Roots of Resentment

The arena had been cleared of the bodies, but the mood in the stands was feverish, ever expectant of what was to come. Aureli stood at the center of the stage where the bloodbath had taken place only moment prior, flanked by helpers from the Academy who placed small pots of earth in a line.

"For the Second Round!" Aureli announced, projecting his voice to the masses. "Keeping our Japanese guests in mind, we delve deeper than martial skill! The Headmage believes that true power lies not in the muscle, but in the Soul!"

He gestured to the pots. "These are Solspire Saplings." 

“What? Do you want us to do gardening and grow plants now?” Shinosuke crossed his arms as he mocked Aureli.

This runt-

As much as he would have loved to put the Japanese boy in his place for running his smart mouth, he knew a noble should act with dignity. At least in front of hundreds of people.

“How did you know that was the task?”

“What!?”

Aureli grinned, feelings victorious to have annoyed the child. 

"The Solspire Saplings feed on essence. Each contestant will shed a drop of blood onto the soil. What grows will be a reflection of the strength, purity, and potential of your soul! Upon thinking for many days, the headmage concluded that one's potential cannot be measured through their lineage, or the amount of mana they had, or even how high their IQ was. After all, these things can be easily compensated for through other means. And so, after much deliberation, he realised, everything can be compensated for, except..” Aureli paused, his eyes locking with Noah, the boy who's soul had been crushed a few days ago, to salvage it! 

“The soul..” Tsukihime found herself to be finally paying attention to the host’s words.

“You are correct young lady! Indeed it is the soul!" Aureli continued

"The soul is the key to tapping into your abilities. The soul defines if you are strong enough for the ordeals that life has to throw at you!”

“Hm..” Tsukihime put a finger over her chin, consuming the information provided, her white lashes batting at Aureli to finish faster.

“These special sapling have the ability to measure the strength of your soul. Once drenched with blood, whatever grows out of it is the reflection of your soul and it's strength."

The crowd murmured with excitement. This was a test of the character, not combat. Some placed bets on their favourites while others mocked the test itself as Aureli took out his gun, aiming at the sun above. 

"On my mark!" Aureli fired his pistol into the air.

The students stepped forward. One by one, they sliced their thumbs and let a droplet fall. The students of the Dojo stepped forward in formation, synchronised in step, spilling their blood in unison, like a robotic army of mercenaries.

The reaction was immediate but gradually the saplings began to take shape.

Hattori’s sapling rotted, much his displeasure as the stench of rotten eggs caused the group to scrunch their noses. Hina’s sapling grew only about 5 inches before drying up and withering away moments after, while Naru’s sapling grew into a small flower bud.

Aureli and Arachna passed by everyone’s sapling, noting the progress, or lack thereof. Tsukihime’s sapling didn't grow anything, causing Aureli to wait for a moment for it to work, but nothing happened, causing him to sigh as he smiled at the child. She however never looked at him, staring at the sapling is if willing it to grow with her gaze, to no avail. 

The other Dojo students, true to their arrogant claims, produced wonders. Sakura’s sapling shot up five meters in seconds, blooming into a radiant cherry blossom tree that shed pink petals across the stage whilst Shinosuke’s grew into a twisted, iron-hard bonsai of impressive stature. They smirked, looking at the Sol students with disdain as Sakura giggled, loving the contrast between their trees.

But then, the Academy answered. Kami’s blood birthed a fifteen-meter tall Maple tree, its leaves the colour of autumn fire, whilst Noah’s sapling twisted and turned viciously, blooming into a tree of deep red Camellias, melancholic and beautiful. They were Meline’s favorite flower. He gazed up at the tree, wondering what kind of foliage would blossom as a result of Meline's blood.

Aureli was about to go check the other saplings, when the a loud bang surprised him, causing him to turn around, his eyes widening with surprise.

It was Tsukihime, her sapling finally sprouted and it was almost on par with Kami’s tree at 14 meters. It was not only huge, but also incredibly unique, harbouring black roses with each leaf transparent in nature. Aureli had never thought someone from Japan could hold this kind of strong soul, believing it to be the best of the lot by far. Until..

Runa.

"Oops," she whispered.

A shockwave of life energy blasted Aureli off his feet as he looked back perplexed at what he believed was a surprise attack. Instead it was the energy from Runa’s pot, producing a mystical wonder which left the entire colosseum in awe.

