by Andrew Rowe
Reika blearily pushed herself from the ground. Her hands were covered in burns from when she’d blocked the fist, and half her shirt had been blasted away, revealing broken and bleeding scales beneath.
I wasn’t sure she could even handle one more punch.
Shun reached the circular door, putting his hands on it and grimacing. His expression was one of intense effort and concentration, and I understood why. Runes flashed on the door’s surface, resisting his efforts to shape it. He wouldn’t escape easily.
Reika managed to stand, just barely, her arms trembling. She avoided one strike, then tried to whip Ifrit’s retreating hand with her tail.
It didn’t hurt him in the slightest. Her tail burned on impact, and she winced, exposing herself to another swing.
It might have been a telling blow if a huge circular door wouldn’t have suddenly smashed into Ifrit from the side, throwing off his aim.
Ifrit’s fist smashed into the wall next to Reika, burning a molten hole into it. Reika closed the distance between them in a moment, white light forming around her fist, and smashed him in the chest.
Ifrit staggered back a single step, smoke trailing from the wound, then pulled his hand out of the wall and laughed.
Shun took one more look at the scene, then shook his head and ran out of the room.
And in the next moment, before Reika could move aside, Ifrit unceremoniously punched her again.
She tried to throw up her arms to guard. It wasn’t enough. She was smashed right back into the wall with so much force that she nearly was pushed all the way through it.
Reika collapsed to the ground. Her scales were flaking and falling away, leaving blacked skin beneath. She shuddered on the ground, trying to push herself up without success.
I stood up.
I had an approximate idea of where they were. Unlike the other locations in this test, the “Fire Temple” area was a physical structure with the coliseum right below us. It wasn’t easy to see any portion of the temple from my vantage point above, but the dome of the room Ifrit stood within was visible.
He could kill her.
Ifrit pulled back his fist for another strike.
How do you know? I need to save—
I moved toward the walls of the box, jaw clenched. But Dawn was right. Reika wasn’t a damsel.
She had an entirely different role in the story to play.
When Ifrit’s fist came in for a final strike, it met only mist.
And then, as the mist surged through him, Ifrit spun to find a different form of opponent.
The dragon was nearly as tall as Ifrit and a good deal wider, especially when one considered the tremendous span of her wings, which barely fit within the confines of the room. Her white scales shimmered brightly against the conflagration of Ifrit’s form. Her vicious claws were as long as blades and just as sharp.
Fully transformed, Reika roared and jumped straight on top of Ifrit, her jaws snapping at his neck.
Ifrit barely managed to get his arms up in time, pushing a now full-sized dragon off of him with considerable effort. Reika flapped backward, taking her across the room.
“Your true form. At last.” Ifrit punched his fists together, and a shockwave of fire spread across the room.
Reika’s entire body turned to mist, avoiding the shockwave, then rematerializing and beginning to take a deep breath.
“I won’t give you time for that.” Ifrit surged forward, leveling a colossal fist.
Reika’s tail slammed into him first, the spikes on her tail jamming into Ifrit’s chest. Smoke erupted from each wound, and the attack carried him to the side, throwing off his swing.
He recovered swiftly, and even as Reika swept a claw at him and drew a smoky trail across his arm, he brought up his other fist in an uppercut to her jaw. It jerked her neck upward, and she stumbled back, unable to maintain her breath.
Her jaws opened involuntarily, releasing a blast of light that sliced through the ceiling. As she recovered, she arced her jaws toward Ifrit, but she hadn’t taken as much time to charge up her breath as she needed. The light struck him and cut a line across his chest and neck, but not nearly deeply enough.
He stood roared and charged, goring Reika with burning horns. The sheer force of the impact carried her back, and together, they slammed into one of the walls on the side of the room.
Reika roared in anguish, grabbing Ifrit’s horns and trying to take a breath again, but he rammed a knee into her chest. She bent double, coughing into the burning air.
Ifrit ripped his horns free, grabbing her by the neck with one colossal hand and bringing back the other to ready a punch.
Reika began to turn into mist to escape — then resolidified as a rune appeared on Ifrit’s hand gripping her neck. He’d used some kind of magic to force her to remain trapped. She had nowhere else to move, and not enough strength left to fight.
A swirling aura collected around Ifrit’s free hand as he prepared to strike a telling blow.
My grip on Dawn tightened further.
Ifrit’s fist moved. Reika had no way to even brace for impact.
The hand was mere inches from her face when three arrows cut through the air, each swirling with collected power. The arrowheads were green crystal filled with blue.
The shafts of the arrows melted as they approached, but the crystal heads continued on their trajectory. The rippling power around them kept the crystals intact until the moment they hit home. The crystals themselves melted the moment they passed into the back of Ifrit’s head.
That, however, only released the mana water trapped inside them.
Ifrit’s hand stopped in mid-air, falling limp. He stumbled backward, his hands fumbling ineffectively for his wounds.
Shun didn’t run from the fight. He was making crystal arrowheads with water from the mana fountain inside. And, I thought back to the mana core match, water beats fire.
But Ifrit wasn’t beaten, not yet.
