by Jason Herc
Creatures, including cat-like beasts and flying birds weren't uncommon, either. They must have belonged to the trainers or pet users that Crowley had mentioned. One pet trainer had what looked like a fire gnat hovering at his side. I tried not to stare.
"They look human," I said to my succubi. "But they're not from my world?"
"No," Ember said. "Most are from mortal planes similar to yours. But not human."
I shook my head. I didn't get all of this business about mortal planes.
Allura fingered the black metal collar around her neck. She was wearing the broken obedience collar. Technically, using her as a fake pet was cheating, but since my Flame was split up with my succubi, I didn't see any other option without giving myself a disadvantage.
"Why? Think you'll meet someone you knew?" Allura asked with a sly grin. "A former lover?"
"Quiet, pet," I said with a chuckle. Most of the Seekers were men, although I did spot a few female Seekers in the line.
I looked anxiously back towards the registration booth. There were still at least a few hundred Seekers in front of us.
"This is going to take forever at this rate." The sect member in charge of the registration had been taking his time talking with the current applicant for at least ten minutes.
With an angry cry, the applicant spun on his heels and walked away.
"They turned him down? After all that?" It was absurd, especially with how slow the line was moving.
The sect member seated at the registration desk stood up. His bright green robes rustled as he raised his arms and cupped his hands to his mouth. Ember had mentioned that the sect members identified themselves by the color and pattern of their robes, like wearing a flag.
By some trick of Flame or training, his voice soared clearly across the entirely street where we waited.
"Will all applicants please wait in an orderly line. Anyone causing a disruption will be banned from the tournament. Registration will close when the Night Fog arrives."
He sat down again.
"What?" I looked up and down the line. Everyone was muttering to each other. "We'll never get to the head of the line in time."
Ember pointed behind us. "Look."
A fight had broken out in a section of the line about fifty yards behind us. A pair of sect members, these wearing dark brown robes, immediately descended upon the troublemakers. In the ensuing distraction, several Seekers rushed forward, trying to cut the line.
More sect members, this time wearing blue and white robes, arrived to toss out the Seekers who were scuffling with each other. When the disruption was calmed, the line was slightly shorter behind us.
Someone in front of cried out and was hurled out of the line. The red-haired Seeker stomped back to the line to try to take his place, but one of the sect members policing the line stopped him.
"He attacked me!" the displaced Seeker cried, pointing at another Seeker who didn't bother to look at him.
"I saw nothing," the sect member said. He turned to the line. "Did anyone notice someone attacking this fellow?"
When nobody spoke up, the sect member shooed the red-haired Seeker away. The Seeker tried to barge past the sect member, but the sect member kicked the Seeker, sending him flying into a building across the street. His crumpled body fell to the ground and didn't move.
A few people jeered. Others applauded.
Someone behind me cried out. Another sect member immediately pounced upon the Seeker.
"You're causing a disturbance. Go!" the sect member commanded. This time the Seeker didn't protest but walked meekly away.
"So that's how it is," I murmured to the succubi.
The tournament had already started.
More Seekers were shoved out of the line. Someone about twenty spots ahead of us unslung a club and battered the applicant in front of him, sending his body across the ground.
A sect member immediately seized the club wielder and threw him through the windows of another building. I winced, wondering who would be paying for the damaged building.
"No disruptions!" the sect member shouted.
Some of the others nodded in approval. That was two spots gone in one blow. I eyed the Seekers in front and behind me suspiciously and noticed them doing the same.
"Stay sharp," I whispered to Allura and Ember. I began sending my Flame circulating through them, ready for any attack.
Something hard glanced off my back, but the Flame coursing through my body strengthened me. I didn't budge.
Ember hissed. "The one four spots behind us. He threw a rock."
"A rock?" In the tight line there was little room to dodge or fight without causing a commotion that would get us kicked out. But apparently, my Flame-strengthened body could repel a simple thrown rock. He must have been weak, then, or unwilling to use a true Seeker attack.
I had my answer when a sect member in purple and white robes pounced on someone in the far rear. I hadn't seen anyone causing a disruption, but the sect member grabbed a chubby Seeker and threw him over the next building.
"No techniques!" the sect member roared.
Could they spot us using Seeker techniques? I didn't think my simple cultivation would cause any problems, but that meant real attacks were off-limits.
