The Runic Artist

With his Gravity Control rune swirling in front of him, Nate watched Gregory leap about, empowered by Archer’s Step. It wasn’t lost on him that to an extent, this rune was overkill. If he was willing to use True Teleportation he could simply steal the archers bow. The battle would be over shortly after that as Nate would be free to attack while all Gregory would be able to do is dodge and defend. Assuming the archer didn’t have a spatial storage and additional bows, that is. But doing so would’ve revealed what was arguably his strongest combat ability.

His runes made him adaptable and diverse, but being able to move himself around the field while stealing things off his opponents or even return their attacks at them was both incredibly powerful and incredibly counterable. His only spell, Minor Spatial Lock, was evidence of that. It might cost them a tonne of mana, but if he used his True Teleportation skill now, then he had little doubt that Coralie and perhaps even Null would find themselves in possession of an item or spell that would let them prevent or resist his spatial skills.

Gregory managed to release another three arrows in between dodging the stone spears. It was the perfect opportunity to test his Gravity Control rune and he focused it on the arrows as they flew towards him. Flexing Imbue Intent he made towards him ‘up’ and back towards Gregory ‘down’ in the area between them. The arrows slowly lost their speed before performing slow flips in the air as they reversed direction back towards Gregory, passing the second set of arrows he’d fired. Those were slowing as well and Gregory seemed to realise his problem as he tried to get a better angle. That wasn’t going to work when with a flex of his Intent, he could change the area affected. Sure, it cost mana, but he had enough left to finish this.

Slowly walking towards Gregory he finally noticed that the crowd was still deathly silent, breaths held as they watched the battle. The sounds of moving earth, his almost silent footsteps across the sand and the twangs of a released drawstring were the only noises in the arena. He would’ve preferred to keep his distance but the mana cost went up exponentially for the rune the further away he tried to impact Gravity. Considering what he intended he needed to be closer if he didn’t want to run dry. That, and he knew he needed him within range of his sphere of Awareness.

Gregory continued to attack, arrows flying every which way, but it still wasn’t enough. None of the arrows even got close any more. He considered that if Gregory had had a trump card he might have been able to pull something out to turn the tide, but at the end of the day the Arcane Archer was still only a Rare tier class. He likely had mostly Rare and Uncommon skills. Nate suspected that he might’ve even pushed Archer’s Step to Epic, given how extensively the archer seemed to use it without running out of mana. Even with such an achievement Gregory just wasn’t on Nate’s level and it was time to make that fact unequivocal.

Stopping at less than ten metres away he altered his Imbue Intent against the Gravity rune and changed up to down in a donut shape around him. Sand started falling like it was in a storm, along with Gregory who started to ‘fall’ into the sky. He lost vision of the archer but that didn’t matter to his Awareness of the Runic Artist and he sensed the archer try to adapt, launching himself back towards the ground. Nate felt himself smile. He could even sense the muscles in Gregory’s legs, tense and ready to use Archer’s Step again to reverse direction when Nate changed the Gravity again. That was a mistake. Gregory wasn’t really the target of the effect. Sure, he’d been within the range but there was a reason Nate had gone so wide with the effect. He needed enough dirt in the air. Empowered Runic Artistry drew mana from him as he changed the runic array from Earth and Projectile to Earth and Gather. Imbue Intent followed, making Gregory the centre of the gathering.

The storm of dirt and sand all started flowing towards the archer who immediately tried to change his direction with his Archer’s Step but Nate just shifted his Intent on the Gravity again, changing the direction to oppose Gregory’s movement. The dirt and sand was barely affected by the changes as the mana and the concepts buried within it courtesy of his rune overrode anything gravity could do, a tinkling sound filling the air as the sand and dirt rubbed against each other, flowing towards the archer. From one moment to the next the air cleared as Gregory was coated in a thick layer of dirt and sand. A flex of Nate’s intent and the outer surface hardened, turning the coating into a coffin. Altering gravity again he floated the earthen coffin down to the ground, being careful not to crack the prison.

The crowd waited in a hush, the whispers slowly building as he waited for the referee to call the match. When there was no reaction after ten seconds he turned to look at the referee. The man spared a furtive glance for the stands where the Prefect’s sat before glancing back at Nate helplessly. Growling in irritation he strode over to the coffin of earth, flexing Imbue Intent again to peel back a small amount of the earth roughly where he expected the Archer's mouth to be. The moment he did Gregory took some rushed breaths, but quickly calmed himself. To be honest, it impressed him how quickly the archer got his panic under control.

