Chapter 75: Closing Ceremony

  Two figures stood up from their seats in the grand hall of the Verdant Sigil Castle. Hikari, still clad head to toe in a thick black robe, remained silent. Next to Hikari, Fabian quivered in rage, his bushy black beard bristling.

  “I will not forget today,” Fabian muttered through his gritted teeth before turning around and walking out of the hall. Hikari quietly followed behind him without a word.

  Magnos also stood and gave a small nod to Kaspar before trailing behind them. He needed to escort them until the edge of the Assembly’s territory, just in case. Beneath his expressionless countenance, his heart burst with pride. His granddaughter had accomplished an exceptional service for their family.

  Kaspar remained seated in the hall, musing about the final duel of the tournament. His eyes flickered as he thought of the golden blade that had appeared at the end.

  “A Psion. We do not have such an inheritance. Who was it?”

  He stared at the space in front of him. Though there was nothing but specks of dust floating in that space, a clear scene played in front of his eyes. It was the arena. His vision landed on Damon, who was chatting excitedly with Claire.

  “The boy, most likely.”

  Then his gaze whirled before arriving at Tidus, who was talking to Althea. He saw that Tidus’s eyes were fixated on Damon. Tidus seemed to already have his suspicions. Kaspar did not need to meddle in the proceedings of the younger generation.

  “How interesting. Those two will grow into fine leaders of the next generation. Well, as long as they survive the coming tribulation.”

  He closed his eyes, the wrinkles on his face deepening as though he had abruptly aged a few years. A long sigh escaped his lips as he sank into his thoughts.

  Atop the stage, which had been hurriedly cleaned after the last duel, stood three groups of cultivators. Each group wore the colors of their respective associations. On the left stood the Argent Flame, and on the right stood the Violet Mist. In the center were the Initiates from the Academies who had participated in the Crucible Convergence.

  Earlier, when Nox had been injured during his duel with Claire, the crowd had been too stunned to utter a single sound. But after the Lunarsol Tower left, they broke out into such deafening cheers that the entire Colosseum shook from the volume.

  After the platform was cleaned up, Zoltan emerged from the private room along with the Adepts from the Towers and flew to the center of the arena. However, the cheers were unending. They looked like they would cheer forever if they weren’t stopped. It took Zoltan shouting directly into everyone’s ears with the use of his arcane power before they settled down. Now, the audience applauded the contestants with calmer restraint.

  The three Adepts floated above the three groups as they patiently waited for the spectators to finish clapping. Once silence returned to the Colosseum, Zoltan addressed everyone as he glanced around.

  “Thank you for attending this Crucible Convergence. Though it is unfortunate that we are missing one of the participating Towers, we will proceed with the closing ceremony regardless. But first, we can’t forget the rewards. When I call your name, please step up.”

  After saying that, he landed on the stage and faced the groups. He grasped his hands behind his back as a proud smile appeared on his face.

  “First place! Claire Dumont!”

  Claire strode forward from the center group and stopped right in front of Zoltan.

  “Congratulations, Claire, on winning the Crucible Convergence. Your reward is a secret technique, taught by the youngest Warden of the Assembly. She will contact you separately. Please give it up for Claire!”

  The crowd surged into feverish cheering once more, as they chanted Claire’s name. However, they still maintained a sense of decorum, unlike earlier. While waiting for them, Zoltan mouthed some words to his daughter.

  ‘I’m proud of you.’

  Claire smiled radiantly as she bowed toward Zoltan, before turning around and walking back to the Assembly’s group. The audience settled down not long after.

  “We will skip the second-place reward, as the recipient has already departed. Next, third place goes to Damon Fletcher! Step forward, boy.”

  Damon smiled and waved at the roaring crowd. Hearing them chant his name made his blood boil in excitement as well. He didn’t know he would feel this way, just because of a bit of attention. He quickly arrived in front of Zoltan, upon which he bowed down respectfully.

  “Your reward for placing third will be three Elixirs of Passage Formation! Congratulations!”

  The cheering grew louder as frantic applause rained down into the arena. Damon bowed to Zoltan again.

  “Thank you, Senior Zoltan.”

  “No need to thank me. You climbed here on your own two feet. Good job.”

  Zoltan passed over a small plain storage pouch to Damon. He then returned to the group, where the others congratulated him again. Claire gave him a high five, Thomas shook his hand, Lilith smacked him hard on the back, and Nolan gave him a nod.

  “Now, fourth place is Erik Aurelius…”

  Erik was rewarded with an Elixir of Passage Formation, too. After that, Zoltan called for the participants who had made it to the quarter-finals and then the round of sixteen. Finally, he called forth the ones who had been unable to win a single match. After everyone had received their rewards, he floated back up and addressed the crowd.

  “With the rewards handed out, only the closing remark remains. Again, thank you all for attending this Crucible Convergence. And to the Argent Flame, Violet Mist, and the missing Lunarsol Tower, we thank you all for participating. I believe I speak for us all when I say that our bonds have grown closer thanks to this tournament…”

  Zoltan continued to speak eloquent and flowery words of appreciation for the Towers and the audience before finishing off by sending brilliant explosions of various colors into the sky. After that, the Argent Flame and Violet Mist delegations boarded their respective flying vessels before departing Tradehaven.

