The Runic Artist

Nate watched as Brittany strode towards him, shaking the ground of the arena with each footfall from her mana constructed armour. As she raised her hammer he braced himself for the impact, prepared to use True Teleportation at a moment's notice if it looked like his barrier was unable to withstand the force of the strike. Watching in morbid fascination, he witnessed the hammer's descent, the mana encasing the weapon shimmering both in his vision and his sphere of awareness. His barrier sparked for a moment as the hammer crashed into it and he felt the ground below him crack. Spinning up a runic array with Empowered Runic Artistry, he created a formation made from his Earth and Gathering runes. Flexing Imbue Intent he made the ground firmer, stronger and denser beneath him, fixing the damage dealt by the strike while making the next one less likely to cause him issues.

The second attack had no effect on him, though the ground behind his barrier showed signs of torment as fractures rippled outwards. The look of shock on Brittany’s face made his, so far passive, approach entirely worth it as he could clearly sense her eyes goggling at him through his sphere of awareness, as he stood safe and untouchable within his barrier. His newest creation was already proving it’s worth and he could tell he’d barely expended more than a few percent of the mana contained within the Legendary Bracer. He could sit here and weather the storm of hammer blows for five minutes without doing anything. Which begged the question, how best to deal with Britt?

The hammer blows began to rain down in a steady rhythm as he thought through his options. Frick immediately interrupted his train of thought.

“Please, Boss. Can I do it?” begged his Familiar mentally.

“I don’t know…” he replied, unsure if Frick was a card he should play now.

“Come on, Boss. It’s now or never. I would be useless against Null because of his nullification Skill and the same goes for Kiri because she could directly attack my soul energy,” wheedled Frick, trying to get his way.

He did have a point though. His Familiar’s new Skill really would be useless against both Kiri and Null.

“What about Coralie?” he asked.

“Think of it as a misdirection for her. We wouldn’t use my Skill against her anyway. I’d just do something similar to our plan for Null.”

It was hard to argue with the logic and, though he did feel like it wasn’t worth showing an additional skill, he’d kept more than enough close to his chest. Besides, that comment about misdirection was a good one. If they saw his Familiar fighting like Frick intended to, maybe they wouldn’t expect that he could do other things. Like burrowing underground to set up runes.

“Fine,” he agreed, smiling as Frick appeared before him cheering loudly and doing his little stomping victory dance even as the hammer blows continued to rain down on his barrier. The barrier was only meant to stop physical attacks and mana. Soul energy flowed through it without issue and Frick crossed the barrier without any visible changes. Once the little blue goblin was on the other side he started cackling loud enough that even the crowd watching began to quiet. Nate rolled his eyes, knowing Frick was doing it to put on a show. It was enough for Britt to pause in her attacks again, glancing from Frick to him.

“A summon?” she asked in surprise.

He debated not answering. Why give up the additional information? That said, plenty of people already knew he had a Familiar and it was bound to get out sooner rather than later. A little misdirection here was unlikely to have any effect.

“Familiar,” he replied calmly, adding after a moment, “Sorry about this.”

Britt stared at him with her bright blue eyes, confusion plain on her face as her brows creased.

“Sorry about what?”

“That,” he said, indicating Frick. His Familiar had started growing in size as he activated the first Skill he could use in the physical realm, My Will, My Way. His Familiar continued to grow, using his Willpower to reshape his existence till he stood as tall as Britt in her mana-construct armour. The additional mana to support his Familiar’s physicality was going to be a bit of an annoyance, but he suspected the show would be worth it.

“Fe fi fo fass, Fricky’s gonna beat your ass!” yelled Frick, before letting out a bestial roar as the Spirit cracked the ground even further launching himself at Britt.

She barely managed to get her shield up in time, interposing it between Frick and herself as the Familiar let his claws fly. Britt’s shield lit up brighter with mana as it began to move faster. Another defensive skill was his guess. Not that it was going to help as he could already feel Frick cheating. The transformation didn’t prevent his Familiar from making use of Nate’s runes and he was pretty sure the not so little blue bastard was using a mana exclusion runic array around his claws. Every swipe seemed to actually shave off a small amount of mana from the shield, forcing Britt to constantly replenish it.

