[XASTOL CITY, GAN JIANG INTERSECTION, CITY CENTER]
Jacender spun around on one foot, hopping to and fro towards anything that caught his attention. The smell of dwarven cuisine — which he soon found out was aromatic broiled seafood — wafted from the nearby houses and nearly lifted him off his feet. I-It's so cool!
He jumped up and down with tears of happiness in his eyes as he observed the city.
The most eye-drawing thing, perhaps, was the giant statue of a dwarf who stood in the center of the intersection with his burly arms crossed. He had a short, brown spiky beard and a sturdy mustache that flowed into it from the sides. On his back were two crossed hammers and on his forearm protector was a small golden dragon sitting up and staring at the city before him. On the commemorative plaque near his feet stood his name: Arsaes, carved in shining yellow for all to see.
He looked as if he were the judge of Xastol — always watching and always thinking. Arsaes was indeed an enigmatic figure.
"Calm down," Aleximus muttered under his breath to Jace. He looked around and noticed the nearby dwarfs giving them nasty looks. He responded in kind with a dark glare that caused them to flinch.
"D-Damn humans!" one whispered.
"Does he want to fight or something?" asked another.
"What was the council thinking to allow outsiders inside the city?!"
Aleximus exhaled and withdrew his disdain. We just got here and they've already started with this… I guess they really do hate humans.
He turned to Jacender and said, "Be more mindful of the sort of attention you bring over here."
"GET OUT OF OUR CITY!" a squeaky voice yelled from behind Hidemi. Something was sent flying into the air and struck the half-dwarf in his back. A wrench.
Jacender and Aleximus spun around, ready to fight whoever had attacked their friend with piercing stares, but were immediately held back by Hidemi who frantically begged them not to. They stopped as he asked and finally laid eyes on who had throw the tool: a dwarven child merely a few years younger than them, who glared at them with utter contempt as he breathed heavily.
"W-What are you gonna do about it?!" the child pulled back, afraid that Hidemi would attack him. "You're the son of a murderer! Get out of our city!"
"Hey!" Jace shot, his temper rising, "Watch your mouth!"
"OWA!" Hidemi boomed, stomping his foot so hard into the earth beneath him that it cracked and set a low tremor reverberating through the ground. As Jacender had suspected when they first met, a dwarf's toughness was nothing to scoff at.
The dwarven child fell back onto his rear and covered his face just in case they would fit him. "I-I'm not scared of you! I'm a real dwarf! You're… You're nothing more than a menark!!"
Behind him, a woman ran forward desperate to stop what was happening. "Jun!" she screamed as she threw herself over him. "What were you thinking?! I told you not to leave my sight!"
"But mom—" the boy began. His mother scowled at Hidemi and shook with anger. Her expression said only one thing:
"Stay away from us!"
Hidemi recognized the look and softened his eyes. Then, he slowly bent down until he had squatted low enough to meet the child face-to-face and extended his arm. Jun glowered, ready to lash out, and raised his voice:
"I said stay away—"
"Shut up, idiot," Aleximus cut in coldly. He pointed at what sat in Hidemi's palm. "Why don't you take a look at what he's giving you before you say anything?"
Jun and his mother's mouths fell open in shock as they noticed the object in Hidemi's hand: Jun's thrown wrench. "Owa…" he smiled, nudging Jun to take it.
Jun hesitated for a moment and looked into the boy's eyes. There was no sign of malice or ill intent. He simply wanted to return his property.
Jun brushed off his mother's arms and grabbed his wrench back before Hidemi could change his mind. "D-Don't think this changes anything!" he whimpered. His cheeks had lightened a touch with embarrassment as he jumped to his feet. "I can't wait to see you get disqualified in the Dwanivit!"
He took off running past the crowd of onlookers, his mother getting up to chase him as he did. She stopped before vanishing into the crowd and glanced at Hidemi. It felt like the first time she had actually been able to see the boy who stood there and not what she though he represented. Then, she was gone.
"This place is annoying," Aleximus muttered. He scratched his head and turned towards the road ahead, where Hidemi had told them they needed to go. A giant arena waited for them.
