It was late evening, when Kasim returned home. Before coming back, he sent out a Gale-Cry to his

  father, that instructed him to visit their home immediately. Of course, sending a Gale to Kassandra goes

  without saying.

  Upon arriving, Kasim was greeted by the two people close to him.

  <>

  <>, Kasim interrupted.

  <>

  The previously sitting Kasanova bolted up and grabbed onto his son’s shoulders.

  The latter just janked the hands away and made his way to Kassandra to give her a greeting hug.

  <
  Magnae. Judging by his confidence, I’d say he is more than prepared to take all of us on.>>

  <>

  <
  Hablamak’s level. I erased my memories on the specifics. The only thing important is that you train

  yourself as thoroughly as possible.>>

  <>, Kasanova once again tried to talk but was cut off mercilessly by

  Kasim.

  <
  Imogyeran right now. If you do, I will permanently desert from the family. >>

  <>

  <
  am a dead man.>>

  The veins on Kasanova’s face were visibly bulging from being embarrassed by his own son.

  An absolute wrath burned inside his soul.

  But he decided to stop it at that.

  The current family-head turned his back on his son and left. Before leaving, he said this.

  <>

  With that, everything was said and all parties separated until the day of December 23rd came along.

  While both swordsmen prepared by strengthening their bodies, minds and hearts, what did Imogyeran

  do?

  <>

  Currently, Raul was using a stone-piston to throw Imog’s body high into the air. The now semi-flying

  Imog was then caught by the flying, evolved ‘Aran’ and taken for a ride above Medalia’s forest.

  Lastly, Yunran compressed a gale of wind to throw Imog off ‘Aran’’s body, landing in a slide made out

  of warm ice made by Dogogo. The now sliding down Imogyeran sat his feet onto the sliding space and

  before landing at the bottom, he jumped off and did a double flip in the air, finally doing a split in mid-

  air and falling face-first into the ground.

  He was having the time of his life. The family was growing closer together as they planned for Imog’s

  grand entrance for the tournament. They also did some training on the side but having fun came first

  and foremost.

  Raul’s role in the family had become clear fairly early on. He became Imog’s second favorite cuddling

  partner and the person in charge of large scale movements.

  As it turns out, the little guy fit perfectly into the family and exhibited more and more of the

  extravagant quirks of his creator. Whenever he had the time and mood to do so,

  Raul would start dancing. His dances were absolutely adorable:

  He would start moving his arms like the wheels of a wind-mill, swaying with each arm’s rotation. From

  time to time he would mix half-revolutions combined with a light-hearted punch. His feet would go

  into a lunging position, front foot parallel to the front hand, switching up according to his own rhythm.

  But due to being in control of the ground, Raul’s position did not change. In other words:

  It was the most adorable dance in the world!

  Very early on, a certain song was started by Imogyeran, which would go on into the legends as the

  royal hymn of Raul’s endeavors:

  <>

  <>

  <>

  <>

  The two of them started singing this song more and more, Raul even added percussions to his dancing

  performance, forming a series of cute <>

  <>

  <>

  <>

  <>

  And it is absolutely true. No matter what happens. Everybody likes Raul!

  You like Raul! I like Raul! Everybody likes Raul! If you don’t like Raul, you don’t exist!

  Because everybody likes Raul!

  Stolen novel; please report.

  <>

  …

  Anyways, time passes in a rush. The day has come for the Insigniae Magnae to arrive:

  Warriors from all over Estica and beyond arrive. Many of them were hoping to have a spar with Raul

  and some of them even did(and they lost).

  Among the participants, there were both Kasim and Kasanova Rojora. They were anxiously looking

  around to spot a single person. But for some reason, the person in question has not yet appeared.

  The opening ceremony has now finished and the elders are preparing to battle against each other.

  Maybe, he will only show up, when it is time for his bracket?

  <>

  When they started thinking that, a loud voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

  Everyone participating and everyone watching looks out confusedly, where the voice came from.

  After a few minutes, people start to notice the small figure making his way to the arena ring.

  People think, that he is kind of cute and start talking loudly to each other.

  Most people do not recognize the boy, which is understandable considering his malnourished state.

  His heavy injuries on the head and limbs might have healed, but in the process Imogyeran’s head has

  swollen an entire size, making him look even younger than he actually is.

  Only a handful can guess, what is going on and they try to take a few steps back out of a well-founded

  fear for what’s to come.

  Imogyeran finally makes it on top of the podium, a smile loosely hanging on his lips, where the arena is

  and starts talking using the spirits as an amplifier for his voice:

  <
  tournament!>>

  Loud laughter can be heard throughout the people. These guy find his little performance to be

  absolutely adorable.

  <> <>

  Warm ridicule was the reaction of choice from the lower people, while the higher-ranking masses

  showed slight disdain towards the boy.

  …

  Imogyeran of course ignored the shouting and continues his show.

  <
  everyone!>>

  He slowly steps down from the podium and from inside the forest Dogogo, accompanied by Yunran

  and ridden by Raul are racing to his position.

  Ridicule is replaced with confusion and slight anticipation.

  Raul gets down from Dogogo and walks two steps towards Imog, taking elegant strides for his small

  figure.

