The Adept Archives: Volumes 1-3

by Darren Hultberg Jr

Roy found it fascinating how precise her strikes were, landing not as techniques but as quick blasts of pure spirit energy. Since his short time on Eon, he’d never seen an adept wield pure spirit energy before. However, the lack of a distinct element didn’t seem to diminish her power at all... In fact, she seemed downright fearsome for a Spiriteka.

  Back on the battlefield, the Black Queen had backed her opponent into a corner, forging hexagonal lines of spirit energy and cutting off Stonebreaker’s escape. Roy could see a look of desperation forming on the man’s face, the look of a man who was ready to do anything he needed to survive.

  As Rin stepped forward, Stonebreaker summoned every bit of energy he had left, pouring it into a final technique as he slammed his palm into the ground.

  //////////

  Stonegod Fist

  //////////

  The sand parted in front of the man as a giant hand of stone rose from the ground, forming into a massive fist before launching itself directly at Rin. The Black Queen reacted with poise, carefully spinning away from the strike, then another, all the while drawing spirit energy into a sphere between her palms.

  Leaping backward, Rin planted her feet and launched the sphere of energy forward, obliterating the stone-hand technique and sending the sphere directly into Stonebreaker’s chest. The man let out a shriek of pain as the impact of the blow knocked him off his feet, smashing his body into the arena’s far wall and creating a shallow crater in its wake.

  Bits of rocky flesh fell from Stonebreaker’s body as he remained suspended in the crater like a twisted trophy put on display for the roaring crowd. In fact, the onlookers were almost deafening in their cheers as Rin paced towards her opponent, a final globe of pure energy forming in her palm.

  The Black Queen didn’t show a single shred of emotion behind her round spectacles as she stepped into range and slammed her energy sphere into her opponent’s exposed midsection, causing the man to scream. The sphere spun faster and faster as Rin poured more of her energy into it, increasing its size until the blast eradicated Stonebreaker’s stomach, splitting the adept into two distinct pieces. A breath later, the man’s legs fell to the ground as his lifeless upper half settled into the crater, his eyes shutting into an endless sleep.

  And just like that, it was over... Another life blinked out of existence, another soul claimed by the pit, and another chorus of cheers from fans reveling in the carnage.

  “What a finish!” The announcer shouted as she bounced back onto the battlefield, her cat-like ears bouncing back and forth with each step. “It looks like the Black Queen reigns supreme this time around. Will we ever see a challenger capable of matching her eloquence and savagery?”

  Roy forced himself to peel his gaze away from the battlefield and turned to face Kimoura, curious as to how she wanted to tackle their little bounty.

  “So, what the plan, Kimour...” Roy’s words trailed off as his eyes processed the sight in front of him, the sight of an empty, stone bench where his companion once sat.

  A brief spout of panic traveled through his spirit as he searched for her location through the see of rowdy onlookers...

  Then he heard the announcer’s voice and his body went stiff.

  “Oh, what’s this, folks? Someone has entered the arena and she’s making her way towards the Black Queen!”

  Roy watched in shock as Kimoura leapt over the barrier and began striding through the blood-stained sand, a smirk on her face and light aura dancing across her knuckles as she approached their target. Roy’s mind raced as he considered leaping from his seat and chasing the woman down there. What if they booted her out and dismissed their bounty? What if they had security waiting in the wings... Just what the Hell was she thinking?!

  The crowd suddenly quieted as they watched Kimoura and Rin come face to face, a palpable tension quickly building between the pair. The announcer gave Kimoura a quick glare, exchanging a few words with her before shuffling over to Rin and discussing something unheard through hushed breaths. A few seconds later her glare morphed into a smile as she retook the center of the arena.

  “Well, well, well folks... have I got a treat for you. It looks like our champion has accepted this newcomer’s challenge. Get your bets in now because in just seconds these opposing forces will collide... when your Black Queen faces off against the Lady of Light!”

  The crowd erupted into cheers, chomping at the bit for another display of unbridled brutality. Roy choked down his own growing sense of tension and took a seat back on the bench, fists clenched tightly at his sides. As much as he wanted to head down there, he had to trust in Kimoura’s abilities. He had to believe that she knew what she was doing when she leapt into the lion’s den...

