Chapter 9

“This is extremely dangerous. Proceed with caution, please. I don’t know what’s going on over there, but so far I haven’t received word from any authorities. I can only assume there’s been an unreported accident somewhere in the cave.”

The Demiurge Trainers, save for Dave, stood in a circle staring at their watches with Raven talking to all of them in a group call. Lyn was out in the field battling with a Trainer whose Thaeon was a floating eye with bat wings that sent gusts of sharp wind tearing up the ground. He turned back to the watch.

“Why don’t you come over and clear the cave, professor?” Pic asked.

“I’m currently heading to the main Demiurge lab to talk with someone. Besides, this is the path of a Trainer. You all have to solve your problems and survive on your own. This is the path of everyone wanting to become strong.”

Haven had blasted her opponent from the air with an Ether Beam and then kicked it around the field like a ball.

Raven continued: “It seems as though everyone has risen to Evo1–congratulations. The jump to Evo2 will not be as easy, I’m afraid. And Evo3? It’s possible there are some here that won’t achieve it. Not many can take it that far, but I am hopeful that our picks this time will go far.”

“Where’s Dave?” Rose said. Rager was behind her snapping at the air.

“He’s still off in the woods fighting. He said he wasn’t ready for the cave. Therefore, it is up to you five to pave the way. Any more questions?”

Max said, “Is it possible to tame another Thaeon? You know, form a team?”

“Absolutely. In fact, every ranking leader plus the League has a team. It will probably be essential later on; but don’t think it’s required. I never had more than one.”

“But you also never made it past all the rankings,” Rose remarked.

“Very true, but no time currently to get into that. My advice: wait until after the first ranking to try and train another Thaeon. You are all still fresh and figuring things out. Like with techniques, more is not always better. It’s easier to focus on one Thaeon than six; or four techniques as opposed to eight. Not that you can’t, or anything… Just keep that in mind for the future. Keep me updated.”

The picture blinked out. Eight techniques? Was such a thing possible?

“With that, we’re off,” Poc said. “Pic and I are ready. We’ll see you guys on the other side!”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Max murmured as the twins faded off into the cave.

Nil walked over to talk with Lyn who was collecting a handful of coins from her win. “People here are broke, I swear. We bet on ten percent and only got five silver coins. What a rip.”

Nil wanted to tell her that it was her fault for traveling to what was a beginner area to train where new Trainers would invariably be broke. He kept his mouth shut for now. He wanted to foster good feelings and teamwork today.

“The shops here aren’t helping,” Nil said instead. “There was a guy in there trying to sell some useless [Water] aspect Thaeon for five-hundred silver coins. Someone actually bought it, too”

“I’m sure it was good though, right?”

“Good? It flopped and splashed around before getting kicked into a wall.”

He checked his watch to look at his own money that had accumulated since leaving home. Money in Specter, to him, was a confusing mess. Silver and gold coins were used in everyday transactions; one-thousand silver coins to every gold. Apart from that, Trainers would barter as well. In the Wilds, anything goes. There was another, higher form of currency that Nil had heard about that circulates through the cities. Raven had mentioned it briefly before but failed to go into any detail. The league, along with their ranking leaders, don’t typically use silver or gold. To them, Raven mentioned, it was too basic. This had created a political issue where Trainers set themselves apart from the rest of the population. The money they used was in the form of cryptocurrency called Specks that certain shops would take over silver and gold. Speck short for Specter, a name Nil found lame. This made transferring funds a lot easier, though personally he thought the idea of solid metal coins was easier to keep track of.

They both had agreed to wait until the twins came back to venture into the cave. Nil hardly thought the entire network was only narrow corridors. No shop or the inn provided maps. The idea was, they said, that aspiring Trainers had to find their way through using skill and determination.

“What a load,” Lyn had said to the shopkeep before tossing him a few coins for a bag of candy.

They waited an hour watching as Trainers came and went, others battling in the field. It gave Nil a chance to observe other strategies and aspects. He and Phantom would need other ways of attacking that weren't just punch, kick, phase, pass out.

