Chapter 70

Blood Duel

Gentle breeze.

The world was calm, at least to Frank’s mind the world seemed calm.

Outside, far, far away there were hundreds of warriors calling for blood and praying to ancient spirits of power.

Out there, the world was real, was violent.

War drums beat in chaotic rhythms that would otherwise cause one’s heart to beat chaotically and cause minor disturbances in movements.

All of that was outside, in a distant world that didn’t exist.

In here though, in this ring, a mystic dome seemed to rise around the two contestants. At least, that was how Frank’s mind interpreted the focus of his attention.

Outside there were distractions far away and unable to truly affect him, at least not for the moment.

While inside this dome, only two things were real, Frank and his oversized opponent.

The size of the opponent didn’t matter, while there were muscles that covered the body, they were loose, muscles for size versus for effect. These muscles normally would have been intimidating to Frank, but that was the Frank of before, the Frank of the slums. The one who hid in the shadows deep below the earth’s surface.

Looking back on his past, Frank could now understand why people like Broadine and Luther both targeted him. He could see it now, they had that same mental posture. A posture that spoke of trying to take advantage of the weak. One where they used faux bravery and muscular definitions to hide their true natures.

Deep down they were cowards, just as Frank himself had been.

The only difference was that Broadine and Luther could see that cowardice in others and acted first, expecting fear to a crippling agent that made victory that much more successful.

In this instance though, Frank was not frightened.

No, as the crescendo of the war drums’ rhythm vibrated through the ground, Frank felt his mind and body awaken.

For the first time, he didn’t feel the need to run from an opponent.

At this thought, the memory of Major holding him out from the helicopter and trying to throw him to his death came to mind. Then the subsequent running from Pi and Blue. How he ran until he was tired, and then eventually fell into the earth to heal himself.

Now he was once again faced with a similar task.

He could either run, and continue running forever, or he could stand up to the bullies that faced him. To bullies that saw him as an easy mark.

Boom, vibrate, ripple.

The beat of so many war drums all beating in unison could be heard and felt through the ground. These vibrations resonated up through Frank’s bare feet, up his body and instantly mixed with his cultivation.

It was also the vibrating ground that gave him his means of attack.

Here blood was sacred.

Here the blood of a slain enemy needed to be saved as much as possible so that those trying to fully fuse their spirit with parts of the spirits of great beasts.

Brodine himself had a healthy dose of blood of the serpent within him, a fact noted by his one still glowing glyph of power.

The glyph being highlighted meant that the power and abilities of the glyph were likely enhanced. This wasn’t something that was said, but rather it was something that Frank now felt.

With the sacred glyphs awakened on his body and still glowing for all to see, Frank could feel their effects increased.

This was partly why, even now something as benign as the rhythmic thumping of drums could be felt. It was his own resonance and symbiosis with aspects of earth that made him realize that for the moment his ties to the land were increased.

Frank also realized that this meant, in a battle, particularly a duel to the death, he would likely need to strike first, for his opponent would also have his powers increased as well.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Begin!” The words of the Serpentine Queen rang out, her voice shattering the calm quiet that had filled Frank’s mind.

That silence that had been shattered, sparked movement.

Before Frank even had a chance to fully react, the large muscular body of Broadine was already lunging forward. His movements twisting, wasting valuable seconds as he swayed left and then right.

Instantly, his mind knew this for the distraction that it was, making it so that there was no one true line of attack towards Broadine.

This didn’t stop Frank.

For Frank could feel the distinct vibrations of the large man moving forward. As he moved, his body gave up slight shifts in the dirt that signified when, and most importantly where Broadine would suddenly change his directions before heading forward in the opposite direction.

All the while the rhythmic beating of the war drums only intensified, furthering the vibrations of the earth, while almost trying to mask Broadine’s true movements. Though to Frank, both sets of movements were easy to detect, and easier to predict.

Frank felt all these sensations filling his mind, and then finally he acted.

Holding up his left hand, the one clad in the marking of the rune of earthen power, Frank used the already loosened ground. Ground that was clearly able to let pulses of sound travel through its realm, like waves on the ocean. Frank used this, and remembering how he himself had sunk into the ground to escape persecution, used this same force, this same exact effect.

Though this time, things were different.

This time rather than fleeing, Frank stood his ground.

This time, Frank used the shifting nature of earth as an attack.

Slosh.

As Brodine gracefully slid forward to his left, Frank’s right, he met his first case of resistance.

The ground he had been gliding across so effortlessly a moment ago, now seemed to change viscosity on him. What had been up to this point solid ground, suddenly changed to a state similar to mud.

Mud that instantly grabbed at, and began spreading over and around Broadine’s lower extremities, particularly on his left side. Feeling the sudden resistance, Broadine quickly shifted course, going back to his right, only to again find that the ground there had suddenly become viscous as well.

Once again, Broadine’s movement to the right caused even more sediment to build up and coat Broadine’s now right side of his body.

Shock filled his face, as he found himself looking down.

All the while he slithered and squirmed, not realizing that this played directly into Frank’s attack. Or what wasn’t really an attack at all, but rather his trap.

While Broadine continued to slither and squirm his way out of the muck he was now coated in, Frank continued to expand his trap range, not just in area around Broadine, but also below him as well.

The effect was as awe inspiring to watch by onlookers, as it was sinister in nature.

