NOVEL NEXT X2.5.4 - The Celestial Dojo
X2.5.4 - The Celestial Dojo
The sand exploded in front of the bikers, throwing up a cloud the size of a building. As the dust cleared, the long legs of a creature appeared, and the Jumpers looked up, noticing one of the beasts from before. Another one of its hoofs crashed down, causing several riders to fall off their bikes.
"Speed up," said Nirvana, revving up her engine.
The creature's immense stature made any attempt of escape useless. One step, and the monster caught up with them, stomping on them like a kid stepping on ants.
"We can't outrun it," Nirvana said, "damn it."
She stood on her bike seat and flew straight up, prompting the rest of the fighters to do the same. The bikes were crushed by the stampede of the monster. As they flew up next to its giant body, the beast's neck shook, hitting some of the fighters. Upon reaching the head, they attacked in unison, attempting to defeat it.
"It's no use! We are like flies to this thing," said Shiro, trying to catch his breath, evading one of the horns of the monsters. "Its aura is gargantuan. Thank goodness it doesn't seem to be too intelligent."
The creature swung its head to the side, catching many of the fighters, and launching them below onto the sands of the desert.
"Who the hell is that?" yelled Roa, feeling a powerful aura spike all of the sudden.
A figure popped out of nowhere and onto the monster's head. The stranger charged up his glowing fist and unleashed a cascade of energy on the forehead of the giant. Its eyes rolled back, and, as if in slow motion, it collapsed with a thundering thud below, lifting up a mushroom cloud of dust in its wake. The remaining fighters flew down to the others, helping them out of the sand.
The stranger landed next to them. He was a tall humanoid with a helmet the shape of the head of a grasshopper. His armor was dark green, glistening in the sunshine of the desert.
"Who are you?" asked Roa.
The stranger turned to him.
"My name is Hopper of Smy. I am also going to the tournament. I figured you needed a hand," he explained. "You have to hit these things on the right spot, and they fall like flies."
"Well, thank you for your help. We were caught by surprise," Nirvana said. "So much for our bikes," she said, as pieces of the vehicles were scattered across the sand.
"The Dojo is only a day away. Mind if I tag along?" Hopper asked.
"Sure," Roa nodded.
Where the desert ended, a strange sea began. It was made of floating misshapen orbs of water, attaching and separating from one another, making the ocean below seem like a pot of boiling water.
"There!" said Elevar, pointing at a small bright dot in the sky. "That's the Celestial Dojo."
Roa squinted his eyes. As they flew towards their destination, the location of the tournament came into view. It was a floating island in the shape of a horizontal crescent moon. It's light-yellow, rocky surface resembled that of cheese. The inside of the crescent had a beach where several rivers ran off into the void, creating beautiful waterfalls that scattered in the winds. Seven large, circular stone platforms dotted the island, as well as a complex of temples and buildings. Roa noticed a myriad of people scattered throughout the place, and many more flying in the air, reaching the place in the same way they did. He had never seen so many Jumpers and great fighters in one place before. A smile appeared on his face—the first one in a very long time.
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"Welcome to the Celestial Dojo of Auric Skills and Standards. Name," said a monk sitting at the registration desk.
"Roa," said the boy.
"Last name."
The Sunflower thought about it for a moment and sighed, realizing he had no clue what his last name was.
"None."
"Roa None," said the monk, writing his name down.
"No, I mean—never mind."
"There are seven tournament slots. Each winner will fight in the final battle for the grand prize. You have been entered into Tournament Seven."
"Let's hope we will all be in different tournaments, to avoid fighting each other in the preliminaries," said Rosso, tapping on the boy's shoulder.
"Alright, hopefully luck is on our side," said the Sunflower.
"Please head to the Grand Century and give him half of your aura. The winner will take half of all the participants' energies at the end of the tournament."
The Grand Century was an extremely short, bearded man with slits for eyes. Roa placed his hand on his shoulder and transferred half of all the energy inside of him.
"Is that all?" said the old man.
Roa shrugged and sighed, as the old man hummed something.
"Your available auric level is around—five hundred," said the man.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you are as strong as five hundred normal Humans put together."
"Well, I thought worst."
"750," said the monk to Rosso.
"Ha! I'm stronger than you," the boy from the desert smirked.
"1200," said the old man to Nirvana, who scoffed.
"That's it?" she said, shaking her head.
"1000," said he to Shiro. "400," he told Indigo. "1500," he said to Elevar.
Thero walked up, but the monk raised his hand.
"We only allow beings with aura," he said.
"But, I do—" Thero pleaded, pointing at the flickering light inside his glass orb.
"Sorry, but androids are not allowed in the tournament."
Thero sighed and murmured to himself, "I must upgrade until I am—acceptable."
"Sorry, my friend," said Roa, placing a hand on his metal back. "We'll win this one for you."
The new contestants were gathered in one of the large, stone platforms where a monk with a microphone began speaking.
"Welcome to the Celestial Dojo. Our organization is one of the most ancient institutions still standing in Free Society. Fighters from across the Innerverse come every one hundred years to battle, and prove their worth. As you may well know, this is the hundredth's year of the Dojo's calendar, which means the Grand Century, the head monk of the Dojo, has called for the Seven Wonders Tournament!" The crowd cheered. "Alright, settle down, now. We got a lot to cover. The rules are simple. Anyone with an aura can join. The more people join, the longer the tournament will last. The whole thing ends when the last fighter is still standing. You may have noticed seven platforms. Each one will gather one of the Seven Wonders, the strongest fighter still standing after all others have been defeated. Then, those seven will go all out and battle each other for an epic free for all that will decide the grand-prize winner. You are not allowed to fight outside of the official fights, or you will be disqualified. Any Gift, and weapon is allowed during the tournament. You get disqualified if you tap out, are unconscious, die or are thrown out of the ring. Most of you have arrived here in advance, which means that your auras will probably have regenerated by now. For those of you who have just arrived, you will have to do with half of your aura. Plan better next time."
The heroes looked at each other, shrugging.
"Well, we did the best we could. At least we made it," said Rosso.
The announcer continued, "the last fighter, the champion of the Tournament, is given half of all of the aura that was collected by the Grand Century of the Dojo at the beginning of the competition, as well as the official robe of the monk, allowing them to join our ranks, if they so choose to. Given that there can only be 100 monks running the Dojo, the Centuries, the weakest one loses their status until they win the competition once again. Once the Tournament ends, fighters leave and the 100-year cycle starts over again. The other half of the aura collected by the Grand Century is distributed equally among the 100 monks of the Dojo."
"So, the Centuries—these monks, must be extremely strong?" asked Rosso.
"Looks like there are a ton of fighters here, some much stronger than us. It's going to be tricky getting to the final battle," said Indigo, glancing around.
"All contestants should head to their sleeping quarters to rest. The tournament begins at sunrise tomorrow morning. Best of luck to all of you, and may the greatest among you—win!"
The crowd cheered once more and scattered.
The air was tense in the sleeping quarters. A mix of excitement and fear overtook the boy.
"Please, hold on, just a bit more," he said to his own body, as he fell asleep out of exhaustion.