Hours later, Kade stood atop a massive wall, staring out into the night. The moons provided enough illumination that he found he could see nearly as well as during the day, especially as his strange new vision seemed to paint the whole world in gentle waves of glowing energy. Before him was the relative Calm that surrounded Karthas, in one direction seemingly endless farmland and fields in the shadow of the mountain range, and in the other, dense forests and rivers.
Kade had been surprised to learn that both directions actually contained small villages as well, sporadically dotting the landscape in what appeared to be random fashion. Evidently, even though Karthas provided an immense area of Calm, many still lived in the shadows of other, smaller Elders. These villages often had small populations, and were challenging to reach for most Keepers, so they largely had to fend for themselves. It was hearing about these villages that led Kade to the decision he’d made earlier.
He’d been pulled from place to place since the moment he awoke on Iros, forced to continually react and adapt to a series of impossible circumstances, and he realized that his sense of agency and control had long-since given over to a tacit acceptance of whatever was going to come next. While there had been moments he’d been proud of, and friendships he was grateful for, the truth was that he’d felt like he’d been stuck riding a wave, and he had lost sight of who he was, and who he wanted to become in this strange new world.
He liked the idea of the Keepers, and was impressed to find that so many took the role with such seriousness, and even earnestness. But he also felt like he’d been on an inevitable path toward the group since Edwin first found him, and taking the Trial and going forward with the exam were just more examples of unavoidable choices. Kade didn’t regret that he was almost certain to join the organization, but he did regret that it didn’t feel like his choice. He was in a remarkable world, and given remarkable powers, and he refused to just go where fate seemed intent to take him. This was why he was choosing to do something dangerous, because he needed a goal that was truly his own.
It had been surprisingly easy to scale the outer walls of Karthas–his Relentless Pursuit ability meant there were few obstacles that could truly slow him down anymore, and he’d simply run up the sheer surface as easily as going for a jog. Apparently Karthas being attacked was virtually unheard of, and so there were few defenders to note his passing. Now Kade could pursue his new goal at his own discretion: he was going to make it to each and every one of those villages, on his own.
He pulled up the seldom-used map function from his bracer, and considered the long, straight corridor he’d carved from Altera to Karthas along with Edwin’s group, and imagined what it would look like with dozens of other paths. He lowered his wrist then dove off the side of the wall, mentally calling to Drake as he did so, and in moments they had both silently landed in flurries of black and silver chains. Kade immediately took off for the forest at full speed, the Aspect using its chains to keep pace as best it could.
There were several reasons that Kade had chosen this deceptively simple goal for himself. First, he was genuinely excited by the idea of exploring this world on his own terms, and meeting people other than those sheltered behind Karthas’ walls. Second, he wanted to understand the Keepers in a deeper way. Most of what had happened to him so far felt entirely self-serving. He hadn’t made some bold choice to become a protector of the weak, he’d simply been given the powers he needed to survive. Now his power was growing and the thrill of it excited him, but he knew that he lacked a real focus for it–why was he becoming this person? What was this power for?
He wanted to meet regular people, if anyone could be considered such in this deadly world. He wanted to understand what their relationship to the Keepers was, how did they view them, and what did they need from him? If he was truly going to become someone whose life was dedicated to protection and service, then he refused to just fall into it, he needed the choice to have meaning. As he neared the border of the forest, the massive trees which reminded him of oaks and redwoods rose up imposingly, and he considered his final reason for the journey: he needed to get much, much stronger.
The moment he entered the forest, his chains began to fire out into the trees, and he started working on his first challenge–finding a way to mesh his speed and traversal ability with his wild chain-riding tactics. This was only the start, of course. The interesting effect of Elder’s providing a radius of Calm was that it was far stronger at the center than the edges, and this resulted in local wildlife becoming larger and more fierce the further from the center you went. As you reached the borders of the Calm, even proper Manifestations of Chaos would begin to appear. All this meant that Kade had a training ground, and a practical way of measuring his growing strength. He planned to move toward the nearest village at every opportunity, inevitably being turned back as the monsters became too powerful for him, then try to get a little further the next time.
It wasn’t much in terms of grand plans, but he felt that he’d learn more as he eventually reached the frontier people and got a better understanding of their lives. He knew he couldn’t accept official Keeper requests until he passed the exam the following month, but there were no rules against simply helping people who asked. But he was far from prepared for that in his current state. As he heard howling in the near-distance, he changed directions to begin his hunt, determined to master his new abilities, and become someone who had the power to make a difference.
