When I walked back into the arena I could still see the after-effects of the spar I had watched—the blood-stained sand, the lingering crowds, and the man who was still nursing his wounds. I didn’t see any lessons, so I let my thoughts wander.
I wasn’t too late, right? I couldn’t have gotten here faster, unless I actively hunted down Ingratus faster, or maybe forced that first Kratt, or even forced Zanlis to take me here. Had I failed?
As these thoughts continued I felt myself try to breathe, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get enough air. It felt as if my chest was tightening, like a weight was pressing down upon it, and my breaths became shallow.
I was stuck there, wanting to call for help but my voice was catching in my throat, only letting out gasps for air.
I tilted my head downward, closed my eyes, and decided to try to get any relief from my ether. Bringing it towards my lungs, I tried to strengthen them, trying to get rid of whatever was putting the pressure on them.
Feeling an intense cold wash over me, I immediately regained control of my lungs. My breathing began to even out, and my throat started to open up again. I stumbled towards one of the many pillars around the room, leaning against it, and propping myself up.
I was ok, but I felt myself pound my fist against the pillar I leaned against. Why was I so useless? I could barely control my body, why was I even trying to find Rana when I could barely help myself?
I was shocked away from my thoughts by a voice calling behind me, “Hey if you are here for the ether basics group up with the others over there, and stop breaking the pillar.”
Huh, breaking the pillar? Looking down I noticed that my hand was imbedded inside the stone. Wrenching it free, I realized cracks were spreading throughout. “Yeah, sorry about that. Thanks for telling me,” I mumbled.
The man bent down to investigate the cracks while I left and heard him mutter something under his breath.
Making my way over I kept my head down, staring at the floor. I made my way towards the back of the group, and sat down, resting against yet another pillar.
“I’m hoping everyone here watched the fight, if not, leave. Now,” A Kythraxian man said, a few people shuffled around, but a few left a glare from the man. “Good. Now this is the basics, but we will get to that in a few minutes. What did everyone think about the fight?” He looked around for a few moments, and hearing nothing he sighed. “You, what did you think of the fight?” The man pointed, singling out someone from the crowd.
Whomever he pointed to started to stutter, and was sent out just as quickly as the rest. He moved on to the next person who answered, “It was a very fast-paced fight.”
Closing my eyes, I shifted my focus to listening. “Only to people like you, I suppose. How about you?” The instructor said.
“They had to have imbued a good portion of ether throughout their body, and they controlled their movements, moving so fast it was hard to keep up.” A woman replied.
“Better,” He replied, “You, right there, same question.” He said.
It was quiet momentarily before I opened my eyes to see him pointing at me.
“Well,” I stared, “I didn’t sense any ether from either of them in the slightest.”
The man’s eyes shone momentarily before he asked, “So what would you assume from that if you were their opponent?”
“I’d hopefully be careful and assume they weren’t imbueing ether. Being that strong and fast isn’t that uncommon among people who’ve trained for a long while. So because I’m wary of what they were doing I guess I would limit myself as well,” I stated.
“While there are better solutions, the thought process was good. Alright, come fight me, if you do good enough you can leave,” He said, not wanting to waste time I stood up and made my way over to the pit.
Passing the crowd I noticed looks of pity and some of anticipation. While some seemed to fear what would happen, others sat up straighter, leaning forward.
When I made it to the few steps into what they called a pit, I started to hear sand rustle beneath my feet. Looking over I couldn’t see blood from the fight beforehand.
My eyes moved up and I set them on the back of the blue Kythraxian instructor. He wasn’t wearing much, a sleeveless shirt, and slimmer pants that went down to his knees, however, he was a very well-built man, with broad shoulders and at least twice my size. His jaw’s scales were white, matching his horns, spines, and teeth, while the rest of his head was covered in the same blue scales as the rest of his body.
I put my arms in front of me, the right arm farther away than the left, but still close to my chest. He didn’t make any noise, and there was no warning to him coming. He shifted his weight on one foot, spinning around while pushing off all at once.
I barely had time to react, ducking my head below the punch he threw with his right arm. While going down I raised how much ether was spreading throughout my body, not a lot, but enough where his arm didn’t look like a blur above my head.
Sweeping with my leg, I tried to knock the man over while he was still overextended. However, it felt as if I had tried to kick a mountain. Looking up, I saw the madman’s toothy grin.
“So is this all the Krivara’s new pet can do, little zylen nyrath,” The man asked, mixing Auricant and Runicall, the other dominant language of Eldora and Thaloria, and the one I grew up speaking.
He started to bring down his fist on top of me, so I tried to scuttle away from him, only to get my leg grabbed and then get myself thrown across the room.