Britt tried to give as good as she got, her hammer lighting up with mana as well as she started wielding it with what Nate suspected was a decent level of skill. It was always hard to tell how good people were with their weapons as he was, self-admitted, completely lacking in knowledge on the topic. Britt seemed to be using her own momentum to swing the hammer, always attacking when she stepped, whether it be forward or backward. Frick took the blows but it was Nate’s own mana reserve that seemed to be feeling the damage as Frick drew from him to replenish his altered form.

Nate watched safely from within his barrier as the two titans continued to battle it out, kicking up huge clouds of sand and dirt with every step as the crowd screamed in the background. He had to admit, it looked impressive, even if he personally thought it was a bit basic in terms of the skills on display.

The battle continued for another minute as Britt tried to get around Frick to attack him directly but his Familiar wouldn’t let her ignore him, continually whittling away at her mana as chunks were carved out of her construct. At the end of the day she just didn’t have the mana reserve to compete with him on those grounds. Finally her mana-construct began to deteriorate until she was standing back on the sand of the arena, panting but unbowed. She swung her hammer at Frick’s knee, since that was about as high as she could reach, but the gigantic blue goblin stepped out of the way with more speed than she could match. Quickly moving back in, Frick scooped her up by her feet before slamming her three times into the ground.

“Enough,” Nate called, Frick instantly releasing her feet. He’d sensed some of her bones break through his sphere of awareness and knew the fight was over. After ten seconds where Britt just lay there in the dirt groaning, the referee finally called the match.

Frick began to dance in a circle, stomping his feet and cackling as the crowd went wild again. Even the referee looked impressed and gave him a nod as he exited the field, Frick following a moment later to vanish back into the contract. The glow of gold surrounded him as he joined the few remaining competitors. Kiri still hadn’t returned and a moment later Britt joined him, her helm gone as her blonde hair flew free.

“That was an amazing match! Obviously I need to improve but thank you for the lesson. I look forward to attending the Royal University with you!” she said, offering her hand.

He took her hand with a smile and shook it firmly, “Me too. Maybe we can work together a bit.”

Britt’s smile was infectious as she beamed back at him, “I’d love that. Excuse me though. Going to commiserate with my remaining teammate!”

With that she walked over to Null, apparently fully healed, though whatever Evindal’s skill did apparently didn’t extend to armour as it showed dents and scuffs where Frick had ragdolled her into the ground.

Turning back to the arena, he felt someone walk into his sphere. The shape was enough to tell him who it was as Luc joined him leaning against the wall, the barrier over the arena brushing against them. Out on the field, two of the Gold Badge referees seemed to be fixing the ground which looked fairly torn up due to the antics of the two titans smashing each other around the arena.

“Top four, kid,” Luc said softly. “Gotta admit, even though I bet on you, I am still impressed.”

His mentor glanced behind the two of them before looking back out over the arena as Prefect Raoult announced the next match. Null and Ameera, the Martial Artist hailing from Gashana, took to the field.

“So, I was thinking about your offer and was wondering if you and Kiri would accept five levels and a couple of orbs each for the contract. You know, keep it friendly?” Luc whispered even as Null and Ameera squared up in the middle of the arena.

“Ten levels each is fair, Luc,” he replied just as quietly. “More than fair. If you want to know so badly it’s an easy contract to agree to. All you have to do is keep the information to yourself.”

“Twenty levels is huge though. That’s like a decade or two of work, and that’s only because I get more contracts than most other Platinums. If it was Aisling, that would be twenty-five years minimum!” Luc replied vehemently, though there was no heat in his words. The man was clearly just bartering. Whether because he cared or because he couldn’t help himself, Nate couldn’t tell.

“Twenty levels is what Aisling offered. Surely you can match her?” Nate whispered.

Their conversation was interrupted as the fight began out on the field. Null moved forward smoothly, bastard sword arcing in the sun as he instantly closed with Ameera. The martial artist hailing originally from the desert country of Gashana didn’t shy away from the exchange, meeting Null halfway as the two began to dance. It was the first time Nate had seen Null truly challenged in melee and it demonstrated that the man wasn’t just a one-trick pony. His movements were smooth, one attack leading into the next as he caught an attack on his vambrace that echoed with the sound of metal across the arena before whirling into a slashing strike.

“She’s got a skill to make her hands as strong as metal,” Luc noted quietly.

“Her Classes were Martial Artist and Steel Mage,” he replied, eyes glued to the dance of fist and blade.

