Harem Tournament of Champions

'Why do I feel like I'm being watched or followed?' Hisha communicated with his system as he cautiously looked over his shoulder as he paced back and forth in the garden.

[That's because you are!]

The ruffling of the leaves stopped before Hisha looked over to the intruder.

"My lord," Kritz spoke before he could be mistaken as an enemy and sustain any harm by Hisha.

Hisha exhaled in relief, "it's just you..."

Kritz bowed, his brows knitted and having a blank expression while deep in thought.

"I had been curious about something, my lord." Kritz had his attention on the floor.

'This isn't good.' Hisha deadpanned.

"Was there any strange behavior other than what you had told me?" Kritz muttered under his breath.

"Was there anything I might have missed?"

Unable to explain how he feels about the issue, he shook his head. "There is no way of me recalling my blank period."

'He's trying to gain something, but what?' Hisha thought in suspicion, circling Kritz and studying his stiff demeanor.

"Was I manipulated?" Kritz dropped the bombshell of a question.

"You weren't curious after you gained your reasoning, what had changed?" Hisha countered, rubbing his chin.

Shoving his hand into his pocket, he stretched out his hand towards Hisha to have a close-up view of the pendant.

[Memory recovery - 10%]

Hisha staggered back, clutching at his chest, unable to control the flickering glow in his eyes.

"H... how did you get that?!" Hisha hissed and coughed as a flood of bits of information raided his thoughts.

His eyes glanced in different directions, almost as though he could see it play out in front of him.

Even though Dalsa's face was blurred out for unknown reasons, he could see her coughing while being trapped in a burning building with her hand stretched out to him–in her palm was the pendant.

'What the hell?!'

~Take this... I... I'm... sorry... leave... while... you... noo!!~

~Dalsa!!!~ The original host yelled in yearning but was held back by a bright light, pulling him away from assisting in any way.

~Cultivate your abilities, only then can we allow you to get who you wish to save~ voices superimposed into one, causing an echo as Hisha struggled to get free from their grasp.

Two scenes continually repeated in his thoughts–Dalsa in danger and the fact that the previous host was forced out of helping reach by an unknown force.

'Who the fuck are 'we' and that light?!' Hisha thought in rage, hoping to get an answer from his system, hating the fact he was put on the edge for little information.

[Until you've regained 70% of the original host's memory, that information is outside your jurisdiction]

Punching on a tree in rage, causing a hole through which his hand passed through, Hisha glared at the interface, unintentionally doing so on Kritz before he could get closer to him out of worry.

"My lord?" Kritz repeated till he got a response from a dazed Hisha.

'What was that? Why couldn't I still view her face?! Was she the reason the previous host rebuilt Kurg?'

[Until you've regained 70% –]

'Forget it!' Hisha snarled, already getting to his breaking point.

Kritz stood awkwardly, waiting for his lord's anger to reside.

Wiping down his face, Hisha reluctantly accepted his restrictions and opened his palm to get the pendant.

Understanding his request, Kritz walked over, still cautious about Hisha's unstable emotion at the sight of the pendant.

Taking a few steps back, Kritz questioned once more, feeling Hisha would have an idea.

"Yoru..." Hisha muttered under his breath, realizing she had not only messed with his reasoning while in the feral state but might have done something more sinister before his arrival.

"There was one who had indeed influenced your thinking."

Kritz tumbled to the floor in shock and disbelief. Clutching onto his hair, he shook his head at the news.

'What's his story?' Hisha wondered.

[It has to be in realization with the pendant and how it got into his possession]

Offering his hand to Kritz, he wasn't going to take a no for an answer.

Kritz exhaled and forced a smile, taking the gesture as he was pulled up.

"How did you find this, after so many years?" Hisha inquired.

Kritz's face fell, knowing that his words would be implicating several others he had not wanted to be involved with.

'I had stumbled on it in my clothing, the very one that I had worn during the hunt.'

As Hisha turned it over to see an inscription of a 'D' his suspicions only grew on the true nature of the pendant.

"We will get to the bottom of this, together," Hisha assured with a smile.

Nodding his head in agreement, he could only hope that he would find a way to get ahead of his newfound weakness.

"It's about time we train together, as in old times." Hisha patted Kritz's shoulder, trying his best to lighten the tension.

Walking past Kritz and beckoning him to the sparring hall with a chin movement.

*****

Boom!

Huff!

Huff!

Kritz hyperventilated, one of his eyes closed as he tried his best to regulate his breathing.

Yawn!

Hisha rolled his eyes, slightly bored of the futile attempts of Kritz to have a single hit on him.

"Are you going too easy on me, Kritz?!" Hisha teased with a big grin, spreading out his arm and flexing his biceps.

Kritz wiped the corner of his lips, hissing the moment he felt a sting from the injury healing on the side of his face.

[Weren't you a little too much, smashing his head and dragging it like some rag doll?]

'Tch-' Hisha scoffed and had a smirk, knowing Kritz was plotting different ways of implementing his next plan.

Kritz looked around and was just glad about the ever-changing and repair of the whole facility.

The sparring hall had been morphed into a dimly lit enclosed field littered with gore, unidentified suits, and body parts of soldiers and skulls.

"How do you see the new change?" Hisha questioned with a grin.

The air which would normally be soft and carry a gentle breeze is now deafeningly loud with buzzing sounds and a quick switch to silence at unusual intervals.

Knowing he was fighting a battle he couldn't win, he was as determined as he could be to at least land a hit on Hisha.

Coating his whole body with Sux, building enough momentum for one last attempt.

Knock!

Knock!

Hisha looked towards the door, internally facepalming at the interruption.

Whoosh!

Grabbing the wrist of Kritz, Hisha clicked his tongue as he gave an uppercut which sent him flying and tumbling several feet away.

"That doesn't work on me, you have to think of better tactics." Hisha shook his head, walking over to the door.

Kritz sat on the floor, shaking out the dirt on his coat and hair.

Click!

"To what do I owe this special visit?" Hisha questioned, still holding the door to prevent Wae from peering in.

Taking a sniff of the air, Kritz growled, disturbed by Wae's presence and motive.

"My lord, may you–"

"I already know I will, so you can stop with all that," Hisha interjected, hiding his displeasure with a deadpan look.

"I had wanted to personally invite you to a feast in Winst, in your honor." Wae grinned, hoping he was as convincing as possible.

Looking down the hallway and then back at Wae, Hisha tilted his head, "and you are telling me this, why?"

"After your proclamation on my tribe, I lost certain privileges that were held by my predecessors. Now I have to do some tasks personally." Wae's mood dropped as thought back to how this could get an emotion from the overlord.

"As it should be for your foolishness." Hisha snapped without a second thought, his brows creasing at the sight of Wae.

[That was quite direct with no mincing!]

Hisha had thought Mich was an annoying itch on his neck, but with Wae standing in front of him, he thought of him as an inch on his pupil that is almost impossible to get rid of without causing unfathomable damage.

'Something isn't right with him.' He felt some sort of uneasiness at the true motive of the Lycan tribal chief.

Wae's grin only grew, "I do understand your decision, my punishment was worth it."

"When's the feast?" Hisha raised a brow.

"A day after the tournament tomorrow." Wae smiled sheepishly.

Nodding his head to the answer, Hisha looked back at Kritz who looked prim and ready to engage.

Shaking his head, Hisha looked back at Wae. "If I sense something unusual..."

Wae's heart thumped at the thought of what sort of condition was to be proposed by Hisha.

*****

A/N

¶ Any idea on what voices has spoken and prevented the previous host from helping Dalsa?

¶ What category do you think Dalsa is in? Childhood friends or lover?

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