The tunnel leading out of the Blood Pit Arena was dark and smelled of stale sweat.
Kaelen walked calmly, the heavy bag of 1,000 Spirit Stones swinging by his side. Other fighters—massive men with scars and tattoos—pressed their backs against the wall as he passed. They didn't dare look him in the eye. They had seen what he did to The Butcher.
"Hey, Mask!"
A voice called out from the shadows.
Kaelen stopped. He didn't turn around. "I don't sign autographs."
A slender figure stepped into the dim light. It was a woman dressed in tight red leather armor, with a rapier hanging at her hip. She wore a veil, but her eyes were sharp, intelligent, and dangerous.
"My Mistress wishes to speak with you," the woman said. Her tone wasn't a request; it was a command. "She watched your fight. She was... amused."
"I am not a jester here to amuse people," Kaelen replied coldly. He started walking again.
Sching.
The woman drew her rapier in a blur of motion, blocking Kaelen's path. The tip of the blade hovered an inch from his mask.
"No one walks away from Lady Seraphina," the woman hissed. "You can come quietly, or I can drag your corpse."
Kaelen looked at the blade.
"Your stance is wide," Kaelen critiqued, his voice bored. "Your grip is too tight. And your breathing is loud. If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead three times already."
The woman's eyes widened. She hadn't even sensed him release any killing intent.
Before she could react, Kaelen walked past the blade. He didn't dodge. He simply walked with such absolute confidence that the woman instinctively hesitated.
"If your Mistress has money," Kaelen said over his shoulder, "tell her to meet me at The Dead Man's Rest. I don't go to people. People come to me."
He walked out into the smoggy night, leaving the elite guard stunned in the tunnel.
...
The Dead Man's Rest Inn.
Bo was pacing back and forth in the room, biting his nails.
"Boss! You're back!" Bo grabbed Kaelen's arm. "I heard the cheers! They were screaming 'Asura'! Did you win? Did you get the money? Did you kill anyone?"
"I knocked a big man down," Kaelen tossed the bag of stones onto the bed. "Here is the rent money."
He walked over to the bed where Lyra lay.
The Resurrection Flower petal he had given her was working, but slowly. The Blood-Lock Seal in her heart was fighting back.
Kaelen placed his hand on her forehead. She was burning up again.
"The flower is not enough," Kaelen whispered, frustration tightening his chest. "It suppresses the curse, but it doesn't break it. I need a Yang-Attribute Catalyst. Something powerful enough to burn the mechanical parasite without burning her heart."
"Like what?" Bo asked, picking up a gold coin from the bag and kissing it.
"Sun-Moon Pearl," Kaelen said. "Or Dragon Marrow. Both are legendary items. I won't find them in a common market."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A heavy, rhythmic knocking came from the door.
Bo froze. He pulled out his dagger (which he used for cutting cheese). "Who is it? We paid the rent!"
"Open the door, fat boy," a sultry, powerful voice echoed from the hallway. "Or I will blow it off its hinges."
Kaelen stood up. He signaled Bo to open it.
Bo unlocked the door with trembling hands.
Standing there was a woman who radiated power. She wasn't the guard from the tunnel. She was the Mistress.
Lady Seraphina. The daughter of the Pirate King.
She was tall, with fiery red hair cascading down her back like a waterfall of blood. She wore a captain's coat over a silk dress. Her presence alone made the air in the room feel heavy. She was a Spirit Ocean Level 6 cultivator.
She walked in without asking, her heels clicking on the wooden floor. She looked around the shabby room, wrinkling her nose at the smell, until her eyes landed on Kaelen.
"So," Seraphina smirked, leaning against the wall. "You are the arrogant brat who insulted my guard. I expected someone... taller."
"And I expected someone with better manners," Kaelen replied, sitting on a chair, crossing his legs. "State your business. I am busy."
Seraphina's eyes flashed with anger, but she quickly suppressed it. She liked dangerous men.
"I saw your punch," Seraphina said. "Pure physical force. No Qi waste. You fight like an ancient warrior. I need someone like you."
"For what? Another arena fight?"
"No," Seraphina's expression turned serious. "For the Pirate King's Selection."
She pulled out a scroll and threw it to Kaelen.
"My father, the Pirate King Drakon, is dying. He is holding a tournament to choose his successor. The winner inherits his fleet, his army... and his Treasury."
Kaelen caught the scroll. He didn't care about the fleet. But the Treasury...
"Does the Treasury contain a Sun-Moon Pearl?" Kaelen asked.
Seraphina paused. She looked at him with surprise.
"You have expensive taste," she murmured. "Yes. The Treasury has one. It was looted from a Royal Palace fifty years ago."
Kaelen stood up. The deal was sealed in his mind.
"What do you want from me?" Kaelen asked. "You are strong. Why do you need a hired gun?"
"Because," Seraphina walked closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The tournament is not a duel. It is a Team Battle. My brothers have hired assassins from the Eclipse. I need a monster to kill monsters."
She extended her hand.
"Fight for me, Asura. Help me win the crown. And I will give you the Pearl."
Kaelen looked at her hand. It was a partnership of convenience.
"I don't want the crown," Kaelen said, shaking her hand. His grip was firm, cold. "I just want the Pearl. If you betray me..."
His eyes—visible through the mask—glowed with a vertical golden slit.
"...I will sink your entire fleet."
Seraphina shivered. It wasn't fear; it was excitement. She had found a weapon sharper than any sword.
"Deal," she smiled, a predatory grin. "The Tournament begins in three days on Skull Island. Be ready, Asura. My brothers will try to kill you before you even step in the ring."
She turned to leave.
"Oh, and one more thing," she stopped at the door, looking at Lyra on the bed. "Is she your weakness?"
Kaelen's aura exploded. The room shook. The wooden floor cracked.
"She is not my weakness," Kaelen's voice came from the depths of hell. "She is the reason you are still alive. If you touch her, there will be no tournament. Only a funeral."
Seraphina laughed. "Touchy. I like it. Protect her well, Asura. The Shattered Isles eat the weak."
She left, slamming the door.
Bo exhaled, sliding down the wall. "Boss... did you just threaten the Pirate King's daughter? We are going to die. We are definitely going to die."
Kaelen walked to the window. He looked at the massive volcano in the distance where the Pirate King's castle stood.
"No, Bo," Kaelen whispered. "We are not going to die. We are going to win."
He looked at the scroll. The rules of the tournament were simple:
Rule 1: Survival.
Rule 2: No Rules.
"Bo," Kaelen said. "Go buy supplies. We need traps. Poison. Explosives."
"Explosives?" Bo perked up. "Now you're talking! How big?"
"Big enough to blow up an island," Kaelen said.
The prep time was over. Kaelen had entered the game of thrones of the pirate world. And he intended to cheat.
...
Meanwhile, in the shadows.
Across the street, on a rooftop, a figure wrapped in black bandages watched Kaelen's window.
He held a communication crystal.
"Target located," the figure rasped. "He is in the Shattered Isles. He is calling himself Asura."
A voice responded from the crystal. It was deep, distorted, and terrifying.
"Good. Initiate Protocol: Hunt. Release the Shadow Hounds. I want him alive. The Doctor's failure must be corrected."
The figure crushed the crystal.
"Understood, High Priest."
The figure vanished into the smog. The Eclipse had found him. The Tournament would not just be a battle for a crown; it would be a trap.