Project Xero: Reblood: A LitRPG and Gamelit Adventure

by J. Cee

  The presiding official hadn’t signaled the match’s start, but Aeri sent a rapid trio of Soulstrikes at Jexaka’s face. Seeing that the fighting had started without him, the official shrugged and joined a group of spectators to watch the entertainment.

  Jexaka didn’t cast a shield to counter Aeri’s Soulstrikes. Instead, she drew a thin blade. Three perfectly timed parries met the Soulstrikes, completely blocking their damage without any cost in spirit points. The crowd’s murmurs turned into loud cheers.

  Ceph gawked at Jexaka’s display. He’d seen such speed and coordination from Zeudah, and until now, only one other person.

  “She’s as good as you!”

  “She’s Onceborn,” Aeri whispered to Ceph. “Her movements are too fluid.”

  “So she is your sister.”

  “No! At best an ugly stepsister.”

  Jexaka had heard Aeri. “Ugly? You wound me, dear sister.”

  Jexaka copied Aeri’s earlier attack, sending three Soulstrikes of her own. Aeri wore a sword on her left hip and a dagger on her right. She drew the dagger. A flurry of metal collided with the incoming violet bolts. Aeri had parried the three attacks, mirroring Jexaka’s display.

  The crowd roared its approval. Ceph’s mouth drew tight. He liked boring fights. If the crowd was entertained, it didn’t bode well for him or his nerves.

  “Good,” Jexaka said. “This might be fun.”

  Aeri pointed to the brute at Jexaka’s side. “Kill the weaker one first.”

  “Weaker?” Ceph muttered as the monstrous man charged with a roar, his warhammer lifted high.

  The brute swung the warhammer at Ceph’s head, looking to crush his smaller foe. Ceph drew his sword and sliced upwards in a high arc to catch the hammer’s haft. Hammer clashed with sword. Ceph had expected to block the Steelstrike and was surprised at the wave of pain that flooded his body.

  Jexaka, meanwhile, had been flanking Ceph. She used the brute’s distraction to send a pair of Soulstrikes at him. Aeri instantly dashed to Ceph’s side to parry the attacks. The fighters broke away, each team assessing the other again.

  Ceph glanced at his blood pool. The brute’s attack had taken ten blood points.

  “He damaged me even after my parry,” Ceph whispered to Aeri. He re-sheathed his weapon.

  “His weapon is unblockable,” Aeri whispered back. “Basic hammers do twice the damage with half the speed of a typical sword. Parries only block half of a hammer’s damage. Careful with his bracelet. We don’t know what it does.”

  Before Aeri could say more, Jexaka rushed her with a blade in one hand and a Soulstrike forming in the other.

  “Why don’t we let the pets play, hm?” The Shadowspawn and Aeri exchanged a series of Steelstrikes.

  Ceph turned to help Aeri, but the brute barreled into Ceph, sending him sprawling.

  “Eyes on me, pretty boy,” the brute growled.

  “Great, it talks, too.” Ceph rolled to his feet.

  The fight was split into two solo matches, eliminating the purpose of Ceph and Aeri’s tandem training. As Aeri had said before, a doubles match introduced more interactions, which meant more opportunities to gain an advantage through practiced coordination. In this case, Ceph wasn’t sure which side would fare better.

  Ceph leapt at the brute, meeting a swing of the hammer with his sword again. He grimaced through the expected surge of pain and followed through with a Steelstrike. The brute couldn’t block Ceph’s attack with his slower hammer. His skin glowed blue with an Interference Shield, but Ceph spotted the brute’s aura flickering anyways. His Steelstrike could pierce the brute’s shield, if only slightly.

  Ceph readied a parry for the next hammer blow, but the brute spun at the last instant, receiving Ceph’s blade across his back. The brute completed his spin, the warhammer gaining extra momentum before its spiked end crashed into Ceph’s stomach.

  Deflection Shield. Having missed the parry, Ceph chose the more expensive shield to stop the devastating weapon. His skin glowed yellow a fraction of a second before the hammer’s spike hit him. The weapon bounced away with a dull thud.

  Ceph had been charging a Soulstrike in his right hand during the exchange. He dropped his katana for a split second, unleashed the Soulstrike, grabbed the blade before it reached the ground, and then slashed a Steelstrike across the brute’s face. At the close range, the brute didn’t have time to defend itself from both attacks. The charged Soulstrike caught the brute unprepared, but his skin glowed yellow with a Deflection Shield to counter Ceph’s Steelstrike.

