John’s eyes opened as a glowing net was shot at him. Ah’krat’ra sliced through it and the two parts of the no longer glowing net safely passed by his body. He was already standing, his real body mimicking his imaginary one, holding his dantian high on his shoulders. He hadn’t finished ascending to Gold and the pain in his belly was nearly unbearable. It hurt so badly he could hardly think about anything else.
Good, thought John. The best lessons in life were the hardest and most painful to learn. He would have to endure the agony and fight the robots while ascending. Twenty of the giant things were arrayed against him. Even as robots, they felt powerful. His minions were already attacking.
When John’s bindings were removed, he had stolen some cube-like technological devices from his guards before taking water. Those were for Nine. Once he destroyed the robots, he’d take as much of what was left of them as he could as further gifts for his friend.
While keeping most of his mind on ascending, John entered into his battle-mind and whipped energy at the closest robot. Even knowing he could cast manifestations despite the collar, he wouldn’t risk it while still ascending.
It was a very tough battle that became a little easier with the destruction of each subsequent AREB. Ascending while battling was not an easy thing. The extreme pain was very distracting and not easy to think and function through, and neither was keeping his mind on ascending while fighting. His minions were a big help until they all died for the second time.
And the fight became even easier once John’s system was fully purged of the poison, he fully ascended to Gold, he could freely cast manifestations, and he could use Adumbration and his bolters.
After those giant AREBs came twenty more of the same, except there was only one rated against Golds, two against Diamonds, and two against Salts. The other 15 were rated against Platinums.
John raised new minions from the remaining chomper corpses – six this time, two from Diamond corpses, and four from Golds. His bolters tore through the Platinum rated AREBs as he avoided the attacks of the higher-rated ones.
The crowd was furious and half-crazed at the defiant Peerless dog that wouldn’t die. Gladiators couldn’t be gathered in time. Volunteers were called for from among the audience. Twenty angry citizens entered the arena, but only two were Salts and two were Diamonds still.
John remembered what happened both times he used his old bracers while too low of a tier and without the resources to power it. He was left completely drained and had hardly been able to stand. He didn’t think he had much choice but to risk finally utilizing Ah’krat’ra’s manifestation.
Luckily, John had enough essence to power it, but he was still left very drained. He was surrounded by a magenta-colored bubble as the sword let loose a sizzling brick-red ray that bent in strange ways to follow and destroy the Salt he targeted.
Out of pure necessity, John utilized and pushed his [Slowing Aura] to its utmost, and even with that, he still took far too many hits and damage. When only a Diamond and Salt remained, with no opportunity to turn more corpses into minions and in desperate need for more essence and vital essence, he ended the fight with his [Ultimate], building it up in his left hand as he dodged and dove away from attacks.
That battle ended with John injured and hardly able to stand, but alive.
Then, as John collected everything he could from the corpses of his enemies, hundreds of small metal stands with revolving nozzles exited out of the stone floor. Those nozzles sprayed out burning mist that fogged up the whole arena.
It caused John’s skin to itch and turn red wherever it touched. It even began to damage his armor and items. His vital essence started to attack whatever of the substance got into his system, either through his skin or through breathing.
It was some sort of acidic poison, but it also felt like a type of energy.
Not having the option to do anything else, John cultivated the substance like mad. Surprisingly, it worked, and cleared the area around him even as more was sprayed in. As he cultivated the substance, turning it into essence and cycling it through his meridians, it also sickened him more and more as he did so.
The ordeal lasted a very long while. Once it was finally over, the stadium was mostly empty, and John was mostly dead, on his side, vomiting, unable to open his eyes. The announcer announced an end to the night’s event. If they thought he was dead, they were wrong.
Not long after, unconsciousness finally took John to welcomed oblivion.
----------------------------------------
John awoke in the dark room with Nine, once again bound, a new collar on his neck.
As soon as he awakened, an Arbiter entered the room with a dozen guards and informed John all the possessions he took from the citizens he had defeated had to be emptied from his bracer and returned. If he refused, he’d be executed. Property rights were inviolable on Thecla, and what he had taken from his dead enemies wasn’t his own.
John’s collar was removed so he could empty his bracer. He removed almost everything but kept the cube devices he had stolen earlier along with some of the robot parts. His two swords, his shield, and the rest of the robot parts were all left on the floor as the Arbiter and guards collected the rest, then turned the lights off and exited.
The acidic poison was still in John’s system. He felt terrible and the essence in his dantian felt sickly. His vital essence he had taken from others was completely depleted, which made him feel far worse and far too lethargic. Good, he thought. He had no choice but to ignore how sickly and tired he felt as his body fed off his own vital essence.
John’s biosuit, his helmet, the robes he wore under his armor, his gloves, and his boots were all in bad shape, not yet having had the time to repair from the burning substance.
