Chapter 5: The Years Before War
The blood of the Emperor Santa Beat still stained Aadi's armor when he returned to the Star Eagle clan. But the celebration he expected never came.
Instead, there was quiet respect. Heads bowed. Children watched from behind walls. No drums. No cheers.
The elders greeted him with calm voices, but this time, no one dared call him reckless. They had heard the tale. The cave. The monster. The death of the Emperor.
He was no longer just Aadi.
He was a symbol.
But Aadi wasn't interested in symbols.
He was already thinking ahead.
The central tournament — the only way back home — still stood in his path.
---
Days Later
Aadi stood on a tall dune, watching over his clan. He had made a decision.
"We won't be caught unprepared again," he told the clan leader. "I'll train a new force. Fifty warriors. Twenty-five will guard the village. The rest will support our journey to the central region."
And so it began.
Aadi didn't just train warriors. He trained survivors.
They practiced every day. Day and night. In sandstorms and under blazing heat. They learned how to move with silence, how to build shelter, how to protect supplies. They didn't use magic like the others — they used discipline.
The 25 chosen to travel became known as the Supply Carriers — but they were more than porters. They were Aadi's responsibility, and he made sure they could defend themselves.
The other 25 stayed behind to protect the village — and Aadi made sure they would never run again, no matter what came.
---
The Journey Begins
Weeks passed. The desert stretched endlessly as Aadi led his group toward the central lands of Deadland.
Beside him marched his trusted warriors — the elite 8 he had trained personally — and Aarna, the clan leader's daughter, now his second in command.
It took twelve days of hard travel. Through shifting sands, monster tracks, and blinding dust storms. But they made it.
The Central Deadland.
And yet… it was silent.
No crowds.
No arena.
No announcement.
Aadi asked the first settlement they reached, "When is the tournament?"
A group of armored merchants laughed.
"You came early," one said. "Too early. The tournament is 6 to 7 years away."
Aadi blinked.
"Years?"
"It's a celebration," the man explained. "People from all over come. Even those who don't compete just want to enjoy the feast, the battles, the glory."
Aarna turned to Aadi. "We have time. What do we do now?"
Aadi looked to the horizon.
"We train," he said. "And we dominate every inch of this land before that tournament begins."
---
The Four Great Regions of Deadland
Over the next several years, Aadi and his team explored the four extreme directions surrounding the Central Region.
1. The Northern Wastes – The Return of the Santa Beat
The north was dry, cracked, and brutal — home to King Santa Beats, and even worse… another Emperor.
This new Santa Beat was smarter — it had a tactical mind, leading other beasts like a general.
But Aadi didn't back down.
He studied it. Stalked it.
And after weeks of ambushes and raids, he delivered the final blow — this time, without injury.
His team watched in awe. They had trained magic. He had trained his body. Yet somehow… he surpassed them all.
2. The Southern Icelands – Wolves of Frost
Next came the southern lands — where ice blanketed the world, and blizzards screamed like demons.
Here, they met three ranks of frost wolves:
Common Wolves the size of bears
King Wolves, tall as buildings
And the Emperor Ice Wolf, a frozen titan with eyes like glaciers
The cold nearly killed the mages. But Aadi, thanks to his training and body adaptation, endured.
He defeated the Emperor Ice Wolf with bare hands — breaking its neck after dodging through snowfields.
His body had changed.
In secret, Aadi had discovered something: a strange accident during his arrival to this world had altered his cells. They absorbed the natural energy of the world — not magic, but raw life force.
His organs grew stronger, more efficient.
His muscles became denser.
His mind sharpened, storing everything he learned with perfect clarity.
And still — he had not touched magic once.
3. The Western Sea – The Ocean Squad
The ocean was next — blue, endless, hiding monsters deep beneath.
Here, Aadi's team met the Ocean Squad — aquatic warriors from an underwater civilization, more elegant than beasts, but just as deadly.
Their champions wielded water magic, weapons made from coral and wave-forged steel.
But Aadi didn't need to swim.
He walked on the ocean floor after wrapping his body in layered pressure resistance from pure muscle control.
He fought their champion beneath the sea — and won.
4. The Eastern Jungle – Apes of War
The last trial came in the east.
Here, vines choked the sun, and the air was thick with primal fury.
They faced giant gorillas, three stages of evolution again — Common, King, and the terrifying Emperor War Ape.
The final battle lasted two full days.
Aadi broke its spine with a spear strike — then crushed its skull with one hand.
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The Legend Grows
Over the years, the people of Deadland began whispering of a warrior without magic, who killed Emperors, who stood longer than anyone, who trained hundreds and feared nothing.
They called him: The Walking Storm.
But Aadi didn't care for titles.
One evening, sitting on a ridge, watching the lights of the Central Arena being built in the distance, he spoke quietly:
"I'm ready."
He stood up.
"Let's see what the tournament is really about."