He trembled, turning his head upward, and began to take a breath of his own, drawing in flames from around the room—
Only for Reika to surge forward, jaws wide, and tear out his throat with mist-trailing fangs.
Ifrit gurgled, reaching upward to grasp at his throat with trembling hands, then collapsed to the ground.
A moment later, nothing but a trail of smoke remained in his wake.
Reika, trailing blood from a dozen wounds, shifted back into her humanoid form — and promptly collapsed to the floor.
The door to the next room opened, showing a titanic red crystal floating in the air.
Shun, standing in the doorway with another arrow nocked, looked at Reika’s unmoving body on the floor.
For a moment, I watched with gritted teeth.
Then Shun slipped his arrow out of his bow and back into his quiver, moving to walk across the room.
He knelt by Reika’s wounded body, and with surprising care, he lifted her over his shoulder. With a look of frustration, he carried her to the crystal in the next room.
An announcement followed a moment later.
“Contestants Shun and Reika have reached the end of the Fire Temple!”
Never had a doubt in my mind.
The pain in my hand from gripping Dawn too tightly told a different story.
***
I found Reika in a recovery room, under the care of a team of dedicated healers. She was awake and in good cheer, sitting up as I approached. “Keras! Did you see that?”
“I did. You were great out there.” I walked to her bedside. She reached out and grabbed my hand.
“That Ifrit was amazing! I need to find out who his Summoner was so we can have another match!”
I gave her a side-eyed look. “You...might want to wait a few days on that.”
“Don’t be so worried! I’m all healed now.”
One of the healers nearby shook his head vehemently.
“Okay, mostly healed now. But, like, super hungry. You got anything to eat?”
I shoved a bag at her. I had, uh, “obtained” it from one of the tables in the box I’d been assigned.
They hadn’t technically said we couldn’t take the food with us.
Reika greedily opened the bag. “Thanks, Keras! You’re the best.”
I pulled up a chair next to her bed. “You’re welcome. Did you get your score yet?”
She shook her head. “No, not yet. I’ll have to ask after I’ve recovered. I hope I passed... I wish I hadn’t collapsed after the big fight. If I’d made it to the crystal room, I’m sure I would have gotten enough points.”
I frowned. “They didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Reika asked, a loaf of bread half-way in her mouth.
“Shun carried you in there.”
Reika froze. “He...did?”
“Yep. Looked like he was pretty badly hurt, too, but he made sure you both made it to the crystal room. Can’t say for sure if you got the points for it, but I think so.”
Reika stopped in the middle of eating, which I can tell you is a rarity. “I...do you know where he is?”
I shook my head. “Probably somewhere else in here, I imagine.”
She turned to the healers, asking a few questions in Edrian. She got some Edrian answers back, then turned to me. “They won’t tell me.”
“Rules about opponents, I guess. We’ll find him again at some point.”
“I guess...” Reika frowned.
“For now, you need to eat.” I gestured at the bag of food. “And get better, so you can fight more.”
She looked hesitant for a shockingly long time, then made her choice. “You’re right. Food is always the priority.”
***
As it turned out, Shun was the one that found us. He was leaning up against the wall just outside the recovery room.
“Shun!” Reika moved toward him immediately, arms wide.
Shun flinched back, raising his hands. “I, uh, am still burned.”
Reika put her arms down, looking disappointed. “...Oh.” There was a moment of awkward silence. “Um, did you want to talk about something?”
Shun looked away, then mumbled, “...Thank you. And I’m sorry. About before.”
Reika frowned. “What do you mean?”
He shot her a hard look. “I was cold to you, and you still threw yourself in harm’s way to help me. I didn’t deserve that. So, thank you, and I’m sorry.”
“Oh!” She brightened. “Sure, you’re welcome. And thank you, too. I heard you carried me. That was very heroic of you.”
I think Shun might have blushed a little. “Don’t mention it. And by that, I mean literally, don’t ever mention it again.”
Reika laughed. “I don’t know why you look so worried. We’re friends, right?”
Shun turned toward Reika, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“Well, if you’re not sure, we need more time to figure it out, don’t we? Come get some food with me!” Reika had, in fact, just consumed what I estimated to be about two pounds of semi-illicitly gained food — but that clearly wasn’t enough to stop her.
“I...maybe another day.” He paused, as if deliberating about something, and then reached into a bag at his side. He retrieved what looked like a ruby-studded golden bracelet, and awkwardly stretched his hand out toward Reika.
She stared at the bracelet. “Is that...a present?”
Shun shook his head vehemently. “Nothing like that. Just your share of the treasure. Ifrit was wearing it.”
“Oh! Okay.” Reika sounded just a little bit disappointed, but she accepted the bracelet, turning it over in her hands. “What is it?”
“A ring. I mean, an Ifrit-sized ring. It’s enchanted with fire. The element doesn’t suit me. You should have it.”
“Got it. I’ll figure out a way to wear it.” She tried to awkwardly slip it over her gauntlets, failed, and then tucked it away in her pouch. “Thank you, Shun. Even if it’s not a gift, I appreciate you sharing it with me. You didn’t have to.”
