by Aaron Oster
The two of them spent the rest of the day packing up and preparing for the day to come, although they already knew it would not be easy.
Roy weaved through the multitude of magma pools and pillars, hearing the lizards' hissing and feeling the intense heat bearing down on him. The path was just a few yards away now.
He dove, tucking into a roll and coming up on flat, solid ground. Aika was already waiting, her chest expanding and contracting evenly as she allowed the white light to fade from her body.
“That was close,” Roy said, swiping at his forehead and feeling the scorching air try to burn his lungs from the inside out.
The two of them watched as the lizards slunk back into the pools, and within just a couple of minutes, the area was completely clear.
“It’s unnerving,” Aika said, looking around the now empty area.
“Tell me about it,” Roy replied.
The way the creatures vanished so quickly was eerie. Had they not seen them with their own eyes, they would not have believed that just a minute ago, the area had been swarming with dozens of Beasts out for blood.
“Let’s keep moving,” he finally said, looking out to the path ahead. “We have no idea where the next safe zone is, and if I’m not wrong, the heat is only going to get worse.”
True to his words, the heat continued to intensify the longer they walked. Their Armorer techniques were smoking by the time they found another safe zone, and getting into it was even more fun than the last. The lizards were larger this time and far more aggressive. The two of them suffered only minor injuries but were forced to take another couple of days before setting out again. In this manner, they made their way across the floor and finally made it to the other side.
“Please tell me we’re not going to have to fight that thing,” Aika said as they entered a separate cavern and found themselves facing a lizard that was nearly four times the size of an average bear.
The air was blisteringly hot, and with each breath, Roy felt like his insides were being melted, dissolving into a mushy paste.
“I don’t think so,” he said, looking across the red-tinged room to the opposite wall. “There’s an opening behind the Beast, so I think we can make it through without fighting.”
It made a strange sort of sense that this was an obstacle to maneuver around, rather than one to fight. Their entire experience on this level had been to run, rather than fight, and Roy didn’t think they would stand much of a chance of killing this Beast, even under the best of conditions, and these conditions were about as far from ideal as one could get.
The Beast cracked an eye, revealing a slitted pupil inside a sapphire iris shot through with gold.
“So…Run?” Aika asked.
“Run,” Roy repeated.
Light blazed around them both as they used their Armorer techniques, and they split, Roy going right and Aika left.
There’s only one beast, after all, Roy thought, so splitting its attention shouldn’t be too hard.
The Beast opened its mouth and unleashed a violent spray of molten stone.
“That’s no lizard!” Geon yelled in his mind. “It’s a juvenile dragon!”
“How many types of these things are there?” Roy snapped, having already faced one of these monstrosities in the Inu Arena.
He leaped into the air, kicking down hard and propelling himself higher as the spray of liquid stone melted through a solid pillar in an instant, liquefying it.
“A lot,” Geon said plainly. “A lot, a lot.”
This Beast, as far as he could tell, was at the peak of Blue-Belt, just as the last Guardian had been. But in these conditions, they wouldn’t win a fight – especially against a freaking dragon!
“If this is a juvenile, what the hell does an adult look like?” Roy exclaimed as he dropped to his back, skidding along the burning hot ground as another spray of molten stone flew overhead.
“Exactly,” Geon said as Roy punched at the ground, throwing himself into the air with a blast of Qi, narrowly avoiding the wash of death as the Beast changed its angle of attack.
“Exactly like what?” Roy yelled, kicking at the air and throwing himself into a roll as the Beast whipped its head upward.
The line of death followed, splashing against the floor and wall, leaving a molten trench where the lava touched.
“Hell,” Geon said plainly.
“And what would you know about that?”
“As far as I can tell, it’s just some made-up thing a lot of you mortals believe in,” Geon said dismissively. “If you ask me, when you die, whatever remains of your Essence is dissipated into the world, to be reborn as someone new. That is, only if someone like me doesn’t eat you first.”
Roy didn’t want to talk about the concept of the afterlife right now, especially seeing as he was a single misstep away from finding out if it was real.
However, as he landed, the dragon twisted, unleashing another spray of lava in the opposite direction. Aika nimbly dodged around the lances of burning stone, although she was nearly caught about a half dozen times before the Beast turned its attention back on him.
The cavern was quite large, and there were basically no obstacles that would stand up against that monster’s breath attacks. The two of them were left to charge head-on, while the Beast continued trying to kill them.
Roy trailed behind Aika by a couple of steps and could feel his Armorer technique breaking down from the heat as they reached the halfway point. There were about fifteen yards between them now, and that distance was narrowing as the cavern walls closed in, centering on the exit with the dragon now sitting squarely in front of it.
Worse, the closer together the two of them were forced to be, the easier it would be for the dragon to hit them both. As though reading his thoughts, the Dragon’s mouth opened again, only this time, instead of a concentrated beam of molten stone, it unleashed a wide spray that shot across the room at waist level.
Roy rocketed into the air with his Airstep, while Aika ran at the wall, using her momentum to run along its length for a few seconds before coming back down. The dragon blasted them again, but with these wider-aimed attacks, the duration seemed to be quite short.