Frank had created an effective mash land trap. One where the more Broadine moved and struggled, the quicker he fell into the pile of loose dirt beneath him.

In a matter of seconds, Broadine had sunken up to his waistline, or at least where Frank assumed his waistline would be. This only caused Broadine to struggle harder, which in turn only helped him squirm his own way down faster.

“Stop!” The Serpentine Queen shouted, though who she was shouting at was hard to tell as the command could have gone to either.

Frank for his part wanted to pause, it had not been his intention to kill. As killing the son of a high-ranking tribal leader could only mean trouble in the future. Frank had dealt with similar fallout earlier, when he killed Luther Camelo in a retaliatory strike.

While he had come out from the ordeal stronger in the end, he did not want to start off his life as an edge walker by making a permanent enemy of the Serpentine tribe.

That was why he paused.

For a moment, he stopped sending out waves of energy that loosened up the soil around and below Broadine. This meant that if he reached down just far enough, he might be able to rest his toes against the ground, and buoy himself long enough to gain a breath, without sinking further. In his mind, Frank assumed this to be the equivalent to going as far as you could comfortably stand in a pool, while still not having to learn to swim.

Frank was content to let it end here.

From this showing, Frank was relatively certain that he had shown enough prowess that others would not be likely to challenge him. Also, with this, he could end this while hopefully ending the duel with good graces with the Serpentine Queen.

Pausing for a moment, Frank let his opponent wait. His arms up high as he tried to swim out of the muck, only to find that movement in the dense liquified earth was nearly impossible.

“Do you…” Frank began, but suddenly paused as he saw the upraised hands of the Broadine reach out and clasp at Frank.

Worse, Broadine now sported a malevolent smile, as he apparently thought this moment of kindness was actually a sign of weakness on Frank’s behalf.

As Broadine reached out, the deep glow of his mark from the Dark Warlock could be seen glowing brightly on part of his neck that was still above the fluid dirt, and the area just below.

“HYAH!” Broadine exclaimed in vengeance as he reached out and attempted to use his dark power to pull at and extract the saturated negative energy that resided within Frank’s body. Anyone who lived out in the wastelands was bound to have at least a bit of what the locals referred to as dark energy within their body.

Frank having been out here for so long was no exception to this fact. In fact, by comparison his body all but radiated with dark energy, which was why Broadine was so confident that this attack would work.

It was perfect, an attack that was not able to be dodge or evaded. An attack that would draw out the essence of darkness within his opponent and which could be used to strengthen his own connection to the great one.

This was perfect.

At least, that was what Broadine had thought when he first made the attack.

The attack had struck.

He had caught Frank flatfooted, as Frank had not been prepared to counter such an attack.

What Broadine hadn’t accounted for was how dense the flow of dark energy within the boy before him was. How despite having what was the equivalent of a free open strike against the boy, he could only feel the densely packed dark energy coursing through the boy’s body not only shrug off the grabbing attempt, but then proceeded to flow through and around his mental claw like grip.

As for Frank, well he paused, trying to first understand what was happening, as he almost felt his cultivation falter for just a moment. Only for his cultivation to resume its normal efforts.

Then as he looked up from his chest, he saw the complete look of surprise that now filled Broadine’s face. A face that spoke volumes about what had happened. Or at least what Broadine had expected to happen.

Seeing his face, Frank realized that Broadine had used the chance of peace that he had offered to lash out one last time.

For a moment, Frank wondered exactly what Broadine would have done had his attack worked? Would he think he was capable of getting out of a pool of suddenly solidified earth that formed around him? Or did he not think that far ahead?

Ultimately, the thought didn’t matter, as Frank realized he was now beyond charity, beyond giving second chances to people like Broadine.

Raising his glowing left hand once more, Frank concentrated and let the ground take the now panic stricken Broadine.

“Wait, help, help, I yi…” Broadine tried to call out, his mouth soon filled with liquified dirt. Dirt that Broadine instantly began choking on violently as he convulsed.

“What was that?” Frank asked coldly, as he held up his free right hand to his ear as if having a hard time hearing.

By now the bottom of the liquified dirt pit had expanded enough to cover Broadine’s face, leaving only his forearms visible.

“He said he yielded! Stop this immediately!” The Serpentine Queen demanded.

At that Frank paused, as a flash of rage filled his gaze.

He stared on at the Serpentine Queen in defiance for a moment, but then rationale hit him. At the same time, a faint cold smile crested his lips, as he gave a slight bow.

“As you wish,” Frank replied, waving his left hand and letting one last burst of earth energy erupt.

With this last movement, Frank had decided to do as she wished, he stopped making the pool of muck soil into a liquified state. In an instant, the dirt that had been vibrating at subsonic frequencies to produce the muck like effect stopped moving, instantly collapsing in on itself and hardening to be the same consistency as all the other dirt around it.

The only difference being that now the earth that had once been flat and even, now sported two free hands that were clasping wildly at the air.

There was still time, at least, that is what the hands seemed to indicate.

Silence.

Everyone looked on with muted silence at the spectacle. One of the strongest members of the serpentine tribe had been seemingly swallowed whole, unable to leave so much as a scratch on their opponent.

The Serpentine Queen was the first to react, “you, get him out this instant!”

There was rage in that gaze. Rage and madness that spoke volumes. As she spoke, the other serpentine warriors also began to stir, as it was clear that they were now ready to follow their Queen’s orders, regardless of what they might be.