[Raina Is Evolving…]
Like last time, there was a brief pause before Raina actually began evolving. But when she did, Alix relished in the spectacle.
Her body began bubbling again, and then it began growing and expanding. Two antennas had grown out of her head, making her look like some bizarre combination between a worm and a slug.
[Evolution successful]
[Raina is now of the Novice class]
[Please see Raina's new stats]
Alix had no time for that right now. Raina felt extremely heavy on Alix's shoulders, and he could feel himself falling faster and faster, as if he was being pulled down by an invisible weight.
Crap, Raina! Just how big did you get? We might…
BOOM!
…die
The three had landed back harshly into the arena, sending up a cloud of dust in their fall. Saber, to Alix's luck, had landed on the ground on her side, and not on top of him.
But Alix was still worried about Raina. He groaned, winced, and forced himself up. The boy had to hop and spin around to get a good look at her.
Holy…
Raina was much, much bigger now, even bigger than Saber who herself could dwarf a shed. Raina could dwarf a large bungalow.
Alix felt a burning sensation in the arm that had been lost in the sweltering cell, and, looking down, he could feel his shock gripping at his heart.
It's regenerating faster!
Alix quickly summoned the three windows and then carefully looked at each one.
[TAMER WINDOW]
[Name: Alix Vineyard]
[Status: Alive]
[Tamer-Type: Worms]
[Creatures Tamed: 1]
[Total Evolutions Made: 2]
[PERSONAL WINDOW]
[Name: Alix Vineyard]
[Status: Alive]
[Tier: Slave]
[Class: Fledgling]
[Natural Attributes: Regeneration, Secretion]
[Evolutionary Attributes: Enzyme Duplication, Fast Regeneration]
[Resets: 0]
[Tamer Soul Fragments Claimed: 20]
[Soul Fragments Claimed: 54]
[Soul Fragments Until Next Personal Evolution: 74/100]
[CREATURE WINDOW]
[Raina]
Evolution Capacity: 3
Evolution Lines: None
Abilities: Secretion, Parasitic
Evolutions made: 2
Soul Fragments Until Next Evolution: 694/2000
Description: The flatworm crawls without a care in the world, for its cells duplicate rapidly without a thought, and its body knows no permanent wounds, nor can it suffer them.
When he was done reading the description, he dispersed the windows with a smile. Alix looked down again and saw that one arm had fully grown back. The other arm that Saber had taken was growing back quickly over the bone, but was still yet to grow back fully—as was his leg. His nose felt fine too.
Alix smiled and then looked ahead at Luwyn, who was now walking towards him. Or rather, pouncing. Luwyn jumped and then kicked at the air and leapt at Alix with a palpable air of rage surrounding him.
Alix had coated his arms in mucus to defend the incoming blows, but Raina stepped in and did that for him. She expelled some of the blue mucus at him, but Luwyn pounced into the air and kicked it back to hurl himself away.
As he landed, he spoke up with anger coating his voice. "Alix Vineyard!"
He knows my name? But…he didn't see my windows. Did Vaylor tell him?
"You will pay for killing Saber. You will pay! Your death will not be swift, fool!"
Before Alix could speak, a looming new threat appeared in front of the enraged tamer. The summoned beast was much larger than Saber, and the wings on its back could put hers to shame. The beast was a jaguar, but only in appearance, for it was much larger than Raina and Saber combined, and much more dangerous, too.
The two beasts that Luwyn had summoned before were back, growling and snarling, sharing the anger of their master.
Alix grinned. "Looks like we pissed them off, Raina. Get ready, I'm depending on you."
Before another fight could ensue, however, a tall figure flew out of the crowd and swooped down into the arena.
Lord Vaylor!
"The fight is done, Luwyn. Your beast died." Vaylor said, accompanying his words with a gaze that curled the boy's guts with fear.
"Lord Vaylor!" Luwyn shrieked, hurrying towards him with his arms flinging in complaint. "This cannot be! Her death was caused by some trick. Saber could never lose to a worm!"
"Inside of that skull of yours did you hear the voice speak of her death?"
Luwyn paused, and then reluctantly answered Vaylor's question. "Y-yes. The voice spoke of her death."
"Then Saber lost to a worm." Vaylor smiled.
Luwyn ripped off his mask and revealed a face that was hardened by anger. "I will not have it! I will not!"
"Oh? Are you challenging me?" Vaylor's eyes bulged, and his crimson orbs seemed to be begging for a specific response. They wanted the tamer to say yes, to disrespect Vaylor right in his face.
But the tamer was smarter than that. He swallowed his complaints and shook his head. His deep-blue eyes were narrowed in his anger, and he looked down to avoid meeting Vaylor's gaze.
He made a beeline towards the portcullis, walking past Vaylor, Raina, and then he stopped when he had reached Alix. "You may have won your trial today, traitor. But when the war comes, you'll be the first tamer I kill." Luwyn spat.
