"You alright?" Blood asked Beth.

"Yeah. Just called the parents and talked to them," Beth said with a sigh.

"Everyone alright?" Blood asked.

"Everyone's still alive and kicking," Beth said.

"Any other updates?" Blood asked.

"On the people? No, they're fine. Didn't really sound like there was too much happening," Beth said.

"Oh. Okay," Blood said.

"Dad did say there was something interesting," Beth said. "There's apparently a tower on one of the other continents on Earth that's being guarded by, and I quote, 'some aliens, and there's something about diamonds.'"

"That sounds interesting," Blood said, sitting up a little.

"Yeah, it sounds like some faction set up a place on Earth and are charging some major money for entry. Probably worth us checking out the next time we're there," Beth said.

"I'll remember," Blood said before settling back.

Beth couldn't help herself in making some food, even though they'd had dinner, and eating it, which led to Blood wanting food, which led to them eating even more. They didn't stay up too long after that, cleaning up for the evening and heading to bed. They were up rather early the next morning, but it didn't matter, as Fates' End was a world that never slept. After they had breakfast and had gotten ready for the day, they left Mortaine's expensive suite and moved towards the building they had spent time training in yesterday.

"Training again today," Beth said to Blood as they approached the building.

"Can we not?" Blood whined, ears drooping.

"You can do whatever you want, but I'm absolutely taking advantage of easy access to Masters and Grandmasters. Where else might you randomly be able to train with a Sage?" Beth said, giving Blood a slight side-eye.

"But it gets boring," Blood huffed, though it was clear this wasn't her seriously arguing.

"Then stay in the room for a week," Beth said with a shrug. "If you're fine falling behind."

"You can really be a bitch sometimes," Blood grunted, but kept with Beth as they entered the training building.

"I'm working on it," Beth mumbled back, earning another grunt from Blood.

The days rolled by after that, the two immersing themselves in training, waiting for Mortaine to pop into existence and poof them somewhere else. They both spent a handful of platinum coins over the course of ten more days, Beth considering the price very cheap. It was also a bit of an advantage for Blood during that time as she only had one weaponskill she was working on, whereas Beth was pursuing two. There weren't that many trainers that specialized in two weaponskills, even on the Battle World, but she did get just a bit of time with two Grandmasters that could train her in both.

It was the morning of the twelfth day, and they were just getting ready to head out the door, when there was a strange popping sound, as if a thousand bubbles all burst within the span of a few seconds. Beth turned to the corner of the living room where the lounge area was located to find Mortaine sitting on a couch, gently swirling blue lights fading from around him. She narrowed her eyes to mere slits before walking over and sitting on the couch across from him. Blood joined her, sitting next to her and kicking her feet up and slouching back before Mortaine started speaking.

"Good to see the both of you! You're looking rather fresh and happy," Mortaine greeted excitedly.

"I guess vacation's over?" Beth asked, also leaning back in the couch.

"You are genuinely one of the few, if not only, people I currently know who would view two weeks on a Battle World as a vacation," Mortaine said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Beth said laconically.

"Well yes, anyway, the vacation is over," Mortaine said calmly. "I have a job for you two, something challenging but not impossible. This job will take place over the course of the next three months, and I do not have the time to oversee it myself."

"Three months, right," Beth said with a nod. "A lot of combat or a lot of talking?"

"Combat," Mortaine said with a slight smirk. "I understand your proclivities quite well."

"What's the job?" Beth asked with a slight curl of the corners of her mouth.

"It is a competition," Mortaine explained. "Which is the other reason I will not be participating. I will take you to the place where the competition starts and help you register. You will be responsible for killing and harvesting a certain number of beasts and monsters over the course of thirty days. Afterwards, there will be a second component that includes running a set number of dungeons. The officials at the competition will explain more to you there."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"And what are the group sizes? Are there limits on the people that can participate?" Beth asked.

"Groups are limited to just four or less, while some people will participate as individuals. It is also limited to Awoken and Empowered. No Enlightened or higher participants are allowed," Mortaine replied.

