The Adept Archives: Volumes 1-3

by Darren Hultberg Jr

  Suddenly, a burst of black and red light tore through the market, destroying everything in its path and completely obliterating the area where Remley once stood.

  The flame adept’s eyes darted around in panic as the market descended into mayhem. Whatever had just tried to kill him was immensely powerful, so much so that even the merchant selling sweets was gone, his table incinerated, and his body turned to falling ash.

  “I’m going to release my temporal sphere,” Varyon whispered, barely audible over the screams. Then we need to run.”

  A breath later the temporal bubble faded and Remley was hoisted to his feet. He tried to orient himself, but smoke and ash billowed into his face and shrieks of terror filled his ears. He could feel Varyon tugging at his coat but he resisted, nearly stumbling into another blast intense enough to singe the hairs on the back of his neck.

  “What are you doing?!” Varyon growled. “We need to get out of-“

  “Where’s Quinn?” Rem interjected, gaze frantic as he tried to sift through the smoke.

  “I’m here,” the dread hunter shouted, emerging from beneath a pile and rubble and ash. “What in Eon was that?”

  Before either adept could respond, a dark figure descended, pressing its boots into the dread hunter’s back and driving him back into the ground. Remley shuddered, taking a step back as the newcomer flooded the area with his oppressive spirit energy like nothing he’d ever felt before.

  “Y-you...” Remley muttered, voice shaky as he locked eyes with his attacker... the eyes of the devil adept, Ayzeth Kaito.

  “Bonaduce,” Ayzeth replied, an air of superiority in his tone. “By the order of the bounty of blades, I declare your life forfeit.” Slowly, he lifted a devilish hand in the air and began summoning spirit energy into his palm. “Prepare to die.”

  Chapter 22

  Dakkon’s might and Roy’s Fury

  The Pit, the city of Shadowreach

  Roy Skyworth stood at the center of the arena, poised to strike in what felt like the longest second of his reborn life. He’d come so far since arriving on Eon, but he couldn’t see any way around the mountain of muscle in front of him, the gray-skinned spirikai with an axe large enough to cut down the gods. And to make matters worse, he had Kimoura here with him, doomed to suffer whatever fate awaited him.

  They had no outs... just a mere second left before all Hell broke loose.

  Suddenly, Dakkon made his charge, hoisting his weapon into the air and slamming it down where Roy stood. Void energy surged through Roy’s body as he rolled away from the massive axe blade, barely moving quick enough to avoid its ruthlessly sharp edge. Likewise, Kimoura rolled in the opposite direction, popping back to her feet in her fighting stance.

  “Give me your blood!” Dakkon shouted, his voice almost joyous as he heaved his axe back into the air. Judging by the man’s strength, Roy was certain that a single strike of that axe would be his end, that even a glancing blow might put him down for good...

  By the gods, he couldn’t make a mistake.

  “Go to Hell,” Roy growled before leaping away from another strike. Kimoura took the opportunity to charge in from the other side, launching a technique into her opponent’s exposed ribs.

  //////////

  Battlemonk skill: Devastating Palm

  //////////

  Her open palm smashed into Dakkon’s side, sending a ripple of light aura across his ribs and a pulse of energy into his gullet. Dakkon merely grinned, halting his attack on Roy before stunning Kimoura with a stiff elbow in response.

  “Damn you!” Roy yelled before leaping back into the fray, channeling energy into his fists as he activated his void boxing technique. A familiar feeling coursed through his body as he unleashed a sudden flurry, the memory of his martial training etched deep into his soul.

  Roy landed solid hook on Dakkon’s midsection, then ducked an axe strike before following up with a jab-cross combo to the chin. Void energy sparked from his fists with each passing strike, enhancing his blows to their peak strength as he hammered away at his opponent...

  And yet, Dakkon seemed unfazed.

  Before Roy could reset, a giant boot came up and crashed into his midsection, forcing the air out of his lungs and sending his body crashing into the sand.

  “Good effort,” Dakkon said as he stepped over the man. “But not nearly enough.”

