“The Dragon’s Roar is a powerful spell, a move meant to be used when you’re left with no further ground to fall back to and you must repulse your enemy’s attack. Its power depends purely on you. On your ability to channel the power, and direct it at your target.”
The Dragon’s Roar wouldn’t work well against Sala because of his magical resistance. Not as it was. He needed to juice it up somehow, to amplify it with more magic. He could add more points to increase its range, but he was thinking of something different. He focused on the pool of magic in his chest. Air and Void swam together in a pool.
His father’s words echoed in his mind. Akamori closed his eyes to take a deep breath. He was at the apex of the breath, when he felt the thunder of rapidly approaching footsteps. Sala crossed the expanse of the Arena in a near heart beat. A massive hand gripped his leg, and Akamori lost all sensation of gravity as the world swam around him in chaos until he slammed into the deck. He crashed down again and again. Each time he did, the armor pinged a warning to his consciousness as the damage mounted. When it reached its peak, the armor retracted fully, folding and telescoping back into a forearm bracer. He now lacked external protection, and Amara was struggling with the Sergeant to end the match. Pain and black spots surged into his vision when he crashed onto the deck plates again.
Total HP: 35
Current HP: 18
Total AP: 17
Current AP: 11
Something deep within him stirred. It responded to the danger. It answered with power. He felt something shift, like a cracked door letting light spill into a dark room. He let that light shine and flow, that energy filled him up, swirling around within his body. Another fist crashed down to smash him, but his own hand snapped up to stop it firmly. Everyone stopped as confusion set in. Akamori slowly got to his feet as violet and silver energy swirled within his eyes as the golden super human strength seal on his back flickered wildly, the way a light did when its power source became erratic.
Sala threw another haymaker, and Akamori nimbly dodged the attack as the air sensed his need and responded, lending him grace and speed. It billowed his hair and his uniform jacket floated in a half shredded cover around his waist. Violet dark energy covered his hands as he punched into the stone skin of Sala in quick rabbit strikes to throw the beast off. Sala’s golden aura blunted the dark energy encased attacks, but the speed and power forced even the Primal to back peddle wearily. Sala’s hp dropped from 25 to 21. The resistance on that radiant aura was pulling its work load.
Akamori advanced slowly and calmly. Sala roared and advanced. A flurry of blows that Akamori moved through and around in a blur of motion. He held a hand open at his side, a wild ball of air spinning faster and faster, like a tornado or hurricane forming. The air ball darkened angrily until the micro storm turning into the raw plasma of lightning. Sala hurled another fist at Akamori who nimbly sidestepped it until delivering a final decisive strike, thrusting his palm forward and firing a bolt of wild lightening that throttled Sala across the Arena and shattered the light shield encasing the arena. The stone beast smashed into the bulkhead, leaving a sizable dent.
Sala’s Hp dipped to 14. A grunt and Sala rose to his feet and Akamori watched silently. The polar opposite to Sala’s raging howls. The stone skinned people smasher marched right at Akamori, winding up for a brutal uppercut. Sala’s name turned red, and his body picked up mass. He was getting bigger. That could be a problem. First things first. He slid around the uppercut, dancing on an air current he was channeling. He moved to bring his spell blade down for an attack, but caught a massive foot to the chest.
Total HP: 35
Current HP: 11
Total AP: 17
Current AP: 11
Landing on and rolling off his back, Akamori swayed on his feet. He tried to ride that impact as much as he could. The cold crushing pain radiating in his chest showed he wasn’t quite free on that number. Had that blow been real, he was certain half his rib cage would be caved in. Score one for fake digital pain, he supposed.
Sala planted his feet and started charging up a bolt spell. He wasn’t sure what, but it devoured the last of Sala’s AP. Had he been in the open, he might have tried a combination of evading the attack and what it might do to protect him, just in case. He didn’t know what the primal was priming, but he was pretty certain he had no interest in finding out how it felt.
He was in motion before the attack finished charging. The concentrated beam of raw golden light slammed into the runes of the ward, sealing them in, discoloring and fading significantly. Light aether was raw power. A fact made self evident that even a grazing hit had reduced him down to no HP. He coughed up a bit of blood and studied it on his hand for a moment curiously. His vision swam, and he was sure he was about to pass out.
HP Total: 35
Current HP: 0
*
System Info: Alert
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
HP Total: 35
Current HP: 35
Then it happened. The super human strength seal on his back shattered. A sensation like chains holding him down deep within slackened. Unbound raw aether exploded from him. Lightning bolts and a menacing void aura spilled out of him. The Arena’s alarms complained as the protective wards weakened and failed next to him. His long, red mane thrashed violently.
Broken Seal effect triggered.
Max HP restored.
120 sec Invul.
All stats doubled
The raging primal stacked against the unbound Akamori. The next hit would settle the match. A fact they both understood. Sala had no more AP left to use after his light beam. Akamori could hurl spells until they got to the Forge in his current state. Sala growled angrily and rushed at full speed. Hurling his massive bulk and strength, his blows crashed into Akamori’s rejuvenated body.
The rush and thrill of power. He recognized this feeling. It was like being inside Xanofex’s mind. Or speaking with Anazzi’s daughter. He felt like a god. Or maybe a demi-god might be more accurate. He had temporary power, but it matched nothing close to what he felt like he could tap into inside Xanofex’s mind. He flexed his hands a few times, studying them, almost forgetting Sala’s punches that crashed into his body ineffectually.