"Do we have time to recruit others?" Beth asked, glancing at Blood and sharing a look before returning her attention to Mortaine.

"I would recommend not," Mortaine said, holding up a hand to forestall any protest. "The team sizes are small enough that I do not believe recruiting more than the two of you will be very helpful. The first half of the competition is very much a test of endurance; how long and hard can you push yourself in the field? I daresay there are very few in this galaxy who are accustomed to pushing themselves as long and hard as the two of you. Certainly, none under Enlightened. Secondly, the prizes will be divided among the winning team, and the prizes of this competition are incredibly valuable. I would discourage your team from recruiting anyone else; I believe you can place in the top ten, perhaps even top five, just with the two of you. The prize you would each get from that would be immensely valuable."

"So, what are the conditions for this? Do we just have to go wild killing beasts, or is there some limited area?" Beth asked with a slight frown.

"They have specific areas they want you to operate in," Mortaine said with what was likely supposed to be a disarming smile, but Beth got a bad premonition.

"Well, I guess we'll find out the rest there," Beth said, Blood agreeing with a slight growl.

"Well then, anything you need to pack?" Mortaine asked with a cheeky grin.

"You know there isn't," Beth shook her head and sighed in response.

"Then here. We. Go," Mortaine said, emphasizing his words before there was a splashing sound and a noise like a distant bang. Beth's vision flashed with a white and green color before she found herself sitting in a chair in a totally different room, likely on a different world. It was rather impressive that Mortaine was able to slip them through and across dimensions, return them to standard reality in just a second, and do it all while keeping their exact positioning and orientation.

"Now, come along," Mortaine, who had transported himself standing upright, said as he gestured to the two girls and took off at a brisk walk.

"Where is this?" Beth asked as they hurried to catch up, looking around to find themselves in some kind of massive hall. It reminded her, not very pleasantly, of a DMV office or some other soul-crushing palace of bureaucracy, and she noted the large number of chairs set in groups for people to wait, presumably for their number to be called.

Beth and Blood didn't have to wait, however, as they were with the ultimate number, Mortaine, who took them to what appeared a normal counter. He stopped before the person standing there, waiting a second to be acknowledged before starting to fire off requests mixed with demands in rapid-fire. Beth and Blood just stood back and looked pretty, waiting for Mortaine to get done negotiating or arguing or buying something…it was a bit hard to tell. He eventually seemed satisfied and signaled to the girls to follow him to a different part of the room.

He proceeded to nag, er, negotiate with two more people at two different counters. The third counter was where he required their input, as they were both handed some kind of small, octagonal badge that they had to imprint their mana into. The badge was then taken by the worker at the counter and registered in a computer system before again being handed to them. The badge had a sword with a snake coiling around the blade on one face and a, well, face on the other face, though certainly not somebody that Beth recognized. She and Blood took the badges and thanked the harried attendant, though Beth thought some of that frazzled look was from realizing just who Mortaine was.

"These are your badges," Mortaine stated the obvious. "They are keyed to you and will be used in tracking your exploits during this competition. Follow me to the next room, where we will be given an explanation of the contest. There will be other teams there, some with their, uh, chaperones, so do try not to cause an incident."

"When have I ever caused an incident?" Beth asked innocently. Mortaine and Blood both slowly turned and stared at her, frowning. She held up her hands on seeing the stares and said, "Look, as long as the planetary governor isn't there for me to arrest, we're fine."

"Sometimes, you are not as clever as you think you are," Mortaine said drily before turning and resuming his walk to the next room.

They exited the chamber of many counters and walked down a long hallway with generic tile floors and standard, beige-painted walls. Beth could very much believe she was back on Earth, even the light fixtures in the ceiling very closely resembling office lighting that was in common use before the Path came to the planet. The several doors they passed were all very plain, grey-painted metal rectangles with simple handles and a simple plaque by the doorway. The whole building screamed bland practicality, as well as a distinct lack of care about either aesthetics or displays of grandeur. Not everyone had to make every building fancy, but the utter lack of any ornamentation of any kind did tell a certain story, if one were willing to be observant.