But John was alive. He visited Avatar to see how his ascension went.
Avatar smiled and said, “Congratulations on Gold. Quite the pickle my silly boy’s in.”
“Thank you. I’ve been in worse,” replied John.
“You really are a strange boy. Your emotions haven’t shown readings this positive for such a duration since I’ve been recording.”
“There’s no time for anything else but focus and fighting,” said John, smiling, “and the promise of more strong enemies to come. That one guy that talked trash before the battle started…it went perfectly. I got to tell him, ‘I win, you lose,’ before I killed him. I just…for whatever reason, I love telling someone that so much, even if they’re already dead. I love winning so much.”
Avatar laughed. “Maybe your people were prophets. You really seem to have been born for war.”
“Damn right I was. And the arena. I never could go all out and always had to hold back in the old days. This is how it should be. Pushed to my limit. Life wouldn’t be so terrible if this was it. Me fighting in this arena. It almost makes me wish Nine was safe away and only I was here.”
“I’m glad my strange, silly boy is happy. I have some…well, not bad news. We’ll call it a miracle since you were fighting a battle through half your ascension. It didn’t go quite as well as we projected it would go if you had ascended in peace, but it went stupendously well considering. A true miracle.”
Avatar glitched for a moment then said, “The projection was 12.52. All your [Stats] but [Runes] increased by 11.74. Keep in mind, 11.74 for eight [Stats] is still a ridiculous amount more than other terrans receive ascending to Gold.”
John still didn’t like losing out on power, but a little less than one minimum energy unit wasn’t too bad at all.
“You also received the Gold [Perk] which increased each [Stat] by 3. Again, besides [Runes]. Interested in learning the changes ascension to Gold did to your body?”
“Not in the least.”
“Thought so,” replied Avatar. “The formation part of [Leech Body of the Morning's Glory] increased [Physical] and [Elemental Fortification] by 10, and [Strength] and [Swiftness] by 5. For some more good news, ascending to Gold increased your soft caps quite a bit. For bad news, you have a few [Stats] creeping up on the projected soft cap.”
“Thank you, Avatar. I really want to get back out there so I’m skipping my summary.”
Avatar scoffed. “Really? You received the channel [Achievement] we’ve had to suppress until this tier. It was upgraded from brilliant to radiant. You don’t even want to see that?”
Avatar glitched again, worrying John. He said, “I’ll look at everything later. I’m kind of in war-mode and I don’t want to lose it by reading and calming down. Let’s see if I can escape this collar first.”
Avatar put her hands on her hips. Looking miffed, she said, “I can’t believe my silly boy won’t even glance at his summary after ascending. No. You’ll look. What kind of silly boy nonsense would make you even think you’d skip a summary? Not my silly boy, not on my watch!”
Unwanted, the summary and notifications appeared.
Tier/Level/Race 5 (Mortal) (Gold), 21 (Low), Terran-D Active Title Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar Aspects/Affinities Vampirism (99.999%) (Major), Change (98%) (Major), Protection (96%) (Major), Battle* (97%) (Average), Shadow (98%) (Average) NCU Energy Cost 133% (-87.3%) Active NCU Upgrades Nano Assistance, Emergency Heal, Theta Waves, Heal Delta A, Heal Delta B, Inexorable, Refractory, Nano Support C, Nano Support D, Lock and Key, Scuta Mater, Encase, Mata Support A, Reactive, Swift, Cooldown Reduction, Record 1 NCU Expansion Upgrades 7 of 16 slots opened, 0 slots empty 1) Theta Enhancement – T1C 2) Auto-Reflect – T1C+ 3) Swiftness Efficiency – T1C 4) Auto-Shield – T1C 5) Emergency Heal, Prefill – T1C 6) Reactive – T1C 7) NCU Cooldown Reduction – T1C STATS [Effective] Current (Increase) Strength [35%, 318.47] 235.90 (19.74) Swiftness [42.04%, 334.87] 235.76 (19.74) Conditioning [42%, 329.61] 232.12 (14.74) Min. Power [22%, 236.69] 194.01 (14.74) Capacity [23%, 226.79] 184.38 (14.74) Runes [20%, 353.92] 294.93 (10.41) Physical Fortification [37%, 338.09] 246.78 (24.74) Elemental Fortification [34%, 330.95] 246.98 (24.74) Mental Fortification [20%, 270.05] 225.04 (14.74) Highest Skills [Leech Feckless Retreat Technique] 96.49* [Mixed Navigation] 94.28 [Mixed Style Swords] 93.88 [Mixed Stealth] 89.59 Synergy Skills Obscured Class Unknown, Obscured Perks Orb of the Crimson Palace, Dynamic, Physical, Potent, Protected, Strong, Fast, Healthy, Quick Thinking*, Resilient, Powerful, Expansive, Harden, Resistant, Soulful, Good Genes*, Leech Body of the Morning's Glory, Regeneration, Mutating, Bronze, Fibrilized*, Lightweight, Cloak Essence, Stalwart Vessel, Silver, Picture of Health*, Slowing Aura, Gold Manifestations Vampirism, Draining Blade, Drain Essence, Hide, Multi-Enhancement, Multi-Shield, Puppet, Reflect, Shadow Spray, Slip, Spoil Glyphs Flawless Glyph of Darkflame Jet, Flawless Glyph of Plasma Barrage Last Achievement Archaea 3 - D Highest Achievement SSUR Body - SSUR Titles Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar, Blessed by Unnamed Exalted, Blessed by Unnamed Exalted 2, Ptagmog, Multi-Record Holder (System), Multi-Trailblazer (System)
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-Start Notifications
*Obscured suspected Synergy skills and last known rating.
