The Runic Artist

Nate stood around with Null and Coralie, waiting for Kiri to return. The top four were being granted a short reprieve as the losers bracket was being fought out. Britt, Flash, Ameera and Karim battled it out to determine the fifth through eighth positions. He knew he should pay attention but he was more focused on Null who approached him to join him at the arena barrier. Luc took that moment to pat him on the shoulder and wish him luck with a wink before making his way back to the stands to join Aisling and Evindal. Deverell was still absent with Kiri, doing whatever it was they were doing to replenish her soul energy stores.

Null leaned against the wall and Nate noticed that his vambrace looked shiny and new, as though it hadn’t been used to defend against hands and feet made of steel. It was weird having the man so close, like a void within his sphere of awareness. It was sapping his mana and Nate wondered if he could reshape his sphere like Null seemed to do with his own nullification sphere. A future option for pushing his skill he supposed. Maybe it would let him increase the range if he pushed it all to one side of him. Food for thought, that was interrupted by Null.

“I’m sorry,” Null said confidently as the man watched Ameera fight Britt.

Nate glanced at Null, unsure what he was apologising for.

“My father,” Null added. “I saw your reaction when they pulled the first names. He’s picking the match ups. If you got Coralie next, I think you could win. Definitely a good chance,” he continued, nodding firmly.

“But you won’t. Her mother won’t risk it. So you’ll get me. It’s a bit unfair, and for that I am sorry,” Null continued before turning to him with a friendly smile. “I really am. You’re incredibly talented. I know Coralie was a bit worried about you. She put up a strong front, but after that Gravity Spell she was definitely unsure. Battle Enchanter must be an amazing class. Epic I am betting. I’m really looking forward to attending the Royal University with you. Maybe we could even talk about merging our teams afterwards? You and Kiri both seem like you’d be a great fit for the team if we all get along.”

Nate couldn’t help but like the guy. Null was clearly incredibly confident, but from what he had seen so far, he perhaps wasn’t overconfident. Even being the fan favourite Null came across as a nice guy, offering praise freely and the invitation to join their team was a little out of the blue, but not totally surprising. They’d lost Gregory which brought Null’s team from three members down to two. Adding Kiri and Nate would take it back up to four. Nate had his misgivings though. Not about Null or his personality, but about the swordsman himself, and especially his current teammate Britt’s ability to keep up with himself and Kiri. Null thought he was Epic, two tiers below his actual tier. He and Kiri were fighting at a nine and ten Class level disadvantage. That was ignoring any Skill Level disadvantage which could be even higher. Null might be able to beat him now, emphasis on might, but would he be able to in a year? Two? The longer things went on the more likely the distance between them would grow.

The string of thoughts flashed through his mind in a few seconds as he replied, “Maybe. We’d be open to discussing it. Even if we don’t, we should definitely stick together at the Royal University. I’ve not heard good things about the Nobility.”

Null nodded his agreement as Britt hammered Ameera into the ground, literally. “It’s only the upper nobility and their sycophants you really need to worry about. There will be a fair few of the rich merchant kids and lesser nobility attending as well. Most of them are just trying to keep their heads down. But the higher up in the aristocracy they are, the more closely tied they will be to the games of the Duchies. And they play for keeps, if you get what I mean.”

Null gave him a pointed look. He understood the meaning. Lives were on the line.

“What about the Royals?” Nate asked curiously.

Null laughed slightly before waving a hand at him, “Not laughing at you. Out in Helmfirth you’d be unlikely to know, but the Royals don’t care about us. The Guild that is. If the First Prince and the King joined forces they could likely crush us - The Guild in Etrua - on their own. They’re both Emeralds,” Null explained. Seeing the confused look on his face he continued, “Low-gems basically. Stronger than a Platinum. Over level a hundred and twenty. Their Classes and Tiers are kept a secret but they’re almost certainly Legendary. Maybe even Mythic. Like Coralie and Kiri could achieve if they made it to that level.”

Null winked at him as he said it, indicating he suspected Nate was Epic, but also that he himself was also an Epic Classer. That didn’t mean Null was telling the truth, but he had a suspicion he was.

