by Luca Braña
Henry’s movements had gotten sluggish as he felt more and more sleepy. Even as he tried to trap her into a forest of trees and vines to drown out her voice, it was useless as the effect was already successful. Too sleepy to do anything, he fell to his knees, unable to stop the lamia girl from approaching him and wrapping her snake half around his body.
The scientist announced that she had won, and while Henry’s standing stayed good, the girl’s own increased enough to avoid being… discarded. Cyko could see that she was crying in relief, just like the girl from the first day. She whispered something to Henry who smiled and let himself fall asleep. She carried him back to an area with empty seats, and refused to let him go until he woke up, which Cyko and Magy found hilarious.
“The next combat will be between Subject Number 100, Reddox, and Subject Number 444, Cyko. Both subjects may proceed to the arena,” that awful voice echoed around again, causing the boy to sigh in annoyance. He had been called to fight, again?
“Good luck, big bro!” Myo whispered to him with a smile as he got up.
“Yeah, dear Cyko, take care of yourself.” Magy smiled briefly before she narrowed her eyes. “Scythe says he has a lot of power inside him. So much it made me unnerved the first time I met him. Please, Cyko, be careful.”
Cyko nodded and forced his lips to turn upwards. He would be careful; he didn’t want his family and friends to be worried about him.
As Cyko arrived to the center of the arena, he felt someone’s eyes on him and instinctively knew it was Tela. “All right, both of you are in good standing. You can fight to your heart’s content, but… Once again, please, try not to hurt each other too much, and remember. We are all in this together. No matter how hard or how badly either of you loses, no hard feelings, okay?” she said with a gentle voice, to which both nodded in agreement, before looking at each other.
“Cyko,” she narrowed her eyes at him from across the arena, “I actually had some trouble convincing him to help us. Apparently, the scientists value him and his power of magic, a unique category so he is treated well by them, despite being subject to the horrible experiments we all were, at first. Thankfully, Ellyn managed to convince him to help us. Be careful, however, if what he says is true, then he is even more powerful than me,” Tela said in a worried voice.
“Thank you Tela, don’t worry, win or lose, we are all in this together, aren’t we?” he replied with a smile, hoping it would get through to her.
“It seems we will be opponents for today,” Reddox said as he crossed his arms.
Cyko nodded to him in respect. “Yes, I’m sorry in advance if I hurt you too much. On that note, how is Ellyn? Is she doing better?” the blue-haired boy asked in worry, causing the redhead in front of him to smirk.
“That airhead is fine. She complained of a bruise on her stomach, but by now the mark is mostly faded. If she is called to fight later today, she should be able to give the same level of performance,” he said, the serious expression on his face barely changing.
The blue-haired boy let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I’m glad she is better now.” He got into a stance and let his power flow through his veins, covering him in a bluish aura.
“Again, no hard feelings,” he repeated, earning a nod from the redhead who let his own power show: crimson lightning streaking across his body. Several red-covered books came out of his body.
“Yes, no hard feelings. Although, I may get you back a little for punching my… friend.” Reddox let the full pressure of his power flow out of him. Cyko was sweating—Magy was right, he really did have a lot of power running through his body! Is that the power of an awakened mage?
“I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Cyko chuckled as he forced more of his power to flow through him with a grin, increasing the intensity of the blue aura around his body. This was bound to be fun.
They stood there, looking at each other, waiting for an opening… And then, before Cyko could realize what had happened, he found two large beams of red energy streaking towards him at an alarming speed, launched from two of the six books flying around the redhead. Barely able to react, he dodged the beams by crouching low to the ground and rolling away after he saw another tome charge up and fire in his direction.
Noticing the deep crater it left, he cursed, although the grin didn’t leave his face. He could see Reddox’s lips moving quickly and before he knew it, a large pentagram appeared below him followed by a torrent of energy jumping out of it, paralyzing him in place.
Pushing his enhancement to the limit once more, Cyko used all his strength to break free of the binding Reddox had placed him under, jumping away just a moment before the large beams of red energy roasted him.
