by David Walker
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Spirit Spectrum
Volume I: Blue
© 2019 David Matthew Walker.
All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
The first shot cracked as an elemental round violently burst from Nathanael's triple-barreled shotgun. The bullet shattered into a cluster of obsidian, rocky shards. His second shot ejected a fiery round that engulfed them. The shards flared as they transformed into lava-textured liquid. The last shot exploded into a vortex, hurling the spiraling lava into its targets.
The minotaur warrior and orc shadow knight howled in pain as the amber lava seeped into the crevices of their pauldrons. Isaac darted toward Nathanael, leaping over him and nimbly hopping onto his shoulder, using it to launch himself toward the burning demons. Isaac swung his slender sword in an arcing motion, slashing both of them. The long blade emanated sapphire, a liquid energy that quickly hardened into ice crystals, freezing the lava, and snapping the demons into place. A distant elf ranger loaded his bow and lobbed an arrow at Isaac.
Nathanael reached Isaac by the time the arrow descended on him; Isaac effortlessly deflected the projectile with a stroke of his slightly curved blade. Nathanael took a metallic, orb-shaped device from his equipment pouch and set it on the ground by Isaac. The orb generated a barrier that disintegrated the ranger's subsequent arrows. Nathanael exchanged shots with the ranger, but his weapon's effectiveness was diminished due to the distance between them.
Isaac turned to examine Sergeant Powell's wispy spirit body. Ravaged by the demons, the spirit body was in critical condition. It encased a faintly glowing, subconscious mind which was nearly exposed. Isaac laid his hands on the spirit body, slowly restoring its vitality. Next to the ranger stood Lieutenant Insurgo, head of Captain Remphan's third legion. He scowled at the sight. Insurgo lifted his staff, summoning a tyrant king lizard from the red underworld. The giant lizard rushed toward Isaac and Nathanael.
The Omerxerian dynamic spirit realm had officially turned into a battleground. Golden dunes were spread throughout the realm with various dry shrubs and cacti sprinkled about. Sandstone obelisks stood near the combatants while the dark pyramids of Overlord Jezebel could be viewed far off in the distance. Overhead, the realm's time ring could be seen, arched above the sky's vast firmament. An electrified pulse buzzed along the silver ring in a clockwise direction. When the pulse finished its course, the dynamic realm would cease to exist, taking its charge into the physical world below. While normally inconsequential, a negative charge in this particular dynamic realm could spark Continental War III.
The tyrant lizard kicked up thick clouds of dust as it trampled over the parched, stony ground on its way toward Isaac and Nathanael. Isaac drove his sword into the ground, its power emitting a seismic wave beneath the lizard, throwing it off balance. Meanwhile, Nathanael rapidly swung his bola-tipped whip around as he approached the lizard's flank. Nathanael flailed his whip around the lizard's short arms. The bolas locked onto its arms as Nathanael yanked the beast downward. Anticipating Nathanael's moves, Isaac pounced on the lizard's giant skull, driving his blade through its left eye. The ranger launched a flaming arrow that overshot Nathanael's barrier, yet landed close enough to thaw the frozen demons' icy prisons. Isaac dashed toward the thawing demons while Nathanael advanced toward Insurgo and his ranger.
The frozen demons broke free from the ice and met Isaac head on, moving to flank him. Isaac managed his blade with efficiency and blinding speed, able to fend them both off. The orc shadow knight channeled dark energy into his mace, and quickly spun in a cyclonic motion, gaining centrifugal force to strike Isaac. Isaac used the Minotaur’s momentum against him, twisting him into the path of the orc's crushing blow, which sent him flying back. Enraged, the Minotaur warrior got back up and charged at Isaac, seeking to skewer him with his horns. Isaac quickly pivoted around the orc, slashing his ankles, and misdirected the Minotaur’s charge right into the orc's ribs. Isaac swiftly impaled them both, banishing them from the realm.
