The heavy, terrifying war rhythm of the drums echoed with brute force deep into their very bones. The thick, suffocating smoke from the blown steam pipes hung like an impenetrable wall in the arena, but it now began to lift agonizingly slowly. Every single person stood in an absolute, murderous fighting stance that would instill pure, paralyzing terror in any normal mortal.
“Stay focused,” Silarias grunted softly, holding his giant fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned completely white. His monstrous muscles vibrated visibly with pent up adrenaline.
Aurelius tightened his iron grip on the handle of his sword. The blade shrieked inside his mind with an insane volume, begging for fresh, hot blood. Jane’s gigantic electric panther made the steel arena vibrate with a deep, heavy growl that transitioned directly from its thick neck into violently crackling bursts of lightning. Next to them, Nyx let the pitch-black, gleaming moon ice crack menacingly beneath her boots.
“Do not hold back,” Nyx whispered coldly to the others.
The bloodlust in the air was so intense it felt physically tangible. The entire group was armed to the teeth, completely ready to tear the Silicones standing before them into a thousand bloody pieces.
But as the glowing vapor finally blew away with a loud hiss, the entire arena held its breath in absolute, stunned shock.
There they stood. The five living, untouchable legends of CinderPulse City, the infamous and highly lethal blast district. Their appearances were so eccentric, bizarre, and mysterious that it formed a sharp, almost extraterrestrial contrast with the rigid, mechanical coldness of the steel arena. They wore clothes that were not just made of dead fabric; this material was alive. The heavy textiles moved rhythmically, as if they were breathing on their own, completely adorned with gleaming copper gears interlocking flawlessly. Miniature steam pipes hissed constantly, ejecting tiny clouds of pressure, while bright, pulsating neon patterns flowed like liquid light through the frayed hems of their garments.
Right in the center stood Master Ometol. His deep, weathered, and heavily wrinkled eyes radiated an unfathomable, almost terrifying ancient wisdom. Around his broad shoulders hung a massive, asymmetrical cloak pulsing gently with an intense, warm, golden light that illuminated the entire floorboard.
Directly next to him stood the two deeply feared women of the group. The first wore a tight, fireproof robe made of deep red, shining leather. It was completely covered from top to bottom in hundreds of small glass tubes, where a bright purple, highly explosive powder swirled with a mind of its own. The second woman wore a truly impressive, massive armor forged from matte black iron. Thick copper pipes connected two gigantic, mechanical cooking utensils serving as anting weapons on her back. Their razor-sharp edges gleamed lethally in the flickering neon light.
On the right side lounged an older, incredibly hulking man with a heavy silver beard hanging deep over his broad chest. He leaned totally casually on a truly gigantic, antique sword. The incredibly broad blade was driven deep into the solid steel floor plates with sheer brute force.
The very last of the infamous Silicones was a young guy who looked completely and utterly lost. His incredibly oversized puffer jacket hung limply and messily around his shoulders, his hair was a chaotic bird nest pointing in every direction, and he kept his thin arms buried deep inside his pockets. He let out an enormous, unabashed yawn and stared at the arena through a pair of dull, half-closed eyes.
The gang kept their deadly weapons and terrifying antings strictly ready, fingers hovering over the triggers, entirely prepared to strike with maximum devastation. Then, Master Ometol took a calm, highly confident step forward. He carefully inspected the terrifying, monstrous upgrades of the heavily trained squad, sighed deeply, and shook his head.
“Well, well, look at these faces,” Master Ometol spoke with a surprisingly soft, genuinely concerned voice. “Just look at those deep, dark bags under their eyes. This is completely unacceptable, you know. It is an absolute disgrace.”
The older swordsman pulled his gigantic weapon from the solid steel floor with a single, terrifyingly fluid motion, treating it as if it weighed nothing more than a feather. But instead of taking a deadly fighting stance, he pointed the blunt, broad side of his blade sternly at the tightly flexed, hungry stomach of Silarias.
“Do you all not hear that?!” the old man grumbled loudly. “That right there is the hollow, sad sound of a completely empty stomach! Unacceptable! A man cannot throw a proper, world-shattering punch without a hearty, warm meal in his belly!”
The young guy in the puffer jacket made zero effort to look intimidating. He took a tiny, lazy step forward, scratched slowly behind his ear, and nodded weakly at the group. He looked as if a gentle breeze could knock him right over, totally harmless and fatally exhausted.
