[ Inside the Veinham Barrier
Day 1
Cave 3]
Where could it have gone? Jamie wondered as she walked down the cave. How careless. I should’ve thrown mana on the monster for tracking. She inhaled and regretted it.
It stinks! Jamie reached behind her and touched her two katanas. Good, they’re still there. I hope I don’t have to use these.
----------------------------------------
[ Day 30 in Mander
Veinham Training Zone ]
Jamie sat on the ground eating a pot-roast sourdough sandwich. Her mouth salivated. The food is divine, I guess I can probably die happy despite being so young.
A flying mouse flew by and dropped some poop that would’ve landed on Jamie’s face, had she not sensed it coming and narrowly escaped it. She shuddered. Mice are adorable creatures in children’s picture books. They even have them as pastries, but to see them in person, alive and kicking with their tails dangling, while flying in the air like birds is beyond disturbing.
Master Edwards looked confused at her reaction as he bit into a milk honey glazed donut.“You’re going to hurt its feelings.” He held out his pointer finger for the flying mouse to land on, which it did.
“Oh god, that’s disgusting. Don’t they spread diseases here?”
“Nope, they’re just cute and they eat the insects that do spread diseases. Wanna hold?”
“Get away from me!” Her face grimaced.
“All warfare is based on deception,” Master Edwards preached.
“That’s Sun Tzu! Where did that come from?” Jamie asked.
“Why yes, did you think the merge burned all of humanity’s great teachings, the arts, the style? We simply evolved to be better.”
Jamie looked at him, today, he was dressed flamboyantly, in a sleazy black dragon silk blouse and blank dress pants, with his long black hair tied back.
Some style…but still, he looks great.
“In Mander, we’re constantly on our toes because of the need for energy. And to get energy, we have to invade various districts. This is why many of the contestants are adept at warfare. Remember, all the contestants are gifted.”
Jamie finished her sandwich and moved on to her freshly deep-fried sweet potato fries.
“Later today, we’ll be practicing with your katanas again. It will help give you an advantage,” Master Edwards said and handed her the two katanas again.
“It’s so hard, I’m not ambidextrous.”
“It doesn’t matter. This could save your life one day.”
“Hey!” Benny screamed as he and Henry ran over.
“I must tell their mother they are a distraction.”
“Benny makes a good sparring partner.”
“Jamie, he is six. Although gifted, I say intellectually a few years more advanced than his actual age, but he is nowhere near the combat level you should be at. The same goes for the runt.”
Jamie pursed her lips. But they’re so cute. The best part of my day was being with them. And I guess Master Edwards isn’t hard on the eyes either.
“Since they’re here, you three can do some mana drills.”
Jamie smiled. Yes, mana drills. I don’t have to fear being in pain in these… at least usually.
Jamie, Benny, and Henry stood under a great 25 ft Lanpo tree, a tree with needle-like leaves and blue apple-sized fruits in the winter. Henry started to eat a sweet potato fry.
Master Edwards positioned himself in front of them, 20 meters away with a 60-gallon wine barrel. He raised his palm above the open-top wine barrel.
“One…”
Water flowed up in a stream opposite of gravity, and dispersed into a hundred little water balls individually wrapped by mana formed. They levitated above the wine barrel.
“Two…”
Jamie, Benny, and Henry raised their palms and cast a mana shield.
“Three.”
The balls launched and slammed against the combined mana shield of the three. The balls lodged themselves on the shield. Some balls bounced off, while some grind against the shield with intensity.
“My side is cracking!” Henry shouted, as his side of the shield showed signs of shattering from where the balls were.
“Okay, I just need to add more mana over there,” Jamie thought.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Hurry!!!” Henry shouted as a few water balls continued to grind against his shield.
“Mine’s starting to shatter too!” Benny cried.
Master Edwards smiled in amusement at the struggling three. “Brace yourselves, I’m adding more!”
Jamie looked over at Master Edwards as more balls formed. “It’s not working. I can’t distribute my mana evenly. There are spots where the balls can’t lodge themselves into, but areas where they’re halfway through already. Think. Think. Think!”
The second round of balls propelled themselves toward the three.
Think, think, think!
Jamie dropped her side of the mana shield to the surprise of Henry and Benny. Instead, she transported the three onto a branch of the Lanpo tree and out of the balls’ range.
The balls shattered the shield and went straight through the tree, leaving behind their spherical imprints.
“Quick thinking,” Master Edwards said, “except you forgot one thing.”
Jamie furrowed her brows. “What did I forget?”
“AHAHAHAHAH!” All three cried as they got knocked off the tree from getting hit in the back by the balls. The balls had looped back after going through the tree.
“There are many ways a warrior can trick you, but the weapon is honest.”
Master Edwards levitated around their motionless bodies, as he wrote some notes down in his red leather notebook.
