Rank III Healer Mevron held on the rails tightly so that he wouldn’t fall of the golem. The golem was basically a large carriage with three wide feet for support. In large strides, it walked all over the rubble of the recently concluded battle between Garett Berklaw and the Roghinian calling himself "BasketSlayer."

“Everyone, check your suit for signs of contamination. The smoke contains a high concentration of the mutated mana of that Berklaw. You all know the drill when he’s the one fighting,” Full Rank Healer, Master Hleiron said to this team. "I still can't believe that he can make an explosion out of his dangerous mana."

“The damage...it's on another level,” Mevron said, surveying the arena, although he really couldn’t see much because of the dust and the yellow magical smoke. Then he checked the indicator on his gauntlet to see how his hazard suit was holding up. One could never be too sure and simply rely on the mana shield of the golem.

“That was two large explosions,” another healer said. “Caused by that fanatic. He’s known for disliking explosions, yet he destroys the arena with that mutated mana of his? The Roghinian really gave him a hard time.”

“Don’t refer to them as fanatics,” Master Hleiron said sharply.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Yup, it’s a bad idea to call them that especially since there’s a bunch of them hanging out there by the healer’s tent,” Mevron said.

Master Hleiron shook his head. “They were giving me headaches. They wanted to come in here,” he said, referring to the arena which was still covered by the mana shield except for a small opening through which the medical team entered. “Fortunately, they don’t have the equipment to dive in this cesspool of toxic, corrosive smoke. I always pity the opponents of that Berklaw for their bodies always end up in a sorry shape. But this? I wonder if his opponent is still alive.”

“It looked like he had a hard time this fight,” Mevron said. "To be pushed to this extent? Guess the explosions were supposed to be his trump skill, huh?"

An urgent beeping interrupted their conversation. The engynare manning the golem said, "Master Healer, we have detected a faint life signal.”

“Are other teams heading there? Have they found the other fighter?”

“We are the closest medical golem unit. The other units are heading for another location. They might have found the other guy, Master Healer.”

“Call for the vat golem.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mevron elbowed the healer next to him. “Who do you think it’s gonna be? I bet it’s the Berklaw guy.”

“Fine, I’ll bet on the other guy.”

"Buckle up, guys and gals...just imagine that we have buckles installed," the engynare said. "We're going down an ugly crater and the way's also pretty ugly."

The large golem broke through curtains of yellow smoke as it started to descend the crater left by the earlier blasts. The five occupants of the golem were rocked by its movements as its three-toed feet navigated the steep slope, testing the rocks before putting its weight on it. Although time was of the essence, especially because the longer a body was exposed to Berklaws mana the more it was consumed, they couldn't rush the precarious path down the crater.

Tongues of red energies jumped all over the place, leftover reactions to elemental essences breaking down. Some of the red energies were attracted to the mana core inside of the golem even if was shielded from outside interference, making a jump for them.

The mana shield of the golem sizzled as it received the energy lashes, dissipating them into nothingness. It was dangerous for mages to travel in here that was why they had to send in the medical golem units to retrieve the body.

The golem deployed its pincer arms as they neared the site.

“He’s buried?” Mevron said.

“Looks like it,” the engynare said as he pressed some fingers into the control orb of the golem. The golem began delicately digging, moving debris aside. A gush of yellow steam spurted out of the ground and hit the golem. The golem opened a valve and started spraying the area with foam to counteract the dangerous substances.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Master Hleiron said. “These people have pushed their bodies to their limits. I’m pretty sure that Berklaw has survived even in these conditions. I’m not sure about that Roghinian with that weird name.”

“And there are people even more powerful than them,” Mevron said. “They just won’t stop pushing themselves.”

“And it falls upon us to bring them back when they fall while trying to surpass their limits.”

“Found him,” the engynare said.

“Hopefully, the vat golem gets here fast enough,” Master Hleiron said. They went on ahead of the golem that was carrying the container tank filled with regenerative fluids because it was slow and bulky. "We may need to climb out of the crater before getting to it."

Mevron put his hand on the mana shield of the golem and peered down on the hole the golem dug. There seemed to be a blackened body. The golem deployed a different arm, one attached to its back. The arm separated into several smaller arms which dug away the dirt to show the body.

“Is he even alive?”

“Is that charcoal?” Mevron said. “Sorry,” he added when he met Master Hleirons furious stare. “How can someone like that survive in that state?”

“The scan shows his life signature. Although, he doesn’t look good at all.” The engynare point to a display to show that the body they found was indeed alive.

“Doesn’t look good is an understatement.”

The golem generated a blue bubble and suspended the recovered body inside. A hole opened at the bottom of their carriage and the body was taken inside. A vacuum sucked out all the smoke that was able to get inside. The healers began using their magic so that the body could already begin to recover as they started their perilous journey back up the crater to where the vat golem was waiting.