“Sleep first,” he mumbled in an incredibly sluggish, dragging voice. “Do nothing without getting some sleep. And take a hot bath. You all honestly smell like a severely burned nervous system and stale, rancid sweat.”
The two ladies immediately started nodding vigorously, their fierce, explosive temperaments shining through instantly.
“There is not a single hair on our heads that would ever think about fighting or training a bunch of malnourished, unwashed teenagers!” yelled the woman in the red leather with a fiery, loud, but genuinely caring look. “Come on now, introduce yourselves. By the way, my name is…”
A short, freezing, almost surreal silence fell over the room. The murderous, crushing tension evaporated like snow under a blazing sun.
Silarias stared at Nyx with giant eyes full of pure disbelief. “Did he just say warm meal?” Silarias whispered loudly.
Aurelius looked at Jane, totally dumbfounded. Apollo, Beat, Lyn, Nicola, Ren, Miki, Izumaru, and Balamore all looked at each other with their mouths hanging wide open. The insane, absurd switch from deadly final bosses to a group of caring, eccentric masters complaining about hot baths and empty stomachs was simply way too much for their overstimulated, completely fried brains.
Silarias was the very first to drop his heavy, murderous fists. He suddenly burst into an overwhelming, roaring laugh that echoed with brute force through the entirety of Sector Null.
“Hahaha! Is this our real training?! This is absolute genius!” Silarias roared out, clutching his gigantic, broad chest as he laughed uncontrollably.
“Hahaha! And here I was thinking it would be an absolute living hell!” Aurelius howled right after him with a loud roar. The bloodthirsty, terrifying screaming in his sword instantly went completely silent, replaced by a confused hum.
The entire group erupted into massive, frantic, and deafening laughter. The crushing, suffocating pressure of the past two and a half days exploded out of them in one single, massive wave of relief. Even Nicola’s white-hot, terrifying ether eyes twinkled with pure amusement, and Jane’s enormous, overwhelming lightning panther calmly sat down on its hind legs to casually lick its giant claws.
“Come along quickly, you bunch of laughing hyenas,” Master Ometol smiled broadly, waving his hand in a grand, highly inviting gesture. “The Bastion is warm and completely ready for you.”
Together, the massive, noisy procession walked through the gigantic gates of the legendary Bastion. As soon as the enormous, solid copper doors slid open with a loud grinding noise, an overwhelming, truly heavenly scent hit them right in the face.
The hype immediately exploded in all its intensity all over again, but this time driven by pure, all-consuming hunger. Across gigantic, robust wooden tables stood endless, meter-long rows of steaming, incredibly fresh food. Enormous, perfectly marinated pieces of meat were so bizarrely tender they literally fell right off the bone. Gigantic bowls overflowing with shining, steaming rice, deep pots filled with thick, fragrant stews, and golden-brown, crispy side dishes covered the entire, immense hall.
“These are portions made for actual giants!” Silarias yelled, completely beside himself with joy, going absolutely crazy at the sight of the gigantic mountains of meat. “Just look at that marbling, that perfect layer of fat, and that crispy crust! This right there is a real, legendary upgrade for us!”
“This is not just food, this is pure art!” Jane shouted, her eyes sparkling with ravenous gluttony as she stared at a gigantic platter of perfectly grilled steak. Her deadly hunting instinct converted into pure, untamed hunger in a single second.
Everyone started yelling wildly and loudly over one another. The massive hall filled with deafening, frantic voices and pure sensation over which platter they were going to entirely devour first.
Right in the middle of this delicious, epic chaos, Ren looked around wildly until he spotted two familiar, trusted faces standing by the main table.
“MENTORRRR!” Ren screamed with pure, unadulterated, and intense happiness springing from his very toes. He sounded exactly like a kid who had just seen his heroes come back from the dead. Without hesitating for a single second, he broke into a hard, full-speed sprint. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground due to the pure adrenaline rushing through his entire body.
Apollo and Nicola spun around and saw him storming toward them at top speed. With broad, incredibly proud grins on their faces, they caught him flawlessly. Apollo grabbed him firmly by one side, Nicola caught him with a powerful arm on the other, and with a brute, unprecedentedly smooth swing, they hoisted Ren straight onto their broad shoulders.
