Armad was in the middle of this when Aish, Cokali and Iliyasis arrived on the island.

He told them everything that had happened, including his missing Miyura.

"A Wilberforce without a Miyura is like a mage without a Djinn." Iliyasis said. Only members of House Wilberforce had a Miyura, if Armad had one, then he was a Wilberforce.

It wasn't intentional, Armad was just so emotionally drained that he could no longer think straight.

"It's just like our Barren'Dúdu curse." Aish said.

"What the hell are you doing?" Iliyasis and Cokali shouted in unison.

Aish just ignored them. Armad had just told them his origin, it was only fair she returned the favor.

"Barren'Dúdu? Barren'Dúdu of the Invincible Hundred?" Armad asked.

Aish nodded. It was a popular topic that was taught even in schools.

Aish Barren'Dudu? Oh.. I was stupid not to have to figured it out; she already told me she was Aish Barren. But then 'Barren' was a common surname.

Two hundred years ago, a group of powerful mages appeared in the Equatora. People thought they were one hundred and they called them the Invincible Hundred. These mages conquered twenty-eight countries in three days. They fought the Jinzidal Army and survived, they even fought the emperors and came out alive. Everyone thought they were unstoppable.

The Invincible Hundred attacked the Underground Empire, specifically a city called Shadeniz. Nobody knew what happened after that but the Invincible Hundred were trapped inside the city. Shadeniz and all the underground cities around it disappeared from the map. Barren'Dúdu was the predominant clan in Shadeniz.

When the Invincible Hundred attacked, some of the citizens were outside the city. They were the only survivors. In a surprise turn of events, Urúrú suddenly started hunting the survivors, calling them cursed. They put a bounty on them.

"We know nothing about the Invincible Hundred, we don't even know why they attacked us or why Urúrú are hunting us down. But we still have to save our families still trapped in there." She fell silent, suddenly becoming depressed. "They might be dead already."

"So, you didn't come from the South, you were born in Shadeniz?"

She nodded. "Sorry... But I feel like our meeting was a work of fate: we are both cast out clans looking for ways to restore our clan."

That wasn't actually true. Armad had little interest in restoring the old glory of his House. But he just grimaced. If it was any other time, he would have been worried about exposing his name or shocked about Aish's origin, but his missing Miyura had numbed the effect.

"Aren't you worried about that woman that looks like you?" Armad asked.

"Oh, that's nothing. I am sure she is also a Barren'Dúdu. All the females in our clan looked exactly the same. I thought I was the only one who has escaped the siege."

Iliyasis and Cokali exchanged a defeated look. That was their biggest secret, the thing they didn't want anyone, including Armad, to find out. Though, it could be considered even since they also knew his secret.

That was how Aish finally calmed Armad down. Armad focused on the fact that he still had the book and a Jinzidal to win.

His training began.

Tyren O. Bayajidda

Even as Armad trained on that island, mages from different parts of the world were preparing for the upcoming Jinzidal. Some wanted fame, some wanted to protect their families and country, some wanted to save a loved one, while others just wanted the money. But everyone wanted to win.

One of these mages was Tyren O. Bayajidda - the man whose actions had just cost Armad his Miyura.

Tyren currently stood in the Elephant Forest of the Underground Empire. A special training ground reserved for prince Déniz Bizare, the crown prince of the Underground Empire.

This forest had only elephants. The lesser predators had already fallen prey to these elephants. A few lucky ones had hidden in their holes, never to come out again. An even smaller group had escaped into the neighboring forests.

These elephants were special. Even their young ones were larger than an adult camel. And yet, they jumped so easy and high like monkeys. In fact, their habitat was mostly at the top of the tallest trees.

These elephants currently sat on the tree branches, watching two mages battled on the ground. They salivated as they patiently waited for one of these mages to fall. Once that happened, they would climb down and took the corpse.

The clothes of these mages were tattered but they never ran out of energy. The only thing that gave the elephants some hope was that both mages were gasping. Probably, one of them would miss a step and fall, and then they would have a feast.

The first mage was Tyren O. Bayajidda and the second was Déniz Bizaya.

As the Jinzidal approached, these two had been fighting nonstop for the past thirteen days. No one knew why and no one dared to ask.

Prince Niyashi

Travelling on The Wall was mainly reserved for the lowborn and the inopportune. For nobles, they just used the portal web to fly around. It would be surprising to find a high noble, the son of a Jinzidal King and the crown prince of an empire travelling by the sea. And yet, prince Niyashi, the son of the Jinzidal King Ta Kuríchi, travelled on The Wall in a small boat that was enough just for him and the woman's corpse beside him.

Prince Niyashi had a bright red hair and eyes. His eyes were now dark red from the anger burning in his heart.

A long, red spear rested on his back. Every now and then, runes would glow on the spear and lightened the surrounding area. If you moved closer to the spear, you could hear whisperings - whisperings of the dead. Sometimes, the whispers would burst into a shrill cry and sometimes they would laugh.

What was even more surprising was that there were over twenty Dordors surrounding the boat. A single one of these things broke the focus of those sword worshippers and gave Armad a chance to escape. But Prince Niyashi didn't spare them a glance.

Almost continuously, the Dordors would attack the boat but they would retreat on their own as soon as they were a meter away from it. They would attack again after cycling around for a minute or so, but they would be repelled again.

After about half an hour, the prince looked into the sky and roared. His roar shook the entire sea, causing tsunamis that instantly killed the Dordors. A reddish light arose from his spear and mixed with his blood to create a dome of light around the boat.

He roared again with a voice full of anger and frustration. His anger would change the fate of the world and tinge everything with blood. "I will rule. That I promise you."

In a surprising turn of events, something increasingly amplified his voice until it reached every corner of the world. Before long, the voice had reached all the people who were meant to hear it.

The prince headed directly to the Underground Empire. He would start by winning the Jinzidal and turning all the slaves into corpses for his ritual.

Jinzidal was the second Commandment after The Descent. The word was derived from the dominant language of the First World, Aldurish. It literally meant 'survival'. It was an annual competition held between all the 107 registered countries of the lower worlds. Every participating country would contribute a designated number of slaves.

The winner took the largest share, followed by the 2nd and 3rd positions. The remaining percent would be distributed to the other participant countries according to their battle credits. These countries would ultimately control the slave market for the year.

The Jinzidal was the First World's way of preventing indiscriminate wars. Any country that had a problem with another country would have to wait and settle it during the Jinzidal. Wars weren't allowed outside the Jinzidal.

In this competition, the weak would lose and always end up as a slave to serve the strong.