He’d used up the last of the money that Alara had provided to purchase a collection of basic weapons, each of which his energy had hungrily devoured, allowing him to recreate them from their Engrams thereafter. Add to this his new movement ability and his companion Drake, and things had certainly changed. He also knew that he needed to train with Chaos Blast, but this wouldn’t be the night for that–he wanted to be further away from the city before he risked using Chaos-based abilities.
As such, he now focused on learning to synergize his existing abilities, and began to weave a web of chains in ambush for the approaching wolfren. Seeing the way Drake had immediately used his own chains in such a manner had solidified Kade’s decision to embrace a spider-like approach in combat. His ability to scurry up any chain from any orientation only made the comparison more apt, and he was determined to find as many ways as possible to utilize the strategy in his battles to come.
Already he’d taken some inspiration in how spiders formed their webs. He made some chains that were meant for him to perch on, swing from, and so on, but others were bladed, and cleverly interwoven so as not to be noticed. Drake suddenly appeared beside him, demonstrating his ability to move more rapidly when duplicating Kade’s trick of swinging from his chains. The Aspect immediately layered in his own chains, seeming to intuitively understand what Kade was preparing.
As the howling grew closer, two thick daggers of pure energy appeared in Kade’s hands, and a smile slowly appeared as his excitement grew. Whatever else may be happening to him, however many crazy situations he was thrown in, and whatever the tides of fate might lead him to, there was still a simple truth that brought him great comfort: he absolutely loved this. In a dark forest on a massive world, orbiting a star of impossible origin, laughter rang out as howls were cut short.
***
Only two days later, a far more confident Kade stood next Salarus in an Academy training hall, facing off against Gwendara and her massive companion, Jothus. As an Academy official listed off some very basic rules, such as not leaving the training area or continuing to attack fallen opponents, Kade studied the two powerful beings he was about to battle. The first thing that stood out was that neither of them seemed to care that he was present, as they both watched Sal with discerning eyes while whispering, no doubt trying to account for his unusually diverse power set.
Kade smiled knowingly, as the tall Sorcerer’s new Path would undoubtedly provide a number of surprises for the pair. He also tried not to be insulted by their utter lack of concern toward him, as he knew it wasn’t baseless–not only was he incredibly new to his power, but these two were some of the best the Academy had to offer. He’d been amused to learn that the combat pairings were determined by an ongoing academy ranking system, of which he’d been excluded from due to skipping the years of pre-training. Now he was simply piggy-backing on Sal’s ranking, which apparently meant he had been thrown into a rather dramatic three-way competition for the top slots out of hundreds.
He had brought this up with Salarus, once more worrying about holding the man back, but the Sorcerer had shown his characteristic lack of concern. At first Kade chalked this up to the man’s remarkable confidence in his own abilities–Kade was trying to not use the word ‘arrogance’ regardless of how well it seemed to fit–but he’d been surprised to discover Sal wasn’t aware of his own placement on the Academy rankings. The better he got to know the intensely focused man, the more he realized that he could be myopic to the extreme–if the subject wasn’t something he was passionate about, it may as well not exist.
Regardless of how Sal might feel, however, Kade was resolved not to make his friend look bad. He was also eager to try out a number of new techniques–even if he couldn’t defeat the two elites, he resolved to make sure no one would ignore him again. He looked to Salarus who was in the process of readying Anton for the fight, and saw that the man did look excited at least–though on him that amounted to not staring at people’s Soul Cores for a few minutes. Kade decided not to follow suit, and left Drake in the form of the defensive bracers for now–he felt that surprise was his best weapon for this encounter.
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Soon enough the official, Keeper Denna, joined them, “Are the two of you prepared?” she asked. Kade noticed that she was looking directly at him when he said it, as if waiting for him to wisely back out. However, before he could even reply Sal had waved her away dismissively.
“We’re ready; it’s just a training bout after all,” Kade couldn’t help but look at the man, wondering if he was truly as calm as he sounded. Noticing his attention, Sal continued, “Haven’t you already figured out what techniques you’d like to see used on real targets? I always have a list prepared.” Kade just shrugged, not sure how to answer. As Keeper Denna walked toward the exit, Kade tried to get a better sense of the arena.
