Garden Of The Abyss

"Hongse, from the right quadrant, please make your way to the arena!"

With this unmistakable announcement hailing from the host of the tournament, it was set into stone. Standing up from his seat on the bench and rolling his fluffy shoulders, the panda demi-human gave a thumbs-up to his companions.

"Hongse…"

"Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!"

Jae-Seong gave the red-furred, giant panda a thumbs-up in return along with a smile that the two shared.

"Give 'em hell!"

Ridding himself of his silence, Ren called out to the reliable, fluffy demi-human with his motivational words.

"Come on, Aiko, say something."

Nudging the girl with his elbow, Ren pushed the meek, quiet girl to speak up before the panda disappeared down the hall..

"...Win this, Hongse…!"

"Yeah!"

Bringing themselves to the windows that allowed them to witness the upcoming battle, the anxious members of the Weltwanderers finally got a good look at the arena. The floor was made up of tough, bountiful sand while it was overlooked by lavish balconies encircling it, watched by the many, nobley-dressed demons.

"It's freaking huge…"

Ren muttered, seeing how far it truly stretched, and just how high the ceiling was--leaving room for many, many floors for observers to witness the tournament.

"Well, you know how strong mages who've surpassed the first floor are, right? They need a bit of breathing room."

Jae-Seong commented, remaining in the same spot, only with his head turned to get a view of the arena.

​ "Mencius...I'm curious what kind of fighter he is."

"You too? He's quite the tough run to read just from a glance, isn't he?"

Now standing closely beside Ren, Jae-Seong spectated alongside him as they witnessed the opponent of Hongse reveal himself at the end of the other passageway leading to the tournament.

With a calm smile that revealed nothing of himself; no such doubt or arrogance, the effeminate man of a slender build hidden by his baggy, serene robes entered the fray with his hands still tucked into his sleeves.

"Don't underestimate him."

Coming from a voice as deep as they come, yet softly spoke, these words weren't from anybody Ren was familiar with.

Turning to face this unknown speaker, he nearly jumped at the sight of the towering, wide-set figure standing directly behind him.

"You're…!"

"Ju-Long; forgive me if I snuck up on you."

Bowing his head crowned with golden locks, the tan-skinned man wearing only simple robes over his temple of muscular flesh apologized.

He's much more polite than I expected from someone like him...guess you really can't judge a book by its cover. I'll just be thankful it seems barely any competitors chose to wait in here. It's not like it's required...but I wouldn't want to risk being disqualified based on being late, Ren thought.

"It's alright...do you know that guy out there?"

"You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in Jinyue who doesn't know the name "Mencius". He hails from a special clan occupying the Great Range of The Azure-Scaled...the "Jingpohuai". Although they're isolated from most of Jinyue, their reputation precedes them."

"The Jingpohuai…?"

Looking at his companions standing near him, they returned his perplexed expression with zero answers themselves.

Ju-Long nodded his head, having to squat down with his powerful legs to bring his gaze low enough to see through the spectator window of the room.

"To call it a clan may be a bit disingenuous; it isn't limited by bloodlines, but by a mindset, resolve, and belief. The Jingpohuai are an organization of Jinyue's brightest scholars, but also their greatest warriors at the same time. They follow the belief that the summit of strength exists in tandem with the peak of knowledge."

Though he spoke softly, his presence alone was almost suffocating--existing as a man who possessed a size at least four times that of Ren himself. Even so, these words were heeded; absorbed by those listening.

"Scholars...and warriors?"

"Interesting; I ought to visit Jinyue someday...your homeland is quite the place, Ju-Long."

"Hoh, is that your way of asking for an invitation?"

Sharing a laugh with Jae-Seong in response to his words, Ju-Long laughed with his bellowing core, his mighty breaths pelting against Ren's body like the winds of winter.

"Be careful, Hongse…"

Muttering this, it began to sink in for him that the foe ahead of the demi-human may be far exceeding his expectations.

"Wow, a lot of eyes on me! I feel special, he-he."

Looking up at the towering stands that overlooked the vast arena, coupled with dazzling, beautifully carved gemstones hanging from the ceiling to invoke a force reminiscent of the sunshine, Hongse stood in the center of the battlefield as his opponent waited patiently.

"Mr. Hongse, is it? It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance; it isn't everyday one from my land is greeted by one from Vesta."

Bowing his head as his spring-decorated hanfu remained still, the softly-spoken, fair-skinned man greeted his designated opponent.

"Nice to meet you too! Mencius, right? Just to let you know--I'm not going to take it easy on you."

Following his return of the greeting with a drop of his tone, the red-furred panda manifested his trusty, behemoth of a weapon into his grip, leaning it over his shoulder.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Fight me with everything you have, Mr. Hongse."

As his straight, verdant locks draped over both his shoulder and chest like bountiful spring fields, Mencius raised his head once more as his eyes, which held a kaleidoscope of verdancy, fell onto his demi-human opponent who far surpassed him in size.

