by J. Cee
Aeri’s firm grim stopped Ceph. “Wait.”
Ceph followed Aeri’s eyes to the scene across the pit. A group of Everborn, all with red auras, had surrounded the Word. He spotted the woman who had been guarding Zeudah. Zeudah himself was still standing in the fighting pit with a calm expression.
A young man stepped towards the Word. His voice was strong and clear. “You’re not welcome here.”
The Word made a high-pitched keening. Some of the Everborn moved away. Ceph’s stomach twisted as he realized that the Word was laughing.
The Word grasped the young man’s shoulders as if giving him a sturdy welcome. The young man started screaming, but it was too late. Before anyone could respond, there was a flash of violet brilliance. When Ceph opened his eyes again, he saw Zeudah holding the Word’s wrists. The young man was leaning on another Everborn with a sick expression.
Zeudah pushed the Word back. Ceph had no doubt about the strength of the shove, but the Word’s feet somehow didn’t budge. The Word leaned back slightly, then straightened again in a strange, inhuman motion.
“You dare violate Pit law?” Zeudah said, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.
The Word’s lilting voice sang out. “I come to watch you fight. Is that not allowed?” At that moment, the Word looked across at Ceph again. Its burning mouth twisted into a smile.
Zeudah shifted his weight slightly. He blocked the Word’s path to Ceph and Aeri. Was that intentional? Ceph couldn’t see Zeudah’s face from where he was.
“As of this moment, you and your servants are banned from the Gladiator Pits,” Zeudah said. “Be gone. Now.”
More Everborn joined the group surrounding the Word. Angry faces glared at it from all sides. The display of solidarity was apparently too much. After glancing around, it turned away from Zeudah, as if to leave. Without warning, the Word sent what looked like a Soulstrike at the Everborn who had first spoken to it. This time, Zeudah wasn’t able to protect him. The young man’s body disintegrated.
When Ceph looked back at the Word, it was gone.
For the next ten minutes, Everborn swirled around Zeudah, asking questions or waiting for orders. During this time, the three challengers waited in the pit.
“They seem amused. Isn’t that suspicious?” Ceph said to Aeri.
“Hard to say,” Aeri replied. “The timing was convenient. If the fight had already begun, Zeudah would have had no choice but to finish his match first. Gladiators prize the sanctity of the fight, above all else.”
“Could the others stop the Word? They seemed loyal to Zeudah.”
“Maybe. Loyalty is a fickle thing among the Everborn. Even more so here. The strong command, but only as long as they can demonstrate their strength.”
“That sounds a lot like what the spirit guardians were saying,” Ceph noted.
Aeri didn’t reply.
After the commotion had died down, Zeudah announced that the fight would proceed as planned. He stepped back into the fighting pit, opposite the three challengers who hadn’t left their starting positions the entire time.
“Let’s get this over with,” Zeudah said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
The official looked at the other three fighters, who nodded in agreement. As soon as he signaled the start of the match, the pit exploded with action.
Zeudah had somehow cast multiple Soulstrikes at the same time into the ground between the fighters. The resulting clouds of dirt obscured everyone’s vision. Zeudah took one step and somehow shifted his whole body across the dirt cloud, flanking the assassin. The giant roared and charged straight through the dirt cloud with a Rush-like skill but found no one in front of him.
Ceph had trouble tracking what happened next, as the settling dust still obscured the fighters. The assassin and metallic man had switched positions. The metallic man was holding his enormous tower shield up, which glowed blue, absorbing several Soulstrikes from Zeudah. The assassin remained crouched behind the metallic man, taking advantage of his defense. There was a brief lull in the attacks. The assassin hurled himself forward through the air, his dagger outstretched for a vicious strike.
There was a flash as the assassin struck a shield of some kind from Zeudah. He leapt backwards to his original position behind the metallic man. Even with the dust thinning out, Ceph could barely keep track of the swift movements of all the fighters.
By the time the assassin’s feet touched the ground again, Zeudah was behind him, waiting with a glowing fist. Ceph hadn’t seen him move at all.
“How did he–” Ceph began.
“Just watch. We can talk later,” Aeri said.
