The whole of Bastion was in a festive mood, the entire domain was filled to the brim with visitors from the different factions, the inns and resorts were filled with people and just navigating around the streets was hell itself. The sentinels also served as the police force of Bastion, directing and settling petty fights before they became full-blown battles, gone were the days when people just entered fist fights and people egged them on, now a fight could go from mere words to different deadly powers blazing forth, and the sentinels would have none of that. At the southern part of Bastion, the sprawling unused land was been taken advantage of to build facilities for the coming tournament.

As usual, the mages were in charge of the construction, mostly different earth mages on different paths were employed, plus the union had loaned Bastion an acolyte of theirs that had an architecture path to help in the designs and process. The news had been broadcasted around Asa, and various ascenders from different strongholds, towns, and even the few cities that were springing forth were sending their best of the best after Moyo had promised a mysterious reward. It wasn’t something grand, just a legendary dungeon core, seeing as Bastion had surplus of those gotten from the invading sects. The owners of those hotels and inns that had sprung forth had seen every room n their establishment filled to the brim, with more coins pouring into the economy of Bastion. Most had resorted to taking loans from bastions’ treasury to expand their hotels and institutions with a moderate interest fee.

The settings for the tournament had been posted and to the surprise of everyone, clan titan blade would not be participating, and none of their sects would be in the fights. Most had been confused, but few powers knew what the actions of the clan meant, a silent message telling them all that they were far above them. Not that anyone could contest that claim, the sects had defended their territories flawlessly with little to no casualties, a fact that couldn’t be sad for the other factions. The fights were in stages, with the deadline for the registration being the next day to let the planning committee be adequately prepared.

The tournaments would be in brackets, and the fledglings and initiate competitions would take place on the first and second days, these would act as the opening acts for the tournament and serve as a taste of what was to come. The third day would signal the start of the tournament proper with the start of the acolyte bracket, a series of single fights that would take place till the top sixteen were decided, then the fourth day the acolyte duels would end with a final fight between the top two. The fifth day would be the most anticipated, the advocate brackets, also a series of one-on-one fights till a winner was decided. To say the people were in high spirits would be an understatement, the smiles on their faces showed the level of safety they felt. Outside the walls of bastion was a lush forest filled with all kinds of monsters and rare dungeons with the occasional legendary dungeons, but no monster in their fight senses would dare tread close to the crystal walls, not since every time they did so they had been wiped out, their bodies serving as exotic meats for the visiting guests. Someone once joked about how the monsters must be having PTSD at seeing their fellow creatures being eaten.

The tournament coliseums were three in number, one for both the fledgling and initiate brackets, one for the acolyte bracket, and the final one for the advocate bracket. The construction was halfway done already due to the number of hands that were contributing at the same time, the project headed by Samantha, the six-sided mage headed the project along with the architect from the union. Outside the walls of Bastion, in the lush jungles, the titan blade hopped from tree to tree, being chased by a horde of creatures that looked like monkeys with six hands and a spiked tail, all level 150 and above. Without turning he used his katana to deflect a spike shot at him, dodging the swipe of one of the creatures, and dropped down to the ground, a wide smile on his face.

He missed fighting, he missed the thrill of battling with his life on the line, not like these creatures posed a threat for him, maybe in more numbers but not a measly bunch like this. Vanishing with a step of the titan, he appeared above them and brought dominion crashing down like the hand of a deity, activating its power as it crushed them to the ground,

“Ready!” he shouted,

Immediately the skies grew dark, thunder boomed overhead and lightning began to crash down sporadically on the creatures who shrieked before dying. Annika appeared from the thunderstorm, dropping to the ground as she sighed,

“Still level 99” she muttered,

Moyo and Annika had gone into the expansive jungles that took half of the red zone, Moyo doing it for the thrill of the battle and Annika taking the opportunity to try to power level up to expert, seeing as Moyo was around to shield her from any danger. Except they had come across a startling realization, no matter how many monsters they killed or how many times she tried, she couldn’t break into the realm of an expert. This had come as a startling realization to Moyo as he had done so while fighting Evon. They had decided to keep going at it all to no avail, Moyo had a hunch but he wasn’t sure yet. Watching as Annika rested on her staff, he placed a call to Mrs. Martha, her image appearing on the communication construct in front of them,