“Look at him go! Our unstoppable little fighting machine is completely back in action!” Apollo cheered loudly, laughing and shaking him playfully as they celebrated a gigantic party just for him.
Ren sat up there with a massive, proud grin, completely loving the attention as they carried him triumphantly across the entire hall, heading straight toward where Miki was standing.
“Look who we brought over here, Miki!” Apollo shouted at the top of his lungs when they reached her table, safely lowering Ren back onto his own feet right in front of her nose.
Miki looked up, her eyes instantly lighting up with an unprecedented sparkle. “Ren! You made it!” she cheered, jumping up and down with pure, boundless kid-like excitement.
Nobody needed to be told twice. The whole gang attacked the banquet like a pack of starved, ferocious wolves. Plates were piled to the absolute brim with heavy chunks of juicy, dripping meat. Heavy drinking mugs slammed together roughly and loudly, and the massive walls of the Bastion vibrated on their foundations from the roaring, frantic laughter and the pure, intense enjoyment.
Right in the middle of this massive, cozy party, Miki and Ren flew from one table to another like a pair of hyperactive, totally possessed whirlwinds. Their young eyes darted everywhere, scanning the walls, the gigantic weapons, and the bizarre gear of the five legends. They were practically jumping on top of the tables of the legendary masters themselves, totally overwhelmed by the hype.
“What is this?! What does this thing do?! You have to tell me! Tell me, tell me!” Miki shouted with her mouth completely full of steaming rice, her eyes wide as she pointed a sticky finger at a glowing, mysterious copper sphere hanging from the fire woman’s robe.
The woman laughed heartily and loudly, taking a massive gulp of her strong liquor before leaning far back in her chair. “Easy there, little girl! That right there is a Cinder Igniter! I had to fish that thing deep out of the glowing, murderous caves of the Red Crater right after fighting off a whole herd of raging fire antelopes. One single twist on this beauty, and you easily blow up half a street in Sector Null!”
“Whoa! Wow! And what about this?! This sword is literally bigger than I am! It is giant!” Ren screamed his lungs out from the other side of the table, his face practically pressed against the enormous, solid blade of the older swordsman. “Why is there such a gigantic crack exactly in the middle of the sword?! Did a giant monster bite it?!”
The old man with the silver beard slapped his massive chest with a loud smack. “That crack, little man, is the ultimate souvenir from the legendary Battle of the Clashing Cliffs! An absolutely massive armored crab thought it could just bite right through my blade. I twisted my anting through it with brute force, made the whole beast explode from the inside out, and ever since that day, this sword literally sings every time it strikes metal!”
“No way, really?! That is so cool! And what about those crazy cooking pots on your back?!” Miki fired her next question instantly, running over and wildly pulling on the heavy sleeve of the second woman like an eager toddler demanding a story. “Are those actual weapons, or do you just make soup with them?! Can you do both?!”
“Both, kiddo!” the woman in the massive matte black iron armor shouted with loud, fiery temperament. “During the Great Famine in the southern district, we had to fight off highly toxic giant spiders and feed three hundred people at the exact same time. I crushed the spiders with the heavy bottom, and I boiled the broth directly inside the barrel!”
While the highly energetic young duo listened with their mouths hanging wide open, the atmosphere at the large tables began to subtly shift. The five legends of the Silicones had been watching with sharp, highly experienced eyes, analyzing exactly how the gang had trained and fought over the last few hours. They had seen the hidden flaws, the tiny hesitations in their techniques, and the exact way adrenaline drained their bodies. Without breaking the cozy, festive mood, they began throwing mysterious, almost cryptic tips across the table, acting like veteran masters subtly pointing out a chess player’s blind spots.
The old swordsman cast a sideways glance at Aurelius, who was busy gnawing on a heavy bone. “A razor-sharp blade that screams for blood is exactly like a wild horse,” the old man grunted, carelessly chewing on a wooden toothpick. “If you pull the reins too tight, it will snap your wrist. You cannot steer it using just the raw power of your muscles, young man. Let the sheer hunger of the steel do the heavy lifting, and catch the recoil right in the hollow of your knees. Only when your knees flex in perfect rhythm with the scream of your sword, do you become truly unbreakable.”
