The Tiny Tots found themselves in a familiar location. It looked like the Testing Grounds back at Renegades headquarters, only now things had more of an old-world feel. The stone structures and the jagged cave roof were only illuminated by torches. Those torches were oddly bright, to the point that they could illuminate the entirety of the large room.

  “There are more people here than I thought,” Amaterasu said as she looked at the stands in the arena. This was built more like a sports colosseum than anything else.

  “Hmm, and the vast majority of them have abilities.” The Conductor pointed out. Which put all of the Tiny Tots on guard.

  He was correct everyone who wasn’t a child or teenager in the stands was Persequion. There were thousands of them, and these were only the ones that could fit into the stands. There were sure to be more that couldn’t make it or had no interest to come. They doubted this was even half of them. From how strong Persequions were touted to be, just those present would be enough to bring all three Chaser Organizations to their knees. Not to mention sitting in the box seats were Selistar the Elders and their “Mentors.”

  “Shit…” Shango cursed, as the realization finally sunk in. They were in no position to rebel. They would have to play ball… at least for now.

  “I’d bring this whole damned cave in on their heads,” Bumi grumbled.

  “Don’t be stupid, you think there wouldn’t be some old monster with the same abilities as you here?” Siren chided, causing Bumi to fold his arm in protest as he grumbled to himself.

  “You kids seem pretty confident to be ignoring us like this.” A voice called out to the Tiny Tots.

  Ten meters across from them stood a group of Persequions. There were about 20 of them compared to the 28 Tiny Tots. They were all in their early to mid-20s, as Persequions weren’t allowed to partake in Nevilara Mystara until they had parented children of their own. The Conductor looked at the man who spoke and then chuckled,

  “That’s because you're not a threat.”

  “Newbies!” Manic teased.

  The Persequion group glared at the Tiny Tots. Two familiar faces landed between the groups. Vaelgorith and Auriviel looked at the two groups of “Persequions”. Vaelgorith looked at the Tiny Tots with a complex expression.

  “Hey Gory!!” Siren waved at Vaelgorith playfully.

  “What are you doing?” Shango asked.

  “What, jealous?” Siren teased.

  “Jealous of what? It's going to be rough for that bloke for a while. So leave him be, yeah?”

  “You’re no fun.” Siren pouted.

  Vaelgorith tried his best to ignore Siren and turned his attention towards Amaterasu. Their eyes met for a moment before Amaterasu rolled her own and looked away. Vaelgorith clenched his jaws in frustration. He was from a top lineage, a top recruit he had never been met with such apathy by someone he had taken an interest in. Shango chuckled while looking at him,

  “See? He’s gonna have it rough.”

  “Oh no, poor Gory… never stood a chance.” Siren shook her head in pity.

  Auriviel tapped Vaelgorith on his arms to focus him on the task at hand. He cleared his throat and faced the crowd, specifically the box seats. His voice then projected out to the entire area.

  “Greetings, my brothers and sisters. Do you know what today is?” Vaelgorith smiled as the crowd went wild. His natural showmanship began to blossom. The crowd let out thunderous cheers,

  “That’s right, BATTLE RITES!!! But today there is a special treat for you.” He extended his arm and motioned towards the Tiny Tots.

  “This batch of rambunctious new age Chaser youths refer to themselves as the Tiny Tots.” He joked as he got a boisterous round of laughter from the crowd.

  “Don’t be too quick to write off these young Chasers. They were hand-picked by our very own Selistar.” The crowd began to murmur to themselves as many looked towards the box seats and stared at the visage of Selistar sitting next to his father.

  “I'm sure many of you have heard about the skill and ability of our new brothers and sisters, brought to us by Selistar, yes? And here’s something else.” Vaelgorith paused for dramatic effect. He playfully smiled at the crowd, letting the tension build.

  “In a twisted play of fate, these little devils were personally trained… by the offspring of Vorvagoth…” The crowd burst into incredulous jeering as Vaelgorith turned to the Tiny Tots,

  “The Great Devour.” Vaelgorith relayed the meaning of the name to the Tiny Tots through the loud jeering from the crowd.

