August Intruder [SOL Progression Fantasy]

Ms. Ensineta was a cute, young girl with pink blushes and a blonde pixie haircut. She walked out with her hands clutched to her chest as if she was hiding something. She seemed timid simply because she looked cute.

Instructor Oboz didn't even bat an eye when she passed. He didn't worry for her safety. She bowed respectfully as she passed him and he returned her bow with a simple nod of the head.

"Isn't that the daughter of Quick dart?" someone in the crowd whispered.

Melmarc knew the name but couldn't place where he'd heard it from. Quick dart was a Delver, but that was all he could remember of the person.

Beside him, Pelumi leaned in and asked, "Who's Quick dart?"

Melmarc shrugged.

That got a smile out of her. "I thought you know all the Delvers?"

Cocking a brow at her, he laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha. I don't have perfect recall, though."

Pelumi rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the amphitheater. She was still smiling, however, letting him know that she was simply teasing him. Melmarc was more interested in how she had so easily ignored the discomfort of what had happened to Mr. Elta just a few moments ago.

"Whoever it is," she said simply, "that boy's going to eat her daughter alive."

Down at the sparring area, Oboz raised his hands once more and took in the combatants. Devin, large as always, took his stance. It was the same stance, a spider stance. Knees bent deeply, body tucked in, hands dangerously close to the ground as he leaned forward.

Everyone knew what he was capable of now, what the stance could do. Melmarc was certain everybody had plans of how to deal with him hovering in their heads. If they had none, they were making calculations.

"Ready?" Oboz asked both participants.

Devin nodded. Ms. Ensineta had other plans. Asked the question, she removed her hands from her chest and opened them, spreading them apart. A staff materialized into existence between them and she grabbed it.

It was a deep black, as if made of metal that glistened under the amphitheater's sunlight. At the top, it zigzagged in a lightning pattern.

The presence of the staff drew looks and gasps from the audience. It was a standing declaration of her class. A testament of what she was.

A [Mage].

The class was known to be rare and powerful. It was also the class that made people look at the [Faker] class as nothing but a mockery, a failed mimicry.

Murmurs slipped through the audience. Oboz did nothing to stop it. In fact, he didn't seem moved by anything that had happened. Not the [Mage]. Not the staff.

Devin's reaction was nothing but a wider smile.

"You guys don't seem impressed," the girl Ark had been flirting with noted.

Ark responded with a shrug, and Melmarc couldn't blame him. Aunt Deoti had the [Mage] class, and they'd spent time with her no matter how few, the class was impressive but not very awe-inspiring for them.

Now that Melmarc thought about it, the chances of running into a class that inspired awe in him would be difficult. After all, he had seen the pinnacle of being Gifted in Uncle Dorthna.

And he had fought a demi-god.

I miss when my life was simpler.

Oboz waited for Ms. Ensineta to inform him that she was ready. Holding the staff in her right hand, she took something akin to an unorthodox stance for a [Mage]. It looked like something a lance wielder would take in preparation for close quarter combat.

Ark leaned forward to look at Melmarc from across Pelumi.

"Wanna bet her activation won't be fast enough?" he asked.

"How much you got?" Melmarc asked.

Ark grinned. "Next month's allowance."

"Too much." Ark shook his head, watching the mana particles gather to the tip of the girl's staff. "Half of next month's allowance."

Pelumi looked between the both of them as if they had lost their minds. Melmarc was almost completely certain that the girl already had a skill prepared for the boy. Unlike most other classes, the [Mage] class often came with a variety of skills that allowed the [Mage] to cast spells that worked like more skills.

By the time a proper [Mage] was done using their skills, they could've cast enough spells to turn three skills into eight or more. It was part of what made them so powerful.

"Deal," Ark said, sitting back properly just as Oboz brought his hand down sharply.

"Fight!" the instructor declared.

A spell flashed into existence in the blink of an eye. It was a large circle of incomprehensible scribbles, a mix of red and orange and green colors.

Devin blitzed through the air in the same explosive force of power. The spell shattered as quickly as it had formed. The booming of bodies meeting filled the air, superseded by the sound of glass shattering.

Ms. Ensineta was sent flying. A lot of people winced as she hit the ground and tumbled through, bouncing once, twice, and a few more times, before slamming into a wall that separated the seats from the fighting grounds.