Finding his footing on the ground again, he used the same strategy he did with Ellyn, by zigzagging towards Reddox to avoid his arcane bullets. Arriving in front of him, he prepared to deliver a powerful punch, but a book appeared and shot a potent beam of red energy, which covered him entirely. Reddox exhaled as the attack ended, but noticed something weird. There was no sign of Cyko anywhere.
Appearing behind him, Cyko took advantage of his momentary distraction to send another punch against him, aimed at the back of his head, putting all of his strength behind it, in case there was a barrier, like Ellyn used. As expected, a shield appeared to stop his attack, but it shattered from the impact of his fist, only slowing him down a bit.
Reddox was surprised and had no time to react to the attack which launched him across the ground, rolling uncontrollably. Not wasting any precious seconds, the blue-haired boy rushed to follow him, intending to knock him out before he could recover. He needed to take advantage of this opportunity!
Just before he could reach him, something happened. One moment, Reddox was still rolling on the ground and the next, he was gone and Cyko found himself wrapped up inside the pages of a book. Still dazed at the suddenness of it all, he couldn’t brace himself as they all exploded.
“Ghhk!” he grunted in pain, burns showing on his exposed skin and torn clothing, but he was able to dodge another large beam of crimson energy that shot past him. He found the redhead on the opposite way of where he had launched him, and he seemed no worse for wear—he even had a challenging smirk on his face, which Cyko mirrored. This guy, he was good!
Deciding to test something, he concentrated on the feeling running through his veins and once again launched himself at Reddox, who was ready this time, employing the use of a barrage of projectiles followed by giant waves of energy from his books. Cyko avoided some, but was engulfed by one of the larger waves, vanishing from Reddox’s vision.
Once again appearing behind the redhead, he prepared himself to lash out, but Reddox was ready and a book appeared in front of Cyko, ready to engulf him in red energy. The blue-haired enhancer managed to avoid the attack and appear besides Reddox with his legs raised, ready to strike.
As he was about to hit the redhead, however, another strange occurrence happened. Once more, Cyko found himself far away from Reddox, with all six of his tomes around him, charging up and leaving no escape routes. The enhancer’s eyes widened as they all fired against him at once, causing a large pillar of red energy to form where the attack occurred.
To Reddox’s displeasure, he found himself face-to-face with Cyko, again. He had a mad grin on his face despite almost being pummeled by six books. He was clearly enjoying himself in this fight. Once more, reality changed before the enhancer, and he found himself paralyzed, wrapped up in book paper, and all of Reddox’s grimoires aimed right at him.
“Overkill much?” he asked with a smirk at seeing all that Reddox had aimed at him.
The mage returned his smirk. “You are strong, I need to take this seriously,” Reddox’s lips mouthed out words as if he was charging up his spell books. All at once, they fired against the struggling enhancer, which also caused the paper books wrapped around him to blow up.
For good measure, Reddox created several floating pentagrams, which started to shoot
dozens of projectiles both in the direction Cyko was immobilized before, and all around him in varied, hard-to-dodge patterns. Yet again, however, Cyko appeared mostly unharmed beside the redhead, a toothy grin on his face.
Just as Cyko raised a fist to strike against Reddox, he suddenly felt weak, which gave Reddox plenty of time to summon his tomes back and launch an energy wave against the enhancer which hit him head on this time.
“Ghaaah!” Cyko exclaimed in pain as the arcane energy engulfed him.
As the debris around them dissipated, Cyko was revealed, standing, his body covered in nasty burns, grunting in pain as he tried to get up. Eventually, he sighed and decided that it would not be wise to continue this fight. Reddox had gotten him this time, despite the new trick he discovered.
“You were caught in a hex, a strength draining one. I’m still learning how to use them effectively, but the one I used was good enough to slow you down enough for my last attack,” Reddox explained as he approached the downed enhancer who smirked at his words.
