Awakening of Second Law

A month before the Tournament.

Yano and Zeke are pacing back and forth. It has been quite some time since they heard or saw something inside the labyrinth.

Their links with the teens are somewhat vague and unclear. The viewing platform just plays a static sound and video, and nothing else. They tried to regain control, but it is too hard to get through.

Yano became worried, as the children are supposed to be the last lifeline of the House of Grand.

Yano is cursing and Zeke is praying that even if they are a bit late, or they come back after the first day of tournament, he will still accept the kids.

Although disappointing, that they can't participate, there is always a next time. As long as the kids come back safe, he will cherish them and be kind to them.

The pacing of the two is like a rhythm, and as they go back and forth, the sweat they accumulate increased, and they felt tired in a short span of time.

Just like that, their stamina hit rock bottom.

"I'm beat. Let's just rest here." Yano said as he panted.

"May the Gods hear me for my prayers." Zeke said as his eyelids slowly close.

After ten minutes of their sleep, a circular portal opened exactly where the Vin and the others teleported out last time.

Silhouette after silhouette, they walked out of the portal.

If Yano and Zeke are awake, they will cry out of joy.

The people inside, including the Four Elemental Laws, went out of the labyrinth. It was then that they hugged each other, and they all smiled; victory was plastered on their faces.

Vin saw the two grown ups sleeping at the side, so he did a shushing sign, and all of them grinned with all their evil smiles.

"I will cook, do what you want with them." Vin said as he chuckled evilly. The others did so too, and that day, Yano and Zeke became the clown of the whole place.

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"What is this smell? It's too good." Yano said as he sniffed the lingering aroma in the wind.

Zeke has his mouth filled with drool and constantly make some noises like he is eating something.

A moment later, Yano opened his eyes. He saw some smoke and was shocked by it. He shouted, waking up Zeke, and he ran towards the source of the smoke. What he saw made him more surprised.

Vin and the others are there, playing and cooking, and chatting merrily.

"Sir Yano, how've you been?" Yuri said, as she held back her laughter.

Yano did not mind, he combed his hair, tapped his clothes and dust came off. Zeke also hurriedly ran towards them, and as he saw them, his face lit up.

He hugged Paul and Tim, and then he sat down beside Yano. The others smiled at them, but clearly, small laughter can be heard from time to time.

"Let's eat." Vin said as he gave bowls to the two.

"How was it?" Yano asked.

"Yeah, yeah, captain. How was the Final Trial?" Aves pitched in.

Vin smiled at them. After that, he told the story of how he cleared the Final Trial.

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Almost an hour ago, in the lowest floor of the labyrinth.

A wasteland can be seen up to the horizon. There are helms, vests and armours that are destroyed lying on the ground.

Vin is standing in the middle, and all of a sudden, a sound of metal pounding another metal sounded.

He followed the sound where it was coming.

As he walked down, he saw a village nearby. He knew that the sound came from that village.

Entering the said village, he saw some carts that are toppled over, fruits and vegetables laid all over the streets, figurines and fabrics are also in tatters. Some houses have burns, others are wrecked, and some are already ran down.

It is a place of total destruction. Despair and agony can be seen on those unmoving objects, like they were abandoned by their wives.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The sound of the forging became clearer and louder.

Vin walked towards the sound.

What he did not expect is that, another labyrinth is inside the labyrinth, but it is closed, and there is no means of entering.

"You've arrived." A man, forty years of age, can be seen forging reverse dragon scales, outside the labyrinth.

His eyes are filled with regret and disappointment.

"Master, I am here." A teen then knelt before the man, and the man then stood up as he decreased the size of the whole thing he forged into the size of a marble.

"How was the Bearer of Rule?" The man asked.

"He and the Bearer of Absorb escaped to the last labyrinth: to the Bearer of Form." The teen reported.

"Good, then as the Bearer of Nullification, test this young man before you." The man said, and the teen then stood up.

He looked at Vin, and took six marbles from his pocket, then he threw it at Vin.

Vin catched all of them, and then when he looked at the marbles, they all have the number zero on them.

Both the man and the teen is shocked beyond words.

"Then I shall." The teen became more ferocious when he saw it.

Vin shrugged his shoulders as he knew where all of this is going.

He then casted Bubble Choir, but then he realized something.

Mana, aether and hex won't flow in the surroundings or even in his body.

He is pushed to fight in a close quarter combat, without the reliance to magic.

Vin pulled the white and black sword from his plane. Worse comes to worst, he will fight with his life on the line.

"You even have that?" The man mumbled to himself.

Vin then jumped forward, with his speed, he arrived in front of the teen inside a second. He slashed towards the right, only to find a vague shadow of the person, for his opponent arrived behind him.

Air Spear Form: Tornado

The teen then thrusted a spear in fast rate in every direction. It filled Vin's filled of vision, and the only way to dodge it is to retreat.

Swords Form: Dagger

Vin then transformed the two swords into daggers, and he limited his space to himself. This way, the space for him to move is smaller, and some of the spear thrusts will be dodged without him moving.