  He just hoped that she was ready for a fight.

  Chapter 14

  Kimoura vs. The Black Queen

  The Pit, the city of Shadowreach

  Kimoura’s light aura swelled as she paced across the arena floor, growing in intensity as she drew closer to her waiting opponent. The woman in front of her, the Black Queen, was like her in so many ways... a warrior, a competitor, a firebrand with something to prove. She was a proven survivor in the mean streets of Shadowreach. And yet, she hadn’t shown a single shred of emotion as she took the life of her opponent. She was a vulture, using her skills to prey on the hapless fools looking to earn a coin in the pit, ending them without a second thought...

  So alike and so very different.

  “You have a death wish, girl?” The announcer asked as she positioned herself between Kimoura and Rin. “I’ve seen people get ripped apart for disruptions like this.”

  Kimoura began to formulate a response but Rin stepped forward, pushing the felyne announcer aside.

  “Let her fight,” the Black Queen said as her piercing grey eyes met Kimoura’s.

  The announcer went wide-eyed as she shuffled over to Rin. “A-are you sure?”

  “I am,” Rin replied as she began to channel aura around her body. “That last match was as rather short... I’m certain the fools out there are chomping at the bit to see me put down another one of their dogs.”

  Rin’s words were meant to spark a rage inside Kimoura, but all they managed to do was strengthen the resolve that had already begun coursing through her soul. In truth, she’d been eager to enter the pit ever since she and Roy had first laid eyes on it... All she needed was the right reason.

  The announcer shared a few more words with Rin, then quickly announced Kimoura as her next challenger. Immediately, she could see the crowd revitalize with excitement. She could see men and women in the upper boxes work frantically to place their bets before the action started. Everyone in the arena had been whipped into a frenzy... everyone except Rin, who remained poised and defiant on the arena’s sandy floor.

  “Ready?” The felyne shouted as she backpedaled towards safety, drawing all eyes to the pair of combatants. “FIGHT!”

  Kimoura launched herself forward, drawing light aura into her palms as she closed the distance in a single breath. From what she’d observed, her opponent was of the duelist spec, a fighter built on flashy hand-to-hand combat techniques and crowd-pleasing finishes. More importantly, Rin appeared to be a counter fighter perfectly suited to handle a full-frontal assault. Luckily, Kimoura had devised a plan of her own.

  As Rin prepared herself for a counter, Kimoura slammed her palms together, creating a flash and filling the area with blinding light. She immediately followed it up with a devastating palm, slamming her hand into Rin’s diaphragm and sending her skidding back on her heels.

  One of the many strengths of light aura was its ability to daze opponents with concentrated blasts... an ability that Roy had insisted Kimoura call the flashbang. Originally she hadn’t been fond of the name, but after seeing the technique make Rin squirm, she couldn’t help but find the term fitting.

  Looking to press her advantage, Kimoura charged forward again, drawing in spirit energy as she readied a second devastating palm. Planting her foot,
she thrust her palm forward, looking to strike Rin in the same spot she had before. However, the Black Queen proved a bit too cunning for that.

  Kimoura’s hand came within mere inches of Rin’s stomach before hexagonal lines of blue spirit energy came forth, entrapping the light adept’s wrist and holding her fast. Kimoura immediately changed course and tried to rip her arm away, but the split-second delay proved to be all the time that Rin needed.

  The hexagonal lines of energy dissipated as a blast of pure aura left Rin’s hand, drilling Kimoura in the chest and sending her sprawling through the dirt. One of pure aura’s greatest assets was its ability to ignore the natural defenses of most spirit auras, an advantage afforded due to the energy’s lack of elemental affinity. The other was that it hit like a truck... something that Kimoura was feeling the full effects of now.

  As the light adept rose, Rin unleashed a barrage of aura-infused strikes, drawing a round of cheers from the crowd. Kimoura tried to cover her face, but Rin managed to thread her defenses, connecting with her chin then following it up with a stinging strike to her nose.