"Let's get on to the Dwanivit grounds already. We've wasted enough time."
Hidemi paused before rising and thought about Jun's face; how scared he was to even approach him until Hidemi had done it first. It reinforced within the half-dwarf what he needed to do today to change his city and the reason he was doing it for.
"Ahn!" he smiled as he rose. He bowed graciously towards those still watching and turned so they would see the Murong crest on his back; a declaration that he wouldn't go down without a fight; a promise that he would make them accept him no matter what, and a sign of familiarity proving that he was one of them.
Hidemi Murong was saying, "Just watch me!", to the city of Xastol. And today, in front of the statue of Arsaes — the culmination of Xastol law and culture — he threw down the gauntlet.
-------🅰🆂🅷🅵🅸🅴🅻🅳-------
[XASTOL CITY, DWANIVIT ARENA ENTRANT TENTS, HISAGI'S TENT]
Several large structures similar to patrol tents littered the grounds around the arena leading to the doorway where onlookers would watch. It was arranged so family members and friends could see the participants before the Dwanivit and wish them luck.
Near the left side of the door line, sat a white and gold tent where inside, Hisagi Murong sat cross-legged. His silver-black rounding hammer, forged and named in the memory of his father, Ruo, floated in front of him with the dim glow of white gold.
Hisagi focused his energy and refined it to its utmost. Nearly three hours had passed since he'd begun harmonizing his Sanctum Core in accordance with the energy emanating from Ruo.
It needed to be in top condition for the competition, with no margin for error. In the midst of his meditation, a vision started to form in his mind as the energy from the rounding hammer stretched out and connected with the aura flowing from his body.
TDNK!
In the vision, Hisagi imagined himself standing above his workshop, hammer in hand and his tongs wrapped around a shining piece of a sapphire-colored ore. His Sanctum Energy rushed forward with every blow as he brought the hammer down — a small bubble of new color amassing as the two objects collided..
TDNK!!
This wasn't the sound he was searching for; the vibrations were off. The new color forming in resonance with his hammer and the ore's energy needed to reach a balanced state of pure harmony.
He needed to try again.
TDK! DNK! TDK!
With every strike, the impurities faded and his movements became much more accurate. Every tensed muscle relaxed as he continued striking again and again until it seemed like the ore was being filled with his own Sanctum Energy — as if being overtaken and rewritten. Hisagi paused.
No, he thought to himself, Repeatedly striking so tenaciously like this… This Sanctum-Smithing is too brash and stubborn to be mine.
In response to that, his vision changed suddenly to a third-person view where he was no longer holding the hammer and tongs. Instead, he stood behind someone who held the objects he had been holding just moments earlier and stared dumfounded at the crest on the person's back: the Murong clan's crest.
The newcomer's technique was tenacious and unbudging — like they were ready to stay there forever if it meant that the ore would eventually give way and succumb to harmony. His brown hair rose in the air as a result of his energy and wisps of gold flew off his body like sparks as he gained swinging speed, knocking away the Sanctum Essence in the mineral with unrecognizable strength.
The metal was slowly but surely being transformed into a flatter shape. Hisagi staggered back in awe at the performance; a single thought bouncing around in his mind:
Arsaes! This is… the prelude to the Song of Arsaes!
Whoever the figure was, their face and expression were hidden by the blinding light coming off of the energy in-between the hammer and the ore. Hisagi ran forward, desperate to get a look at the person, but it felt as if he was being pulled further away the closer her got. It had to be someone around his age, he thought. But who?!
The boy's hammer went up in the air one final time and with astonishment, Hisagi watched the tool's handle grow past its hand-held size and expand with the size and width of a fearsome bo-staff.
"W-Wait!" Hisagi choked, "What — no, who are you?! Please!"
The hammer came down with a vibrational howl akin to zither and—
LRNNNNN!
Hisagi was rocked out of his vision. As his eyes flew open, his floating hammer dropped onto the floor and rolled away toward the tent entrance. But Hisagi was too enthralled with admiration to care.
