Of many discussions slimes dominate. Fire Slimes. Water Slimes. Earth Slimes. Lightning, Shadow, Ice, Mist, and more. There was once a man I knew who devoted his entire life to studying the curious and adaptable creatures. He was perhaps the most devoted researcher I had ever the pleasure to meet, though a bit slimy sure. A Sorcerer named Ofcolor "The Slime Mage". I've not ever heard of any whispers or rumors of his whereabouts when he disappeared, but the going truth was that, in his last breaths, he allowed a slime to eat him, to document the event or perhaps discover the sensation firsthand.
-Venul Yangthu, before his conversion to Vampire Patriarch.
The room was spacious, almost as if he were inside a circus tent. The lighting was a sufficient firelight orange, whatever source that it came from, but there was enough flickering shadow on the edges of the room to conceal a few bodies. The comparison was one often he liked to make.
Luck Lockyer, if nothing else, was realistic.
His mind had been working overtime. Not for a second did he assume he was transported for nothing. A half-dozen or so other examinees. Less than what he saw outside. It likely meant there were more than a few testing grounds then. He saw one person meld into the shadows earlier, the person, Luck couldn't reliably identify their gender, had taken initiative at once. A wild man prowled like a tiger, anxious at the mention of a Domain mage. Another man and woman stood steadily listening to the proctor. More again had their own reactions.
Luck was of the few whose reactions were entirely internal.
Luck himself was observant of Jayeke, watching his moves, his reactions. He took careful note of what Jayeke reacted to or didn't. He doubted any of the other examiness saw as much as he did. He doubted any could see Jayeke's micromovements, even during his speech, when someone would move a certain way. Though there were a few that were gingerly flicking their eyes to the ground. Luck had, arguably, the most awareness of the situation. Spirit had adopted a type of weaker passive earth-sense, and coupled with Luck's own awareness and enhanced senses, he had a strong grasp of everything around him.
That was right up until Jayeke finished talking.
"Survive."
Luck had to do just that.
Shrapnel blasted out of the ground around everywhere. It was like a frag grenade had gone off, throwing metal shards. Like a war had started right then and there and he was thrust right into battle. Luck stomped hard on the ground. A rock wall surrounded him as he bent low to meet its height. Violent thuds against his wall marked the impact of more shrapnel. His ears rang. His reaction was near instant and still a piece of metal embedded itself into his side.
"Holy fuck." Luck grimaced, ripping out the metal. It gave way to a squelch of blood. The pain was blinding, but the logic was that it didn't matter. Spirit quickly silenced his pain receptors so he could focus.
He didn't find himself wanting to peek over his makeshift shelter. He laid a calloused hand on the walls of rock barricade. Vibrations. There were people he could make out. Movement.
The earth shuddered under him. His influence was absolute, however, moving against the magic acting upon the ground below him. Whatever it was, gave up.
Then the ground shuddered everywhere. A voice echoed out, ghostly and absolute. "I determine whether I deem you capable of the Coterie. Prove to me you have what it takes." The voice whispered itself to everyone, becoming harsh and cruel towards the end.
"I forfeit!" A gruff voice yelled suddenly. Halfway between a cry of pain and fear.
No voice responded and Luck wondered whether or not that was allowed. But he had his own problems to worry about. His ears had picked up something unsettling. Soft padding, the hallmarks of someone or something trying to be quiet. Barely even noticed by his earth-sense. It wasn't as developed as his other senses but that's why he had many in the first place.
There was an eery silence that Luck felt wasn't right at the same time he heard the presence move quickly. Luck breathed steadily and slammed his elbow into the wall he felt it approaching. Spikes erupted deadly fast, piercing whatever creature or person had come.
He tapped lightly on his wall, sending vibrations through the spikes and into the intruder. He dare not peek and expose himself.
It was shaped like a cat. A large one, though not as big as Saga. But the vibrations were odd, and the animal hadn't even made a sound. And then, he felt he could sense it, though not in the way he had thought.
The next moment, it dissolved into dirt and dust.
Too slow. Everything was happening too slow. He had spent too much time blind, what was happening outside? He formed small window slits for him to look through, and saw muted chaos. He gaped, the scene not registering correctly.