  The Kaito brother hoisted his axe over his head, pausing for the slightest of seconds as he lined up the weapon for a quick kill. Roy saw that and reacted. Fighting through the pain, he placed his palms on top of one another and took quick aim at his foe.

  /////////

  Void Skill: Aura Cannon

  //////////

  An intense blast of spirit energy erupted from Roy’s hand, smashing into Dakkon’s chest and creating an explosion of black-violet light. The void adept prayed to the gods that the blast was enough to stagger him, that the strength of his new technique afforded him just a little bit of space. However, when the light of his aura cannon faded he was met with none other than the smiling face of Dakkon Kaito.

  “I have to applaud your effort,” Dakkon said before stomping onto Roy’s stomach, nearly bursting his insides. “But that’s not gonna work on me. Ya see, this body of mine was forged in underworld flame. My flesh was tempered on the forge of the dread blacksmith. My channels… they were hammered shut by the smith’s soul hammer. I gave up the ability to form techniques, but in return I can withstand just about any punishment you or anyone else can dish out...” Dakkon heaved his axe. “...And return it tenfold!”

  The axe blade came down, moving with twice the speed it had before. Roy fired another aura blast in response, though this time he aimed to his left, propelling him through the sand and just out of the way of Dakkon’s strike.

  The Kaito brother continued his pursuit, though he only made it a few paces before a near immovable force appeared directly in his path.

  “I’m not done with you,” Kimoura growled, standing in front of the man as her light aura blazed with white-hot light.

  “Heh, you’re a resilient little bitch,” Dakkon retorted before turning his focus back on her. A breath later he swung his axe, bringing it down with incredible speed and making the air around him howl.

  Kimoura displayed her nerves of steel, sidestepping the blow with mere inches to spare before charging in with a strike of her own, then another and another in rapid succession.

  Taking a page from Remley’s book, the woman circled around Dakkon, peppering the man with punches and kicks while using her dexterity to keep away from the man’s mighty blows. It was the same technique that Rem had used to neutralize the headmaster... overwhelming the man by attacking from all angles with an unprecedented amount of strikes. Unfortunately, Dakkon wasn’t the headmaster...

  He was a member of the fateful three.

  As Kimoura circled to his right, Dakkon shifted his weapon, catching her in the shoulder with his axe haft and sending her spinning into a defensive pose. Before the Kaito brother could capitalize on his opening, Roy re-entered the fray, slamming an orb of spirit energy into his back and sending the giant stumbling forward.

  //////////

  Dark Spiral

  ///////////

  Kimoura shrugged off her pain and leapt back in, joining Roy’s side as the two unleashed mutual destruction. The pair moved in near tandem, attacking Dakkon from all sides, forcing the spirikai on his heels as they hurled their techniques at him with all of their strength, their desperation, their fury!

  For the briefest of moments, it looked like the two Spiriteka stood a chance. It looked like their two-pronged attack might be enough to overwhelm their larger, brutish foe...

  Or perhaps Dakkon Kaito hadn’t shown his true strength.

  “Enough,” the Kaito brother uttered before leaping away from his attackers. He landed several feet away, granting himself just enough time to reset his stance and dig his heels into the sand.

  Kimoura was the fi
rst to pursue, diving to his right as she took aim with another devastating palm. Dakkon quickly countered, moving with such speed that he easily caught the woman by surprise. In a flash he slid past Kimoura’s defenses, not bothering to meet her gaze as he struck out with a kick that would spell her end.

  A blood-curdling shriek filled the air as Dakkon’s massive boot came down on the side of her knee, crunching bone and forcing the woman to collapse into the swirling sand.

  “No!” Roy howled, slamming his fist into the sand as he channeled divine energy into his palm.

  //////////

  Divine Power: Deep Freeze

  //////////

  Icy power flooded the area where Dakkon stood, surrounding the man in crystalline spires that quickly closed in around him. The brute resisted, steeling himself as the forged stalagmites pressed into his flesh. But just like the Kirin, the Kaito brother was overcome, crushed beneath the power of Roy’s divine strength.

