"So… I need to defend against Illusions?" Remian asked.

"No, you need to watch out for fire. Salamanders have an innate pyrokinetic ability. Or at least that's what Doom says. Me, I'm not even sure if it's Psionic or magical, like Draconian bloodlines. Whatever the case, be prepared to face a lot of fire."

"Great. A fire-wielding giant lizard. Why am I fighting him again?"

"To challenge a King, you must first qualify as a Lord the proper way, by defeating a Lord. Compared to all the flying types, the heavy hulking types, and basically everything else out there, I felt the Salamander Lord was the easiest target for you to pick on." Darian shrugged. "Considering that your magic is your strongest point, you should be able to ward off his fire with your barriers and blast him to bits easily enough. He'll definitely be easier to fight with magic than say, one of the Lion Lords."

"I hear a 'but' coming."

"No, there's no buts where the Salamander is concerned, except…" Darian frowned. "It's what happens afterward that has me concerned. Whether in Psionic power or physical power, all the King Challengers outmatch you so severely, it's not even funny. I don't know if they'll let you use a Frame or an airs.h.i.+p or a runic cannon. Also, there's the Star Wolf King to consider. Last I checked, he wanted the entire swathe of territory in the north-east, from the Amber Gorge to the entirety of the Emerald Woods. Now that Shadowflash is back, he might even have the power to hold it. And one last thing."

"What?"

"Lords duel for Lords.h.i.+p, but when you fight the King Challengers, you'll be fighting their subordinates too."

"WHAT?!"

"The Challenger itself, plus two to five Lords who serve that King."

"You want me to fight all of those Wilds alone?!"

"No, of course not. You're supposed to bring your own squad. Bring Song Chen and Markus and the best fighters you've got. You just need to introduce them as Lord Challengers."

"And would the Wilds accept that? Or would they need to fight real Lords and take their places?"

"They might have to beat a few real Lords." Darian admitted. "Or at least, a few Lord Challengers."

"So we get our best fighters to challenge for the empty spots in the Emerald Woods." Remian figured. "Any idea when that takes place?"

"You'll have to wait and see what the Star Wolf King does. If he really does try for the Emerald Woods, I would advise against trying to challenge for it."

Remian fell silent. "What if… some other King takes it? Someone who doesn't like us?"

"Then you'll have even more reason to fight." Doom shot over Darian's head. "Leave it be! You need to worry about your own battles! Focus! You have to prepare for your fights!"

"How?" Remian asked.

"Train for it! Try sparring with Shadowflash or something!" Doom snorted.

"Shadowflash? But… but we just got back from KarGoth!" Remian protested.

"n.o.body's saying to do it now. You have one week, and I'd hate to see you try to spar with Shadowflash without any preparation. You should do what you can to make yourself stronger."

"Stronger? The last time I tried that, I outright died!"

"There are other things you can strengthen than your body. Your magic, for example." Doom tossed in. "Brush up your best spells until you can instant-cast them with incantation bypa.s.s, or something."

"He can already do that." Darian chipped in. "He can cast light barriers like they were nothing. No incantation, no sigils, just by pointing and saying it."

"That's good. If you can do that for high level ice spells as well, you're good to go."

"Um… how high a level are we talking about?" Remian asked.

"Strong enough to freeze a flaming Salamander Lord." Darian thought for a bit. "A Tier 6 Flash Freeze Spell might be good. That's what I use against dragons. Set the field with a Tier 7 Blizzard first and it'll be much stronger."

Doom rolled his eyes. "Right. Just set up a Tier 7 Blizzard to set the field to cast a Tier 6 Flash Freeze, all while a flaming lizard lord is barreling down on you. Sure. Won't he need twenty or thirty magi with specialized runic wands for that sort of thing?"

"I could do it myself, given enough time."

"And how would you get that much time?"

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"I'll just use a Silhouette and fly to avoid the Salamander and dodge the fire, or block off his fire with a barrier first."

"Remian can't fly!"

"No, but I can do barriers." Remian mused. "Put up a couple layers of light barriers, call down a blizzard, and then hit it with a Flash Freeze. That actually sounds doable."

"He can do it." Darian said confidently. "My brother is unbeatable with magic."

"Now that, I have to see." Doom snorted, still not believing it. "Anyway. You may as well teach him some body-strengthening magic."

"There's such a thing?" Remian blinked.

"Yes, but there's a price to pay for it. The lower level stuff just needs mana, but the higher level stuff could kill you if you're not careful." Doom warned. "But the lower level stuff won't be able to help you against Tier 6 foes like the Lords of the Wilds."

"Huh. No, I don't think that's the way to go. I prefer to stay far away from the target, thank you." Remian thought for a bit. "Any other suggestions?"

Doom shrugged. "You could try a null-field. Like… a null-fire field. The more specific you make it, the stronger it is and the easier to maintain. If you cast for null-yellow fire, for example, it will only try to keep out yellow fire, which would be only a tenth as demanding on you and would be at least four to five times stronger. That is especially important because doing so will pit you directly against the Flaming Salamander Lord's power to control fire; it will all boil down to a wrestle between your powers and his. The more specific your null-field, the harder it will be for him to break it."

"I'm going to need to brush up on elemental magic." Remian figured gloomily. Until then, he'd have to put his research on Chaos magic on pause.

He was reasonably sure at this point that he was using Chaos magic without even thinking about it, so perhaps it was okay to leave it for later, since he could already use it effectively. What he needed to do now was figure out the best way to take down a fire-wielder. While he was somewhat familiar with elemental magics, he suddenly felt like he should study a whole lot more and learn as much tricks as he could in that field in order to face his opponent.

Where could he learn all that? Ecclesia was a safe bet, but…

"How much time do I have?" Remian asked.

"The Gathering of King's Challengers will take place a week from now. Before it happens, you need to qualify and to get your people to qualify." Doom told him. "You have seven days."

Nope. There was no time to get to Ecclesia. He needed to do it all here and now. If he had to take a trip, the nearest city he could go to would be Fal'Herim.

Hmm. Maybe he could ask Tim for help on that. Given the time it would take Remian to reach Fal'Herim, Tim might be able to gather a nifty pile of useful books by then.

"Understood. Thanks, Doom, Darian. I'm going to need to call some people and have them prepare." Remian decided.

"So, when are you fighting the Flaming Salamander Lord?" Darian asked.

"Five days." Remian figured. That should be enough time for him to prepare, and then recover his magic afterward. "I'll face him in five days."