Outside the arena, everyone stared in raw confusion. Some thought it was some kind of secret potion. No one understood. Even Amara, who could more keenly see what was happening with her all-seeing eye spell nicknamed the maitreyops on Hoshun, wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was like someone had placed an Akamori shaped cutout and placed it in the center of a god’s aether.
“Is this what the seal contained?” she mused quietly. It both struck her with awe and left her secretly terrified.
“What… the fu-” Sirsir started before Sala’s massive fists drowned his words out, crashing into Akamori’s body.
Akamori for his part, appeared nonplussed about the affair. He looked more like a toddler trying to make sense of his surroundings. Was he even still in there? As if to answer the question, Akamori’s hand snapped up to halt a punch. He held the massive fist for a moment, his head tilting curiously at Sala before shoving the brute away with an open palm. Sala crashed against the deck in a spray of sparks and gravel.
Squaring his feet, Akamori inhaled deeply. He sunk 10 AP into his next attack. The Dragon’s Roar. Aether writhed around him wildly, snapping and crackling. The deck plating around him heated and glowed. Slowly, Akamori drew in an extended and deep breath. His chest distended outwards. Everyone in the stands shifted uncomfortably, recognizing the buildup to the attack. They’d all seen enough dragons doing this.
Akamori let loose the spell. An ear-shattering roar spilled out of his throat with all the gale force air magic he’d charged up mixed with void magic. Silver and violet energies crashed into Sala peeling away his radiant aura and stone skin and slamming him into the back wall of the protective ward. His body thrashed for a moment before succumbing to unconsciousness. After Sala fell over, the Broken Seal effects wore off, and everything went black for Akamori momentarily.
System Info: Broken Seal expired. Stunned. All stats halved for 10 minutes.
After a bit, he felt himself shaking and heard distant voices.
“Ugh. Did I lose that bad?”
Amara shook her head, giving the Sgt. a concerned look who could only shrug as he struggled to contain his surprise. “No…” She stepped out of the way and gestured to Sala’s crumpled form on the deck as Yasiin was trotting over to look at him. “You struck him clean out of the arena. Akamori, what happened just now?”
He opened his mouth to talk about it and his brows furrowed when no words came. He couldn’t explain the ability. Was there a barrier between what he could convey in character? The borderline look of concern and fear in her expression sent a chill up his spine. He didn’t know. One moment, Sala was smashing him into the floor. Then his HP ran out, and the seal broke. And the next moment, here he was. He shook his head as an intense throbbing pain set up shop in his temples. “I don’t know. Will he be ok?”
Yasiin turned back over his shoulder with a nod. “Sala’s tough. Just got his bell rung pretty good, that’s all.” A golden light pulsed from Yasiin’s hands for a few moments, and Sala’s eyes fluttered open and locked onto Akamori. Hatred settled into them instantly. Akamori knew that look. It was the one he held for the Captain. But why was Sala giving him that look? He was just as stuck in this as Sala was.
“Sala?” Yasiin said, leaning in the way of the primal’s vision.
“Keep him away from me,” the war slave said in a hushed tone. “He smells like a dragon.”
Akamori almost laughed. “Hate to break it to ya, but I’m not.”
The primal got up and stormed away. Training was over for today, it would seem. Akamori watched him leave, knowing the feeling. His gaze drifted to the blue glowing barrier field of the hanger bay. In the shadows, there were no stars to see as the ship traversed the void plane, but he imagined them all the same. Wishing badly he could just freely travel among them, unshackled by any responsibilities or burdens. To do as he pleased, to go where he pleased. To experience that kind of freedom. He sighed. He was a war prisoner on this ship. No more free than Sala was. So why did the primal detest him? He looked at his hands for a moment, then noticed the ragged state of his uniform.
“Go ahead and get changed out of that. Looks like Sala really did a number on yours,” the Sgt. said. “And when you do, put these on. You too Amara.” He handed Akamori and Amara a pair of brass chevrons. Sirsir just promoted them to private. They were no longer fuzzies.
Akamori thumbed the rank in his hand for a moment and nodded. “Thank you, Sergeant.”
The Mage bay was quiet and Sala wasn’t anywhere to be found. The air felt thicker here now. More tense. Akamori wasn’t sure he was ok with that. He sat on his bed, tugging the ragged remains of his uniform jacket off, and looked to the lights on the ceiling since he couldn’t see a sky. He longed for his father's wisdom, and found himself trapped with only his thoughts, and the nightmares of gods embroiled in combat in an age that felt familiar, and yet so distant and alien to him.
The glint of the light off the brass rank in his hand caught his eye, and he glanced down. A mark of accomplishment. Much like passing his Rite of Passage. His spirit march. He traced his thumb over the rank before pressing the pins into the fabric and the stoppers in place to keep it there. He was a true private now. For what good that did him. He still felt like a slave to the Federation, knowing the Captain had shackled his soul to it.
He realized in that moment; he needed something familiar. Something from home. He needed Amara. He could confide in her. He lingered in the bay till she came back to put her rank on. Conflict warred in him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Was pride in his promotion turning his back on the life they had forced him to leave behind? Amara would know.
System Info: Congrats on your first Arena match. You may challenge others as often as you like within the presence of an Arena. Arena victory’s will award you merits that can be spent at select vendors.