by Andur
“I promise that I won't remove those limiters. Actually my interest lies just in the sequence of historical events.” So I start explaining. “I've researched the first attempts at teleporting a whole spaceship. It's true that the records say that all those ships disappeared, but there is more to it. I think those records were faked. All the experiments were conducted by companies with strong ties to the government.”
Upon seeing that Paul wants to say something I raise one hand to stop him. “My point of interest doesn't lie in the fact that the experiments failed. It's in what happened afterwards. Tell me, why are all of our spaceships armed and why is a tenth of the pilot training dedicated to theoretical space warfare? We never had a war, there are no possible opponents, the society is as stable as it can be.”
Paul pauses for a moment to think. Since his company is involved in producing parts for spaceships he has to know a lot about their construction. “There are requirements a spaceship-design has to fulfil. That includes proper camouflage-tech and offensive as well as defensive capabilities.”
“There is the Revelation Wing. We have to be able to stop them if they manage to steal a spaceship. It could be our undoing if they parade around the Earth while having their information barrier deactivated.” Saden crosses her arms in front of her chest.
She is obviously trying hard to find arguments against me. “And our government is following a policy of self-defence. The people on Earth are becoming more and more interested in the stars after all. Haven't you heard about their recent projects?”
I raise one finger. “Ah, yes. But what can a few rockets and probes do to a society like ours? The most advanced engine they have is an ion thruster. And if at all, that's only a very recent concern. The policies for spaceship construction are in place since the year one thousand and one hundred-nine after the exodus. At that point the normals didn't even have a spaceship.
The Revelation Wing was a far more dangerous group long before that date and since the Exodus the danger from them only declined. The elders could have changed the policies long before that.”
I place the fingers of my hands together. “What happened though are the long range teleportation experiments! Think about it. The experiments take place and a few weeks later all new ships have to have specifications which are turning them essentially into vessels for war. Additionally the training schedule for the new pilots is changed and all colonies are required to have either their own fleet of ships for a possible evacuation, or being mobile installations like Aether. In fact this law alone increased our ship production a hundred fold within twenty years and it only grew since then.”
Paul scratches his forehead. “So your new conspiracy theory says that their long range teleportations actually worked. They went out there and explored the neighbouring systems. The returning exploration vessels found something that the elders didn't like. They faked the outcome of the experiment to stop others from trying to leave the solar system.”
“Exactly!” I clap my hands together. “And not only that. Whatever is out there frightened them enough to make them decide that it's better to hole up in our native system and build up our forces before we go adventuring.”
Saden's face turns expressionless and she turns to Paul. “How long do you think will it take to talk him out of this. One month like the last time?”
Paul looks at me while scratching his cheek. “Actually I bet my money on three months. He likes those alien conspiracies, so it'll be hard to make him acknowledge evidence which is disproving his idea.”
I widen my eyes to show that this wasn't within my calculations. “I've never said anything about aliens. I carefully avoided mentioning those!
But let's change the subject. Have I already informed you two that I joined the annual tournament?”
“No way! So you are really trying to do it? It's a one-on-one tournament between students. As a techno-mage you'll be just a punching bag! Do you get a kick from being hurt?” Saden calls out.
Paul raises his hand. “Don't judge him before he has even tried. Gideon already showed us that his magical skills are outstanding. That bully Ralph didn't even come close to us since he got his ass handed twice.”
I nod enthusiastically. After the events with the thug I found out that he and Paul have a history together. Ralph is the son of a famous weapon manufacturer and when they first entered school together, they were actually friends.
But their parents got into a fight over a contract. Paul's parents refused to let their facilities be used to build fusion bombs. The bombs were intended to blow up a few asteroids in the belt to get a mining operation going.
In the end the bombs were built in another facility, but the harsh words between the families had broken Paul and Ralph's relationship. Especially since Ralph is a child in body and mind he got strongly influenced by his parents and somehow declared a personal vendetta against Paul.
Since his parents are obviously not paying enough attention to him he got into fights with other people who were on Paul's side.
With time it escalated further and he became the school's thug. That day when I ran into him the first time he wanted the key to the computer clubroom in order to cause some havoc in here. He likes to destroy Paul's stuff. Though he got special attention from the school since the last incidents and everything cooled down.
That's when another thought hits me. “Oh, that's right. I've to tell Grandmother and the family that I want them to root for me during the tournament!”
Saden slams her forehead on the table in front of her. “You want them watch you being beaten up? Please, at least try not to get hurt too much.”
16. ~Reasons for being avoided.~
“He is hit! Oh, no! The blood! Look at all that blood! I always said that the safety measures for this event aren't tight enough!”
