WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 10

After announcing the start of the tournament, Silas began speaking again. “Because there are over one hundred sects in this tournament and there are five representatives from each sect, we will first be holding a series of preliminary round. These preliminaries will be used to cull the competition, as it were. Each preliminary round will consist of ten people competing on this stage. The last person standing will be the winner.

If one hundred sects were competing and there were five people for each sect, then it meant there were at least five hundred people in the competition, which was a lot. By having a group of ten people compete in each preliminary match, they would be able to cut down the five hundred competitors to just fifty.

“There are a lot of sects competing,” I said. My hands were on Siv’s thighs as I looked at the arena from over her shoulder. The drakvar girl was leaning forward so her wings wouldn’t hinder my view.

“There are a lot of sects in the Northern Plains.” Alexis shrugged. “Think about it this way. There are thousands of cities here in the Northern Plains, and of those thousands of cities, at least nine hundred of them will have a sect or even two sects attached to it. Honestly, the announcer probably went with a nice round number to make it easier on the people watching. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a lot more sects entering. I can name at least two hundred combat oriented sects off the top of my head.”

“Yeah, but most of those are small and middle-sized sects who are aware they won’t win the tournament?”

“So? Even just being able to compete in front of so many people will be good for their reputation.”

“That’s only if they can give a good showing though.”

“Yes. You are correct there.”

While Alexis and I spoke, the first ten competitors stepped onto the arena floor, but I didn’t recognize any of them. Erica was not in this group. Because of that, I didn’t pay too much attention to the battle. After using Spiritual Perception to confirm that most of the people competing down below were only at the First Stage of Spiritualism, I stopped watching and instead conversed with Kari, Fay, and Lin. Siv occasionally talked to, but she was never what I would call talkative.

While I was not interested in the fights, Raul was very interested. He pressed his face against the glass and watched the battles with rapt attention. That reminded me that I had not begun teaching Raul about Spiritualism since he was so young. Seeing him like this made me wonder if I should begin teaching him some basic meditation exercises to help him control his vast Spiritual Power.

“Dad! Dad!” Raul suddenly waddled up to me and Siv. “Want like that!”

“You want to be like that? A Spiritualist?” I asked.

Raul nodded, his eyes sparkling. “Zap! Pow! Want be like that!”

I glanced at Fay, who had just as much of a say in this as I did, and raised an eyebrow. There was an obvious question in my eyes. Should we begin training Raul in how to use Spiritualism? He was only two right now. I didn’t know if he even could learn Spiritualism until he was much older, and we certainly couldn’t teach him to fight at this age… could we?

“I don’t think it will be a problem if we start him off with some basic exercises,” Fay said with a gentle smile.

“In that case, Raul, do you want to begin learning spiritual exercises after the tournament?” I asked.

“Yeah!”

Thus it was decided we’d be teaching Raul how to become a Spiritualist at the tender age of two. I didn’t know what would happen to my son in the future, but if he could learn Spiritualism at a young age, then I could only imagine what kind of monster he’d become. His Spiritual Power was already so strong that it leaked out when he got emotional.

The first round soon came to an end. The last man standing was a buff man wearing black pants, no shirt, and wielding a battleaxe. He had reached the Second State of Spiritualism. After the first group came the second group, which Janet was a part of. This preliminary match came to an end even faster than the previous one. Janet showed off how much stronger she had become by steamrolling the competition.

“So even Janet has become much stronger.” Alexis glanced at us. “I take it this is also your doing?”

“This princess is the one who trained her,” Lin said, thrusting out her modest chest with pride.

The next preliminary match began, and as the group came out through the arena doors, I finally spotted the woman we were there to watch.

***

Having never been in this kind of competition before, Erica could not deny she had jitters about the idea of fighting in a tournament in front of so many people. Even so, she refused to let others see how nervous she was. Wearing a slight smile as she carried her claymore over her shoulder, she marched onto the arena floor alongside the other hopefuls in this competition.