“Lord,” she said,

“Hi, so we’ve stumbled on a bit of an issue, Annika can’t ascend to expert,” he said,

Mrs. Martha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion,

“she’s trying to ascend to expert?” she asked,

“You say that like you’re surprised anyone wouldn’t want to” Moyo replied,

“Well I get that the both of you are quite the advancement freaks, but isn’t that a tad bit too fast?, at this rate you’d paint Bastion as some sort of overlords of monsters,” Mrs. Martha said,

“I would’ve thought you’d be happy with the news, with you being the let’s get stronger so no one can threaten the clan type,” Annika said as Mrs. Martha smiled,

“True, however, moderation must also be accounted for, we have the highest amount of advocates, other than the star group,” she said, Moyo and Annika understanding who she was referring to,

“Our vice sect leaders are also on the brink of ascending to advocates themselves, our acolytes are approaching their peak and the security of the clan has never been stronger, plus the fact that we are the single richest force on the planet right now, I’d pretty much say we’re safe, plus we have a fight first and ask questions later sort of leader” Mrs. Martha explained,

“Hey!” Moyo protested,

The ladies both turned to him with an eyebrow raised,

“Mention one time you haven’t gone headfirst into battle with the full context of what was happening,” Annika asked,

“cause all our foes were coming to invade us!,” Moyo said,

“Uh-huh, yeah, sure, as you say oh great crusher of hopes and dreams” Mrs. Martha replied,

“Now that’s just hurtful,” Moyo said as the ladies laughed,

“Anyways, I will look into this mystery, perhaps there’s a prerequisite to ascending to expert,” Mrs. Martha said,

“let’s do that, also, send the rest of the team my way, Samantha included, she might not think so, but she’s part of the leaders of the clan,” Moyo said,

“If only we could get her to create a sect, that woman runs from any form of responsibility faster than our leader runs from administrative work,” Mrs. Martha said as Moyo rolled his eyes,

The call ended and Moyo sighed, scratching his head,

“My ascension to expert was brutal, perhaps yours needs to be as well?” he said,

“I’m pretty sure the number of monsters I’ve killed today could make up for that fact, besides, without your help, any of these monsters could have killed me,” she said,

“Exactly my point, the thing is you had help, I didn’t, I fought a nerfed draconic lord and barely survived doing so, it was horror personified. For all purposes, I wasn’t sure I was meant to survive that fight, it was like I was fighting- “he said as he paused, turning to see Mrs. Martha appearing beside him as he sensed her,

“a cala-…sigh, you sensed me coming, didn’t you?” she sighed,

“Your meager powers can never defeat the perception of I lord Moyo” he replied smugly as she shook her head, a boom in the air signaled Idris as he landed with a thud, a line of fire behind him also indicating Ayo arriving, Boyle floated on a construct that seemed to act as an anti-gravity transport construct. They all arrived as Mrs. Martha turned to them smiling, Moyo began to suspect something, together they bowed at the waist,

“The sect leaders greet the clan lord,” they said at once as Moyo placed his head in his hand, embarrassment filling him while Annika laughed out with all abandonment,

“Very funny guys” he replied,

“That was fast,” Moyo said,

“Turns out the minute the rest heard Annika was trying to break through to expert, they all decided to come,” Mrs. Martha said,

“The sentinels will not trail behind the glorified weather people,” Idris said with his arms folded,

“weather people? is that the best you can do? coming from a bunch of glorified bob the builders” Annika retorted,

“ouch,” Moyo said with a smile as Mrs. Martha slapped his arm playfully,

“don’t egg them on, it's not their fault they’re more of a hands-on sect and less intellectual one,” she said as they all turned to her,

“Could be me reading this the wrong way, but did she just call us all dumb?” Ayo asked,

“Except me, my sect’s more of a build, things, intellectual” Boyle said with a smile,

“Well, did you?” Annika asked her as she, Idris, and Ayo took a step towards her,

