But my pitfall wasn’t done there. The extra essence I had pulsed into it using Essential Overload hadn’t just made it deeper.
It had given my basic pitfall another effect. Something I had never seen before.
I watched, utterly amazed.
The surplus essence I had pulsed using Essential Overload gathered inside the pitfall and swirled in a circle.
The pitfall began to suck surrounding the soldiers towards it, like a whirlpool dragging a helpless swimmer to its depths. Soldier after soldier fell through the pitfall and into the screaming abyss. They plunged down from God’s Fist and through the air, towards the deaths.
The remaining soldiers were clever enough to back away from the pull of the pitfall now, but that didn’t matter.
“Beno! Look!” shouted Cynthia.
Portdoors all around the arena were flung open. Cores and overseers from other academies flooded out. Joining them were their monsters, and soon the arena was swarming with kobolds and yetis and undead warriors.
Seeing this, the remaining Republic soldiers dropped their shields and cowered back against the arena walls. Some appealed for mercy, others fell to their knees and waited for death. One by one, their essence shields blinked out.
Chapter 28
Following the battle of the Shielded Republic, the arenas in God’s Fist were closed. Consequently, the remaining quarter-final fights had to be postponed. The tournament organizers huddled together in their star lodge, finally emerging a day later.
When they announced the tournament was over, a wave of disappointment crashed through the people of Heaven’s Peak. Through the residents whose livelihoods rested on the tournament. Through the people who’d journeyed for miles on crammed, smelly carriages just to watch the fights. Through the academies and cores who had come here looking for glory.
Shortly after, the empire diverted soldiers to Heaven’s Peak. A battalion of metal-armored soldiers arrived, and they closed off the city. Foreign merchants were told to pack up their stalls and return home. Travelers were escorted out of the city gates.
Despite their frustration, everyone understood. Nobody had expected the Shielded Republic to still exist, let alone to have scores of armed fighters. The empire had underestimated them once and would be stupid to do so again. The soldiers would stay in Heaven’s Peak in case the Republic were planning a second attack.
No matter their reasoning, the result was the same.
The Battle of the Five Stars was over. There would be no winner this decade.
“Cheer up, Beno,” said Gulliver. “This means you have ten years to get ready for the next.”
My friend had meant it as a joke, but the thought had already come to me.
Ten years. Who knew what I could accomplish in that time with hard work and some guidance? Did I plan to still be a Base core with only one type of essence inside me in a decade?
No way. I wouldn’t let that happen. With Overseer Gill’s help, I was ready to work and unlock my potential. If entering the tournament taught me one thing, it was that I had become way too lax after leaving the Dungeon Core Academy.
Yes, I had fought heroes and I had leveled up plenty of times, but that wasn’t enough. I had stopped learning. Stopped growing. I thought I was better than I really was. I’d decided in my head that nobody had anything to teach me. In truth, my education was only beginning.
“So long, Heaven’s Peak. See you in ten years.”
Just as I was going to sever the link between my dungeon and the portdoor in God’s Fist, someone knocked on it.
When I answered, a little goblin was standing there. I recognized him as one of the tournament orderlies.
“Your presence is requested at the star lodge, Core Beno,” he said.
I was surprised at the tone of respect in his voice. Throughout the tournament, the orderlies had treated me with barely hidden disdain.
When I arrived at the star lodge, Brenda, the owl lady, was waiting. Unlike every other time I had visited her office, she looked pleased to see me.
Spreading her wings wide, she said, “Core Beno! What a pleasure it is. I watched all of your fights, you know. You carried yourself admirably. I even got an emblem of your academy made so that I can hang it in my office.”
She nodded at a frame on her wall, inside which was a tapestry of white wool, so that it looked blank.
“That’s a…uh…first draft. I’ll send you a tapestry of our new emblem for free.”
“Wonderful! Now, I suppose you’re wondering why I wanted to see you?”
“Is there a tournament fee that I have missed paying? Something else? Please don’t tell me that one of my kobolds caused trouble in the city. They get lairy when they drink beer. I made the mistake of giving my miners the day off, and they wanted to visit the city…”
“Nothing of the sort,” said Brenda. “In fact, you will be happy with what I have to tell you. As you know, the tournament was called off. This means we do not have a winner. As such, there is nobody to claim the lovely Revered Trinkets we had saved until the end.”
This got my attention.
“Is the tournament being rescheduled?”
She shook her head. “Impossible. The logistics involved make such a feat tremendously difficult. It will be another decade, I am afraid. Until then, I have been asked to present you with something.”
She opened a drawer in her desk and took out a key that was almost as long as her wing. She floated up from her desk and out of the room, into the atrium of the lodge.
“Come on then. I do have a job to do, you know.”
I followed Brenda through the lodge until we came to what looked like a disused pantry. Brenda grabbed a pile of wooden