  Kimoura grit her teeth and redoubled her efforts, throwing a pair of looping punches that managed to skim the edge of Rin’s cheek. However, her unrefined strikes were just the type of thing that Rin had prepared for. Without missing a step, the Black Queen returned her efforts, landing a thunderous a counterpunch to the chin followed by a blast of spirit energy that nearly made her legs give out.

  Kimoura stumbled back as she tried to draw healing light aura into her wounds, but a savage blow to her stomach left her doubled over in pain. A foot to her skull quickly followed, snapping her head back and laying her out across the arena floor.

  Blood flowed freely from Kimoura’s nose and her ears rang like a giant’s bell as she laid there, writhing in the sand. The crowd roared in anticipation as they sensed her coming demise. Fists pumped into the air as the onlookers called on her death.. but she couldn’t focus on any of it. The only thing she could hear, the only thing that mattered at that very seconds were the questions filling her head. Had she truly underestimated this woman’s power? Had she misjudged the situation so poorly?

  The answer was a resounding no.

  Kimoura had been beaten down before. She’d survived war-torn streets, dungeons permeated with darkness, and faced opponents who underestimated her at every level. She’d experienced violence, despair, loneliness, and overwhelming odds. And through it all... she’d persevered.

  She was a fighter, and no matter what her opponent threw at her, she’d come at them until her last dying breath. She wouldn’t just weather the storm, she would become it...

  A tempest of light.

  Slowly, methodically, Kimoura rose to her feet, arms raised and fists clenched like she was ready to brawl. Rin seemed content to let the woman compose herself, though she displayed little emotion under the guise of her spectacles.

  “You know, you’re much prettier than the filth I usually eradicate down here in the pit,” Rin said, her tone almost mocking. “You’d be wise to spare yourself the pain and concede this contest... I’m sure one of the nobles would be more than happy to find you a place in one of their brothels.”

  Rather than entertain the woman with a response, Kimoura merely turned her head to the side and spit, sending a glob of blood and saliva into the sand.

  “Very well,” Rin replied as she used her index finger to adjust her glasses. Then she drew pure aura into her palms and charged.

  ****

  Roy watched with nervous anticipation as Kimoura rose back to her feet, her tunic torn, her body battered, and a look of determination painted on her face. Just a moment ago it had taken everything he had not to leap down into the arena fight off her attacker, damn the consequences. However, he’d sensed a change in her spirit as she stood to face her attacker... a red hit fire burning in her soul like the breath of a mighty dragon. And so, with reluctance and agitation churning in his unsettled spirit, he took a seat to watch the fight unfold...

  Dammit, he had to trust her.

  Below, Kimoura steeled herself as the Black Queen waded in, launching a pair of lightning-fast strikes that should’ve sent the light adept reeling. Instead, the woman embraced the punishment, absorbing the blows and countering with a mighty uppercut to Rin’s stomach.

  Roy could see the difference in Kimoura’s spirit aura, most notably the way it was flowing through her slender frame. At the start of the fight, the light adept had channeled the bulk of her energy into her palms, using it for her attack techniques. But things had changed... now the vast majority of her spirit energy was coursing through the entirety of her Valkyrie’s Steelwing body, enforcing her defenses, mending her wounds and increasing her durability tenfold. Roy could see her intent unfolding in front of his eyes... she wasn’t going to try defeat Rin with technique, she was going to embrace the pain and give it back tenfold!

  Again, Rin shot forward, clipping the light adept with an aura-infused jab and splitting the woman’s lip. Rather than flee Kimoura stepped into the blow, ignoring the pain and returning the favor with a thunderous strike to Rin’s abdomen.

  The crowd roared as the Black Queen stumbled back, wincing in pain from the series of powerful body shots she’d absorbed. This time Kimoura pursued, unleashing a three-strike combo into Rin’s midsection and finishing with a side-kick that nearly cracked her ribs.

  Rin’s composure faded as her expression morphed into one born of anger and pain.