That’s when they heard screams echoing from inside the cave.

Through the darkness of the cave opening, a dim light appeared that grew in size before emerging in the form of Tic’s Flame Web that stuck to the ground close to Nil’s feet, followed close behind by Pic, standing on top of her Thaeon, flying out. Just behind was Poc being dragged out by his rolling partner. His clothes were torn, his skin cut up, his face covered in smudges of mud mixed with blood. Lyn and Nil rushed up, trying to ignore Pic’s frantic cries for help. Haven was there in a moment to touch him lightly on the forehead and send a healing pulse into this ravaged body.

“He’ll be fine for now. Get him to the inn and rest. Here.” Lyn tossed Pic some coins for a room. “It’s on me.”

Poc, shaky, stood and limped off with his sister and Thaeon supporting his weight. Lyn and Nil locked eyes, a mix of fear and, to his own surprise, excited anticipation both from his own desires and Phantom’s who stood beside him. Not wanting to waste anymore time, they dashed into the cave’s mouth before anyone else could.

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Nil had never been in a cave before, if that much wasn’t obvious. He did not know what to expect. In his mind, he had imagined a wide room made of rock with sharp spikes hanging from the ceiling. In a way he was right, save for the wide room part. They entered and began walking along what amounted to a hallway. At steady intervals there were luminous stones placed within the wall itself inside recesses. Haven helped, too, her golden body putting off a steady glow to light the floor.

“They weren’t lying about this part, huh?” Nil whispered. He was listening for any odd sounds, creaks, or cracks in the rock. There was the sensation that, at any moment, the mountain above his head would collapse in a heap to end his journey here and now. The corridor eventually did open to a bigger space where the path widened out and the lighting grew a bit brighter from a hole in the ceiling that filtered in sunlight. Though there was more room, the floor was covered in tall spikes that reminded him too much of that boar Thaeon’s attacks.

“Keep an eye out. This room is riddled with stalagmites,” Lyn whispered. “Perfect hiding spot for–oh no.”

One of the larger stalagmites shifted, spun around, and rose up a on a long tail covered in more spikes. Two slitted eyes popped open from the rock face with a wide, toothless mouth from which flew spiky rocks and a spray of pebbles along with it. It slithered in their direction with the rough sound of sandpaper against skin, slamming down its conical body that shook the ground around them. Nil urged Phantom to run around and attack the tail which looked to be softer than the body.

But the Thaeon wasn’t stupid.

It quickly spun around and fired off another rock. This gave Nil an idea that Phantom picked up on instantly: he grabbed the rock in midair and hurled it back with his newfound strength from hitting Evo1. The rock smashed right between the eyes and shattered with an ensuing yell from the gyrating rock Thaeon. Following up, doing what she always did, Haven sent out an Ether Beam in the same spot to push their opponent back farther until it crashed into and smashed more stalagmites. Nil wanted a similar long-distance attack to help close the gap; Phantom didn’t quite agree. So far their battle style had been up close and personal which was contrary to how Nil had always strategized his simulated battles before. Having a non-physical ranged attack was good for closing the distance. Something like Lyn’s Ether Beam would be great. Still Phantom didn’t agree. All of his strengths and techniques were coming from melee attacks.

This internal disagreement gave them both pause and a strain on their Bond which felt like it was pulling back and forth in dissention. In that span of time where they both played an invisible tug of war, the Thaeon had righted itself and was speeding towards Phantom, toward whom it had swiped its long tail and sent a cascade of rock chunks. Fast though he was, many of the chunks slammed into his body and sent him back into a pile of rocks.

“Phantom!”

Now was no time to disagree. In order for there to be progress, they needed to be on the same page. Complete understanding. And so, as if a fog cleared, their Bond rang out with a mutual idea that seemed so obvious Nil felt stupid for not seeing it before. Phantom did not like ranged attacks because it would take away from his close combat skills; Nil wanted something to hit from more than a foot away. In the dark they both nodded together, ignoring Lyn’s screams for Haven to shoot that mountainous bastard bearing down on Phantom. In his Bond he felt it. More importantly he understood it.

