The award ceremony was underway.

On the floor of the coliseum, in front of the area that the king presided, a special platform had been erected. On this platform were many rewards for the various achievements. But the one that stood at the highest position was the Mortis Device.

This was the first time Jude had seen one and in fact was the first time most of the people here had seen one. People thought of it as a grand and holy object, but once they saw it, something else came to their mind.

The Mortis Device was shaped like a large medallion. Its surface was volcanic glass, black, smooth and shiny, but also slightly see-through. A dark black aura emitted out of it like smoke but never blocked a direct view of it. The very center was a gold coin, and it offset the evilness of the object with its pure and untainted core. Intricate designs spread out from the gold and into the black glass. These designs went far beyond that of inscriptions or glyphs and made one wonder what they were.

Jude had assumed that they would give his award last. But unexpectedly after a lengthy speech by the king he called Jude up first. The king himself did not hand out the awards but sat on his throne chair while another did this job.

Jude stood up on the stage as the king announced, “As the winner of the Wizard Competition, you are rewarded the Stone Shard. A mystical object that many wizards covet to find out the secrets that lay within. It is said that this shard was once part of a transcendent object created by the Senders.

“But for being the Champion of the Elitist Competition at whole, you will be rewarded an item of even more significance. The Mortis Device holds many secrets related to life and death. If you use it wisely, you will surely have an extra life if this world. And if you are lucky, you might even unlock one of its many secrets.”

Received: Stone Shard

Received: Mortis Device

Mortis Device

A device of life and death created by a Lich (Advance class of Necromancer).

Current ability unlocked: Resurrection (one use only)

Quest: Restore the Stone Part 2 Complete!

Rewards: Life Essence, Fire Essence, Ice Essense

Quest: Restore the Stone Part 3

Take the stone shards to the Everspring of Fire Essence and soak the stones in it to return their vigor.

Do you Accept?

Well, I’m not going to stop now. Jude thought as he accepted the quest. But what are these essences?

Life Essence

Rare ingredient or regent. The true essence of life and the living.

Fire Essence

Rare ingredient or regent. The truest essence of fire taken from both the depths of the earth and the heavens above.

Ice Essence

Rare ingredient or regent. The essence of ice, is it a thought or is it not? All we know is that there is no warmth in it.

Jude wasn’t sure what the Essences were for, but for the time being, he would leave them in his Inventory.

Jude then nodded his head as he said with a smile, “Thank you.”

After that, he walked to the side of the stage where he had been told to go previously.

Thankfully this was a situation where Yarik couldn’t ask about the Stone Shard. Otherwise, things would have gotten a little awkward.

The award ceremony continued with the second place winners of each side of the tournament along with a few other prizes.

It was at this point where the excitement of the competition had finally waned that a particular person got up from his seat. He couldn’t leave the coliseum as it still floated in the air, but he wanted to see the view from high above before the whole place split and landed once again.

He made his way through the halls and then to one of the archways that opened up to the scenery outside. As soon as he looked out, he froze in horror. Instead of the quite city lit with mage lights, he saw a view that he never expected.

Fires had been lit everywhere. Flames were burning across the whole width of his view. The outer city had been struck the hardest. But that was to be expected; the defenses were weakest there. But what he didn’t expect was that it would be thoroughly charred. The flames he saw now were not the outer city but the inner city! The city's greatest defenses were, of course, the Core City Walls. They were incomparably thick to the point that they gateways were tunnels.

But even with these mighty defenses had been breached. The fires in the Core City had only just begun when he saw the silhouettes of the strange creatures. Some walked upright like humans while others were beasts. But regardless of which they were, they had strange looking skin and horns on their heads and hooves for feet.

It was at this point he realized that they were eating the people while they were still alive.

Terror.

It was all he could feel. But he didn’t stay idle for long, he was an officer of Riwa, and he turned to report this event immediately.

As he ran away, two pairs of eyes looked at the frightened young man as he ran.

The first said with a laugh, “I will take this one.”

“No,” said the second pair of eyes, “It is about time, let him go.”

“Then let’s go in and watch the show,” the first laughed evilly.

These two were the first that the king ‘changed.’