It was a large space, being used exclusively for training events which included higher level Keepers, of which everyone but Kade was considered. It was meant to somewhat simulate a typical environment for combat, and so included a few trees, some boulders, and somewhat uneven terrain. The most interesting feature was the topmost sections of the walls which were transparent stone, allowing for dozens of spectators to observe the match. Kade was struggling to think how to use anything he saw to some kind of advantage, but the truth was that he didn’t have a lot of options, especially given his lack of knowledge of his opponents.
He could see Gwen preparing herself, gently tracing her fingers through the air, frost gathering around her as she did so. Kade realized he could actually feel the effect, even on the opposite side of the arena. He looked to Jothus standing nearby, but the man seemed bored by the proceedings, and evidently didn’t require any kind of preparation. Kade finally turned his focus back to what his own strategy would be. He at least knew he could go all out, both because he hadn’t yet reached Primus compared to his opponents, and also because the training arena had remarkable healing properties–it would be almost impossible for students of their power level to do any permanent damage.
He’d grown somewhat more confident in using his abilities effectively after beginning his nightly training regiment, but truthfully he was nervous about facing other Awakened–they were a far cry from the beasts he’d been fighting, but he was hoping his speed and unusual techniques would take them by surprise. As the official reached the small booth attached to a far wall where she’d be safe from the combat, Kade tried to think how he’d deploy his chains for maximum effect, anxiously awaiting the starting signal. With an echoing gong, the match began.
Kade’s eyes darted back to his two opponents as he began to fire out his chains, but was shocked to realize that only Gwen was still visible. He tried to locate Jothus, but felt the urgent need to raise his gauntlets in front of him without fully understanding why. He felt the impact immediately as the enormous man burst from the ground right in front of him, and delivered a single punch that sent Kade soaring into the wall behind. He barely registered the tremendous crash as his back and head met the thick stone of the arena, and he felt his vision darken.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious when he finally managed to pry his eyes open, but the battle was clearly raging in full. It took a moment to take in everything he was seeing, but his body wasn’t yet responding to his commands, so all he could do was watch. Sheets of ice covered the battlefield, including some larger spikes reaching several meters into the air. There were also columns of rock and earth in several places as well–seeing them helped him finally understand that Jothus must be an Earth Elementalist, though the force of the punch and his muscled frame suggest it was mixed with a Warrior Path.
He didn’t immediately spot Sal, until he raised his eyes skyward and saw that the Sorcerer was currently floating on a small vortex of wind, cape billowing out behind him. He appeared to be countering an almost continuous series of different ice attacks from a clearly frustrated Gwen. Enormous icicles would blast toward him, followed by wide arcs of ice, but each one was slightly redirected by a gust of air, or sucked into a perfectly timed orb of gravity. Jothus wasn’t idle during the exchange, as he alternately flung enormous boulders at the hovering mage, or tried to jump up and strike him personally.
Kade finally managed to regain his feet, irritated that his opponents had thought he could be eliminated from the fight with a single punch, and even more irritated that they were almost correct. He looked down to see that his Drake-gauntlets had been completely mangled by the attack, and sensed that his Aspect wouldn’t be of much use until enough time had passed to recover from the blow. If Kade was going to achieve anything, it would have to be with his personal abilities.
Thankfully he was still being ignored by the two powerful fighters, and figured he only had one chance to make any kind of an impact. Jothus seemed too dangerous, and based on his frame and affinity to stone, Kade wasn’t likely to cause him much injury. He focused instead on Gwen, summoning a large energy warhammer that took both hands to wield. He immediately began to sprint, allowing Relentless Pursuit’s speed boost to take him around the outside of the arena, hoping to catch her by surprise. Even if he ended up just being a distraction, he hoped Sal would be able make use of it.
He didn’t dare deploy his chains yet, hoping to maintain something akin to stealth given how focused the other three were on their own battle. As Kade was forced to run across a large patch of ice, he was happy to discover his ability gave him perfect purchase on the slick surface; he’d been worried that a little bit of ice would be all it would take to make his ability virtually useless. As he approached Gwen’s exposed back, he raised the warhammer high above his head, knowing that her life force would be quite high at her power level, and it would take a lot for him to do any real damage. At last he was only a few steps away, and it appeared that his plan would work, only for Jothus to once more burst from the ground in front of him.