“Anyway, there will probably be a couple of Royals attending. Their family is big enough that it would be surprising if there wasn’t at least one or two. But just stay out of their way. We’re beneath their notice. The Guild’s considered on a similar level to a Ducal House, but we’re just viewed as peons rather than potential inheritors like the children of the Nobility. Adventurers change countries all the time. Why would they bother making an enemy of someone they’ll either never see again or potentially one day employ for a job?” Null shrugged as the referee called the match in Britt’s favour, putting her in contention for fifth or sixth.

“Thanks for the information. It’s nice to know what to expect from the other students of the Royal University,” Nate replied with a smile.

“You’re welcome. Figured you probably didn’t know much about that kind of thing. Does Helmfirth even have a Baron watching over it?” Null asked curiously.

“It has a Mayor. I am guessing that’s not the same?” he responded.

Null laughed good naturedly, “A Mayor is just a raised-up commoner. Much like you and I in a sense. Not Nobility though. Hearing how much of a backwater Helmfirth is, I am even more impressed that they produced a mage like you. I’m sorry again, about my father. I need to go congratulate Britt though. Let's talk again after the tournament is over!”

Null gave him a small wave as he wandered over towards Britt who was stumbling off the field with a big grin on her face. It was almost time for their match. Just a few more fights and he’d be taking the field against Null. Weirdly enough, the conversation had dealt a killing blow to any lingering nervousness he felt over the match. Null was an alright guy and while he would do his utmost to win, he could at least live with losing to someone who wasn’t an asshole.

“Fuck that, Boss. Kick his ass! Goblin-mode! Goblin-mode!” chanted Frick mentally. He just smiled, ignoring his Familiar for now. Frick had a point after all. Goblin-mode!

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

Kiri strode purposefully till she was next to Nate. The losers bracket had finally wrapped up and Prefect Raoult was congratulating the competitors on their final positions. She was a little surprised to find out Karim had snatched fifth after beating both Flash and Britt. The Earth Mage had buried Britt after knocking her over and had changed the landscape so that Flash ended up stabbing himself on small earthen spikes that set him up for an earthen spear to the chest. In the bottom of the losers bracket Flash had beaten Ameera, the Martial Artist unable to keep up with the Edgedancer who hadn’t been forced to use his self-damaging boosting skill in that match up. That meant Britt came in sixth, Flash seventh and Ameera eighth. That however meant it was finally time for the top four to battle it out.

Her soul energy was topped off, courtesy of an almost excessive number of rats in the sewers. Though the smell was lingering in her nostrils. It was a shame her Soul Imbuement couldn’t do anything for that. Deverell had used some cleaning spell to get rid of the muck. It was the first time she’d seen him use a spell rather than a skill. As per usual though, he’d noticed the look she gave him and refused to teach it to her. He’d explained that she needed to understand some of the fundamentals and for that, she needed a better teacher for spells than him. Good thing she was going to the Royal University then, she thought.

Prefect Raoult finally finished congratulating the top eight losers bracket and reminding the crowd of their prizes for their placements. All that was left was to determine the matchups for the semi-finals. Kiri watched rapt with anticipation as Prefect Allais reached into the silken sack and pulled out a name.

“...Kiri Beaufoy of Helmfirth versus…” boomed Prefect Raoult.

“Coralie,” whispered Nate next to her.

She glanced at him as Prefect Raoult continued, “..Coralie Allais of Etrua! Let's hear what you think of our homegrown Frozen Queen fighting the teleporting Dagger Dancer!”

The crowd went wild but all she could do was frown as Nate shrugged when he saw the look on her face, “Want me to wish you luck?” he asked.

She stood unsure for a moment before her confidence returned along with a confident grin, “No way. I’ve got this. See you in the finals.”

She was certain he’d make it. He’d always risen to the challenge. She’d done the same. They may have different temperaments, but their unwillingness to give up was something they had in common. Now she just needed to back up her own confidence with action.

Striding out onto the field she looked over at Coralie who was walking at a far more measured and sedate pace, as pristine as ever. She really was gorgeous. A little bit of a princess, but that wasn’t an issue for Kiri. She didn’t mind taking the lead, after all.

Planting her feet, she flashed what she hoped was a confident and charming smile at Coralie, “So, before we get started, I should probably know where you’d like to go for our date? A nice restaurant maybe?”

