Chapter Thirty

Jackson blocked Melanie’s punch, attempting to grab her arm, but she was prepared and twisted out of his grasp. What followed was a series of awkward exchanges that ended with a blow to his solar plexus. Jackson stumbled away, struggling to catch his breath after all the air had been knocked out of him. Pain shot through his body, threatening to overwhelm him. Lazarus tutted disapprovingly from beside them.

“Bad form, both of you,” Lazarus reprimanded. “The sanguinary martial art is more forceful than that, more aggressive. It involves finding the most vulnerable parts of your opponent and ruthlessly attacking them. You two are moving about like two children playing wrestling. You are slow, and right now you’re embarrassing. Go wash off, and let’s get back to it.”

Jackson and Melanie let out sighs, sharing a knowing look, and headed towards the hot spring to the far left.

“I never knew he could be so...”

“Strict?” Melanie finished, halfway between a grin and a grimace.

Jackson nodded, and they stripped down to their small clothes. It seemed like weeks ago, but in reality, just a few days ago, he had been mortified at the idea of both of them being nearly naked in each other's presence. Lazarus had just laughed and told them to get used to it.

Even now, after having “gotten used to it,” Jackson still had trouble not admiring Melanie’s lithe body. She was undeniably beautiful. Even in motion, as she practiced the forms, she was simply more graceful than him. The distraction had caused him nothing but pain as Melanie delivered blow after blow. Eventually, he decided that admiring her just cost too much. The hot water soothed their muscles, wrapping around them like a blanket of restorative heat.

“I wonder why this is so hard. I thought leveling up our skills was supposed to make the knowledge easier. Poof, there it is in our heads, you know?”

Jackson leaned back, spreading his arms out over the edge and leaning his head back to look at the stars.

“Yeah, I thought so too. The thing is, I am noticing a difference. You pick up on it as you level up—a step wrong here or there—but Lazarus seems to be correcting our mistakes before the leveling up tells us it’s a mistake. I’m not sure why he just doesn’t let leveling up take care of it.”

Melanie splashed some water on her face.

“Maybe we should ask him when we go back.”

Jackson nodded and dunked his head in the water, letting the hot liquid run down his face. He nearly groaned in pleasure. Lazarus trained them hard, for hours and hours at a time, so getting to use the spring was a treat. He looked over at Melanie, who rolled her head and stretched, letting out a little groan of satisfaction of her own.

“It’s too bad Laz won’t let us use anything else but our unarmed combat skill. I feel like I could win if I used my other weaves and skills.”

Melanie laughed, and Jackson found it invigorating.

“I’m not sure I could keep up if you did. Maybe I could, not sure how well my empower self-weave would do.”

Jackson dismissed her comment with a wave.

“Tch, you’d be fine. Don’t lie though; you enjoy kicking my ass.”

Melanie smiled at him, revealing adorable dimples.

“Maybe I do. Just a little.”

Jackson laughed, and then he sobered a bit.

“Have you ever thought about after?”

Melanie frowned, eyebrows furrowing.

“After?”

Jackson moved his hand in a wide circle, as if to indicate everything.

“After we escape this dungeon, I just wonder what lies in store for us. You know, the future.”

Melanie got a far-off look in her hazel eyes, and in them Jackson could see the reflection of the stars.

“I haven’t given it much thought, Jackson. I tend to not look past what’s right in front of me. I guess I’ll just survive, improve myself, and survive some more. What about you?”

Jackson grunted and splashed more water on his face.

“I have a couple of things to do, but then I think I want to build something. An out-of-the-way community.”

Melanie shot him a glance, surprise playing across her features.

“Out of everything you could have said, I wasn’t expecting that. Why?”

Stolen novel; please report.

Jackson looked away from her and down at the hot water, watching the steam curl up from its surface. He poked the water, watching it ripple outward.

“I know you forgave me for Riselle and for Adaran, and I have forgiven myself. But all I do is kill. Kill monsters and kill people. That’s it. Sure, I advance, and the advancement is really nice and feels amazing, but I think I need to channel that. Into a purpose. I want to build something, and I think I’ll have the opportunity to at some point. If I can, if I do manage it, I'd like you there.”

Melanie’s face turned a slight red, and she looked away before saying, “I’d like to be there too, Jackson.”

He cleared his throat and managed a smile.

“Thanks. We should get back to it. Before Lazarus comes to find us.”

She nodded. They got out of the spring and put their clothes back on, which Lazarus had cleaned somehow. In this pocket world, he really seemed like a god, able to basically will whatever he wanted into existence. Making their way back to the arena, Lazarus clapped his hands.

“Excellent, you’ve returned. Alright, take your positions.”

Jackson and Melanie faced each other, only a few feet apart.

“Begin,” Lazarus said firmly.