“Hah, Magy was right, you really are powerful. And versatile too, I doubt even those mages over there can hold a candle to you,” his opponent said grinning despite his loss before trying to get up to a sitting position.
“Combat concluded. Winner remains in perfect standing, loser’s standing rose considerably. The next combatants will be chosen shortly,” Dr. Gacha’s voice hung around the Coliseum, making Cyko groan in distaste. When would these fights stop? Sure, he might enjoy it, but others certainly don’t.
“You did well, Cyko, the battle was amazing! You also seem to have unlocked a new ability, congratulations, I’m so happy for you!” Tela exclaimed in his mind, sending warm and prideful feelings. She always knew how to make him feel better.
“You were strong too, Cyko. Had I not mastered a special ability, you would’ve likely bested me at least two times by now. Let me take care of your wounds,” Reddox said with respect before pointing his hand at Cyko, who blinked as he was covered in a reddish energy. Slowly, the burns on his body disappeared.
“That’s… That’s amazing… You can cure wounds like these?” Cyko asked in amazement as he rose, looking at the redhead in awe, causing the boy to look away in embarrassment.
“Yes… I actually used to have cancer before awakening my powers. I was close to death. I was able to use my magic to cure myself.” He looked around as he spoke as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. Cyko’s eyes widened.
“Cure cancer... By yourself… H-hey, do you think you would be able to cure a disease that makes a person’s muscles weak?” Cyko asked, voice trembling in hope as he contemplated the possibility.
Reddox frowned. It would be hard, but if he had enough time to study it, maybe… “Possibly, I would need to see them first,” he answered in honesty as Cyko smiled so big it looked like his face couldn’t stretch any further.
“C-come with me, then!” he exclaimed, grabbing the startled redhead by the wrist and dragging him towards the main stairs.
“Hey! Some warning would be nice, first!” Reddox exclaimed uncharacteristically as he was dragged off by the excited enhancer. Cyko wasted no time moving towards his seat, where Magy and Myo were watching with amusement and confusion, respectively.
“Magy! Myo! Remember Reddox? I just fought him!” Cyko offered, which made the pink-haired girl let out a giggle at his words.
“Of course, we were watching it! What a great battle, both of you!” She smiled at them with praise, almost completely covering up the hint of worry in her eyes. She had nearly jumped out of her skin several times during the past twenty minutes.
“Yeah! You two are so strong!” Myo bounced in his seat, which caused Reddox to turn towards him with a speculative glance.
Magy’s smile turned upside down as she watched his reaction. “Is there something wrong with Myo?”
Reddox shook his head.
“Is this the one you wanted me to cure, Cyko?” the redhead asked out of politeness as Magy’s eyes widened.
“C-cure? You can cure him?!”
“Perhaps, if I have enough time to study his disease,” he answered her before turning back to Myo, whose forehead wrinkled. His eyes brightened as he realized what they had said. A cure!
“I-is that possible?” he whispered in uncertainty, looking up at the red-haired mage, who nodded his head.
“Possible, yes, but I won’t lie. Depending on how serious it is, it may be difficult for my current level of skill. Let me take a quick look,” Reddox offered as he raised his hand and pointed towards the smaller boy, who flinched as his body glowed with a reddish aura, “hmm… muscle degeneration, it seems. I can give you a temporary strengthening boost to mitigate the effect for now, but an actual cure will take some time to engineer.” Reddox looked towards Cyko, who had tears in his eyes.
“Th-then… It’s really possible?!” Cyko exclaimed.
“Indeed, like I said, it’ll take some time, but I should have a formula ready in a week at most,” he explained.
“M-my weakness… Can be cured? I… I…” the small child stuttered, his voice and eyes full of emotion. Magy herself looked very hopeful at his words. If he could heal Myo, then… he should be able to perform well in the experiments and reduce his chances of being discarded!
“Yes, don’t worry, I’ll just ask that you all work hard with making your escape plan succeed in return for my services. For now, let me give you this,” the redhead said as he reached out to touch the boy’s shoulder.