Coralie blushed as the referee did a double-take, glancing between the two of them.

“You need to win first and that won’t happen,” harrumphed Coralie, going as far as to cross her arms. “When you lose, just remember your half of the wager. A Rare item. I hope you’re richer than you look.”

The referee did another double-take when he heard about the wager. The whole situation just made Kiri smile, even if she knew what this match was going to cost her. It was a little bittersweet, but she knew to win this match she had to accept she’d lose to Nate. He’d even offered to help her with something for her fight against Coralie, but she couldn’t accept it, knowing that it might cost him first place by leaving her the ace she’d kept secret just for him.

Basically all her active skills revolved around soul energy and while her Willpower, which was the stat that gave her control over it, was almost two hundred, she knew Nate could match that with his Magic Power in his Runic Arrays. Worse for her, he could combine his Soul rune with anything he had. Barrier, gathering, exclusion…it was honestly hard to keep track of all the runes he had. But that didn’t matter since he could shut down any of her skills, defend himself completely from her attacks with his barrier, while wearing her down from safety. That was assuming he hadn’t come up with a solution specifically for her. He knew all of her skills. All of them, except one. The one she would need to beat Coralie.

Eyes forward she saw the referee jump back as he called for the match to begin. Coralie didn’t move, ice covering her as she created her defensive structure that she’d used in every match so far. Kiri sent forth some of her soul energy, hoping that maybe the freezing domain wouldn’t be quick enough and she could use Soul Shift to get inside of the cage of ice and end this battle before it even got started. A vain hope. Her soul energy slowed to a crawl before it was within a few metres of Coralie before fully stopping, frozen two metres from the little ice princess.

The cold hadn’t reached her yet and she tried another method. Her Soul Space had grown and could now hold entire piles of daggers. Deverell had even gifted her a stack of twenty Uncommon throwing knives which Nate had kindly raised to Rare. Using her Tethered Soulblade Dancing she drew four throwing knives from her Soul Space, the four arms stretching out behind her before hurling the knives as fast as she could at Coralie. The freezing effect was slower to sap the momentum from the thrown blades, but it still stopped them. They had made it within a metre of her ice prison before they became frozen in the air. She’d suspected it would be futile but now she knew for sure. Coralie had never used another method to win her fights. Why would she when this method was safe and worked every time.

Kiri took a deep breath before walking backwards calmly. Keeping an eye on Coralie, even if the girl was clearly forced to maintain her focus to continue to grow her frozen domain. No point showing your back to an opponent unless you were forced to. Besides, she suspected her own skill was going to take a moment to activate. It would only be her second time using it and her first time using it with such a potent source.

She stared at Coralie as she spoke, “I hate sounding like Flash, but I was hoping to save this for my battle with Nate. Your Frozen Domain is just…I have nothing else to counter it with. Good luck Coralie. I am not sure how well I can control this!”

She knew that when Nate had evolved his Primary Class from Legendary to Mythic he’d gotten a Mythic skill as part of his Skill selection. For him it had been Eyes of the Runic Artist, the skill he’d used to save her life and give her this new opportunity. When she’d evolved her own Primary Class to Mythic she’d gotten a Mythic Skill as well. Her only one. Something that fit her Class perfectly. She was a Reborn Soul Slayer, so what better Skill than To Slay a Soul.

She didn’t fully understand the implications, but she knew what it did. She could ‘store’ the souls of those she killed. At the moment her maximum was three but she knew as the skill grew that number would increase. That wasn’t important though. That was merely the source the skill required. What it did was far more interesting. Temporarily imbuing her with a portion of the power the soul had wielded in life. Power that extended all the way from their stats to their Classes and even their grasp of Concepts.

As she finished the process, she felt the soul she had kept stored for so long begin to disappear, its energy being expended as it flowed throughout her body. Her blood began to boil, flames igniting on her skin. Even her tethered arms, made of soul energy and mana, looked like they were aflame. The last vestiges of Szuzkrung, Chosen of Xenyntiss, the kobold who wished to be a dragon, flowed into her and she finally got to feel what it meant to possess a Class like Blood of the Dragon. Roaring her fury at the encroaching cold she flared Soul Imbuement, bursting into flame as she charged Coralie’s nest of ice.