by Kaden Reed
“Before you ask, I decided to make the ranks as easy to understand as possible since you all are about as dumb as a box of rocks,” Akashi continued, “since Kits are the weakest Khanri, F will be the beginning of the ranks. The ranks will be broken into segments which ascend from one up to ten. Fill up the bar again when you reach the tenth segment and you will progress to the first segment of the next rank.”
“So, what is after rank F then?” I asked eagerly.
“From rank F10 it progresses to E, then D, and so on until the A ranks. After the A ranks, comes the S, SS and SSS ranks,” Akashi chuckled as he felt my desire peak, “but it will be a very long time before you reach the S ranks. For instance, Thorn is currently at rank S4 and she has been doing it for over four centuries.”
I deflated a little at the revelation of the long arduous road ahead of me if I wanted to reach the pinnacle. Nodding at Thorn, Marty and I walked through the door into the hallway and joined Jax and Glazmir who were waiting impatiently to get heading to the training section of the Dungeon.
Marty called to Jax, “what is your class fearless leader?”
Jax answered absentmindedly, “Tempest.”
“And what is that?” Marty asked intrigued.
“It’s a mix of Magus and Berserker,” Jax replied mechanically, “despite what you might think, I don’t like to get in close with my opponents. Somehow the mix just allows me a wider range of offensive spells than the usual Magus has access too. Although,” one of his blades appeared in his hand and then disappeared just as quickly, “I am capable of a little knife work if pressed.”
“Aye,” Glazmir rubbed a hand over his recently pin-cushioned behind, “I be thinking we got that hint already.”
“Let’s get going,” Jax gestured at the three of us, “we have some more running until we get to the training levels. Then we will see if I can turn you all into the killers you need to become.”
Jax started off at a sprint and we hurried to catch up to him.
Chapter Ten
Training
Can you hear the distant screams and clash of steel of those locked in never-ending struggle when you peruse my wares? Do you feel the vibrations of perpetual war in the ground under your feet? Can you smell the coppery odor of the lifeblood from those that pay for your peace? I want to ask this, but all that comes out of my mouth is, “good afternoon, what can Vik interest you in today?”
- Vikram, retired Khanri
“We are coming up on the training section,” Jax called to the group as we ran, “be ready.”
Shortly after we began running, I found that I had to restrain myself to keep pace with the rest of the group. The speed we were running at was close to a galloping horse and without even thinking about it, I sped past my companions as I focused on circulating my mana. I only came back to reality when Jax started yelling at me to get back in line.
“You are welcome by the way,” the voice of Akashi interrupted my musings.
“For what exactly?” I responded distractedly.
“The rune,” he sounded mildly annoyed, “what else would it be?”
Even though I just went through the horrible ordeal of having the rune applied, I had already put the entire experience behind me, “right, thanks. It will take some adjusting to my new speed. By the way, do all the Khanri get upgraded like that?”
“Nah,” he sounded amused, “when it is time for them to be upgraded, I just wait for them to die and rebuild them with the enhancements I choose.”
“Great, now I get to look forward to having the special treatment of being put through torture,” I was beginning to get the feeling that Akashi was a bit of a sadist, “so, how do they know what new skills they have access too then?”
He sounded positively giddy, “oh yeah, I am definitely looking forward to upgrading you in the future,” he continued in a matter of fact tone, “and to answer your question, I insert the necessary knowledge for them to use their skills directly into their memory.”
I thought that getting a download of all of your abilities was a pretty neat trick that I wanted to explore in detail, but my mind was gravitating toward the implications of all the new revelations from earlier with Thorn, “how did this war with the Aku start? What is the point to all of it?”
The disembodied voice was quiet for a time, “that is a very long conversation. Maybe another time kiddo. I have an entire dungeon to run so I’m not going to be hanging out talking to you all day.”
“Aren’t you the Dungeon?” I was really confused by his statement, “I thought this was you?” I gestured at the walls around me for emphasis.
“I am made entirely of mana. I have no physical body as you would describe it,” I got the impression that he was trying to sort out his thoughts before continuing, “imagine a sphere of water,” I got the impression he shook his head, “no actually use steam. That is a better analogy. Take the sphere and put it in a sauna. Steam is billowing throughout the room but any steam that goes inside of the sphere, is trapped there. Before long the steam becomes so dense that no more can passively fit inside of the sphere, it has to be forced. Now imagine that sphere had a portal in the very center that acts like a vacuum and sucks in the steam as fast as it is created in the sauna. That in essence is how a Dungeon operates.”
Trying to wrap my head around the confusing analogy, “so are you the sphere, the steam or the vacuum thing in the middle?”
“The short answer is - yes,” he paused again before coming to a decision, “it will be easier just to show you.”
A vision of a sphere in the middle of a room full of steam popped into my mind. I looked around and saw water being slowly dripped onto a pile of hot rocks. Each droplet sizzling on impact, releasing a puff of vapor into the air around it. The wispy cloud made a faint streak in the air as it was slowly pulled to join the sphere.