Blinding energies flew about. A monster of shadow was fending off creatures of white light. A localized tidal wave of water was being parted by a woman even as predatory fish snapped at her. Some of the mages had teamed up but that only meant their challenges were that much difficult. A man and woman were fighting a creature with too many tentacles, electricity arced along its body, and the ironclad duo stepped back in caution. There were beasts made of earth too, growling and leaping at a man who fended them off bare-chested and howling. The entire testing grounds seemed to have nearly tripled in size.
Luck widened his field of vision only to find himself surrounded by a silent pack of blinking predators. They were gliding close to the ground, eerily silent and light on their feet.
Their heads cocked up slowly to gaze at Luck as he saw them, a veritable mass of black eyes blinking like lonely stars. And then they ripped into a frenzy, screeching and crawling across the ground with a speed very concerning.
"If I had a fucking a gun right now!" He yelled. His walls bloomed into spikes even as pillars of earth came together to slam the crawling creatures into mush. More spikes, more pillars. They shot out at ferocious speeds knocking away or outright killing the things.
Spirit released the aspect of the hard chitin centipede and Luck became encased in bug plating as one landed on him. A small group has burrowed underground. He slammed it into the ground.
There was a dot below him, indicating these new threats. Luck only packed the ground harder as the crawlers threw themselves upon his sharpened shell wall. His walls were only spikes now and he himself was his own protection. They leaped and bounded across the top of their dead allies even as more spikes made of earth bloomed from the previous ones like thorns.
Multiple came into melee distance and they didn't even have a chance to utilize their claws or wide mouths. Luck grabbed one by the neck and slammed it into an already blooming spike. He widened his position with an effort of will, pushing everything outward to give himself some room to move.
He growled. "Come on then!" He reached into the two pillars of earth he raised up on either side of himself. His hands slid into the earth as if it was water and came away with sharpened, deadly short swords.
"It's been a while since I've had some good practice!" He brandished his swords, the old, rusty techniques taught to him by his father coming back as sharp in clarity as the weapons he held.
Combat paths outlined. Spirit chimed, an ever-present cool voice.
Possible slashes, stabs, strokes and maneuvers outlined his vision. The paths of many of the crawling creatures were highlighted in green where they lined with his sword. Of less intensity, were the outlines in blue where he instinctively knew he could move to in order to dodge and manipulate the flow of enemies. There were even outlines of green pillars of earth, representing his magical capabilities. Red denoted threats to his person that he had to adjust for. It was as if his vision was a ghost of a battle, but he could see past it, easily focusing his attention.
They hesitated for only half a second, blinking at his swords before the horde surged.
There was very little red to be seen.
Even in that moment, the seconds before the mass of bodies collided with Luck. There was a small peace. A knowledge in the initial movements of the clash. They moved seemingly slow, as Luck's mind moved ever faster.
And when they finally collided it wasn't in three's or two's. It was by the dozens. He felt the hard impact against his black, gleaming chitin. He was thrown forward, hearing the scraping and clicking of claws on his arm even as he got up. Harmless, but dangerous all the same. The crawlers were relentless, but elbows and pommel strikes kept them away from his face while the edge of his swords kept them dead on the ground.
His strength wasn't overly powerful but his stamina was absurd.
Full power kicks pushed the annoying crawlers away, giving him time to move. His sword cleaved them by the half dozen, spraying guts and slime to the floor. Red, just like a human's. Luck didn't flinch even as splatters landed among his face.
They were like ants and he the food for the colony. He was swarmed and ladened down, and if not for his stupid amount of endurance and stamina he would've been overwhelmed long ago. But his swords never stopped swinging, stabbing, keeping them at a distance when he could. It was nearly inhuman, the amount of things Luck seemed to be keeping track of.
Crawlers below him, in the ground, were being simultaneously subverted by the very earth he controlled. Flanking crawlers, waiting in the wings, struck down immediately as they pounced, becoming multiples of two. The ones that tried speed, straightforwardly rushing from the front, were cut open in sprays of blood. But the stroke of his swords never stopped there, they continued, in loops and whorls, like calligraphy.
It was as if he was a writer in blood.
