Whether this new ability to control was truly born from practice alone, or if his blood, altered by the dragon scales, helped him to accomplish that, were not things a simple Qi-Gatherer could understand!

  With the next strong heartbeat, Kilian's body disappeared and reappeared, as if from the shadows, again and again every second behind the various hooded figures.

  Followed by a dull thud of a staff, skull after skull was shattered, while the golden Yang flames freed countless reanimated corpses from their suffering.

  The orcs and werewolves tried to protect the members of the Enclave of the Shadows from the carnage, but whenever a blade seemed to strike the body of the raging Qi-Gatherer, it only sliced through an empty silhouette, an optical illusion left behind due to his high speed, for Kilian had already appeared behind his next target and taken another life!

  The countless Qi-Gatherers of the small circle and the few of the middle one were helplessly at his mercy!

  Soon, the smell of rotting and burning flesh filled the entire arena as the orc warriors and members of the Lupus Clan trampled in pools of blood of their dead allies.

  Kilian's heartbeat pulsed in sync with the Qi in the air, and a heavy tonelike feeling settled around the chests of the black figures, the likes of which they had never experienced before.

  For the first time, their lives were as worthless as those of whom they usually destroyed for fun, and a deep fear crept into the bones of all who were lucky enough to still be breathing.

  Just as the staff was about to crash against the skull of another Qi-Gatherer yet again, the phantom-like body appeared, shining brightly amidst its enemies.

  He slowly looked first at his enemies, then at his friends, and sighed deeply, “I have tried to take out the most dangerous necromancers…the rest is up to you!”

  His figure vanished with a bright flash of light, and when his eyes had adjusted to the new surroundings, he saw the powerful young master of the Enclave of the Shadows sitting meditating on the ground, who had previously been one step ahead of him.

  “And you expect such a weakling to be comparable to my talent?” Duncan laughed loudly, his face contorted in contempt, “The Lupus Clan and the orcs wasted so many resources just to bring countless incompetent idiots here, and yet it takes you this long to reach one hundred points? Hahaha! Am I surrounded by nothing but losers? The age of the necromancers will soon come!”

  Kilian responded only with silence and a knowing grin on his face.

  “Pff!” replied the other Qi-Gatherer with a gloomy expression, as he realized that his verbal blow had missed its mark, for the attack was like a stone disappearing into deep water without creating any high waves.

  The young master of the Enclave of the Shadows was skilled in psychological warfare and wanted to achieve an early small victory against Kilian to unsettle him, because an opponent who couldn't control his emotions was easier prey than a calm, composed warrior!

  If he subconsciously felt inferior, he might not be able to use his true strength in a life-or-death struggle.

  But this first attack had failed!

  The minutes passed, yet nothing happened.

  “Where are they? Even the weakest corpse puppet should be able to tear a normal Qi-Gatherer into pieces in the blink of a second!” Duncan grumbled, and slowly, uncertainty triumphed over his self-confidence, while Kilian sat and meditated like a wordless monk.

  A bright light jolted him out of his meditation, and with a loud laugh, Thrym appeared before the two young Qi-Masters.

  “Good fight! The preparations paid off!” He grinned, sat down next to his little brother, and also began to recover from the exertion, “The others should arrive soon! You left a real mess before you disappeared! Hahaha!”

  Next, Brenton, Lilja, and Aurelia appeared.

  “What’s going on here? Where are my brothers? They may be weaker than me, but someone should have had enough points by now!” The figure dressed in black muttered hastily, looked around, and saw himself surrounded by enemies, which hardened his determination even further, “Even if everyone else fails, I will win!”

  The three newcomers revealed nothing, merely looked gratefully at Kilian and sat down next to him, while Aurelia repeatedly cast seductive glances at him.

  “Luckily, Lorna prepared me for situations like this!” the young boy sighed, managing to keep the blush from his face with sheer willpower, “Otherwise, I would have made a complete fool of myself here long ago!”

  “Young Master!” One of the necromancers finally appeared a few seconds later and knelt before his leader, “Too many puppets of the enclave are destroyed, and nearly all our forces are whipped out! It was a massacre!”

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  “WHAT?!” Duncan roared angrily, rising to his feet as a cold wave of Yin-Qi poured from his body, “How could this have happened?”

  The unknown veiled Qi-Gatherer looked around, spotted Kilian, and stammered, pointing his index finger, “M-m-monster! I-it w-was his fault! Yang flames! He destroyed almost all of our puppets before slaughtering one of our brothers after another, and his other allies were also equipped with all sorts of methods against Yin-Qi! As if they knew we were coming! If it weren't for the points system and the saving talismans, we would all be dead!”

  "That was just a glimpse into the future of the necromancers!” The young calligrapher interjected with a satisfied smile as more and more humans, elves, beastmen, giants, and some orcs appeared, “You will never rule over Terrapin!”

  “You alone cannot stand in our way!” Duncan roared, while trying to stab Kilian with his dagger-like glares, “I will destroy you and everything you hold dear!”

  This was the first time in his life that the young master of the Enclave of the Shadows had lost a psychological battle, but after a few seconds, he managed to regain his composure and said, "At least you're trying to give me a challenge! It will be a satisfaction to destroy you!"