Void Strike. That sounds good. A hum of agreement.

Phantom stood, jumped and let out a ferocious side kick into the empty air. At the same time a large crack rang out and the enemy Thaeon leaned to the side. If he could phase his entire body, why not individual strikes?

“Good job, Nil. Not a bad idea. Haven, finish it off.” She raised up with two pointed limbs in the air and let off two beams that spiraled together and blasted chunks of rock from the thing’s body. It fell and didn’t get back up.

“Are all your techniques just your Ether Beam?” Nil asked. He didn’t try to sound sarcastic, but her face said she had interpreted it differently.

“Are all of yours just punch and kick?”

Then she laughed.

“Come on, Nil! We just took out that beast together. Aren’t you happy? You even got a new technique.”

Phantom dashed over to him, their Bond vibrating stronger than before.

“It took a minute to work out, but we did it.”

“I’m convinced the reason some Trainers don’t get to Evo3 is because of subconscious disagreements. Let’s keep moving. I want to see what else is ahead.”

After a moment’s thought he asked her, “Is this far as you made it before?”

“...Let’s just keep moving.” She stepped ahead with Haven at her side, sending small pulses of healing to Phantom. They would need to practice the Void Strike a lot more before this venture was all said and done. The next section of the cave narrowed out to where both had to go through single file until the path widened out into a vast cavern.

“It’s not so bad in here, is it?” Nil said.

“I don’t think your buddies back there wanted to go with you, is all. You could have all tackled this together and probably solved whatever issue is happening.”

“Well, that and you trounced most of them by now and have taken their money.” At this they both laughed and walked around the cavern. To the left more lights reflected off a huge lake. Its surface was still, like glass, but Nil wasn’t going to be fooled this time. He watched the water’s surface for the slightest ripple as they walked along the shore. Up ahead, the path split into three doorways. Above them came a loud shriek, then a splash, then a rumbling growl from the shadows.

They turned to see a Thaeon bursting from the water–Nil had expected this and rolled his eyes, but focused his attention back to the task at hand. The newly arrived Thaeon slid onto the rock with its flippers, a giant shell on its back with a scaly head on an elongated neck snapping out Phantom. Atop its head was a single tentacle with an extra eye that rotated around the room, scanning for any more threats. It retracted its neck like a spring and thrust it forward snapped with echoes in the chamber. On the second snap it opened wide and shot out a jet of water whistling through the air.

“I got this, Lyn. Watch my back so nothing sneaks up.”

Nil hopped in closer to Phantom who was sending rapid side kicks to the thing’s head. The Thaeon withdrew all its limbs, headed into the shell and dive bombed back into the water.

“That was easy.” It didn’t take but a split second for him to realize he spoke way too soon. Where the shell had slammed into the water, a wave was fast approaching the shore with the closed shell on top, spinning and throwing out mist. No good.

Now’s our chance, Phantom. Void Strike and knock it off there.

A scream from behind, but Nil kept focused–whatever it was, Lyn had it handled. Phantom started twirling kicks around over and over again, some landing on the shell, others not–still inaccurate and exhausting. Both were getting tired too quickly.

Another scream. Come on, Lyn, hold down the fort a little longer.

One more kick and the shell careened off the top of the wave that diminished as it hit the shore, washing over his new shoes but otherwise causing no harm. The head popped from the water to snap out more jets of water that Phantom danced around before sending a well-placed punch to the tentacle eye. It screeched in pain and retreated into the water. Silence returned to the cavern.

“Phew, we got it Lyn!”

“Nil!” she screamed for a third time. His heart, already racing, pounded against his rib cage.

In that brief battle, something had grabbed Lyn and disappeared down one of the tunnels with only her fading screams giving him any indication of where they went.