Beyond the pillar

Chapter 11: Stadium

Once outside, we headed to the stadium. Zedania threw a bag at me, "Carry this, little rat. You'll need it." I looked at the sky; still 8 of its eyes were open. It seems I slept for many hours, probably due to the blood I lost.

"Will we be flying?"

"Huh?" they both responded simultaneously, turning towards me. "Do you think we're like Galatea?" Zedania let out a mocking laugh. "You'll walk, little rat. The stadium is on the outskirts of Lycoris, so you can scream all you want."

It was an hour's walk. We left in a different direction from when I entered the city. The houses hadn't changed, and this time there were guards at the entrance. Apparently, the poor areas of the city aren't considered part of it. Outside the city, we followed a path through the trees to a huge wooden door at least 4 meters high. Liam approached it and shouted "Oslam." Immediately, the door began to open slowly on both sides, and we continued moving forward.

"Is Oslam the password or something?"

"Welcome," said a deep voice behind me. It was a huge gray bear, 3 meters tall, holding a rope as thick as my hands - the mechanism to open the heavy door.

"Thanks, Oslam. We brought you a snack," Zedania replied, observing me. Her mouth curved into an evil smile.

"How scary, how scary," I approached Oslam. He's imposing; he's strong and can enhance himself further with instinct. I don't think I can defeat him. "Nice to meet you, Oslam. I'm Ross."

"Nice to meet you," he replied mid-yawn, bending down to reach my height. I could see his enormous muzzle of sharp teeth; he could rip my head off with one bite. He released the rope he was holding, and the door closed with a bang, releasing a gust of wind that pushed my hair back. What a fright. "Will Zedania train you?" I nodded. "Hmm... it's her you should fear."

We continued deeper into the stadium with walls at least 5 meters high, an area of green meadows with trees, rocky waterfalls, sandy places, and lakes.

"Ross, sit here with me. You'll train with my sister later. I'm going to explain about materialization, ranks, and enhancers," Liam's smile illuminated the whole place. What a pleasant fellow. "As you may have noticed, materialization is a way of bringing an idea from your consciousness or brain into reality. But what can we create? A fireball the size of the pillar or fire that freezes instead of burns? Theoretically, the laws of the pillar don't say it can't be done. In practice, it's a different scenario. Despite the incredible speed of thought and creation of our brains, we have a kind of block. If I asked you to imagine a huge, detailed scenario, you could do it simultaneously while I describe it in great detail. But when it comes to expressing it in reality, it must make sense. Where did the energy for the giant fireball come from? And how did you manage to make fire freeze? Creating something that doesn't exist seems to be impossible. If you try to think of a color that doesn't exist or create a new life form without using the characteristics of those that already exist, it seems impossible, doesn't it?"

"Let me try... hmm... no matter how hard I try, I resort to things I already know. I thought of a lava being that eats oxygen, but of course, eating is a common thing among living beings, and lava isn't something new. Something completely new... mmm... my head is going to fry."

"Relax, it's normal. Theoretically, we could create anything. We can create fire, but some create a small flame and others a spiral blaze. This is where enhancers come in: knowledge, affinity, and emotions. You acquire knowledge from books or institutions. For example, for the fire spiral, you should read about wind currents, fire, and electromagnetic waves. Affinity is specific talent, and you can have more than one. Cedric is the best example; he has a low level of materialization but an incredible affinity for body regeneration due to his history and family heritage. His affinity is really rare; doing what he does can take weeks. Finally, emotions. This is where all the strange things come in since we still don't know how they work. A feeling or emotion enhances specific or general materialization. The only case in our city is Galatea, who was one of the worst in rank and then, after the hybrid incident, became a materialization monster. We still don't know how it happens; it doesn't always work, and some did horrible things to reproduce it, but experiments with thinkers are prohibited."

"Liam, sniff, sniff, I don't have any of that. I don't have a family. Or maybe I'm some kind of god! Banished by the light!"

"Can I punch his face now, Liam?" Zedania interrupts eagerly, punching the air to warm up.

"Give me a few more minutes, sister. Ross, ranks are the power classification we thinkers have, and there are 6 letters: A, B, C, D, and E. They respectively describe how well you materialize: advanced, intermediate, regular, assisted, and non-materializing."

"Non-materializing? Are there those who can't do absolutely anything?"

"I'm afraid so. The assisted ones are those who achieve it using energy crystals or some catalyst, like using an inflammable to create fire. You'll notice it because the flame comes out in colors depending on the catalyst."

"I saw it! Blue fire in the forest, some guys, uh... did it."

It's best to keep secret that I've eaten thinkers. Surely their god's laws don't allow it.

"Yes, Ross, they probably used salt or copper carbonate. To all ranks, you add a plus sign (+) if they have an affinity. For example, Cedric is D+, I'm C+."

"Hmm... Cedric uses assisted materialization. I think you're missing a classification, weren't there 6?"

"Yes, the best and strangest is S, the anomalies like Galatea."

"What rank is your sister?"

"My sister? She's B+, she has a strange affinity with her own bone tissue."

"Liam! You're ruining the fun," she interrupts with a threatening aura.

"I haven't explained about..."

"Shut up, Liam! You're ruining it. The best way to learn is by risking your life." She leans down to start running towards me at full speed.

Her knuckles grew and hardened, ready to strike. Ross barely had time to raise a wall of rocks that cracked under the impact of the blow, the stones crumbling like sand. "Is that all you've got, little rat?" Zedania let her mocking smile show, her green eyes shining with a mixture of vehemence and cruelty. Without wasting a second, with a fluid motion, her bones extended from her elbows, forming two sharp swords that cut through the air with a deadly whistle. Ross manages to duck at the last second when a block of stone rises from the ground to hit his abdomen, immediately receiving a blow to the face that sends him flying.

Ross stood up, the pain still throbbing in his chest. There was no time to think. Around him, the earth began to move, forming small rocks that spun around him. He focused on one to make it spin rapidly, tried to counterattack by throwing it, but Zedania easily deflected it with her bare hands.

"Come on, Ross, you have to do better than that." Zedania's voice was a dangerous whisper as she lunged again. Her aggressiveness was relentless. Ross found himself cornered, blocking her blows with rocks and moving the earth under his feet to stay out of her reach. Every time he thought he had found a breather, Zedania was there, striking with devastating force.

Zedania caught him with a direct hit to the stomach, her bone-covered fist piercing Ross's defense and sending him flying backward. Pain shot through him like lightning, but he had no time to recover. Zedania was already on top of him, a cruel laugh on her lips as she raised a leg to impact his head. Ross extended his hand; in an instant, a small flame appeared in his palm, its heat surprising Zedania. The fire caught her arms, forcing her to retreat as her skin burned for a second.

"Not bad, little rat! But you'll need more than that." Zedania launched herself again, but Ross was ready this time. He ran towards her, and they began an exchange of blows, their fists clashing. Blood began to splatter with each blow. As the exchange occurred, a rock wall rose next to Ross. In that second of distraction, Zedania's tibia became prominent and grew like armor covering her leg to hit him against the rock and make him fly until he crashed against a tree.

"Sister! I think that's enough. We can eat something while we rest." Ewan in Liam's arms had all his small flowers completely yellow.

"Tsk... I was hoping it would get interesting. Ross, we'll have a short break. 5 minutes."

"I can't feel part of my body. Do any of you know how to heal?" A silence that was filled by the breeze and the sound of the tree leaves. Ewan let out a trumpet sound.

"Ha..." Both twins looked at each other simultaneously.