Trial?
Alix watched as he stormed off into whatever room he had walked out of to challenge him. His beasts vanished before they could walk under the portcullis with him, and it almost felt like the crowd had vanished, too.
They were silent, no cheer could be heard, no chant, cry, nor insult. Nothing but silence.
"Lord Vaylor," Alix spoke up with a hint of confidence in his voice, "what did he mean by trial?"
Vaylor grinned. "Did you forget the words I said to you when we first met? I mentioned how you'd be put on trial. I even brought it up in the cells. This is what your fight was, a trial."
"B-but why would you let me live by stopping Luywn? Am I not still a traitor in the kings eyes?"
Vaylor shrugged. "The kings eyes mean nothing under the gaze of the late emperor. He was the one who coined the concept of the arenas, after all. He also made its laws."
"What laws?"
Vaylor smiled and then looked away, cleared his throat, and spoke up with thunder in his voice. "'Under the law of the first emperor, Saladan The Great, and under the eyes of The Voice, our only God, and the only one we worship', Alix Vineyard, the tamer I thought to be a traitor, has hereby proved his innocence under the trial by combat!"
Alix inhaled a breath of relief, and then collapsed into Raina's body. There was still one thing bothering him, though. It was Vaylor. The man had known he was a slave the whole time, and yet had put him through…everything. He had almost lost his life several times. And for what? His entertainment? His amusement? Alix could not say.
The crowd did not cheer, they were as silent as ever and deep frowns swam across their faces. They didn't like it at all, but they couldn't object, nor could the king.
Vaylor walked past Raina, and then up to Alix. He grabbed the boy by his shirt and held him up from the ground. Raina crawled in front of them, and blocked off the lord's only path.
"Raina, don't! It's okay!" Alix yelled, hoping the worm wouldn't force Vaylor's hand. He had seen how enraged Luwyn had been after Raina had killed his beast, it almost costed him his life when he had confronted Vaylor. Alix didn't want anger also clouding his judgement, and he most definitely didn't want Raina to die.
"Tell your beast to leave, Alix."
"W-why?" Alix stammered
"Don't be annoying, just do it. Are you going to have it following you everywhere?"
"It is a her," Alix reminded him.
Vaylor scoffed. "You're getting a bit cheeky, eh?" He chuckled, but then a fearsome scowl contorted his humorous face. "Tell the beast to leave."
"L-leave, Raina. It's alright, I'll come back for you."
In an instant, Raina vanished into thin air, and was was nowhere to be seen. In a panic, Alix summoned his windows.
"Oh let it be," Vaylor rolled his eyes, "she's fine, fool. You can easily summon her back, but do that later. We have much to discuss."
"Much to discuss? Where are you even taking me!? You're always taking me somewhere!"
"We're going back to my office. And what can I say, you're a very interesting guy, Alix."
Alix's brow furrowed. He felt like taking the compliment but realised who had said it. "Interesting how?"
The same black wings bloomed from Vaylor's back, and he flew up into the air, soaring through the skies. Alix could feel himself drowning again, but then the dragon lord suddenly came to a stop in mid-air.
"Well, for one, Alix, you're a slave."
"I knew it! So you did know, how long have you known!? Why make me go through all this if you knew I was innocent!?"
"Because tamers truly grow in battle, not by killing rats. Alix, throughout the 667 years I've been on this earth, you are the only tamer I've known that was born tamerless."
How many years!?
"H-how did you even know, anyway?"
"Really?" Vaylor chuckled. "It says slave-tier in your personal window, Alix. That lets me know you were born a slave. See, your lack of knowledge was another indicator. What tamer doesn't know a thing about the arenas? I'd shrug that off if you were some foreigner, but your accent says otherwise."
Vaylor began gliding silently through the air, then continued. "As for your tamer type, I've also never seen anything quite like it. Some may tame rats, sheep, and even deer, but nobody ever thinks to tame a worm. Why did you?"
"I didn't. A strange man gave me the power to."
"Who was the man?"
"I don't know! Listen, Lord Vaylor, I don't mean to be rude, but why can't you just let me go? I won the trial, proved my innocence—though I was innocent the whole time, and I'm a tamer, which means I can't be a slave! So why!?"
"Because you have the potential to be great. Anomalies like you stand out from the crowd, Alix. I want you on my side."
"Your side? I don't want to be caught up in your war!" Alix yelled, struggling to wrench himself free from Vaylor's grip.
"You don't want to?" Vaylor laughed. "Ahh, Alix, you'll be caught up in it regardless, I'm here to prevent you from getting crushed. Stick by me, be by my side, and you will only grow."
"You keep saying your side, which side is that? The empire's?! The same empire that enslaved me, caused the death of my parents, and took my sister away from me!? That side!?"
Vaylor shook his head. "No, Alix. My side. I plan to crush the empire from within."