Garden Of The Abyss

That's why...I can't fall here, Fedrin thought.

Attempting to reach up to his reddened throat to caress it, he stopped himself--feeling the unmistakable chill of the inhuman bandit directly behind him.

As he had sensed, Kikomori rose from the ground once more, throwing his hand this time directly towards the elf's face with malicious intent lacing his claws.

There's one, glaring weakness to your innate ability, Kikomori. Though you can become intangible, you must become tangible to be able to touch me! He thought.

Showcasing a swiftness unexpected from someone with a body as injured as his, Fedrin sidestepped from the reach of Kikomori's melting grasp, pressing his palm against the chest of the lanky, malicious foe.

"Wasser: Bind!"

Yelling out with everything he had as squeezing the words from his throat forced his eyes to redden more with such strain, Fedrin summoned his water-bound magecraft, manifesting ropes of water that quickly wrapped around Kikomori many times over.

Falling to the ground with his limbs tied up in the aquatic bindings, Kikomori wiggled, his lipless maw that was the only exposed part of his body behind the plain, white bodysuit, clattered over and over again as if it was his way of communicating.

"He got him!"

Ren called out with a bright smile, swinging his fist in front of him with glee.

"Not bad."

Jae-Seong smiled, seeming to share more in the happiness of the white-haired young man than his own personal interest.

"WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS, FOLKS! DESPITE THE STATE OF HIS BODY, FEDRIN TOOK CONTROL OF THE FIGHT!"

Standing over Kikomori, the black-haired elf with skin devoid of natural blemishes coughed, looking down at the bandit.

"I took a gamble, but it seems I was right: once you're glad in foreign magic, you can't turn intangible."

Retrieving the staff he had dropped, he pointed the end directly at Kikomori--allowing the magical orb embedded into the wood-carved tool to take on a gray glow.

Waiting for a few moments, all spectators were left in suspense as Fedrin remained still, keeping his eyes locked on the bound opponent of his.

"What's he doing? Finish him off already!"

As impatient as ever, Macheo yelled out, hoping his voice would reach the elven mage.

"Come on…! You're totally setting off flags here, long ears!"

Nearly leaning through the viewing window, Ren found himself vacant of breath watching Fedrin.

At last, the elf cleared his throat before speaking, "Announcer...I believe my opponent is unable to continue fighting!"

Yelling this loud enough to reach the ears of Asmodeus, who was placed far above the pit of the arena, Fedrin nearly keeled over from straining his swollen throat.

Silence befell the arena at this question as the steam finally began to dissipate under the caster of the heated, poisonous mist being compromised. After a few more moments, an announcement followed from Asmodeus.

"DUE TO AN INABILITY TO CONTINUE FIGHTING, KIKOMORI HAS CONCEDED VICTORY! FEDRIN IS THE WINNER!"

A resounding applause followed the triumphant announcement as Fedrin smiled softly, continuing to breathe heavily as he raised his staff to the air to claim his moment of unanimous triumph.

"He did it...he really did it…"

Catching the breath he lost in such a suspenseful climax, Ren smiled as he rested against the window sill, earning a pat on the back from the curly-haired man standing by his side.

"Looks like you know your partner well, Gramps."

Looking at the wrinkled old man wrapped in his tattered garments, Jae-Seong smiled as Bakar remained unmoving.

"It is a simple bet to make; nothing more, nothing less."

Returning through the tunnel, Fedrin found himself greeted by a thumbs-up from Ren. Perplexed by this gesture for a moment, the exhausted elf returned it with a smile of his own.

"Oh, right, I should probably release him."

Looking back through the window, Fedrin chuckled wryly as he snapped his fingers--freeing Kikomori from the bindings, who quickly left the arena without turning back once.

"You should really go to the infirmary though, you're all messed up…"

Looking at the state of Fedrin, Aiko's observation couldn't be more dead center. Looking at the state of his body, with various swipes having melted the skin from the afflicted areas, Fedrin began removing the sable mantle that sat over his robes before beginning to unbutton his collar without any hesitation.

"Gah!"

Shielding her eyes with a blush as Fedrin slid the top portion of his robes down to reveal his torso, Aiko became flustered.

"Bakar, can you handle this?"

Taking a seat on the bench, Fedrin displayed his torso to the elderly man. He was of a slight build, but it was clear the man was a warrior, packing on a respectable amount of muscle.

Many scars layered the man's torso, with surely more to come of the sizzling wounds left scattered on his body.

"Mm...I'll see what I can do."

Inspecting his companion's body, Bakar stroked his lengthy beard as the others watched. A light touch of the old man's wrinkled finger meeting with one of the afflicted spots on Fedrin's bicep caused a small wince from the elvish man but nothing more.

"First, swallow this."

Flicking a small, verdant sphere retrieved from his robes, Bakar gave the item to the elf who caught it, tossing it into his mouth and swallowing it down his tight throat with a bit of difficulty.

"A heilen orb?"

Ren asked, standing over the two as he watched the entire process unfold. Nodding his head, Bakar continued to stroke his long, gray beard.

"The steam used by that bandit was imbued with poison, but it was low-level. So, it should do the trick."