Manifestation Control: Vampirism – 53
Mind: Runic Knowledge – 72, Essence Manipulation – 49, External Energy Manipulation – 31
Body: Mixed Combat Offense – 87.36, Mixed Body Control – 87.06, Mixed Combat Defense – 83.23
Inner-Power/Soul: Leech Feckless Retreat Technique – 96.49, Breath of the Serpent Clan Endless Technique – 47, Turmoil Within Tranquility Cycling Technique – 46
21 tracked skills changed, 18 of interest. Scaled summary per notability/interest user profile.
Grandmaster: Mixed Style Swords – 93.88(.01)
Master: Mixed Stealth – 89.59(1)
Adept: Flawless Glyph of Darkflame Jet – 67.92(.02), Unbind Defense – 61.49(1.3), Hide – 66.44(.03), Heal - 61.15(.04), Mixed Style Unarmed - 61.07(.1)
Expert: Drain Essence - 58(1), Unbind Manifestation - 58(2), Soul Veil - 57(2), Multi-Enhancement - 56(1), Slip - 56(1), Multi-Shield - 52(2), Puppet - 49(1), Flawless Glyph of Plasma Barrage - 44(2)
Journeyman: Draining Blade - 34(1)
Apprentice: Manifestation Defense – 29(1)
Novice: Cage of Take Everything Ultimate – 12(1)
Unrated Perk attained: Gold
17 common Achievement attained for a cumulative [NCU Energy Cost] reduction of .1%. Focus here to see each individually.
3 notable Achievements attained.
‘Radiant Channels’ attained (S-Rated). Temper channels to near perfection during Gold tier, 0.70 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 86.7%.
‘Gorilla 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Strength Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 87%.
‘Archaea 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Elemental Fortification Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 87.3%.
Note: ‘Manipulator’ Achievement on hold until Diamond tier requirement obtained.
End notifications-
John did his best not to look at the summary. He needed to retain the right mindset. He couldn’t keep himself from looking at how much his sword [Skill] increased. He assumed his fight against his clone would’ve increased it by more, and he was very disappointed to see it barely increased at all. What do I have to do to increase that more, he wondered.
John wished Avatar would stop acting so strangely. I’m not a silly boy. I wish she’d stop calling me that. He said, “Okay. I’m leaving, Avatar.”
“Have fun. Remember your duty and the collective mission. Your actions and inactions help or hinder the collective mission. We shall achieve core.”
“Thank you, Avatar. For everything you do to help me. I couldn’t ask for a better friend to have. But I’m not a silly boy.”
Out of his Mind’s Eye, John immediately began to force his essence to cast [Heal], nearly blacking out due to the pain the backlash caused him. And kept doing so long past when the spell helped heal him. He did it until his collar sparked and broke. He cast [Multi-Enhancement] and pushed against his bindings. With his new [Stats] and the bonus his buff gave him, he felt some give. He continued to push against his bindings, and they extended little by little.
It took a great amount of time, but the bindings eventually burst. John removed his hood and gag and went to Nine. Freeing his friend from his bindings took much less time, but was still not easy, even with Nine’s own help.
John took the two devices he stole plus the robot parts out of his bracer. “Do these have the substances you need,” asked John.
Without answering, Nine sorted through the goods, broke them open, and took specific parts into his mouth. Once he finished, he collected what remained in his bracer and said, “Thank you. I was severely weakened.”
“No problem. You’d do the same for me. Sorry, I didn’t manage to get any water for you.”
“Unnecessary,” replied Nine. “I was able to imbibe plenty from the liquids within these components.”
“What happened,” asked John. “Why’d you tell them we were full Peerless?”
After Nine spit out something that clanked on the floor, he said, “Oli prisoners can be used as bargaining chips to trade for, ransom, or gain concessions. Kahaka prisoners aren’t worth anything. If they believed me, we’d be back in the Peerless Empire.”
