As we made our way through the labyrinthine halls of the Seekers HQ, Archie walked beside me doing his best to teach me how to do a Wraith Strike.
…He was better at baking than teaching.
He’d described the technique as “feeling like punching underwater”, but in the end, his advice boiled down to “just do it”.
Yugo hadn’t interrupted Archie’s lesson, nor had he given any pointers. He’d been completely silent on the walk out of the house. There was always an intensity to Yugo, and the closer we got to the backyard to stronger it felt. The very air seemed to feel the tension, as with each step it got colder and colder. Archie, who’d been in the middle of poorly describing an Aura cycling technique, had a shakiness to his whispers that worsened as we approached the outside.
Somnia, meanwhile, was difficult to read. Her eyes were laser-focused on the back of Yugo’s head, and her entire body was tensed as if she were expecting Yugo to turn around and attack at any second. He’d promised that he’d give us a few moments to prep, but if there was a precedent for him going back on his word, then Archie and I would be screwed.
The “training arena” that Yugo had spent his time renovating was a massive, oversized head of some unknown bearded man crying pools of water that faded to mist as they met the ground. Inside its unnaturally large, unhinged jaw was a grotto themed like a tropical resort bar. Mossy stalactites lined dark, poorly lit ceilings. There was plenty of space to move around, but there were pools of water with fake crabs, tropical fish, and a few turtles. There was even a clone of Lochness in one of them. Even though the grotto itself was new, its unmistakable scents of saltwater and dew made it seem like this place had been here for years.
”Sixty seconds. Have fun!” Yugo said, back still turned to us. He clapped and vanished in a flash of light.
As soon as he was gone, Somnia turned to me. The first thing she did was look down at my sheathed sword and wince at it like she was looking at garbage. “When this is over, remind me to give you another sword. I have a few lying around much better than… that.” She pointed up at my forehead. “Second, tell Fallen Star to cycle Myth Aura to your hand. Once you’ve done that, I need you to cycle your Curse Aura to that same hand.” She picked up one of the toy crabs. “Test it out on this.”
Fallen Star and I did as instructed. While Archie’s lessons were objectively bad, I started to understand why he’d describe the Wraith Strike as an underwater punch. As the conflicting auras gathered in my mist, my entire arm felt heavy as though I were carrying a dumbbell. I still powered through it, using my first Wraith Strike on the toy crab. Wisps of white lightning splintered off in every direction with the impact, and the toy shattered into a million pieces despite my using minimal effort.
“That took less energy than I thought it would,” I said, staring down at my hand. “Is that because of my Auric Stamina?”
“Not that alone. It’s a low-energy move, so you can’t go wrong in spamming it.”
“How come you don’t use it, then?” Archie asked.
“Because I’m Unbound. I’d have to cycle both Curse and Myth Auras by myself, and that’d take way too much effort. It’s easier to cycle Unaspected Aura and–”
”Time’s up!” Yugo declared from behind us, his voice taking on a sinister tone.
Before any of us could react, a ball of wind formed between the three of us and burst like like a balloon sending all of us flying in different directions. I landed in the water by the Lochness toy, Archie landed on a wall into a fake bat I hadn’t seen earlier, and Somnia stood guarding herself with a sword in front of a bar counter. Yugo didn’t give us a second to collect ourselves. He was in front of me in a flash, striking me square in the stomach with a Wraith Strike. Just like mine, white lightning shot in every direction with the impact, and the force alone was enough to bring me to my knees. He vanished once again, striking Archie with a Wraith Strike to the same place. Somnia had managed to predict where he’d strike, but she’d been forced to sacrifice her sword to block that attack.
I followed Somnia’s lead. There was no beating Yugo in a fight, and our mission was to land one attack on him. For now, I needed to understand how Yugo fought before I began devising plans to fight against him. Somnia said she’d give me a new sword, so I took her word for it. I intentionally left an opening, and when Yugo popped into existence to exploit it I blocked his Wraith Strike with my sword. It shattered instantly, and I was forced to dodge an onslaught of Wraith Strikes because I’d learned the hard way that his attacks could easily break a physical guard.
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It’d quickly turned into a defensive game; dodging and parrying Yugo’s Wraith Strikes while slowly making my way to the center of the grotto. Archie and Somnia had done the same without any prompting. If we were going to win this, we needed to form an actual plan. Fighting individually just wasn’t going to cut it against someone like Yugo.
Yugo backed off once the three of us gathered in the center of the grotto. He still attacked and occasionally blasted us with those wind-bomb things, but now that we expected them they didn’t send us flying.
