The New World [Magi Fanfic]

Household Vessel

"He's not testing the king, but us?!?" Ja'far exclaimed to his peers beside him.

'That is Zepar's trail!?' Sinbad thought while crossing his arms.

"Okay... Sinbad, if all of your followers pass my test, then I will grant you the power of a king." Zepar said while looking at said king's vessel. The Djinn turned to his followers behind the purple haired teen.

"However, if one person fails, you will fail the whole trail... and this will be the end of all of you." Zepar explained with a small smirk.

'To pass the Djinn's tests, we must be confident in our abilities but...' Hinahoho thought while scrunching his brows together.

'I'm sure it's not going to be that straight forward. Moreover...' Ja'far thought, continuing the former's.

'If even one of us fails, this is the end...' Serendine finished in her mind.

'What should we do? What kind of test will this be?' The group thought altogether.

"Hey, wait a minute. So, the requirement is just that everyone has to pass the test, right?" Sinbad asked with a confident grin.

"What is there to be worried about? It's not difficult. I believe in the strength of each and everyone of you." Sinbad said, easily relieving the group of their worries. Zepar frowned and turned to the blonde who floated quietly beside him. He sighed at her stoic expression and turned back to the group.

"Then let's get started. I'll be testing that strength of yours." Zepar snapped his fingers with and amused grin. After the snap rang out in the silent treasure room, a rumbling occurred in the large room. A large platform rose up through the water.

"All right, first up, I'll have your fellow allies fight each other here. That will make it easy to measure your strength." Zepar explained.

"Fight... you mean in a match? Sounds interesting." Hinahoho grinned.

"Oh, please do not relax just yet. This is a serious fight. I expect you to use your full strength. I am judging your strength after all. Then, I'll choose the pair for the first match, first up is..." Zepar said while putting one hand on his chin and the other pointing to Mystras and Hinahoho.

"You two." The Djinn grinned. Mystras and Hinahoho gave looks of surprise at the Djinn.

"Strength is necessary in order to protect your king. With similar weapons like the harpoon and the lance... you seem well suited to face each other." Zepar explained, clearing up anyone's questions.

"A warrior and a knight. Which one of you can be called the king's sword...? It would be beneficial to decide which one of you wields the strongest spear." The Djinn said.

'The strongest... spear!' The knight and warrior thought in unison.

"Excuse me... may I ask something?" Ja'far spoke up while looking at the Djinn.

"I don't mind proving ourselves through a match... but is this pairing really and appropriate one?" The white haired kid asked while giving a sweat drop at the choice of the Djinn.

"Lord Hinahoho is from Imuchakk, a race that has superhuman strength and unnaturally resilient bodies. In comparison, even though mystras is a knight, he is only a normal human being. Thinking about it reasonably, if you're pairing someone against Lord Hinahoho, it seems more suitable to choose someone like Lord Drakon." Ja'far said to the Djinn who remained silent.

"...Djinn if this is really for you to test their strength-" Ja'far began again only to be cut off by Mystras.

"Please wait a minute!" The knight said, earning the attention of everyone.

"That's not true Ja'far. I don't feel dissatisfied with the Djinn's choice at all. It's true that I'm not from special race of people, and I don't have a household vessel like you and some of the others do, but Ja'far, I am a knight of Sasan. No matter who the opponent is, I have no intention of losing." Mystras said with a serious but genuine expression. Jinahoho grinned at his explanation.

"If that's how you feel, I can agree with that." The Imuchakk warrior said while walking over to the knight.

"Lord Hinahoho..." Ja'far began out of worry.

"Let's figure out which of us wields the strongest spear." Hinahoho said.

'Damn it... I got them all fired up...' Ja'far thought while scratching his head.

"It's fine Ja'far. You worry too much. Let's see what happens." Sinbad said, trying to ease the young boy's worries. Mystras and Hinahoho got into the arena, reading themselves with grins. Zepar smiled.

"The match will continue until one of you is defeated. Now if you're both prepared..." Zepar began watching the two take their stances, waiting for their cue.

"Let's begin!" The Djinn said as the two began to attack one another at full strength.

"This is a fight between spear wielders. It's a serious one-on-one match that will continue until one of them is defeated." Sinbad said confirming the Djinn's word to himself and the people around him. He looked at Lucy who continued to float beside the Djinn. She turned to him and he grinned at her. The blonde smiled back and waved her hand at him.

'How will this turn out..?' Sinbad thought while narrowing his eyes at their ongoing fight. The two seemed evenly matched.

"He's got the same ridiculous strength as always huh? It would be difficult to withstand even one of those attacks..." Sinbad using his hand as a visor, speaking of Hinahoho. Ja'far nodded as a sweat drop came down his cheek.

"But he can't just keep running away either." Ja'far said, taking about Mystras. Said knight jumped out at Hinahoho, surprising him and the rest of the group.

"So fast!" Ja'far said while watching the knight's speed.

"That's the spearmanship he learned as one of those Sasan knights... he leaves opening for a counter attack..." Sinbad said.

'He's faster than he was when I saw him fight in Sasan... when did he..!?!' The king's vessel thought in surprise as he saw the knight's speed.

"It's an overwhelming number of attacks from a knight with unmatched accuracy vs. a few devastating attacks from a warrior whose best weapon is his resilience..." Lucy said to herself. Zepar nodded agreeing with her.

"That's why I picked them Miss Lucy. You have a keen eye. As expected of someone chosen by true king..." Zepar said to the girl with a smile. The two watched the frustrated men on the battlefield clash spears. They mustered their strength into one last devastating attack.

'I am... I am the strongest spear!!!' The two thoughts in unison. After that Lucy watched as rukh from Sinbad's two Djinn, Baal and Valefor. They fluttered over to the two on the field.

"Household vessel... Bararaq Harba!" Mystras shouted.

"Household vessel... Galfor Roromus!" Hinahoho shouted at the same time as the knight. The two poured everything they had into their attacks. The whole arena filled with smoke as everyone guarded themselves from the shock wave of the two's powerful attacks.

"Hinahoho! Mystras!" Sinbad shouted to the two as the smoke cleared. The two were collapsed on the ground, both defeated by each other. Zepar clicked his tongue in disappointment.The Djinn picked the two up in his hands.

"My, my... They are alive, although they've both completely exhausted their energy. The power of their household vessels was at the same level, so the attacks cancelled each other out. They were able to get this far by drawing out each other's power. Well... that means they both pass. But, you know, that the ending was pretty lame. A fight is supposed to be something a bit more desperate, a bit more of a life and death situation. At least... that's what I want to see." Zepar said setting the two down on the ground. Sinbad and Ja'far ran over to them. Lucy glanced at the Djinn who grinned at her with a shrug.

"Let's make it a bit more serious next time... Ja'far and Masrur!" Zepar said pointing at the two young boys with an innocent grin.