A trunk as thick as a house erupted, soaring upwards, ten meters, twenty meters, then thirty meters, going and going until it reached 50 meters tall! It didn't stop until it cast a shadow over the entire VIP box, its leaves prismatic, shimmering like diamonds, and its branches pulsating with a gravity so strong it made the air heavy.

It was a World Tree.

The crowd went silent. The Dojo students stared up, their beautiful cherry blossoms looking like tiny weeds in comparison.

"She's strong" Arachana commented

"Unmatchable," Aureli gasped, gawking at the tree that had soared into the sky, blocking out the Sun! "Runa Reliquor has the soul of a Conqueror!"

"No!"

The shriek tore through the silence. Sakura was trembling, her face twisted in an ugly mask of jealousy as she watched her cherry blossom tree, her pride, dwarfed by the "filthy" native’s creation.

"It’s a trick!" Sakura screamed, grabbing her crimson spear. "A common filthy white blood cannot have a soul like that! You cheated!"

"Sakura, stand down," Shinosuke warned, but it was too late.

Driven by her humiliated pride, Sakura lunged, thrusting her spear to attack , the tip glowing with lethal sealing magic, aiming straight for Runa’s heart. "Die, you cheating rat!"

However, calm and composed, Runa didn't even flinch, simply looking at Sakura with her bored, dull eyes.

"You're annoying," Runa muttered, flicking her wrist. 

Gravity Art: Kneel.

The air around Sakura collapsed, as if the sky had fallen on her shoulders, slamming her face-first into the floor with a sickening crunch which caused her spear to shatter and her nose to break! She tried to rise, screaming in rage, but Runa curled her fingers, increasing the weight, clenching her fist as she strengthened her hold on Sakura.

"Know your place," Runa said coldly, floating a few feet off the ground, looking down at the Japanese girl who was flattened like a bug. "Your 'pure blood' looks pretty red on the floor. I thought you said it was gold?" she mocked as Sakura screamed, pinned and helpless, completely humiliated in front of the Queen and the Kingdom. Runa raised a hand, gathering cosmic energy to blast her out of the arena. 

Then, the world stopped.


"Enough."

The command was soft but hit Runa like a physical blow. It wasn't a spell, neither a command, but rather it was as if the very concept of "motion" had been severed from reality as Runa’s gravity spell didn't just fade; it was deleted. The cosmic energy in her hand sputtered and died as she was suffocated by a presence so heavy, so dense, that it seemingly pulled the air out of her lungs, causing her to choke.

Runa couldn't breathe, it was as if she had forgotten how to, her instincts ringing alarm bells in her mind, screaming an isolated word: Death.

She didn't see him move. No one did. One second, the space between Runa and Sakura was empty. The next, a shadow stood there.

Musashi.

He stood with his back to Runa, his hands hanging loosely by his sides, not even near his swords as he didn't need them, deciding that his aura alone was a physical weight akin to the weight of the crushing ocean of bloodlust , bursting forth like a Tsunami that felt like a razor blade pressed against the pupil of every eye in the stadium. He was unshakeable. Untouchable. A void in the shape of man.

Runa collapsed to her knees, clutching her throat, gasping for air that refused to enter her lungs as her body recognized him as the predator he was, so far away and high up above in the food chain that resistance to his might was biologically impossible.

"The dog is rabid," Musashi stated, his quiet voice cutting through the silence like the crack of a whip. "It needs to be put down."

Suddenly, the trumpets of the VIP box blared a single, dissonant note. The crowd, sensing the shift in the air, fell into a deathly silence.

The Queen stood up and walked to the edge of the balcony, her displeasure radiating like a heatwave as she looked down at Sakura, crying and broken on the floor, and then at Runa, who had dared to humiliate her subject.

"This display..." The Queen’s voice was melodic, yet terrifying. "Is unacceptable. A subject of Darkspire does not look down on a child of the Moon."

"She attacked me first!" Runa yelled, struggling against Musashi’s pressure.

"Silence," the Queen commanded and Runa’s mouth clamped shut against her will as the Queen pointed a gloved finger at the arena. "There is only one way to cleanse this stain. Honor must be restored immediately."