Oboz spared Devin a look. Melmarc wasn't sure if it was a warning regarding how much power he had used this time.

Devin gave no reaction to it as he returned to his starting position.

As for Rae, she was already moving, heading over to the girl whose staff was lying some distance away from her, released in her defeat.

She was since done healing Elta, but the boy remained unconscious. With Ensineta, she seemed to take her time, first turning the girl on her back and checking her for injuries physically.

"Wasn't that too much?" the girl next to Ark muttered. "She's just a girl."

Ark snorted. "She's not just a girl, dear. She's a [Mage]. There's a difference."

"Still," the girl said timidly. "He should've been gentler."

Melmarc couldn't agree. Thinking like that could get a person killed. The girl was powerful enough to possess skills that could kill a person. Ark was right. She was not just a girl. She was a [Mage], a threat.

For all his dislike for Devin, the boy had handled her accordingly. He had only gone too far because this was not some do or die affair.

Still… he looked at Ark and saw the same thing he had recognized on his brother's face. Devin wasn't just some mere tanker with explosive strength. He had skills active, some of them were most likely internal skills.

Oboz watched Rae as she turned Ensineta back on her back and began surveying her front for injuries.

Rae looked at him and gave him a nod before activating her skill once more.

Melmarc wondered if it was the same skill. If it was, he wondered what the cooldown time on the skill was.

Oboz returned his attention to the group. "Ms. Flamesworth."

Silence fell on the entire amphitheater like the descent of some great predator in the presence of prey. It was almost as if everyone was afraid to speak.

Oboz waited patiently as the owner of the name finally stood up. Melmarc doubted there was anyone present who didn't know what the name was famous for. The Flamesworth family was not an old family. In fact, the name was new. The owner had changed their initial family name to it when they became a Delver.

Flamesworth—the family name for [Dragon Knight].

Melmarc watched as Patience, daughter to [Dragon Knight] came slowly down the escalator. She spared no one her attention, eyes focused on Devin as she descended.

"They say she's been in a portal before with her brother," Melmarc heard someone whisper in the lowest voice, as if scared of being heard.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Another voice followed quickly. "I heard she's assisted in clearing a Chaos Run."

"I heard she's an active part of the investigation into why portals are no longer appearing."

Melmarc almost laughed as the rumors flew by. Here he had been worried that stopping aa terrorist attack and jumping out of a plane on camera would give him and Ark some kind of heavy reputation.

Compared to the rumors he was currently listening to, he and his brother were nothing but learners. Their fame would be very short lived in comparison to Patience's.

Half way down the escalator, eyes still fixed on Devin, Patience squinted as if she'd just noticed something. Melmarc would not be surprised if she was the most talented member of their set, most talented not most powerful.

After all, she had one thing the other students didn't have. While they had Delver parents or relatives, Patience had the same thing, as well as an aged guardian to teach her… probably.

When she got to the ground, she walked over to the arena as if there was no threat of bodily harm waiting for her.

There, she assumed her position, standing casually a few feet away from Devin. As was the way, Oboz raised his hand and asked if they were ready.

Devin's face twitched a little. He didn't look so smug.

"So, he's not just a brute," Ark mused. "Interesting."

Melmarc couldn't agree more. If he wasn't just a brute that made him more dangerous, because it meant that he had control and was being cruel simply because he could be, and not because it was all he was.

Devin was about to take his stance when Patience looked down at the ground and took two steps closer. He paused, gave her an intrigued look.

Oboz took notice of it but said nothing. Devin took the stance regardless and nodded to Oboz in confirmation.

Patience took a combat stance, something different. It looked like tai chi.

Ark leaned forward on his seat. "That looks interesting. Wanna bet she'll win?"

"I already own half of your next month allowance," Melmarc replied. "I'm good."

Ark shook his head, smiling, but said nothing more on the matter.

Oboz brought his hand down sharply.

"Fight!"

Patience lunged forward. Devin exploded forward. Without hesitation or delay, Patience vaulted over the charging tank.

Devin came to a halt and turned around. He did not assume the position once more, instead, he charged at Patience.

When he got to her, his hands came shooting out. He fought like a sumo wrestler, going for grabs and slaps. Patience fought in the same manner as her stance. She moved with his flow, guiding his hands away from her and leaning away from attacks that she could not guide.