All the competitors moved to stand in a circle with a five meter distance from each other. This allowed everyone to see who they were fighting against.

Erica noticed almost immediately how every eye locked on her, just like she had noticed how she was the only woman this round.

She did not appreciate the leering looks sent her way. At the same time, it wasn’t like she could do anything about them. Silently bearing with the stares, Erica promised herself that all these people would most definitely pay for looking at her like this.

“This match will start in three, two, one… fight!”

The moment Silas began the battle, Erica moved. She entered the First State of Spiritualism, then sucked in her Spiritual Aura to enter the Second State. She did not enter the Third State, which consumed Spiritual Power much too quickly, but she didn’t think she needed to.

Her first opponent of the day was the man right next to her. He’d been leering at her from the start, gazing up and down her body with those lecherous eyes. Having been in the presence of Eryk for so long, she was not used to this kind of leer anymore. She didn’t like it. So he was the first to go.

She swung her claymore at the man before he could even think of dodging, smacked him with the flat end of her sword, and watched him go flying. He smashed into the arena wall. The wall was fortunately protected by a barrier, so it didn’t break. The man, however, bounced off the barrier hard, landed on the ground outside of the ring, and didn’t get back up.

After taking care of the first person, Erica sought out a new opponent. She saw two people coming toward her. They were from different sects. One of them was wearing the sect uniform for the Black Sword Sect and the other one had a badge for the Serpent Sect on his left bicep. The Black Sword Sect member was wielding a massive broadsword that was nevertheless smaller than her claymore, while the Serpent Sect member gripped a pair of scimitars with poison dripping down his blades.

“Are you two thinking of ganging up on me?” asked Erica. “A pair of grown men ganging up on a woman? That’s awfully pathetic, don’t you think?”

“Can it lady,” the Serpent Sect member said. He was a skinny man who looked like a snake. His face was gaunt, his eyes shallow, and his neck longer than the average human.

“We know you’re Erica of the Battling Valkyries, the personal student of Alexis Mutig,” the Black Sword Sect member said. Unlike the snake man, he had rippling muscles. His arms were thicker than her head and covered in bulging veins. “Don’t take this personally. We’ve simply decided we don’t want to give your sect a chance to obtain victory, so we’re taking care of you now.”

“Is that so?” Erica smiled at them, but it was a vicious smile. “Unfortunately for you, I am taking this very personally.”

The two men shuddered as they looked at that smile, but they did not stop their advance. What neither of them expected, however, was that Erica would attack them first.

Her first victim was the snake-like man, who she judged to be a larger threat because of the poison coating his swords. She rushed towards him and swung her claymore so fast it appeared as little more than a blur. Her attack cut through the man’s green Spiritual Aura like a scythe cutting through stalks of wheat. After she had cut through his Spiritual Aura, she came back in with a return swing, wielding her claymore like it weighed less than a feather, and smacked him away with the flat of her blade.

The man screamed as he was lifted off the ground. Erica jumped after him. His scimitars flew in different directions, clattering to the arena floor as he landed on his back. A gasp escaped his mouth as the oxygen was expelled from his lungs. He was also not given the chance to regain his breath because Erica descended in that moment, planting her steel greaves into his soft stomach. She thought she heard a cracking sound echo from her opponent, but it could have been her imagination. In either event, the man’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he passed out.

Erica turned to her other opponent, who had become frozen solid like a block of ice, though he began quivering when she locked eyes with him.

Before the man could turn around and run, Erica rushed over. She did not strike this man with her claymore and instead shoulder rammed him in the chest. Her shoulder pauldrons slammed into his solar plexus. He had his Spiritual Aura and a steel chest plate protecting him, but the power Erica possessed while in the Second State of Spiritualism was far greater than both his aura and armor combine. The Spiritual Aura shattered, the armor cracked, and he stumbled back.

“W-what the—how can you be so strong?!” the man screamed.

Erica snorted. “How can you be so weak?”

And then she knocked him out by smacking him in the face with the flat side of her claymore.

