Untitled story

Prologue

In the beginning there were eight gods, and each took one of the nine planets, to make a home for their element, and the people who use it's power. The ninth planet, however, did not have an owner, and the gods fought over it for ages. In the end, they decided to share the planet, and they each created a continent, and a ninth continent as a place for elementalists of all types to live in peace. Also to prevent another battle of the gods, they created the ninth planet protector, the one that would protect everything on this new planet, they left it up to the planet itself to choose who it would be. Every 70 years or so, a new protector is chosen, he is neither man or god, he is simply known as, The Master.


Chapter 1

Three large rocks flew at Jason, just as he was able to duck behind a small earthen wall, just escaping being hit. Ian, Jason's opponent, kept up his barrage of rocks, by using his control over earth, and launching them at Jason, from the ground beneath him. The wall that Jason was hiding behind, was taking all the hits, but couldn't last much longer, he had to think of something, and fast. Jason looked down at the wind gem on his belt, it looked as if it had a storm brewing inside, he could see what looked like fast winds brewing inside it, and thats when it hit him. He relaxed his entire body and thought “come on, work this time!” and at the second the wall crumbed before him, and the stones slammed into him, creating a large dust cloud.

Everyone watching gasped loudly, while Sophie, Jason's girlfriend, had a horrified look on her face. The dust cleared, and nothing was there, Ian looked around in confusion, not knowing what was going on. Then, all of a sudden, Jason appeared in a blur and delivered a strong punch right to Ian's face, sending him back six feet. Ian, being as skilled as he is, was able to catch himself, by rilling forward, and literally catching himself with a slab of earth beneath him, and launching it towards Jason, who was too busy being proud of himself to notice the slab at first. When he finally noticed it, it was a little too late, he was able to duck, but not far enough, and was hit square in the chest. The slab had so much force it knocked the wind out of Jason, and the second he hit the ground, he could barely move.

The instructor announced the end of the match, declaring Ian the winner. Ian's win/loss ratio was now at eight and three, putting him in the top ten percent of the class, right along with Sophie, Jason's ratio was now six and five, putting him in the middle percentile of the class. The on site doctor rushed over to Ian, as did Sophie, who helped carry Jason to the hospital at the school. Graduation was the next day, and the combat instructor had to have everyone fight one more time, to finish their grades.

Jason awoke to Sophie kissing him on the cheek. “Wow, what was that for?” he asked, “to get you to wake up” she said. She started to leave the room, “What? Where are you going?” asked Jason, “To the Ceremony silly, you better get in your robe quickly, it's going to start soon” she replied as she left the room. “OH CRAP!” he thought as he jumped out of bed and started getting dressed, somehow he had passed out the day before, after the fight, and slept through the whole day! He grabbed his cap as he left the room, and sprinted for the field, where the graduation ceremony was being held.

When he made it to the other graduates, they were almost all gone and walking towards the bleachers, where they were all going to sit, but fortunately he was able to make it with them, unfortunately, he didn't get to walk with Sophie, as they had planned. Jason sat down and realized that he was nowhere near Sophie, or even any of his friends, so he had to sit through all the speeches without anyone to make jokes with, which made them harder to get through. The only one he listened to was Sophie's, since she was valedictorian and his girlfriend, he wanted to hear what she had to say about the class, and their experiences at the academy.

Jason was relieved when they finally started calling the students names, they were handing them their first and very own gems, he couldn't wait to train on his own, he felt held back by the rule of whoever hits the ground first in a fight, loses. He heard Sophie's name be called, and he watched her get her belt and gem, and fire gem, she was smart, beautiful, and just all around amazing. She was of average height, had a nice slender figure, she was skinny, but not too skinny, she had long brown hair, she looked to be one of the “popular” kids, but was the opposite, she was always very funny and interesting, always deep in study when she had to be, but could also goof around too, plus she chose fire as her element because she liked playing with it. Jason always felt like he was too much of a mess to be with her. He being much taller than her, never looking very formal, or anywhere near as good as she. He too had brown hair, but it was short and messy, all the time, he was of average size for his height, he was in shape, but could be in better shape.

