Elsewhere

Duke awoke with his usual slew of messages.

***Have you made friends? No, not really. People forced to fight at your side don’t really count as friends, do they? Perhaps they will come to like you. Perhaps not. We shall see. Regardless, you were quite active today so you will be rewarded accordingly.

You spent the day fighting someone way beyond your ability, pushing some of your Skills and Abilities to their limits.

Here are your Ability gains:

AURA CONCEALMENT increases to Novice 1

TONGUES increases to Novice 2

REGENERATION increases to Initiate 39

LIGHTNING increases to Novice 15

OVERCHANNEL increases to Novice 8

Two Skills also show significant gains:

Brawling has increased to Novice 15

Dodge has increased to Untrained 8

Keep up with your training. We are eager to see your fight at the end of the week! Will you outperform your team? Will you take all your opponents down? Will you get your teeth kicked in? So many exciting possibilities!

***

Duke was quick to get ready, set his AURA CONCEALMENT and TONGUES Abilities and headed out for some breakfast. He was well-rested and felt ready for the day of training.

Arriving in the dining hall, he found the rest of his team and dozens of other fighters already eating. There was quite a mix of races, but the majority appeared to be human or at least had significant human heritage in their makeup. Duke took great pains to focus on getting his food and heading over to his team’s table without engaging any of the other fighters.

That, however, did not preclude them from staring at him as he strode across the dining hall. His heart started pounding and his breathing came in short breaths. He could feel so many sets of eyes bearing down on him that it triggered his MENTAL RESISTANCE Ability. Relief instantly washed over him, and he realized how tense his muscles were. Be smooth. Don’t let them see you sweat. Duke slowed his breathing and stiffened his spine. With a deliberately slow and relaxed gait, he got a tray and loaded it up with food.

The walk to his table seemed to take an hour as he concentrated exclusively on keeping his movements careful and smooth. The entire time, he was focused on keeping his expression neutral and taking his time, not rushing any movements. He fully expected to be accosted on the way to his table, but he managed to take his seat without incident.

“You took your sweet time getting over to the table. Expecting trouble?” Lasandra smirked at him as he settled down to eat.

“First day with a full audience in the chow hall? Yeah, I was expecting trouble.”

Lysander gestured with his eyes to an adjacent table. “Nobody is going to start anything with Axis here.”

“Axis?” Duke asked, looking at the utterly average looking human sitting alone at the next table.

“Yes, can I help you, recruit?” The voice was as average as the man speaking. The rest of the table went still. Duke instantly noticed that the rest of the dining hall had also gone eerily silent, all sounds of motion and eating ceased as the man smoothly rose from his chair and came to stand next to Duke.

Duke could see the concerned, perhaps even terrified, looks in the faces of his teammates. He rose from his seat and extended his hand in greeting. “Duke. Nice to meet you.”

The man broke out into a wide grin, taking Duke’s hand in his own for an extraordinary strong shake. Duke could tell that it wasn’t a powerplay, just the man’s natural strength. “I am Axis, and I am overjoyed to see that Ergo didn’t overstate your ability to deal with difficult situations.”

Duke cocked his head sideways in confusion. “Difficult situations?”

“Indeed. You saw how they all reacted to my presence, let alone me addressing you directly. I expect great things from you over the course of this next year, Duke. Now, go eat your breakfast.” Without another word, the man turned and left the hall. Once he exited the door, the entire room burst into a cacophony of movement and noise. Conversations that had halted started back up and people started moving around the hall again.

Duke’s teammates stared at him for a moment before the elf of the team, Lester spoke up. “You’ve got balls. I’ll give you that, Duke. Or are you stupid? I’m not certain which it is yet.”

Lysander answered first, “Both, I bet. You don’t know who Axis is, do you?”

Duke shrugged. “Nope, but judging by everyone’s reaction, he’s either someone really important or really deadly around here.”

“Both, actually”, a voice behind Duke added. A voice he recognized. He turned to see Jablach standing impatiently.

“You four are late. I only get you for half of the day today and we need to make the most of it. Gefolich will have you after lunch, so you have one minute to finish eating and be on your way. I will meet you back at the training arena. Do not tarry or I will become…irritated.” The entire group flinched at the other name mentioned.

They quickly finished eating and ran as a group to the training arena to find Jablach waiting for them as expected. He did not hesitate to get them started. The training of the day involved them fighting one-on-one with each other for several hours so that they could all get a feel for what each other was capable of and then taking Jablach on as a group. This was not a great learning experience for the three that had been working together for some time. For Duke, however, it was very enlightening.