  That night, Damon and the other participants all gathered in his villa to celebrate the end of the Crucible Convergence over some drinks and snacks. Dylan, Samantha, Anton, and even Kelvin had been invited as well. They sat around the large table in the living area as they drank glasses of wine or mugs of ale.

  Dylan and Samantha worked together to cook fresh meals in the kitchen, while Nolan reluctantly brought out some of his prized jerky for everyone to snack on, and Thomas brought some fancy first-tier wines. Claire took out some sweet candies for dessert, while Damon provided the space. Lilith only contributed with her mouth as she chattered endlessly, laughed boisterously, and ate unceasingly. None of the people gathered here remembered to invite the one other remaining participant from the Arcane Academy. It was as if he had never existed.

  “The way you two finished off both Erik and Nox, honestly, I’m quite satisfied.” Thomas chuckled as he brought up the duels from earlier in the day.

  “What? That was enough for you? No way! You guys should have killed them both!” Sitting opposite Thomas, Lilith yelled with her mouth stuffed with jerky. Small pieces of dried meat flew out and splattered on Thomas’s face. He wiped it off with a handkerchief, his face twisted in disgust.

  “There’s no way they could have done that! Senior Tidus was overseeing the match himself. Honestly, I’m surprised Claire even managed to cut off Nox’s arm. You have to give her props for that!” Thomas argued.

  “I guess that’s true, that old man Tidus seemed quite powerful. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do anything to them either.” Lilith agreed with Thomas for once, causing him to stare at her in shock.

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  “What?”

  “Nothing, you’ve just never agreed with me before.”

  “Psh. Stop being such an idiot. I just speak my thoughts without holding anything back. This is just the first time you’ve said something that wasn’t nonsense!” Lilith guffawed before suddenly stopping and turning to Damon.

  “That reminds me, what was that in your match? What happened to Erik? Why did he collapse screaming like that? What’s your secret?” She fired several questions at him without waiting for an answer first.

  Damon, who was in the middle of taking a swig of ale, gulped down the contents in his mouth and placed his mug down on the table. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he said, “What was what? I just shot some arrows at him, and he just wet himself for no reason. I didn’t even get a chance to destroy him with my Shardburst. Unfortunate, really.”

  Everyone scrutinized Damon’s face as though they didn’t believe him. Only one person nonchalantly continued to snack and drink. Claire, sitting next to Damon, finished chewing on some nuts and then changed the subject.

  “Enough about that. Praise me as well! Did you see what I did to Nox?” She glanced sheepishly at Damon as she said so. Then she continued. “And did you see how Uncle Tidus backed it up with those potions? He’s such a devious old man. How did he even think of using sealant potions on a severed stump? Thanks to him, Nox will forever remain a cripple!”

  “Very true! That old man Tidus isn’t half bad. He did his job so perfectly that it ended up ruining one of the prodigies from Lunarsol. Next time I come across Nox, I’ll make sure to beat his face into the ground!” Lilith punched her own palm and ground her knuckles in, as though Nox’s head existed between her hands.

  “That’s right. Your control over the wind was on another level today, Claire. The minute changes in the direction and speed of your sword were perfect. I didn’t know you could display such delicate control. I was impressed.” Thomas nodded repeatedly as he gave Claire a slow clap.

  Nolan, whose face was as red as a tomato, was slumped back in his chair. But when Thomas began clapping for Claire, he abruptly sat up and began clapping as well. After that, he fell forward onto his arms and began snoring into the table.

  “Look at this idiot.” Lilith poked his head as she laughed.

  “Maybe it’s his first time drinking. First-tier alcohol can still get us drunk.” Damon stood up and withdrew a thin blanket from his storage pouch and draped it over Nolan’s shoulders. Then he sat back down.

  “No, wait. That bottle in front of him… Isn’t that the second-tier Whispertale wine? Thomas! Why would you bring something like that here?” Claire jokingly punched Thomas in the shoulder.

  “Ouch!” Thomas flinched back before smiling mysteriously. “Hehehe. You found out. I wanted to see what everyone was like when they became drunk! But… I didn’t expect this guy to finish the entire bottle by himself. No wonder he’s passed out.”

  Lilith abruptly stood up and took out a small round bottle, and placed it on the table. It was ink. “I’ve come up with a fun game, guys.”

  Lilith and Claire giggled while drawing on Nolan’s face as Thomas shook his head next to them. Even as he lectured them about being immature, he withdrew a quill, elegantly dipped it in the ink, and began drawing on Nolan’s arms. Anton and Kelvin quietly drank and ate by themselves on some lounges to the side, absorbed in their own conversation. Dylan and Sam bustled around in the kitchen as bursts of savoury fragrance wafted from that direction.

  Damon took in all the sights with a large grin on his face. He had come a long way and had now found himself a place to call home and people to call family.

  His eyes glazed over as he reminisced. He thought back to the first day he had entered the Academy. That was the day he met Claire. Back then, he had wanted to avoid Claire as much as possible. Who knew she would become one of his closest friends? Then came the Runeology Department. There he met Senior Levi, Skylar and James.

