Michael looked at Yuna. "Wow… what can't you do?" he asked her. She was a global celebrity, an extremely talented swordsman, and also the best up and coming Arbiter in the world!
He was lucky to have her.
But it seemed that she didn't appreciate his words all that much. She glared at him with an indecipherable look.
"What?"
He couldn't see it, but she was wondering if he was being ironic or not. Was he so clueless about himself that he wasn't even aware of his own talents? He was the one who seemed to be able to do anything, with god given talents the world had never seen before. If there was something that Michael shouldn't feel, then it was jealousy.
"Look! It's about to start!"
They all looked down as Claudia raised both of her hands into the air, before curving them downwards to complete a circle.
Power emanated out of her body. Aubility Power.
Michael stared at Claudia through his Drone, trying to discern what level of cultivation she was.
But when his filter appeared and everything turned into either red hot or a cool blue, he was flabbergasted to find nothing but a warm orange in her heart, just like the rest of her body.
What? What am I looking at?
At the risk of being discovered, he piloted the Drone closer to her, hoping that it would give him clarity.
But instead, it only opened up a lot more questions than before.
After all, Claudia had no GodForge pieces in her heart. Her hands, which were currently creating the Sanctum for the Archery Battle, was emanating an extremely powerful Aubility Power.
Yet, that Aubility Power seemed to come out of nowhere at all. It didn't come from her chest or any part of her body. It seemed to just magically manifest upon her request.
He couldn't understand what was happening.
Turning to Yuna, he asked her, "You can make a Sanctum, right?"
She nodded. "Yep."
Michael's eyes turned to her chest, using his Drone to verify his guess. She also had no GodForge piece.
He was so surprised at this discovery that he was completely oblivious to the reddish blush growing in Yuna's face.
"Where are you looking?!" she said, turning her body away from her with an embarrassed look.
"You… you don't have GodForge pieces," he muttered.
Slowly, she turned towards him. "Montgomerys don't need one," she said. "But how are you able to create Sanctums?"
"That's what the training is for. Our family has always been special. We are the only lineage with the ability to tap into Aubility Powers without needing GodForge pieces."
This confused Michael greatly. This was changing the very paradigm of his belief at the very moment!
"Then how—"
"We're like Beastfolks in that regard. Just like how a Werewolves' power is always related to physical strength, our powers are strictly limited to Arbitration as well. In order to increase our powers, we only need to practice our craft just like any other skill."
Michael turned back to Claudia down at the arena. At this point, her conjuration of the Sanctum was finished.
There was now a circular hole in the ground, almost as big as the arena itself, leading down into a completely different space. Just like it was discussed, the Sanctum was a mountainous forest area.
"Miss Yuna, I heard that this power was given to your ancestors by the Ancient Humans themselves," Jot'un said.
"That's right. It's an inheritance that was left to us. For quite a while, our unique powers were looked down upon as something merely as an afterthought. It wasn't until my grandmother asserted her dominance in the world did Sanctum Duels become ubiquitous.
If it weren't for her, our family wouldn't even be mentioned anywhere near the conglomerates."
Hearing this, Jot'un couldn't help but let his eyes dream and wonder.
An inheritance. The Montgomerys were able to leverage their inheritance to become a top power in the world.
Could the Thunderfoot do that as well? That's what Jot'un hoped. He'd do everything he can, but they won't even get the chance if they don't retrieve that key.
While Michael and Jot'un were observed with their own thoughts, the Archery Competition was well on their way.
The two competitors deployed down into the Sanctum, finding themselves strapped with a target on their chest, back, and four limbs.
Whoever hit their enemies on all targets would win the duel.
Both immediately hid in the bushes, drawing their bows secretly.
The Goldblood archer shot first, its arrow arcing through the skies before hitting his opponent's left leg.
The opposing archer let loose his own arrow, hitting his target's right shoulder.
The whole colosseum cheered, finding the battle exciting.
Even the conglomerates couldn't help but be impressed.
"Sharp eyes. With a better bow, the Goldblood Archer can go places," Gabriel casually complimented.
"Yes. He's clearly the better of the two. I think he'll be able to reach the semi-finals with his skills," Cedric agreed.
Meanwhile, Michael wasn't paying much attention to the fight. He was too absorbed with the truth to Montgomery's Arbitration powers.
Inheritance? Just like the Red Lamp with the Thunderfoot…
And the second Antique. It said something about an inheritance as well. 'Find it all, inherit it all,' it said.
Could they be connected? Could the Internet Tesseract also in the same vein as the Red Lamp and the Montgomerys' Arbitration powers?
"...Keo, did you hear me?" Gabriel asked.
"Oh." Michael snapped out of his reverie. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."
"I was saying that you should start preparing your Archer soon. One of these guys could face you in the semi-finals… if you advance there, of course."
Michael looked down at the Sanctum battle.
Were they even using the bow properly?
"I have full trust in my friend," he said.
Just then, a raucous cheering erupted from the crowd. Someone just won. The Werewolf Archer emerged from the Sanctum, only having been hit in both his shoulders. His opponent, on the other hand, was mired with multiple arrows on his body.
Claudia walked back up the stadium. "Up next: the Brownbloods against the Niveous Pack Tribe!"