I landed on my back, my body making an indent in the sand while I was scratched and torn by the ground. The indent forced my neck onto a small hill, giving me a view of the man. He was seated, cross-legged on the sand, just watching me.
“So kid, what do you know about ether, we might as well get the basics out of the way during our little spat,” He said while standing up and dusting off his scaly legs. Seeing that I wasn’t moving, or answering him, he continued, “Get up, we aren’t done with our fight, but you will answer my questions.”
Groaning, I pushed off the sides of my crater in the sand and started to climb out of the indent, “What kind of question is that?”
The man tilted his head ever so slightly, saying, “The one you have to answer,” Then he leaped forward towards me.
I was outmatched, well at least outpowered, and I wasn’t exactly sure what he would do if I started infusing myself with enough ether. I did say I was going to limit myself.
So, I started scuttling backward, tripping over the indent. Stumbling over my own words, I began to explain while raising my arms to defend my face from the approaching threat: “It… it’s an energy that is in everything,” The man kept approaching not slowing down in the slightest, “We take it in through breathing, eating, and even absorbing it through our skin.” He continued to approach me, throwing a punch with his left hand. Ducking under it I continued, “Bringing it into our soul we can use it to enhance ourselves, or even perform god-powered feats.”
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
The instructor continued his advance trying to grab at me with his other hand. I kept backing away, staying just out of the man's reach. “Not the worst explanation I’ve heard,” He mumbled while narrowing his eyes. “Explain the soul.” He continued while trying to sweep my legs from underneath me.
I jumped over the leg, not wanting to test the difference in our strength. “It’s a part of your body, just above your midsection,” The man lunged forward, grabbing the folds of my clothing and bringing my face into his knee. My vision flushed with red, and I felt blood trickle into my mouth. “It connects a person to ether,” I paused, coughing while spitting a glob of blood out of my mouth.
I felt the edge of the pit on my back foot, Not having anywhere to go, I decided to give up on explaining while defending.
I lunged forward, trying to claw out the man's throat with both of my hands. He grabbed them, moving them to my sides, but I enhanced my jaw while bringing my mouth closer to his neck. He kneed me in the stomach, but I didn’t recoil, I only used it as leverage to try to get closer.
Letting my momentum guide me, he let go, trying to trip me as I passed. However, I was ready for a response, so reaching out my hand I tore off a part of his shirt and drew some blood. It felt wrong, however, like I was scraping my hand against metal. Looking at the man I saw that he was fine, only five small lines of red trailed across his now bare scaly stomach. One for each of my fingers that were now covered in blood.
He took a few steps back, giving me space. Straightening his posture and stretching he said, “Go lean against another pillar. Listen to the rest of the lesson Kurvas, then you can leave.” I opened my mouth to say something but he continued, already turned toward the crowd, “You there, you’re next.”
I shuffled over to the pillar, wiping the blood off of my nose. Touching it I winced in pain, it was no longer straight. My stomach felt like it was on the verge of coming out of my mouth, and my lungs burned for air.
Falling onto the pillar I collapsed. I gasped for air as the red slowly receded from the edges of my vision. I started to notice more things, the crowd watching and all the questions flying around.
My ether also started to slow down, calming down to the point of how I was before I came to the hall, a normal level, but I didn’t remember ever bringing it up.
Closing my eyes I started thinking, I just tried to bite someone's throat out. Why did I act like that? Better question, what happened to me? Was that another part of whatever was causing the flashes in my head?
“Kurvas, if you don’t pay attention, you won’t get passed. I told you to listen. I don’t care if you are Krivara’s new pet,” the instructor called out. My eyes barely opened as I started watching the fight.
“Everyone listen up, I’m saying this once and only once to all of you. Ether is an energy, you don’t own it, you can just use it. How much you can do with it is up to you.” He said while picking up the student he was currently fighting with one hand by his neck. He took a step forward but his leg stopped in the air, and he pushed off of, well nothing. Walking in the air he continued, “You can make it do what you need, but the only thing any of you should worry about is how well you use it to kill your targets.”
He tossed the student over the crowd, a young man I believe, “That one is a lost cause, put a slave crest on them and put them through slave conditioning, they’ll be more useful there.” Pointing out another student, “You come on up, let’s see if you won’t disappoint.”
The student who was pointed out was scared, I don’t believe she could’ve even moved her own feet. Seeing this the instructor sighed, and a blue blur flashed across the room. The student could be seen flying above the crowd, and she landed on top of the man before.
“Her too, now if anyone wants to join the pile without me putting in the effort…” No one moved, I don’t believe many people even dared to breathe. With a smile, he pointed off into the crowd, now only fifteen or so large. “Great, now you don’t disappoint like the rest.” The instructor once again took up a stance in the middle of the pit, “Also, I won’t be needing explanations from any of you anymore, there isn’t a point.”