From the high balcony of the VIP box, the Queen stepped onto the ledge, refusing to take the stairs, or rather she didn't need to as she stepped out into the empty air, the light of the sun seemingly bending to her will beneath her feet, forming invisible steps as she descended slowly. Her ornate kimono trailed behind her like a river of blood and gold and with every step she took on the path towards the stage, the pressure in the stadium intensified, causing commoners to plant their faces in the dirt and even the nobles in the middle ring to lower their gazes, unable to look directly at the radiance.

Himiko touched the obsidian floor with a soundless grace, the scent of lotus flowers washing over the terrified students of the Dojo as she walked past Runa, ignoring her presence as if she were but a stone in the road, stopping only when she stood over the sobbing Sakura, looking down at her shivering on the ground with disdain.

"Stand up." the Queen commanded firmly and Sakura scrambled to her feet, shaking violently, blood dripping from her nose. She refused to look the Queen in the eye, staring at her feet in utter disgrace and shame. "Your Majesty... I..."

"You look pathetic," The Queen rebuked, her voice smooth as she reached out a gloved hand, tilting Sakura’s chin up. "A child of the Moon does not crawl in the dirt. That is for them."

She turned her gaze slowly, finally acknowledging Runa who shrivelled up upon witnessing the look in her cold, amethyst pupils, filled with a profound, ancient disgust.

"You have forgotten the natural order of this world," the Queen spoke to Runa, though her words echoed for the entire arena to hear. "We, the children of the Sun and Moon, are the sky. We are the light that allows life to exist. And you... you are the soil. The mud does not rise to strike the sky. It exists only to be walked upon."

Runa grit her teeth, trying to stand, trying to summon her gravity, but Musashi’s aura kept her pinned. "I... I won..."

"You won nothing, you merely forgot your place!" The Queen hissed as she turned back to Sakura, her eyes hardening 

"This stain must be cleansed. The hierarchy must be reminded of the truth. There is no trial for a dog that bites its master."

The Queen stepped back, her kimono swishing over the dust as she pointed a manicured finger at Runa.

"Sakura," The Queen commanded, her voice dropping to a whisper that screamed across the silence. 

Sakura’s eyes went wide. "Your Majesty?"

"Take her head," The Queen ordered, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Right now. In front of them all. Let the blood water your tree. Show them why we are the rulers of this world, or I will find someone who is worthy of the name."

Sakura’s trembling stopped. A desperate, manic resolve filled her eyes. She grabbed the shard of her shattered spear from the ground, the jagged edge glinting in the sunlight.

"Yes... Your Majesty."

Sakura turned to Runa, raising the jagged steel, screaming as she brought it down, aiming for Runa's neck.

"RUNA!"

A blur of orange hair flashed across the arena as Kami moved faster than he ever had in his life, throwing himself between the blade and his friend. He didn't have a spell ready, nor a weapon for protection. He only had his body, squeezing his eyes shut, bracing for the steel to pierce his back.

CLANG.

The sound rang out like a church bell, vibrating through the bones of everyone in the front row.

Kami flinched, but the pain never came as he slowly opened his eyes.

A hand had stopped the spear.

A pale, slender hand, wrapped in black smoke, caught the jagged steel inches from Kami’s body, the force of the catch cracking the obsidian floor beneath their feet.

It was Vanessa.

She was no longer hiding in the shadows. She wasn't looking at the door, and she wasn't looking for an exit. Her hood had fallen back, revealing eyes that burned with a terrifying, dark intensity, power that rivaled the monsters surrounding her.

She crushed the spear shard in her bare hand, the metal crumbling into dust, and shoved Sakura backward with a wave of force that sent the Japanese girl tumbling across the ground.

Silence. Absolute, terrified silence, filled the air.

Vanessa straightened up, stepping in front of Kami and Runa. She didn't look at the crowd. She looked straight ahead.

First, she locked eyes with the Queen, who rippled with a sharp intake of indignant breath. Then, Vanessa shifted her gaze to Musashi.

The Queen’s Right Hand had finally moved. His hand was now resting on the hilt of his katana, his body coiled like a viper ready to strike. For the first time, the "Untouchable" looked engaged.

Vanessa didn't blink. She didn't flinch. She simply stared back at the rulers of the world, her voice echoing with a cold, absolute finality.

"That," Vanessa said, "is enough."