“Referee won’t call it. So are you going to surrender or do I need to start poking holes in you?” Nate asked, his annoyance at the referee leaking into his words.

There was a pause before Gregory sighed, speaking softly, “I surrender.”

“I didn’t hear you,” Nate replied, honestly concerned the referee hadn’t heard.

“I surrender!” yelled Gregory.

The shouted capitulation finally broke the spell over the spectators as they surged to their feet screaming their adulation. He broke open the coffin before releasing the Earthen Gathering rune, only maintaining his barrier. Gregory climbed to his feet, covered head to toe in dirt and sand, his previously dark hair now stained yellow and red.

Sighing, he offered his dirt-covered hand to Nate, who accepted. “I can’t believe you can control a Gravity Spell while only being level forty. That is…” with a small shake of his head followed by a sad smile Gregory continued, “you deserved to win. This is going to break the team up…but to be honest, I knew I was never going to be able to keep up with Null in the long-run. Maybe now I will be able to walk my own path instead of trailing in his. Best of luck, Nate. Don’t make me look bad by losing your next match.”

With those parting words Gregory stumbled off towards the edge of the field, bow still firmly held in his hand. Nate watched him go before noticing the crowd was still cheering. He finally understood their silence as he turned to face them, raising a hand which caused another wave of screams from the spectators. They had thought he was wielding a Gravity Spell. Trudging off the field he couldn’t help but smile. That was just the first of his aces. Wait till they saw what he could do with some of the others. He paused to collect his Projectile Gathering runes from the sand before continuing his march off the sand of the arena.

Kiri waited on the edge of the field with a huge grin on her face. “That was absolutely amazing! I didn’t even know you could do that! He was all stuck there in the air with nowhere to go and bam, sealed up in the dirt without ever touching the ground!”

He smiled and bumped her shoulder in thanks, “You know what you’re doing for your match?”

“Well, after that showing, I think I might have to step up my game a little,” she quipped back, glancing around at the fellow competitors.

“Now’s your chance,” he replied, having spotted the sign. “Best of luck.”

Kiri spun, seeing her own name alongside that of Gabrielle. With a quick wink at Nate she started marching out towards the field, glancing at her fellow competitor as she confidently stated, “Luck? I won’t need it.”

He watched her go and after a moment's thought, he had to agree with her parting words. She didn’t need to hold back as much as he did. There would be questions, of course, but at the end of the day the extent of her abilities could be explained without the revelation that she possessed a Mythic tier Class. He settled in on the fence, his head almost touching the barrier, as he prepared to watch his best friend win what he expected was going to be a resounding victory.

*************

Kiri smirked across at her opponent. There was only one Skill she was truly unwilling to use. She was saving that for her match with Nate, when they made top two. She’d been a little concerned they might try and match them against each other earlier to make it easier for Coralie and Null to ascend to those heights. Instead she’d been told by Deverell that they would avoid pitting teammates against each other unless they were all that remained. He’d added that Aisling and Luc had threatened repercussions if that particular ‘rule’ wasn’t followed. He’d also said something about Prefect Porter being on their side. She supposed in the end, it didn’t matter as long as they both made top-eight. Nate was now only one fight away from doing so. Now she just needed to do her part.

The thought filled her with excitement. She’d come to accept that she was a bit of a battle-junkie. Nate was more careful and controlled. It was obvious he didn’t enjoy it. Even his methods of ending fights rarely involved bloodshed. If he’d just been willing to put spears through that archer he might’ve been able to end the fight even earlier. Instead he’d imprisoned him. She couldn’t fault him for it though. He was still adjusting, but she suspected even once he had fully internalised that sometimes spilling blood was exactly what was needed, he’d never take joy in the act.

She on the other hand would take joy in it. Maybe not the act of harming someone, but definitely in the challenge of it. In the adrenaline rush of putting her life on the line. Even with Lord Evindal watching over them, the pain was real, the sense of danger ever-present.

