Beyond the cave was as far as Nil had ever traveled. His entire life had thus far been spent in and around Fan Town. It’s not that it was a boring town, by no means; there was plenty of excitement growing up even with his peers always using him as the brunt of their jokes. The port always brought in strange people looking to offload their wares, or Trainers with Thaeons that inspired awe in the young crowd looking to have their own someday. It was only through T.V. and the internet that you would see glimpses of areas in Specter that looked to be a world away from his cozy room here by the sea.
As he looked over the sprawling landscape, the mountains at his back, he breathed a sigh of relief and excitement that almost dulled the sting from his first loss..and from watching his already paltry funds drain away into Dave’s account. From his various snapshots of other cities, he knew that Pol City was much larger than Fan Town by a large margin. It was always known for its long stretch of beautiful beaches where surfers and fishermen flocked for competitions or relaxation. With such a big city looming ahead, Nil knew he would need some extra money if he was to live it up once he got there. This meant one thing: he’d need to battle his face off before getting there. The problem was, for the past day, he had seen no other Trainers anywhere in the wide open field. The only other life had been various Thaeons that Phantom had knocked out with ease.
That was until he caught sight of a massive lake off in the distance under the mountains. His watch’s map indicated that it was a hotspot for tourists and travelers alike. Perfect. He bounded off in that direction with Phantom at his side.
The sun was setting by the time he reached the lake. Along its shore were lines of cottages, a couple of canoes to rent, a healing spa–the works. Here, Trainers were hanging around campfires with bottles in their hands; others were comparing Thaeons. An area labeled “Training Camp” hosted many with their partners striking large bags or using techniques to strike targets with intermittent dings from bullseyes. No one batted an eye when he entered the information center to rent a cottage for a night. The lady behind the desk leaned lazily on the counter chewing gum, her two red pigtails barely maintaining the bushel of hair on her head.
“Want a room?” Her voice was monotone and sleepy.
“Yes, please.”
“Too bad. All booked up for tonight.”
“But–”
“First come, first serve. Everyone knows that.” She stared at him with half-closed green eyes and raised her hand to indicate an empty board covered in tiny hooks where room keys usually hung but there were a few keys near the bottom still. He stepped up the counter, not wanting his frustration from the road to impair his better judgment.
“There are a few more there.”
“Not for you, sorry.”
Phantom lurked behind him, their Bond tightening in anger. As if expecting this she yawned and stood up straight then leaned back against the wall.
“You think you’re the first young idiot to come in here and want to intimidate me?”
“I didn’t–”
From around the corner, through a wider-than-usual doorway, a bear-like figure stomped out with a body that appeared to be a wall of fur and muscle, its eyes, looking down at Nil, glowed a faint, light-green with fangs and claws to match. From its large jaws it growled as it resumed all fours again but still at eye level with him. Then, an idea. A stupid idea, maybe but he was already here.
“I’ll battle you for a room.”
At this she perked up, her sleep expression gone replaced with a wild smirk and bright eyes. “Finally someone does. I’ve been waiting all day. Meet me outside.”
Is this how the world works? With a shrug he followed her out to an empty field outside with lines to indicate the battle zone. The others milling about the campfire steadily piled in to watch the nighttime entertainment. In the crowd he spotted Rose and Max staring at him then quickly turned away. He hadn’t seen them leave the cave or pass him.
“Names?” the girl said. She was standing in front of a raised control panel, behind her was a scoreboard that lit up. “Please, step away from the field for a minute.”
“Nil and Phantom.”
“Which is which?”
Seriously? “I’m Nil, my Thaeon is Phantom.”
On the big display appeared their names. On the other side the names Rylie and Talon. Below their names, another display opened up with the words “stake” followed by “room for rent.”
“Ooookay, being the challenging party you can choose the terrain.”
“Terrain?”
The crowd chuckled behind her. He was expecting for her to roll her eyes, given her prior attitude, but she smiled instead. “Official battles have options for terrain changes to fit different battle conditions, aspects–whatever each field has available.”
“What’s available here?”
“Lakefront has four aspect options: [Mountain], [Water], [Flying], [Wood]. You can also choose to stay the way it is. Choose.”
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After a few moments of deliberating with what Phantom thought, he said, “[Mountain].”
“Good choice. Again, step back.” She pulled a lever on the control panel and the ground began to shake. The field split open down the middle to open up. From the massive, open rectangle rose another field covered in loose rocks, jutting stalagmites like he saw in the cave and large mounds like hills rolling at different angles. Spotlights turned that bathed the area in bright, white light.
Rylie took her spot on the other side, obscured by a hill. Her voice, though, was loud and clear over an intercom: “Please, take your spot on the platform. It will begin raising in a few seconds. Nil looked over to a small metal platform with rails on the side. He was starting to regret the decision to fight her now if only for the simple fact that all there was far too much going on. His head spun, his body ached from the long day he had spent battling in the cave and then Dave.
This had been a terrible mistake.
Phantom did not share his sentiments. In fact, their Bonnd thrummed with eagerness to start throwing punches. Thaeons, he was learning, thrived off combat. It seemed to be the only activity that brought the highest joy. The platform shook and started rising up above the field until it was all in view, Rylie on the other side looking over at him. Talon, her lumbering Thaeon, entered into the field opposite of Phantom. This would be a test of their teamwork and ability to communicate with their bond.