The student walked towards the man, and before anything else happened I could feel ether gathering near the student. The instructor didn’t move, just standing there while watching it gather. The air beside the boy started to crack, whatever the ether was forming was tinged with yellow. Eventually, it became something akin to a rod, bright, and yellow. Then it launched towards the instructor, who reached out his hand and stopped it with his palm.
“Not really assassin-like… not bad power but no aspect… go take a seat,” The instructor mumbled.
It looked dangerous, but honestly? I’m certain I could’ve stopped it from forming in the first place, or at least distracted him enough to stop him.
“You good there? Wow, Rynesh put you through it,” Flinching, I turned my head as a hand brushed through my hair. “Calm down there, don’t try to bite my lil ol neck out, you’ve done enough of that.”
“What’s wrong with me? Aliana don’t say you don’t know.” I asked, staring at her. “I mean you must have some idea.”
Not bothering to look down she started to watch the instructor fight, “I have many ideas, some most likely more truthful than others, some just as crazy as I am. For your case specifically? Time should fix most of it.”
“Most?” I growled, there was no way I could live like this forever.
Patting my cheek before putting her hands into the pockets of her purple trenchcoat as she continued watching the fight, “Surprised you aren’t mad about the ‘should’ part. No, that’s wrong, what I’m surprised about is that you got a nickname from him, Kurvas, not too bad. Nalith, can you check to ensure your new colleague has no permanent issues?”
“Sure, boss. Let’s have a look, kid.” Hearing a new voice, I followed the voice to see another human standing beside her—a human with a blue and green tail covered in black spots and black-furred ears that matched her hair which fell to her shoulders. She wore a black jacket with a fur hood and black pants. Her eyes were a certain brownish grey, interestingly catching the light.
“Wait, a Caelara?” I asked, stunned. Caelaras were rare, especially in a city so far from the center of the continent, the deadlands.
“Caught on faster than my fiance did, took him a whole night out with me before he realized. Well, that and a few drinks.” As she was saying this she just stared off at the fight, a small smile coming onto her face, but as she finished her smile started to fade.
Looking at me once again she grabbed the sides of my face and inspected my nose. “This might hurt a tad, but considering you are walking after taking that knee to the stomach you should be fine.” As she finished she set my nose back into place.
Exhaling I said, “Thanks, but ouch,”
“Lift your shirt, I want to check your back and your torso,” She demanded, and I listened, peeling off my shirt and letting her check for any severe injuries. No point in arguing about getting it checked out.
“Hey, Rynesh, fight me next, the office life is boring,” Aliana called out.
“You know, I was thinking about fighting someone fun, your little pet wasn’t too bad though… Alright, come on over,” He said while throwing yet another person into the pile of slaves.
“Nalith, Arthur, watch closely, I expect both of you to at least comprehend what we are doing.” Nodding my head I looked forward to the pit.
“You expect the kid to follow along? Oh, and you can put on the shirt.” I heard Nalith tell me. Ignoring her question I continued looking forward at the pit as I put my shirt back on.
Moving over to the middle of the pit Aliana kept her hands in her coat, even as Rynesh brought his hands up into a stance. “Let’s have some fun,” She called out, “Just enhancement, internal ether, and no weapons?”
“Sounds great,” He agreed.
They stood apart from each other for a few seconds, watching each other and neither of them seemed to be moving. Then in an instant, both of them blurred. Hearing the sound of their clash snapped me out of my stupor, and I started to focus ether on my eyes, letting me see what was happening in front of me.
Moving at a high speed isn’t terribly hard, but having enough ether to support doing it for long periods, the physical stability to not injure yourself, or any multitude of reasons is why it isn’t often seen. The two in front of me didn’t seem to get the same rule set. They were constantly in flux, their ether ramping up and then instantly decreasing. Their bodies flew around the pit, stirring up the sand beneath them.
Rynesh, who towered over her, kept throwing punches while Aliana kept slipping around them and kicking the man over and over again. Overall, Aliana was much faster than him but wasn’t nearly as strong.
“Still bored?” Aliana asked, flashing her teeth while jumping backward, dodging his attempts to grapple her.
“No,” He growled, “Not anymore.” Rynesh lunged forward, moving to sweep out her legs when she landed on the ground.
“Stupid dragon,” She taunted, landing on the air and running forward, kneeing him in the head. Then she took her hands out of her pockets and grabbed both of his shoulders while flipping over him. She then landed on the air, leveraging herself she threw him across the pit, landing in the same crater that I had made prior. “I believe our little game is over.”