"Alright then, let's get this show on the road! Remember, the match ends when either your opponent is left unable to continue fighting, by death or injury! Put your bets in now, folks! Hongse versus Mencius...begins now!"

Without any hesitation, the heavyset panda charged forward with his hammer in hand. Reaching his opponent's position quickly, Hongse flipped the hammer between his hands before slamming it down—being evaded swiftly by his much thinner foe.

Even with a build like that, he's quite agile, Mencius thought.

"If you hit a frail man like me directly with that last attack, you might've really killed me, you know?"

Jumping back without much weight to his landing on the firm sand, Mencius retained his smile as he looked at the crimson panda.

"Then you're lucky it didn't land—let's see if that fortune holds up!"

Stomping his fur-padded foot against the floor made of abundant, dry grain, the boisterous panda sent a tremor through the arena.

"Hoh…such tremendous strength; the tales are true of the unmatched physical prowess of demi-humans."

Reconfiguring his balance amidst the vibrating ground, Mencius smiled slyly before sending his own foot down in return—cancelling the tremor.

"I'm glad I came here—to Purgatory. The realm unknown to text, to history…a land that draws in all sorts of people from across Gaia."

Did he cancel it out with raw strength…? Hongse wondered.

Finally separating his hands from his sleeves, something else was revealed alongside the man's uncalloused hands; the shine of an iridescent blade, slipping out from his baggy, verdant sleeve.

"That sword…"

Left in awe at the radiance of the sword that looked more like a piece of art than a tool of violence, Ren couldn't help but comment as every pair of eyes watching the battle fell on its form.

"So it's true…he possesses it."

"It?"

Looking up at Ju-Long despite him being squatted down, his eyes met on the form of the blade in more surprise than awe.

"That's one of the Ten Treasured Blades of Lim, Juque—"Great Destroyer"…in all of Jinyue, they are the most renowned treasures. That fool…!"

"…Fool!?"

Moving back a bit at Ju-Long's rise in volume, his booming voice meeting his ears like an amp, Ren looked closely at the man who now seemed angered by the existence of the legendary sword.

"To bring a treasure into Purgatory, to risk it being lost in this realm forever…the emperor himself would have his head for such insolence!"

Even hearing these angered words fly from Ju-Long's maw as veins pressed against the man's body which looked as if it was carved from a mountain of steel, Ren felt somewhat grateful just to be able to witness the beauty of that blade.

In truth, it was like nothing else he had laid his eyes on in that world or his. Striking a balance between a shifting crimson and a flowing azure, the shine of the blade seemed to transfigure itself on its own--without the assistance of light.

Held in the delicate seeming hand of the scholar, the hilt of the famed sword was layered in a pale-white steel, accented with both jewels and gold, engraved with meticulously-made markings. Through the length of the immaculately sharp blade, it was definitely a swordsword, but the innate power emanating from it was unmistakable--it was without a doubt, a mystical weapon.

In truth, I am weak. Of all the Jingpohuai, I could think of many names more deserving than I to wield such a blade, but nonetheless; I wield it, Mencius thought, not because I discovered it, buried under the ruins of the forgotten emperor, not because I was elected the rightful wielder of the blade.

But because I chose it to be mine.

That choice, with this blade in my hand, with the surmounting of this realm in my future--is why I will one day lead the Jingpohuai, he thought.

"That's "Juque", isn't it?"

Hearing the red-furred demi-human discern the identity of the blade with a single glance spurred an inquisitive look from Mencius as he replaced his momentary confusion with his usual, collected smile.

"You can recognize it?"

"Well, I'm an adventurer, after all. If I couldn't recognize one of the Ten Treasured Blades, I'd probably turn my badge in myself."

"You amuse me with your modesty, one from Vesta! You're a scholar yourself, are you not? Most adventurers only pursue such a path in hopes of vast riches and luxuries to be discovered, but you're different--you stand at the origin of it; the reason why adventurers exist."

Holding the blade in front of him as if careful of its power, pointing it towards the demi-human, Mencius spoke without any restraint to the crimson panda, who was more interested in twiddling with his leather armor.

"..."

"Don't get me wrong; I don't have any contempt for adventurers, but as a scholar--I feel we more often than not are lumped in with the likes of them. You, however, I'll gladly share a title with."

"Are you done yet? You really shouldn't ramble on so much in the middle of a fight; are you sure you're taking this seriously?"

Hongse's nonchalant response took the calculating man out of his cold air as he narrowed his verdant eyes on the demi-human, shaking his head slowly with a smile as he sighed.

"I suppose I was mistaken; you're not worth indulging."

Waving his arm that wielded no such blade as his robes designed with flowers flowed with his movement, the scholar hailing from the mysterious, isolated kingdom of Jinyue manifested from the lifeless terrain a plethora of roots, stretching out as if being awoken from a deep slumber.

"I should properly introduce myself; I am Mencius, Spring of the Jingpohuai--I shall now enact your defeat."