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138 Rising Rookies and Soulless Contestants
🕑 Added 2023-05-27 00:02:01 +0000 UTC– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 44 –
“Finally…” Terry exclaimed quietly while navigating the Liquify Earth spell structure around the corner. He had grown very frustrated with adjusting the wand’s targeting.
The directional mana lines that Lori had carved into the wand were suited for all reasonable scenarios.
Unfortunately, Terry’s use case was entirely unreasonable. Who would ever think of having to use a wand remotely and target around a wasted corner? All without a visual from mana sight?
Terry quickly moved the ignited spell structure to a spot he wanted to target. A spot that should anchor one of the visible pillars in the transparent walls of his cell. One of the pillars near the cell’s door.
He opened his eyes and waited for a sign of spell failure… It didn’t come.
Uhh… Terry blinked. Now what?
He slowly stood up and walked to the area where he had – presumably – liquified the stone underneath. Terry tapped his foot on the floor. It didn’t feel different. Next, he pushed against the cell. It felt as solid as ever.
Terry frowned. He considered bursting his mana and putting his all into it, but he knew that soon, the door to the outer cell would open and someone would escort him to the arena for another day of battles.
“I need to think this through,” muttered Terry. He sat down again and prepared to clean up after himself. As soon as the wand had recharged its spell primer, he returned it back into the dimensional bag on the table outside.
***
“““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!”””
The mana resonance of the white wolf howled and stood ready to pounce.
Terry, meanwhile, was focused on blocking their dwarven opponent. The man was covered in tattoos, or more accurately: body inscriptions. He had heard about this form of unorthodox mana use from his aunt Sigille before, but this was the first time that he saw it with his own eyes.
From what Terry had seen, the body inscriptions allowed the dwarf to transform parts of his body into different materials.
Unfortunately for the dwarf, the steel transformation was of no use in overcoming Terry’s immovable pebbles. The dwarf was trying to navigate the obstacle course Terry had prepared. The dwarf cleverly made use of his short stature and his partial transformations into water. However, whenever the poor dwarf had made some progress, Terry was already waiting for him.
You have my sympathies. Terry could see himself in the dwarf. I know how it feels to lack a good long-range attack method. If I had to face a combination like the Immovable Object spell and the Heavenly Wolf Slash, what would I do?
The dwarven fighter glanced with despair at his weapons. Two magic one-handed axes were hanging uselessly in the air. Terry had taken them out early and never allowed his Immovable Object spells on them to deactivate ever since. He was proud of his progress in compressing his mana and his extended reach in spellwork.
He didn’t even get to use his magic items. Once again, Terry sympathized with his dwarven opponent. He probably fought hard to earn the privilege of using them, too.
“““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!”””
“HEAVENLY WOLF SLASH!” Rafael shouted with gusto while swinging his glowing claws.
The dwarven man went down on his knees and crossed his arms in front of himself. His whole body turned into steel to face the approaching slashes leading the image of the giant white wolf. His steel defense wasn’t enough and blood was spilled.
“You should have never dared to face the Heavenly Wolf!” Rafael swaggered over.
“““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!”””
“That’s enough, isn’t it?” interjected Terry. He looked at the dwarven contestant that had been gravely injured. “He just gave his best. No grudges over this.”
Rafael turned around with noticeably less swagger. “Maybe there were no grudges before, but what about now?” He pointed with his eyes to the bloody pile of dwarf on the ground. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to pull out trouble at the roots?” He glanced at the audience seats and mumbled: “Not to mention what they want to see…”
“I don’t know,” admitted Terry.
“Just do it…” A hoarse whisper escaped from the injured dwarf. “I won’t make it through the day like this. I should have never tried to become recognized.” His voice carried defeat. “I’m not ready.”
Terry moved his right hand over the bracelet at his left wrist. He and Rafael had achieved many victories together in the arena, and he had traded his win streaks for more item privileges. Before Terry was fully aware of it, he had already retrieved a wand from his storage bracelet.
“What are you doing?” asked Rafael.
Terry channeled mana into the healing spell imprints and cast them on the injured dwarf. “Something.” He looked at the surprised opponent. “You’ve shown me something new.” He looked the dwarf in the eyes. “Thanks.” He meant it.
The dwarf, who had been given a new lease on life, did not know how to react and therefore, he just announced loudly. “I surrender.”
“Hey, what’s the idea?” Rafael poked Terry with a finger. “Not only are you wasting charges, but you’re going to piss off the aud—”
Loud cheers erupted from the audience with a few hisses and booing mixed in. The overall sentiment appeared to be positive.