  The azure markings on Roy’s arm began to glow as he poured more of himself into the technique, forcing the spires together and creating a sound that resembled an ice giant sharpening its blade. He could no longer see the man at the center of his deadly technique, but he wanted to be certain that he’d finished him off. He wanted to end him in the most brutal of fashions.

  Eventually, an eerie silence began to creep into the arena as Roy put a stop to his technique. His opponent was down, and not just due to his deep freeze skill. His technique had been amplified by his tidal fury body. In fact, it was quite possibly the strongest attack he’d ever unleashed... and yet, none of that had entered his thoughts. The only thing on his mind, the only thing that mattered was Kimoura.

  Desperate, the void adept scrambled over to her location, cradling her as she writhed in the sand. Pain decorated the woman’s face as she clutched at her wounded knee, the joint mangled and her leg twisted in an unnatural pose.

  “Are you-“

  “I’m ok,” she interjected, her words coming through clenched teeth. “A week of channeling light aura and I’ll be good as new... er, maybe two.” Despite her pain, the light adept forced a smile onto her face, calming Roy’s nerves and drawing out a small grin of his own.

  After planting a kiss on her forehead, Roy slid her arm around his neck and hoisted her into the air. “Let’s go find the others,” he said. “I don’t know what the Hell is going on around here.”

  Kimoura nodded, wincing as she forced herself onto one leg.

  As the pair started walking, Roy’s cryofox emerged from hiding and rushed to their side, positioning itself next to Kimoura for added support. The little beast wasn’t much for confrontation, but dammit all was it loyal to no end.

  Battered by their encounter, the adepts began to make their way across the arena floor, unsure of what not awaited beyond its large, iron gates. They could only hope that Remley and the others had handled their pursuers as well as-

  “Roy!” Kimoura shouted, tensing her muscles so quickly that she nearly put him in a headlock.

  Roy opened his mouth to respond, though he found himself speechless as an unshakable feeling of dread was sent creeping through his spirit. In front of him, the cluster of icy spires began to splinter and crack before shattering into a thousand dazzling pieces.

  A breath later the group was showered in tiny pieces of glimmering ice, a remarkably beautiful sight compared to the terror that now stood before them. Roy thought he’d put an end to that bastard. He’d thought it was done…. But no, standing mere paces away was the mountainous form of Dakkon Kaito, killer of giants.

  “By Bahamut’s scaly ass!” Dakkon roared, throwing his head back in laughter as he shook away the last bit of ice. “I didn’t know you had divine energy hiding in there. And you even held out till the last second to use it. Damnit I think I’m impressed!”

  Panic swelled in Roy’s spirit as he watched the Kaito brother fully emerge from his icy prison. Deep freeze had been his final gambit. It was the strongest thing he had left in his toolbox, and yet it had done virtually nothing!

  Dakkon appeared just as fresh as he had at the fight’s onset, and his gray skin sported minimal damage from Roy’s sharp spires of ice. They had nothing left to throw at the man...

  By the gods, they were finished!

  “To be honest, I was a little disappointed,” Dakkon said as he approached, leaving his golden axe embedded in the ice. “You see, I thought I got stuck playing with the mice while my brothers got to take down the real prize. Oh, they are going to be pissed when they find out I got my hands on a divine adept.” Dakkon paused to let out another chuckle. “You know, I might rank up just from absorbing your soul essence.”

  “Then come and get it, you bastard,” Roy growled, offering challenge despite the odds. He allowed his void aura to flare, weaving in what little divine energy he had left and holding on to the slim hope that his opponent might second guess another attack.

  The hopes were dashed with quick brutality.

  Dakkon leapt from his position, landing in front of Roy with such force that the ground began to shake. With a single violent strike, the spirikai knocked Kimoura away, crushing both her body and spirit and sending her skidding through the sand. A second attack followed in its wake, this time a low kick to Roy’s defenseless cryfox. The creature went wide-eyed, locking its gaze on Roy as the strike landed and its azure body was shattered into a dozen icy pieces.

  Roy wanted to cry out. He wanted to curse that bastard to hell and bury him under the weight of a thousand suns. He wanted to tear the man’s heart out and squeeze it until it burst, spilling his lifeblood across the windswept sand...

  But he could do nothing.

