Chapter 108 - Dragon Trial Part 2

As the thunderous applause erupted throughout the vacant coliseum the dirt beneath Zell's feet began to shift and change, the entire ground began to shake. A massive swirling of sand and dust erupted into twisters around him. There were seven of them encircling him.

As the twisters stopped the sand and dirt, they had picked up, fell down to the ground. As it all settled Zell could see seven figures clad in armor. They were larger than life with each standing over twelve feet high. The armor was thick and covered in draconic symbols and shapes. Each carried a large two-handed weapon, either a great sword, ax, or halberd.

"Well, this isn't good." Zell said as he looked at his foes. His lack of power had been evident in the earlier trials, being unable to use his immense strength or magic.

One of the large figures began to move towards him as the others stood and watched. They were unmoving as if they were statues. With each step of its massive frame the very ground shook. It dragged its great sword along the ground as it walked, making a sound of the sword cutting through the sand.

Zell tightened his grip on his sword that he had pulled from the ground. He was regretting his lack of any formal combat training and only relying on his power. Fear began to inch its way into his soul as the armored foe got closer.

When the armor got within striking distance it stopped moving and swiftly lifted its massive blade. Zell leaped out of the way just in time. The sword crashed into the sand with such force that it kicked up a massive dust cloud.

The armor turned and looked at Zell's new position and its eyes lit up with a red flame. It began to move forward again.

Zell was starting to panic. Without his power what was he really. As emotion began to overcome his soul his hand began to burn. The emblem the fox has given him burned with a golden light and erupted from his hand, just as it had done in his fight with Steve.

Zell looked at his hand and smiled at his fortune. The monstrous figure swung its mighty blade once more, but this time Zell did not dodge. Instead, he caught it barehanded with his marked hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, he snapped the massive great sword in two.

The armored foe leaped backwards and dropped his broken blade. It and the other six suits lifted their right hands and began to cast a magical spell. Each suit summoned a fireball with a circumference of a meter and launched them at Zell.

Zell smiled and snapped his fingers on his marked hand. He interrupted the magical energies of the fireballs and caused them to explode on launch, essentially backfiring on their casters. The resulting explosions knocked the armored knights back several feet but did not kill them.

Having control of his magic once more pleased Zell greatly. He could not fight back, although if he had the full might of his level, he would have been able to just punch the armored foes into nothingness. He raised his hand above his head and formed seven orbs of black fire that spun around him. "Nice knowing you, but I think this trial is over." He said as he launched all seven orbs at their respective foes.

As the orbs made contact each of the armored giants were engulfed in a massive pillar of black flames that reached as high as the eye could see. Zell expected that there would be nothing but dust when the fire faded, however as it did, he found all seven armors still standing and preparing to launch another assault.

"Seriously?!" Zell complained. "How did that not kill you?!" Zell then remembered the sword in his hand. "I must have to use this to defeat them." He said with a sigh while looking at the blade. He snapped again to stop their second cast of fireball spell.

As the armored foes fell back again from their own spells Zell used his teleportation magic to instantly travel to one of the falling enemies. As they fell, he sliced them with the blade. However, even though he hit them with all the force he could muster, the blade simply bounced off of the armor. Zell teleported away from the armor before it could react.

"Okay what gives?" He said as he studied his opponents closely. It was hard to tell from the design of the armor, but Zell noticed something peculiar about it. It appeared that in each of the suits there was a spot in which the pattern differed from the other suits. He shrugged his shoulders as he decided to give it a try. [If that spot is different, it could be a weakness.] He thought to himself.

The armored enemies began to charge at him with their weapons at the ready. It seemed as if they were planning to end this battle. The foe with the broken weapon stayed back, which gave Zell an idea to test his theory.

He waited until they were all upon him and then teleported to the armor that stood alone. With a quick stab he pierced the spot on the armor that looked different. As he did beams of light shout out from the stab wound. The armor itself began to crack and break and as it did beams of light came from the cracks.

The armored foe shattered onto the ground leaving only metal and iron behind. "Must be empty suits of armor controlled by magic." Zell said as he looked at the broken bits.

Zell then teleported from armor to armor breaching their armor in their weak spots. As he did each one died and fell to the ground. As the last of the armors fell the nonexistent crowd erupted into cheers once more.

The sand that filled the arena began to swirl, all of it. It created a whirlpool that sucked Zell in as he was sucked into the sand, he found himself transported back to the garden of paths. As expected, he looked above the door and saw another emblem had been lit up. This time with a red flame.

He looked at his hand to see if his mark was still active, but it was not. He had returned to his normal self once again. He decided to rest for a moment and sat down on the path. "So Yellow, Green, and Red are now complete." He said working the situation out in his mind. "That leaves White, Black, and Blue." He looked up at the panels and counted again. "There are only five panels though. Which flight doesn't have one?"

He looked at the remaining two paths before him. One was made of concrete and the other of obsidian. "I am going to just go out on a limb and say the obsidian is for the black dragons." He said while nodding to himself. "The concrete though, is it blue or white? It would make more sense for it to be blue, but that begs the question why don't the white dragons have a path and emblem?"

He racked his brain but could not discern any plausible reason as to their lack of representation. Their scale was required for the ritual, so there should be some sort of test for them. He gave up trying to figure it out and just stood up and dusted himself off. The next path for him to follow was the path of concrete.

He started down that path as he had the others and again everything around him faded away. As reality began to change and reform around him, he found himself on a concrete path that ended abruptly. He looked around and discovered that he was completely surrounded by the ocean. As far as he could see in every direction only water could be seen, save for the concrete path barely above the waves.

"This seems like a blue dragon thing." Zell said. "What do they want me to do?" He looked around for some sort of clue as to what his trial consisted of. The middle of the ocean did not give him much to go on. He spotted a note at the end of the path and went to pick it up.

[Welcome to the Trial of the Blue Dragon flight! As you know the blue Dragons are expert hunters and fishers, so your task today is to find the golden tuna! There is only one and it is somewhere in this ocean! P.S. The use of magic is permitted for this trial as it is needed for hunting and fishing. You may use whatever spells you deem necessary to complete the task at hand. Good Luck! You are going to need it! P.P.S. There is a fishing rod located next to where the note was, along with some tackle. Knock yourself out.] The note read.

Zell sighed as he read the note.. Looking down to where it was a fishing rod and tackle box now sat.