“Nevermind,” said Rafael with a shrug. He removed his attention from Terry and spoke up loudly. “Keep your axes. Know the greatness of the Heavenly Wolf!” Afterwards, he began clapping his hands rhythmically over his head while swaggering around the arena. “No one will stop the Rising Rookies!”
The who? Terry raised an eyebrow.
[You’re under thirty, right?] Rafael’s thought transmission arrived in Terry’s head.
[Yes, why?] Terry let his eyes wander over the roaring audience who were captured by Rafael’s antics.
[Because if you weren’t, I would have to think of another name.] Rafael grinned and pumped his fists into the air. He faced the audience and shouted: “We will RISE!”
“““Rise!””” “““Rise!””” “““Rise!”””
***
“““Rise!””” “““Rise!””” “““Rise!”””
[This is going to be annoying.] Terry sent his thought transmission to Rafael.
[Mage with support?] guessed Rafael.
[Two mana martialists,] replied Terry. [One of them I can’t place, but the other signature feels familiar. It might be someone from the Blazing Sun Sect.]
[Good, I’m looking forward to exchanging a few pointers!] Rafael’s boisterous voice echoed in Terry’s head.
[Whoever came from the Blazing Sun Sect should feel confident.] Terry pointed out.
[Unjustified confidence if they are up against the Heavenly Wolf,] bragged Rafael.
Terry could practically see Rafael’s toothy grin that accompanied the felan’s thought transmission. He rolled his eyes. [The mana structures of the other martialist are odd. The mana feels strangely cold. Ice-aspected, but something else on top. I would also bet that it’s a vampire.].He walked for a while in silence, with no response.
[If that’s who I think it is, then this could be slightly challenging.] Rafael’s posturing arrogance had diminished significantly. [I’ve heard that the Third Scion of the Blazing Sun Sect is a sword brother of an inner sect member of the Singing Moon Sect.]
‘Singing’? Terry involuntarily pictured a martialist dancing around and singing in the arena.
Weird.
Or is it just a reference to the sonic aspect?
Like Instructor Palmer? Or Rosheen… A cold shiver ran down Terry’s back when he recalled the excruciating pain from the sound-aspected Resonance spell that had attacked the nerves inside his teeth. Let’s hope not.
[But as long as it’s you, that sworn brother shouldn’t pose a problem…] Rafael sounded thoughtful. [Make sure to break whatever he’s bringing quickly. I can’t guarantee that I won’t be as unaffected as you.]
Huh? Terry thought he was missing something. Unfortunately, he and his escorts had already arrived at the arena. There was not much time for elaboration.
“That’s him,” growled a man who was wearing a shimmering robe with a symbol of a sun and golden crow.
Why would they exchange item privileges for non-magic martialist robes? Terry could not help but wonder. Not only the Third Scion, but the other man was also wearing a martialist robe. His was embroidered with a large moon covered in fog. Even the vampire did the same. What for? They’re hardly more help than the prisoner’s clothes.
“Got it.” A pale and white-haired man responded to the martialist from the Blazing Sun Sect. The vampire pulled the black shamisen – a three-stringed instrument – from his back.
[Ugh. It’s them, alright. The Third Scion and his bosom buddy.] Rafael’s voice transmission sounded wary, much in contrast to what he was saying out loud. “Kneel in front of me and I might forgive your offenses!” The felan rolled his shoulders and stood intentionally wide-legged. He leaned back his head and curled his lip to show a part of his teeth. “Run off if you know who is standing in front of you.”
Terry felt a bit of whiplash at the remarkable difference in tone between the voice transmissions and the outward posturing.
“It seems you have eyes but do not see,” sneered the Third Scion of the Blazing Sun Sect. “I’m here to wash away the shame of my sect.” He glanced at Terry and then smirked at Rafael. “I also know who you are.”
“Naturally.” Rafael’s voice oozed with arrogance. “Why wouldn’t you know me? My feats are as grand as they are unforgettable. But you seem to forget that I do not tolerate anyone messing with my brothers. You pick a fight with him…” He gestured at Terry. “…and you’ll earn destruction at my claws.” He extended his sharp claws. “Know that the Heavenly Wolf won’t stop at your little Blazing Sun Sect.”
“Pathetic,” spat the mana martialist with the shamisen in his hands. “Do you even have the authority to invoke the Heavenly Wolf? You’re just a loose cultivator that has found some fragment of the Heavenly Beast Scriptures. The Heavenly Wolf Slash is meant for sword cultivators. They’d be the first to kill you for bastardizing their technique.”
“They can try if they are tired of living,” scoffed Rafael. “If they send one, I’ll kill one. If they send a hundred, I’ll kill a hundred. Now scram!”