The dust cloud and yellow smoke cleared a bit, allowing Mevron to see above the light blue mana shield covering the arena. The audience boxes were moving away. Perhaps they were moving the location of the event away from the contaminated dome. Mages were flying overhead, checking the shield for cracks. They would have a hard time cleaning all this mess.

No one expected Garett Berklaw to do this; even the healers were not aware that he was capable of something like this. It was fortunate that they were able to bring hazard suits.

They transferred the body to the vat golem. Their earlier ministrations yielded no results, much to their surprise. Perhaps it was the strange properties of Berklaw's mana that prevented their healing.

The body carried by the vat golem was obviously corroded by the mutated mana explosion. Berklaw had immunity to the effects of his own mana; that would mean that the body they found was his Roghinian opponent. They better rush to the medical tent, as time passed, so were their chances of saving this man.

As soon as they reached the tent, they placed the vat on top of healing seals. They brought along mana batteries to fuel the seal so there were supposed to be no problem. The Roghinian had a strong constitution to be able to survive all that. As long as his heart beats, they would have a chance to repair his body.

"What's happening? Why is nothing happening?" Mevron said, befuddled by the readings the scanners give. Since the time they recovered the Roghinian they have been monitoring his body. Nothing has changed even though they have cranked up the power to the healing seals.

"Should we inject him-?"

"No, that wouldn't work. His body won't handle liquid mana if his condition is not stabilized."

Master Hleiron stroked his fine white beard and said. "The explosion must have something to do with it...agitate the mana particles? We have to know what that Berklaw did to make those blasts. Rachel? What happened with that Berklaw?"

"Team two was the one who recovered him from the arena. They said he wasn't affected by the blast."

"What? How is that possible?"

"He was found some distance away from where we found the Roghinian, obviously blown away by the explosion, but he wasn't injured by the explosion. His injuries came from pushing his body too hard. They might have to remove the beaststones from his body. A couple of them had broken down and were infecting his bloodstream."

"It's still weird that he wasn't injured by the explosion," Mevron said. "So, he wins? He's gonna get declared as winner?"

Master Hleiron tutted. "Is that all you care about now? Did you bet?" he asked Mevron disapprovingly to which Mevron only smiled sheepishly.

"He's in a coma right now," Healer Rachel said. "Mevron, I don't know what they will do about the tournament. A draw?"

Master Hleiron waved his hand before they could discuss further the tournament. "We still need to find out why our patient is not responding to any treatment. I have never seen anything like this."

"Like a petrified log?" Mevron said, demonstrating his knack for speaking inappropriately in serious situations. "Hey, it does look like those beasts who hibernate and shut down all but their necessary body functions when harm befalls them. Maybe the Roghinian has some skill to survive the apocalypse?"

"If the cause of this is that Berklaw, we can't ask him because he's in a coma," Master Hleiron said. "And if the cause of this is the Roghinian, we obviously can't ask him either. We need the equipment-"

Master Hleiron suddenly stopped speaking. A hint of curiosity fleeted on his face before turning into a frown. Mevron followed his gaze and saw several royal knights enter the medical tent. Four royal knights.

Mevron raised his brow. These were the royal knights as in the Royal Knights under the direct command of the emperor, not the generic royal knight you would find loitering around the palace. He had only been to the palace only once, though. Even the princess has no right to command them, nor the empress consort. They were easily identifiable by their golden armor, which was quite pompous and needlessly extravagant. This was the first time he was seeing them; he only heard about how they looked like from Master Hleiron.

They were quite a rare sight among the empire’s troops, even rarer nowadays since the Devastator Knight Elverius was favored by the princess as their guard. It was considered as insulting to the Devastator Knight if there were other guards besides them.

It was a huge puzzle why these royal knights were here. Obviously, they were ordered by the emperor himself to be here.

“How can I be of service,” Master Hleiron said to them, bowing his head slightly. “Perhaps we can attend to this matter outside the tent? Our patient here is in a critical condition.”

“Do you need to transport him back to the city?” a knight said, his voice gentle and soft, different from the arrogant voice Mevron was expecting from an elite soldier.

Master Hleiron said, “Yes. We need the facilities in the city hospital. His situation is not stabilizing and we need to run more tests to find out why. I have already talked with the mages.” Master Hleiron looked over the shoulder of knights to see if there were other people outside the tent. “I think they were delayed a bit because of the containment operations of the smoke.”