Should we attack? Allura had resorted to our mental communication.
It was better to remain on the defensive for now, although if we saw an opening…
Not yet.
I spotted the Seeker in front of me, a tall man with a dark beard, swiftly jab his fist forward a few inches into the woman in front of him. It was a small motion, difficult for anyone else to spot from a different angle, but the women stumbled half a step out of the line before catching herself.
No sect member culled her from the line.
The woman turned around. She had deep blue eyes and light blue locks wrapped up in a gray hooded robe. Her fingers twitched in an intricate pattern. I would have thought she was simply clenching her fingers in anger, but my Swordsight activated and as sight lines sparkled around her fingers.
The hell? Was that some kind of attacking technique?
I caught the woman's eyes as she glanced backward. I gave a slight nod.
Kiss me. I sent the command to Allura.
"Ember, you're on guard as usual," I said out loud.
Ember raised an eyebrow, then nodded.
Allura reached over to lock lips with me.
I squeezed her ass. "Which way should I take you tonight?" I asked a little too loudly.
Allura moaned. "Any way. Or every way, master." She leaned up to kiss me again.
I saw the man in front of us turn around to see what was going on.
The female Seeker's fingers twitched and lit up with sight lines in my eyes. The man in front of us screamed and fell over, convulsing.
A sect member was there in an instant, picking up the flailing body with one hand and tossing him to the side like a piece of trash.
Damn. What did she do to him?
The woman smiled at me. "Your pets?" she asked, glancing at Allura's collar.
I shrugged. "Something like that."
"Master," Ember said. She grunted.
I looked back to see that she had used her Flame shield. It vanished.
"Someone used a Flame attack," Ember whispered.
"Who?" I asked.
Ember shook her head. So they were getting sneakier about this. I looked back at the woman Seeker. She had watched the entire encounter without attacking us.
"Truce?" I offered her my hand, which was probably risky seeing as what she could do with her fingers.
The woman laughed, a light tinkling sound, and reached out to shake my hand. "Is this how you seal an agreement in your world?"
"Something like that. I'm Aidan."
"Vessa." The woman smiled widely. "Nice to meet you, Aidan."
"So what was that thing you did with your fingers? What kind of technique was that?"
Vessa shook her head. "I'll
agree to a truce until we enter the tournament. Once the true tournament starts, we may have to fight."
"Of course. And a lady has her secrets to keep." I nodded.
Vessa smiled again, then faced forward.
A promising one to add to your collection.
I gave Allura a strange look. My collection? Quality over quantity. I need to build you two up first.
I had barely opened any of Allura and Ember's Nodes. I already knew I couldn't just add anybody to our arrangement, since I had failed to bond at all with Helix. I didn't think I could add a normal Seeker. That seemed counter-productive.
Allura just smirked. As you wish, master.
We continued fending off discreet attacks, while occasionally delivering our own. A hard elbow here. A foot stomp there. Allura risked a quick needle once, but I told her to avoid doing it again. I didn't want to risk getting kicked out.
As the line dwindled and we moved closer to the front, the sect members kept an even closer eye on us. We played the tournament's game for another few hours. Allura judged that there was only another hour left before the Night Fog rolled in when we finally reached the front of the line. The other female Seeker had also managed to stay in line just ahead of us. She looked back and waved as she finished her registration and left the area.
"Next!"
I stepped up to the front of the registration booth, where the sect member in green robes waited. He looked like he was about my age with trim black hair. His eyes were a piercing blue. He didn't say anything but gazed at me intently for a minute. Then, he looked at the two succubi at my sides.
"Is she your pet?" he finally asked, pointing to Allura.
"Yes, she is." I hooked a finger under her collar and pulled her half a step forward.
"You're a demon, then. What about her?" the sect member asked, pointing to Ember this time. I hadn't bothered to find a second obedience collar, fake or not.
"A backup. Mistress. Whatever." I shrugged.
The sect member looked at me, then frowned. "You are a Seeker, though, aren't you?" the sect member asked. "I confess your aura is rather confusing. You're…in the Kindling stage?"
I kept my lips sealed for a moment, not willing to say more than necessary. Crowley had mentioned something about the Kindling stage, when I was still opening Nodes. I was supposed to ignite a proper Core once I had progressed far enough, but that was a long ways away.