“Clever mix,” commented Luc thoughtfully. “Some really interesting options for her Tertiary Class with those two. Really interesting actually…maybe I could consider taking on a second pupil. No objections from you, kid?”

Luc gave him the side-eye, clearly interested in his response.

“No objections. She seems skilled.”

That was perhaps an understatement as Null had clearly started using his boosting skill, his speed having increased as his sword whistled in front of him, trying to force Ameera back and hem her in. He wasn’t succeeding. Ameera danced around his sword strikes, going so far as to slap the blade occasionally, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the arena as the crowd sat on the edge of their seats. This battle may not have been as showy with magic flying or titans slapping each other around, but it was a testament to the skill of the top-eight.

Ameera finally attacked back, throwing a kick that seemed to launch a blast of mana at Null. The attack didn’t slow the fan favourite at all, vanishing almost as soon as it formed. On the upside, this fight was answering one of his burning questions. Could Null’s nullification skill affect internal mana. The answer was no. Ameera was clearly boosting herself and making her hands and feet metallic. All of which were internal skills that seemed to remain unaffected by his nullification ability. That meant it was just mana that was beyond the skin that would be affected.

“Who do you think will win?” asked Nate quietly.

“Null. No questions. He’s still holding back. He’s been on the attack the entire time and while she’s skilled and maybe could be his equal after she gets her Tertiary Class, for this fight she lacks the tools and maybe the stats to equal him. Null’s got this. Odds were terrible though so I won’t make much off it,” Luc explained.

His mentor paused for a moment and glanced at him again, “Do you think you can beat him?”

“Null?”

Luc nodded, eyes going back to the battle as Ameera performed some incredible acrobatics that ended with her launching three airborne kicks in a row, two to attack and one to kick away an answering sword strike. Null blocked the other two kicks with his vambrace, being pushed back but unharmed by the impressive display.

He thought about the question. Could he beat Null? He had his plans, though honestly if the first didn’t work he was dubious the second or third would. He hated the fact that his entire strategy really came down to the first option. Null’s ability only seemed to be able to destroy things made of or constructed with mana. Launching naturally formed rocks using True Teleportation to build up their momentum sounded like a good idea, until you saw how fast Null was. He’d also need to do it while keeping Null at a distance. Could his mana last that long? He had his doubts.

There were other methods. He had even considered trying to pull an Aisling. Use runes to create a naturally forming storm then turn the arena into a lightning rod while using his barriers to protect himself. The problem always came back to time. All these options required time to set up and none of them guaranteed he’d even strike Null. Thinking it over though, the theory behind his first plan was sound. He was confident it would work. Confident enough to give himself a fighting chance.

“Sixty-forty,” he replied quietly to Luc who responded with a raised eyebrow.

“In your favour?” his mentor asked.

He nodded in the affirmative.

“Well then, guess I am betting on you. Don’t let me down, kid,” Luc said with a smirk before looking contemplative. “You win and I will take the deal of the System Contract as is. Because if you can beat Null…well, I just have to know what your Classes are I guess.”

Nate laughed softly at his mentor. Luc would never change. Of that he was convinced. Though perhaps he should’ve been betting on himself. The thought of gambling had never even crossed his mind. He was still too naive about the ways of the world.

Focusing back on the fight he could see that it was starting to wind down. It was the same issue quite a few combatants had seemed to have. A lack of mana. Ameera was slowing as it looked like she was using her boosting skill in spurts to try and conserve her remaining mana. Null on the other hand looked fresh and fine as he forced her back, expertly slashing and hacking away at Ameera as he cut off every avenue of escape. Ameera finally faltered, unable to maintain the skill that was keeping her hands and feet metallic. She lost a hand and got cut across her chest before Null was able to put his blade tip at her throat. He couldn’t hear what she said from the sidelines but it must have been a surrender as a moment later golden-light enveloped her. Her hand flowed back to rejoin her body as her cut sealed, though it did nothing for her ripped and torn clothes. Null offered his hand as the crowd cheered.

Nate smiled and glanced at Luc who smirked back before nodding. Top four. It was finally time to face Null or Coralie. The nervousness in his stomach amped up at the thought. Win or fail, he could content himself with the fact that he’d done what he could to prepare. Now all that was left to do was fight.