***

“Perhaps I am just imagining things, but Erica is acting a lot more viciously now than she did in the past.” Alexis shifted her gaze from the arena floor to us. Her eyes were narrowed. “Do you people have something to do with this?”

Since I hadn’t actually taken part in Erica’s training, I did not know what she had been put through. The one who trained Erica was Kari. Myself, Lin, Fay, and even Siv all glanced at the blonde woman, who didn’t seem to mind our stares in the least.

“I taught her not to hold back when fighting,” Kari said with a delicate shrug. “A lot of Spiritualists like to hold back during the first few minutes of combat to probe their opponents, but there’s really no need to probe your opponent when you’re so much stronger than them. Erica right now is stronger than just about everyone in this competition. Therefore, there is no need for her to hold back and try to find a weakness to exploit. Going all out at the very beginning and disposing of her opponents before they can find out her weakness is a much better strategy.”

No one could deny her words, but I think Alexis was taken aback by how cunning and devious that strategy was. She eyed Kari with the same wariness she’d felt when they were discussing the favors Kari managed to wrangle from her.

“You are quite devious, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Kari’s cunning is something that never ceases to amaze me,” Fay said before Kari could answer Alexis. “I’m always shocked by how devious some of her ideas and plots are.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Kari said with a wink.

After disposing of her first three opponents, Erica went on to viciously beat three more into submission. She didn’t show even an ounce of mercy. Those men were honestly fortunate that Erica was not a mean person by nature. While her blows were heavy and merciless, she at least made sure they wouldn’t suffer serious damage or permanent injury.

Two more preliminary matches took place. None of the matches took more than twenty to thirty minutes to conclude. After those last two matches came an intermission for people to get up, buy food, and use the restroom.

Alexis called in a servant and ordered food for us. Everyone was pretty hungry by this point, especially Lin and Siv, so when the food finally arrived, we didn’t stand on ceremony and began eating. There was quite the combination of meats, cheeses, and bread. I enjoyed trying out the different combinations of meat and cheese, which I placed between two slices of flat bread to create a sandwich.

“Hey, Alexis! I hope you don’t mind if I come to visit!”

A sudden shout caused our group—except Lin and Siv, who were busy stuffing their faces—to turn toward the door, where several people walked in.

The first person to enter was someone I didn’t recognize. He was a big man with a head of short black hair, a masculine jaw, and a missing left eye. He wore an eyepatch over his eye socket. Gleaming silver armor adorned his torso, pauldrons sat on his shoulders, and a longsword was sheathed at his waist. The greaves he wore clicked, metal against metal, as he walked into the room.

Behind him was someone I did know, though he looked much younger than I remembered. Standing at around the same height as me, the Tungsten in this timeline did not appear quite as muscular as the one from my past, though the head of sandy blond hair was the same. His arms were bare. A steel chestplate adorned his torso, while gauntlets and greaves protected his arms and shins. A battle axe was strapped to his back, but it was not as large as the one he used in my past.

He must have noticed me looking at him because he turned his head to face me, but I pretended to shift my gaze like I had merely been observing him.

The other people behind him were also people I recognized.

There was Ming Shen of the Poison Sect, who I recognized because of his sinuous and snake-like body. He had long black hair, pale skin, and feminine features. The dark robes contrasted with his white skin as they flowed behind him. I could not see any weapons on his person, but I knew there were plenty of daggers hidden inside of those robes.

While Ming Shen looked like a man in his late twenties, he was actually somewhere in his forties. The reason he looked so young was because he had reached the Third State of Spiritualism at a relatively young age. On the other hand, the man with Tungsten, who I guessed was the current sect leader of the Paladin Sect, looked like he was in his early forties.

Following Ming Shen was a young woman whom I knew by name but had never really spoken to. She was a beautiful girl with black hair tied into a ponytail, pale skin, and similar clothing to Ming Shen. Her youthful features matched her petite frame. She didn’t look much older than maybe thirteen or fourteen. This, I knew, was Àn Shen. She was Ming Shen’s daughter.

