Cyrus fist pumped and flexed to the crowd, which made Zander smile.
"You know what I want," Cyrus said with a smile.
Zander had already pulled out the heavy armor, dual katanas in their sheathes as well as the gauntlets.
"Woah, thanks for coloring them in my family's colors," Cyrus said.
"Thank Ricardo, he's great," Zander said.
Cyrus stepped into the VR capsule and the crowd watched it climb from F to E to D to C to B to A and stopped at A. Your recommended opponent is rank A. Percent of people selected 0.5%. You have the option of fighting a B rank beast (1%) or S ranked beast, 0% recommended for initial trial.
"Give me the S!" Cyrus shouted, to which the crowd erupted and Juno felt her heart sink.
"I hope he's as fortunate as Sophie with his matchup," Juno thought.
"Atta boy," Zander said.
The terrain randomizer was next, and it landed on something that made Cyrus smile quite largely.
"Thunderstorm in a heavy forest," the capsule stated and showed on screen.
"Phew, that'll play nicely into his lightning, Earth and wind abilities," Juno thought.
The S beast randomizer had a much smaller list.
It landed on a "Queen Harpy protecting her nest," which the King explained.
"The harpy is a bird-like creature with human features. When it feels its nest is threatened, it becomes increasingly dangerous," the King stated.
"Well Cyrus, you know the rules and if you wish to surrender, say those words good luck,"
Again, Zoey said an incantation, although this time different, and they entered the Golden teleporter.
"Don't take this lightly brother," Zoey warned.
"I'll pretend like I'm in a fight for my life against Theo, for Zander and Sophie," Cyrus said proudly.
"What about Juno?" Zoey asked with a wink and the countdown began.
His sister didn't realize how much that last comment actually motivated her brother, but it lit a spark in him.
When the timer hit zero, Cyrus stood there, waiting patiently as the rain made it harder to see. He was deeply focused on his chi, and could see the angry, swirling aura of the beast flying toward him in an unpredictable pattern.
The Harpy finally appeared, shooting down several feathers that Cyrus avoided by using the trees for cover. To his surprise, the feathers were so strong that one of the trees actually tipped over.
"I know I have heavy armor on with leg gear and heavy duty boots, but I don't want to risk getting hit by those feathers. She's fast, her movements are hard to predict and the rain makes it hard to see. Not to mention she has the height advantage as she can fly," Cyrus thought.
The harpy was about 14 feet tall, had a human-like face with arms that extended into very sharp claws and wings. The bottom half of her body was like a bird, the main difference being her razor sharp talons that looked like they could slice through metal.
"I suppose I should sort of treat this like a spar with Zander in his Phoenix form, as there are several similarities, I'm just not sure if this humanoid beast can use magic. Time to find out," Cyrus thought as he turned into a lightning bolt and shot up at the harpy.
The harpy flapped her wings very quickly and a giant gust of wind flew his way, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as Ethan's, who he'd been training with every day for a month, so he landed on a tree and shot several mud bombs at the harpy.
Unfortunately, none of them landed and the harpy was swooping in with her talons for a strike. Cyrus met the attack head on, infusing his Earth magic and chi into the gauntlets.
Surprised by his bold move, his mother turned away from the screen, only to look back and see Cyrus grabbing the talons with his gauntlet and slamming the Harpy into the ground.
He quickly changed and went into his lightning bolt form for a follow up, but he wasn't quick enough as the harpy slid back and gave another giant gust of wind.
Cyrus threw up several Earth walls, and began using his Earth magic to lift himself into the air, running across the platforms quickly until he turned into a lightning bolt and shot through the harpy's right wing.
It was a clean hit and went straight through, but the harpy was able to give the lightning bolt a clean hit with its left arm, sending Cyrus flying to the ground.
Blood had been drawn on both sides, as Cyrus spit up blood from his crash landing.
The harpy's right wing was injured but she was still flying and let out a loud screech, which almost ruptured Cyrus's eardrums.
"I'm glad I'm not in there for that," Zander thought as he covered his ears. 'My sensitive hearing would be a detriment.'
The harpy saw Cyrus slowly getting up, and chose to make another dash, which she amplified by using her wings to give her a boost.
This, however, was a fatal mistake, as Cyrus had drawn his swords and did a 180 and sliced both blades in an X shape through the harpy's chest, letting the harpy's attack go through.
Fortunately, because of the power of Cyrus's attack, the harpy's dash was slowed and only one talon was able to pierce his right arm, very deeply.
"At this rate if he doesn't finish the Harpy off he will have to surrender or die, my King," Ethan told the King, who was eagerly watching every movement.
"I know. I hope you working with him with his chi and magic allowed him to take some pain. Both are on the brink, I'd say the next attack that lands will be the deciding factor," the King responded.
The Queen couldn't bear to watch anymore, as she had just seen her son return after 15 years away but through encouragement from Sophie, who had returned to the podium after being healed up, informed her that Cyrus would be just fine.
