Order of Fate

The following moments after Arren laid witness to the name engraved within the card felt like a blur within his mind. Throughout his time within the third stage, he had only been unfortunate enough to encounter one of The 10 Swords within their first Battle-Grade Day, when he lost his title as First Sword to the current First Sword. Yet upon this week alone he now would have the pleasure of having faced two of them upon consecutive days. 

Just what type of rotten luck was that? 

Upon a regular day then he would not have felt such despair by the prospect of facing those elites. His duel with The First Sword just prior stood as testimony to such a thing, however today was not regular. 

He did not only stand to win points but to lose them as well. When it came to that, all within The 10 Swords were the worst nightmare to any slaves present. After all, each one of them had a total point value which numbered above 1,000,000. 

Within Arren's case, his opponent currently possessed a total point value of 1,165,000. If Arren lost this coming duel then it would truly close all hopes of surviving past this stage, much less of entering The Dagger Rank. 

It would be a death sentence. 

Just that realization alone immediately made Arren lose all strength within his body. He wanted to run away from this fight, he wanted to give up, and most of all, he wanted to not feel so powerless and weak. 

"Walker 248, who is your duel partner?" 

Snapping him out of his stupor was the crisp voice of The Record Keeper before him. Arren's dulled out eyes suddenly gained some of its previous luster as he made a bitter smile. 

"Seventh Sword!"

Arren yelled out and immediately all of the surrounding slaves turned to stare upon him. Considering what had just occurred between Arren and The First Sword just the day prior, to now suddenly hear that he was to fight yet another of The 10 Swords made many stare upon him with pitiful looks. 

"Perhaps the goddess's grace has abandoned him." 

"Hmph. Serves him good for acting so brazenly yesterday."

"What… What if he actually wins again?"

"Are you mad? He won't have the rules protecting him from one of The 10 Sword's wrath this time. He is destined to lose." 

"I wonder how low his points shall drop." 

The slaves all began whispering among themselves, with the exception of a few. Those of The Golden Rank saw this as divine retribution towards the fallen king of the previous stage. The rest of The 10 Swords continued to remain indifferent to him with the sole exception of The First Sword. 

He was situated upon a different row, yet his eyes remained firmly upon Arren. He did not utter a single word, merely wearing a solemn expression. 

Then not far from him, Sieg also watched the same figure, however his expression had turned ugly as he made a vicious scowl. Despite his wishing for it to not occur, in the end a terrible scenario still awaited Arren. 

"Curse it all…" 

He muttered, a similar type of despair surfacing within his heart, albeit a far more tamed one than that of Arren's own. 

Meanwhile, having been called out The Seventh Sword's aloof expression did not falter. He merely directed his brown eyes at Arren's back for a moment before stepping out of his respective row and beginning his steady pace towards the designated area where duel partners were required to wait. 

His burly body still bore no shirt, merely wearing the gray pants which all others did. Since none of The Record Keepers around him ever mentioned anything in protest to this, he continued to do as he pleased. Shirts felt constricting after all.

Laying witness to The Seventh Sword's movement from the corner of his eyes, Arren too began making his way forth. Now only a thin veil of time stood before their inevitable clash. 

*****

The process of drawing cards did not last for much longer before everyone had a partner. The slaves were then all made to ascend towards the vast rows of spectator seats which were situated on both sides of the arena. 

They were not given any specific instructions and from previous Battle-Grade Days each slave was aware that none would complain if they sat beside those which they were most at ease with. So long as they remained properly behaved of course, not that any slave would ever dare to do otherwise. 

As a result, it did not take long before Arren found Sieg to his side.

That was to be expected, they had always sat together when possible, however on this day a different individual had joined them. Arren could not help but scowl deeply at that third person.

Feeling a burning glare his way, Reed, the one currently joining them and sitting beside Sieg, suddenly curled his lips as he asked in a ridiculing tone. 

"Is something the matter Walker 251?"

Arren scoffed. 

"It's Walker 248 bastard. Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be within a corner alone like always?" 

Reed spared Arren a side glance before his lips grew wider. 

"Oh yes, that is your current rank isn't it? My apologies. I'm one who tends to consider the long run you see, and since you are certain to drop to the bottommost rank today I thought it would be more appropriate to begin addressing you as such in advance." 