***

“Jorgan, for placing third in the Wizard Competition you will be rewarded-“

“To arms! To Arms! To Arms!” A shout sounded interrupting Yarik as he announced Jorgan’s prize.

“What is the meaning of this,” The king called out from the throne.

“The city is in flames; we are under attack by some sort of monsters!”

“Impossible, the System would have notified us if there was an attack on Geonar.” Duke Ruthope criticized the young officer.

“My eyes did not deceive me; our city is in danger. All you have to do is look!”

“Allow me,” the king said. With a tap on the throne and a wave of his hand a screen appeared in the center of the arena large enough for all to see.

On the screen was the exact thing the young officer said.

Screams and shouts cried up from the crowd. But the screen was able to pick up the carnage in much better detail. Fear quickly spread through the whole crowd. Scenes of massacre and slaughter were displayed before everyone’s eyes. Even the officer that had seen the carnage was surprised at what he saw on the screen. It was all the clearer seeing it with this, and many people’s hearts were broken and stirred.

Some people fainted at the sight while other’s burned in rage. Still, others saw people they knew or even their loved ones being eaten and tortured alive, leaving behind nothing more than bones.

This was their city! And now it was going up in smoke. These were their people! But now they were being eaten and burned alive.

The things that were attacking them were creatures that they had never seen before. They seemed to have come straight out of hell. The horror of their appearance match the horrid actions they took. They slaughtered mercilessly with smiles on their faces.

“These are not creatures from the Beast Lands,” Duke Berkry announced. “I am not sure what they are. My Lord, what are we to do?”

The king looked at his duke then turned to the whole crowd, “There isn’t much we can do. Geonar has been lost!”

Another round of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued, but everyone felt that the king was right. The armies stationed in Geonar would have been all killed by this point. What could they do to turn the tide now? If they had still held the Core City walls, then maybe they would have had a chance. But since they broke through, there was no longer a defensible position. Not only would they face attacks from all directions, but they would do so in the dark!

Still, there were some people who would not accept leaving behind the city. They would rather die with their love ones.

“My lord,” one of the judges spoke up, “There must be something we can do. I would rather stay here and fight than run away with our tales between our legs.”

“You people here today are the core of Geonar. The core of Riwa. If you can survive today, then Riwa will once again rise. But if you all fall, we will be doomed to these creatures forever. However, I understand your sentiments and will present two options for everyone to decide.

“First, I can command this coliseum to fly away from Geonar. It won’t make it far outside the city without the support of the foundations within Geonar. But it will provide us with a means of escape. After we flee, we can muster our forces and retake Geonar.

“If we stay, we will most likely die and so will the future of Riwa. But there is an option, however slim it is, to gain the power to turn the tide even at this point. But I am regretful even to mention it.”

“My king, what is this option?” asked Duke Ruthope.

“You all know that I have been bedridden for many years now with no hope of a cure. However, you can see that I am here now, healthy and strong. This was all because of a mysterious figure appeared to me and planted a change inside of me. Now I am fit, and I am strong. So if this change happened inside one of you, just think of how much stronger you would become!

“However, I’ve only recently accepted this change, and I don’t know what all it entails. The reason why I’m regretful is that I don’t fully understand it yet. It could be a boon, or it could be a curse. Even as your king, I will not tell you to accept this change. This is something you must decide yourself.

“So which is it? Do you all wish to flee or will you accept this change? But I must warn you. Decide quickly. We don’t have much time. If they damage the Foundations that hold this coliseum up in the sky. We won’t have the choice to flee anymore.”

“I choose to change!” A voice sounded out as soon as the king ended he speech.

“I choose to change as well!” another joined in.

“CHANGE!” another shouted.

Soon the whole stadium was chanting ‘change’ over and over again.

***

Jude’s bad premonition finally came true. He, of course, recognized the demons at first glance. But what scared him more than the demons was the king’s speech. Then he realized that bad premonition that he felt still hadn’t gone away.

“Jorgan, we need to get out of here,” Jude whispered to Jorgan. But Jorgan didn’t hear him.

Jude looked over at his friend and saw a crazed look in his eyes as Jorgan was following the rest of the crowd shouting, “Change” over and over again.