“Lisaria should be out shortly, but do your best to heal yourselves.”
------End Flashback------
Present day…
[ Inside the Veinham Barrier
Day 1
Cave 3]
Jamie continued to walk along the bumpy, sticky cave path, and then realized… I’m totally lost!
Up ahead of her path, she heard whimpering and approached a cage with three contestants in it. All three wore futuristic blue body suits, the same style as the ones she killed. The contestants looked beaten, hopeless, and disheveled. Jamie noticed there was blood from the waist down…Jamie sighed. Should I help them? Ignore them! You can barely help yourself. Besides there’s Benny and Henry to worry about. And, I almost was killed earlier by those two with the same outfit.
They looked at her as she awkwardly passed by attempting to be invisible by the wall. The blue-haired one pleaded with her eyes and begged, “Please help us.” She extended her hand out of the cage.
The other blonde and brunette followed suit. “Please, help us.” Just keep walking. I can free them once I get a shield.
“Please, before they come back,” the blonde whispered with desperation, her lip was split and bloodied.
He’s going to kill me.
Jamie walked over, she sighed loudly. “This better not be a trap.” She looked at the women, they all looked around her age, early twenties. She raised her palm to bond their hands with mana threads. I’ll constrain them and then free them from a distance. That would give me some distance between them.
A few meters away, in the shadows two other contestants watched.
“She’s saving them.”
“That means she can't tell them apart.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised. Kinsha’s cloning skills are unrivaled, it is her gift.”
“I wonder how she killed those other two then?”
“Luck.”
“I don’t know, let’s practice caution.”
“You’re such a worrywart!”
“Shush, she might hear us.”
“We’re using telepathy.”
“Yes, but excited frequencies are easier to detect.”
“Are the other girls in position?”
“Yes.”
“We strick when she unlocks the chain.”
Now I just need to break the mana lock. Jamie looked at the locked chain and back at the women within.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the very cave…
The small shapeshifter that escaped Jamie, was still in a panic, it ran toward the entrance. I must alert the others.
Sniff, sniff, sniff…It stopped midway, a smell wafted in the putrid air and into its nostrils. What’s this? A sinister smile grew from the little monster, and he transformed.
Up ahead, in front of the little monster, was Benny and Henry. The two are in human form with daggers in hand. Their eyes were heightened to see in the dark. “Let’s go back,” Henry begged.
“Ha, you said you weren’t scared,” Benny said. “I want to test out this dagger, father got it for my 5th birthday. Brother even imbued- Who’s there?”
Running in front of them was a woman, covered in blood. “Help, please!”
“It’s a contestant,” Henry said.
Benny put his arm to block Henry from the woman.
“Insolence, how dare you try to trick the Great Benny! Foolish shapeshifter!” Benny shouted. He wondered what he should do. I can’t use my ultimate mana ball attack, this space is too narrow. I’ll act like I’m going for his belly but really go for his Achilles. Yes, that should work.
Benny charged at the woman. He aimed the dagger at the monster’s belly, but the monster chopped down on his back. Benny fell to the ground and hit a sharp rock that slashed his face. Blood spurted from the six-year-old’s face. Benny quickly jumped back up and somersaulted away from the monster.
“Boy, it was obvious you were going for my Achilles. Great plan, poor execution, ” the monster jeered and started to laugh.
Benny spat out blood. At this point, Henry started to cry. “Shush Henry, I’ll finish him. You just watch,” Benny said. But then he spat out more blood. Gladmora, stupid monster, it’s stronger than it looks, Benny thought.
Just then, three more monsters appeared. Each is bigger and meaner than the next. “Vano, we sensed your brothers are gone.”
“Yeah, there’s another whore. A tough one.”
“Where are the others? And what the hell are you doing?”
“Ha, they’re babies.” The monsters laughed hysterically.
“How weak can you get?” The three started to tear up laughing.
“We are NOT babies, I am six and Henry is 3,” Benny said, as he puffed out his chest.
The monsters continued to laugh at the sight.
“I’m 3 and a half,” Henry said meekly.
“Kill them and let’s move on. We need to find the mages.”
Benny looked at the monsters and started to strategize. I can’t take three of them on. How do I get us out of here? I must do what it takes to get Henry to safety. In moments like this, I need to take the initiative before they do something!
Benny charged at the biggest monster, who stood still. “Ahahaaha!!! I’ll show you! Don’t you dare laugh!”
All the monsters laughed as they watched the three-and-a-half-foot-tall child charged at a 10-foot shapeshifter. The monster raised his hand and smashed Benny to the ground. So hard, that only a puddle of blood and a shattered skeleton was left behind.
A cry of pure agony filled the cave. Henry screamed hysterically as tears gushed from his round eyes, “I’ll die with you monsters!!!”