Something was bothering Roy about the Beast as they drew nearer, and he voiced his concern to Geon.
“Is it just me, or are those spaces between its scales growing redder?”
It was genuinely hard to tell by now, as it was so hot, his sweat evaporated almost as soon as it broke out on his skin. While it had annoyed him previously, Roy very much wished the perspiration would stick around, as his skin was beginning to blister.
“No. It’s definitely not just you,” Geon said.
Roy clearly remembered the massive attack the last dragon he’d faced had unleashed, and judging by how much heat this monster seemed to be giving off, the two of them were going to be in for some serious hurt or likely death if they allowed that attack to hit them.
Aika had yet to notice it, but as the Beast opened its mouth to spray them again, the scales grew redder. The heat was so intense right now that Roy’s Armorer technique was all but gone and he could feel the hairs on his arms smoldering. He couldn’t help himself from wondering if his or Aika’s hair would catch fire if the heat grew any stronger.
Then, the moment came. He and Aika were only five yards apart when the Beast suddenly reared up on its hind legs, showing the glowing scales all along its chest. With little time to act, Roy dug deep and used his Full-body technique.
New strength flooded him as his Qi began pumping through his channels rapidly, hexagonal plates forming around his body as his movements and reaction speed increased exponentially. He dashed forward, lifting Aika off the ground and leaping into the air, just as the dragon came down.
Its mouth opened wide and a spray of roaring lava burst forth, spreading out wider and wider as it worked to fill the entire cavern. Roy kicked back, his foot moving so quickly that the air turned solid beneath it. He shot forward, kick
ing again as the threat of fiery death expanded, growing ever higher.
He kicked again, blasting them clean over the dragon’s head, then kicked upward, driving them into the ground. This close to the dragon, Roy could feel his skin begin to catch fire, even through the Full-body technique. Aika’s hair, just as he’d suspected, was smoldering, on the verge of burning away.
But one final push saw them through the exit and out into freedom. The two of them tumbled forward, the overwhelming, burning heat vanishing in an instant. Roy groaned, his body feeling like absolute crap as he looked back over his shoulder. From this angle, he could see the dragon’s backside, its sinewy tail whipping back and forth as it continued to attack a room that was now empty.
“If I ever talk to you about going into a Dungeon like this again, punch me,” Roy said, rolling onto his back.
“Will do,” Aika groaned, pressing her face into cool stone and trying to soothe her burns.
They could both hear the sounds of rushing water from the end of the tunnel, but right now, neither of them had the strength to so much as move.
39
“I feel like I’m in paradise,” Aika groaned as she slowly spread the white paste that was inside the stone chest over her arms and face.
Roy, who’d already applied the paste to everywhere he could reach, agreed. After dragging themselves from the tunnel and into the safe zone, they’d immediately gone into the water, clothes and all. It was only once they’d thought to check the chest that they’d found this incredible burn ointment.
“Would you mind getting the center of my back?” Aika asked.
She’d pulled her robe off and was facing away from him, her bare back slathered in the ointment except for one spot at the very center. Normally, Roy might have felt strange or been embarrassed, but he felt the pain himself. He saw how red and burned that spot was, and he wasn’t going to refuse her.
“So long as you get mine after,” Roy said, moving over to help.
Aika let out a long sigh as Roy spread the paste over the small spot she couldn’t reach, the muscles in her back relaxing as he covered it liberally.
“Anywhere else you missed?” Roy asked.
“The backs of my shoulders still seem a bit sore. Do you see any bare spots there?”
Roy, who’d been keeping his gaze locked on her back so his eyes wouldn’t accidentally wander, looked up a bit.
“Yeah, but they’re small,” he said, moving to cover them up.
Aika sighed once more, completely relaxing and looking back to give him a wide smile. Roy snorted out a laugh, as her face, covered in the white goo, looked quite funny.
“You don’t look any less ridiculous yourself,” Aika said, not at all bothered by his amusement.
“I can’t imagine I do,” Roy said, turning his back on her as she reached for her robe.
“Ouch, that looks painful,” Aika said, seeing the big red welt on his back.
Roy was quite a bit less flexible than Aika, simply due to the fact that she was a woman. Hermit had once explained to Roy that up until around Gold-Belt, she would remain more flexible, while Roy’s physical strength would likely outclass hers. Once they reached that point, though, the differences in physicality between men and women all but disappeared.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel all that great,” Roy said, as Aika began spreading the paste over the exposed areas on his back and shoulders.
The paste itself had to have some sort of accelerated healing properties worked into it, because no regular burn ointment should work this well this quickly. Once Aika was done, Roy pulled his robe back on and turned to examine the cavern in more detail. It looked pretty much identical to the last, with an opening on the other side, descending to the next level.
Neither of them needed to say how long they would be staying. They would remain until their burns had healed and their bodies had recovered. It was still a bit too early for dinner, so to pass the time, the two of them went over the chest’s contents.
