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CYRUS
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Cy collapsed on the shoreline. Covered in sand, he tried to breathe. Dull pain radiated around his chest. Finally, he was able to inhale again. Damn, forgot to watch them myself. Cy gripped his curved sword handle tighter. Jules and Kat can hold their own. Probably Shiv, too. Gotta worry about Pinky and Selene.
“Shiv, grab one! Pinky, get back and shoot its eyes. Selene—” She thrust an arc of fire above her head that warded off the tentacles. “Uh, yeah. Keep doing that.” Cy joined Jules and Envy.
“Let us take the blow next time,” Jules teased. Yeah, yeah.
“It needs at least two to balance. Shiv’s got one locked down. Let’s grab the other three.”
“Fine.” Jules rushed in and swung wildly. Hopefully to keep it guessing.
Envy sidestepped another tentacle slap. She drew both daggers and rolled into another swinging tentacle. As it carried her away, she stabbed both daggers in it. She’s taking it for a ride.
Cy followed the patterns of the two free tentacles. He sliced into one, but not through it. The beast shrieked in pain. The cry's shockwave knocked everyone back but Shiv and Envy, who still rode on a flailing tentacle. Jules stabbed one with a long sword. He pierced clean through it to the other side and into the sand. Should be good leverage for him. Shiv continued to rip off a tentacle, and the Lesser Kraken continued to drag him further inward to its beak.
Cy discerned a pattern to the madness, and a weakness to exploit. The Painter’s words from last night resonated with him. Knowledge used against those prone to action, or some crap like that.
“Shiv, stop pulling—but pull on my mark. Selene, get a fireball ready to push him back. Pinky, get ready to do the same. Both of you push him toward Shiv. Franz, Kat, don’t change a thing.”
Envy let out a manic laugh. Wonder if she even knows which way it up anymore.
One…Two…Three—Now!
“Selene!” She flung a fireball towards the Kraken’s eyes. It recoiled back.
“Pinky!” He pushed wind at the monster’s head fin.
“Shiv!” The brute yanked hard on the Kraken and pulled it into the perfect line of momentum.
The Kraken crashed on its back in the sand. Cy rushed in. He raised his sword into the fireball—it caught on fire—and then he eviscerated the beast’s belly. Guts burst forth from its rubbery flesh. Steam seared Cy’s face. He ignored the pain and wrenched his blade through its flesh, up past its eyes.
> [Pang! Blades increased to level 6.]
Envy plummeted into the shallow waves after her tentacle lost strength. All six of them twitched. The Kraken squealed for air through its beak. Del approached Cy.
“Congratulations, boy. You may claim your prize. But first, put it out of its misery.” He handed Cy a harpoon. Cy grabbed the shaft with both hands and judged where its brain would be. He thrust the harpoon in with all his force. The Kraken died moments later.
> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 2.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 3.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 4.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 5.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 6.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 7.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 8.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 9.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 10.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 11.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 12.]
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> [Pang! Thrusting Weapons increased to Level 13.]
“AHHH!!” Cy fell to his knees. Intense back pain blinded him. My back? A blade in my back? He thrashed and tried to grab his back. Sand got in his mouth, his eyes, his ears. “Who stabbed me!?” Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions.
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Del smiled and knelt down. “Heh, first time? No one stabbed you, relax. You’ve just won your first 3rd Rank Trophy, boy. You think that stings, wait 'til you get a 4th Ranker. Take off your shirt.”
Ah, I didn’t know it hurt so bad. “Why did it auto-equip?” Cy removed his shirt.
“Group kill," Del said. "Sometimes the slayers get to decide who’s earned the Trophy, but The System—or maybe even the beast itself, no one really knows—decided you were the main reason for victory. So it made that clear.”
“Phew, well, I didn’t feel any pain from my 2nd Rank Trophy—Hey wait! I thought you said this was a 2nd Rank!?"
Also-Not-Del and Not-Del cursed Del and demanded an explanation.
"Well, she was a 2nd Rank when we captured her. Very high 2nd Rank. She must have been on the cusp and ascended in captivity."
Another freaking test? "Does anyone have a mirror?” Cy asked.
"I remember the last time I asked you that…" Jules mumbled.
"I do." Selene returned from her pack with a small hand mirror. He smelled a slight tinge of lilac when she came near him. Cy reached for it, but she scowled and withdrew it. “I’ll hold it, if you don’t mind.”
“Uh, OK. Sorry.” He admired the artistry. His previous Trophy of the wolf was realistic, but this style was more local, like what he’d see on a wood print or festival banner. The Lesser Kraken whipped its tentacles at a ship at sea in a thunderstorm. At least Selene admired it for a second before she went back to her resting frown. "What d'ya think?" Cy asked Jules and Envy.
"Wow, Cody," Jules said. "It fits you, though I'm not sure how accurate the image is…"
"It's cool, I guess." Envy helped him to his feet.
When everyone had a chance to look at the Trophy, the entire group reconvened at the sign up station.