  When Dakkon was trying, he moved like a tempest across the battlefield, a force of nature that destroyed everything it laid its hands on. Matched with his sudden insane burst of speed, he was virtually unstoppable!

  Roy tried to muster his spirit energy, but Dakkon quickly turned his focus to him, blasting him with a punch to the solar plexus that Roy was certain he could feel in his soul. The void adepts’ legs crumpled beneath him, though his mighty adversary scooped him up before he could hit the ground.

  “It’s time for your pain to end,” Dakkon whispered as he hoisted Roy up by his skull. “Now show me your blood.”

  The Kaito brother’s grip began to tighten on Roy’s head, squeezing it like a vice, causing an agony that Roy had never felt before. He tried desperately to claw at the man’s hands, to do whatever he could to break his iron grip, but as his vision blurred and the blood began to pour from his nose, he had to accept it... This was the end.

  “Yes. Yes!” Dakkon roared as he watched the void adept begin to fade. “Give me your blood! Give me your power! Give me your-“

  The sound of Dakkon’s voice was cut short by the familiar roar of a gunshot, then a second, then a third! A breath later he felt the pressure on his head release as his brutish opponent dropped him to the ground.

  Disoriented, Roy gazed about the arena, trying to figure out why on Eon he was still alive. He spotted Dakkon still just feet away from him, portions of his body now charred and billowing smoke. He could also spot Kimoura, her body sprawled out and unmoving in the sand.

  Slowly his gaze moved around the arena until finally they settled on the open gate and the man making his entrance, on the spiriteka illuminated by the mighty aura of the beast. He couldn’t believe it, but making a fast approach was the face of his past, his rival, his former brother in arms. Approaching was Kai Blaine wielding a goddamn spirit shotgun.

  Kai shot a grin at Roy before leveling his gun at Dakkon. “I can’t believe I have to save your ass,” he said, arms steady and cloak billowing in the breeze. Then without hesitation, he took aim and fired.

  Chapter 23

  Sacrafice

  The war-torn marketplace, the city of Shadowreach

  Remley Bonaduce stood at the center of the war-torn market, his spirit swirling with turmoil and rage. In front of him
stood an indomitable force, an incarnation of destructive power that had taken the lives of so many of his kin. Ayzeth Kaito, eldest of the Kaito brothers had come for him, and he had nowhere left in the realm to run.

  “The Bonaduce line ends here,” Ayzeth said, red and black spirit energy pooling in his palms. As the devil adept took a step forward, Remley tried to catch a glimpse of Quinn, but the imminent threat in front of him demanded his immediate attention.

  “Perhaps you’ve made a mistake,” Remley jested, his voice shaky and his spirit nearly flaring out of control. “But there is no Bonaduce around here.”

  “No,” Ayzeth growled, seeing right through his jest. “Only dead ones.”

  Remley tensed as he awaited the charge. Instead, he was nearly knocked over from behind as a dark figure rushed past him, translucent blue energy swirling around his form.

  “Get out of here!” Varyon roared as he charged the devil adept, his expression fearless as he engaged the far superior foe. Ayzeth immediately launched an orb of red-black spirit energy in the temporal adept’s direction, though it quickly began to slow as it entered his temporal sphere. Moving quickly, Varyon used the opportunity to vault over his opponent, unleashing an array of thick, spirit webs from his former guild’s eight-legged insignia.

  Ayzeth merely sighed, drawing in his aura like a cloak around his body and burning away the assassin’s well-placed webs. “You would use the spider insignia against me... unbelievable”

  Suddenly, the devil adept’s gaze quickly averted to his brother. “Kazuka, go ahead and have fun with the Bonaduce boy while I tear this traitor’s soul from his body.”

  Remley went wide-eyed, immediately turning and drawing in aura as he sensed an attack coming on. A breath later, a very strange spirit aura flared in his presence. The power seemed to resonate from somewhere unfamiliar, as if it was drawn from something unfathomable, like a thought or a dream. Even worse, he could feel it prod at the back of his brain like some sort of sinister, unseen assault. Standing in the flame adept’s wake was Kazuka Kaito, the endless nightmare.