—---------

  Naell

  —---------

  After turning around and nearly fainting from shock, Naell addressed the creature while trying to reassess it.

  “My… My apologies. Mister? I hadn't realised… If I had, I would have asked you for permission to start the examination. I swear on my father's name!”

  The creature before him produced a low bark from deep within its chest before opening its maw once again.

  “The name is Ar. No need to… apologise. I understand your… situation.” Ar stepped away slightly, giving Naell some space. “Could you tell me about your… tournament? I would like to know… what am I… to work with.”

  “Of course, of course.” Naell nodded. “The tournament is about the physical capabilities of the participants. Usage of long range weapons such as bows or magic is prohibited and the use of short to mid-range melee weapons and skills is tolerated, but discouraged.”

  “Weapon throwing… could be accepted then?” Ar interrupted. Although Ar’s grammar tore at Naell's educated ears, he had to address the thought.

  “Technically speaking, yes, but it’s inadvisable. Every combatant is allowed a single weapon, so throwing it away would be unwise.”

  “Inad… what?”

  “Not recommended.” Zaanta jumped in on the conversation. “Naell, I know you want to test him, but could you avoid advanced words? Ar has only been learning our language for about a week.”

  Naell widened his eyes slightly before taking another look at Ar. ‘Large physical proportions, unusual build without a tail, and surprisingly high intelligence… Ooh, he will be such a good opponent. It all depends on how he fights…’

  “I'll take that into consideration. Thank you for letting me know, Zaanta.” He nodded to the Zhaarin before turning back to Ar.

  “Do you have any other questions, or may I continue explaining the rules?”

  “What about shields?” Ar leaned his head to the side while asking another unexpected question.

  “Shields are counted as weapons. You may use one, but nothing else in addition.”

  “I see.” Ar nodded his head in thought. “Please, continue.”

  “Alright.” Naell took a moment to collect his thoughts before resuming his explanation. “Every participant is tested so they can be matched against similarly skilled opponents, both in the strength of their attacks and their defensive capabilities. We have prepared an artifact to measure the strength of your strikes…” Naell gestured to the cubical device before continuing. “As well as some basic training weapons for you to use… However, we didn't really expect your propo… uh, your large size.”

  “Understand… able.” Ar bared his teeth at him, a surprisingly unnerving expression. “ Is it better… if I am not large during the… tournament?”

  “That… well, we will discuss that after finding a suitable weapon and measuring your abilities. I don’t want any serious injuries or death during my friendly tournament…” Naell said grimly.

  “Only because the paperwork takes ages to deal with…” Zaanta muttered behind him, but Naell chose to tactfully ignore the remark. Instead, he gestured to a gate on the side of the arena. “Shall we choose a weapon, then? Your guards are welcome to pick training weapons as well. The weapon lease is part of our agreement.”

  —---------

  Ar

  —---------

  Ar wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, the Minotaur before him seemed pleasant and forthcoming, taking the safety of the contest seriously. On the other hand, Ar could almost feel Naell’s calculating gaze running up and down his skin, the way someone appraises a race horse or a hunting dog. Which, to be fair, was in Ar’s best interests. As he followed Zaanta to the armoury, he couldn't help but feel like an animal on display.

  Before entering, Ar had to shrink down again, because of the low height of the ceiling within. He took a moment to assess the layout of the armory. Shelves and weapon racks lined the walls, with vices on two tables in the middle of the room, presumably for maintenance or, perhaps customization? The tools on the desk seemed more appropriate for working fabric, rather than metal or wood.

  “What do you think?” Naell stood next to him, studying his face once again. “Isn't this an impressive arsenal?”

  Ar just nodded and let his eyes wander about through the room. He could see faint traces of Mana in the air, too thick to be formed naturally, but he had trouble pinpointing the source.

  “May I… browse?” he asked. Upon receiving permission, he started roaming the room, pretending to inspect the weapons on display, but actually searching for the source of the Mana.

  Naell and Zaanta followed after him, waiting for him to choose, while Ghanna and the rest of their company spread out through the armory in small groups. The weapons on display were mostly swords and spears, with an occasional axe and hammer thrown in without much care for organisation.

