The Monster Monarch System-Chapter 209: A Little Spar (Part 1)

Rem left the town with the twins early the next morning, bidding goodbye to the people who had given him a place to stay reluctantly – he needed to move, it was better for the town to descend into chaos upon learning that he had defied Orion a long time ago while he wasn’t there... Pari and her dad would not know so they wouldn’t be blamed and Rem knew it.

To continue onward to the city, they still had to take that northern part but the roads that led to the Changing Ruins and to the city were vastly different. The road to the Changing Ruins was smooth and there were hardly any monsters along the path, especially now that the Monster problem within had been resolved but it wasn’t the same for the winding path that led to the city.

It was riddled with not only several obstacles that made traveling harder but it also harbored monsters, but this was a nice training opportunity for the twins and Rem wasn’t ready to let it slip by his fingers while he still had the chance.

#####

The streets of Ember town were filled with people, mostly Dungeon Raiders from all over the town – discussions were in the air about the Changing Ruins which had now become news for everyone. They were curious about it and even some Raiders prepared to venture toward the Changing Ruins, nobody wanted to waste a chance to get good resources.

The clanging of weapons soon rung in the air and some people turned to the source of the noise only to see a tall Crimson-haired young man with twin blades on his back, walking through the streets of Ember town.

’So this is Ember town, huh?’ Cole thought, the town seemed fairly peaceful to him, ’The people that defeated the Boss in the Changing Ruins are here, I’d love to meet them,’

The towns, Orion and Onio who had contributed to the first raid made against the monsters in the changing ruins and therefore, they weren’t to be excluded from mining now that the problems were resolved. Cole had ventured all the way from Orion to be the one that would represent Orion town in the official contract which would give both Orion and Onio permission to mine from the ruins.

’They could have sent anyone else to do this,’ Cole reminded himself, after Rem had left the town – there had been quite some bounties set on his head, he had brought a lot of pain to the residents as some people had their fathers/husbands burned into dust during his escape, ’Mika and Krista have been less talkative, it’s been a year already...’

He hadn’t been much to talk about – Rem... he was never one to voice or express his feelings but he had kept their team together with his presence, now that the presence was gone – everywhere felt cold to them, the Apprentices felt somewhat distant.

Cole soon stopped outside of the town hall, the guards stood confidently at the sides of the entrance.

"Who are you and why have you come to the town hall?" A guard asked.

Cole’s lips thinned as he reached into his pocket, retrieving a blue badge that shimmered in the eyes of the guards – they knew exactly what it meant.

"I’ll be the one representing Orion for this event," Cole replied and the doors immediately swung open for him.

The guards exchanged nervous glances as Cole stepped inside, they and everyone in town was already informed of the treaty – people from the other towns would soon visit theirs regularly on their way to the Changing Ruins and this contract was needed for all that.

Cole walked through the halls, his face showing the displeasure he had for carrying out this mission but he had been the one that the Mayor chose to represent Orion and he was going to do it to the best of his ability.

’He could have chosen Olivia though, she’s better at these sort of things,’ Cole thought as he finally found himself at the door of the Mayor’s office, just one knock and he would be inside, ’It won’t matter, all I have to do is to sign a contract and head home right? It isn’t that hard,"

Cole took in a deep breath, sure he was nervous but he pushed that aside – gathering the resolve to open the door. As the door creaked open, Cole scanned the inside with his eyes.

He wasn’t the only one that had come...

"Ah welcome Cole, I’ve been expecting you," The mayor said, and although Cole was surprised at how the mayor had learned of his name – he was more surprised at the people in the room, he couldn’t feel soul energy but that didn’t mean they weren’t strong... their presences gave off their power but even then, he was confident that he would be able to win against them easily, even if they all came for him at the same time.

Cole stepped inside, the person representing Onio was already seated and Cole had to admit – his senses were going wild just for looking at the person that was going to be representing Onio, his senses warned him not to come any closer, the strength he possessed was something else entirely and a tad too mysterious for him to wrap his fingers around.

There was a party of Raiders in the room led by a Silver-haired beastkin that Cole found her face to be very familiar in his eyes – he just couldn’t place where he had seen it before but he soon settled down on his chair.

The Mayor cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for coming today," He said, "As you must be aware, the Changing Ruins have been cleared completely by our brave Raider party over there – although one of them had urgent things to do and left the town before now,"

Cole’s eyes widened, it felt too suspicious but he nevertheless followed along with what the Mayor had to say.

"It’s been several years of being subjected to the terrors of those monsters but I want to thank Orion and Onio for being with us when we needed them the most," The Mayor said, while Orion and Onio had later retracted their forces and left them to fend for themselves against the monsters – he couldn’t speak ill of the towns especially to the Representatives, he needed this treaty to work out, "It hasn’t been an easy time but I’m glad that it’s finally been resolved,"

The mayor continued his speech, his words stirred up something within the representatives and as he brought out the contract that would solidify the new alliance – they signed it immediately without any sort of hesitation.

’Finally, I can go home,’ Cole thought, if he moved at his full speed, he would arrive at Orion the next day.

Cecilia cleared her throat, she looked around – worry etched onto her face.

"Mayor, where’s Rem?" Cecilia asked.

Those words stirred something within Cole as he spun around, surprise in his eyes.

"He said he had to go to the city," The mayor replied calmly causing Cole to spin around, his eyes meeting those of the Mayor, "Anything wrong?"

Although Cole was surprised, he found it unwise to tell another town of the problems they had with Rem... especially if he was already gone from the town.

’Damn, he must have heard one of us was coming,’ Cole thought and clenched his fists.

"There’s nothing wrong," Cole said, "I was just wondering if I could get a spar with one of these esteemed Raiders that managed to defeat a Monster that people before them could not hold a candle against,"

He wanted to divert the situation and it worked perfectly.

"Can I be the one to spar with you?" Cecilia asked, her arms were itching for a good brawl.

"For sure," Cole replied, there was nothing wrong with entertaining her a bit.

#####

There was a small field behind the town hall, the grasses trimmed to perfection and this was going to be the spot where Cole and Cecilia fought.

Both warriors stood several feet away from each other, their hands on the hilts of their weapons – the air sparked with tension as the others watched what would soon escalate into a fight.

The wind blew against their faces and Cole’s hair began dancing in the air, Cecilia shot off the ground – moving forward in a burst of speed.

’Enhance,’ She thought, using her skill right off the bat. There were many skills that existed in this world and while some of them were complex, others weren’t – it all depended on one’s application of the soul, after all, it was the soul that shaped and paved the way for the skill to be unlocked.

Her body gleamed as her speed increased several-fold, she pulled out her Steel sword from it’s sheath – the steel shining mid-air as she thrusted it right at Cole’s head, determined to put this spar to a stop at once.

*Clang*