Melmarc watched her feet as she fought. They were… impressive. Her placements looked intentional, guiding her and Devin in a circle as she avoided and redirected his blows.

The entire crowd remained quiet, watching at the edge of their seats. It was clear who they were all voting. There wasn't anyone in the audience that wasn't on Patience's side.

Patience slipped very low suddenly, then went on the offensive. She threw her upper body into Devin's abdomen, trying to throw him off. The moment she did, Melmarc and Ark winced.

Pelumi looked between the two of them, confused. In the same moment, Devin stopped Patience's attack with a slap to the face. The blow reverberated through the amphitheater and sent her staggering back.

Devin smirked as she shook her head. Then he nodded, as if in acknowledgement, just before attacking her again.

The fight was a test of strength and skill. Nobody was willing to use any obvious skill. It reminded Melmarc that he didn't know what Patience's class was.

"Why did you guys react like that?" Pelumi asked suddenly, while the combat continued at the bottom.

"She had a steady rhythm going," Ark answered before Melmarc could.

Melmarc nodded in agreement. "The attack was a risk. Calculated, but I don't think she should've gone for it."

Devin had Patience heavily on the defensive now. Every evasion put her at a greater defensive.

"Why shouldn't she have?" Pelumi asked. "It was the only way she could've made a difference."

"The test isn't about winning, though," Melmarc said. "There are no criteria except surviving until Oboz brings it to an end. She didn't have to attack."

"If she had held out long enough an opportunity would've come as well," Ark added. "That would've been better than forcing one. The way she fights is dependent on flow. You don't take risks and break flows."

Melmarc agreed. They had learnt it from their Uncle Dorthna when he was teaching them seikuken the method of fighting that helped them to predict the flow of their opponent's attacks and defend against them.

The problem with fighting by following the flow of the fight is that it takes a certain level of mastery and superiority over your opponent to dictate the flow. If you do not possess these, then you have to follow the flow until you find an opportunity not create one.

Melmarc knew how difficult finding such an opportunity was. He had suffered it in his sparring matches against Ark, after all.

Patience grunted in pain as Devin kicked her leg. The blow was vicious, powerful enough to send her staggering back, hopping on one leg. Devin didn't press his advantage, instead, he stood in place, waiting for her.

His smile never left his face. If he was goading her, she wasn't falling for it. She tested her leg on the ground, put a bit of weight on it and winced.

"Hurts?" Devin asked, speaking to an opponent for the first time.

Patience said nothing, simply placing her foot down testily and assuming a stance. She was ready to continue.

Devin was more than happy to indulge her. So, without delay, he bent his knees deeply and assumed his stance. The spider stance.

Gasps went through the crowd.

Patience showed an expression. A frown crossed her face.

Ark sighed. "I really thought she was going to stand a chance. Too bad."

Patience assumed a new stance, one different from what she had taken in the beginning yet similar.

Devin exploded into motion, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye.

Melmarc saw it before Devin moved. The boy was using a skill. He caught it in the way the mana gathered to him slowly growing bright, in the way he inhaled it and let it out brighter. The mana exploded before Devin exploded forward.

Patience's expression tightened a split moment before the boy slammed into her. She went soaring through the air, slamming into the wall before dropping to the ground.

She coughed up once, then twice as Rae rushed over to her, then she forced herself up on all fours. Rae watched her gently, carefully.

"I think he's sexist," the girl next to Ark muttered.

"Maybe." Ark shrugged. "But both girls have proven themselves to be threats, while the boy wasn't. I'd say he's gender blind."

The girl rolled her eye. "Boys supporting boys, huh."

Ark paused, gave her a very confused look, then shrugged as if it was not his problem. In truth, it was not.

"Why's everyone so weak."

The words halted everybody. All eyes turned on Devin who had just addressed the group. Melmarc watched the ambient mana particles begin to glow very slowly around the room. Devin was goading them, pushing their buttons.

Ark was grinning from ear to ear. "I like this guy."

Melmarc spared a glance at his brother and watched how the mana moved away from him, how black mana particles slowly rose up from him.

"Calm yourself, Ark," he said with a sigh.

"I'm calm, brother. I'm calm."

Pelumi leaned into Melmarc and whispered. "He looks like he wants to be called next."

"He does," Melmarc said with a nod.

He was not called next. Instead, Oboz called an athletic looking boy.