  He was about halfway around the workbenches when he saw it between a couple long spears – a small branch with several withered leaves still clinging to it. It was much too small to be a club and too rough and curvy to be a practice sword, not to mention it still had bark on its surface. It leaked a trickle of Mana that gathered on the rack below it before eventually dissipating into the air.

  Ar walked over to it and picked it up. It was short, barely reaching above his waist, and appeared to be torn or broken off of a tree on both ends. The leaves were hanging on with little more than willpower, and he felt like they would fall off if he touched them.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” Zaanta exclaimed behind him, making Ar turn around. Zaanta was staring daggers at Naell and, despite her smaller size, Naell looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

  “Well… ummm… that’s a funny story…” he stammered, before giving up on finding an acceptable excuse and sighing in defeat. “One of our material suppliers offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. We tried to get it to work, but had no luck.”

  “Surely, you are aware that it's illegal to have that die in your armoury? Just look at the leaves! It's a miracle it's still alive!” Zaanta reprimanded Naell.

  “Excuse me?” Ar stepped in on their conversation. “Could you… tell me what this is? And why is it… not legal to let die?”

  Zaanta turned to him quickly, anger giving way to annoyance. “Surely, you recognize this is a Dendrae’s Branch. You’ve seen how the Dendrae are able to move and reshape them freely. On the rare occasion that a branch separates from a Dendrae, while it is alive, the branch keeps the ability to change shape depending on the wielder.”

  “Normally,” Zaanta turned to glare at Naell while she continued, “a branch is only separated as a sign of good will or thankfulness by the Dendrae themselves. In those cases, the branch grows bark over both ends to prevent Mana from escaping.”

  Ar’s eyebrows shot up and looked over to Naell who had the decency to look ashamed.

  “This branch, however, was clearly torn off of a Dendrae.” Zaanta walked over to examine it. “Probably a youngling, judging by the fact that the thieves managed to escape with their lives.”

  Ar looked down at the branch. It suddenly felt much heavier in his arms. “Because the Dendrae are permanently connected to their branches, they will constantly lose Mana through any branches that are torn off. This eventually kills them due to Mana exhaustion.” Zaanta whispered, her anger boiling right underneath her calm demeanor.

  “I… I had no idea…” Naell stammered.

  “Bullshit!” Zaanta was yelling. “There is no way you didn't know this was a Dendrae branch. You wouldn't put it in the armory if you thought it was a normal stick!”

  Zaanta yelled some more, but Ar ignored her. He was studying the torn ends and their Mana flow, before getting an idea.

  ‘Hey, Noir? Do you have a couple minutes?’ He called out internally, focusing on the back of his mind where Noir usually resided.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  ‘How many?’ Noir sounded… distracted, but he still responded.

  ‘I don't know.’ Ar admitted, and immediately felt Noir's annoyance. ‘There is something I want you to take a look at.’

  ‘Ugh… Fine. But I swear! If it isn't important…’ His complaint died down as Ar felt his consciousness fully descend onto him and into his eye. He heard a loud gasp and a panicked voice behind him, but paid it no mind for the time being.

  ‘How did you get your hands on this?’ Noir questioned. Ar quickly explained the situation.

  ‘Can we do something about that?’ Ar asked.

  ‘Maybe.’ Noir responded, prompting Ar to give him a better look at the branch. ‘We would have to get into contact with a Dendrae Elder, get him to understand the situation, and convince him to help us. We should be able to do it.’

  ‘An Elder Dendrae, huh?’ Ar thought and turned to look at Zaanta and Naell.

  Zaanta looked calm, but cautious, while Naell was completely terrified. He was on the ground, trying to put some distance between himself and Ar, while his armor was glowing with runes and absorbing his Mana at a rapid pace. Why? Ar couldn't be bothered to care.

  ‘Do you think she could help us get in contact?’

  ‘Well, well, well, look who we have here! That would be perfect! Try asking her nicely.’

  ‘She doesn't deserve to get yelled at.’ Ar smiled mentally and fully turned to Zaanta.