  Smiling, the blacksmith pulled out the piece of paper made of human skin and dangled it in front of Duncan's head, "That's what happens when you have a stupid ally! You necromancers have lost the protection of the shadows and will never win!"

  “Where did you get this document? There are only two!” The young master barked at him, now completely losing his composure, “Did you kill the bearer or is he still alive?”

  “Every necromancer who crosses my path has forfeited his life!” Kilian replied calmly, putting the list away again, “And you are also on my list!”

  “So my brother is no longer with us? I was wondering why he never made it to the capital…” Duncan quickly calmed down and added, his eyes gleaming with rage, “I actually wanted to finish him off as soon as our master’s successor was chosen… Now I have to kill you to prove that I am the most powerful warrior of this generation!”

  “Hehe, you necromancers don’t stand a chance against my little hero!” Aurelia stuck out her tongue, took Kilian’s arm, and pressed her shapely body against him, but flinched back the next moment when she saw Duncan’s poisonous gaze.

  The minutes passed, and the various inhabitants of Terrapin reached the next stage of the tournament.

  Brother Li and the other members of the Kong Clan, except Mailin, gradually appeared, followed by Connor, Edana, and Thym's giant companions.

  A few necromancers also finally reached the next round and sat, surrounded by orcs and werewolves, around the young master, who gave them orders with a stern face.

  In the end, there were thirty-two winners of the first round, when the figure of a woman appeared out of nowhere and looked at the people.

  On one side, Duncan sat with a gloomy expression next to three other necromancers, surrounded by five orc warriors and four wolfmen.

  On the other side, Kilian joked with Thrym, next to whom sat two giants, and Aurelia, who was accompanied by a lizardman and a lioness beastwoman.

  Brother Li was talking with Sister Han, and Brother Luan and Brenton, in whose shadow two human warriors stood, was talking with Edana and Connor.

  Only Lilja remained silent and, together with three other elves, observed the entire scene.

  “I am Deidre, the guardian of balance!” Said a gentle voice as the guardian’s body became visible for the first time.

  She was as if split in two!

  One half shone brightly like the radiant sun, while on the other lay a dark shadow that tried to devour all light.

  One side was Yang, the other Yin, and wherever they met, a fierce battle raged.

  “Within me rage fragments of the souls of the great ruler of the dragonlords and the ancient leader of the necromancers! They have wrestled with each other for countless years and have chosen this tournament to pass on their teachings so that future generations can finally end this war!” The guardian said in a firm voice, and an awe-filled silence fell over the thirty-two participants of the tournament, “I want to congratulate you all! You have overcome the first hurdle and will receive a reward!”

  With a swipe of her two differently colored hands, a magical portal opened.

  “Pass through and your bodies will be cleansed by different kinds of Qi, depending on your character and affinity! If you possess enough talent, you might even be able to learn something from the masters of the past!” Deidre continued, adding with a serious expression, “But be warned! Not all spirits of the dead are benevolent towards the living! Beware!”

  Just as someone was about to open their mouth to ask a question, a powerful suction pulled everyone through the shimmering portal.

  The thirty-two Qi-Gatherers all found themselves floating in a huge white room.

  Their bodies were scattered wildly, and multicolored, glowing spheres flew around them.

  “Where am I?” Kilian wondered, unable to see the other living beings around him, and it seemed like everyone else was only aware of themselves.

  Some of the flying spheres scrutinized the tournament participants closely, circling them sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, as if thinking about who would be the best suited to impart their knowledge to.

  Others seemed almost lifeless and kept to the background.

  More and more balls were flying around Kilian.

  A searing red one that glowed with Fire-Qi, a transparent blue sphere that rippled softly, a small brown mountain that seemed to alter the gravity around it with its mass, yet they all turned away at the last moment before touching his body, as if something inside of him was repelling them.

  Even a purple flash of light flickered past briefly, but froze a few millimeters in front of Kilian and slowly turned around again.

  Each colored sphere was a legacy of a deceased Qi-Master from the time of the great dragonlords, and what powers they possessed during their lifetime had long been forgotten, but even the weakest were Qi-Condensators of the middle circle!

  Now and then, denser spheres flew by, looking almost like a massive core, and the transparent spheres of light respectfully gave way.

  Within them slumbered the knowledge of exalted Qi-Lords, whose power was comparable to that of the current patriarchs and other powerhouses of Terrapin.

  But even these masters only hesitated briefly and then turned away from Kilian, while a quiet, almost inaudible voice whispered, “Poor child…you would be the perfect student, but with such destroyed Qi-paths, no one will entrust you with their legacy…All that will remain for you is a lifeless ball of Qi and a ton of regret…”

  Time seemed to stand still around Kilian, while the others had already been chosen, partly by various forgotten masters, and accepted their legacy.

  Even some Qi-Lords selected suitable students, and one could feel the aura of the various selected Qi-Gatherers growing.

  But all had fallen silent around the young blacksmith, and only an almost transparent, dark sphere hovered before him.

  Just as a clear transparent sphere without any legacy was about to approach the young warrior, the dark one reluctantly flew into Kilian's head and disappeared inside of him.