He learned that Lester was much faster than Duke had given him credit for and that he fought with a pair of light blades that measured his lower arm from fingertips to elbows. He moved with such speed that Duke could not keep up with him with his eyes, let alone his body.

He also learned that Lasandra did not provide much direct combat ability. She, instead, had a few offensive spells but rather was mostly focused as the healer of the group. With her attention, wounds that would have been devastating healed in seconds. Duke thought this would be irrelevant with his REGENERATION, but he found that not having to rely solely on his Ability freed him up to act more dangerously. It allowed him to get close and deliver LIGHTNING-empowered strikes that did significantly more damage than he could otherwise.

Lysander impressed Duke in his ability to absorb or even shrug off blows that would have dropped Duke in a heartbeat. The man was a tank for sure and really seemed to love the role. The harder he got hit, the more he smiled and the harder he fought back.

Finally, he learned that Jablach was way out of all their leagues. There was literally nothing they could do to the demon if he did not allow it. He was faster than Lester, able to soak more damage than even Lysander, and was still able to ignore Duke’s LIGHTNING and the few offensive spells Lasandra threw his way.

“That is enough.” Jablach ended the session abruptly. They all stopped where they were.

“I have watched you all fumble around each other for most of the morning. We have too much work to do and only a few days to accomplish it. You need to work together and right now. You are not doing anything more than taking turns attacking me. That’s pathetic and will only make for a loss in the arena. Maybe even get one of you killed. Go report to Master Gefolich and return here after dinner.”

The group filed out dejected. They had started the day filled with excitement and vigor. Now, they just felt like they had failed for hours on end. Duke attempted to break the mood by asking a question that had been plaguing him since breakfast.

“Who is that Axis dude and why is everyone so afraid of him?”

The group stumbled, pausing to answer. Lysander was the first to respond, “Axis is the leader of Leviathan and the deadliest fighter the arena has ever seen.”

“He’s a werewolf.” Lasandra added.

“And you never, and I mean never, want to see him transformed.” Lester contributed with a shudder.

“That bad?” Duke asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Worse.” Lasandra responded.

“The last person to force a transformation was Stoneheart, the founder of the Stone faction. He was a dwarf of extraordinary strength and prowess. He had Axis knocked down and pinned under his axe, choking him out and then seemed to change his mind. He pulled the axe back and leaped up, swinging it to take off Axis’s head. No one really has ever been able to say what actually happened because it happened so fast, but the next thing that was reported was that Stoneheart’s body was shredded into pieces all over the arena and the crowd. Axis stood there in a half-man and half-wolf form howling to the sky. More than half the crowd passed out immediately from the mere force of his presence, almost everyone else lost control of their bowels. It has been described as the most terrifying thing ever seen. That, my friend is why no one, and I mean no one, messes with Axis.”

Duke shuddered at the image conjured in his mind. “Point taken.”

The team filed into Gefolich’s training room which Duke noted looked more like a classroom than a training area. There were desks lined up in rows facing a larger desk on a slightly elevated platform. The walls were decorated with bookshelves crammed with books of all sorts of shapes and sizes. All seemed to be bound in leather or something similar.

Gefolich turned out to be a satyr but much shorter than Duke had expected. He was even shorter than Lasandra’s 130 cm height. He was dressed in a rich, forest-green robe that trailed behind him as he walked, embroidered with intricate patterns of shimmering gold thread, depicting mythical creatures and arcane symbols. Adorned upon his forehead was a golden circlet, encrusted with blue and green gems and bearing a delicate leaf motif—a symbol of his connection to the natural world.

“Greetings students. You are here to learn as most of you are familiar with. You, on the other hand.” He pointed his chin at Duke. “Are a newcomer and will need to learn how to learn before you can actually learn anything.”

Duke scrunched his eyebrows. “Learn how to learn? I am confused.”

“Perfect! That is exactly where we will start. The rest of you, grab your tomes and get to studying. I am going to orient Duke to how things are done in my training chambers.” The rest of the team did just that, giving Duke knowing looks as they retrieved books from the bookshelves. Duke, for his part, followed Gefolich’s gestures to a side room.

As the door closed behind him, Duke tensed, unsure of what was going on. Gefolich gestured to a pair of well-cushioned chairs in the center of the room facing each other. “Take a seat.” Duke barely noticed that Gefolich cast a spell that enclosed the room as Duke took his seat.

Duke took a seat and Gefolich sat opposite him. Duke started but was cut off immediately. “Now what do-”

“You listen. Do not speak just yet. This room is now warded against other’s ears so we may speak freely. Nowhere else is this safe. Mind your words in every other space within this foul city.” Gefolich’s expression soured when he spoke of the city.