Ceph continued staring with his mouth wide open as Zeudah cast an entire swath of Soulstrikes in one sweep of his arm. The numerous Soulstrikes hit the assassin across his entire body and sent it crashing into the metallic man. Zeudah was about to deliver another attack when the giant leapt at him, axes swirling. Zeudah held up his hands and shouted something right as the giant’s axes were about to bite into him. The giant went still, frozen in time for a moment. Zeudah placed his hands on the giant’s chest and discharged a violent burst of energy. Then, Zeudah took a step and suddenly appeared a safe distance away again. The scattered team slowly picked themselves up from their various positions on the ground.
Zeudah’s flat mouth echoed his disappointment. He beckoned to the challengers. “Give me your best shot. Take your time.”
The giant looked ready to charge again, but the assassin whispered something to make him stop. After more whispering, the trio approached Zeudah with slow, careful steps. When they were about ten meters from him, they struck.
The assassin vanished. The metallic man and giant charged from opposite sides with weapons raised. A pair of shining white daggers shot out at Zeudah from above him, coming out of nowhere. Zeudah flicked a hand above his head three times, sending a trio of Soulstrikes. Two collided with the incoming attacks, effectively blocking them. The third flashed against an empty space in the air. The assassin reappeared and fell to the ground.
“Did he just use a Soulstrike to block a dagger? Twice?” Ceph asked.
Aeri motioned for Ceph to keep quiet. “Later!”
Meanwhile, the giant had turned into a cyclone of axes. Judging from the physically impossible speed at which the giant spun, Ceph guessed that the spinning wall of death was from some kind of skill. Zeudah sent a lone Soulstrike at the whirling attack, but the spinning edges deflected it. He immediately leapt high above the spinning cyclone, sending a stream of attacks at the cyclone’s center. The giant’s body was crushed into the ground.
“Eye of the storm,” Ceph said to himself.
While Zeudah was still in the air, the metallic man made his move. His sword crackled with power, but the fighter sheathed it, instead holding up his shield with two hands. The shield’s face exploded with what looked like a hundred Soulstrikes, sending a pure wall of destruction at Zeudah right as he came back to the ground.
Zeudah shimmered and disappeared. He reappeared in front of the metallic man, who braced himself behind his shield. Zeudah struck with his right arm, which passed through the shield as if it wasn’t there, and materialized within the metallic man’s chest. The metallic man convulsed as a series of explosions rocked his insides. Zeudah withdrew his hand, and the metallic man’s body fell over lifeless.
The assassin had turned invisible again, but Zeudah didn’t seem concerned. His fist glowed a bright red, like a charged Soulstrike. Except the color was wrong. Zeudah released the attack at an empty spot on the ground, which promptly exploded into the gory remains of the assassin.
Despite Aeri’s repeated requests, Ceph couldn’t help himself. “How’d he know where he was? Why’d his body blow up? This is insane!” Aeri ignored him.
The giant lunged at Zeudah again with his twin axes but Zeudah made a cutting gesture with his hands. The giant and the entire crowd stared in shock as the axes broke into pieces. Zeudah gestured again and the giant’s
body split into two large halves.
The fight was over.
People started chanting. “Champion! Champion!” Zeudah waved at the cheering crowd with the stoic look of a bored actor playing the same role over and over. He scanned the audience as if searching for something or someone.
His eyes came to rest on Ceph and Aeri. Zeudah smiled. Ceph tried not to blink.
* * *
After the match was over, Ceph had an endless stream of questions for Aeri.
“Slow down,” Aeri said.
“How does Zeudah move like that? He disappears and pops up all over the place,” Ceph said.
Aeri’s forehead crinkled. “I’m not sure either. Some skills allow teleportation, but they’re quite rare. Probably artifact level. That doesn’t agree with what I’ve heard.”
“Which is?”
“Zeudah has an artifact, but no one’s mentioned a teleportation skill.”
“It must be that swirly cloak he wears.” Ceph’s eyes hurt even thinking about the strange clothes.