Finally he heard his name called, and he happily walked up to the podium, and shook the principals hand, and reached for his gem, a wind gem, as he used the day before, he enjoyed the speed that came along with the use of the gem. As he grabbed the gem, it started to glow, and a large flash of light occurred and knocked Jason back a few feet, and everyone was quiet. Jason got up and chuckled while saying “wow, that's one hell of a gem you gave me.” The principal was in shock that Jason didn't know what had happened. The principal told Jason to meet him in the office after the ceremony, and he would tell him what happened. Sophie was amazed that Jason was chosen, she couldn't believe it, and neither could Ian, he was on the verge of exploding, “how could that loser be the one chosen and not me” he thought. “I'm twice the fighter he could ever be”

Later in the office, Jason met the Principal and someone he had met a few times before, it was the old man! The old man had a long white beard and wore these official looking robes, he was the temple guard for that part of the continent. The temple was actually the master's temple, where people can go and pay their respects to the master, also known as the master of the elements. “So what's going on? What do you know about that flash, and why is the old man here?” Jason asked. “Well...” the principal said “Apparently that flash was...” he kept lingering and it was bugging Jason. “What?!?! what does it mean?” Jason was close to yelling at him. The old man chimed in and said “it means you're the next master of the elements!” Jason was stunned by what he had just heard “Yo...you...you can't be serious! I'm not good enough to be the next master!” The old man told him that it didn't matter if he thought he was strong enough, the planet thought he was right for the position, and nothing was going to change that. The old man gave Jason a pair of brass colored gauntlets, that had four slots in each glove. “the slots are for the eight elemental stones, that way you will have access to all the elements, as long as you wear these” he said.

Jason still couldn't believe what was going on, how could he be the next master? It had to be a mistake. “...in right here” is all he heard the old man say when he came back from thinking. “What did you say?” Jason asked. “put your wind gem in right here” the old man said as he pointed to the first slot on the right glove, which had made its way onto his hand, along with the left one. Jason put the gem into the slot, and there was a small flash, and a tink sound as the gem attached to the gauntlet. Jason looked at the gloves on his hands, they were brass colored with a blue design on them, and had leather where his hands where, the metal was just a cover on top of the leather. “these are the masters gloves, let them serve you well” the old man said as he left. “wait, what if I need more help?” Jason yelled as the old man was leaving the building. “Just find a temple and ask the protector they can help you.” “Wait! What about the other gems? Shouldn't you give me the others?” Jason asked. The old man turned around “No, I'm sorry I can't, you must obtain your power on your own, you can't just have everything handed to you.” “Oh if you're going to become the master, you'll need his armor, you can find the first piece at the temple in the ice continent.” The old man then walked away, and Jason had just noticed that the principal was gone as well. When he got out of the office, he found Sophie waiting for him, “So what happened?” she asked “You will never believe it”

Part one: The Queen with a Heart of Ice

Chapter two

That night, Sophie and Jason showed up at the party the school was throwing for the graduates, and they had a great time. Everyone that saw them, complimented on the gloves Jason had received, most of them just thought they were a nice present from his parents or something. The two of them had made their way outside and were sitting together talking, when Ian walked up to them. “hey loser get up” he demanded, Jason looked at Sophie, who nodded and said it was ok, and Jason stood up and said “hey Ian whats up?” “I know you're the next master, and I challenge you to a fight, so that I can prove you're not cut out for it, and that I am!” yelled Ian. Jason, who had gotten a little more confident in himself, due to the happenings of the day replied saying “sure I'll take you on, hell, I'll take you and you're friends on, at the same time”