  The crowd whistled and cheered in appreciation of Ceph’s flashy move.

  The brute paused, tilting his head. “Are you playing with me?” he growled. “I’m going to crush you.”

  Ceph gritted his teeth. To deal with his missing left hand, he had practiced a number of one-handed moves. Unfortunately, the brute had taken his actions in the worst way. Could he keep his handicap hidden?

  As the brute charged, Ceph ducked and rolled past him, hoping to gain some space so he could rejoin Aeri’s side. He sent a single Soulstrike as a distraction, but the brute charged again, taking the weak attack head on. Unable to turn his attention elsewhere, Ceph pressed forward.

  The two combatants traded Steelstrikes. For every one of the brute’s hammer attacks, Ceph responded with two sword attacks. Half of Ceph’s attacks would be spent parrying. Half of the brute’s damage would break through Ceph’s parries. The fight was roughly balanced. They could spend spirit points on other skills, but Ceph deduced that the brute’s spirit pool was rather small, like his own. He might be able to gain an advantage using Soulstrikes and positioning, but the brute was crafty, refusing to let Ceph break away from melee range.

  A blur crashed into the brute, breaking the stalemate. The crowd murmured at Aeri revealing her Rush skill. Aeri attacked once with her sword before sheathing it and drawing her dagger to parry an incoming Soulstrike. She cast her own Soulstrike at the disoriented brute and leapt backwards to join Ceph before parrying another incoming Soulstrike.

  “What’s the situation?” Aeri said while keeping her eyes on the opponents.

  “High blood, low spirit,” Ceph said. “Like me.”

  “Same here. Fast and high spirit. Like me.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “You deal with Jexaka. Keep her attacks away. Pure defense. I’ll take care of the big one.”

  Jexaka had reached the fallen brute, who was getting ready to charge them.

  “How? I won’t have enough spirit to keep up with her.”

  “Your weapon.”

  It took a moment for Ceph to understand. “What? I can’t! I’m not you!”

  “Yes, you can. You have to.” Aeri’s eyes flashed. “Fight and win.”

  Before Ceph could complain further, Aeri dashed forward to meet the brute’s charge.

  “Argh!”

  Ceph raced to block a Soulstrike from Jexaka that was heading towards Aeri. Interference Shield. He lunged forward to receive the attack on his side, protecting Aeri. A tingle of pain told him that he had lost several blood points. Jexaka’s high spirit meant that her Soulstrike could partially overcome Ceph’s shield, even at this distance.

  The blue-skinned woman looked at him with disgust. “What’s this?” She raised her voice. “Sister, playing with another’s pet is plain rude.”

  Aeri ignored Jexaka and continued dancing around the brute, delivering attack after attack.

  Jexaka’s eyes flickered with annoyance. “If you break mine, I’ll break yours.” Her gaze settled on Ceph. “Shall we play?”

  “Uh, no?” Ceph tried.

  Jexaka stretched her hand towards him and released a series of Soulstrikes. Ceph cast a fresh Interference Shield even as he raced through his mental calculations. Based on Jexaka’s damage, all she had to do was remain at a distance and send Soulstrike after Soulstrike. He’d run out of spirit and be left helpless in less than a minute. How long did Aeri need?

&nb
sp; Hoping to put Jexaka on the defensive, Ceph raced towards her with his sword drawn. However, Jexaka’s faster movement speed let her control their spacing. He re-sheathed his sword in frustration. Ceph couldn’t close the distance.

  Jexaka seemed to have reached the same strategic conclusion as him. Even as her Soulstrikes pummeled Ceph, Jexaka barely paid him any attention. She instead studied Aeri’s fight with the brute.

  Ceph glanced at the others. The brute’s aura was still rather bright. Aeri clearly had the upper hand, but she needed more time to whittle down his large blood pool. If the evenly matched teams continued on this course, he would likely die at the same time as the brute.

  Four more Soulstrikes smashed into him in quick succession. Ceph grimaced. Corpus. He had already lost a quarter of his blood and a third of his spirit. This wasn’t working. Ceph needed to change the fight. He knew what Aeri wanted. The problem was that it wouldn’t work.