Nathanael unholstered his other triple-barreled shotgun and ran toward the elf ranger. Armed with both shotguns, he nailed the elf with six booming shots, enough to deplete its spirit vitality and banish it from the realm. Insurgo leaped backward as Nathanael chased after him, reloading his shotguns. Nathanael heard a loud snap as he realized that he had set off one of the ranger's traps. The trap set off an explosive blast that violently threw Nathanael backward toward Isaac. Disappointed in himself for making an amateur move, Nathanael slowly gathered his bearings. The time pulse had almost completed its course; Insurgo knew that his time was running out.
Insurgo raised his staff and multiple beams of light arced out from it in different directions. A horde of rank one demons spawned near Insurgo and ran after Isaac and Nathanael. Isaac swung his sword back and forth in a figure eight motion, as aquatic energy permeated around his blade, leaving aquamarine traces of light in its wake. Nathanael stood behind Isaac and merged his two shotguns, transforming them into a six-barreled, rapid-fire cannon.
“Swirling flame barrage!” Isaac and Nathanael shouted as flaming rounds screamed from Nathanael's cannon, fusing with Isaac's liquid energy.
The elemental fusion created a sea of flame which swept through the summoned demons, melting them like butter. Insurgo retreated to avoid the flames. Suddenly, the time pulse completed its course, bringing a positive charge into the physical world. Isaac and Nathanael looked down to focus their gaze into the physical realm; their perspective was filtered like a fish-eyed lens.
Sergeant Powell stood resolute, refusing to call in a drone strike. For a moment, he could have gone either way. Intelligence reported that his squad was pinned down by a militant faction from Miat near a key set of Xerothium mines. However, he had just received a visual report that the enemy forces were actually from Elextria. While Elextria and the Unified Republics had long warred through the proxy, they had never directly attacked one another.
Amid Omerxeros's Civil War, Elextria supported Omerxeros's existing regime, while the Unified Republics supported the separatist faction. Publicly, the Unified Republics claimed to have no troops in Omerxeros. On the other hand, it was known that Elextrian troops were stationed in Omerxeros's chaotic province of Katha. If a Unified Republics drone had attacked Elextria, while the Unified Republics were not officially stationed in Omerxeros, it could have instigated another catastrophic Continental War.
Isaac, Nathanael, and Insurgo were brought into a fresh dynamic realm. Isaac and Nathanael both slyly grinned at Insurgo, knowing full well that they had stopped his nefarious design. Insurgo's lime-green, venomous eyes flickered with rage. It would have been difficult enough to report this failure to his Overlord Beelzebul, or even his Captain Remphan, but he had to report this failure to Overlord Abbadon himself, fearsome Lord of Shadow House Mars. He trembled at the thought. A blazing light pierced the sky, interrupting his thoughts. The sight was even more terrifying than Overlord Abbadon: it was the King of Heaven. Insurgo screeched and exited the realm.
Isaac and Nathanael buckled to their knees as their king approached them from above. Their obeisance was more than an act of submission; it was a gesture of delight. Nothing pleased Isaac and Nathanael more than honoring their king. Notwithstanding, the king's presence saturated the atmosphere with a warm heaviness that would have forced them to their knees anyway. Their bellies fluttered with excitement as the back of their heads tingled. Time
seemed to stop as their king slowly descended toward them, his features veiled behind a thick, luminous cloud. Their golden, translucent armors reflected a vibrant prism of exotic colors that emitted from their king.
“Greetings,” the king spoke softly.
“My Lord,” Isaac and Nathanael spoke simultaneously, as they bowed, fists clenched to their chests in salute. A single tear dropped unbidden from Isaac's left eye.
“Thank you for your efforts in Omerxeros. I could not have entrusted this task to anyone else. I have a new task for you both. A young man named Matthew will join my kingdom soon. I need you both to train him when the time is right.”