And still, it didn't stop there. Pillars of earth came from the ground, subverting the horde and manipulating its flow when it was beneficial. Sometimes they even crushed swathes of the crawlers. Spirit needed not to remind Luck of the moves he had already been thinking of, his mind being one borne of wits and quick thinking. The result was an almost perfect view of the carnage he wrought, immune to the gore and violence and interrupted only by the occasional flash of color Spirit judged he best know.
"Unceasing, aren't you?" Jayeke's voice came into being, clear amid the battle. Luck barely blinked at the strikingly clear comment. "I aim to push those here. It is my role as proctor. And while there are already a few who surprise me. You are an oddity. You simply haven't stopped. Some type of Nature or Healing magic I presume, allowing you to sustain physical combat for this long?" Luck afforded himself a smirk.
Luck could make out the chaos outside his own dome of silence, a consequence of his initial shelter he supposed, and it seemed everyone else had their own problems. He peeked only when his view of his own battle allowed him the luxury. And his was a mobile battle for sure, to stay stationary was to be bogged down by the sheer weight of his enemies. He could never dwell long on the challenges he saw the others face.
"I owe nothing to your speculations, proctor." Luck grinned, absently. He slammed a crawler into another, impaling them both with his second sword, while his other snaked at the throats of three more. A spike of earth lanced out at another two, blocking the flow of the horde and allowing Luck to give himself room once again.
'Hmm. Earth magic. And quite proficient with the sword too. A fast and tactical mind to boot." He hummed. "Then for now, this. You will crack. Not everyone can fight forever." Luck fancied himself one of the very few who probably could. "Good luck."
And as soon as he said those words, nearly every crawler bulked up. The hits became twice as hard. His chitin had begun to scrape, an effect of their sharper claws. They were faster. While before they were black, shifting, lithe figures the size of large housecats. He could see muscles on them now, witnessed their mass as he cut through them. Their teeth gleamed with something akin to acid. And in Luck's eyes, they became more along the lines of a small, large predatory cat.
Chitin's effectiveness has been compromised. Prioritizing dodging and evasive maneuvers when applicable. Immediately his vision erupted into blue paths, shadows of his form in blue he could follow.
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And yet, Luck's reaction and tactics were solid. He didn't miss a beat. He swung his body under leaping crawlers where he would've previously taken their bites head on so he could take their heads right off. His short swords flicked upwards, opening their underbellies as he passed.
His swords chipped and melted as he used them to bar the teeth of the crawlers when he could. It mattered not. Hands of earth came up to grapple the mass, sweeping the rest away violently. Luck simply swung his sword through the earth like it were water and it came away repaired, sharper than ever.
And then, an influx of sound, screaming, explosions and the woosh of massive amounts of air being displaced. The sound of rushing water. Luck pierced a crawler to the ground and left his sword with it, having to retreat. His hand swiped through a thick spike of earth and came away with another sword. Explosions in the distance again. The clang of metal on metal, the hacking fleshy sound of metal on flesh. His new sword was put to use immediately, gutting nearby crawlers as he ignored the sounds for now.
He risked a second to look up. His dome of silence had gone. He could hear the encounters around him now. And it seemed that everyone else could too.
Crawlers from his own battle turned and nearly glided across the floor, moving towards another mage fighting creatures of light. He was near the edge of the room, where it was darkest initially. But now, it was the brightest spot in the space. He grimaced, the man or woman already looked to have their hands full.
Luck felt crawlers below him, still burrowing in the earth, turn their heading to the man. Those, Luck could help with. His foot stomped on the ground, sending a wave of intent through the floor and crushing the small group before they could go further. He was easily able to divert enough attention to help the other man out. He hoped that it would help in the end.
"The enemy is never limited to only one type of foe. Especially here in Ardun." Jayeke resounded, his voice both serious and curious. "I have seen much over the course of my years, and I have given what I thought might be the most challenging to each of you. And while many of you have surprised me, sometimes the odds are just never in your favor."
Ominous. But he felt he already knew what was happening. He took a quick glance around but had to shift his attention back to his own battle.
Luck kicked away three crawlers. His swords slashed separately at groups of four even as his hands came down to subvert and push the few that made it to his legs. He spiked the floor at an angle when they charged forward like that, impaling them. He left only severed pieces and gore as he moved on.