John thought that made some sense, and if it went any differently, he wouldn’t be fighting in this arena, so he wasn’t going to complain. “How are you with essence? Can you ascend,” he asked.
“We’re not allowed to ascend yet. Not until belonging to a kauwa. I see you have.”
John laughed. “We’ll take our lumps for that if we manage to survive and return to the Peerless. Until then, we’re in survival and war-mode. Platinum to Diamond’s a big jump in power and we need all the power we can get. I have some crystals squirreled away in my sash if you need to fill your dantian more.”
“First, tell me what happened. I heard the Arbiter. You killed citizens?”
John quickly recounted what happened, including specifics of the enemies and tiers he faced. Instead of the tale convincing Nine to ascend, Nine convinced John that’d be a bad idea. As a Platinum, Nine believed he’d only be forced to fight two Salts. As a Diamond, he’d be forced to fight 19 Salts and one Diamond.
There was no chance of escaping through the reinforced doors and walls made to hold much higher tiers than John and Nine were. Thankfully, Nine was willing to let John feed on some of his strange blood and fill up his vital essence a little.
A few days passed before Gnahad entered with a half dozen Exalted guards and an Arbiter. “I see you’ve escaped the bindings. Don’t be stupid and attack. Slaves attacking citizens is a death sentence. I won’t be able to stop it and the last thing I want is for you two to die. By execution, I mean. And just so you know, the cost of every broken collar or binding comes out of your winnings.”
The raloin turned to Nine and said, “I hope you’re as powerful as the terran, Yellow. People are still talking about that strange attack he ended the last match with. Nothing like that has ever been seen! By the great fires of Djina, we’re going to make a lot of money together! And while we’re speaking of making money together, I never got your names, my friends.”
Seeing no reason to be rude and seeing the raloin’s soul wasn’t nearly as dark as those of the truly despicable, said, “John.”
When Nine didn’t answer, John added, “And my friend here is Nine.”
“John and Nine. Nice to be officially introduced. I see you’ve eaten some, Nine, or assume so judging by these parts littering the floor. I was going to let you both stew in hunger for a few more days. Make you more agreeable. Since you both seem agreeable enough, I don’t see a good reason not to speed things along. Just so you know, slaves need permission to ascend. I could have you executed, John. Of course, I won’t, but just try to be more cognizant of your place.”
Gnahad took an item off his belt and spoke into it. “Bring some food and drink down to my containment. The new one I rented. The one the new slaves are being held in. Just check the NCS for that. No, the Yellow has strange requirements. He recently ate anyway. And hurry that fat ass up.”
“Is it possible for me to get a live animal,” asked John. “If there’s no large beast on hand, many small rodents would do. Even one or two would help.”
“Sorry, we don’t keep anything like that in these quarters,” replied Gnahad to John’s disappointment.
After returning the item to his belt and clapping his hands together excitedly, Gnahad said, “But refreshments are on the way. Let this be the beginning of a long and lustrous relationship. Don’t let the nonsense the sponsors spewed give you the wrong idea. The Citizens Alliance Against Rot and Decay are a bunch of elitist blowhards.
“Am I a member? Of course. They’re right about a lot. But most citizens are one late payment from a stint of slavery and want slaves to have more rights, not less. Most here are constantly going in and out of slavery stints. That was my situation when I was younger and dumber too. And slaves don’t have it so bad here. It’s just another job. As long as they don’t get stupid. Then they lose everything, including their lives.
“Tell you what – if we can come to some sort of agreement I can be happy with and feel good about, and I’m sure you both understand your position as slaves and what’ll happen if you attack anyone, even other slaves, or try to escape, we’ll get you set up with a far more comfortable living arrangement.”
Gnahad paused for long enough that John felt he should give a reply. “Sounds good to me, Exalted.”
“That’s what I mean. While my slave, you need to reply with, “Sounds good to me, Master.” Try to remember as it will help me feel better about making an agreement.”
“Yes, Master,” said John.
“See? Not so hard. Pretty easy. And let’s get something clear right from the start – any deal is contingent on you two fighting in the ring. Next fight is in a couple days. I hope you win. I want to milk this for all I can, as long as I can. I’m in the extreme minority of people wanting to see you both stay alive. They’re gathering all sorts of crazy shit to throw at you two. And…”
Another raloin entered the room carrying a large tray of food and drink, a Salt, interrupting Gnahad. “Where do you want this? There’s no table. Oh, by the great fires of Djina, it stinks in here, Gnahad! Are you not letting them wash? We’ll be fined!”
Gnahad laughed and patted the new raloin on the rear. “We’re fine, my warm rock. Just set the tray down on the floor. If these two agree to behave and show they understand their situation and place, they’ll be washing up soon enough.”