  Auriviel walked forward and motioned for the crowd to calm down. She then took over where Vaelgorith left off,

  “I'm sure you all are just dying to see what Chasers trained by a monster can do. So instead of the usual, our newly appointed Persequions will test their might against our new brothers and sisters here.” She turned around to face the 2 groups and then continued,

  “Each side will send up a fighter. You will fight until the other side has emitted defeat or is incapable of continuing. It will end once one side has no fighters to send on and one side admits to defeat. Are there any questions?”

  “We have a number advantage. Are you ok with that?” Hoarder asked as he folded his arms.

  “No need to worry about us. You’ll need all the help you can get.”

  “Yeah, what can a group trained by a monster really be capable of?” A few of the Persequiosn jabbed. Their remarks were met with the confident laughter of the others. They hoped to see the Tiny Tots brought to anger, but there was nothing but eerily calm faces.

  Before they could recover from the shock of their failed taunts Amaterasu raised her hand. Auriviel pointed to her,

  “How will deaths be treated?”

  “Dying during Battle Rites is a common occurrence. Do not hold back. If you kill your opponent, it simply means they were not strong enough.” Auriviel answered. Amaterasu nodded her head in understanding. The other Tiny Tots smiled.

  “Get to your sides and send out your first fighter,” Auriviel commanded the two groups moved to opposite sides of the arena.

  It didn’t take long for the Persequions to send out a burly man resting a massive sword nearly twice his size on his shoulder. Hoarder instantly started to walk toward the center of the arena. However, as he walked forward he bumped into Bumi.

  “What the hell are you doing, mate?” Bumi asked.

  “I’m going to fight, obviously.” The Hoarder responded.

  “No…I’m going, you piece of…”

  “Sorry, sweethearts, but you boys will be sitting this out.” A delicate voice echoed from within the group of Tiny Tots. A young Spanish woman moved to pass the two of them, rubbing her fingers across Hoarder’s jaw as she walked past. Hoarder and Bumi froze up as they met her hazel eyes. Hoarder cleared his throat and straightened up as he stiffly walked back to his team. Bumi stood there in a huff, folding his arms.

  “The Conductor’s and Shango’s teams are always in the middle of everything. It’s time you let the rest of us show what we can do, yes?” Her dark locks floated behind her as she strutted towards her opponent.

  Bumi looked back at The Conductor and Shango.

  “We need to send a message, yay? Who better?” Shango smirked.

  “That’s a hell of a message.” Siren responded.

  Although most of the attention had been on The Conductors and Shango’s team, all of the Tiny Tots were extraordinary prospects in their own right. There were several members there are comparable to or greater than some members of those two teams. This specifically applied to the other team leaders. Among those leaders, this young lady stood at the top.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  As she got closer, she rhythmically bounced on her toes and hummed to herself as she gracefully strode forward. Her short handkerchief sheer skirt made no attempts to hide her incredibly toned legs, as it swayed with her every step. Her strides turned into a series of Pas de Bourree that ended with her stopping 5 meters in front of her opponent. She grabbed the ends of her skirt and curtsied.

  “They sent out a swan to get its pretty little neck snapped? How cruel.” The large Persequion let out a deep chuckle.

  “They are indeed cruel.” She responded with a sigh.

  “I am Gorvavan Sol-”

  “I have no need to know the name of a dead man. Nor do I have the intention of sharing my name with one.” The young lady responded gracefully, putting on a pair of black gloves made of a strange material. The slippers on her feet, her leggings, and even the long-sleeved crop top were the same black material. Gorvavan looked at her curiously as she continued to hum, as she entered a needle pose to stretch.

  “I guess the monster didn’t teach you manners. I hope they at least taught you how to fight.”

  “I’m afraid to say that he did not teach us how to fight.” She giggled as she lowered her leg and stared into Gorvavan’s eyes.

  “However, that ‘monster’ was quite proficient in teaching us how to kill.”

  Gorvavan felt a shiver run down his spine as he looked at this tiny figure before him. Before he could respond to her taunts, Vaelgorith walked between the two of them and motioned toward the crowd as he shouted,

  “Are you guys ready? For our first fight, to my right, we have Gorvavan Solvian! You know who he is, folks!” At his words, everyone let out loud cheers.

  “From the historical Solvian lineage. Gorvavan is one of the best from this batch of recruits. Looks like they want to send a message.” Vaelgorith rallied the crowd and they began to cheer even louder. He then turned towards the young lady and whispered,

  “What’s your name?” But he got no response in return. He frowned as he looked the girl up and down and smirked,

  “And to my left, this graceful beauty clad in black. Sent to represent the Chasers, Ms Black Swan.” The young lady smiled and politely bowed and waved to the crowd. Most of them didn’t quite know how to feel about her.