I asked in the vision, “so you are all of it? Then what is the Dungeon?”
I had a sense of vast amounts of time skipping forward and the sphere grew to encompass the sauna. The steam began coalescing into shapes. Large blocks of solid steam fell to the floor and began arranging themselves. Additional blocks shortly joined the first and formed walls. The structure that was being formed expanded to encompass the boundaries of the sphere. This seemed to free up space within the sphere, with me almost able to see through it. I noticed that the streaks of steam being pulled in from the room seemed to increase in speed as more and more was condensed into objects inside of the sphere.
“I am the Dungeon,” he said, “and the Dungeon is me.”
That still didn’t explain why he had to divide his attention, “so how come you can’t see everything in your Dungeon?”
I heard a loud sigh rattle inside my skull before he said exasperated, “your body has limitations correct? If you stub your toe, you still have to look to see how it happened? You don’t just magically know. It is almost the same for a Dungeon, with one exception. I can only look inside of me or what is in direct contact with my boundaries. I am only passively aware of my Dungeon if everything is working correctly. However, if I need to create something or if I am interested in what is happening in another area, I have to shift my focus to that area. If it helps, just think of it as my consciousness that has to move around.”
“I suppose that makes a kind of sense,” I slowly answered him as I was working out the logistics of what he was saying.
“Great. Glad I could help,” he said sarcastically, “now I have to go see a guy about a thing. I’ll check in with you later. Try not to die too much.”
As soon as he finished talking, I felt a strange absence inside of my core. Like someone yanked off a warm blanket and I was suddenly assaulted by the rush of cold air. All I could focus on was the jarring absence his abrupt departure created. Worrying at the feeling like a sore tooth, I was completely oblivious of Jax slowing down and calling for everyone to stop.
Only dimly aware of the suddenly large room that I found mysel
f in, I remained lost in thought as I kept jogging. I was abruptly pulled up short when a ferocious snarl forced my attention outward rather than inward.
The first thing I noticed were the bright green eyes about the size of small dinner plates that were locked on me. As my mind slowly stuttered back into motion, I scanned up and down the creature. It was easily half again as tall as me and probably a good twenty feet long. With thick dark brown fur that showed black and gray stripes running down its back. The muscles of the feline body rippled under its fur as it lowered itself onto its hind feet, readying to spring at the morsel that foolishly ran right into its waiting paws.
Shouting incoherently in surprise, I began backpedaling away from the monster. Ears flattening onto its head, the giant cat roared in challenge and sprang.
“Shit!” I yelled in panic as it closed the distance in the blink of an eye, paws outstretched. Trying desperately to dodge out of the way, I threw myself to the side by pure reflex.
The cat seemed to have anticipated my gamble and stretched its paw out further to the side. Screaming in agony when I felt two claws rake down my back as it just managed to catch me. The force of the blow sent me rolling and skidding dozens of feet to lay crumpled in a heap on the ground.
As I lay whimpering, I could hear the big cat chuffing in pleasure as it celebrated its victory while slowly approaching my body. Gasping in pain, it felt like every twitch sent lances of fire down my back.
My mind reeled in panic at hearing the approach of my imminent demise. Wincing as I tried crawling away, this is what I am reduced too. The new class, the rune, even the ability to use magic, and it all amounts to nothing when I come face to face with my first enemy. Everything was wasted on me.
I drifted in self-recrimination as I clawed for every inch between me and the methodically approaching beast. I’ve died twice. Once by Shino’s hand and the other by Niko’s. Perhaps I never stood a chance against either, but as I replayed them in my mind, I realized that in both situations I never even tried to fight back. I just meekly accepted my fate.
Shame of my utter failure overcame me, which was quickly replaced with rage. Rage at myself, at this situation, at the fact that during my entire life I have been lied too. But most of all, I raged at the fear that I have been carrying with me every day of my life. The fear of failure, of not being good enough, of disappointing those I looked up too, of letting myself down. No more. If I’m going to die again, I am going to make sure that big bastard joins me.
I slowly rotated myself onto my back so I could see the thing, panting at the flare of pain that stung the open wounds that felt like they ran from my neck to my lower back.
Sniffing at the air, the cat slowed its approach when I turned around before it resumed stalking me. It probably could smell the small river of blood and figured that I must be near my death. Which I probably am.
Akashi said I should be able to manipulate my mana, but damn him, he never told me how I could do that and for the life of me I couldn’t find any memory that told me how to use my skills like he said he provided for other classes. Frantically, I tried to feel the energy coursing through me and grab at it. But anytime I managed to grasp it, it would just slip through my metaphorical fingers and snap back into the channels within my body. My core, everything connects with the core.
As I tried to pull directly from my core, black spots swam in my vision and a cold sweat sprang up on my skin. My thoughts felt like they had to swim through mud, and I struggled to understand what was happening. In delirium, I let the tendril go and within moments my body had righted itself and I could think clearly again. Okay, definitely not my core.