Cyrus, writhing in pain, thought to himself, 'this is my shot, I have to pierce through her heart or I'm done for. I'll throw out some Earth walls, then break through them and catch her off guard.'
As the harpy attempted to fly back in the air, she too realized she was losing too much blood and her right wing was still bleeding heavily. Her chest was oozing out with black blood so she began waving her wings as fast as she could for momentum to charge through.
As they both shattered through Earth walls, Cyrus decided to make an unconventional move and when the harpy dashed in with her claws, after knocking down an Earth wall, she looked confused.
That was when Cyrus shot through the back of her body, right through her heart in a lightning bolt, and the Harpy collapsed to the ground, slowly disintegrating until a very clear beast core was all that remained.
Physically and emotionally drained, Cyrus fell to one knee, put his right arm up in the air and flexed while winking at the crowd.
The crowd, which was on pins and needles throughout the entire match, erupted in a huge roar.
"Ladies and Gentlemen it pains me to say my daughter Zoey's record of 50/50 on an A rank beast will be surpassed today, as my son Cyrus is the first to clear a S rank beast via the initial trial," the King said into the microphone near his throne.
He heard only silence, as he failed to see Cyrus collapsed in a pool of his own blood.
Zoey quickly got to Cyrus, put her hand on him to give him a little of her chi, which didn't seem to be working, so she quickly got him to the teleporter and the medics were on standby right away.
"Thank you Zoey, we will take it from here. Worry not, I know you hear his heartbeat, although faint, but we will have him good as new in no time," one of the medics said.
With a smile, Zoey thanked them. That's when she noticed Juno had also run over to the monoliths, kissed Cyrus on the forehead and said, 'don't you go dying on me, for all of Solace be well.'
Zander had seen the medics and overheard the conversation and asked Zintan, "well, that settles it, we're going to go with our plan."
"Are you sure you trust me to switch with you in time?" Zintan asked.
"That's like asking if I love Sophie. Of course I do. You've been with my whole life and what's the worst that happens, we die?" Zander said with a chuckle.
"We don't want to do that, who knows at what stage of your life you'd be reborn." Zintan said, with a laugh back.
Meanwhile, the council had finally entered their scores for Cyrus, and the crowd anxiously awaited to see the results. No faction would put in for Cyrus, as he was a member of the royal family.
Juno had already entered her score and accompanied Cyrus to the medical wing, where he was undergoing treatment by the top medics and healers Haven had to offer. Even Ethan had stopped by, which is when Cyrus finally woke up.
"I did it, I really did it!" Cyrus said with a faint smile, wincing as he talked.
"You did great my young prince but save your words. You need to rest, these are very serious injuries." Ethan said.
"Save the talking for when you feel better," Juno said, while giving him a kiss.
This lifted Cyrus's spirits greatly, as he noticed that his scores were about to be announced.
"Cyrus Hart, you are the first to defeat a S rank beast on the initial trial, so no matter what your score ends up being, it will still be considered the record," the King spoke as he went and confirmed all of the council members had made their entries.
Then, the screen read off, "Juno Smith, 42/50, Bruno Smith, 40/50, Eldrick Richmond, 48/50, Zion Burke, 48/50, Vincent Skullcrusher, 46/50, and finally Tempest Shroud, 41/50 which brings the rounded average to a 44/50, congratulations on a new record Cyrus," and the crowd finally erupted, as it cut to Ethan in the medical bay, which showed Cyrus awake, with tears of joy in his eyes.
His Mother was also crying tears of joy, and his Father was beaming with pride.
Ethan informed Cyrus he shouldn't do the interview, but Cyrus insisted it was his duty, which also made his parents and sister very proud.
"I want to say thank you to Zander, my best friend for always pushing me to my limits, and asking me to be his best man. I'd also like to thank Sophie, his beautiful wife for always giving me the benefit of the doubt and believing in me. I want to thank all council members for help with training, my sister for helping me begin to master my chi with my magic and Ethan for training me harder than anyone ever has. I also want to thank the people of Haven for all they do, every day, to keep this Kingdom a safe, secret place with no bias and prejudice. Where I come from, people judge you for your skin color or gender. Here, that is not the case. Thank you to Solace for blessing me with the abilities that allowed me to come out victorious today. Thank you to both sets of parents, my aunt and uncle who raised me, and my noble parents who have welcomed me with open arms," Cyrus ended his speech with his normal arm in the air victory pose, and the camera cut away as he fell asleep.
The Kingdom of Haven was shaking with how loud the roars and cheers were. Even the council, King, Queen and Sophie had given standing ovations and Sophie shot fire magic into the sky with the Hart family symbol with fireworks and a S and a check mark.
Zoey then walked up to Zander, as the King finally hushed the crowd after a good ten minutes of celebration.
"You ready?" Zoey asked with a smile.
"Yes, but forgive me in advance, you might be the first one to see what happens when Zintan and I die and are reborn," Zander said with a huge grin.
With a large grin, Zander was ready.