“Ready?” she yelled from the other side, her voice amplified from a megaphone it sounded like.
“Yes,” he yelled out.
The big display board let out a loud buzz for them to begin.
Opposite of him, Talon pounded along the makeshift hills and threaded through the stalagmites. From this height Nil could still see the faint glow of light green dripping from its mouth and claws. Phantom climbed on top of a rock pile to get a better vantage point and see…just in time for Talon to lunge up with its claws out. The spectators cheered when Phantom stepped to the side to let Talon fly past. All but Rose and Max who, Nil could barely see, were stock-still. They probably wanted him to fail; no, he was sure of it. Being the brunt of jokes was one thing, but having a special Thaeon that got him more attention? There might as well be a target on his back.
Void Strike to see if it does any damage or just pisses it off more, Nil thought. Phantom was standing on the point of a stalagmite and kicked out, the blow landing along Talon’s head which he shook off and kept charging. With its bulk, it crashed into the stalagmite and collapsed it, rearing up on two legs right after, its claws glowing green, and threw all its weight into a slash. Phantom raised his left arm for the black shield to appear the moment before the dripping claws struck. Though he was thrown back several feet, he had successfully redirected the attack at Talon’s back. It roared in pain and fell to the side in shock.
Nil almost fell over, too. The amount of energy it took to redirect attacks was directly proportional to the power of said move. That much was now obvious. While a nice technique, he would need to learn how to manage his energy during the battle. Or just get stronger. Yeah, that made more sense.
The crowd went wild in cheering. They had never seen a [Void] Thaeon before. In another way, Nil considered this bad. Now the entire region around Pol City would know his tricks. It was impossible to avoid at this point. Phantom, shaking his head, rose up and charged the stunned opponent who was slowly rising. There was an obvious power difference here that Nil didn’t want to admit or let bother him. In battle, there was no time for doubt. Only action. Talon lashed out with glowing green jaws and snapped into empty air.
Phantom had disappeared.
The crowd gasped in shock, then roared after a black blur reappeared behind Talon’s head and slammed his leg into it with everything he had. The bear Thaeon shook the ground when he fell and the board rang out in consecutive beeps indicating the winner was Nil. That felt too easy, he thought, gripping the rails to support his wobbly body. The field below him doubled, tripled, in his blurry vision. He needed food and sleep soon otherwise he feared he would pass out. Once the platform lowered, and the field returned to normal, Rylie handed over a key to Nil with a wide smile.
“Great fight and techniques. It’s not often Trainers challenge me or get a hit on Talon here”–she indicated to her Thaeon who was standing next to her growling low in agreement–”or pick a different terrain for that matter. You newbie Trainers are usually too scared to try anything.”
They walked together back to the main building and she returned behind her counter.
“Thank you for the opportunity,” he said to her with a weary voice. “It’s been a long day and I want a bed.”
“Take all the time you need to Train and practice and recuperate. Pol City’s ranking leader means business. Trust me, I know.”
“Oh, you’ve faced her?”
“Faced her?” Rylie laughed hard. “She’s my sister! We spent our childhood fighting everyday. Whenever she finally got her own Thaeon, though, she sprinted ahead of me. We both took the ranking test together, but I failed and she was top of the scores for that year. The final test is battling the current leader and, well, she wiped the floor with him. It’s a wonder Pol City is the first stop after Fan Town where so many new Trainers come from.”
“You’ve never gone through the rankings?”
“Well yeah, duh. Every good Trainer had. I only made it to third and gave up. This is a nice job here, overlooking the lake. Like a perpetual vacation. Plus, I can scout out potential rising stars for my sister. You feel me? Geez, man, you don’t look so good. Get out and go rest. There will be plenty to do tomorrow.”
Nil was unsteady on his feet. He nodded, feeling delirious with fatigue and left.
Once out of the room, she reached under the counter to grab her own watch. After a click, and a few moments of beeping, a voice answered.
“Rylie, is something wrong?”
“No, sis, it’s something else.”
The face on the watch breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t normally receive calls from her sister unless something bad had happened. Or, she mused, she needed help with something at the lake.
“Well, what is it?”
“There’s a kid headed your way soon with a [Void] Thaeon.”
“That’s odd, isn’t it? What of him? Don’t tell me,” she sighed, “you beat him up, didn’t you?”
Rylie smirked. “I could have, but I let him win. He was ragged looking from the road and was wobbly just standing still. His Thaeon has some interesting techniques I think you’ll enjoy. I believe he was involved with that cave incident everyone is talking about.”
“Oh? Same with that [Ether] girl?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“You know, Rylie, if you keep betting rooms on battles you’ll start losing money.”
“Kylie, please. Not everyone has the heart to crush every single newbie they see to take their money.”
Both laughed. Rylie looked around to Talon who was sound asleep on the floor.
“Just keep a watch on him when he shows up is all I wanted to say.”
“Thanks for the heads up. Now if you’ll excuse me, sis, I’ve got trials to plan for this weekend.”