“Big words for a little thief that had to flee to Thanatos to escape the wrath of the Thunderous Palm Sect,” interjected the Third Scion with a jeering expression.
Rafael’s eye twitched, but he maintained his arrogant posture. [Fuck, they really know me. Terry, get ready to jump the creep.]
“I hear they’re still looking for you,” continued the Third Scion. “Whatever you stole must have been quite precious. If you hand it over, I’ll consider leaving you an intact corpse. However, first things first.” He glowered at Terry. “Hand over your life. If you do it yourself, it will be much less painful.”
Terry spoke up for the first time. “Is insanity a prerequisite for joining the Blazing Sun Sect? You’re all giving off the same lunatic vibes.”
[Nice one,] praised Rafael. [Ready?]
[Ready.] Terry stood like a coiled spring. I believe Rafael might be rubbing off on me. I’m not sure how I should feel about that.
Terry dashed forward and towards the martialist from the Singing Moon Sect. In an instant, the area was flooded with his mana that began rotating and compressing itself through funnels of refractors.
“For that, I’ll have you eat your own tongue,” growled the Third Scion. He flipped his palm, and a sword appeared in his hand. With a movement technique that evoked the mana resonance of a golden crow spitting flames, he raced forward.
“Here little monkey!” Rafael used his own movement technique to face the Third Scion.
Terry hurled a handful of pebbles towards the Third Scion just to be sure. Five pebbles became immovable at once and cut off the scion’s path. Simultaneously, Terry channeled mana into his bidirectional attraction inscription and pulled at the shamisen in the vampire’s hands.
The vampire scoffed and, with a rapid circulation of mana through his cultivation centers, the instrument was frozen in place. A second later, the vampire’s thin fingers strummed over the shamisen’s strings. His fingers danced rapidly over the instrument and an enchanting tune resounded over the area.
Okay? Terry was aware that something magical was going on, but he simply didn’t feel any different. He quickly glanced back to see that Rafael was standing around in a stupor. Even the Third Scion seemed dazed, albeit to a much lesser degree than Rafael. It looked as if the Third Scion might wake up any moment again.
Terry inwardly shrugged and continued forth with a rapid burst technique.
“What?!” The vampire was dumbstruck at the failure of his martial technique. “This isn’t possible!” What disturbed the vampire the most was that he had intentionally focused the brunt of the attack on Terry because he had heard about Terry’s mana pool size. Despite suffering the majority of the assault, the damned Arcanian did not show any sign of being affected. This left the vampire deeply distraught.
The vampire was forced to continue his tune if he wanted to keep the attack going. The attack was building momentum with each note. One wrong note and he would have to start from the beginning. However, now he had to face an angry opponent charging at him, and Terry was approaching rapidly.
Terry pulled his keen dagger and slashed towards the vampire. The vampire stopped the martialist technique that transfixed the shamisen and instead grabbed it with both hands. The vampire’s reflexive action to protect his instrument and weapon turned out to be a mistake because he had never stopped channeling mana into the bidirectional attraction inscription.
The vampire missed a note.
“Hhhh…” Rafael wiped some drool from his mouth and jolted awake. He barely dodged the sword of the Third Scion in time. “How dare you attack your grandpa!” [Terry, good job! But why didn’t you transfix the crow’s sword?]
[I’m working on it,] said Terry. The Third Scion’s sword was evidently of higher quality than the swords that Terry had encountered before. The mana concentration inside was higher. Terry pressured the vampire while thinking of a solution. [I have an idea.]
Terry feigned an attack on the vampire’s jugular vein.
The vampire martialist did not seem used to close combat, and his lack of experience caused him to completely miss Terry’s true intention.
The strings of the shamisen were torn apart. Before the vampire could digest this indignity, he was kicked hard into the stomach by two feet.
Terry used the force of the kick to propel himself closer to the Third Scion.
His mana reach had improved significantly, and he felt confident in transfixing items in a radius of up to five meters from himself, but the more he had to compress the spell structures, the more trouble Terry had at a distance.
Since this magic sword required a higher mana intensity to overpower the sword’s mana and stabilize the Immovable Object spell on it, Terry moved closer.
“Hurgh?!” The Third Scion suddenly smashed head-first into his own sword.
Rafael grinned and followed up with a quick succession of slashes from his claws. None of them triggered any mana resonance. [Can you keep them occupied for long enough?]
[Won’t know until I try,] replied Terry. [Go for it. I believe my mana disruption field obstructs the Third Scion’s resonance enough for me to keep up in close quarters, and the vampire seems too out of it to be of much help to the Third Scion at this point.]