Wracking my mind for any hint as to how to manipulate my mana, I idly followed the currents throughout my body. Then it hit me. The only thing that was directing the energy in my body was the channels themselves. When I examined them more closely, I found that they were made of white mana. I pulled at one and it moved easily. When I let it go, it remained where I placed it. In exultation at figuring out this secret to my class, I glanced up at the monster and noticed it was nearly on top of me.
Panicking, I grabbed at the channel in my right hand and extended it three feet above my fist to end in a point. The channel snapped back in on itself to rest about a foot above my knuckles. There must be limitations to the range of my abilities. Thinking that this would have to do, I did the same with my left fist and had a moment to admire my handiwork before the cat lunged at me.
I flung both of my fists in the air at the direction of the cat and managed to score two deep wounds into its chest. As it roared in pain, I rolled out from under it and lurched to my feet. Surprised that it actually worked, I could see blood dripping from the mana blades onto my hands.
Not stopping to think about what I was doing, I launched myself at the flank of the beast and drove the points of both blades into its side again, this time ripping both horizontally through its body before withdrawing. The flesh of the cat seemed to part easily, and ropy tendrils of intestines spilled out of its abdomen to lay on the floor.
In desperation and fury, the beast lashed out with a speed that I was not prepared for. Hooking its claws into the meat of my right bicep, it yanked me off my feet and slammed me into the ground directly in front of its roaring maw with enough force to knock the wind out of me. Gasping and with my right arm still pinned beneath the dinner plate sized paw, I flailed my only available mana blade at the jaws descending on my stomach, scoring several shallow hits that didn’t seem to deter the predator.
As it sunk its teeth into me, a cold chill ran through me at the now familiar aspect of death beckoning me onward. Pushing past the sensation, I rammed the blade through the soft underside of the mouth of the beast with the last of my strength.
Feeling the monster still trying to pull away from me, I pushed my power through the channel that was forming my crude mana blade to extend it to erupt through its skull. I smiled in grim triumph as the beast collapsed next to me, its body spasming a few times before laying still.
“That could have gone better,” Jax called from out of sight.
I thought about responding but in my delirium, I was too entranced, watching the pool of blood from the beast merge with mine on the floor.
“Heal him,” the familiar voice commanded, “he doesn’t get time off due to his incompetence.”
A few moments later a rush of energy entered into my core and was quickly disseminated throughout my body. As it began to repair itself, the solidity of my consciousness gradually returned. Blinking up at the drab gray ceiling above me, it took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t dead.
Strangely, I didn’t feel any pain from the extensive wounds that I found on my body. Searching within myself I found a haze of violet colored mana in my skull. Not understanding what it was, I pushed at it to dislodge it from me. As soon as it disconnected from my mind, agony crashed into me and I began screaming incoherently.
“I don’t know what happened. I cast the spell exactly how I was instructed,” the sound of Marty’s voice found its way through the miasma of pain that consumed my thoughts, “hold on. Let me try again.”
Another wave of energy coursed through me and the terrible pain again immediately ceased. Gasping at the sudden cessation, I tried to understand what happened. I noticed that the violet colored haze was again clinging to my mind. After a few moments of thought, and cursing myself for being a damn fool, I remembered that Marty’s class effects the mind during healing. Allowing the patient to no longer feel pain and even passively increasing the mind’s ability to heal the body. I must have removed that part of his spell when I pushed it out of me.
Interestingly though, I saw that there was no way that I could expel the golden Mender energy from my body though. When I looked, it had melded with the mana within my core and was gradually being dispersed throughout my body with my own mana. As I examined it, I found that the golden energy would leave my channels when near a wound and diffuse itself into
my body, spurring healing regeneration in its vicinity.
The gashes along my back were healing quickly and I assumed it was due to its close proximity to my core with all of the primary channels in my body densely packed in that area. The rip in my bicep and portions of the terrible wound in my abdomen were not healing as effectively though.
As an experiment, I moved the channel that ran down my right arm close to the wound in my bicep. The flow of golden mana poured into the wound directly and it began to knit itself together at a pace that was an order of magnitude quicker than it was before. I pulled several channels into the chunk missing from my stomach and let the healing magic do its work.
Savoring my ultimate victory over my foe, I closed my eyes in contentment that I wasn’t actually going to die this time.
A rough kick to my side jarred me back to the present. Jax’s unsmiling visage glared at me from above, “what do you think you were doing?”
“I wasn’t paying attention,” I croaked, my voice hoarse from all the screaming, “it won’t happen again.”
Frowning at me, “I was going to let that monster have you for dinner to prove a point.” He breathed deeply, “you fought that thing like a Kit. It was messy and pathetic to watch.” After a moment he nodded at me, “but you won in the end. Not many Kits can take on a cave lion in single combat and come out breathing.”
As this was the first compliment I had heard the gruff man say, I wasn’t sure how to respond, “I barely did.”
“By the Dungeons, that was some fight though,” the gruff voice of Glazmir heralded his approach. Coming to stand above me a few moments later he looked down at me, “you got him good lad.”
Nodding at the dwarf, “if you all were nearby, why didn’t you help?”