Melanie rushed towards Jackson, charging in and attacking high. He defended and counter-attacked. Melanie did the same. It became a kind of deadly dance between them. They traded blows, grappled, and escaped, and through it all, Jackson could see Melanie’s hazel eyes, alight with a determined fire. They ended up on the ground at some point with Melanie trying to get him in a hold, which he would not allow, and using his superior strength, he managed to get on top of her, securing her arms under his knees.

She gave him a wry smile as he looked down at her flush face, her hazel eyes sparkling with mirth, and something more—something warm and heating up.

“Well, now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?”

Jackson flushed, and Lazarus cleared his throat.

"Oookay, now you two, reset.”

They did, and Jackson did his best to shake off that feeling of heat that had flashed through him. It went a little less heated after that, as they sparred in endless rounds of unarmed combat. Lazarus would not allow them to see what their unarmed combat skill level was. In fact, he somehow disabled notifications from the Judge, and they couldn’t bring it up no matter how hard they tried.

For days, this is all they had been doing. Sparring, resting, sparring, resting, over and over again. Lazarus would correct them, and soon he began telling them to go full force; anything but their weaves and skills were allowed.

Jackson was ashamed to say that they broke each other's bones. Ashamed because he did not want to hurt her; ashamed because, over time, they got angry enough at one another to do it. The spring had somehow gained a healing property and healed them when that happened, and Lazarus had begun to have them break down their fights.

There had been more of those little moments, those sparks between Melanie and Jackson. It didn’t develop past that, mostly because they knew that Lazarus loomed nearby. He found it hard to unpack what was happening. It wasn’t that long ago that she had seemed to have him, and now they had this going on. How could this start out as this reluctant alliance and then turn into this? It did, though, and it was. He liked it; he couldn’t deny that.

They were improving; even though they couldn’t see their skill levels, they could feel it. Feel it in the way they moved, flowing like the rushing tide. Feel it in the strength of their punches. It was noticeable and steady.

Eventually, Lazarus had them move onto these obstacle courses. They didn’t have any kind of agility skills, but he claimed it would help their unarmed combat anyway because it was about balance, form, and strength. Sure enough, they had to run balance beams, strike bags and even pots, and pull themselves up ropes.

They would meet at the end and fight each other, doing what felt like their absolute best to kill one another with their bodies. Then they would do it again, and again, and again. After the long day, they would soak in the spring, healing, and then they would be back at it.

They didn’t even talk very much; they were so tired. Jackson lost count of how much time had passed. Was it days, weeks, or years? Maybe it had been decades. He honestly had no clue, and neither did Melanie. After a particularly grueling day, they soaked and healed, and then Lazarus called them over. The arena had seemingly transformed, and seeing something different than just that arena? Jackson wasn’t ashamed to admit that he almost wept. In its place were two crimson circles, surrounded by candles. Both faced each other.

Lazarus gestured to the circles.

“One circle for each of you. Sit inside them if you will.”

They did, and they looked at Lazarus expectantly. He rubbed his hands together.

“What we need to talk about now is spirit manipulation. I’m going to teach you how to manifest your auras.”

Melanie and Jackson shared a glance, and Lazarus grinned at them.

“A while ago, I told you about concepts. You needed to tap into your spirit for that. You’ve already done part of the work by doing that. Manifesting your aura involves projecting your spirit outside of your body. I’d like you both to try it.”

Jackson promptly raised his hand.

Lazarus rolled his eyes and pointed at him.

“Yes, Jackson. Go ahead.”

“Why?” Jackson asked simply.

Lazarus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

“Why what? And put your hand down.”

Jackson grinned. He had kept it up on purpose because he knew it would bother Lazarus.

“Well, why teach us this? What are the benefits?”

Lazarus rubbed his hands together.

“Ah, well now, manifesting your aura leads to something truly awesome, something I won’t reveal yet. That said, what I can tell you is that with a strong aura, you can bring to bear everything you are on your foes. Imagine smothering your foes with overpowering feelings of blood and destruction, of crippling them with that deep hunger you feel. All of that and more is what comes with aura manipulation. Trust me, this is worth knowing.”

Jackson rubbed his jaw, but it was Melanie who asked, “Uhm, will we get a skill out of this or?”

Lazarus shook his head.

“No, this isn’t something that is measured by the Judge. Not in that way, at least. This is something that only you can improve, and while the progress is something you can see, it isn’t present on your status page. Trust me, this is the foundation for true power. Now, find your spirits.”

They closed their eyes and did so. Jackson hadn’t looked for his spirit in a long while, but he found it easy enough in that place that was deeper than even his Domain. He touched it with his mind and tugged on it with his will. Lazarus gave a satisfied nod.

“Very good. Now, instead of a tendril, you need to immerse yourself in your spirit, as you would when empowering your weaves. Instead of doing that, you're going to push it outward, pushing it outside of yourself. Try now.”

And so they did.