Terry felt with his mana sense that the vampire was fumbling with whatever mana technique he was attempting. Terry did not know if the vampire wasn’t very familiar with those techniques, or if it was due to the mana suppression of the disruption field, or if the vampire had simply been spooked by Terry’s resistance to his attack.
Doesn’t really matter.
Terry held off the disarmed Third Scion while Rafael was charging his attack.
The Third Scion’s face flushed from fury and indignation. “This isn’t over!” He distanced himself from Terry and pulled something from his robes. It was a piece of paper with calligraphy that radiated mana. “It’s a shame to waste it on riff raff like you, but no matter…” He channeled mana into the piece of paper and leered at his hated enemy, while the paper instantly burned to ash in a purple flame.
Terry had been busy placing immovable pebbles to block the two opponents from disturbing Rafael in his attack preparation. He could vaguely feel a sinister aura around the mana that had been left behind after the paper talisman had disappeared.
Did I place too much trust in my disruption field? Terry was disconcerted because the weird mana seemed unaffected by the spell slicers.
The sinister mana suddenly condensed into a purple beam of light and shot towards Terry’s chest.
Terry responded by punching out a layered disruption discharge.
The purple beam of light dimmed but did not disappear.
Terry reflexively used the last moments before impact to dodge while simultaneously slashing with the mana blade of his keen dagger.
The purple beam followed Terry’s movements and sped up.
The keen dagger caused the beam to flicker, but it still managed to hit Terry’s chest.
“HAHA!” The Third Scion broke out in gleeful laughter. “Serves you right for shaming the Blazing Sun Sect!”
Okay? Terry was not sure how to react. He realized that something was supposed to happen, but he honestly did not feel any different.
For lack of a better idea, Terry simply chose to continue with what he had been doing all along. He placed immovable pebbles to block his opponents while trying to minimize the chance of disrupting his own spells with the rotating spell slicers from his disruption field.
“Im-Impossible…” The Third Scion muttered in disbelief. “What kind of monster are you?” Only after several breaths did he manage to regain his composure and started throwing his all into the fight against Terry again.
Alas, the Third Scion’s efforts were to no avail. After a few tense minutes, the giant white wolf charged and cleaned up the battlefield.
“HEAVENLY WOLF SLASH!”
Afterwards, the two mana martialist opponents were lying dead on the floor.
“Never mess with the Rising Rookies!” Rafal shouted with a roar that could rival any great cat: “RISE!”
“““Rise!””” “““Rise!””” “““Rise!””” The audience responded in kind.
[What the Wastes was that?] Terry was still taken aback by what had transpired. Both the weird music and the paper talisman with the purple light beam concerned him.
[What do you mean?] Rafael didn’t stop animating the audience.
[What do you mean ‘what’?] Terry stared at Rafael. [First that weird instrument and then whatever that scion threw at me.]
[Oh, that.] Rafael didn’t seem concerned at all. [I told you that as long as it’s you, you would be fine. That Third Scion was too much of a smoothbrain to realize why you were immune to the Singing Moon Scripture. He wasted such a precious artifact, the idiotic cheapskate. Even I would hold on to that kind of talisman and not trade it for cultivation resources. Such an amazing trump card and the damned ape takes it with him to his grave.]
Terry’s mind played back the part where it would take an idiot to not realize what was going on. [Let’s assume that I’m an even bigger idiot and need some explanations.]
For the first time in this conversation, Rafael moved his attention from the audience to Terry. [Those were soul attacks. The Singing Moon Scripture enchants the soul and traps the victim in illusions. The Third Scion activated a single-use item that damages a soul. Or captures a soul. Who cares about the details? Something of that nature.] Rafael looked at Terry as if the rest should be obvious.
[And?] Terry was oblivious to the obvious.
[Are you for real?] Rafael raised his eyebrows.
[Yes,] insisted Terry.
[You’re soulless, dude.] Rafael stared incredulously at Terry. [Didn’t anyone ever tell you?]
Terry stared right back at Rafael.
[I always forget that you hairless ape-folk can’t normally see souls.] Rafael placed his finger on his chin. [When I first came here, I was taken aback by all the roaming greebles with no one batting an eyelash at those pestering nuisances. In our realm, nearly half of all felans have soulsight and we naturally keep our realm clean of pests.]
Greebles are real?! Wait, more importantly… “What do you mean—” Terry noticed he had been speaking out loud from the shock. [What do you mean ‘soulless’?]
[Just what it sounds like, man.] Rafael returned his attention back to the audience. [You don’t have a soul. No need to sweat. That’s normal. Like ten percent or so of my folk are born soulless.]
