Rumerra - The Journey Begins

Chapter 17 - The Truth Exposed (Part III)

Back in the arena, things were starting to heat up even without the flame empress. The seed of hatred she planted blossomed into an ugly flower full of spiky thorns. The dracon and elven king argued loudly, meeting in the middle between their private booths. Below them, in the gallery, the two nations were also at each other's throats. Even among elves, two different sides were formed, one defending their king and princess and the other condemning them. The dwarves were furious with their champion and the Grand Magus for accepting bribes from the elves, and humans and jakkals simply joined in the bickering at random. It was a complete display of utter discourse and disharmony. Fumina guided the crying and shaken elven princess out of the arena while food remains were chucked at them.

"This is horrible!" Warina commented. "The Magornis is supposed to be a friendly event that brought all races together and promoted collaboration and harmony between them. But this is the complete opposite of that!"

"Indeed," Fernando agreed. "At this rate, there really is going to be a war!"

"Tolpenheim, this is all your fault!" a dracon clad in a purple cloak walked up on stage. An eagle flew in and changed its form to that of a bald old man with a long beard.

"I agree with Korvak," Argus spoke as they both approached the pale dwarf.

"You don't understand!" he tried to explain himself. "This was never about the bribe! I don't require money or riches! I just didn't want to risk damaging our stance with the elves!"

"Well, you did a splendid job at that, I must say!" Korvak growled. "I can't believe you!"

"You should resign, Thomas," Argus said quietly but firmly. "Do not disgrace yourself further by trying to hold on to your position of Grand Magus after this scandal. In fact, you should resign from the Council altogether, if you ask me. You broke the code of conduct."

"Never!" the dwarf retorted. "Don't you see? The Council means everything to me!"

"Then you shouldn't have done that," the dracon sorcerer took off his coat and threw it away.

"What are you doing?" the Grand Magus asked. "You're not ready, Korvak...don't do it."

"Oh, but I think I am," he grinned in turn, taking off his glove and revealing four marks on the back of his hand. He tossed the glove at the dwarf in front of him, and it bounced off his chest, landing on the ground. "As per the rules, a Grand Magus can be challenged for his position at any time, correct? Then I, Korvak Greyscale, challenge you for your position!"

"Seriously?!" the dwarf couldn't believe what he was hearing—or seeing, for that matter.

"Since when are you a tier-four, Korvak?" Argus raised his bushy eyebrow. "I thought only me and Loomar were tier-fours. When did you acquire your fourth mark?"

"A while ago, actually," the dracon said. "I pushed myself hard for this. And now I will put it to good use—by defeating you, Tolpenheim! Clearly, you do not embody the values one should as the Grand Magus! So you need to be removed from your position immediately!"

"Don't get cocky just because you advanced to tier-four!" the dwarf retorted. "Acquiring an elemental mark is one thing...but mastering that element is a different thing entirely!"

"I have mastered all four of my elements," Korvak said smugly. "Now fight me!"

"Take this elsewhere!" Argus raised his voice. "The last thing we need here is two Council members to fight in front of everyone. I couldn't care less which one of you fools is the Grand Magus—it's just a meaningless title in the end, anyways. Go settle this in private while I calm down the crowd and ensure the tournament continues as it should!"

"Very well," Tolpenheim nodded. "Follow me, Korvak. If you want to lose this badly, then I shall give you what you want! You're ten years early to stand a chance against me!"

"We shall see about that," the dracon held his head high as they both walked off stage.

Argus pushed the confused announcer out of the way and stepped in front of the giant horn. "SILENCE!!"

The shouting from the crowd quieted down as their heads turned toward the old man on the podium. "Is this what the Magornis is about?!" his voice echoed throughout the arena. "Is this what we have become?! Shouting savages who wish ill upon one another?! I condemn cheating just as much as the next person; I can tell you that much! But I will not let one person's mistake turn me into a hateful man who condemns an entire race! We are uncovering the hatchet that was supposed to be buried fifty-five years ago! We should all be ashamed of ourselves!" He paused for a moment to catch his breath before continuing to shout his lungs out.

"VARUS HOSHINOV!!" he yelled, and the heads of the crowd turned toward the elven king. "I know this wasn't your daughter's doing! How do I know this?! Because the poor girl is devastated right now! It was you who pushed this on her, have you not?! Admit your fault and leave her out of this! And Kirion Stormbane! Get your daughter under control! That is no way for a princess to behave! To all of you out there in the crowd—do not condemn these girls for trying to fulfill the ambition of their fathers! These two men should settle this among themselves instead of pushing their dreams onto their children! If you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the ones who are actually responsible for this! Do not take your anger out on the contestants, the other races, and each other! I urge you all to calm down and allow us to continue this tournament now! For the contestants have worked hard to get here and display their skills before us! We are being unfair to them by turning this arena into a rioting scene! Are we civilized nations?! Or are we savages?! Answer this question among yourselves!"