A smile bloomed on her face as she drew two of her daggers and stared at Gabrielle. The woman's black hair was cut at shoulder length and her pale green eyes seemed to contain a hint of disdain as she held her long-bladed spear out to the side. Kiri was going to disabuse her of that notion, in no uncertain terms. She understood why Nate had been holding back his teleportation ability. Spatial skills and spells, while uncommon, were a known quantity. So were their counters.

Her Soul Shift on the other hand, would look like a spatial skill, while the counters for spatial skills would have no effect. She knew. They’d tested it with Nate’s spell. Her Soul Imbuement just looked like a boosting skill. Even her Tethered Soulblade Dancing just looked like a Dagger Dancer Skill. With Deverell as her mentor they wouldn’t even question it. They’d think she was some sort of Dagger Dancer with a spatial spell. Interesting, powerful, but not unique. Definitely not Mythic.

The referee moved over as Prefect Raoult had finished introducing them. She hadn’t listened to a word of it. Who cared what he had to say about her? She was more than comfortable showing them who she was. Any second now. This was going to be a statement match for her. The time for holding back was over.

Gabrielle finally reacted, smirking as she spoke, “We like your boyfriend. All is fair in love and war.”

Kiri laughed in response, “My teammate can do better than a tramp like you.”

“Begin,” yelled the referee, ending their trash-talk.

Kiri used Soul Imbuement, soul energy burning away as she enhanced her speed and durability. At almost three hundred Agility, she was a blur as she crossed the distance that separated them. Halfway there she flung both her daggers at her opponent. Gabrielle’s spear whirled and a gust of wind blasted forth to blow the daggers away but that was fine. They were just a distraction and she’d already managed to get a Soul Tether on the spear-user.

Misdirection skills weren’t going to save this girl when Kiri could track her so easily, because at the end of the day, a Soul Slayer was a hunter. Without even glancing at the daggers that were flying away, two thin tendrils of soul energy and mana grew out of her back, snatching them out of the air. Her opponent's mouth opened in surprise at seeing her using Tethered Soulblade Dancing. The signature skill of a Dagger Dancer. She knew what she was revealing by doing so. Everyone would think she was an Epic Classer now. Just like Coralie.

Gabrielle’s eyes went wide and the air around her began to shimmer as she created some sort of air armour. Kiri found she didn’t care. Drawing a second set of daggers from her Soul Space she launched herself forward the last couple of metres. Sliding at the last second, she dipped underneath the swung spear. Inside Gabrielle’s optimal attack range, she started slashing with her daggers. The air armour was clearly meant to be offensive as well as defensive as the swirling currents tried to cut at her skin, but with Soul Imbuement active, her constitution was over a hundred and twenty. The air slashes weren’t even going to bruise her, let alone cut her. Gabrielle tried to swing her spear around her shoulders to use it at closer range but Kiri simply ducked, swinging her two tethered arms low and trying to hook the girl's feet. Gabrielle was too slow by comparison and one ankle was entangled as Kiri pulled the foot into the air. The spear-woman launched herself backwards, trying to flip and use her spear to gain some space.

Against most it would’ve worked but Kiri finally revealed the last Skill she was willing to use. Soul Shift took her behind Gabrielle while she was mid-air. Before the girl had even touched the ground Kiri was slamming all four daggers forward. At the last second she used Soul Shift again, only focusing on her hands - both the real and tethered ones - phasing them through the air armour to slam into the girls back before viciously ripping them sideways and out. She stepped back, knowing it was already over. She’d gotten the girl's right lung and her heart, not to mention her left kidney.

Gabrielle glanced back, eyes wide and filled with fear before she collapsed into the sand of the arena. A moment later, the signature golden-light of Lord Evindal enveloped her but Kiri had stopped paying attention the moment the golden-light had appeared. Turning to the crowds she raised her four daggers to roars of approval. Smirking, she walked off the field, noting that many of the other competitors were staring at her, eyes wide in shock and maybe a little bit afraid. Even Coralie seemed to be watching her closely, though the feisty blonde had a considering look in her eyes rather than one of fear. That made Kiri even happier. You haven’t seen anything yet, she thought as she moved to join her best friend.

“I think you might’ve beat me on time,” he whispered in amusement as she felt her adrenaline slowly fading away.

“You’ll just have to try harder,” she quipped, punching him gently in the arm.

“I suppose I will,” he replied quietly, looking out at the field.

Glancing back out at the arena she couldn’t remove the smile from her face. Winning felt good and she was just getting started.