Gefolich waited for Duke to acknowledge his words and then continued. “I have been watching you, observing you, analyzing you since you came to Leviathan. You are not normal. I do not know what it is that makes you so different, but I know you are not like everyone else. I have been at this for a long time, and I have never seen anyone like you before, so I am going to ask you some very pointed questions. Your answers will determine much about how things will progress for you from here on out.”

Duke had worried about this day coming and now that it was upon him, he still had no plan on how to address the coming questions. He could lie but he suspected that the satyr would have some Spell or Ability that would see through his lies. He could also tell the truth. That would be entertaining if nothing else. His thoughts were interrupted as Gefolich began.

He started with a surprisingly gentle tone. “Where did you come from? Where were you born, Duke?”

Duke decided to give a little honesty to start. “I’m from Syracuse. I doubt that you have heard of the place.”

“Syra-cruise? No, I cannot say I have heard of the place. What nation is that in?”

Well, here goes nothing. “That is in the United States of America.”

“United States? A confederacy of some sort?”

“That was tried once but they lost the war. No, it’s a constitutional republic.”

Gefolich shook his head while rubbing one of his horns like it ached. “You are from another world, are you not?”

“Yes, I believe I am.”

“Well, that changes things dramatically and provides far more questions than it answers. How did you come to be here?” Gefolich gestured around himself pointedly.

“Here? Well, that’s an easy one to answer. When I arrived in the city, I was jumped by a bunch of guys and robbed. Then I was arrested for vagrancy. It wasn’t like there was anyone who actually listened to me. Nope, they just threw me in a cage and then made me fight in the arena. Which, apparently, I’m going to have to do again in a few days.”

“No visit with the magistrate where you could state your case? No trial?” Gefolich inquired.

“No, nothing like that. I woke up in a cell and Lord Quaid decided to convict me without a second thought.”

Gefolich nodded his head as Duke spoke. ”Welcome to the downtrodden masses. Half of the people here are similarly victims of the nobility’s whims.”

Duke stared at Gefolich in stunned silence. He had not expected that response. “Why don’t you all just rise up and refuse to bend to them?”

Gefolich chuckled. “Even Axis bows to them because they have something to keep each and every one of us in check one way or another. Many are just used to how things are and no longer question it. But for the truly powerful amongst us, we are held by leverage. They hold my flute. Should it be destroyed, I would lose all my power and be as helpless as a child. For Axis, they hold his family hostage. He would endure anything for the sake of his children.”

Duke’s expression hardened. Baslin was right. These nobles are monsters and I have sat back long enough observing. It’s time to do something about it. They have no leverage on me, so I need to get stronger, and fast. Then, I can tear them down and set everyone free. Fuck the gods that brought me here. This is my purpose for being here. This is my goal, my…Quest! “OK, that’s downright horrible and maybe it’s time to do something about it. They have nothing on me. No leverage, nothing. The only thing keeping me here is these walls and my own will.”

Gefolich smiled in response, his grin broadening as Duke continued.

“Now, I just need to get strong enough to tear this all down around their ears. And for that, I need help. Specifically, I need your help and the help of everyone else who is trapped here. I need to be strong enough to take on the privileged few who hold all the power and tear it away from them!”

The satyr nodded his smiling face as Duke completed his rant. “Well, well, well, it seems you have found your motivation. But is it truly enough? Do you have the will to remain steadfast where so many others have broken before the storm?” Gefolich stroked his chin. “We shall see. Yes, we shall see.” With a gesture, the spell of concealment ceased.

Duke rose from his seat as Gefolich gestured him to the door. His mind was reeling from what he had learned both about the city and about himself. He was committed but he knew he was far from ready.

When Duke sat down at his desk, Gefolich deposited a meter-high pile of books for him to read. Duke groaned. Everyone else chuckled.

“Read up, Duke, you have a lot to learn before we can even get started with teaching you.”

Duke looked up from the pile. “Oh, just shoot me instead.”

Gefolich smirked and hit Duke with a Force Dart Spell. It was the lightest damage spell he had, but if he powered it up, it could do significant damage. In this case, it was meant to be a long-distance smack to the head for Duke.

***A SPELL HAS BEEN CAST UPON YOU

You have been struck by the Spell Force Dart. You have been struck for two points of damage. Additional exposure to this Spell is required for Spell Absorption.

***

Duke smiled at Gefolich and offered the one request he had never expected. “Can you hit me with that Spell a dozen more times or so?”

Confused and astonished looks around the room forced Duke to offer up some form of explanation. “Look, it’s real simple: I haven’t been hit by, or even seen, even a tenth of the spells that you guys have seen. I need to know their effects directly if I am to be able to deal with them in a fight. And you already know how fast I heal. The damage from that spell is already healed. So, what do you say, Gefolich, can you hit me with that one again and a bunch more?”