Myo felt a sensation of pure energy and strength enter his body, blinking in surprise. He felt much more powerful now!
“This is a strengthening charm. It’ll reinforce your body for a few hours. Should come in handy if your name is picked,” Reddox said with a smile before turning back to Cyko, “if that’s all, I’ll be returning to Ellyn’s side.” He bowed slightly as a show of respect, earning a nod of gratitude and a bow from Cyko, who watched as he departed.
After Reddox went away, the combats continued, with another one of his sisters, Anna, called to fight against a brown-haired boy. Her opponent had the ability to control earth, similar to the giant lion the other day, but instead of turning earth to dust, he could control it directly.
It was an interesting fight as Anna’s plasma blasts were blocked again and again by thick earth walls raised by the brown-haired elemental. He tried to crush her with them several times, but her charged shots always managed to carve a way out in time. They had to hold back to not hurt each other too much, but in the end, Anna managed to pierce his defenses by using an explosive blast that knocked him out.
Matthew was the next called to fight—the last of his orphanage family members to be summoned. His opponent was a blue-haired girl who, in opposition from his own powers, could breathe arctic blasts. She first tried to freeze the entire arena with her breath, but Mat melted it immediately. After that, they clashed their powers against one another, hoping that either extreme heat or sub-zero cold would turn the match in their favor. They both ended up panting on the ground, short of breath. Their battle ended in a draw, neither of them suffered a loss of interest from the scientists, who considered their abilities incredibly useful.
“Subject Number 443, Myo, will be the first combatant of the next match,” the scientist’s clinical voice announced and Cyko could feel Magy stiffen.
It was his opponent that made them panic.
“Subject Number 357, Drago, will be the second combatant for this match. Both subjects may make their way to the arena,” the ominous voice of the head scientist called out. Cyko, eyes wide in terror, turned to his little brother.
Myo’s face was one of shock, but at the same time, the enhancer could see determination brewing behind it. Myo was called to face the strongest of the mutant ward, and from the way he was breathing, he knew… Myo would not back down, no matter how frightened he felt. Even still, the terror and despair in Cyko’s heart was twisting his stomach, because as he turned to look at the e
normous dragon, he could see only a predatory smile on his face.
9
Dr. Gacha watched as the two polar opposite subjects made their way towards the center of the arena. Drago, in his massive form, jumped from his seat towards the middle of the Coliseum and waited for his opponent with an impatient look in his eyes.
It would be a swift match, he decided. Unlike the other subjects in the previous battles, 443 showed no promise. His hidden ability, while useful, crippled him to a point where he would become disabled in the coming months if he kept using it. It was a good thing his little Shiro decided to go back to his office to nap at the conclusion of the last match, for he was sure that 443 would be demolished.
The entire science team—from analysts to experiment managers—was present in the security room overseeing the Coliseum at the moment. These live battles allowed them to collect precious data that they would use for future versions of Project R.N.G. Simulated combat with drones could only get them so far, and subjects they previously thought would be useless proved themselves to be valuable enough to justify the costs.
However, he doubted that Subject 443 would be able to raise his worth. Dr. Gacha was a scientist foremost, and he needed to abide by the results of the coming battle to decide whether Myo should be discarded.
Sitting at his sides were Doctors Ferdinand and Ivanovski, two of his most trusted scientists. They were both conducting an analysis of potential in real time, allowing them to measure the worth of any subject in combat at any given moment. As Dr. Gacha was looking at the screen, observing as 443 was making his way towards the arena, he didn’t notice the frowns on both doctors' faces.
“Dr. Gacha. If I may, shouldn’t we have someone else face 357? Subject 443 shouldn’t be able to survive with the data we have gathered so far,” the bearded scientist said, earning a nod from the bespectacled one.
“Indeed. 357 is too powerful, while 443 is too weak. I recommend we make another random selection,” he complimented his partner, causing Dr. Gacha to close his eyes.