-Commentator
Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean
Gideon
Maybe joining the annual tournament was a bad idea. I close my eyes while my opponent is struggling under my foot. In absence of any mentionable opposition the duels so far were very boring.
I apply a little more pressure because the maggot under me is very nimble. Something snaps and my victim stops his attempts to escape.
Keeping him down until the judge counts him out is a good way to decide these fights. I just have to apply gravity magic to my foot and step onto them. It's the easiest and most energy conserving way to win.
The judge signals me that I've won and I take my foot from the back of my opponent's head. Upon giving the ranks of spectators a victory sign with my fingers, I notice that my family members are the only ones who are cheering. Hmm. Strange. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe crushing all my opponent's attempts to cast spells isn't entertaining enough?
The annual tournament is a series of knockout-matches between all students who joined. First you start by fighting the people of the same year, then you move upwards. This means that the strongest student of each year has to fight his strongest senior.
The duels are held in a huge stadium with fifty separate rings on slightly elevated platforms. Once you join the tournament, you are automatically teleported to the ring where your duel is taking place. Each ring has four judges who are taking turns in creating barriers and shields for the students.
I can tell that this system is meant to teach the hot headed ones humbleness. There is always someone stronger than you. A student has almost no chance of winning unless he belongs to the older years. But I am not doing this to win, I am doing it to test my strategies and limits.
Beating the students of my own year was easy enough. The difference in our spells isn't that big, but I already started feeling a slight disadvantage. The next matches are the reason why I am even doing this.
I want to learn where the problems start showing, so that I can start thinking of required countermeasures. The student whom I just defeated stands up and leaves the arena, holding his nose with a strange e
xpression.
The judges are shielding us with layered shield spells, so it's highly unlikely that somebody gets hurt. Though I already noticed that physical contact doesn't seem to activate the shields.
The rules of the duels are clear. You win either by immobilizing your opponent for longer than ten seconds, throwing him out of the ring, or by causing their first shield layer to fail.
So far my strategy of interrupting the enemy's spells worked. I used Force to interfere with their hands, so that they weren't able to form the runes properly. Many children at my age rely on hand movements while speaking the name of the spell, though speaking the spell out loud is just a mental help. If I break their concentration, I can rush in and end it before they have the chance for a second try.
Though I can already tell that this strategy won't work with experienced opponents.
My thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of my first senior. It's a girl with blonde hair and a chubby face. Otherwise I can't make out any features which I would deem as distinctive, though her expression seems troubled. Maybe she dislikes having a younger opponent?
The judge gives us a signal and she doesn't lose time in activating a spell. I recognize the rune system which is intended to create a strong electrical charge between her and me. She seems to be an electro-mage and she wants to take me out fast.
It's a lucky circumstance that I have exactly the right countermeasure for this. Raising both hands I ready myself and await her finishing her spell. If I am judging her rune-system right, then my left hand is exactly where her energy discharge will hit. Now all I have to do is readying myself and sending it right back at her by increasing it with my own power. Once I created a high enough pole, the energy should lash out right back at her.
In the next moment two dancing streams of white blue light appear between us. The energy is leaving her hand and entering my left hand, then exiting my right hand and returning right towards her. The thunderbolt dances over her body and eats away at her shield.
She hurries to cancel her spell, but the damage is done. She lost two layers of her shield and the judge calls for the end of the match.
I wince and move my fingers. Channelling a few thousand volt through my own body is a very twitchy experience. Though I won against someone in a higher class. I expect to win one more, maybe two or three matches. Then the difference in our power levels should get too big. Once again I notice the unnatural silence of the spectators. At first they were cheering, but then they went quieter and quieter.
Earlier I didn't notice it because there were so many fights taking place at the same time. By now the fights are being held one by one since there aren't many students left. The champions of each year are already set in stone, so all that's left to do is that the younger fighters lose properly to the older ones.
This time I am the one who is teleported to another ring. The world around me changes and I find myself at another position in the arena. A tall boy is waiting for me with a smug grin on his face. Upon a signal from the judge he starts the match with a strange spell. I've never seen the runes he is using before, but I can tell that it has similarities to the rune system inside my amulet. My amulet has a passive healing effect, so I guess that he is casting some kind of buff. Probably something similar to Ralph's physical enhancements.
I try to interrupt him, but he has the expertise to finish the spell despite my interference. Once a mage achieves a certain level of experience he isn't reliant on his hands any more.
He rushes forward and I have no choice than to resort to my strategy against physically superior opponents. Manipulating my own body with several force spells at once I avoid his fist and force my leg towards his chin.
But he avoids it by a hair's breadth and I manage to divert his second strike by applying force to his hand. Unfortunately the simple force rune isn't strong enough to seriously influence someone. It can apply a force of five kilograms at most. It's enough to divert an attack, but I can't control my opponent without fail.
