Seth nursed his freshly broken wrist as he waited the remaining seconds before jumping back to the main hall.
His last fight was a dangerous one. In the ninth round, Seth had faced a large armadillo made of some sort of dark rock. In a last-ditch attack, the monster had wrapped its tail around his arm in an effort to cripple him. Although that had resulted in Seth skewering the thing like a shish kebab, his wrist had gotten twisted beyond recognition due to its weight and snapped. Too caught up in the pain of his injury, Seth missed his window to loot the monster as well as heal up with a recovery crystal.
To make matters worse, his tenth and final match had been with some sort of speed-based creature. Before he even knew what was happening, a blurry assault of claws and bites began to tear through his meager armor. A feeling reminiscent of his time on a dark planet fighting Dashers overtook him as he roared against the pain and fought with an animalistic desire to survive.
Finally, his surroundings changed from a hot and sandy coliseum, to a dimly lit hall filled with countless screens. Instead of taking out a recovery crystal, Seth quickly made his way toward the residential area using his map. He was sweating bullets and covered in an egregious amount of sand and gore, but he paid it no mind as he finally found a free room to claim for himself. Seth practically threw the door closed behind him before instantly taking out a mid-class recovery crystal and falling to the ground.
He bit back a yelp as he felt his appendage slowly unravel itself while expelling any foreign matter he had gotten into the wound.
All of those video games and books really don’t do any justice to real injuries. “The main character got half his chest blown off but stood up and continued fighting regardless.” What a fucking joke.
After the pain finally subsided, Seth stood up and made his way over to the absurdly large bathroom. He had failed to notice when he first tumbled inside, but the room was more extravagant than he would’ve thought possible. It actually almost hurt his eyes how bright everything in the room was. Anything that could be gold was, and anything that couldn’t was platinum.
“A room fit for royalty I suppose.”
Seth had never been one for expensive things, but who in their right mind would decline taking a bath in a bejeweled tub? For the first time in what felt like forever, Seth was able to fully relax and wash away his fatigue. Scented emerald water cascaded over his body like a cleansing waterfall as he felt his muscles loosen and mind wander. He could even feel the water slowly replenishing his energy reserves as well.
He had used most of it up in his experimentation, but no where near enough to cause Mental Block like the first time he used True Sight. It worried him a little, as it felt like he wasn’t using his energy correctly. Though, none of his abilities seemed to take that much out of him regardless. He willed his mind to rest, as it would be a waste to soil the bliss of his magical bath. He might love fighting monsters and getting stronger, but his passion for being clean and enjoying the finer things in life wasn’t anything to scoff at either.
--------
After a couple hours of relaxing and abusing the room service, Seth finally walked out of his room toward the main hall with a goofy grin and a protruding stomach.
“Someone looks particularly gluttonous today.”
Seth didn’t even turn around after hearing the foreign voice.
“You would seriously ignore such a remark from a stranger?”
The voice was smooth but held a sort of raspy edge. Seth paused to look at a piece of arbitrary art on the wall.
“Why would I waste my time talking to stranger who can’t even introduce themselves politely?” He stated plainly, still not looking at the owner of the voice.
“Have you no pride?” the voice asked with a hint of disbelief and thinly veiled disgust.
Seth remained neutral, still examining the wall art. “I find that ego is the root of all ignorance.” He could hear the person shuffle in place.
“Excuse me?”
Seth’s face turned into a mask of innocent delight as he splayed his hands out in a gesture of appeasement.
“You are excused!”
Without even looking at the stranger one time, Seth turned from his station before the wall art and promptly marched away.
--------
“I thought I would find you out here.”
Seth entered the grand hall only to find a familiar trio standing in his way.
“Geez, did someone send out a memo to ambush me today?”
Drake and Licht raised a brow at his comment while Blair seemed uninterested. “What?” Seth just gave him an impish grin before waving away the question.
“It’s nothing, I’m guessing you guys needed me for something?”
“Yes actually, we watched some of your later matches and wanted to talk to you about it.”
Seth’s brows furrowed in genuine confusion. “What about them?” He inquired.
Drake, for once, seemed a little squeamish. Even Licht wouldn’t meet Seth’s eyes.
“They want to know if you are evil.” Blair piped up.
Seth gave her an incredulous look while she just shrugged in response. Drake quickly spoke up afterward, waving his hands in a gesture of surrender.
“No, no, no. That’s not it at all!” He glared at Blair to which she responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Licht took over as Drake reprimanded Blair.