This made Ian mad, since Jason had been a little timid throughout school. The four of them walked over to a more open space, Ian and his guys stood about 15 feet from Jason. They counted from ten to one, and launched an attack, all three started launching a barrage of stones, as Ian had done the day before. Jason got a little smile on his face just before the stones were to hit him, he then let lose a flurry of punches, that were barely visible. Every last stone was crushed, and the remains lay before Jason. “What...how did you do that?” Ian stuttered in amazement. “Heh, unlike you, I actually use my gem to it's fullest.” then in a blur, Jason disappeared, and he reappeared in a blur, in front of Ian and his friends. All three of them were stunned, “How did he get so good?” thought Ian. Then all of a sudden Jason let lose another flurry of punches, this time on his three opponents. When the attack stopped, Ian and his friends fell to the ground, out cold, luckily someone nearby had a smelling salt, and woke them up. When they came to, they saw Jason crouched beside them smiling. “Wanna go for round two?” he asked. They only responded by running away with Ian yelling “I'll get you back for that Jason, I swear I will!” The crowd cheered and Jason laughed a bit. Sophie watched the whole thing, and was amazed at how good Jason was, she could tell he was going to get better from here on out.

When Jason got back to her he asked “So what did you think?” “That was amazing!” she replied “I never knew you could do that!”  The night went on and the two of them had a great time at the party. Just before they were going to head home that morning, Jason remembered what the old man had asked him. “oh hey! Sophie I wanted to ask you something” “Yeah?” she replied he went on to explain the old man's request and how he didn't want to go alone, and since she was so skilled he asked if she would want to come along. “Of course I would!” she said excitedly “Great” he said “well then pack and get some sleep today” “Why?” she asked quizzically “Because...we leave tomorrow morning”

The Next morning, Jason and Sophie were all packed and ready to go, so they said goodbye and left their homes behind. After about an hour of walking through their town they realized how awkward it was to just walk, so after checking a collection of bus schedules and maps, they finally found the right bus to take them as close to the edge of town as possible. Once they finally made it out of town and into the country side they felt relaxed and calm, unlike the hustle and bustle of the city. After a few hours of walking they decided to actually check the map to see how far and what route they need to take, to get to the Ice continent. After some confusion and map flipping, they determined that they didn't need to travel too far, but they did have to go through a small portion of the Fire continent, to get to the Ice continent.

Their first night camping out was a rough one, the ground was uncomfortable, the ambiance was a little too loud, and the night air was too cold. They didn't sleep much that night, and the next day was rough, since they didn't have enough energy to make it as far as they had hoped, this went on for several days, as they adjusted to their new life style.

After about two weeks of traveling Jason and Sophie made it to the border between the Fire continent and the neutral continent, there at the border was a border patrol booth and a small village, not very big but it was cozy and hopefully had a place for them to stay. They came to the booth and let the officer check their bags, but when he saw the gauntlets Jason had on, he gave him a weird look, one that seemed like he knew what they were, and didn't like them, but they were let through. Little did Jason and Sophie know, the officer was reporting what he saw, to his leader, deep within the Fire continent.

As they walked into the town Sophie decided to go running off in search of a place for them to stay, as Jason just looked around at the people and different shops. He noticed a shop that sold different weapons, he saw many swords like broadswords and long swords and short swords and katana, as well as daggers, morning stars and various axes and hatchets. He was gawking at all the weapons, and wishing that he could buy something, but remembered that he didn't bring much money. Then, out of nowhere Sophie appeared, grabbed his wrist and dragged him off, while saying something along the lines of “Ifoundusaplacetostay!” When Jason realized that they stopped moving, and the dust settled, he saw a three story building in front of him, it didn't look too special, maybe a couple small trees and shrubs out front, a few small windows, and your average automatic sliding doors. Jason looked over at Sophie, and she had a huge smile on her face and was bouncing up and down, he could tell she was very excited.

When they walked inside, the air was cool and refreshing, they saw a couple chairs and a few plants sitting in the lobby, to the left and right of the check in desk. They walked up to the desk and asked for a room, luckily there was one vacancy and after combing the money they had, they were barely able to afford it. As soon as they were given the key, Sophie was off and running to the room, the clerk asked “Is she always like that?”, Jason replied “Only when we've been camping out for two weeks straight.” as he chased after her.