His earth-sense, operated by Spirit, gave him a solid sense of awareness and vibration of the happenings around him for the better part of twenty or so feet. It was the reason he could move around and step backward so freely even while covering his front. Even the Mk3 couldn't predict movements in such real time when there weren't even any inputs on the happenings behind him. It was the earth-sense that allowed Luck to sense the enemies behind him and act accordingly with the crawlers in front of him.
When the wolves came, that was limited. They were the enemies a nearby mage had been challenging. Luck thought he remembered it was the tiger man he saw fending them off. They came in small droves and hounded Luck intelligently, keeping his moves limited and using the semi-mindless crawlers to their advantages.
They made the fight increasingly difficult, and Luck suffered powerful bites to both arms bruising his arm even through the chitin. Those wolves were decapitated handily but changed little for the overall battle.
It wasn't even a few minutes before Luck realized he couldn't outlast or outheal the new threats, along with the crawlers. Being limited in his moves meant the crawlers could get to him, erode his chitin, and bog him down. A wolf came too close and Luck crippled it, knowing going too far would leave him open. His mind whirred as he saw the wolves growl at the move. He wondered if they were even smarter than he gave them credit for. Would they have sacrificed one of their own for the kill?
Each time something similar would occur. Luck would bet money on it. Something had to change. He was losing this drawn-out battle despite his stupid regeneration and stamina. And the wolves were smarter than he initially thought. They were herding him towards one of the other nearby battles. But he had been adamant, retreating and moving in as best a circle as he could while still mowing down the mass of crawlers and crippling the wolves when he could.
He stuck a wolf in the side, feigning a mistake. His leg was caught by a crawler, but the acid was mild enough to ignore for now. The wolves burst forward at his apparent state, but one barked sharply and they slowed at the command immediately, like soldiers well trained.
Too slow.
Spikes of earth erupted in their paths, piercing their chest and hearts. They all whimpered in pain. Luck couldn't manage that much force with his Earth magic across so many wolves with perfect precision, whilst fending off the crawlers, without the help of their own momentum. He skewered the crawlers around him and looped his path again, this time being able to move away from the battle he was being herded to. If he had revealed his Earth magic to the wolves earlier, he was confident they would've without a doubt been warier. This way he was able to take out many instead of the one or two he would've managed before they altered their tactics.
The pack leader charged forward in a blind rage. Luck was taken aback at the behavior so foreign to what he was thus far accustomed to. But it made sense, the wolf had lost much of its pack. He caught his vicious maw, yapping, and growling, against his earthen blade, but it was dulled and so the wolf only bled from his mouth. There was a pain in its eyes but Luck felt no connection to the creature, even being One with Nature as he was and a Druid as well. He knew the animal was a fake, if not convincing, imitation of the real thing.
He stabbed its chest with his left-hand weapon as his right-hand weapon twisted, jerking the wolf's neck with a whimper. The beast, slain, slid to the ground unceremoniously. Luck was numbed to death in the life he lived. He was many things in the eyes of people killed. Judge, executioner, villain, demon. Even savior at times. It wasn't that he had done any of this before, slaying swathes of enemies, goring, gutting, and slicing through muscle and sinew, but if nothing else, he might've been one of the few in the modern world with the stomach, mental fortitude, and means to do so.
The crawlers stopped spawning after a few minutes of mindless battle. It had been an exercise in getting used to Spirit's A.R. display.
Recommend cessation of chitin armor. The drain on your mana pool is low but enough time has passed for it to become significant, along with your occasional use of Earth magic and the moonlight shar's aspect, your mana capacity has lowered even further.
Do it. Immediately the armor receded into his skin.
A voice boomed. "Well it truly has been a nice exercise warming up my Domain magic." He said, echoing across the testing ground. Luck looked around and found his fellow examinees panting harshly, some swaying on their feet. "Though I don't deign to tell you anything about my magic I don't have to. Know that what you've witnessed so far is nothing near the absolute authority a mage of my kind, nay, a sorcerer of my kind, has over his or her field."
