106 105: Star Child: A Keepers Ascension FIN II

<Sho'lajah artifact company?> Iris asked as Jane and I were bombarded by question from the guests.

<Sounded cool in my head…plus kinda ties my Talapo heritage so double plus.> I said.

<It actually does sound cool…considering you thought of it.> Iris said. I gave her a sideways glance. I wanted to say something but the sudden sound of slow loud clapping coming from the top bleacher tier distracted me. All eyes turned to the top tier of the bleachers where Loki sat slowly and sarcastically clapping.

I crossed my arms and looked up at Loki arched a eyebrow at the Paragon. He had a look of barely restrained fury on his face.

<Why the fuck is he clapping?> I asked the girls.

Seeing that he had all eyes on him Loki stood and clapped two more times then stood up from his seat and looked down at me in a condescending way.

"Well let me be the first to congratulate on your new venture, I'm sure that your Sho'gaga artifact company will be a massive success." Loki said.

"Sho'lajah, not Sho'gaga!" I snapped. Loki waved me off

"Yes, yes, what you said." He said dismissively. "But I surely hope you don't let this little victory today with your rather unorthodox steps into the world of splicing go to your head. After all I've always said that there is much more to splicing than throwing a few spells, in fact I believe the true measure of a splicer lies in his talent with actual splicing."

"Do you believe that because it's the only thing you're good at and what made you a Paragon or is this some sort of cultural bullshit?" I asked without speaking. Loki's eyes widened in indignation then quickly narrowed as he gained composure.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you'd chose to respond to my heartfelt advice with insults. It's seems to be the way that Americans deal with criticism." Loki said. I rolled my eyes.

"No, it's how I deal with two faced idiots that give me back-handed compliments and snide remarks." I replied, then glanced over at Alberto. He looked absolutely terrified and had taken a couple steps away from his father and was now on the other side of Astrid. "Plus the way I see it, anyone can be good at splicing if they have a little imagination and some common sense."

"Imagination? Common sense?" Loki gasped in disbelief. Then threw his head back and laughed. "You might be right about those being all a good splicer might need, but a elite splicer needs more. He needs talent, knowledge, grit, determination, and most important of all mana! Without all those things the evos he creates are just destined to be weak embarrassments to the craft. Like the ones your countrymen pump out and sell via their techno-splicing. A pitiful imitation of a true art!"

"Just like you…a pitiful imitation of a real father." I quipped then glanced over at Alberto who looked like he'd just been slapped.. "Your son has been standing behind you for the better part of thirty minutes and you haven't said a single word to him. Not a 'you look well' or 'good job with that presentation' honestly, good way to make a guy feel important in your life!"

<Chase, what happened to not pissing off Loki?!> Jane asked through the telepathic link.

<All bets are off, he came for Chase first.> Iris said in a rare show of support.

"Unlike some I don't see the need for drowning my progeny in baseless praise or idle chatter. Besides my son knows of my disappointment in him. Not testing high enough to be one of the original fifty testing into this class? Losing to you when the vast majority of the match was three on one? Such results are not becoming of the son of a Paragon. He is a embarrassment to Spain and to myself." Loki said bitterly.

I bit down on my lower lip in anger as I saw the defeated look on Alberto's face. He hung his head low and balled his fist tight. Both Astrid and Damon looked to each other like they didn't know what to say or do. Astrid reached her hand out to grab Alberto's shoulder but dropped it at the last second and curled that hand into a fist and glared at Loki.

"You know there is a saying Lord Loki, a child is the reflection of a parent's hard work." Jane said in her icy tone. I couldn't help but notice the venom in her voice when she said lord Loki. "If you're saying your son isn't good enough for you or your country that simply means you haven't trained him well enough."

Loki narrowed his eyes at Jane making Iris and I stepped in front of her reflexively. Loki chuckled and the cube shaped farm crystal on his knee started to glow. He held his hand up and looked down at Jane, Iris and I dismissively.