  “I’m going to paint this arena with your blood, you bitch!” Rin growled, drawing pure aura into each of her limbs. Even from his seat, Roy could see the desperation in her spirit, the lack of flow of in her techniques... her showmanship had dissipated so quickly. Now she was going to try and end this...

  The slightest of grins on Kimoura’s face told him that she had seen the same.

  “Aaahhh!” Rin let out a battle cry as she leapt forward, unleashing a barrage of punches that sounded like thunderclaps across the arena floor. These were the same blows that she had used to eliminate Stonebreaker, strikes that left his defenses in shreds.

  Kimoura spirit shuddered as her body weathered the storm, though by the third punch she was returning the strike with powerful blows of her own. The crowd roared as the two women battered each other at the arena’s center, as Rin’s flashy duelist strikes traded with Kimoura’s heavy battlemonk blows.

  Suddenly Kimoura’s hand shot up, intercepting Rin’s wrist with her iron grip. A breath later she launched her other arm forward, entangling both of the Black Queen’s arms and drawing her in close.

  “What are-“ were the only two words that Rin managed to spout off before Kimoura snapped her head forward, staggering the woman with a headbutt strong enough to snap her glasses in two.

  As Rin stumbled away, Kimoura lunged at the woman, drawing aura back into her fist to deliver a final, deafening blow.

  “You may have been the queen of the pit… but soon you’ll be nothing but the queen of blood and sand.” A stunning burst of power erupted from her fist as she connected with her opponent, causing a ring of dust and sand to cascade across the ground. “STEEL LOTUS!”

  And like that… it was done.

  The crowd fell silent as Rin’s unconscious body went sliding across the sand, her slick black tunic now torn and emitting thin lines of smoke as an after-effect of Kimoura’s technique. The silence lingered for several seconds, thousands of eyes shifting from Rin’s broken body to Kimoura’s wavering figure...

  Then the light adept lifted a crimson-stained fist into the air and the crowd went wild.

  Roy sprung from his seat, bounding over drunkards and onlookers before leaping over the edge and onto the arena floor. Without pausing he dashed over to the light adept, pausing just feet from where Kimoura stood.

  Their gazes met as Kimoura lowered her arm, and for the first time, Roy saw something different in those hazel eyes of hers. Beyond the awkward smiles and the quirkiness, he saw her pers
onal truth. She... she was just like him.

  Despite her body being bloodied and raw, Kimoura’s spirit seemed to revel in the combat. The torn skin on her knuckles were badges of honor, the bloodstains at her feet sources of pride. The cheery disposition that Kimoura typically carried was a mere fraction of the person she really was... a savage combatant, a fierce warrior. A future legend.

  “This is me, Roy... all of me. The real me,” Kimoura said as she outstretched her arms, giving him a view of her body in its entirety. Her tunic was torn, her arms bruised, and her wrappings were stained red with blood. A large cut had opened under Kimoura’s blackened eye, accompanied by a split lip and a nose that still trailed lines of blood. By all accounts, the light adept was pretty beat up...

  And Roy had never seen someone so beautiful.

  Without speaking, the void adept stepped forward and scooped the woman up into his arms, pulling her close and causing their spirits to entwine in a flare of white and violet light. Kimoura’s cheeks reddened as she sensed his intentions, but she didn’t pull away. Then, in front of an entire arena full of onlookers, he pressed his lips to hers and embraced.

  Chapter 15

  Wandering Eyes

  The Pit, the city of Shadowreach

  Ask Roy and Kimoura shared a moment at the arena’s center, a number of very interested parties watched from the shadows, carefully measuring the power that had just been put on display. Some were nobles hoping to make a quick coin off Kimoura’s success, while others were potential combatants trying to size Kimoura up from afar...

  Then there was Varyon Risen, the former assassin in black.

  Hidden behind the guise of a long, raven cloak, the temporal adept stood and watched as Roy and Kimoura celebrated at the center of the arena. These two were part of the entourage that traveled with the man in red... his protégés, so to speak. Both of them had been there during their fight in the dungeon, and again during their skirmish against the Thunder adept, Zion Sho. And each had shown a remarkable affinity for combat.