“Ah. Well then, we will be the ones who will transport you.” The knight walked over to the regenerative vat containing the Roghinian patient. The patient’s skin was eaten away by the corrosive substance. “He is still alive?” The knight was rightly surprised because the body floating in the vat could be considered as alive. It was blackened by the explosion with pieces of flesh shaved off, bones broken into weirds angles-yet he was still alive. "No time to lose then. We're taking you to the city. Have you already prepared?"

Master Hleiron nodded to them and they busied themselves with disconnecting the vat to be transported. The four knights cast separate magical bubbles to contain them and their equipment supporting the vat on their journey.

“What’s up with them?” Healer Rachel asked Mevron as she pointed up at the royal knight who cast the magical bubble carrying them.

Mevron shrugged. “How would I know? What’s important is that we get the patient to the hospital. And I think that it’s in our best interests not to ask too many questions.”

She leaned in and whispered. “Do you reckon he’s a spy?”

“Plausible. Maybe that’s why they want to detain him.”

A royal knight turned his head towards their direction to watch them. Making them both shut up. Can he hear what we were talking about? Mevron kept quiet during the uneventful and short trip back to the city.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they rushed to ran tests on the body of the Roghinian. They placed him on a levitating stretcher and floated him up to the level of the hospital where they had the equipment needed. Teleporting straight to the upper level of the massive hospital complex was faster, however, they did not want to risk the effects of teleportation on the corrosive mana permeating the body of the patient.

Numerous tests were needed because this was a novel case, one they hadn't encountered before.

Master Hleiron was fuming because the knights were insistent that they should accompany the Roghinian inside the testing room. They compromised and one knight was allowed to enter. This was surprising because Master Hleiron was known to hate any interference with his work. The knights must be really something to make Master Hleiron back down a little.

As soon as the results came out, Master Hleiron examined them on his data orb. His mouth hung open as he read the data. "How could this be possible?" he said. Nothing was happening. At all. The readings since they recovered the body did not change one bit. How were they supposed to treat that? Was the body cursed?

Mevron was also examining the test results. Then he looked at the body. Maybe they should force liquid mana into his system. The chest of the Roghinian moved a little. Then it started to pulsate and then ballooned, as if he was deeply inhaling. But he was obviously unconscious. Something was moving inside the body! “Master Hleiron, his chest is moving,” Mevron said frantically.

“Moving?” the Master Healer said as he rushed over.

“There’s something trying to get out.”

The royal knight stepped forward to check the problem but Master Hleiron pushed him away in annoyance. “Please stay there at the door,” he said curtly.

The Roghinian's chest was inflating, then his throat, then his cheeks. His mouth looked like it was being forced open. Some black gas escaped his closed mouth, more like just teeth shut tight because the lips were already blown away. Small tendrils wiggled out and grasped the sides of the mouth, pushing them open.

“There’s something inside him,” Mevron said. He quickly moved to the control panel and moved the scanner over the patient. Master Hleiron was on the other orb, controlling the golem arms to remove whatever was inside. “I’m preparing a container for it.”

The royal knight moved closer. “I sense something. Something…”

Mevron looked at Master Hleiron with concern. Should they stop the knight? He was already moving over to the table. Master Hleiron abandoned his controls to chase the knight.

“I told you to just stand by the door. This is a delicate operation and we may lose this man’s life.”

The royal knight held up a finger. “Silence, Master Healer. You are right that this is a delicate matter. There is something very dangerous inside that man."

"I have enough of this," Master Hleiron said.

Mevron knew that the Master Healer was about to explode then he noticed that the mouth of Roghinian opened. Black tentacles came out. He was about to shout to alert them but the black thing already disappeared. Then there was a thump as Master Hleiron hit the floor, knocked out. The black thing passed by him, hitting him and then going for the knight. It wrapped around the knight's helmet and removed it.

"What was that?" Mevron said.

The black creature dragged the helmet away. The knight looked unfazed from being jumped upon by such a creature. He knight cast a spell to cage the weird black thing as it tried to escape.

Mevron rushed to Master Hleiron to check if he was alright, then he turned to their patient, concerned about him. But he has also disappeared. Mevron jerked back. What was happening? He swallowed and blinked. His gaze swept the room. There was a naked man holding the face of the royal knight. The knight held the hands of the man, trying to get away. The knights hand glowed momentarily as if he was casting a spell, but then he slumped down on the floor as the man released him.

"Woah. I'm naked," said the man. He looked down at the royal knight and grinned. "Element of surprise...Surprise!"

Mevron recognized him. "BasketSlayer?" It wasn't a blackened body anymore but a normal human body. This was him? Where did all the injuries go? Mevron's gaze switched from the Roghinian to the royal knight on the floor. Then he realized that he was in danger! There was something dangerous about the Roghinian that was why the royal knights wanted to come with them.

Something covered his mouth.

"Five, just knock him out."