“You’re serious?” Gefolich rubbed a horn in confusion.

“You bet I am. As long as it doesn’t kill me, I’ll recover from the damage. I think this is necessary.” Duke stood up and moved to an empty part of the room and prepared himself for the expected barrage.

Gefolich shrugged as the others gaped. With a simple arcane gesture, he struck Duke with a dozen more Force Darts in rapid succession.

Duke smiled through the pain and accepted the barrage of Force Darts, waiting for a specific system message. It took 8 more hits, but he got the message he was anticipating.

***The Spell “Force Dart” has successfully been absorbed. You may now use it as an Ability at will for a small cost. ***

Duke held his hand up after he got the message, taking the next four hits before Gefolich noticed his gesture.

“Oh sorry, Duke. Was that enough?”

“For that spell, yes. I think I have a pretty strong understanding of how it works, and I might even be able to dodge it eventually. Give me a minute to heal up and we can move on to the next spell.”

“Truly? This is working for you?” Gefolich asked incredulously.

“Truly. Yes, this is exactly what I need. Give me ten shots of each of your low-level spells to start with a little healing time in-between and you won’t believe what I’ll be able to do tomorrow.”

The rest of the team had completely abandoned their studies to watch the spectacle as it continued. Gefolich hit Duke with Spell after Spell, seeming to enjoy it more every time. Duke, for his part, endured the assault, re-kindling his smile with every Spell he absorbed. When they were done, he checked his messages.

***You have successfully absorbed the following Spells: Flame Dart, Poison Dart, Acid Dart, Wind Dart, Ice Dart, Earth Shard, Light Bolt, Bolt of Darkness. You may now use each as an Ability at will for a small cost. ***

In the end, he was greeted with a wonderfully unexpected additional message:

***Due to repeated and rapid exposure to damaging Spells, you have developed a resistance to their effects. Continued practice at this Ability could significantly increase your survivability. ***

After hours of sucking spells Duke was exhausted but still elated. Eventually, they all were cheering him on, shouting for Gefolich to hit him with something new. When Gefolich ran out of low-level spells, the group broke for dinner, and the team was overjoyed to joke about Duke's exploits until it was time for a return to Jablach’s training regimen.

As they left the classroom, Gefolich followed them and stopped Duke. Duke turned back to Gefolich wondering what he wanted. The satyr chuckled at Duke and gestured at his clothing which, upon looking at it, Duke noted was shredded and tattered. Gefolich cast a simple spell and Duke’s clothing repaired itself.

“I have to learn that spell. That and Cleanse. Those will make life so much easier.”

***You have been affected by the Spell “Repair”. Your uniform has been repaired and is as good as new. Additional exposure to this spell is required to absorb it. ***

Duke winced inwardly as he realized that he still was not going to get a repair spell at least not yet. Gefolich left him to go catch up with the rest of the team for dinner.

Dinner was filled with excited commentary from the rest of Duke’s team about how many spells he could take without even flinching.

“You have the making of a passable off-tank, Duke. I am glad to have you on the team.” Lysander gave Duke a welcoming nod as he spoke, finally deciding that the human was worthy of his attention and of the team.

“Really, Lysander? Duke’s part of the team and has been since he was assigned to us. It’s up to us to make sure that he is not only welcomed into the team but integrates completely. We only have a few more days before we face the Stone rookie squad. And you know they are out for real blood.” Lasandra scolded Lysander with some heat in her tone.

“It is me that they want to kill.” Duke volunteered. “If it comes down to it, you all back down and let things happen as they will. I can take more punishment than they think and still get back up. I don’t want the rest of you getting hurt for my sake.”

Lysander shook his head. “Duke, that is MY job. I take the hits because I can. You just find a way to take out as many on their team as you can.”

Lester finally spoke up, “Lysander tanks, Lasandra heals, I stealth and surprise strike. You, Duke, need to be a pure damage dealer if this is all going to work.”

Duke smiled. “I can do that. By the time we get in that arena, I’ll be able to take them all apart. I’ll tear it all down around their ears.”

A shout arose from the table next to him. “Lev!”

Another table answered “I!”

All of the tables joined in, “athan! Crush them all!”

Duke felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jablach smiling at him and the rest of the team. “Time to put those words to the test, eh? Come on. It’s time for evening training.”

Several hours later, Duke collapsed into his bed after a quick hit of the Cleansing spell in his room. He had only been this exhausted in his life once before, during SEER training. As he passed into sleep, he thought that maybe this was worse.