"Urgarathian!" He yelled as a crystalline structure shot out of his crystal and flew high over our heads before landing a few yards away from the stage. The girls and I turned just int time to see a evo I've never seen before burst out of the structure.

It was a humanoid evo with strong feline features. It stood at least ten feet tall and was covered from head to toe in solid ropes of muscle. Its body was covered in orange fur with black stripes. Massive canines pultruded from its upped lip and ran down the length of its chin. It reared its head back and roared then slammed its fist down in the ground.

<The fuck is that?!> I asked the girls.

<I was going to ask you!> Iris exclaimed.

<Same!> Jane added.

"Behold! A evo of my creation! The Lowell Titan!" Loki exclaimed drawing everyone's attention back to him.. "It is a new and improved version of the old and tired titan."

"So much for imagination. You just took a titan and added…what? Tiger DNA to it." I exclaimed then started laughing. This made Loki scowl at me and pointed a accusatory finger at me.

"Shows what you know Kingston! The titan has remained unchanged for over a thousand years. No one has thought of a way to make it more powerful and ferocious. My Lowell Titan can destroy any titan with ease!" Loki exclaimed showing genuine emotion for the first time since I laid eyes on him.

"Well let me introduce you to a titan killer. Bone-lasher!" I yelled. Bone-lasher shot out of my crystal and landed behind Jane, Iris, and I. He let out a commanding roar then circled around us defensively.

[Prey!] He growled and licked his chops.

"A liger shark? You honestly think the creation of techno-splicing; a pale imitation of the real art; could actually go up against the creation of a paragon?!" Loki exclaimed.

Bone-lasher snarled and spun around, ready to pounce and run up the bleachers at Loki. I placed a hand on Bone-lasher's head which stilled him.

[Your prey is the Lowell Titan, not the splicer.] I said to Bone-lasher through our link. I looked up at Loki and smiled. "Kill the evo, you can eat what's left."

[WITH PLEASURE!] Bone-lasher roared happily as he turned and charged towards the Lowell Titan.

Bone-lasher jumped off the edge of the stage and raced at it, taking a large swipe at its legs before it had time to react. The Lowell Titan howled in pain then turned to face Bone-lasher and charged him.

"Cheating little shit! Fine! Urgarathian! Kill that piece of trash!" Loki exclaimed.

The Lowell Titan swung wildly at Bone-lasher, trying to hit him with either its massive curved retractable claws or huge cannonball sized fists. Bone-lasher dodged each strike easily, dancing around the evo with the lethal grace of a seasoned hunter as it took every opportunity to land a counter slash of his claws.

I watched as the Lowell Titan thrashed about and frowned. I knew that Bone-lasher was a good fighter and killing titans was his specialty but it shouldn't have looked that easy. The Lowell Titan was moving much faster than any titan I had seen before and it's flexibility and agility were much higher than a base Titan as well, however it was still struggling against Bone-lasher.

As I saw it get pissed at not being able to hit Bone-lasher and tired to stomp on Bone-lasher, only to miss again it dawned on me what was wrong. The Lowell Titan was untrained. It was basically the equivalent of a young farm hand snatched from the farm, given a club and told to fight with no training.

I glanced back up at Loki who seemed to be getting more and more pissed off as the fight dragged on he'd crossed his arm and scowled at his creation.

"Urgarathian end this already stop messing around! You should be able to kill that liger easily." Loki exclaimed.

"Your evo is getting badly injured Loki, I'd suggest that you recall it and end this before Chase stops toying with it." Baset said with a chuckle. Loki turned and sneered at Baset.

"Something of my creation would never lose to some second rate splicer from the boonies!" Loki snapped.

"That's funny, considering Chase has already beat your son…" Dean Baxter said with a amused smile. "…I suggest you recall your evo as well Loki. Should it get killed I will not hold young Mr. Kingston responsible."