Aurelius froze with his food halfway to his mouth. His eyes spoke volumes as the cryptic lesson pierced straight into his mind. “The hollow of the knee,” Aurelius muttered to himself, completely entranced.
At the far end of the table, the young guy in the puffer jacket leaned lazily back in his chair, his dull eyes locked onto Nicola and Lyn. “You two… your data is flowing way too fast,” he mumbled, letting out another massive yawn. “Burning out your nervous system just to think faster is a total rookie mistake. The world does not move any faster than a clock ticks. Do not close your eyes to the static noise. Become the noise yourself. If you slow your internal rhythm down to absolute zero, you do not need to read the data anymore. You simply are the data.”
Nicola adjusted his glasses with a trembling hand. His highly analytical brain instantly went into overdrive trying to decode this bizarre, abstract wisdom, while Lyn slowly nodded her head in deep understanding.
Meanwhile, the fiery woman in the red leather tossed a glowing ember directly at Apollo and Beat. “Giant explosions and bright sparks are great if you want to put on a show,” she laughed, flashing them a highly challenging look. “But you are wasting all the actual heat. A reawakening is not some firework display you just blast outward. You have to suck the immense heat inward, trap it deep inside the core of your anting, and only release it when the internal pressure literally melts the walls. The real devastating blast is not in the blinding light; it is in the held breath right before the ignition.”
Beat slammed his fist incredibly hard onto the table. Blinding sparks nearly shot out of his rajin volt anting from the pure epiphany hitting his brain. Apollo stared straight ahead, his face filled with deep, profound respect. “Trap the heat,” Apollo whispered softly, his eyes widening.
Even Jane and Izumaru were not spared. The woman in the heavy iron armor pointed a greasy finger right at Jane’s electric panther. “A true predator does not hunt using its electricity, girl. That is just decoration. The actual killing power lies in the total silence right before the claw lands. Stop aiming your voltage at the outside of your enemy. Let the lightning resonate perfectly with the heartbeat of your own beast. When both of your hearts beat in the exact same slow rhythm, your panther will slice through heavy armor.”
Jane looked down at her giant panther. The beast suddenly pricked up its ears, almost as if it completely understood the brutal logic of the master.
Finally, Master Ometol turned his deep, incredibly wise gaze toward Silarias and Nyx, who were sitting incredibly close together. The golden cloak around his shoulders pulsed softly, casting a warm glow. “Sun and moon, screaming heat and freezing void,” the old grandmaster spoke, his voice dropping into a mysterious whisper that easily cut straight through the loud noise of the hall. “Right now, you two are fighting like two entirely separate storms that just happen to be blowing in the exact same direction. But the ultimate power of a Nobody does not come from screaming louder than the other. Silarias, your overwhelming presence must shatter the illusions, paving the way so the freezing ice of Nyx can lock the absolute truth in place. When your extreme heat thins the air, her freezing grip gains absolute, total freedom. Do not learn how to attack together. Learn how to perfectly fill each other’s empty spaces.”
Silarias and Nyx locked eyes, sharing an intense, profound look of total recognition. It felt as if a heavy veil had just been ripped away from their vision. The lessons, wrapped up in the raw, unpolished language of the blast district, gave them exactly the tools they desperately needed for their upcoming training.
Silarias, still holding a gigantic leg of meat in his giant hand, tried his best to calm the situation down a bit, even though the incredible hype had completely taken over his mind too. “Hey, Miki, Ren, you two need to chill out and sit down for a second, man,” Silarias called out with his heavy, deep voice acting like a protective older brother, though a massive, room-wide grin was plastered across his face. “You are showing off way too much. Treat them like normal people and let them breathe for a second.”
“Yeah, seriously, please just sit down and eat your food properly,” Nicola added, trying to take a sip of his drink without spilling it. “You two are literally bouncing through the entire hall like a pair of possessed maniacs.”
It did not help in the slightest. The two young kids just kept firing off questions with an intense, bottomless energy, running frantically all over the place, giggling and pointing like hyperactive children at a carnival.
But then, right in the middle of taking an active step, Miki suddenly froze completely. The intense adrenaline fueling her endless stream of questions seemed to vanish entirely in a single split second. She slowly looked around the room, staring at the laughing faces, the massive, ecstatic gang, and then she turned her head and looked Ren dead in his eyes.