“Well, congratulations are in effect,” Del said. “You have all made the cut. I’d like to be the first to welcome you all to the Hydro—”
“No thanks. I’m leaving,” Jules said. And he did.
“Same.” Envy followed behind him.
Rude. I guess they didn’t realize that was him. Unless they’re giving up? Surely not.
“Are you sure?” Cy asked them. “Don’t you want to, you know, train?”
“Oh, no,” Jules said. “We’re definitely training after that.”
“Yep.” Envy snapped her fingers at him over her shoulders as she walked away.
Confused, Cy looked back to Del, certain he was offering them a chance to train with an Alter.
Shiv slapped Cy on the shoulder. “You did good today, eh Runt?”
“Thanks.” Cy didn’t take his eyes off of Del. Shiv’s hand lingered on his shoulder blade a little too long. “Do you mind?” Cy froze when he saw Shiv’s eyes change color.
“Why don’t we rendezvous at my parlor for a celebratory drink? Cody, was it?” Shiv winked, then turned to Del. “Yeah, I quit, man. This ain’t for me.”
The Painter walked away. Cy looked between Shiv and Del a few times. “Yeah, I quit, too.”
The three recruiters’ faces dropped. “Well,” Del said through gritted teeth, “I guess it’s just you two, then.”
“Nope.” Selene abandoned them as well.
“Hooray!” Pinky jumped in the air. “I joined the Hydromages and took down a 3rd Ranker—I can’t wait to tell Mom!”
"Fuckin' Hydromages, fuckin' Navs…" Del buried his head in his hands.
"Short end of the stick, right?" Not-Del comforted his comrade.
Jules and Envy had already reunited with Rukia and Whiskers. Shiv was completely gone. When Cy was halfway to his friends, he paused to look back at Selene one last time. She was already looking at him, and they locked eyes for a moment. Then she turned and walked away.
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Go the Hydromages Tryouts.]
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> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective ADDED: Meet up with The Painter again.]
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> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Meet up with The Painter again.]
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective ADDED: Find a way to train under The Painter.]
Cy looked down at his coffee mug in sheer disbelief that he’d made it here. The red wine that filled it seemed to extend down into the cup and past it, to infinity. He knew The Painter crafted the illusion for him, just like he probably crafted the illusion of the entire art store they found themselves in, but he felt there was still some symbolic truth to resonate with.
Holy shit. From wherever I was born, to the orphanage in Coralhaven, to having my Scholars Guild hopes crushed just days ago—and all that's happened since then—to this moment. This single culminating moment.
“I told you," Cy said to The Painter, "that I will become an Alter.”
The Painter did not look amused, though he did seem pleased to have five new pupils.
Jules and Kat, on the other hand… They might as well be at their own funerals. They haven’t drunk or said a word. Rukia's still panting like an idiot, and Whiskers's judging the crap out of everyone, as always.
“I propose a toast,” Cy said. Jules crossed his arms. “To more than one victory today, to all our health, and to our training, that’s to come.”
“May your enemies’ bones lie crushed and brittle at your feet,” The Painter said. The only other one who raised his drink, he drank from a teacup.
“So you’ve decided to accept Cy as a student of yours?” Jules left his stein on the table.
“Is a toast not a binding oath where you come from? Eh, and where is that again, exactly?”
“Before I proceed, I need assurance. And terms,” Jules said. I figured he’d be annoyed, but Jules looks kind of excited.
“I see where this is going. Wrath, Envy, you wily little vices. Cyrus, I will train you in the Inked Arts as well, for as long as I train your two comrades here. Do you accept?” Is Jules giving me a lifeline here? Do I go for it? Surely he won’t—
No. Break down his offer, then counter.
“That is a tempting offer, but it falls flat there, at tempting. I’d propose a counter.” The Painter leaned back into a floral bag chair and stretched his arms out wide. “I want you to train me to become an Alter.”
“Fine, but that must include training in the Inked Arts with your two comrades, while they are training it.” He remained smiling, a bit arrogantly, Cy thought. That was easy. Way easier than I thought. His smile's all twisted, and why does Jules look suspicious? He’s still trying to reneg here, but why?
“Hmm…" Again, he broke down the offer, piece by piece. "To me, that actually sounds like the exact same offer from before.” And still constrained by a time crunch outside of my control. “I’d like for you to train me to become an Alter in less than ten years, with no other constraints.”
The Painter’s smile faded.
“Ten years…” Was that a question or an agreement? “What price will you sacrifice for such a ridiculous request?”
Cy looked at Jules and Envy. Jules nodded. Envy did not. You were looking out for me after all. “Jules will train with you. I can’t speak for Kat, though.”
“Their price is already paid. I shouldn’t need to remind you, Cyrus, that you are just collateral damage to me.” Ouch.
But if he’s losing his cool, that must mean he’s losing. And he’s probably not used to that. What could a man this powerful want? Cy sipped his wine. No way around it, I guess.
“What do you want?” Cyrus asked.
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