“Yes, my Lord!” They stood in wonder for a moment after their king departed, basking in the afterglow of His appearance. Isaac and Nathanael were combat masters in their own right; however, it seemed like overkill to have both of them train a single student. Nonetheless, they both knew that their king had his reasons, which always proved to be legitimate, even when his purposes were not easily discernible. Regardless, they would have descended into the eighth level of hell if their king had commanded it; he had earned their unwavering devotion long ago. They silently wondered what manner of man would prompt the king himself to have them both train him.
* * *
Matthew slowly shuffled into the main break room, crankier than usual. He typically remembered to request time off for his birthday, yet there he was at work. He made his morning coffee, attempting to drown out the sound of idle chatter around him. Zombie frequencies. Hazelnut-flavored beverage in hand, he walked through a large hallway lined with glass-enclosed meeting rooms. He grabbed his seat in an area set with rows of asymmetrically arranged, low-cut cubicles. Another day on the hamster wheel. He would not mind working if he could find a purpose for it.
We work so that the cogs in the engine of our hypocritical society are in order? We work so that we can eat, so that we can live, so that we can grow old, so that we can die? So, the purpose of life is to live? Is that it? We work to get things to enjoy our transient, inevitably ending existence? So, I do something that I hate in order to buy things that help me enjoy a life that I cannot keep? It did not take much introspection for Matthew to bury himself in a nihilistic existential crisis.
He put on his headphones and started working support tickets. He marveled at the simple inquiries of customers who were incapable of managing their dedicated servers, yet paying hundreds of dollars a month for them. He loathed sales associates who took advantage of customers by selling them expensive website hosting solutions that they were not qualified to use. Matthew started off in sales himself but refused to use the manipulative tactics necessary to hit the sales quotas. He enjoyed consultative sales, but those calls were few and far between.
Matthew was effective in his position as a hosting support, despite only allocating about thirty percent of his mental capacity to his job. Increasing Industria System's profitability was hardly a motivator for him to put forth additional effort. He could work his way up the chain to become a system administrator and put his college degree to use, but he really did not care. A better job with more responsibilities, along with more stress, so that I can have more money, so that I can buy more...stuff? It all seemed pointless.
The only non-essential items that Matthew spent money on were video games, and he had stopped buying games since getting hooked on his favorite online role-playing game: Celestial Warriors. Matthew could use his programming knowledge to build tools for his job, like his adept coworkers did, however, he preferred to code on projects that interested him. In his off time, he scripted a class boon calculator for Celestial Warriors. Matthew was an expert at the game. Destroying other players in combat was one of his stress relievers.
On most work days, Matthew took his first break at 10:30 AM, his lunch at 1:00 PM, and his second break at 3:00 PM. Like clockwork, he went outside at 10:28 AM, considering the two minutes it would take for him to reach the smoking area. A cool breeze danced along his face, prompting him to briefly close his eyes and drink in the season. The desert Republic of Secov was miserably hot most of the year, but its weather was unmatched in the late fall and winter seasons.
Matthew pulled in a deep puff from his electronic cigarette. His tongue tingled with the cinnamon flavored vapor cloud that slowly drifted from his lips. Sooner than he expected, Matthew was brought into a group text with his two best friends: Kylie and Garret. Kylie sent him a dancing birthday celebration emoji.
“Happy birthday Matt!” Kylie sent.
“Happy B Day bro!” Garret sent.
“Thx guys,” Matthew replied.
“So, what are we doing tonight?” Kylie asked. As usual, Matthew was indifferent. Kylie was always enthusiastic about organizing group events. She texted a number of different activities as suggestions, none of which appealed to Matthew. Garret was happy to go along with any of her ideas.
“What about this mystery room?” Kylie inquired, linking the GPS directions in the text. “They lock us in a room with clues so we can figure out how to escape it.”
“Yeah, we can spend $100 so Garret can figure it out in like 3 minutes,” Matthew joked, prompting Kylie and Garret to reply with laugh out loud emojis. Matthew was right. Garret was brilliant, possessing a broad knowledge base. Sometimes, it seemed as if he knew something about everything. It was no wonder that he was working toward his master's degree in experimental physics.