Assuming the same combat stance, Devin prepared himself to face the boy. The first thing the boy did was take two steps forward as Patience had done, then prepare himself.

He had one thing in common with the others: he was knocked out of the space before he even had the opportunity to display his skills.

In his own case, the outcome left him bloody after he slammed into the wall. As promised, Rae went to work.

…

Patience was a very waning virtue. Ark held on tight to his arm rest. It was all he could do not to leap straight into the arena and start throwing hands.

How would he even take Devin's charge? He had a few ideas. In truth, it would be more reasonable to follow in Patience's footsteps and avoid the first attack. But he was a [Demon King]. He was not one to shy away from a head on collision. He was built for strength so he would face it. The question remained how.

His hand tightened further as another intake was sent flying and into a wall. Not for the first time since entering the amphitheater, his interface flashed in front of him.

[Title Pain of the Dying is in effect]

All emotions have power. You have found your worth. You are fueled by the pain and suffering of the dying.

[Effect: +2 increase to all stats for every being dying painfully within a certain distance.]

[Radius: 100 feet.]

He wasn't sure if it was instructor Oboz's intention but a few of the students Devin had sent flying had been considered dying by his interface.

"That's how many now?" the girl beside him asked.

"Eleven," he muttered. Eleven intakes had been sent coughing up blood and potentially regretting coming for the exams in total.

Some would've called this cruelty, but Ark understood the necessity of it. The world wasn't fair to the Gifted. People didn't know it, but it was the truth. There were situations were those who were not gifted received preferential treatment, mostly in situations surrounding Chaos Runs.

Oboz spared the boy who'd just been knocked out a look, then he spared Rae a look as she attended to him. He seemed… disappointed. As if he had expected more from the group.

He turned to face the group, shaking his head. On one side of the amphitheater were the new intakes, on the opposite side were the intakes who had suffered at the hands of Devin. Patience had a scowl on her face throughout her waiting period.

With a sigh, he shook his head and called out the next participant.

"Mr. Melmarc."

Ark threw his head back in exasperation then looked at Melmarc. "It should've been me."

Melmarc had an odd look on his face so Ark stopped him as he was getting up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Melmarc looked at him. "I'm not sure."

His face looked… empty. It made Ark worry a little. Before they'd climbed the plane, their mother had given him one simple instruction.

Don't let him kill anybody.

The last thing Ark needed was for Melmarc to go killing some innocent student. Still, he let him go, watched him as he took the escalator down. Rather than turn it on, Melmarc walked down. The distance wasn't far, so he didn't really need the escalator.

Pelumi's hand settled on Ark's arm for a moment, and Ark looked at her.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked with a worried voice.

Ark paused, confused. "Why?"

"Well, you and I both know that Marc is more of a big teddy bear."

Ark's jaw dropped. "Did you not watch the video?"

"I know," Pelumi said. "But he's on the kinder side. That guy has proven that he'll ruin you if you hesitate. Marc might hesitate."

Ark couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why in the name of all that was unholy did people continue to think that Melmarc was the kinder of the both of them. If anything, Melmarc was the unhinged one. Most of the time, he was sporadic and unpredictable because it forced Melmarc to be reasonable and predictable.

"Ready!" instructor Oboz said.

Melmarc's problem was simply that he never let go. Uncle Dorthna saw him let go once and knew that Ark was right.

Ultimately, Ark shook his head. If Melmarc was going for the large teddy bear persona, he wasn't going to be the one to ruin it.

"He'll be fine," he told Pelumi in the end. "Though, I would've preferred to be the one down—"

A collective gasp from the intakes cut him off suddenly, forcing him and Pelumi to look to the stage. What Ark saw made him smile.

Now that's the Mel I know.

Pelumi looked dumbfounded as if all the truths she knew were actually lies.

Down in the arena, Oboz had his hand raised. For the first time since the test had begun, the man had an expression on his face.

Intrigue.

All eyes were completely ignorant of Devin. They were fixed on Melmarc instead.

On his side of the platform, Melmarc had taken his stance. A very low, stable, and powerful stance his knees bent deeply, Melmarc kept his body relatively tucked in. It shifted his center of gravity as he placed both hands dangerously close to the floor without touching it.

He looked straight ahead, right into Devin's eyes.

A stance had been chosen. A taunt. A mockery…

The spider stance.

Oboz's hand came down.

"FIGHT!"