  “Remember, anything goes no holding back. The winner is decided when the opponent is incapable of continuing, concedes, or dies. Begin when you're ready.” Vaelgorith jumped away, reaching the stands in a single bound.

  “Before we begin, I have a question for you.” ‘Black Swan’ looked at Gorvavan as he readied his weapon.

  “What is it?”

  “From my understanding, before you receive your abilities, you all are instructed to find a mate and produce offspring, correct? I assume your mate is also within your group?”

  “No, fortunately, she has just given birth to twins. She’s still in recovery.” He responded.

  “Fortunately? Oh, you care for her a great deal then, how lovely.”

  “The opposite. I’m glad I don’t have to see her mug for some time. Hopefully, by the time she’s gotten her gift, I’d be assigned somewhere away from here. I’m sure she feels the same.” Gorvavan grumbled.

  “I see, so these pairings are more political than anything. That’s good to know.” Swan nodded in understanding.

  “Why do you ask? Have you taken a liking to me?”

  “I’d be lying if I said you weren’t my type. Unfortunately, I already have my eyes on a beast I wish to tame.” She smirked.

  “What, that one there?” Gorvavan pointed at Bumi standing there with his arms folded.

  “What? That ginger Gorilla?! Absolutely not!”

  “Oi!! Fuck you, aye!?” Bumi’s voice boomed from among the Tiny Tots. While Hoarder slowly tried to hide his large body within the crowd. It was to no avail as Black Swan gave him a playful wink.

  “Then why do you ask?” Gorvavan raised an eyebrow

  “Well, I wanted to avoid making as many orphans as possible. I just couldn’t live with that much guilt.” Swan looked distressed as she rested her face in her palms.

  Gorvavan let out a hearty chuckle, and licked his lips as he stared at “Swan”.

  “I think I like you a great deal. Shame you might die.” Without warning, Gorvavan charged forward at a speed that did not match his size, nor the comically large weapon he wielded. His large blade swung with speed that could not be tracked by the human eye.

  In the wake of the slash, a burst of dust and debris kicked up, covering most of the field. The crowd let out a gasp of shock, but not at the strength displayed by Gorvavan. While humans could not perceive what was happening, everyone watching was beyond such limits. In fact, many in the crowd were beyond the level of the two “children” currently fighting.

  The dust settled to show Gorvavan had turned to steel and was bound by wires with “Black Swan” perched on his arm that was still outstretched from his slash, the wire that bound him, taut on her gloves. Swan curiously scanned Gorvavan. She expected to rip him to shreds, but only a few drops of blood could be seen on certain parts of his metallic skin.

  “It won’t be that easy, little dove!” Gorvavan shouted as metal spikes protruded from his blade and raced towards “Swan’s” back.

  She slightly tilted her head out of the way of the first spike. A small cut formed on her cheek. She loosened her wires and fluttered away, gracefully dodging the metal spikes. She landed five meters away when Gorvavan cracked his neck, and his body began to steel over. Gorvavan didn’t show it, but he was already on high alert.

  “Black Swan? She’s more like a damn snake.” He grumbled internally.

  She was swift, agile, and highly flexible. She fluidly dodged his strike and entangled him faster than he could properly follow. Not to mention he had managed to change into his metal form, and she could still draw blood. Speaking of which, he looked at his opponent, as those wires retracted into her gloves, as she held her index finger above her tongue. Blood scraped from the wires gathered at her fingertip and flowed into her mouth.

  “Oh dear, Rh-null blood type. What a tragic loss for the world.” She dramatically sighed, as Gorvavan served at the sight of her drinking his blood.

  “I don’t know what those wires made us, but you won’t be drawing any more blood from me,” Gorvavan shouted as he went to stab his sword into the ground. But his motions stop dead, as “Swan” extended her hand.

  Struggle as he might, he could not move a muscle; he could feel his very blood locking him in place. He started to chuckle in defeat.

  “You can control blood, but you need to ingest it first.” He surmised.

  “You’re partially right,” Swan responded as she wiped away the blood on her cheek, and instantly healed her cut from just moments ago. Gorvavan's eyes widened, as he understood.