“What about karaoke?” Kylie asked.
“The karaoke king won't be able to resist, lol,” Garret jested, causing laugh out loud emojis to fill the text. Matthew could not deny Garret's claim. Despite his introverted nature, Matthew loved karaoke. His voice was not sensational, as some had claimed, but his delivery was usually phenomenal. He took time to practice a few selected songs, emulating every subtle fluctuation that he could detect in the original singer's voice. There were times when Matthew's karaoke performances were confused with the original songs. Matthew sent an emoji with his avatar wearing a crown.
“The king accepts, lol. You driving Kylie?” Matthew sent.
“I'll drive,” Garret volunteered.
“Sounds good. I have to go give a poor kid a booster shot,” Kylie sent along with a sad face emoji. Administering shots was the only thing about her job that she hated. Her nurturing spirit made her the perfect nurse.
“Monster,” Matthew joked, stealing a few group’s laughs before heading back into the office. After doing what he considered a sufficient amount of work, Matthew's mind drifted off in the clouds for the rest of the day. His face brightened when his work chat application lit up with a message from Carmen Alverez.
“Can I vid you?” Carmen asked.
“Sure thing,” Matthew replied, accepting her video conference invitation. Matthew tried to mask his bashful reaction to her luminous, taupe colored eyes. Carmen explained her technical issue as Matthew admired her naturally tanned, beautiful face. Matthew did not mind helping Carmen with multiple technical issues that he found to be obvious and clearly documented; anyone else would have tried his patience. Carmen smiled charmingly as she thanked Matthew for his assistance, ending the video chat session. Matthew ended his work day in high spirits, wondering which songs he would sing.
* * *
Carmen silenced the blare of her alarm clock, gently rubbing her sleepy eyes. She soaked in a steaming shower, as her upcoming event weighed heavily on her mind. For weeks she had been planning a party for the underprivileged children at the social center where she volunteered. Over the years, she had grown fond of them and enjoyed seeing them smile. She threw on a casual set of clothes in her favorite color of peach and peeked her head out of her room, scanning the hallway to see if her siblings were awake. Not surprisingly, she was the only one ready for work. She invaded Domingo's room, swinging the door open and closed over again, popping her head in and out of it.
“Dah-aah-aah-om! Get up!” she shouted childishly, dodging the pillow that he lazily threw at her. She gave
her adopted sister Leila the same treatment. As the oldest sibling, Carmen was accustomed to being the responsible one, however, she often took whatever opportunity she could that allowed her to playfully harass them.
The Alverez family owned a spacious four-bedroom home, stylishly decorated in light, desert colors, each room and its furnishings were made singularly beautiful because of Carmen's artful eye. They each had the means to live in their own small apartments; however, they had been very close since childhood and wanted to continue the family atmosphere that they had always enjoyed. They would be sad the day one of them decided to live on their own, especially Carmen. Domingo slid down the stairs, joining his sisters for breakfast. His cheerful countenance contrasted against Leila's cranky demeanor. She slowly worked her way through her cereal bowl.
“I put together some legit beats last night. I should have a song ready for the kids soon,” he reported excitedly. Domingo was passionate about producing music. He put tremendous effort into any project that he worked on, not to mention one for his big sister.
“Nice! Most of the other arrangements are taken care of. The rest of them I can't get to until next month,” she said.
“Now that everything is mostly settled, are you going to finally hang out with us tonight?” Domingo asked. Leila shifted her view toward Carmen, curiously awaiting her response. Carmen had been so wrapped up in preparing for the event that she did not realize that her siblings missed hanging out with her.
“Sure, why not,” Carmen replied.
“Whoo!” Leila exclaimed, swiveling her hip, bumping her rear end into Carmen's. “Time to get down! Let's do karaoke!” Leila had an incredible voice and loved to show it off at karaoke.
“Ah yeah! Hell, I'll even drive.” Domingo said, sharing her excitement. Carmen smiled in amusement.