  Aeri wanted Ceph to parry Jexaka’s Soulstrikes, as she herself had done. Their drills with thrown rocks had only progressed a small step forward. He was able to execute a successful parry under careful practice conditions. He would never try a move like that in real combat, ever. Against a weak opponent, he wouldn’t want to reveal his strength to observers. Against a strong opponent, it was insanity. It was always a losing move.

  The whole purpose of a parry was to block all the incoming damage for no spirit cost. That meant Ceph wouldn’t be casting a shield for safety. If Ceph missed a parry, he would receive the full unshielded damage from Jexaka’s powerful Soulstrikes.

  There were scattered boos and jeers from the crowd. Ceph and Jexaka were nearly motionless except for the streaks of violet light shooting from one to the other. What had started as an exciting match had turned into a painful eyesore.

  Corpus. Ceph watched his blood pool trickle away. A brief panic seized him. This was it. He would die.

  His eyes darted about like a cornered animal. Could he run? No, escaping the crowd would be impossible. Ceph could try forfeiting the match, but would Jexaka honor a forfeit? What about Zeudah, who had warned them not to forfeit? Maybe he would relent?

  Ceph grew more desperate as his blood and spirit pools shrank further. It was better for them to take a risk with Zeudah’s punishment than to face certain death here, wasn’t it? As Ceph rationalized his possible options, in the back of his mind, he knew that he was avoiding the simplest option. Fight. Fight and win, like Aeri had said.

  Interference Shield. Ceph renewed his expiring shield, costing him another four spirit points. Another Soulstrike struck him, stripping away another five blood points.

  “Ceph!”

  Aeri hadn’t missed Ceph’s inaction. She sent a Soulstrike at Jexaka, intent on creating an opening for Ceph.

  Jexaka was too surprised to parry Aeri’s attack. She cast a Deflection Shield, scowling in annoyance.

  Ceph took advantage of the distraction to lunge with his sword. He couldn’t counter Jexaka’s speed, as she dodged backwards, keeping herself out of Steelstrike range. At the same time, she cast another Soulstrike at Ceph from the closer distance. Ceph retreated several steps and re-sheathed his sword.

  Meanwhile, the brute had launched a counterattack when he saw Aeri’s attention on the other pair. His warhammer swung into Aeri’s body before she could move out of range, forcing Aeri to cast a Deflection Shield of her own.

  Aeri’s attempt to aid Ceph had been futile, even dangerous.

  “Ceph! I can’t do this alone. Ceph!”

  Interference Shield. Ceph clung to the safety of his shields, delaying his decision further. He wanted to run, to be gone from this crazy Jexaka, from Zeudah, even from Aeri. His eyes strayed to Aeri’s battle with the brute. Aeri twirled like a circus performer around the brute, seeking the blind spot behind him. Did Ceph want to leave her? To let her face the Everborn alone? To die?

  Aeri stood for everything good remaining in his upended world. Anywhere else he ran towards would only lead to more fear and loss, like she had told him many times now. He knew she was right. If he ran, that last spark of hope Aeri had somehow revived within him these past few weeks would wither up and die. Even if he survived, it would be a living death.

  Ceph had his answer. He couldn’t leave her.

  Ceph drew his sword again. Jexaka watched him idly, expecting another useless attack. Instead, Ceph slashed at the next incoming Soulstrike. He missed, but his Interference Shield blunted the attack. Jexaka raised an eyebrow and sent a rapid flurry of Soulstrikes.

  Ceph’s shield expired, but he didn’t renew it. He swung at the next Soulstrike, missing again. He winced as the full Soulstrike seared his body. Without pausing, he focused on the next parry. He felt a jolt in his weapon. He had parried the final Soulstrike.

  He activated his Interference Shield once more, using it’s protection for a moment to collect himself. He could do it. This time, when Ceph’s shield expired, he parried three Soulstrikes before missing the fourth.

  The Shadowspawn scowled at Ceph. “It’s useless. Give up.” She continued her relentless barrage of Soulstrikes.

  Ceph grew more comfortable with the parries as the fight continued. He still missed about one out of every five Soulstrikes, but the spirit he conserved was more than enough to intersperse the occasional shield and allow his blood to regenerate.

  It was working. Ceph’s vision seemed extra clear, and the world around him seemed to move more slowly. He noticed the little details, like the twitches in Jexaka’s hand and arm motions when she prepared a Soulstrike.

  Seeing that her Soulstrikes were no longer as effective, Jexaka attacked with her own sword. She followed Steelstrike after Steelstrike with simultaneous Soulstrikes. Her own Steelstrikes were twice as fast as Ceph’s, indicating a higher harmony, but each attack was weaker.