Oddly enough, aside from the ointment, it contained pretty much the same items as the previous floor, leaving them with a box of Pills, two sets of robes each, a small pack with four flasks of the same Liquid Supplements, and two more pins.
“Do you think these pins are like the keys we needed to gather in the Trials of Water?” Roy asked, examining his pin.
“No idea,” Aika replied. “But now I’ve got one for my hair as well!”
Roy watched as she slid it through the band holding her ponytail together, putting the small cap on the tip and turning to grin at him. The white burn paste was beginning to crack, leaving her looking even more ridiculous than before.
They were both in a pretty good mood for the rest of the day. The pain of their burns was being managed, it was nice and pleasant here, and there were no monstrous lizards and extreme heat waiting for them on the other side. That knowledge alone helped them both sleep more soundly that night, and the next morning, Roy felt much better.
The paste still had to be reapplied a few times, and moving around too much would aggravate their wounds. Aika spent most of her day cultivating, while Roy worked on improving his techniques by running them over in his head as he had back in the Inu Arena.
He still found it a bit strange that he’d managed to learn eight Qi techniques when he was still missing his Full-body and Full-area Essence techniques. It was beyond strange. Then again, now that he knew the truth, he had to wonder if these were the same techniques he’d used as a child, back before he could remember.
He exhaled, running through each of the eight techniques in his mind. There was Physical Exploding Fist-Strike, where his Qi would lance outward, injecting lightning-like branches into an opponent’s body so long as he made physical contact. He also had his Shockwave Airstep, a Movement technique where he could move with explosive speed, and even take a few small steps in the air if he kicked down hard enough. He also went over his Trace Hex, his Armorer technique, where hexagonal golden lines would trace a barrier over his skin to protect him from harm.
Finally, there was the Full-body technique, where all three were added together and enhanced many times over. His muscles bulked up, his blows landed harder, he moved faster, and he could run through the air with no problems. With it, his armor was also tougher, and his physical blows packed more of a jolt. This technique was as of yet unnamed. But Roy thought he had something suitable — The Speed Strike.
He liked the way it sounded, simple and to the point.
Then came the techniques that worked through the spirit. There was the Projected Void Sphere-Pulse, where a lance of Power Qi would flash between him and an opponent, displacing the air before impact. The air would shatter any defenses, and the lance would skewer them. He thought about his Terrain technique, Constellation Cluster, where he would reach out into his surroundings, weaving his Qi with the Essence in the air and form small spheres in a shape that mimicked the stars above. They would each fire a beam, coming to a single point before hitting their target. His Containment technique, Overflow-Plus, was where Qi would pour out of him in a massive, spherical wave, halting any within its range.
Finally, there was the Full-area technique, where he would flood an area with Qi, trapping any within. The bonds would be tighter, while the Qi in the air actively attacked his targets. Lightning-like Qi would continually stream between all who were trapped within, and all of this happened without Roy even having to touch them. He’d come up with a suitable name for this one as well — The Power Shackle.
He hadn’t run that name by Aika but had pointedly decided to put it off because he knew she wouldn’t like it. But he did, and it was his technique, so he figured it didn’t matter for now.
Then, there was the last technique, the one that would join the power of all the previous eight and multiply them many times over. For some reason, he just couldn’t seem to figure it out, no matter how hard he tried. The Conqueror technique would mark him as a Grandmaster, a title earned by fewer th
an one in every million Martial Artists.
Then again, could he even be called a Grandmaster if he had yet to figure out an Essence version of a Full-body and Full-area technique, let alone a Conqueror? What would you call someone who’d learned all nine Qi techniques, but only knew six of Essence? A Grand without the Master?
“I don’t understand why you would even need to learn those inferior techniques,” Geon said. It seemed Roy’s thoughts had leaked through.
“How many times have you seen Hermit actually go all out?” Roy asked.
“What does that have to do with you? Geon asked.
“Since you haven’t noticed, let me tell you. Barely ever. Hermit, a Sovereign, barely ever uses his Reiki, and do you know why?”
“Because he’s soft?” Geon replied. “Because he doesn’t have the guts to rip things apart the way someone like him should?”
“Because it’s wasteful,” Roy said, trying to ignore Geon’s eccentricities and stay on topic. “Why use Qi to blow something up when the same result could be accomplished using Essence? It would cost me far less, both in time and effort.”
“Maybe, but it wouldn’t be as fun,” Geon muttered. “Watching meat sacks pop is entertaining.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“No. You’re disgusting. Constantly shoving things in one hole, just to push them out of another. Always making weird noises. Always being so stupid…”
“And I suppose you’re perfect then?” Roy retorted sarcastically.
“Of course,” Geon replied, sounding a little too smug. “We’re bright, shiny, intelligent, don’t need to constantly eat to stay alive, and best of all, we make things that last. Whatever you make, just…”
Roy slammed his mind shut on the Dungeon Core. He didn’t need to hear more insults regarding his bathroom habits. He tried to go back to concentrating on his techniques, but Geon had ruined any chance of him doing that, so he instead went back to forging Chakra.