Thankfully Kade was fully in the throws of Relentless Pursuit, and his heightened speed and reactions allowed him to just barely avoid another colossal strike from the giant. Instead, he slipped down one knee, sliding under the punch and bringing the warhammer to bear against the unprotected back of Gwendara. However it was clear that she was no longer unaware of his presence–if she ever had been–as a wall of ice interposed itself between them, and the hammer crashed into it.
Kade managed to adjust his orientation to run up the wall a moment later, which saved him from a follow-up blow from Jothus, shattering the ice wall completely. Kade finally unleashed his chains, yanking him to one side and giving him countless more surfaces to escape to. Jothus was immediately following after him, launching boulders and rising on columns of earth to catch the illusive Kade. This was what he’d hoped to happen after his failed attack, however, as it allowed Salarus to focus on Gwen without interruption, and the Sorcerer was clearly ready for the moment.
Anton appeared in his own burst stone, and started to harass Gwen with a furious combination of small flailing arms, combined with signature boulder roll. At the same time, lightning burst into being around the Sorcerer, who threw an orb into the open air above the arena, a storm cloud forming in moments. Gwendara Valoro was a true elite, however, and simultaneously summoned ramps of ice to redirect the determined Anton, while seeming to skate away along the ground, all while continuing to fire blasts of ice toward the concentrating Sal.
Kade had to focus back on his own opponent however, as the enormous man was showing surprising dexterity in his ability to keep up. Kade pulled out all the stops as chains pulled him rapidly around the arena, and Relentless Pursuit allowed him to constantly change his orientation to make him as frustrating a target as possible. However, Jothus was only ever a second behind, diving underground to appear directly in Kade’s path, or simply jumping an incredible distance to do the same. Worst was when he used his Elementalist powers to cause sections of ground to suddenly crack, or erupt into stoney explosions, forcing Kade to constantly adjust and react.
Finally the man appeared to make a mistake, as he grabbed one of Kade’s own chains, attempting to pull Kade toward him with a mighty tug. Kade has already tested this long ago, however, recognizing that countless chains attached to his waist were a dangerous weakness. Jothus was learning the hard way, as not only did the chains feel impossibly slippery in his hands, but a moment later they shifted shape to become serrated blades slicing deep into his flesh. His own strength became his enemy, as his powerful grip was enough to pierce his thick skin, something Kade was certain he couldn’t have accomplished on his own.
The result wasn’t ideal however, as Jothus passive expression finally twisted into one of rage, and he slammed his shredded hands into the arena floor, ripping out a massive stone easily five meters in diameter. Panicking, Kade used a trick he’d been working on in the forest, and utilized alternating chains to drag him forward as pushed his speed from Relentless Pursuit to its limit, but there was simply no hope as the enormous boulder hurtled toward him. For a moment Kade wondered how he would be kept alive as countless tons of rock slammed into him, but at the last moment, a small rock figure appeared before him, and shot toward the immense projectile.
Kade couldn’t resist watching as the brave little rock man collided with Jothus’ tremendous attack, and stone exploded in every direction. The shockwave slammed Kade into a wall, but he managed to retain consciousness this time, and he regained his feet with considerable effort, eyes glued on the dust cloud in front of him. The color of the arena floor was different enough from Anton’s body that Kade quickly spotted the Aspect’s remains as the dust cleared. Jothus was walking toward him with a look of grim finality on his face, and he contemptuously kicked the remains out of his way as he did so.
The casual disregard for the stone Aspect that had readily sacrificed itself to protect Kade seemed to break something inside of him. Kade glared at the approaching giant with unbridled fury, and he didn’t spare a moment to consider his own insanity as he decided not to run. Jothus knew he had finally won, and only raised a single fist, knowing it would take a single blow to remove the persistent annoyance that Kade had become. The fist descended with a terrifying force, and Kade made no attempt to dodge.
But to Jothus’ extraordinary surprise, the attack didn’t leave the foolish newly Awakened as a broken heap on the floor to match the irritating Stone Aspect, but instead was met with an unyielding force the man hadn’t encountered before. He looked with undisguised shock at the tiny man before him, who had somehow caught the blow in a single hand, furious green eyes staring back at him.
“You shouldn’t have hurt Anton,” Kade whispered as his right fist sped forward and slammed into Jothus chest with bone-cracking strength. As the giant flew across the arena from the force of the blow, Kade launched himself forward with renewed energy. Challenger's Might had finally awoken.