Once they got settled in they decided to go explore the village a bit, checking out the different shops and restaurants around. They found a small snack stand and decided to eat there, since they were low on cash. They sat down to eat and the man working the stand noticed that they were elementalists. “So you two have some gems, are you any good at fighting?” Jason started to answer, but Sophie chimed in over him “Well, I'm very good, top of my graduating class, him on the other hand, not so much” when she said this she winked at him, as he smirked at her. The stand owner laughed “Well you two look plenty strong, maybe you should try your hand in The Arena, it's where all of our strongest fighters go to test their skills, maybe you could last through the first round” he laughed as he went back to his work. “how far from here is The Arena?” asked Jason. “Oh, about 3 days walk from here, just head south and you'll find it eventually” said the stand owner. Jason looked over at Sophie with an excited look in his eyes. “oh no! We're not going Jason, we just got here, I want at least ONE night where I get to sleep in a bed” she said, “ok we'll leave in the morning” Jason said without missing a beat. “...fine...i guess we can go then...” Sophie said “woohoo!” Jason Cheered “I can't wait to get there!”

They walked out of the hotel, early the next morning, so that they could get going sooner. As they were walking they noticed that whenever they passed one of the soldiers guarding the village, they would give Jason a weird look, as if they hated him. Jason was a little weirded out, but nothing past that, Sophie on the other had, was deeply afraid.

Traveling through the Fire Continent was a lot different from traveling through the neutral one. They were in a vast empty dessert, that looked as if it went on forever, the sand was red, just like the mesas and all the rocks around. The sun was blazing hot, and Jason felt as if he was dying from the heat, while Sophie looked pretty and perky, as always. “How can you survive this heat?” Jason asked with a wheeze. “Well as you know, I'm very adept at using my fire gem.” she explained “Well, the better you get with your powers, the more abilities you get, and because I have a fire gem, I can survive heat well, because I'm used to it already, and the gem absorbs most of it for me.

“Well...can you use that on me?” Jason asked, “Nope, only on me” she replied, Jason sighed and went back to being hot. Not only were the days hot, but the nights were ice cold. Jason was shivering all night, while Sophie never looked cold once. In the morning Jason asked why she wasn't cold, in which she replied that it was the same reason as to why she wasn't hot. After three long days of incredibly hot days, and frigidly cold nights, they reached their destination, The Great Fire Arena.

It wasn't Just an arena, there was also a small town around it, but you could hardly tell, due to the sheer size of it. The arena was at least three quarters of a mile across, and was shaped like a done, with the top shaved off. It was made of stone and panted red and orange, and had a large crest on the front. This was the crest of the emperor, which Jason and Sophie were going to find out very soon.

When they got into the village, they realized that it was just a collection of huts, probably for the competitors to live in, between fights. After a small time looking, they realized that there probably wasn't a place for them to stay, and that they would have to go into the arena, which was roaring from the crowds excitement. They came to the front gate and the attendant asked them if they were here to compete or to spectate. “we're here to watch and find a place to stay.” said Sophie “right Jason?” after thinking for a bit Jason replied “Well she's here to watch, I'm here to compete!” Sophie just stood there with her mouth wide open, she couldn't believe what he just said, he was exhausted from the trip over here, and he wasn't that great of a fighter, and he was still going to try. “Jason, are you crazy?!?” shouted Sophie, “you don't have the energy to do that!” “So? I still need to show people what I'm made of, all throughout school, I was made fun of, because I wasn't very good. I was always looked down upon and I felt like a failure. This is my chance to prove everyone wrong!” Jason said. Sophie could see the fire in his eyes, she could tell that this meant a lot to him, and even though he knew that he could possibly die, he still wanted to do it. “Ok, just be careful, I don't want anything happening to you.” she said. She then kissed him on the cheek, got her ticket and left to find her seat.