Luck felt someone approach through his sense of the earth but let them approach since there didn't seem to be any hostilities or competitive foul play so far as he witnessed. Besides, he knew the wolfen that approached.
His wolf-like eyes gazed upon Luck's area with sharp, cold intelligence. It was Roth, the ice mage from Magice. "Earth magic then." He said simply, noting the irregular spikes and shaken ground. It smoothed itself out even as he spoke, by no will of Luck's own. "Practical. Though it hardly explains your survival against a Frost Drake. Mark refused to enlighten me and I'd normally not believe it but the System's Rewards are plain to see."
Luck only smirked, chuckling at the curious wolfen. "Good to see you've made it so far."
He snorted back, frost coming from his nostrils.
"The Coterie pursues the advancement of magic. An organization devoted to surpassing itself and renowned for its expertise in the realm of magic. You've all demonstrated the necessary skills, combat potential, magical applications, mana control, mana management, and spell efficiency." Jayeke continued.
"But perhaps the most important part is recognizing how powerless you all are."
Instantly, Luck sank into the ground, strands of mud cloying at his body, pulling him further down. "What the-" He exerted his own influence, trying to reach for the bog around him only to find Roth sunken all the way to his chest.
He growled, a low sharp rumbling. "Domain magic." The bog around him froze itself, ceasing his movement but then thawed the next instant. He thrashed against his sticky bonds, powerful muscles apparent under his blue robes.
Luck glanced left and right, the others were the same. One mage was waddling around with an intense light in his face, clearly unable to see anything. A woman was held in a glob of green water, upside down. She sent sparks of electricity through but only grimaced as her apparent tolerance did nothing to help her. The ironclad duo seemed pressed to the floor, on their knees, as if gravity itself was rewritten there. One man cowered from a gigantic beast that even Luck shivered at.
The laws of the world are overwritten in the domain of the individual. Luck voiced mentally. "Domain magic is absolute control over an area." He said to himself. "To walk into an enemy Domain mage's field is folly."
"Correct." And he was there.
Standing in his cut leathers, there was nothing really significant about him. That was made him stand out all the more to Luck. He had a surety about him that didn't seem like it belonged to him. It was the way he walked across the once solid, sticky ground without any consequence. He walked around them like an amused collector, simply staring at expensive pieces of art he knew he could buy at any time.
He laughed, "Folly, what a precise word to describe walking into my domain. And yet know, the Practitioner Coterie has mages strong enough that even I could not handle. And so forth, Aerae has many challenges and foes that they cannot fathom either."
"You performed well, examinee. What is your name?" He addressed Luck.
Luck didn't bother to struggle against his bonds. Logic warred against the idea, and Spirit's hard analysis of the material the mud was made of brooked no arguments. Jayeke had somehow created one of the most elastic and durable muds to grace Aerae. Jayeke noticed this lack of movement and raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.
"Luck Lockyer." He said, mentally flinching at the phantom response regarding the Amber Demon.
But Jayeke moved on. "And you ice mage? Magice has always bred talent in the element of ice. Perhaps their research is truly paying off more than I thought."
"Roth Gran, sorcerer. Why do you speak with us first and not the others?" He still struggled and Jayeke, it seemed, took some small amount of amusement from it.
"Make no mistake mage, I am speaking to everyone at this instant." He grinned.
"It must be a headache to keep track of all those conversations." Luck ventured, looking no worse for comfort half-sunken into the ground.
"Quite," Jayeke responded, confirming Luck's thoughts. The man had to be paying attention to everything at once. That was a daunting thing to master. "But perhaps less mentally exhausting and more physically demanding was your combat here. That was a feat of stamina and endurance I'd never thought I'd see. I use that particular creature to wear down larger enemies, in fact."
"What was he fighting?" Roth questioned curiously. Luck thought the man might be curious as to his actual capabilities since all he heard were stories.
"Shademaw Lions, of the younger sort," Jayeke said simply, to which Roth gaped. "Conjured in droves, mind you. Though I didn't intend to be needing to bring more and more until I had checked back."
"Shademaw juveniles?" Roth exclaimed, having temporarily forgotten about his bonds.
"They seemed very similar to the smaller of the large predatory cats." Luck shrugged if there was anything worth mentioning about the creatures he hadn't thought to analyze them and Spirit hadn't thought he needed to know.