SHHHHH
"Well, well well," a voice snickered. Hisagi turned towards his tent's entrance and noticed that his flap had been pulled to the side. A foot stepped in, followed by a gang of dwarven children around his age. They each wore hanfus of various types and colors, full of their respective family crests on their backs. Their ringleader — a freckled young boy with lime-colored hair — picked up Hisagi's hammer and cocked his head to the side.
"I've never seen you with that sort of expression before, Hisagi!"
Hisagi snatched the hammer from his hands and hung it onto his waist. "Esi Phizar… I'd have thought your father would be forcing you to get some extra practice in before the Dwanivit started. What are you doing here?"
Esi tsked at Hisagi's indifference and crossed his arms so his friends wouldn't think him scared. "I just came to check in on my rival, haha!" he responded while sticking his nose up. "Dad's busy protecting the wall like always! He has no idea how much better I've become at Sanctum-Smithing! You better watch yourself today!"
Hisagi's face became blank without care as he said, "Get out,", before taking a seat at his nearby table.
"Ahk!" Esi stumbled, startled by the bluntness. "W-Why you! You're too cocky, Hisagi! I'll show you that Murongs aren't the only ones to watch out for when I win!"
Hisagi rested his elbow on the table and closed his eyes. "The Dwanivit isn't something you win, Esi. You either pass or you don't."
Esi's freckles turned several shades of pink.
"Y-Yeah, well I'm gunnin' for that number one spot, got it?! I'll be a respectable leader of the council, just you wait and see!"
His brow raised for a moment as he remembered something:
"I heard your cousin — the menark — is being allowed to participate. My dad told me the Council doesn't want people to know the real reason, but I'm sure its because he wants to free his dad, the traitor! Isn't that funny?"
He looked back at Hisagi's face and realized that he had finally opened his eyes. Hisagi Murong was never one for anger, but the expression he wore sent a chill through Esi's spine.
"Captain Upo should not confuse important matters in private settings. Nor should he disclose information he has no business knowing. I'll make sure to have a talk with your father after the Dwanivit."
C-Crap, Esi flinched, realizing he'd outed his father.
"Secondly," Hisagi stood, a silver sheen radiated from his golden pupils. "No matter what the council has decided, I will make certain that Hidemi does not pass the first round."
He stepped forward, his intensity bleeding through his words with so much force that the crew of boys had no choice but to nervously step back.
"Focus on yourself, Esi Phizar. I will not cede the top spot to you, Hidemi, or anyone else who tries to take it from me. I'll become the best Sanctum-Smith this city has seen since Arsaes himself! And I… I'll change this city with my own hands!"
What is he talking about..? Esti wondered. He wanted to ask, but feared that they had already annoyed Hisagi enough."I don't really know what you're talking about, but…"
He turned to leave, beckoning his crew. "I'm not gonna lose to you so easily Hisagi! I'll see you on the stage!"
SHHHHH
Hisagi waited a moment after they left to regain his composure. He brushed his finger along the face of his hammer and thought back to the vision he had earlier; that person capable of playing what all dwarven Sanctum-Smiths dreamt of achieving in their lives: the Song Of Arsaes.
For some odd reason, his mind flashed to an image of Hidemi — his cousin, who timidly appeared at the gates just a month ago. His eyes, shaky as they were, possessed something behind them: a tenacity and willingness to get past the guards, whether he died there or not. It was because of that that Hisagi had no doubt that Hidemi had somehow struck that deal with the Council; and that he could have gone so far as to enlist the help of humans and the Lord Of The Weeping Forest. All of that… merely for the chance to save his father.
Hisagi grinded his teeth together. That's right, he thought, thinking back to a time in the past when he and Hidemi had once sat together. Ever since then, he's always been so… different. Ever since then…
He thought of Hidemi's soft eyes and grew angrier at the thought. Ever since then…
Sanctum Energy seeped from his body in response to his anger and caused the tent to shake, nearly knocking over the wooden pole. Now, the only thing he wanted to see… was Hidemi's broken face when he could finally prove once and for all the gap between them.
Ever since then… I've always hated you.
[DAY OF DWANIVIT [III] ]