  Program Bloodbind: Give the user the ability to manipulate, control, and produce blood. They can freely manipulate their own and any free-standing blood. They can control the blood of others by ingesting 1ml of blood and injecting them with at least a drop of their own.

  She allowed the first metal spike to cut her so she could move her blood into the cuts made by her wire.

  “In all honesty, I shouldn’t have needed to use my ability at all. But your steel body ability seems to have a higher potency than others I’ve encountered. I should have applied more initial force.” Swan responded with an annoyed expression.

  Gorvavan just chuckled in defeat. If she had applied more force as she said, he was sure that even with his steel body, he would have been ripped to shreds.

  “So they use me to send a message? I can at least die with pride knowing they sent their strongest.” Gorvavan wore a proud smile not willing to concede. However, his smile faded when he heard “Swan’s” laughter as she walked towards him. With each step closer, he could feel the control of his body moving further away from him.

  “The strongest? If we exclude Trigger, which I am because he’s a monster… literally. I’m struggling to maintain my position in the 7th or 8th spot. And there are at least 8 others outside of the top ten who are comparable to me.”

  Gorvavan’s eyes widened in shock and despair. She was now within arms reach of him and with a motion of her hand he was forced to his knees before her.

  “But I was instructed to send a message. I may not be our strongest combatant, but I am our greatest showman.”She placed her hand on his forehead, and the veins in his body immediately began to bulge and he let out a gurgle of pain, but he stared at her unflinchingly.

  “I admire your courage in the face of death. So here is my gift to you.”

  “Black Swan, that enou-” Vaelgorith tried to call out to her to stop what was happening. But he was cut off by “Black Swan’s” booming voice.

  “I am the team leader of Team Valentine, Isabella Valentina. The offspring of Vorvagoth, as you call him, gifted me the name Bloody Mary.” Mary’s voice echoed loud enough for everyone to hear. With a flourish, she removed her hand from Gorvavan’s forehead as she began to perform chainé turns towards the center of the field. Gorvavan’s body burst into a bloody mist leaving nothing recognizable behind. In the center of the field, Mary Pirouetted in the rain of blood much to the horror of the onlookers. She came to a stop and performed a deep Révérence,

  “And I will be your entertainment for this evening.” She raised from her bow exuding grace, and a command for “the stage”. The blood that had rained down on the field increased in volume and raised behind her, forming a macabre yet beautiful red curtain,

  “Who’s my next scene partner?” She was met with naught but silence, the entire arena at a loss for words.

  In the box seat, Aron sat in silence as he looked at the ghastly scene. Gorvavan was an exceptional Persequion in the making, this could not be brushed off simply as a fluke, and it looked like this Mary, was raring to go. Gorvavan’s death would lead to a snowball effect. The more that girl fought, the more blood she drew, the more blood she drew the stronger she would become.

  It was already out of hand, for the Persequion side. The Tiny Tots may have had their abilities a bit longer, but this was more than that. Aron sighed as he looked over at his son,

  “These ‘Tiny Tots’, they are all Theronite level talents… aren’t they?”

  “Yes… The Renegades only accept the best of the best.” Selistar responded emotionlessly.

  Aron nodded his head, as he looked at the seat opposite Selistar where his wife should be, empty. She said there was no need to come see, the results were already clear. Aron now understood. His wife always had a better eye for talent than he, but he wanted to see it with his own eyes. He then looked over his shoulder at the “Mentors”. They may not be on the level of Theronites, but with that Overclock, they would be rather close. Aron’s attention was drawn back to the arena by the sounds of horrifying screams. He looked to see Bloody Mary’s next victim, being swallowed into a pool of blood, as she gleefully leaped over their struggling form. An oddly mesmerizing contrast of horror and grace. Aron sighed and then got up from his seat, there was nothing more to see here. That girl would either kill off their new Persequion or their side forfeit soon.

  “You all should be proud of ourselves, you’ve trained them marvelously.” Aron genuinely complimented them.

  “We aren’t the ones you should be complementing…” Selistar looked over his shoulder at his father.

  “That ‘monster’ was responsible for the majority of their growth,” Mawu said mockingly.

  Aron glanced at Mawu for a moment, and then looked over at his son who nodded in affirmation.

  “Shit…”