  “Guild Master…” he started speaking in his native tongue, before Noir interrupted.

  ‘Language! Did they not give you another language to learn?’

  ‘Sorry.’ Ar grinned before clearing his throat and starting over, making sure he used the local language this time.

  “Guild Master Zaanta. Would you be willing to get us in contact with a Dendrae Elder?”

  —---------

  Naell

  —---------

  Naell was furious. Not only did he get scammed into purchasing a nonfunctional Dendrae Branch, but now he was in trouble by not hiding it properly! Seriously! What were the odds that this… Ar creature… would go straight for it?! It was a stick! An ugly, crooked stick with leaves growing off of it!

  Furthermore, his rune arrays were working overtime to analyse Ar. He understood some of Ar’s musculature and had an idea of how strong Ar could be, but for some fucking reason, he could not measure Ar’s Mana. Did Ar use Natural Mana? Or did Ar have so much Mana that Naell’s runes couldn’t measure it? Naell had adjusted the runes several times already, without success. He was ready to ask Ar directly about his Mana use to spare himself the hassle.

  Then, while he was explaining himself to the furious Guild Master, everything went to shit! The first sign that something was wrong was a sudden change in the room pressure. Then, his runic arrays started activating and failing one after another. The first one to go was his detection array. He had been using it to get a warning against any sudden movement of the shrunken creature standing next to him in the armoury. This array vibrated his shoulder pad, immediately grabbing Naell's attention, before it started to glow in colors signifying information overload after just a few seconds.

  Naell immediately ignored the Guild Master, whirring around to defend himself, only to fall on his ass after a blow to his stomach. His Mana sensing array and his wraith sensing array had both shattered, sending shockwaves into his abdomen, after being overloaded by some unseen force. He immediately activated all of his defensivearrays and crawled away, hoping the distance would grant him at least some protection.

  The Guild Master reacted just a second later, turning her head towards the monster she had brought in. But to Naell's bafflement, Zaanta did not enter combat stance or erect any defence. She simply crossed her arms and returned its gaze.

  The creature, Ar, started to speak, but no understandable words came out. Zaanta visibly tensed up beside him and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Ar suddenly stopped talking on his own.

  He cleared his throat, before speaking in a way Naell could understand.

  “Guild Master Zaanta. Can you… contact for us a… Dendrae Elder?”

  Naell took a second to process the request before color drained from his face. ‘An Elder? Not just any Dendrae, but an Elder?!’

  Panicked, Naell desperately tried to come up with counterarguments to the request when he heard rapid footsteps closing in on their position. He looked up expectantly, just to see Ghanna's forces blocking the exits, cutting off his escape route.

  “Us?” Zaanta inquired. “Do you want to include Naell or maybe Ghanna?”

  “I would like to join.” Ar's voice sounded different. Deeper, more melodic and most of all, powerful. Naell watched in horror as Zaanta suddenly understood something he didn't – she immediately knelt down on the ground next to Ar, with everyone else in the room following her example.

  “Lord Noir! We did not expect you to join us again so soon!”

  Lord? Noir? Wasn't this monster’s name Ar?! Why would she suddenly call him by a different name? The only reason to call someone by two names would be if they had two identities or…’ Realisation struck Naell like a physical force and even more color drained from his face. ‘... or if they are possessed by something.’

  Naell didn't try to stand up. His legs wouldn't hold him. Instead, he flipped over onto his stomach and prostrated himself on the ground, praying that whatever was in possession of Ar would pay him as little attention as possible.

  “I know you didn't.” The possessed creature stated. “I myself didn't know I would be called here. So, are you able to do it, or not?”

  Zaanta seemed to contemplate for a brief moment before speaking. “I could do it, but an Elder will probably ignore me… I know several Dendrae that owe me a favour, but none of them could be considered Elders.”

  “You will not be the one to speak to the Elder. I will take care of that. I only ask that you maintain the spell to contact an Elder.”

  “Very well. I shall prepare the spell in the arena outside.” Zaanta bowed and exited the armory, leaving Naell to face the situation alone.