The attendant then turned to Jason, he told him to head down the hallway to his left, and give his ticket to the man in there, and he would tell him what to do from there. Jason got to the door to the competitors area and stepped inside. He saw a few other guys there, looking as if they were practicing for the upcoming fights. The left wall was covered in weapons, there was enough for an entire army there, and there were torches scattered throughout the room, Jason thought it seemed primitive compared to the border town they stopped in along the way. A man walked up next to him and asked if he had a ticket. “yea, I have one” said Jason. “Ok, you're in the next fight then.” the man said “ummmm...ok” Jason said nervously “I'm guessing you're new to this, aren't ya kid?” asked the man, Jason nodded. “Ok, well fights in the arena aren't too complicated, you go to that wall over there before your turn starts, pick a weapon, and then go out and fight. If you can live through 3 rounds, you win the days prize, which today is a fire gem” “really?!??!” asked Jason. “you bet, but this place may be simple, but it isn't a cake walk, I doubt you'll make it past the first round.” said the man “I'll show you, I'll win that fire gem!” said Jason. The man chuckled “you've got spirit kid, I like that, now go choose your weapon before you're late”. Jason walked over to the wall, he saw many different kinda of weapons, even some he had never seen before. After looking for a minute he found what he wanted, a katana, just what he was used to, he had used one a few times during weapons training at school. He grabbed the katana, it had a black hilt and the whole sword was pretty light. He slashed it around a few times, to get a feel for the blade, before the man yelled at him to hurry up or he would miss his turn. Jason quickly walked over to the Large on the other side of the room and prepared to be let in, but the guard standing by it asked his name. “Jason Sanders is my name, and don't you forget it” Jason said “Thanks kid, but I just need your name” said the guard as he whispered something into a microphone, and opened the doors, into the arena with the audience cheering loudly.





Jason looked around the arena, and he noticed a large door directly across from him, just like the ones he had come from. Also to his left he saw a large staircase leading right up to a seat, he could tell that this was probably where some sort of figure head sat and watched, but why was there a staircase? He brushed it aside because the other set of doors was opening, and his mouth dropped at the sight of his opponent.

Sophie couldn't believe her eyes, Jason was actually doing it, and was in the first round. She could see that he was a little confused, and was checking out what was in the arena. Then his gaze was fixated on something, and Sophie looked over to see what it was. She wasn't too high up in the stands, front row actually, so she could see this guy's girth pretty well. He had to be eight feet tall, at the very least, his arms were as think as Sophie was across, he was at the very least, twice Jason's size. Sophie almost fainted just at the thought of this guy being Jason's first opponent.

Jason couldn't believe the guy he was looking at, he was huge, the biggest person he had ever seen. He was about twice his size, in every way, Jason's knees buckled a bit, it took a minute, but he was able to control himself, for the time being. The guy also had on black and brown armor, it looked cracked in a few places, and was also dirty as hell, Jason wasn't sure how it was protecting the guy anymore. The announcer came on over the Intercom, waking Jason up from the shock of seeing his opponent. “Welcome to The Great Fire Arena! We have some great fights set up for your entertainment today folks, so get ready to see some action!” said the announcer. Jason, upon hearing this became nervous, the thought of so many people watching him fight, scared him, he wasn't sure if his new techniques would cut it. “You know how it works folks, both fighters enter, first to knock the other  
out goes on to the next match, win three matches in a row, and win that days prize, which today is a glorious, FIIIIIIRRRREEE GEEEEEEEMMMM! Awarded by our very own EMPEROR!” the announcer shouted, the audience cheered even louder, the noise was starting to make Jason's head hurt, but he didn't care, since he was about to get a fire gem.

“You all ready to get this fight underway?!?!” yelled the announcer. Then two small women ran out and handed Jason and his opponent each a helmet, and ran off, each fighter put his helmet on. “So lets get with the introductions, in the north corner we have a new comer to the Arena, JAAAAASSSSOOOOON SSSSSAAAAANNNDDEERRRSSS!” Jason looked up and started to wave to people, but the audience was quiet, even with a few boos in there “wow, thats a boost to the ol' confidence I need” he thought. “And in the south corner we have a returning fighter, he's the brute that'll crush you AND your family, the one the only, NOOOOOOORM!” The crowd went wild, they screamed so loud for Norm, that no one could understand what was being said anymore. “your name is norm?!” Jason laughed “ what a ridiculous name for a big guy like you. Jason kept laughing, he laughed so much he didn't notice the announcer start the fight. Next thing he knew, Norm was barreling down on him, in a full on shoulder charge. Jason didn't have enough time to move out of the way, so he used his wind powers to create a small wind wall to absorb most of the hit from Norm. Norm slammed into Jason with as much force as a truck, sending Jason back about fifteen feet, luckily, due to the wind wall, Jason was able to stay on his feet, and slide to a stop, and recover. “Ok, this guy may have a stupid name, but I have to focus on the fight” Jason thought, “This guy is a fucking tank, and I have to knock him out. If I get too close I'm toast, so I'll have to go with ranged attacks....I just wish I had mastered the ones I know at the moment” Just as he thought this, Norm dashed at him with a a strong punch, giving Jason no time to get away.