"As if…!" Loki started but hos Lowell titans loud scream of agony as Bone-lasher bit down on one of its arms and shattered the bone.

"Bone-lasher stop playing with it and end this already." I said wearily.

[Alright…] Bone-lasher replied sounding a little sad.

The Lowell Titan swung wildly trying to get Bone-lasher to let go of his arm. Bone-lasher let go just before the attack made contact. The evo missed and became unbalanced. Bone-lasher took the opportunity and ducked between the evo's legs and spun jumping onto its back.

The Lowell Titan's body was heavily muscular everywhere but it's neck and down its spine. The Lowell Titan's spine was enlarged and jutting out past the skin. Bone-lasher but down at the base of its neck and tore out several of its vertebrae. The Lowell Titan fell to the ground with a loud thud. Bone-lasher spat out the evo's spine and stood atop the evo's corpse then let out a triumphant roar.

[I'M THE STRONGEST THERE IS!] He broadcasted proudly.

"MY LOWELL TITAN!" Loki screamed.

"I warned you…" Baset said smugly. Bone-lasher tore out a huge chunk of the Lowell Titan's flesh and ate it lazily.

"Not bad for something that was created by techno-splicing." Dean Baxter said with a chuckle.

I smirked and looked up at Loki, letting Bone-lasher enjoy his meal. Loki looked like he was about to blow a fuse, his face looked as read as the Lowell Titan's blood slowed across the arena sand.

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming down visibly almost instantly. He then ran a hand down his suit, smoothing any wrinkles and adjusting his tie before he returned my gaze.

"I will admit that your Liger shark is strong. But that has no bearing on your abilities Kingston. It's the result of techno-splicing, you had no hand in its creation." He said bitterly.

"True. All I did was snatch him away from a unworthy owner and he still kicked the ass of your 'superior ' and 'improved' evo. Sometimes you just don't mess with a classic. They're deemed timeless for a reason." I quipped.

Loki said nothing to my comment, instead he turned hos back to me and the girls and faced Baset and Dean Baxter.

"Thank you for inviting me Dean Baxter. Baset, members of your class have a bright future…I bid you both a good day." Loki said nodding at both of them. He then turned on his heel and walked towards the bleachers stairs.

"Father…" Alberto said reaching out to his father. Loki walked right past him without even acknowledging his presence. I scowled as Loki descended down the stairs. When he reached the bottom step he started to head towards the exit but stopped himself and turned towards the girls and I and headed for us.

I channeled mana volt attribute mana throughout my body in preparation for whatever Loki was planning. He simply walked up to Iris and I and looked to Jane. He gave a slight bow and whispered in a voice that was barely audible.

"Until next time…princess…." He said, his voice thick with venom and sarcasm. He then stood to full height and turned on his heel and walked away.

[Fuuuuuuuuck!] Iris screamed through the telepathic link.

[Iris!] Jane snapped. My eyes darted to Jane and Iris as my mind started to race but before I could voice that Baset stood and clapped grabbing everyone's attention as Loki left the arena.

"Well! In light of recent events I'm going to call this assessment to a close. I'm happy to announce that both teams have passed the assignment! For anyone that would like to conduct business with Chase Kingston and his new company I ask that you contact Dean Baxter and he will talk with Chase about conducting business on campus grounds." Baset said. She smiled nervously and motioned to the exit at the opposite end of the coliseum. "If I could have all the members of my class please exit the arena and head back to the shuttle we took here and wait while I talk to the dean and hos esteemed guests for a moment."

Still a little stunned I did what Baset said without thinking. As I passed Bone-lasher he had picked all the edible flesh off the Lowell Titan's corpse and was laying lazily in the arena sand. I recalled him to my crystal and jeot walking with the girls to the arena exit. It wasn't until we passed the main gates that my brain started to work again and I turned to Jane with a indignant look on my face.

<PRINCESS! WHAT THE FUCK YOU TWO?!>

STAR CHILD: FIN