Aeri shook her head in disagreement. “No, that’s not it. Artifacts are rarely that showy. It’s probably a piece of jewelry or something you can’t see. In any case, the people who’ve seen him fight claim his artifact skill is the Twin Paradox. It lets him copy himself into two.”
“Like two of him?” Ceph wasn’t even sure how that would work, but it sounded incredible. Would you have two minds? What happened if half of you died? “He never did that during the fight.”
“No, but…” Aeri seemed to be thinking.
Ceph was forgetting something else about artifacts Aeri had mentioned earlier. What was it? “That’s right! The stranger claimed you would find an ally and artifact at the tournament. Do you think that’s Zeudah?” Ceph’s sudden surge of excitement met Aeri’s calm gaze.
“Oh. You already thought of that.” Ceph studied Aeri. “That why you wanted to stay close to him?”
Aeri shrugged. “It’s possible. We don’t know if we can trust the stranger, Zeudah, or anyone else. It’s the first clue that makes sense, though.”
Something was going to happen at the Pits. Between the Word showing up, hints of the stranger already being here, and learning that Zeudah had an artifact, Ceph was positive that the tournament would be anything but boring. He supposed he should be glad if Aeri made progress, but at the same time, he wasn’t looking forward to more unknown dangers. Ceph sighed. He could at least find out more about fighting in the meantime.
“What about everyone casting so many Soulstrikes at the same time. More equipment?”
“Right, more powerful equipment like that shield grants all kinds of skills.”
“Did you see the part where Zeudah stopped the dagger attacks? Can you parry a Steelstrike with a Soulstrike? I thought parries worked the other way.”
Ceph had tried standard parrying a few times during sparring sessions with Aeri. Stopping a Soulstrike with a weapon was like trying to catch a raindrop with a stick. Aeri, of course, had no trouble with parries, but Ceph found it quite difficult. A reverse parry? It was like trying to throw raindrops at a moving stick. Ceph couldn’t even imagine how difficult that was.
“In principle, yes, but it’s risky and not easy to execute. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially at our ranks.”
Not easy. Ceph chuckled at Aeri’s understatement. “Can you do it?”
Aeri paused to consider. “I think so. Still not a good idea.”
“What about that hand reaching through the metallic man? Isn’t that crazy overpowered? Why didn’t he use that on all of them?”
“Most powerful skills have a long cooldown. That skill might only be available once a day. Or even less.”
“What about that team? They had incredible skills too. Did they all start like me, at rank nine?”
“Yes, that’s how all Everborn start.”
“Geez. All I can do is use shields and Soulstrikes. But those fighters… Zeudah, too. They were different.”
“That’s what happens when you combine your attribute choices with your equipment choices at higher ranks. Again, fighting at lower ranks might be, as you say, a bit bland or uniform. Fighting at higher ranks is a brand new experience.”
“Yeah, so I saw. What did you think about that team?”
Aeri tossed the question back at him. “You tell me.”
“They were obviously really powerful. I can’t believe they lost a three versus one fight.”
“But?” Aeri prodded.
“They had poor teamwork. If you had their skills, do you think you could have beaten Zeudah?”
“Probably not, but I might have lasted longer. An artifact in the hands of a competent fighter is a tremendous advantage, and like you said, Zeudah didn’t even use his artifact’s skill.”
“What would you have done?”
“Probe Zeudah further. He probably used only a small fraction of his true strength.”
“Really?” Ceph couldn’t imagine how Zeudah would be even more powerful. “What about that red Soulstrike he used on the assassin?”
“Some variant of a supercharged Soulstrike. It’s not too uncommon. In any case, it doesn’t matter how much power you have if you can’t wield it effectively. But the reverse is true, too. If all you have are your Soulstrikes and shields, you can still use superior fundamentals to defeat a better equipped opponent.”
Ceph and Aeri watched a few more high-ranking matches during the day, but none of them were as memorable as the Pit Champion’s fight. Since Ceph and Aeri weren’t ranked high enough to take part in the daytime matches, they returned to Zeudah’s tent for more training. Zeudah wasn’t there, which piqued Ceph’s curiosity, but the Pit Champion had left standing orders to allow Ceph and Aeri free entry to his tent.