Jason once again, did not have time to get out of the way of another attack, Norm was incredibly fast, it was amazing! All Jason could do was take the hit, he used another wind wall to weaken the attack. Norm got right in Jason's face and punch him right in the stomach, Jason sailed through the air and landed on his back twenty feet away, and his sword landed another ten feet to his left. Jason was able to stand up quickly, but buckled over. Jason then coughed a little, due to the strike to his stomach.

“Nice punch, does it come with a tutu as well?” taunted Jason. He had realized the flaw in Norm' fighting style. Norm is very fast, faster than he should be at that size, but he can only run in a straight line. Also if Jason uses his swift wind technique, he's much faster than Norm, to Jason, the fight was already over. Norm roared, he was pissed that this squirt was insulting him, in his arena. Norm prepared a shoulder charge and rushed at Jason. Jason, seeing the attack coming this time, was prepared for it, his wind gem started glowing, he was ready to fight.

Norm rushed at Jason, thinking he was going to finish him off once and for all. Jason quickly sidestepped to his left and ran to grab his sword. Norm slammed into the wall of the arena with a loud crack, as he crushed the stone wall a little. Norm was dizzy and had regain his balance, he was walking around falling over himself, Jason took this as an opening. Jason, after grabbing his sword, ran towards Norm, and Jumped  into the air, about 10 feet from him, and roundhouse kicked at him. “Tornado Kick!” shouted Jason, and a small whirlwind emerged from his kick, and headed straight for Norm. Norm was caught in the whirlwind, just as Jason had planned, it was lifting his helmet off slowly. Norm recovered from his dizziness, and grabbed his helmet and held it down, and used his mass to keep himself from lifting off the ground. Jason watched this in sheer amazement, no one should be able to do that! “Damn it! It's still not strong enough” Jason thought, as the whirlwind subsided. Norm roared again and charged at Jason again, just before he was hit, Jason jumped over Norm, and and as he was landing on the other side, kicked Norm in the back, causing him to trip an hit the ground with all the force he was charging with. Norm got back up, and roared even louder, his eyes were getting as red as tomatoes, and he charged at Jason again. Jason, once again, sidestepped quickly out of the way, and prepared his final attack.

Jason turned to face Norm, and held his sword, ready for a horizontal slash. Norm did an about face and faced Jason, with a confused look on his face, what was this squirt doing? Jason swung his sword with all his might, Norm started to laugh at Jason, he was too far away to hit him, but his laughter stopped as quickly as it had come, he was shocked to see what Jason was doing.

Jason's swing was so powerful that it actually left the sword and sliced right through the air, heading straight for Norm. The slash slammed right into Norm, he was able to resist being thrown back, but the hit knocked the wind out of him. Jason launched three more identical attacks while shouting “Wind Cannon!” the first two were straight at Norm, while the last one was arced a little. All Norm could do was stand there in shock, the slashes were too fast for him to dodge, the first two hit him right in the chest, causing him to throw his head back in pain, while the third one arced up and hit him right in the chin, causing his helmet to fly right off and land spinning on the ground behind him.

Norm hit the ground with a loud thud, he was out cold. The audience was quiet, and Jason could see the Emperor lean forward in interest, in his seat. After a minute of silence, the audience cheered louder than ever, Jason had beaten one of their strongest, and they were eating it up, they had never seen a fight quite like that.