  James had disliked him from the start, but it turned out to be worse than he expected. He had almost died at James’s hands, but had also grown thanks to the experiences and loot from that battle. Then something caught his mind.

  That’s right… Where did Skylar go? I haven’t seen him in a while.

  He mused for a bit before glossing over it and continuing his reminiscence. Tidus rose into his thoughts, as well as their first encounter. That was when he had learned about the art of deception.

  Now, THAT is the real Tidus. Not that fake that oversaw the Crucible Convergence.

  Then came his first encounter with Dylan, followed by Alan and the combat classes. Samantha had bullied Dylan back then, and he had defended Dylan even at the risk of his injuries worsening. Funnily enough, those two ended up being extremely close.

  Damon glanced toward the kitchen, where the two worked in perfect harmony. Such was fate. The future was not set in stone. Anything could happen.

  He then remembered the challenge from Cado.

  I haven’t seen that guy in ages either.

  After that was his first trip into East Tradehaven.His first meeting with Thomas, where he had mistaken his recruitment as Thomas flirting with him. Not long after that, the disaster struck. Finally, the Crucible Convergence began and ended in just a few weeks. So much had happened in the short time he had arrived in the Academy.

  He looked around and saw the smiling and laughing faces of his peers. A slight smile played at his own lips as he burned this new memory into his mind.

  At this point, his thoughts turned back to before arriving at the Academy. Almost dying at the hands of Argent Flame. Being ambushed by Feylis. The recruitment assessment. Journeying with Jon and Raina. Master Silas and his hidden inheritance. The bandits raiding Pinemist Village. His parents, Lyla and Benjamin, and their limitless love and patience.

  You don’t have to worry anymore. I’ve found a new place to belong. Watch down on me as I grow into someone you can be proud of! But I miss you both so much. I wish you could watch me from down here.

  His eyes both glowed with pride and glimmered with sadness. The smile tugging on his lips seemed both joyful and desolate, as though it could fade away at any time. He sank deeper and deeper into his own thoughts.

  “... Damon…”

  “... Older Brother Damon!”

  Hmmm?

  Damon woke up from his trance and looked around in a daze. Everyone was looking at him with confused expressions. Dylan and Claire stood on either side of him, shaking his arms.

  “Older Brother Damon! Are you okay?”

  “Damon, what’s wrong?”

  They both expressed their concerns for him, their faces filled with worry.

  “Nothing’s wrong, there’s no need to worry! I was just thinking about how thankful I am to have all of you in my life. I appreciate all of you. Thank you.”

  Damon broke into a large grin, and a similar expression infected everyone else very quickly.

  “Now, now! That’s enough of that sentimental stuff! Let’s eat and drink. Look at this roast meat! You’ve outdone yourselves, Dylan and Samantha!” Thomas called everyone back to the steaming platter placed on the table.

  “Cheers to that!” Lilith raised her mug high into the air, some of its contents sloshing out and splashing over Thomas.

  As he yelled at her in protest, everyone else, save for the unconscious Nolan, raised their glasses or mugs. Damon joined them as well.

  “Cheers!”

  They drank and celebrated through the night, with the guests leaving to return to their own residences one by one. Eventually, just as the horizon began to light up, only two people remained in the villa.

  “You should head back now, Claire. I can finish the cleanup by myself.”

  “No, I’ll help you out!”

  They silently cleaned up the mess left behind by the party. After half an hour, they managed to return the room to its usual spotless state. Damon and Claire stood side by side as they inspected their work.

  “All done! Thanks for the help, Claire.”

  “Of course!” Claire smiled brilliantly at him.

  “Uhm… You should go back now. It’s starting to get bright. You should get some sleep while you can.”

  Claire looked down and began fidgeting with her fingers. “Actually… I wanted to talk to you about something…”

  Damon looked at her. She seemed to be filled with anxiety. He tilted his head and then reached out to stroke her head once. “It’s okay, Claire. You can talk to me. I’ll always listen to you.”

  Claire stopped playing with her hands and looked up. Her eyes met his. Her voice shook as she spoke. “Actually, I…”

  At this moment, several loud raps knocked against his front door.

  “Hold on for a second.” Damon interrupted her and turned toward the door.

  Did someone forget something?

  He pulled it open and saw Zoltan standing in front of him with a grim expression. He was flanked by a quiet Tidus and a woman wearing thick spectacles he had never seen before.

  “Seniors? How can I help you?”

  “Damon Fletcher. You’ll need to come with us.” Zoltan said gravely. “We know you’re a Psion, and we have questions…”

  His words were caught in his throat when he noticed Claire standing behind Damon. Damon stumbled back as his lips trembled. His stomach dropped. He turned around to face Claire, who looked just as shocked as he was.

  “Claire… Did you tell them?”

  Before she could respond, Tidus stepped forward and placed his hand on Damon’s shoulder.

  “That’s enough, boy. Come with us.”

  Origin of Trinity is officially complete!

  Damon's journey up to here.

  olume 2: Battle of the Demi-plane!

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