  “Now then.” Ar's eyes locked onto Naell, sending shivers across his body. “We shall address you, Arena Master Naell.”

  “Ye… Yes!” Naell called out desperately, not daring to look up.

  “Are you aware of the severity of your situation? Not just by your kingdom's laws, but by the laws of Mana itself?”

  Naell panicked. Not only had he broken royal law, but also Nature's law? Could his situation get any worse? Well, this… Noir didn't let him wonder for long.

  “Since you are obviously unaware of your situation, let me explain. If I hadn’t been notified of the situation, the next time you, or anyone else in this room for that matter, got within striking distance of any wild creature, every one of you would die.” The voice sounded cold and pragmatic, as if simply reading the words from somewhere, which unnerved everyone in the room. Whispers spread through the ranks of everyone around.

  Noir continued adding fuel to the fire. “Not because of some elaborate magical trap or a curse. Simply, because every Dendrae in the region would target you with a single objective: to eliminate every threat that took part in harming one of their species.”

  The gazes around Naell turned frigid and the whispers grew darker. Noir stared him down a little longer before walking past him toward the exit. “Pray that an Elder will answer our call and spread the word not to attack any of you on sight.” He hissed before walking outside, leaving Naell alone in a room full of angry adventurers.

  —--------

  Zaanta

  —--------

  Zaanta was waiting outside next to a small sapling she had retrieved from her sash. She was listening in on the conversation in the armory and was deeply distraught. She had no idea if what Noir said was true, but it wasn't so outlandish that she could dismiss it easily.

  Ar… or Lord Noir? walked over to her, rummaging through their pockets as they went.

  “Are we ready?” Noir's voice asked.

  “Here it is!” Ar's voice exclaimed as he pulled out a dark purple crystal.

  “You should really have it embedded into some necklace or something so you don't lose it.” Noir sounded annoyed. “What would we do if you didn't find it?”

  “You're right, I guess. But I have to get out of that basement first. I'll also need some money to have it made. The more money the better.” Ar nodded to himself.

  “If I may?” Zaanta interrupted, drawing their attention. “I can try and have Naell pay for it. You know, as a gift of gratitude for helping with this situation… or something.

  “You think he will be dumb enough not to understand that I am only helping you because this situation affects my contractor?” Noir's light shone out of Ar's eye, which made Zaanta feel uncomfortable.

  “I think he is smart enough that he doesn't want to fear for his life whenever he sees a wild animal.” Zaanta smirked. “He might even beg you to take his money in order for Lord Noir not to hold him in contempt.”

  Ar smiled and held the crystal toward her. “I might try asking him nicely after we're done, but we should move on for now. We can't have Noir stay here all day.”

  Zaanta looked at the crystal, then back at Ar in confusion. “And… what am I supposed to do with this?”

  “You are to simply touch the crystal while performing your magic.” Noir stated. “I know that the Dendrae Elders do not like to answer to… in their words, lower life forms. No offence.”

  “None taken.” Zaanta nodded. “It's common knowledge among druids.”

  “Good. Well, by touching that stone, you will allow me to add a little… encouragement to your request.”

  “Threatening an Elder?” Zaanta raised an eyebrow. “I suppose I'll pretend I know nothing and that I am just a tool to be used then.”

  “I like this one. She's sharp.” Noir joked and the three of them laughed. “Let’s call the Elder. Ar? Have the branch ready. I'll probably have to help the Elder fix it to stop it from leaking Mana.”

  “Can't you just fix it yourself?” Ar voiced the question that had bothered Zaanta, but that she was too scared to ask.

  “No. Firstly, I don't know Dendrae physiology. Even after tearing one open.” Noir said with a casualness that left Zaanta speechless. “Secondly, Ar, if what I know about your kind is any indicator, you will need every favour you can get not to be framed as a heretic by the Dendrae.”

  “We weren't that bad!” Ar protested, but then cringed after a second of thought. “Okay, I take that back. But we did do better later on!”

  Zaanta stood there dumbfounded, before shaking her head and activating the spell.