going on right now?” Oli questioned, unsure of everything around him.

Lizbeth sighed and responded, “Sorry about him... He’s always like that, so don’t worry. Right now we need to go see my father.”

“Your father? But why would we go to the Whizek Family?”

Nearly everyone left out a chuckle from Oli’s statement. But Lizbeth only shook her head and stated, “We’re not at the Whizek Family.”

“Then–”

“Oliver,” Hurman was shaking his head as he explained, “We’re in the territory leader’s residence right now.”

“What?!”

“Is something wrong?” Lizbeth asked, stumped to hear such a reaction out of Oli.

“No... I just... You’re the territory leader’s daughter? But your last name is Whizek?”

“That... Well, that was part of the deal for my father to marry my mother. But as my father says, ‘I’m lucky to be born a woman and not inherit the Whizek Family!’...”

“Then... Oh... I’m going to meet him already?”

“Hurry up!” Nixt shouted, holding the large door open for everyone. “We shouldn’t keep him waiting when he’s expecting us.”

“Right...”

Shaking his head in thought, Oli followed Hurman and the others through a couple of hallways. He noticed how everything more intricate and luxurious than necessary, a clear sign of power and wealth, but nothing was covered in gold or jewels. Having learned architecture in his last life, Oli associated such a mansion with someone with plenty of power but not too much greed, someone who saw beauty in the little things instead of only monetary value. His assessment of the territory leader had already begun before.

After a few minutes of throwaway conversations, they reached a lounging area with a large set of double doors on the far wall. A man was seated on one side, a man that instantly caught Reginol’s eye.

“Claud?!”

“Reginol... Why are you here?”

As Reginol briskly stepped toward the man, Jarrit moved toward the double doors. “You two can wait out here. Rhyner will see you after he’s done meeting with our new champion.”