“It’s fine. I owed you.” Shun’s tone made it clear he didn’t want to discuss the matter further. After an awkward moment, he took a breath and changed the subject. “Look, what you did in there. That form. Don’t do that again.”
Reika blinked. “What? Why?”
Shun’s hands opened and closed, his expression bleak. “Because they’re out there. I thought you were one of them at first, which is why...well, I was unkind. Now that I know what you are, though, you have to hide. Maybe, maybe you can slip by with them thinking that you’re just a Shapeshifter. But not if you keep doing that.”
“Them...” Reika tightened her fists. “You mean the Tails of Orochi.”
Shun gave her a firm nod. “You’re strong. Much stronger than I am. But they are many, and the greatest among them would have beaten that Ifrit without effort. We are nothing to them, and so, we must hide.”
“Then you...you’re like me.” Reika reached out with a hand. “You’re—”
Shun flinched, stepping back. “No. Not like you. But I’m...a target, too. And it’s best if we’re not seen together.” He shook his head. “Goodbye, Reika. And I’m sorry.”
And with that, he turned and walked away.
Reika kept her hand outstretched in his direction for another moment, pleading silently toward his back...but Shun never even turned to glance back our way.
***
In spite of her disappointment at Shun’s rejection of her offer of friendship, Reika was in good spirits for the remainder of the day. We ate together, and I filled her in on stories from the match. She was particularly captivated by the tale of the fight between Lady Hartigan and The Green Guardian.
“Oh, wow. I can’t believe I missed that. If I hadn’t touched that phoenix egg and gotten teleported...” Reika’s eyes widened. “Wait. Egg. Egg!”
She reached down, patting at her sides, until she found her pouch.
And then she opened it, finding a single egg — surprisingly small, not much larger than a chicken egg — still inside.
“I...think you’re supposed to turn that in for points. Want to go there real quick?”
Reika picked up the egg, her expression turning mischievous. “Maybe...” She glanced down at the egg’s orange surface, then her eyes turned up toward me. “...maybe not.”
***
We did go visit a counter to get Reika’s score after that. She’d gotten credit for reaching the fire crystal and earned an extremely impressive four hundred and twenty-five points.
That brought her total to sixteen hundred and nineteen. She’d eclipsed my point total by an embarrassing margin.
But I’d have a chance to make up that difference soon.
“Good luck in there.” Reika hugged me tight. “This round is hard.”
I pulled her tight. “I saw.” I took a deep breath. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Chapter XVI – Demon Castle
I found my way back to the waiting room easily enough, excited to begin the third round.
From what Reika had run into, I had a better idea of the complexity they’d talked about for the test. I ran through examples in my mind of what I’d do if I faced her scenario.
Most of it, of course, involved my usual solution of “hit it a lot”. If I faced something like Ifrit, that became “hit it even harder, preferably only once” because I wasn’t sure I could trade blows with someone of that level of strength.
I stepped through the doorway and, predictably, faced something completely different from what I’d mentally prepared for.
***
I found myself in what looked like a completely empty room, wrought from solid stone rather than the translucent crystal that the labyrinth had been made from. It’s probably indicative of my personality that my first thought was, I could break that.
There were no doors or windows, no objects, and no other people that I could see. A cold light permeated the entire room with no apparent source. The room was about twenty feet across and maybe ten feet high.
Before I could move on to deciding which wall to break, I heard a voice echo in my mind.
[Survive for ten minutes.]
A smirk crossed my lips.
The real question wasn’t if I could survive ten minutes — it was if the room could survive ten minutes with me.
I took a breath, and then it began.
The floor trembled beneath me. I jumped to the side just as a series of spikes shot upward from the floor. I was already drawing Dawn as I jumped, my mind reaching out and sending her an instruction.
Radiant Dawn.
Her blade shimmered brightly, and I turned it to smashing side a blast of lightning that flashed from one of the sides of the room.
The ceiling shook, then dropped down a foot. That was concerning, but I didn’t have much time to think about it.
By the time I landed on one of the spike-free spots on the floor, there was something appearing next to me — a scaled, six-armed monstrosity with scythe-like claws and a serpentine head. It was so tall that even hunched, its head nearly reached the ceiling of the room.
I suspect it would have been pretty tough if I hadn’t struck before it was finished appearing. I remembered the preliminaries and aimed high, slicing off a collar wrapped around its neck. As the collar clattered to the ground, the monster vanished instantly.
I felt a little disappointed. I’d cheated myself out of a fight by acting too fast. Still, I bent down and grabbed the large orange crystal that was attached to the collar. I didn’t know if it was relevant for this test or not, but collecting it seemed like a good idea.
By the time I’d slipped that in my pouch and stood back up, I was forced to stumble backward to avoid a spike of ice that shot out of one of the nearby walls.
I frowned. There were no runes on the walls — where were all these spells and monsters coming from? I’d heard of people scrying on an area and casting spells remotely, but this felt a little too fluid for that.
Sounds likely. Or maybe they’re embedded inside the stone somehow. Do you have any ways to break illusions?