Mrs. Martha only smiled sweetly,

“I have the location of all your treasure vaults,” she said with a smile,

“Now that I think of it, we are a hands-on sect, don’t you think?” Ayo said,

“Most definitely, nothing wrong with some hard work” Idris replied as Annika shook her head in agreement,

Moyo just glanced at Mrs. Martha as he shook his head, she more or less treated them like her children, and they would go to lengths to protect her. He clapped his hands to draw attention back to him,

“Right, ascending to expert, it seems there’s some mystery behind it,” Moyo said,

“Indeed, on our way here I was digging deep into the subject, the library we got from the continental reward, it’s a hub of knowledge, you all should check it out,” she said as Moyo, Idris, Annika, and Ayo all mumbled incoherently, only Boyle had interest showing on his face,

She shook her head,

“Definitely hands-on, I’m ordering a weekly book club meeting, compulsory for all sect and vice sect leaders,” she said

“What she said” Moyo replied trying to draw attention from himself,

“And that includes you clan leader or no more training,” she said glancing at her,

“Yes ma’am” he replied with a bright smile and a salute,

She chuckled and continued,

“Anyways, what I found was…. well, enlightening”

“The base of the matter is, you could kill all the monsters on the planet, and still not advance to expert,” she said,

“So, it isn’t about killing monsters,” Boyle asked,

“Not really, the text wasn’t clear on that, I’m beginning to think that once you reach the cusp of ascending to expert, there are certain parameters you must meet, the important ones were listed,” Mrs. Martha said,

“They were understanding your domain, controlling your domain, and wielding your domain,” she said,

“Wait a minute, isn’t domain something you get when you control a whole zone?” Annika asked,

“It's what I thought at first also, except now I’m not so sure, it’s why I was hoping our expert here could put us through” Mrs. Martha replied, turning to look at Moyo,

“me?, all I did was beat a monster to death, granted a really scary and tough monster, almost lost my life along the way too” Moyo replied,

“Typical, you bulldozed your way through any obstacles, a titan indeed,” Mrs. Martha said as Moyo shrugged,

“Either way, it said after doing that, you would need to face a calamity,” she said,

“Well, that doesn’t sound fun,” Idris remarked,

“I think I’m beginning to understand,” Moyo said as they all turned to him,

“During my training with my master who was an expert then, I stumbled upon a skill that allowed me to sense my surroundings, didn’t help much as I was barely an acolyte then and he still beat me like a talking drum,” Moyo said,

“Understanding your domain, a bit scary that you got that skill as an acolyte but continue,” Mrs. Martha said,

“Then I was able to use my intent blades within that surrounding to a greater degree” Moyo continued,

“Controlling your domain,” she remarked as Moyo nodded,

“And by then my willpower was really high, so I could exert my willpower and force aspect of my titan skills well inside that surrounding I later learnt was my realm, oh and also I could move through spatial rips that would normally tear acolytes and weak advocates apart” he finished smugly,

“Alright big guy, no need to boast, we all know you’re a freak of nature, even by archailect standards,” Idris said, as Moyo only gave a wide smile,

“Alright, so we know those are the parameters, what’s with the calamity?” Ayo asked,

“and that’s where Evon comes in, you remember him right? dangerous draconic lord, absorbed his essence to become even stronger?” he said,

“How can we ever?” Mrs. Martha muttered,

“Anyways how can we start learning the domain things?” Boyle asked,

“Simple, we get you all up to level 99, and then beat on you guys till you can sense your surroundings, control your newly created realms, and activate your skills well inside that space” Moyo replied with a smile as he opened a spatial rip, deposited his katana and brought out a long and thick piece of hardened wood,

They all gawked at him,

“um…boss? what do you want to use that for?” Ayo asked,

“Well, I can’t use my katana to start beating on you savagely, I’m civilized unlike the man who taught me, so I would use a large hardened piece of stick I would reinforce with my authority and will, you either acquire the skills necessary or the stick breaks in which case I have prepared more” Moyo replied while rubbing the stick gently,

“wait a minute, were you prepared for this situation already? how did you know?” Idris asked as he took a step backward,