  Ceph activated an Interference Shield. Rather than parrying, he switched to attacking with his own Steelstrikes. He pitted his larger blood pool and slower but stronger Steelstrikes against Jexaka’s meager blood pool and faster but weaker attacks.

  The two tore at each other with simple and direct attacks. Each dared the other to break off first. The problem was that Jexaka was free to attack with both Soulstrikes and Steelstrikes. Ceph didn’t dare to try his one-handed Soulstrike combinations against Jexaka. As if sensing his hesitation, Jexaka attacked Ceph’s left side with renewed vigor. He was outmatched. He had to do something.

  Ceph broke the attack pattern first, but his aim wasn’t to retreat. Ceph followed a Steelstrike with a swift kick to Jexaka’s chest, throwing her off balance. Jexaka spun to Ceph’s left side, but Ceph had expected the move. Using his left arm, he attacked.

  A Soulstrike burst out of his left wrist, shredding the stuffed glove in its path. The Soulstrike hit the ground beneath Jexaka, knocking her to the ground. Ceph used the opening to dash towards Aeri.

  The brute should have been helpless against Aeri’s superior fighting ability, but Ceph judged that the brute still had about half of his blood based on his aura. Aeri saw Ceph approaching and goaded the brute into an attack with his hammer. The hammer’s head crackled with violet energy. As Aeri met the attack with dual Deflection and Interference Shields, Ceph struck the brute’s unprotected rear.

  “Watch out for his charged attack,” Aeri called to him. “It combines a hammer strike with a charged Soulstrike.”

  As the hammer struck Aeri, its head exploded with violet light. Ceph winced. Aeri had spent ten spirit to counter the attack. Normally, Aeri would scold him for doing the same, but the brute was forcing Aeri to burn spirit on defense, slowing down her own attacks. The attack must have been some kind of special skill, maybe from the bracelet the brute wore on his right wrist.

  Ceph re-sheathed his sword and grabbed the brute from the rear, pinning his arms behind his back. While physically imposing, the size of an Everborn had no bearing on actual strength. Ceph wrestled the brute into submission with superior leverage, locking the brute’s limbs in
place to prevent him from using Steelstrikes. The brute roared in frustration and began casting Soulstrikes through his hands. Ceph countered with an Interference Shield and began casting his own Soulstrikes through his right hand.

  Aeri wasted no time closing the distance to the brute. With no need to worry about the brute’s attacks, she tore into his chest with her sword while charging a Soulstrike. The brute cast an Interference Shield, but the short range damage was taking its toll. The brute’s aura dimmed further.

  Jexaka had recovered by now. She tried attacking with a Soulstrike, but Ceph muscled the brute into the attack’s path. Aeri swiveled behind the brute, using him as a body shield, all the while continuing her unyielding attacks on the immobilized brute.

  “It’s over,” Aeri said to the brute. “Forfeit.”

  The brute roared his defiance but stopped struggling in Ceph’s arms. “I forfeit!” he shouted so that the entire crowd could hear.

  “Useless beast.” Jexaka began sending Soulstrikes at all three of them.

  Ceph watched in horror as the brute’s aura grew dimmer and dimmer. He released the brute’s arms, and the brute staggered forward in shock. The crowd screamed for blood. Ceph backed away just before the brute’s legs went slack. The warhammer hit the ground first, then the body. Another Soulstrike struck the brute’s skull, which exploded.

  Loud cries filled the pit as the crowd cheered their approval. To the audience, the scene was nothing more than a routine Everborn fight with no absolute consequences. Ceph and Aeri exchanged troubled glances. The two knew what had actually happened. Jexaka had permanently killed her Onceborn partner.

  Jexaka cackled in glee, laughing so hard that she was clutching her sides. She was insane. Ceph nodded to Aeri, and they both charged Soulstrikes while drawing their weapons. It was an all-out assault. Ceph didn’t bother to hide his glowing left wrist. Jexaka cast a Deflection Shield and Interference Shield in rapid succession, but Aeri removed the first shield with a swipe of her sword.

  The two Onceborn surrounded Jexaka on either side, attacking with Soulstrikes and weapons. In between attacks, they kicked and punched the enemy, bouncing her back and forth between them. Jexaka laughed the whole time, barely putting up a struggle.