“Tch! Rainere Cohen.” Alexis glared at the man. “Why are you here? Don’t tell me you’ve come to bother me some more?”

“I came because I heard you were entertaining several beautiful guests and wanted to see them for myself.” The man I now knew as Rainere gazed at me and my wives for a moment before locking eyes on me. In that moment, I felt an inexplicable desire to beat this man to a pulp. “I can see the rumors weren’t lying. You do indeed have some beautiful guests.”

“I hate to break this to you, but I’m a guy,” I said in a bland voice.

“I know,” Rainere said.

He knew? Then what was he staring at me for? Why would he… oh. I think I understood now. He was into men.

Well, far be it for me to question a person’s sexual preferences. I just hoped he realized I wasn’t interested and didn’t try something.

“Hmph!” Alexis snorted. “I see your tastes haven’t changed in the last five years since we met.”

Rainere shrugged. “And neither have yours.”

It looked like Rainere and Alexis had some kind of shared history together. While I did wonder about their past, I didn’t care enough to ask, so I left them to their conversation and instead introduced myself to Tungsten. He was going to become the sect leader for the Paladin Sect some day, and he had been a decent companion in my past, so befriending him early couldn’t hurt.

“You must be Tungsten, right?” I held out my hand. “I’m Eryk Veiger.”

“A pleasure,” Tungsten said, clasping my hand in a firm grip. It wasn’t as strong as I remembered it, but then again, not only was this Tungsten weaker, I was also much stronger now than I had been in the past.

I took this time to introduce Kari, Fay, Lin, Siv, and Raul as well. Tungsten seemed surprised when I introduced all of the women with me as my wives, and he seemed even more shocked when I told him Raul was my son. I guess he didn’t expect someone who was only 22 years old to have a kid. On the other hand, Àn Shen seemed less surprised and more disapproving.

“You are polyamorous?” she asked, her lower lip curled in disgust.

“I guess so.” I shrugged. “Is there a problem?”

“Of course not. Far be it for me to lecture someone on their life choices.”

While Àn Shen said she didn’t have a problem with it, I could already tell she didn’t approve of me having multiple spouses, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyway. I’d never had any contact with this woman before now, and I couldn’t see myself being in close proximity to her for any reason.

“I apologize on my daughter’s behalf,” Ming Shen said with a benevolent smile. “She dislikes people who engage in polyamory because the man she loved went and married six women before making a move on her. She was so upset she castrated him. Ever since then, she has hated people who engage in such relationships.”

“You did not need to tell them that, Father,” Àn Shen scolded her dad.

Her father merely retained his calm and patient expression. “I would suggest not antagonizing this young man, Àn. You do not see it because you are still weak, but the person before you is much stronger than anyone else in this room.”

“This guy?” Àn Shen pointed at me in shock. “You’re saying he’s stronger than everyone here? Even Aunt Alexis and Uncle Rainere?”

“Yes. In fact, all of Eryk’s wives are stronger than them.”

“No way!”

Her eyes now bulging, Àn Shen looked at me, then at Kari, Fay, Lin, and Siv. She did give Siv an odd look, though it was mostly because she was staring at the girl’s wings, horns, and tail. For her part, Siv was too busy eating to really pay attention to Àn Shen’s observation. If she had noticed the other girl’s staring, she would have immediately hidden behind either me or Fay.

“Where are the other sect leaders?” asked Alexis. “Catherine? Dagan? Did they decide not to come?”

“They are watching the tournament from their own booths.” Rainere shrugged. “I already stopped by and asked if they wanted to see you, but you know how they are. Dagan only came because he wanted to be present in case someone receives a serious injury during the tournament, and Cathrine only showed up out of a sense of obligation.”

I had not realized Cathrine and Dagan were sect leaders this far back. This made me realize that both of them had likely reached the Third State of Spiritualism already. Well, they could not have become the leaders of a sect powerful enough to earn a place among the Six Great Sects if they weren’t at least that powerful. Erica and Tungsten only became the leaders of their respective sects because Alexis and Rainere had retired or something a few years before the Sekbeist Invasion. That made me wonder if the same thing would happen this time around as well.