Arren gritted his teeth, Reed's words were things he knew could not be denied, however upon witnessing the sheer smugness etched on his face, Arren wished for nothing more than to cave it in… Not too severely of course, that was Sieg's friend as well, perhaps only making his features unrecognizable would do.

Fully aware of Arren's thoughts, Reed chuckled. 

"Learn to mask your emotions better Walker 251. At least that way when the time for your execution arrives then you can die without revealing the dread that rests within your heart." 

"Eat shit. I'm not dead yet!" 

Reed shifted to meet Arren's furious stare as his expression only doubled in its smugness.

"The key word there is; yet…" 

Arren scoffed, but before he retorted, a familiar voice interrupted. 

"Have you two had enough? My ears certainly have." 

Situated between Arren and Reed's bickering was Sieg. He had remained silent this entire duration, however after his brows had furrowed to their limit, he at last spoke up. 

Sparing them both a glance no different than a parent does to their children, Sieg scolded. 

"It's always the same thing with you two, isn't it? Seriously…"

Arren leaned back on his seat as he crossed his hands. 

"What can I say, he stinks so I would rather have him far from me." 

Hearing this, Reed rolled his eyes. 

"Someone with such a nasty mouth has no right to speak of stench." 

"Enough already!"

Elbowing both of them in an irritated attempt to cease their arguing, Sieg then pointed at the arena grounds. 

"They are almost finished setting up the battle fields so be silent." 

Directly upon the area which he pointed to, one of The Record Keepers was currently standing motionlessly, his eyes closed. Upon his hand was an elegant wooden staff which possessed a green gem etched to its tip. 

Raising it slightly upon the air, he began speaking within a foreign language. 

"Powerful and unbreakable, Mighty yet mindless, Such is your state, Your very core, For conquest you are unfit, for defending you are indifferent, Yet I stand in seek of utter defiance, I shall demand no less, Nor shall my will be denied, Move forth, Earth Walls!" 

As the incantation was uttered, The Record Keeper's voice layered atop itself while the green gem upon his staff suddenly began emitting a radiant emerald glow. He then brought down his staff, impacting the soil beneath his feet. 

The ground immediately trembled viciously before, with him as the epicenter, it suddenly rose into five meter tall walls which quickly divided the vast arena grounds into six perfect sections. Upon finishing his casting, The Record Keeper swayed slightly before using his staff as support and preventing himself from falling forth onto the ground. Not long after, more Record Keepers approached him and helped with his exit from the arena. 

A different Record Keeper then appeared before the seated slaves, a familiar black box within his grasp. 

Reaching inside, his hands extracted six cards. Depending on which rank was written upon it, be it any of the two duel partners, then they would be part of the six duels which would occur simultaneously. Each slave did not utter a single word as they silently waited for the results to be stated. 

And not long after, it was…

"The first rounds are: Walker 202, Dagger 65, Golden 29, Dagger 23, Walker 156, and Silver 7… Those of you in relation to these ranks, follow me."

"Well, it appears I'll have the honors of being part of the first batch." 

Leisurely standing to his feet, Sieg stated. Meanwhile, to his side Arren curiously inquired. 

"Em, Sieg, forgive me for not noticing but who did you end up partnered with?" 

Sieg spared Arren a complicated look. 

"You… You had other worries plaguing you so do not worry. As for my opponent, It's Golden 3."

Arren showed a visible shock in his face. 

"Hmm, that's a tough one." 

Sieg nodded. 

"Yes, but I have a strategy, want to hear?" 

Arren shook his head. 

"Don't bother, I already know, actually I think everyone already knows." 

Sieg raised an eyebrow, clearly startled by such a statement. He then turned his attention to Reed, his eyes wordlessly asking: Is that true?

Reed meanwhile, chuckled before shifting his eyes away from Sieg's own. As he did, he murmured…

"How could we not know, your strategy is reserved for the few privileged."

His words were low, however Sieg clearly heard them. He could not help but sigh to himself before shrugging it off. 

"So be it then, even if they know it matters little…"

He turned and readied to follow the others behind The Record Keeper, however before he did so, he quickly added. 

"Oh, try not to fight while I'm gone please."

Hearing such, Arren and Reed scoffed in sync. Then upon realizing that, they sharply turned their heads away from each other. Laying witness to this, a sigh escaped Sieg's lips once more.

They're hopeless…