[What?!] Goosebumps rose on Terry’s skin. Having no soul didn’t sound right to him.
[Seriously, buddy, it’s no biggie.] Rafael shook his head while swaggering over the arena. [Souls are not that great, anyway. I mean, look at me drooling like an imbecile because of some creep that learned the banjo. Sure, a soul can theoretically be used to cling to life after your body is gone or even for reincarnation, but who ever really gets to make use of that? Who wants to exist as some bag of bones? Or go through all the trouble of possessing another body and starting from scratch with your cultivation?]
Terry was still staring with a horrified expression.
[Seriously, dude.] Rafael glanced back at Terry. [If I were you, I would be more concerned about the lack of a tail than about the soul thing.] He glanced at his own tail that was swinging and helping him keep his balance. [It’s a complete mystery to me how you hairless ape-folk can walk on two legs without tipping over.]
Terry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Wait, was that what happened with the lizan? Was that spell from Blue targeting my soul as well…? For a moment, his distress about his lack of a soul was pushed aside by finally seeing an answer to a question that had bothered him for a while.
Soon after, Terry and Rafael had to leave the arena so that the next battle could start. Terry followed the overseer’s assistants in a thoughtful daze.
I’m not a felan and I’ve never heard of humans being born soulless before. Terry frowned.
Having their souls stolen, yes, but born soulless?
Is it just that I’ve never come across that topic?
Terry’s mind raced to come up with other possible explanations until he remembered Dargones the Magebane. What if it’s a spandrel? A trait that accompanies being single-aspected in oscillating mana?
Terry’s frown deepened. How would I even know? It’s not like I’ve ever met anyone else with my mana type.
Terry’s eyes moved over the walls of the tunnel. Would it even matter? He involuntarily nodded. YES! At least it would mean that I was born like this as opposed to… The idea that someone might have secretly stolen his soul creeped him out intensely.
Focus!
Terry took a deep breath. The day wasn’t over. If he had to lose his mind over this recent discovery, then he would have to do so later.
Or not…
Thinking about fighting in the arena helped Terry calm down. No point in dwelling on things outside my sphere of influence to begin with.
He took another deep breath. Still…
Yikes.
I wonder what Lori and Jorg would say… Terry snickered. Shrug and joke about it most likely.
Siling would definitely crack a joke that she won’t be able to catch my soul then and act all sullen and disappointed.
Uncle and— No, focus.
Fight first.
Pointless thoughts later.
A pebble whose spell had worn off fell on Terry’s head. He caught it on its way down without thinking. Moving his fingers over the pebble, Terry felt tiny indentations. His mind was too preoccupied with other thoughts to think much about it.
***
Over time, the success of the Rising Rookies made Terry forget his distress over being soulless. Terry felt more and more at home in the arena, and he wondered when he would finally earn his status as a recognized outsider and return to Arcana.
As soon as Terry saw his opponents, he dashed to the opposite corner and set up a disruption field around them.
“““Field!””” “““Field!””” “““Field!”””
Rafael used a movement technique to position himself behind Terry.
“““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!”””
“We yield!” shouted one of their opponents. The two immediately moved towards one of the overseer’s assistants. Evidently, they had no desire to fight Terry and Rafael.
“Smart.” Rafael grinned from ear to ear.
Terry retracted his disruption field but kept a wary eye on the two opponents. This was the fourth match in a row in which their opponent’s had surrendered without a fight and it wasn’t the first day like this.
If things keep going like this, then perhaps I can really become a recognized outsider in one or two more months… Terry indulged in day-dreaming while their opponents left the arena.
The biggest advantage of their current momentum was that they could continue their battle day quickly. The more opponents surrendered without a fight, the more wins they could earn on a single battle day.
Is it really worth it to exchange for more equipment? Terry felt impatience flare up inside of him. He wanted to return to Arcana.
However, Terry reminded himself to stay cautious. He knew his own shortcomings. He knew he required items to make up for them.
***
Comments
Nyroe
I wonder if soul sight sees the ACTUAL soul or if it sees the signature of certain kinds of souls. I hope it is the 2nd one because that sounds way more interesting to me. Maybe its like light. You can see the visible spectrum but that doesn't mean that there isn't more frequencies of light.
Sesharan
Interesting. I suspect that rather than Terry being soulless, what he actually has is an immunity to soul magic from his oscillating mana. If we assume that life magic and soul magic are connected, then this is just the opposite-side effect of his space magic disruption. The really interesting point is what this might imply about the ten percent or so of the felans who are born apparently soulless. If there’s a chance that they also have oscillating mana, then there’s a Lot that Terry could learn from and teach to them.