“We need to… work around Yugo’s speed!” Somnia said, dodging a sudden Wraith Strike to the face.
“I can hit him with Intimidate,” Archie said. “That’ll slow him, but I need one of you to run decoy and keep him still for a few seconds so I can cast it.”
“I’ll do it. I can [SACRIFICE] my arm for some extra speed. It won’t be enough to match him, but it’ll be enough to keep him occupied.
“Sacrifice your arm?!” Somnia and Archie shouted at the same time.
“Yeah. Yugo can make new ones, right? It’ll be fine.”
“You sure…?” Somnia asked. “You did say your abilities harm you, but I didn’t know it was like that.”
“We don’t have time to go back and forth about it. Let’s just do it.”
“...Alright, then. I’ll get his attention. Rui, you keep him busy. Archie, hit him with Intimidate then I’ll hold him still so we can all beat him. Got it?”
“Got it,” Archie and I said at the same time.
Yugo summoned another wind bomb between us, except this time we each flew with the momentum. Somnia ran to the center of the grotto, leaving herself wide open. When Yugo popped into existence again, the first person he went after was Archie, not Somnia or myself. That was the first sign our plan had gone sideways. The next was when I’d attempted to temporarily [SACRIFICE] my arm, that’d somehow been insufficient. I ran through the list of senses I was willing to get rid of, obviously barring my sight. Since hearing was the first on the list, I decided to try that.
Unfortunately, it worked.
A persistent ringing filled my ears as I dashed for Yugo. I tackled him to the ground as a blackish-purple aura emanated from Archie. After a few moments of Yugo and I struggling on the ground, Yugo was enveloped by the same light. I stood at the same time Somnia rushed for us, slamming a dagger down into the same place Yugo had been. He stood to his feet, dodging the attack only for a newly-summoned Lochness to appear behind him and wrap him in a coil like a Boa Constrictor.
Recognizing the opportunity, we each kicked off, ready to end the battle. Yugo struggled under Lochness’ grip, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape it. Each of us struck Yugo square in the face. Archie and I with our Wraith Strikes and Somnia with a blue-white Aura Punch. Yugo made a face like his cheeks were being squished together as our attacks connected. As soon as we stepped back, Lochness uncoiled and bit Yugo in the arm. Archie tried to gather her up, but she ignored him; circling Yugo and biting him over and over again while Archie tried and failed to calm her down.
As that went on, a Level Scroll popped into existence at my feet. Nobody reacted to it. Well, they might have, but my hearing was gone for the next few hours, so I wouldn’t have heard if they did. I unwrapped the Scroll and audibly gasped. Now they turned to me.
LEVEL INCREASED
26 > 35
UTILIZATION PERCENTAGE: APPROXIMATELY (7% of 500)
HP: 40
STR: 38
STM: 32
A-STR: 33
A-STM: 30
Why’d I go up so much? This wasn’t that intense of a fight. Yugo was holding back a ton.
“THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF YOUR ‘CONTRACT AMENDMENT’, YOUR USE OF THE WRAITH STRIKE, AND YOUR USE OF BOTH [SACRIFICE] AND THE WRAITH STRIKE IN COMBAT. AH, THAT REMINDS ME. I HAVE ADDED THE [WRAITH STRIKE] TO YOUR SKILL CODEX.
I suppose that explains it. Fallen Star had said I’d gotten stronger while in the Mindspace, and now my Stats reflected that growth.
Fallen Star gave a smug laugh. “IMAGINE FACING THOSE JIKININKI AS YOU ARE NOW. WE WOULD MAKE SHORT WORK OF THEM.”
Yugo waved both hands in my face as Somnia and Archie gave me concerned looks. Lochness was in a bipedal form now, standing behind me with her head resting on my shoulder. She was trying to read the Level Scroll, but judging by her face she wasn’t seeing it.
“IT’S A LEVEL SCROLL,” I said. They all winced. Lochness bit me and reverted to her serpentine form, slithering behind Archie. “THEY’RE ONLY VISIBLE TO ME. DO YOU WANT ME TO READ IT–”
Yugo shook his head and stopped me with a hand. He summoned a notepad and wrote his response.
IT’S OKAY. TELL US ABOUT IT LATER. LET SOMNIA SHOW YOU YOUR ROOM FOR NOW. I’M GONNA ORDER US SOME FOOD, SO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. ALSO, IF YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING TONIGHT PLEASE WRITE IT ON THIS NOTEPAD. YOU ARE VERY LOUD.