“Oh no, I prepared it for my imminent return to the tournament I am going to, my master would be there you see, pretty sure he’d want to train me and I would very much not want him using his katana on me with an expert level strength” Moyo replied,

“Oh, okay, that seems…acceptable” Ayo mumbled,

“Wait a minute, where’s Samantha?” Moyo asked,

Mrs. Martha had a blank look on her face as she accessed her HUD,

“On her way, something came up” she replied after a minute,

In the distance Moyo, a green ring that was coming towards them with considerable speed, the speck in the distance grew to become Samantha riding a large green circle with inscriptions on it that Moyo learnt were runes in a magic language. She landed softly,

“Alright, what’s the occasion?’ Samantha asked,

“The boss has decided we’ve been slacking in our duties and has decided to take us on a week-long Bootcamp,” Annika said,

“Three days, if you don’t get those skills by then I do not have the right to call myself a master” Moyo replied,

“And how long did you take dear master,” Ayo asked,

“One and a half days” Moyo replied sweetly as they blinked at him,

“You got an expert skill in one and a half days?” Mrs. Martha asked,

“Expert skills?” Samantha asked suddenly interested,

“Yeah, turns out it’s not easy to break into the realm of an expert, we need to go through a training montage,” Annika said,

“Great!, when do we start?” Samantha asked,

“Is no one shocked at Moyo getting an expert skill in one and a half days?” Mrs. Martha asked again,

“honestly?, no, it’s Moyo, dude’s all kind of weird” Boyle replied,

“I’d take that as a compliment thank you very much,” Moyo said as Boyle rolled his eyes,

Mrs. Martha sighed,

“Alright, let’s begin, I would continually beat you guys over the head with a stick till you learn to sense me coming, and strike me within your surroundings that you must learn to place under your control with your powers if I might add, Mrs. Martha won’t get that treatment though” Moyo explained,

“Wait, why?” Annika asked,

“Well for starters, she holds all our funds, secondly I’m pretty sure I don’t want to cross the woman who knows everything about everyone” Moyo replied as they all nodded while Mrs. Martha blinked innocently,

“Well then, let’s begin. I’d count to thirty and unleash my realm, by then you all should have vanished from here, you would feel my realm around, the aim is to snatch your surroundings away from me with your willpower, after an hour, we’ll go back to hunting monsters, take you all up to the edge of advocate” Moyo explained,

With that said, Moyo closed his eyes and smiled as he began to count to thirty, a whoosh of air blew across as they ran away as fast as they could. Moyo shook his head, he would have to beat out that flamboyant move from them, experts were silent deadly forces, noises were for advocates and it was time they started thinking as experts. With one fluid move, he stretched his left leg back, crouching his right as he reached 30. He unleashed his realm and felt them all, with a smile he vanished with a step of the titan, a loud crack echoed around and Idris shrieked, Moyo shouting out “thank you, master!”

(*)

Universes away, Ajax sneezed, wondering why it felt like someone was calling to him,

(*)

It had been a whole day and Moyo sat atop a tree, idly chewing a leaf as he looked bored, he had initially enjoyed beating into them, but it had lost its luster after a while, now he was invested in them obtaining the realm skill, albeit their own version. By now they were all at level 99, and the closest to obtaining the skills was oddly enough Mrs. Martha, perhaps because she was already in tune with her surroundings. He was letting them rest as he had pushed them to the edge, each of them in a separate place, recovering from the training as they broke shards after shards to absorb the aether and refine it to hasten their recovery.

Moyo got up and stretched, the stick in his hand as he free floated down towards where Annika was, his realm unleashed. With a step of the titan, he appeared beside her rod raised when he felt the surroundings fighting his realm, the stick came down nonetheless as it would take more than that to hold back one of this swing. Annika whirled with all the speed of an advocate, eyes flashing as she shouted and lightning burst forth from her surroundings to slam into Moyo, exploding the trees around them and lighting them aflame. It barely tickled Moyo, but he had felt it, the lightning carrying more than just its usually electric current, it carried her entire willpower in it. Annika fainted as she collapsed, Moyo catching her before she fainted, a faint smile on her face, she had taken a step on the road to expert.