Inside, the tent wasn’t empty. The same Everborn woman from before stood inside.
“Where is he?” the woman demanded.
“I don’t know?” Ceph ventured.
“Damn it.” The woman turned away from them.
“Is he in trouble?” Aeri asked.
“Yes, you could say that,” the woman sniped. “He’s in trouble, and trouble has a name. Jexaka.”
Ceph’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa. Aren’t you worried about the Word and stuff?”
The woman sniffed with a dismissive air. “The Word is a hound, a dog, nothing more. My master is the Pit Champion. He has nothing to fear from the Word. The real dangers are trickery and corruption.”
“Maybe we can help,” Aeri said. “I’m Aeri, and this is Ceph.”
“Yes, I know who you are, Beastspawn. All of us do.”
“All of you?” Ceph echoed nervously.
“Yes, Zeudah briefed the guards and experienced fighters after the Word’s intrusion. Something about a silly prophecy.”
“And?” Aeri prompted. Ceph noted with satisfaction that Aeri shared his concern for once.
“And what? We don’t care about such things here. Leave that to the Tetramorph and his sycophants.”
Ceph let out his breath. He didn’t realize that he had been holding it. Aeri spoke. “I see. So what’s your name? Perhaps we can help each other.”
The woman gave Aeri a skeptical look. “You’re what, rank seventy or eighty? How can you help me or my master? You don’t amuse me like you do him.”
“Jexaka. The one you spoke of before. She’s meddling with us, and she’s meddling with your master. Same with the Word. We’re connected. We can share what we learn about them.”
The woman passed a critical eye over Aeri, then Ceph. “That’s right. You’re connected to both of my master’s problems. Would killing the two of you get rid of them?”
Ceph took a half step backwards. The Everborn were bloodthirsty maniacs, all of them. Trying to get close to Zeudah had been a mistake, artifact or not. Out of the corner of his eye, Ceph saw Aeri tense and shift her weight to the soles of her feet.
The woman continued, oblivious to the reactions of the Onceborn. “
If only we could kill Everborn,” the woman sighed. “My name’s Lisha. Maybe we can help each other, like you said.”
She assumed that they were Everborn? Ceph’s nerves couldn’t handle much more of the conversation. Was he susceptible to heart attacks in his new body? Or just panic attacks? If only Lisha would leave… Ceph tapped his foot, but stopped himself, not wanting to attract attention from the Everborn woman.
Lisha misunderstood Ceph’s impatience. “It’s agreed, then. I’ll be going. I see that your partner is eager to start your private training.” She emphasized the last word as if it had special meaning, smirking as she did.
“It’s not like that,” Ceph muttered, but Lisha was gone.
Aeri kept her eyes on the flaps covering the tent’s entrance. “Do you think we can trust her?” she asked.
“Trust? I’d trust an Everborn as much as a mouse in a cheese shop. Trust? Of course not.”
“While I have similar feelings, we do need allies,” Aeri said. “And like it or not, my visions are clear on one point. To overthrow the Everborn, we’ll have to find at least one Everborn to help us.”
Ceph and Aeri spent the rest of the daylight hours training. Despite Ceph protesting that it was a hopeless effort, Aeri insisted that Ceph practice parrying attacks with his katana. She tossed small rocks she had gathered from the surrounding campgrounds at Ceph. He swung his weapon at them with mixed success.
When Aeri tossed the rocks underhand, Ceph had no problem knocking the rocks aside with his weapon. When she hurled the rocks at him, he still managed to hit most of the rocks. Once Aeri threw the rocks fast enough to mimic a Soulstrike, though, he could only block one out of ten rocks. The rocks couldn’t hurt his blood pool, but that didn’t mean his pride wentundamaged.
“This is impossible,” Ceph complained as another rock bounced off his chest.
As a concession to his inexperience, Ceph practiced with his katana already drawn. Aeri, on the other hand, could draw her dagger and parry an attack in one swift motion. She did the same with the longsword they had earned.
Thud. Thud. Another pair of rocks bounced off Ceph.
“Your problem is that you flinch as you swing,” Aeri said.