It was like a spell had been cast over the people and they had lost their minds. People were now out of their seats and spilling into the arena floor arraying themselves before the king.

Jude tried to pull Jorgan to the side, but Jorgan pushed him away as he continued to shout “Change!”

“Jorgan, we need to get out of here. Something is not right!” Jude said.

“Of course it’s not right, our city is burning! If this change can help me kill those freaks who ate my parents alive, then I don’t care if the change is a curse or a blessing. I will accept it either way!” Jorgan shouted back.

“Your parents?” Jude was startled.

“I saw it all on the screen.” Jorgan paused, then looked deeply at Jude. “If you don’t want the change, I understand. You should leave before it starts.”

Jude didn’t want to leave Jorgan, but couldn’t force the issue either. Their conversation had already angered a few nearby people, and if he persisted, Jude would most likely face the wrath of the whole mob, not to mention the king.

Jude proceeded to sneak out of the arena which was easy to do now that the crowd was enraged. Winding his way through the halls, he finally reached an archway that led to the air outside.

“Stop right there,” a voice sounded.

Jude turned around to see Yarik, “I’m sorry Yarik, but I’ll be leaving now.”

“You think you can leave without giving me the stone?” Yarik laughed. “I kept it a secret that your last title was Unconventional Conqueror. Do you know what kings do to people who have a conqueror title? It’s the next best thing to a death sentence.”

“And what does this have to do with me?” Jude asked.

Yarik was angry, “It’s your title. Aren’t you afraid that you will be hunted down?”

“You say that like this is the only kingdom,” Jude said as a smile crept up on his face.

“You…” Yarik had never been so angry at someone.

“However, since you did do me a favor then I will do one for you. Don’t take the change the king is offering. You will live to regret it.”

“You know what the change is?” Yarik asked even though his hatred had yet to die down.

Jude had a good feeling at what the ‘change’ was, but he didn’t have proof. Even if he did have the poof, he doubted anyone would believe him. So he didn’t say anything at all.

“Wait,” Yarik said as he saw Jude was about to jump out the archway. “Even with your Blink, you won’t survive the fall. Do you really think you can escape me? Had over the stone, or I will simply kill you right here.”

“You’re right. My blink would really fail if I jumped from where the coliseum was. But since I lowered it, I should be just fine.” And with that, Jude jumped out the archway.

Stunned, Yarik ran over to the archway and looked down, and he quickly noticed that they were indeed much closer to the ground than before. But he had no idea how Jude did it.

Jude flashed through the air a few times before landing roughly on the ground. Even with the lowered height. Blink still could not compensate the impact fully. Jude had even used his Spectral Shield and still lost half his health.

“Scary,” Jude said to himself. He wasn’t squeamish over heights, but that experience sure made him sympathize with those who were.

Looking up, he could see the coliseum. Below it was the other part of his ‘ice burg’ or ice mountain. It was so large that it was twice the height of the coliseum itself. It was only because of its weight that the coliseum was lowered to this extent.

***

Yarik arrived back to the arena floor just as the king was about to bestow the change onto the masses. But instead of entering, Yarik watched from the sidelines.

He hated Jude to the bone, but something about Jude’s warning stuck with him. Jude was a person of mystery, so perhaps there was something that he could tell that Yarik could not.

“What I bestow upon you now is not a spell or a skill, but a fundamental change in who you are. From this day forward you will have been changed by the System and recognized by the System as a new entity.

“To receive this change, you must display your undying loyalty to me. Your heart, your soul, your mind must come under my will and command. If you accept me as your one and only ruler, my lordship will extend to you and change who you are… forever.”

On the sideline, Yarik was confused, wasn’t this how we were supposed to view the king? Maybe not in practice, but the same idea is followed in theory. Even if what the king said was a bit on the extreme side.

But for those inside the arena felt something different. They weren’t accepting the king as only a king. They were allowing the king as a ruler over their very nature.

No one hesitated as they all fell down to their faces and shouted, “We pledge our undying loyalty to the king!”

A resplendent light shown off the king and landed on the people.

The change was beginning.