“It’s just that your weapon seems to be a bit… exotic, and the way you looked to practice on your opponents seemed rather… sinister.”
He took a break before continuing, looking like he swallowed a lemon.
“When we talked before, you said you weren’t from the galactic plane, but you never actually told us where you did come from.”
As Licht forced the words out, Drake had been giving Seth a guilty look from the sidelines. Instead of answering, Seth just let out a laugh. Drake’s face became red with embarrassment while Licht looked positively horrified.
“Evil? Seriously? You guys have really been worried about that?”
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He took a second to laugh again while throwing an arm over both of the boy’s shoulders.
“Mate, not only am I not evil, but I haven’t even known about shaping or the Foundation for an entire year yet.”
His claim caused even Blair’s normally indifferent expression to turn into one of complete surprise. If Licht looked like he had swallowed a lemon before, now he looked like he had swallowed twelve. Not even Drake could come up with something to say as he began sputtering nonsense while trying to make sense of what he said. After a moment, Blair seemed to be the first one to calm down and meet Seth’s eyes.
“I guess that explains why you suck at fighting so much.” She stated bleakly.
This finally interrupted the boys’ flustering as Seth’s face turned into an expression of mock hurt. A moment later the four found themselves laughing merrily before Drake and Licht regained their bearings enough to begin barraging Seth with questions. An hour later, the group found themselves sitting in a lounge, all breathless after the interrogation enacted upon Seth. Seth, of course, was the most exhausted as every question had been directed toward him. He sat back in his chair, feeling tired all over again despite his recent rest.
“I still can’t believe you are a Mundane.” Licht breathed.
It turned out, people from Foundation barren worlds like Seth were so uncommon that they had been given a name: Mundanes. Blair explained that this was because with an energy starved universe like Seth’s, the only way for one to attain a Foundation was for someone who already had one to provide them with it. She went on to explain that this was almost never for just reasons. The options ranged all the way from cheap war recruitment to inhumane experiments like Seth experienced.
“I mean seriously man, how in Null’s name did you manage to survive this long, much less get into The Incubator!”
Seth had no answer to his question, as even he was unaware of how he had made it this far. To think, he had gone through so much, yet it felt like he hadn’t even begun his shaping journey. He got the three to calm down for a moment so he could get their undivided attention. His voice became uncharacteristically serious.
“If you guys don’t mind, I would like to keep most of this on the down low for now. I can’t imagine this information would afford me any favorable experiences.”
The three all shared a look before Drake spoke up. “We understand Seth, I hope you can trust me at my word when I say this matter won’t leave the table.”
Seth nodded his thanks before he continued talking. “Now that I understand your situation, I hope you know that I will do anything I can to help. I know I might not look like it, but I am fairly well known in my territory for my fighting technique.” He gestured at the other two at the table who nodded in turn. “You might have been able to tell by now, but Licht here is a bit obsessive and could probably answer any questions you have about the Foundation and shaping theory. Blair on the other hand is probably the most talented of us all, she is a prodigy even amongst those here.”
A slender hand reached out and flicked Drake’s ear. “Don’t brag about other people’s skills like they’re yours.” Blair said.
She turned her attention back to Seth and continued where Drake left off. “I wouldn’t say I was better than those here, but I have been told that I have a knack for shaping technique and aura control.” Drake rolled his eyes and mouthed “she’s being modest.” Seth smirked at his display and threw a question back to Blair.
“By aura control, do you mean Anima Influence? I have learned a little about it, but I haven’t heard about any techniques regarding it.”
Blair cast an annoyed look back at Drake before answering him. “You probably haven’t heard much about it because it isn’t the most common of practice. Though, when it comes to demonstrating your prowess, the first thing any real shaper will look for is aura control, or Anima Influence as you call it. It’s a method that most mentalists try to master, but any shaper should know at least the basics in order to protect themselves from an attack. I can teach you if you want, but it’s not something that can be learned in the month we are here.”
Seth nodded in earnest, accepting her proposal. It was disappointing that he couldn’t learn it now, but the promise was enough for him. This was especially important given the nature of his Insanity Eternal aligned ability which seemed to provide some abilities that were reminiscent of the mentalist type Blair spoke of. He stood up while letting out a deep breath.
“Well, if you guys are convinced that I’m not evil now, I should be getting back to the matches, I’m not going to earn enough contribution points to get what I need if I keep dawdling.” He made for the exit before Drake’s hand caught his shoulder.