"Those creatures are capable of taking down beasts as large as the ape that broke through Ardun's walls earlier today. In the right numbers of course." Jayeke calmed Roth. "Do not be so surprised Mage Gran. With the right magic and wits shademaw lions are the least of a magic practitioner's worries, especially juvenile ones." But the domain mage looked at Luck pointedly.
"Still, I have heard stories of packs of adult shademaw lions. Surely, the juvenile ones in number are worse than even that?" Roth questioned.
"Then, are you aware of the foes you faced?" Jayeke countered.
Roth paused in his questions. "I hadn't thought on them much."
Luck did wonder at that.
Jayeke looked at both of them initially. And Luck felt for the first line he was addressing everyone. It was the way he said it, that Luck could picture each and every person receiving the exact words. "Each of you examinees fought a creature I deemed appropriately powerful to pit you against."
Then it seemed as if he was regarding Luck alone. "Shademaw lions, in number, are dangerous and yes, Mage Lockyer did indeed fend off a hefty number. But every fight is over once your opponent's moves are learned, Mage Lockyer simply learned fast."
He knew that all too well.
Jayeke turned to stare at Roth, his arms crossing in front of him. "As for you Guild Mage Gran, your foes were of the element of fire, infused with magic that thaws and repels the cold. Cobers, the segmented blue flames you faced, devour the cold and exchange it into heat through their biomagical processes. The more you fought the more powerful they would become, if not for your quick and efficient use of your magic, they would have been the death of you."
Roth rose an eyebrow at that. "Then why not continue to send the same enemy?"
"Nary a battle ever goes the way you expect Mr. Gran." Jayeke replied, tut-tutting as he straightened up. "I'll release your bonds now." He said with a smooth suddenness. As if he were dismissing them, and everyone else.
And with that, Luck and Roth slipped upward through the mud, not a single particle of dust on their clothing as they were freed. A control and power that against his better mind daunted him.
"That is all?" Roth questioned carefully. "Were you not intending to show us how powerless you all were?"
But Luck was entirely aware of what had just happened. He had simultaneously rent every mage powerless, though not in the flashy fashion he thought many expected. Luck was entirely familiar with efficiency when he saw it, he knew that style or flair had no place in actual effectiveness. Though that never stopped him, personally.
Jayeke turned slowly, raising an eyebrow. It was a dramatic motion Luck quietly applauded as he only repeated Luck's own thoughts. "I've not only disabled you two. But half a dozen others as well. And all of you, capable mages in your own right, if not a few flawed or unpolished."
"And the testing ends now then?" It was a question that Jayeke did not often hear as evidenced by his slight surprise. Luck smirked, already feeling as if he was refreshed, ready to take on another horde. His mental state was perhaps a little taxed, a direct consequence of his mana exertion, but his was a sharp mind. "It seemed a little, too easy." Luck shrugged, unsure whether the man was one to take the taunt.
Suffice to say Luck missed being underestimated by those in perceived power. An aspect of his old life he rather enjoyed, truthfully.
"Oh?" Jayeke crossed his arms. "Easy? It seemed the rest at least struggled with what I had conjured for them."
Roth scoffed in quiet disbelief. "If you believe shademaw lions are trivial, Lockyer. Then I hate to discover what truly challenges you." He raised an eyebrow.
"Well, of course I was at least taxed by the enemies. I had made no argument there." Luck scoffed, hiding his smirk.
"Ah, then what aspect of my test did you believe might have been too easy, Mage Lockyer?" Jayeke said powerfully. His eyes were raised in surprise, perhaps slanted in slight anger. "I will admit there was little to think through but utilize your magic, strategy, and analysis of your surroundings. But my test doesn't search for any single aspect of the mage that prevails over others. It tests all of them. And all to as much as I dare push you."
"Ah, I do believe that is true." Luck agreed insouciant.
"Then your point Lockyer?" He replied foregoing the slight respect he had been showing earlier.
"Well, I'd wager it was only a matter of incapacitating you."
Luck eyes seemed to sparkle like fossilized amber, a crude smirk lining his mouth as he made eye contact with Jayeke.