"A ring? Oh, it’s a storage ring," Valerian said, turning the plain silver band over in his palm.

  "Yes," Boris said, adjusting his posture with self-importance. "It’s a good storage ring, forged by the forgemasters of God's Grave."

  "Really? Giving him a trinket?" Valerian teased.

  Boris scoffed. "I know no one can beat you in making them, but this ring is special. It's made from God's Grave materials."

  Valerian's expression shifted, his curiosity piqued. "Is that so? What is special about this?"

  "Well, it has—"

  "Never mind," Valerian cut him off, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Let's go." Saying so, he grabbed Boris's hand and pulled him toward the exit.

  "Where?" Boris stumbled, recovering his balance.

  "You will see," Valerian promised with a sly grin.

  Valerian dragged a winded Boris to the colossal, circular stadium. Azuma stood alone at the centre, a small figure ringed by four formidable Knight-class Royal Guards—Vikram, Anya, Rufe, and Dhruba. The four warriors were positioned at the perimeter, slowly reducing the radius as they closed in to corner the five-year-old.

  Boris watched the grim faces of the guards and the predatory concentration in their movements. "Don’t you think it’s overkill to have four Knight-class warriors, one with a powerful A-class monster familiar, cornering a child? They look like they're hunting a Demon Lord."

  "It's because they were close to being defeated by that five-year-old last time," Valerian stated simply.

  "What?" Boris asked in shock.

  "Of course, there are restrictions," Valerian clarified. "They can't use their unique skills, except for Anya. You know, Azuma was soft on his aunt, thinking she wouldn't stand a chance without her abilities."

  Boris, taking a nervous gulp of water, nearly spat it out. "He said that?"

  "He smiled at her face to provoke her, but it backfired," Valerian chuckled. "Her pride took a hit, she restricted her own abilities, and as a result, he nearly won."

  Boris looked at the four cautious, battle-hardened guards. "Even so, how could they possibly lose to a child?"

  Valerian shrugged, the pride in his smile uncontainable. "If it's strength alone, my boy doesn’t have a chance even against one of them. But, well, you're about to see for yourself. Let's just watch."

  The four guards converged, their footsteps quiet on the packed earth. Azuma, seeing the radius shrink to the point of no escape, drew a short sword with a strangely long, segmented grip. The grip was intricately designed with a series of graduated, interlinked segments, and with a precise flick of his thumb, a small, black torus disk—a metallic segment—broke away and flew into the air before his face.

  Seeing the activation, the four guards instantly charged, panic overriding their caution. They knew Azuma's genius lay in his traps.

  Rufe’s familiar, Coby the Armored Scale Cobra, reacted fastest, dashing at Azuma in a coiled blur of speed.

  It was too late. Azuma slammed the loose torus disk onto the ground with his free hand.

  The world did not just shake; it groaned. A deep, grinding thrum resonated beneath the earth, and the stadium floor instantly cracked open. Just as Coby launched its body, a massive, slick wall of dark, gelatinous earth—a shimmering, liquid-like fortress—erupted straight up from the ground. It was faster than the eye could follow.

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  The wall speared upward, intercepting Coby mid-air. The impact was a sickening blunt percussion, like a wet hammer striking stone. The solid mass slammed directly into Coby's jaws, violently redirecting the A-class monster and sending it flying in a stunned, spiraling heap against the arena's original perimeter wall, where it lay senseless.

  Before the echoes of the impact subsided, walls continued to rise in perfect, geometric precision. The arena, moments ago a clear expanse, was instantly fractured into a towering, inescapable earthen labyrinth. Everyone was separated, stunned, and trapped.

  "What the hell is that?" Boris bellowed at Valerian, nearly toppling from the viewing platform.

  "Calm down," Valerian said, his voice brimming with manic excitement. "It's a new invention my boy and I made."

  "What did your boy do?" Boris demanded, pointing a trembling finger at the enormous maze.

  Valerian composed himself. "You know the concept of water..."

  Boris stared for a second and nodded. "Of course, I know. Apart from being a merchant, I am also a freaking scholar and a mage, not to mention a Mayajinn," Boris said with a serious face.

  "Well, you could just say no, you know."

  "And you could skip the part of being smug and just explain this damn thing," Boris said, his irritation clear as he pointed at the large, confusing maze inside the coliseum.

  "Hee hee, sorry, I can't help it," Valerian chuckled, glancing at the maze. "Water magic is used for offense, defense, and healing, but its most crucial characteristic is overlooked by most magicians. Can you guess what it is?"

  "You are doing it again," Boris said with slight irritation in his voice.

  Valerian conceded, scratching his head. "Right, sorry. The most important characteristic of water is memory. It's the one element that has the capacity to hold knowledge, and my son found a way to utilize it. He experimented by repeatedly running water through a formation until it created a perfect memory of the structure. Then, with a simple injection of magic, the water, which was already infused with dissolved Heart Stone, would instantly form the shape. This activation effortless, all it takes is one spark of mana from our end.”

  "Wait!" Boris stammered, head spinning. "You dissolved a Heart Stone? I've never heard of such a thing!"

  "Oh, yes. We found a way to make the Heart Stone liquid. It took many trials, but we did it," Valerian said proudly. "But the problem was maintaining the formation without a medium. So, we invented a fluid from a slime's excess secretion—a gel that expands. By combining the water, the Liquid Heart Stone, and the slime fluid, we created a formation circle with water as the main raw material." I won't tell him about the final, hidden ingredient Azuma added, the one that makes the structure truly sentient. That secret stays within House Hammer, Valerian thought, maintaining a proud, open expression.

  Boris was now vibrating with excitement. "Liquid Heart Stone! Do you know that most potions only have a 50% effect because a lot of energy is lost during conversion? With your invention, that can be reduced, thereby increasing its effectiveness! Not to mention its effect on artefacts and trinkets." As he explained, Boris got many ideas for the application of liquid energy, and his heart fluttered with excitement. "Val, you did it," he said. "This... this is your legacy. Not that one you left behind in the Crimson Empire. This is your legacy, Val," Boris repeated.

  Valerian let him vent before continuing. "Do you see that long grip on his sword? It is a mobile formation trigger. The weakness of a formation master is that they must prepare beforehand—set a trap and lure the enemy in. If they are unlucky, they are a sitting duck."

  Valerian's face hardened, remembering his own near-death experiences. "But not anymore. What you saw was a mobile formation, with a five-second activation time.

  Valerian continued, his voice hushed with the thrill of creation. "You saw the small torus disk shatter when it hit the ground? That disk is the formation's trigger and core. It instantly broke into dozens of small, enchanted fragments—each one a power node. These nodes dove deep into the earth, spreading out to the full memory-limit of the maze. The Liquid Heart Stone in the jelly connecting them converted to raw Earth Magic, which is why the walls erupted so violently. To break out, they can't just smash the walls; they have to destroy the nodes beneath the earth. Even if they sever the jelly connection, the slime's memory and regenerative properties ensure it instantly re-attaches. The only way out is to eliminate every single node individually, or force Azuma to deactivate the whole system."

  Boris stared at the walls of the maze, his eyes wide with terrifying realization. "One man is sufficient to deal with an army!"

  Valerian smiled, utterly ruthless. "And he can activate tens of these formations simultaneously, layering them one after another."

  Boris's mouth dropped open, utterly speechless at the terrifying military implications of this new equipment. He immediately focused his attention back on the fight, realizing he was watching history unfold.