“Wait up man, now that we know about you, how about you team up with us for a couple matches? It might help you get a feel for how normal shapers fight, plus you get more points for the higher difficulty matches that come with fighting in groups.” Seth thought it over for a moment. I guess it couldn’t hurt, especially since they know I’m a Mundane now. Also, I really need points. Seth grabbed the hand from his shoulder to make a handshake.
“Alright, I’m game.”
--------
“You guys were seriously underselling how good you are.”
Seth sat dumfounded in front of the console as he replayed the last collection of matches he had just fought with Drake, Licht, and Blair. “Fought” wasn’t exactly accurate though, as Seth mostly just watched from the sidelines as the three tore through the opponents like tissue paper. Even packs of tier three monsters were no problem for the small squad to take care of.
Drake was the main damage dealer of the group with his twin scimitars that radiated a sort of holy power. The onslaught he enacted upon an enemy would be expertly supported by Licht’s conjuration power. As Drake drew the attention of the beasts, Licht would summon shields wrought from grey scales that seemed flexible like chainmail, easily absorbing most attacks. Because Drake couldn’t cover his defense on every side, Licht would create the scales with pinpoint accuracy, covering his weaknesses while at the same time throwing off the monster’s tempo, allowing Drake to deliver serious blows in response. He also seemed to send out periodical buffs to his team, as Seth could see waves of energy transfer from him to the other two.
Most terrifying of all was Blair. As Drake took on the big enemies, Blair decimated all the other smaller threats with a few waves of her hand. She had some sort of ability that allowed her to draw glowing white lines directly in the air. She used this power to draw complex series of diagrams that looked like ritual circles. After they were complete, she would flick her hand, causing the circles to activate and project large myths that were unknown to Seth. Beams of destruction would rain from the myths, causing monsters to burn, freeze, get electrocuted, be thrashed by a storm of blades, and even more. No monsters got anywhere near the other two on the team the entirety of the matches he was with them. Seth himself only had to deal with a handful, but that was because he had asked her to let them go so he could practice.
Even more impressive than there teamwork was the fact that they still somehow found the time during matches to coach Seth. As he fought, Drake would yell from across the arena to advise Seth’s positioning and footwork. To be honest, it made it even harder for Seth to focus during his fights because he couldn’t get over how lame he was compared to the trio. It was only after a bolt from one of Blair’s circles that almost hit him that caused him to really start paying attention to their lessons. They even made him watch every match after they were done to point out flaws and theorize new strategies that could make his fighting more streamlined and effective. They were currently watching the eighteenth match since Seth had joined the team.
“I’m starting to think that you guys entered at tier two on purpose.” He exclaimed with a whistle.
Licht’s face turned smug while Drake gave him a big grin.
“Well you didn’t expect us to be slouches now right?”
Seth gave him an unconvincing look.
“Not all of us entered The Incubator on a whim.” Blair quipped.
“What can I say, I like to be original.” He laughed.
After analyzing the video for a little longer, the four of them decided that it was time for the next match. Drake swiftly prepared the next match for the team, but was dumbfounded as the screen seemed to freeze right after he signed up. “Huh?” Drake poked the screen a few more times in confusion. Seth stepped forward to examine the screen. “Try turning it off and-” Before he could finish, reality warped and the four were yet again in the sandy arena.
“-on. Oop, never mind I guess.”
In a flash, they all summoned their respective weapons and activated a series of passive combat abilities. Licht spotted the opponents first. “Shit, to our right. This might be a problem.” The group all turned to look where he had indicated, only to find another group of participants staring back at them. One looked to be a spellcaster in violet robes, while the other two consisted of a paladin type warrior in golden armor and a hooded individual. A red screen appeared above the arena with a red dot that blinked steadily.
-Broadcast Initiated
-Forced dual has been rolled. Both teams will fight until one team cannot continue. Match will begin in (5) seconds
Drake wasted no time as he began commanding his team. “Licht, Blair, form up. Seth, stay behind us and use that illusion ability of yours to distract their spellcaster if you can. Don’t lose focus though, that hooded one is most likely an agility based stealth specialist, they usually conceal their weapons to prevent attack prediction.” Seth quickly did what he was told as he seated himself behind the line. Drake didn’t need to say anything to the other two, as they have worked together long enough to read each other just based on movement.
Time seemed to slow down as the two teams stared at each other while the seconds counted down like molasses. Finally, the clock reached zero and the arena burst into chaos.