"Ahh...that's better."

Fedrin caressed his throat as he inhaled and exhaled freely as the crimson hue inhabiting his sclera began to fade back to a healthy white.

"You're crazy, man…"

Letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of the elf's health, Ren planted himself on the bench beside him. Hearing this, a laugh was shared between them, coming out hoarsely through Fedrin as his throat was still easing up.

He seemed so stiff when I first met him, but he's a good guy, isn't he? Ren thought.

"I think you need a little crazy in you to weather this place, right?"

"You might be onto something there."

Chuckling, Ren ruffled his snow-white locks as he looked around at those that surrounded him, smiling as if their cares had vanished.

All but one of these people, I didn't know before the other day. I thought this place would make me discard everything...but it might not have to end up like that. Good can exist here. Good can flourish, he thought.

Looking over, he watched as Bakar hovered his hands over the various afflicted spots on Fedrin's body, generating an almost transparent flame from his fingertips.

"What kind of magecraft is that exactly?"

"Hoh, getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we, Ren? Don't forget, we're still enemies while this tournament is underway."

Saying this with his stern, gravelly voice, Bakar's words dissuaded Ren's curiosity as the young man nodded silently. After a few moments, Bakar laughed heartily--sharing in this laughter with the elf.

"...Huh? You were pulling my leg!?"

Ren raised his fist with a slight blush at having been had by the old geezer, which reeled in a bit of laughter between Jae-Seong and Aiko as well.

Well, I guess it was worth it, Ren smiled.

"Ah! Be careful, Bakar! Don't burn me any more than I already am…"

Wincing a bit at the old man's lapse in concentration from laughter, Fedrin drew back his arm, shaking it a bit. Seeing the two men who presented themselves as almost statuesque now sharing in laughter, Ren felt a bit of relief.

Maybe after this whole tournament is over, they'll join our group, he thought.

"AFTER A BOUT LIKE THAT, I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL READY FOR THE NEXT ONE! IN JUST A MINUTE, WE'LL ANNOUNCE THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE THIRD BOUT!"

With Asmodeus' words fueling the stands, roars unleashed in response to this--clearly wanting the next battle to begin.

Peeking his head out of the viewing window that surprisingly was the best viewing available in the entire structure, Ren looked up at the dozens of floors that overlooked the arena--seeing the cheering demons that seemed no different from humans.

However, the pinnacle of these floors held only a few entities, with one, large figure taking the center--sitting on an obsidian chair inlaid with gems that looked like a throne befit for a king.

"Who is that?"

It was impossible to tell from the sheer distance as well as the crimson curtains that left only the silhouette of the figure to be seen.

"Based on his spot...I'd venture to say that's the god of this place."

Jae-Seong lowered his glasses a bit as he shared the same view as Ren. Based on how casually this answer was given to him, Ren didn't register it in his mind as he looked upon the figure sat on the high-placed chair--finally swinging his gaze to the curly-haired otherworlder beside him.

"Wait, what?"

"Just a guess--really."

Raising his hands in defense of the guess he made, Jae-Seong chuckled lightly as Aiko squeezed herself between them to get a look at the suggested deity of Purgatory.

"Camio mentioned him before...the one who created Purgatory."

"Well, I wouldn't put much stock into the words of one of the demons; there's a reason nobody calls for them. Seriously...they thought giving them cutesy forms would totally make people overlook how sleazy they were!"

"You all came to the same realization as well?"

Ju-Long interjected through Ren's minuscule rant, standing as tall as ever as without squatting down, the top of his hair laced with golden locks nearly touched the quartz ceiling that had been decorated with gold and azure paint.

Nodding their heads, Ren, Aiko, and even Jae-Seong confirmed this.

"Well, I'd like to take credit for discovering the nefarious nature of the Purgatory familiars, but it was Yuri who found it out. She was completely immune to the charm of her familiar--I almost felt bad for it! Ha-ha! She blasted hers right off the bat--man, that girl is a riot."

Wiping a tear formed of laughter from the corner of his eyes as he momentarily lowered his circular-rimmed shades, Jae-Seong let out a jovial sigh.

She sounds scary! Ren thought.

"...Bakar and I also came to the same conclusion rather early on. It was clear that the likely purpose familiars served were more like spies than anything else; Purgatory was able to keep track of our each and every move whenever those pests were at our sides."

Still having his wounds acquired from his fight attended to, Fedrin spoke in between sharp breaths as the ancient man cauterized his wounds while simultaneously seeming to close them up with his transparent, quiet flames.

Without breaking concentration on his role as a healer, Bakar added in, "I believe while there was some malicious intent by those running Purgatory, it might've also served as another trial for us on their part. In a sense, they're testing our critical thinking rather than our bodies or magic."

"I feel like you're giving them too much credit."

Ren chuckled softly, looking outside of the window as he witnessed the announcer draw in a breath--realizing another announcement was on its way.

"IT'S TIME FOR OUR NEXT AND THIRD BOUT OF THE FIRST ROUND! FROM THE LEFT, MACHEO!....AND FROM THE RIGHT, AIKO!"