My body tumbles through the air while I try to avoid his arms and legs. Somehow it's like playing Toribash with myself while my opponent has perfect control over his body. I only wish that I would really play one of those ancient games, but this time my real body is at stake. It'll hurt if he actually hits me.
Barely holding on while manipulating my legs and arms I tumble through the air like a drunken stick-figure. I don't know how this looks to an outsider, but I myself don't think that this fighting style has any elegance. Suddenly my hand flings unexpectedly into the right direction and I manage to apply Force twice before it makes contact which his cheek. There you have it! Ten kilograms of slapping power!
The shield spells of the teachers only activate upon sensing a certain elemental attack or an object with a too high velocity. Physical strikes are too slow, so they aren't registered.
I admire my open hand impacting his cheek and the waves which are sent through his flesh. But I regret hitting him as soon as I realize that his spit and blood is now all over my hand. Is that a tooth which is spinning out of his mouth?
Turning in a perfect pirouette my opponent goes down and I somehow manage to land on my legs without breaking something.
After watching him for a while I decide that he is out cold and I deactivate my ability. My hand is full of spit and a smear of blood is also on it, so bend forward and try to clean it as well as possible on his clothes. He is unconscious and lying face down on the ground, so he isn't able to object my actions.
I only manage a half-assed job of cleaning my hand before one of the judges lifts me up by grabbing me with his hands under my armpits. He sets me down a metre to the side. A second later all four judges are tending to the boy on the ground.
The crowd should be cheering by now, but all I find upon looking up to the ranks of spectators is chilly silence. What a disheartening fan-club. I managed to beat the strongest student two years above me, why aren't they going rampant? Where is the clapping and howling from all the fighting games I played?
Once again I am teleported to another ring, again with a guy as opponent. Seems like they don't even want to wait until they are done with checking on my previous victim. This time my opponent takes immediately a guarding stance upon the judge's starting signal. He also casts several shields and barrier spells until he is wrapped in a blue shimmering bubble of energy. Is that his fighting style, or is he afraid of me?
Seriously, am I that dangerous? Though I'll admit that my current appearance is a little threatening. I wipe the blood from my hand by using my trousers and raise the other, looking to one of the judges. “I give up.”
“What!?” My opponent calls out, flabbergasted.
Nobody is cheering, so I don't want to go on. It feels wrong. “My body hurts and I feel sore all over from the previous fight.”
In addition I've reached my goal and exerting more energy doesn't gain me anything. I can already tell that even if I manage to beat one or two more opponents, I am at my limit. Better ending it without getting actually beaten. “And I have no idea how I should break that many barriers.”
I walk out of the ring and let myself slide down the slightly elevated platform, ignoring my opponent and the judges.
The silence throughout the stadium is still not feeling right. At home I'll sit down and hold my plush cat for a while. Maybe I'll gain enlightenment.
17. ~No friends.~
“The mage's quantum network allows their computers to interface with each other over vast distances. It connects all the colonies with one another, but for safety reasons the architecture of the network never became very tight. Each colony sustains their own closed network, safe for a few controlled access nodes.”
-History
Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean
Melan
“You won!” I bend down and hug Gideon. “I still can't believe that you bested a student who is two years above you. You aren't hurt right? Why did you give up?”
I am so glad that he wasn't hurt, as soon as he left the stadium we rushed to meet him in front of the locker rooms for the students.
Gideon shakes his head to ensure me that he is fine. “I was tired and I doubted that I could win the whole tournament. The way the tournament is organized in the last stages ensures that the younger students can't win. I would have had to win against five more opponents to get third place. Maybe I'll try to go for it in another year.”
Saden takes my hand and starts hopping up and down. “Gideon! Teach me that thing where you apply Force to your own body! That's so cool. It's akin to body enhancement!”
Gideon looks at his cousin, completely oblivious of the insane level of skill he just showed. “Why would I need to teach that? It's all about slowing your perception of time and the ability to cast runes without using your hands.”
“So there is no special trick to it? You simply did it by casting one rune after the other?” Saden lets her head droop. “That means my only choice is training. I am no good at free casting spells so fast.”
“Forget that! Gideon owned the entire tournament! Did you see the faces of the other spectators? They didn't believe it until the end. They had their own little world shattered to pieces. I bet some of them lost a lot of money, Hahaha!” My daughter Rhiannon calls out and pats Gideon's head.
“Money?” Gideon stares inquisitively at Rhiannon, but her husband is the one who answers the implied question.
“It's widely regarded as wrong, but many people do it anyway.” Arend answers half-heartedly. “That's placing bets on the kids, I mean. It's bad taste to do so on an event which is held by a school.”