  And Now:

  *BOOOOOOOOM!!!* *CRAAAACK*

  The ENTIRE STADIUM is thrown into the air and out of the village! The only thing left is a giant

  rock-landscape, that was erected out of the ground.

  Loud Screaming can be heard but Imog silences them in an instance using Yunran and jumps on top of

  the large, new arena.

  <

  >

  While saying that, Dogogo creates a large slide for Imog to slide around the arena, propelled by Yunran

  and supported by Raul.

  <
  EEEEEEEEEEE! MOOOOOOOO! GYEEEEEEEEE! RAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!

  IMOGYERAAAAAAANNNN ASHEEEEENWAAALLLD!>>

  The time has finally come.

  <>

  Raul uses falling rocks as a giant drum-roll, building up anticipation to its peak.

  <
  THIS RING!>>

  After saying that, Imog does a quadruple back-flip with a reverse-screw-flip in midair, before landing

  on top of the giant arena.

  *CLAP*

  With the loud clap of his hands EVERYTHING is elevated! The Viewer stands, the crowds, the entire

  village is elevated to watch the stadium in its middle!

  This ridiculous feat was made possible by using Raul, a rare genius, teaming up with Gondo, a source

  of powerful Lacritia, infusing his actions with power.

  With that, the stage has finally been set.

  <
  BIRAMASSA ROJORA FOR MY FIRST BATTLE!>>

  …

  The one thing, that Imogyeran tried not to forget were the people he owed a favor to. Of course,

  Kargabasa and Biramassa were on his list. The reason he tried not to forget is because Imog remembers

  there being three people along with Kasim’s father, that tried to beat him up and kill him. But the last

  member of the group just so happened to not be called out by name and Imogyeran forgot that guy’s

  face, resulting in him being annoyed with himself.

  For now, this man would have the luck of being spared. For now.

  Nobody seemed to move, so Imogyeran instructed Yunran to take the two warriors by force, before he

  heard a loud shout.

  <> <>

  Imog’s time is a precious thing not to be wasted on pleasantries.

  The warrior in question immediately jumped out of the crowd and started climbing the stage.

  <> <
  fight, I will kill you. ZERO!>>

  Once again, he was cut off, veins bulging on his right arm with torn sleeves.

  He would beat this kid to death and back for insulting him in this manner.

  <>

  <>

  The warrior went into a fighting stance and prepared to beat Imog to a pulp.

  <>

  What he did not notice was the blue familiar behind his back, freezing his spine and immobilizing the

  man, before biting off his head.

  *THUD*

  The headless corpse was then thrown to the sides of the arena, illiciting a slew of frightful screams

  from the crowds.

  <
  NOT, THEN I OFFICIALLY NOMINATE KARGABASA AND BIRAMASSA ROJORA FOR MY

  SECOND BATTLE!>>

  Imogyeran was still smiling with the same childish energy as ever. No change in his emotions, not even

  a twitching motion was seen on his face, as some of the warrior’s blood splattered onto it.

  This was of course another side-effect of his recent operation: A disregard and Apathy towards

  anything Imogyeran does not consider precious.

  Medalia village started to grow colder. Inside of Imogyeran’s necklace, Gondo started to crawl out a

  bit, enticed by the cold atmosphere.

  People began freezing, their faces bleaching rapidly; all the color slowly drained away from the world.

  In this bleak world of black and white, ony Imogyeran kept smiling, the 5 healed scratches on his body

  gradually darkening.

  Since nobody challenged the boy to object his wishes, Imogyeran simply forced the two already

  confirmed to be attendant warriors on to the stage.

  Unlike the last warrior, they did not even try to defend, so he made a short process out of them, letting

  Dogogo munch on their bodies. Had they actually resisted, they might have been able to put some

  pressure on the boy. Imog might have even considered sparing them if they put on a good show.

  But they did not, and the execution was complete.

  <
  HEREBY NOMINATE KASANOVA ROJORA!>>

  …

  Kasim slightly freezes up. Throughout the whole performance, Kasim was surprisingly not surprised.

  Standing above him is the same person, that he experienced four years ago. Compared to the sadistic

  exhibition of the past Imogyeran now almost seems like a gentleman. Nevertheless, he still freezes up,

  when his father’s name is called. For a moment as short and negligable as a dragonfly’s wing-clap

  Kasim tries to take a step forward. It is the son’s duty to carry on the burdens on his father. But a strong

  hand holds him back. It is the father he has forsaken for the last 4 years, the person that gave him life

  and his guardian.

  One exchange of gazes was enough and Kasim stepped back, resolved to accept any outcome without

  harboring any resentment. As he clasped his lover’s hand with his shaking one, he was being watched

  by his father.

  

  This single moment was all he needed to prepare himself for what was about to come.

  Three swift steps.

  *step* *step* *step*

  And a single leap onto the stage. Kasanova prepared himself.

  <>

  It is unclear, which of them said that. Both opened their mouths and both moved their lips, but only one

  voice came out, that sounded like both and none of them.

  Imogyeran takes the initiative.

  <
  expecting to die. If it helps you in any way, I do not wish to kill you.>>

  <>