Mortaine halted before a specific door, though the plaque reading 'Hall 7B' could have been anything. Beth was sure part of the previous conversations at the desks had given him the information, but everything was so generic she wasn't sure where they even were. She was further surprised when they walked into the hall and found a spacious, well-appointed room with a dozen seating areas around a central speaker's platform. There were people occupying several of the seating arrangements, though there were still several empty sets. Mortaine walked over to an arrangement on the far side of the room, nodding at several people as he passed. It wasn't until they walked to the other side of the stage that Beth and Blood saw some familiar faces.

"Mortaine, you old reprobate," Tera grumbled, smacking her cane against the floor with a bang. "How did I figure you'd be here?"

"Tera, you irascible young woman, how many decades has it been?" Mortaine returned as he sat.

"Less than one, you old coot," Tera replied crossly, waving her cane at the man from where she sat.

"I do lose track," he muttered as he leaned back in his chair.

"Val," Beth said with a nod to the woman as she sat.

"Beth," Val replied, giving her a nod. Val's three companions, two of the 'boys' and one of the other girls of the Young Scions, glanced at Val before turning their gazes to Beth and Blood. The boys gave her a glare while the other girl gave her a small smile. Beth returned the smile and ignored the boys, neither of which made the ogre or demon very happy.

The room rapidly filled, as if their arrival had been the signal the rest were waiting for. All the seating groups were soon full and three men walked in and made their way to the speaker's platform. All three of them were slightly tall and all three of them wore deep blue robes with gold thread on the sleeves. The man with more embroidery than the other two stood forward to speak, though he wound up pacing around as the other two just tried to keep out of his way.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the United Stellar Hegemony. I am Gordon Resdoon, and I will be in charge of facilitating this event. As you may know, we've called for you, and several other volunteers, for a special assignment. We will be pioneering a new world, one that has already been designated and approved, and have decided to turn it into a contest for promising young teams. The format is no more than four people per team, and they must be of either Awoken or Empowered strength, no more. We will be splitting the competition into two stages, where first we will be grading teams based on the number of beasts and monsters they kill, as well as their exploration progress. The second stage will involve the teams running a series of dungeons within a set time limit, competing in clear times and the total number of dungeons run. Are there any initial questions?"

"What, specifically, are our time limits?" someone asked.

"Thirty days for each segment with a one week break between the two," Gordon answered.

"Are we limited to one area of the planet?" one of the others asked.

"There are no limits to where you go as long as you stay somewhere on, or in, the world and its instances. No teleporting back to a friendly planet to rest or restock," he answered.

"How are we scored?" the other woman, Beth though her name was Blue Wave, from Val's group asked.

"You each should have received a badge to make it to this room. Apart from our esteemed guests that have escorted you here, of course. That badge will track and tally your kills and exploration. They are incredibly durable and can be attached to armor, so do not worry about keeping them out of your storage powers or spaces while you fight. The dungeon portion will be adjudicated by myself and a group of my colleagues, so you do not have to worry about tracking your progress during the second half," he explained.

"And what's up for grabs?" a laconic young man asked from the opposite side of the stage.

"Prizes in some form are being awarded to every single participant, so there is no shame in retiring from the competition early. For those who stick to the end, there will be further remuneration, including Epic equipment and accessories for top contenders. I assure you, this competition is well worth your while," Gordon answered. "Are there any other questions?"

When nobody else thought of anything immediately pressing to ask, he moved on, discussing the deployment of the teams. They would all be dropped onto the planet by shuttles after warping there on one of the Hegemony's starships. The journey to the chosen planet would take three days from their current location, so Gordon suggested everyone use the rest of the current day to finish their preparations before departing. With the time and place to board the starship explained, he thanked everyone for their participation before sweeping out of the room with his two shadows.

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