It also helps in his mobility as he can parry strikes with his dagger more proficiently than the swords, as sword's point of strength varies not like the dagger. The dagger is smaller, and the distribution of strength implied is much larger for it covers little distance.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three swift strikes ended the barrage of spears. The spear was stuck in the body of the dagger and won't move at all.

The teen released the spear and pulled two karambits from his back. The karambit is  much smaller than the dagger, but Vin did not mind it. He attacked once again.

This time, he arrived faster, and he swung his blade faster. The dagger hit the karambit, but to his surprise, another karambit was on the way to his neck.

Vin used the force of parry to launch himself to the air, dodging the karambit by a breath, and then, he changed his center of his gravity to his chest, making him fall faster, and then he hacked the teen's hand.

The teen sensed danger and he pulled his hand, only to see another dagger already on his neck.

The teen retreated as he kicked Vin's hand, making him tumble for he did not correct his center of gravity in time.

When he stood up, an arrow passed through his face. With his reflex, he avoided the arrow, but it still grazed him on his cheek.

Water Bow Form: Wave

The bow released arrows that are bot just accurate, but are also precise.

The first strike was three arrows that targeted his hand, his feet and his chest.

He avoided the two and parried the one on his chest, but then comes the second strike.

Vin did not waste any time as he rushed towards the teen, and while the teen retreated, Vin formulated a sure-fire tactic that will give him the upper hand.

The next barrage of arrows was aimed at his solar plexus, shoulder and hip. It was aligned diagonally so that he will move to a certain direction, and not just forward and backward, and the crouch move will be also crossed out.

Jumping was also out of the question. Even if he manage to dodge, the arrows in the next Wave will be on the place he will land. That only leaves the movement of left and right. Retreating may be an option, but it will hinder his momentum to attack.

That moment, Vin dodged to the right, where the arrow that will hit his right shoulder was fired. The teen used this opportunity to launch four arrows, this time, it was in a diamond shape.

The targets are his head, his stomach and the two were far off to the sides, which meant that Vin literally had no way of escaping.

It was checkmate for him.

Parrying one of the arrows, Vin crouched down, and another four arrows were sent.

One aiming for his heart when he stands up, one on his body that us now crouching, and two to the sides which will be the ways he can go if he wants to roll. He parried the lowest one and rolled again, but this time, the arrow sent was five.

It was the same of the previous one, but there is an extra one in the place he parried. There were two shots that were going towards him, and when he parries one, the other one may hit him.

Having no more way of dodging, Vin rolled leftward, immediately, the arrow struck his shoulder, but that was not the end.

Five more arrows were sent towards him. With his injury, he can't dodge in time.

Shack! Shack! Shack! Shack! Shack!

Five arrows hit his body. One on the right shoulder, one on the right arm, one at the left hip, one on the chest but was blocked by the right arm and one on his left knee.

Blood seeped down from his wounds, but now, his advantage is showing.

"You lose!" The teen said as he sent out six arrows.

This time, Vin dodged the six completely, by jumping up, and what he did next was the element of surprise.

He threw one of his daggers to the teenager.

The teen was shocked, but he dodged the incoming dagger, only to find out that his target was nowhere to be seen.

However, a mysterious thread was now on his shoulder. The thread then started whirring, and then, Vin appeared beside him.

That's when the other dagger was sent back to his hand. He then wrapped his feet around the waist of the teen, hugged his front and a dagger was aiming at his heart, and the other at his spine.

"You lose." Vin said coldly, as he pointed the knife harder in those two points.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

The man now, who was watching on the side, now gave a nod towards the performance of the two. He smiled as Vin and the teen released each other and the teen bowed towards the man.

"He is capable!" The teen said, and then he knelt beside the man.

"Congratulations!" The man said as he pulled out the thing he forged earlier.

"This is Scabbard. It is forged using the reverse scales of dragons. This thing is used to harmonize the God Armaments. You can upgrade it if you want."

"A Demon King's blood, a Descendant's tear, a Monarch's right eye, a Sovereign's left eye, a Sage's heart, and an Enigma's brain." 

"That is, if you want to hold all of the Armaments. Each upgrade will give you more understanding on how Scabbard works."

"And also, let me give you this." A gray manifestation was given to Vin.

He reached out his hand as he accepted it. As the manifestation was caught by him, it split into three: a seal, a mark and a glyph.

Seal: Nullify

Mark: Revolver

Glyph: Dragon

Vin then looked at the other gray manifestation in his other hand.

Seal: Copy

Mark: Pen

Glyph: Dragon

There are two dragons in his glyph, but the two were different.

One of them is in the form of a dog with the wings of a Pegasus, a fox tail and it's body is like of a Husky.

The other one is a cat with the mane of a lion, with white stripes on back and black stripes in the sides, and feet of cheetah.

"RPG and Encyclopedia will be in ice for a while. They will come back as soon as they manage to blend themselves fully." With that said, he flicked his hand, and Vin did not even had the time to ask questions.

What he saw next was the people around him entering a portal. And that was the moment that he knew, that he cleared the labyrinth.