“Hmph. That is just like them.” Alexis crossed her arms. “And here I was hoping to introduce a promising alchemist to Cathrine.”

“Oh?” Rainere raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not something you need to concern yourself with.” Alexis dismissed his curiosity with a wave of her hand.

Now that two sect leaders from the Six Great Sects had appeared alongside their apprentices, the viewing booth had become a lot more lively. Kari and Fay, being the two who attended most social functions with me, took the greatest initiative in making connections. I also spoke with Tungsten and Rainere. Meanwhile, Lin and Siv, after they finished eating, spent most of their time watching Raul as the preliminaries continued.

It wasn’t until the preliminaries reached the end that I began paying attention to the tournament.

“Oh. It looks like Fritz Anderson is up,” Rainere said. “This should be a good fight.”

“Which one is Fritz Anderson and why does he matter?” asked Lin, who was now suddenly a little more interested in the tournament since someone important was apparently battling.

“He’s the big guy dressed in black,” Rainere said, pointing his finger at the person in question. “He’s a member of Thor’s Hammer. He is also thought to be the strongest person in this tournament and is rumored to have reached the Third State of Spiritualism. While many people believe the Battling Valkyries will win, the few of us who are in the know understand that this man here will be the Battling Valkyries greatest enemy.”

I looked at the man Rainere was pointing at. Covered from head to toe in black, the man in question was tall and possessed a powerful body. His shoulders were broad, his chest thick, and his arms were packed with well-defined muscles. The black shirt he wore had long sleeves and was tight enough that it stretched across his chest. His pants were much the same. Strapped across his back were a pair of broadswords that looked a few dozen centimeters longer than normal.

A frown quickly appeared on my face as I used Spiritual Perception to get a good look at him. His Spiritual Aura was… dark. There was something unnatural and chaotic about it. I’d never seen anything quite like it before. About the closest I could think of to compare what I felt from this man was when I faced off against the man called Ask—the Great Overlord of the First Plain. However, the feeling I got from this man was much more subdued.

“Oh? He is quite strong,” Lin murmured. “Hmph. He really is quite powerful. Third State of Spiritualism, is it? However, even if he has reached the Third State, that man won’t be a match for Erica.”

“Is that so? It sounds like Erica has grown pretty strong,” Rainere said.

“Of course she has. This princess’ Big Sister has been training her.” Lin thrust out her chest in pride like she’d been the one who helped Erica grow more powerful.

I didn’t listen to the rest of their conversation and instead watched as the match began. I used both my normal eyesight and Spiritual Perception to watch Fritz.

My eyes narrowed.

Fritz proved his strength by unleashing a powerful Spiritual Technique without the need for a dance. He unsheathed the broadswords, crossed them to form an X shape, and swung them down, unleashing two powerful crescent blades of darkness. The attacks struck two separate individuals while they were battling. I could not hear their screams from up here, but I could tell from the agony on their faces that they were in incredible pain.

Fritz didn’t wait to see whether or not his attack worked and instead began attacking the others. He used the Spiritual Technique, Shadow Walking, to appear inside of someone else’s shadow. He emerged before the young woman knew he was there and attacked her with quickly. Two slashes of his sword broke the woman’s red Spiritual Aura, and then he struck her with the flat end of his blade. He didn’t show mercy because she was a woman. The woman screamed in surprise and pain as she was sent sprawling to the ground. Fritz then walked up as she was trying to climb back onto her feet and viciously kicked her in the face. The woman’s head snapped up, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted.

I stared hard at the laughing Fritz as he went on to attack the remaining members of his match, decimating them, beating them to a complete pulp until they were barely recognizable as human, but still alive. It was only because he didn’t kill them that he wasn’t disqualified, though I could tell from Silas’ disgusted expression that he wished he could kick Fritz out.

There was something very wrong with this man, I concluded, but I could not quite figure out what.