"Yes. I have my own Flame. I can control it. Would you like a demonstration?"
The sect member nodded.
I let my pure Flame emerge from within its infernal mask. The sect member looked on curiously. I sent my Flame into Allura through her Nodes, cycling between us.
"I've seen enough." The sect member was grinning as if noticing something. "Interesting. Very interesting. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you perform."
He held his hand over a small obsidian square about the size of a business card. I sensed Flame passing into the square. Then, he slid it across the desk to me.
"This is your tournament match card. Show it to the officials at the start of your match. You can also bring it to the scheduling tent to find out when your next match is. You've been registered as a trainer and can bring one pet to each match. Make sure you're here early tomorrow morning."
He looked past me and called loudly. "Next!"
I nodded at the sect member. "Thanks."
We left the registration booth and started heading back to our part of the city.
"Well, that wasn't too bad," I said. "Looks like they'll let us fight like we planned."
If I hadn't been allowed to bring Allura with me into a match, I would have been at a big disadvantage compared to my full strength. My succubi were essentially an extension of my Flame, in Seeker terms.
Allura smiled. "Of course, master. With—"
Ember held out a wing, stopping us. We had turned down a smaller side street.
A tall figure was blocking the path. His face was hidden by a shadow, but as he lifted his head higher to gaze at us, I recognized the Seeker from earlier. He was the Seeker in front of us that Allura and I had distracted to aid the woman.
"What is it?" I asked as I reached for my sword's hilt. I hated sore losers.
"Your tab," the bearded Seeker growled. "Give it to me."
"Tab?"
"He means that obsidian square," Ember said. "He wants to steal it so he can still enter the tournament."
I had already stored it in my spatial band. I showed the Seeker my empty hand.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that if you step aside. I'll give you one chance."
The Seeker shouted in fury. "Fuck you and your whores! You'll be getting no chances from me."
He threw off his robes. I stared at his skin hardened with a blue, crystalline substance.
A blue rock thing? Great. This was going to be fun.
CHAPTER 30
"Is that a Seeker technique?" I asked.
"I've heard of similar skin-hardening techniques," Allura said.
Ember crouched lower and drew her scythe. "It could be similar to what I do, but at a higher level."
I sighed. The tournament hadn't even started officially, and we were already being drawn into another fight.
"Allura, you go high as usual. Ember, you flank him. I'll meet him head on."
The three of us spread out into formation.
The Seeker looked like some kind of cross between a bad comic book character and a neon blue slurpee. He didn't seem to have any weapons other than his body, although I wasn't quite sure what he was capable in his bizarre form.
Allura sent a handful of black needles at the charging form. It wasn't her full strength, merely a probing attack.
The needles bounced off the armor-like material without piercing him at all. Ember stirred next to me.
"I'll go next," I said, halting her with a nod of my head.
I held my sword before in the basic First Stance. I didn't want to reveal my techniques so early, especially not in public, now that we had announced our presence by signing up for the tournament. Anyone could be watching.
To my surprise, my Swordsight traced the contours of his body with sight lines. Was he using a specific Seeker technique? I hadn't thought anything he did would apply to swordfighting.
He lunged forward with a two-fisted bash. I stepped backward to avoid the blow, then fed my arms with a hint of Flame to slice across his knuckles with a lightning-fast strike. Chips of blue crystal flew into the air.
The Seeker howled in pain and stared at the shallow cuts on his fists. "You breached my Crystalis form? How?" He backed away slightly, and I hoped he might think twice about attacking.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
His crystal-coated face shifted into what had to be some kind of leering grin. "You don't deserve a sword like that. I'll take that as well."
"Fuck off." I was annoyed that I had revealed the power of my sword so easily. It wouldn't do to go flaunting our full strength on trash like him.
The Seeker moved faster than I expected for his bulk. He spun with a roundhouse kick.
"Ember, take him fast and quietly," I said. Ember probably wouldn't fight in the tournament, so it wouldn't be as great a risk if someone saw her fighting.
I stepped backward, watching carefully in case I needed to rush in. I looked up at Allura. You stay back, too. I don't want to show more than necessary.
Allura descended behind me as Ember rushed forward. She met the Seeker's spinning kick with a spinning swipe of her wings.
It was a feint. At the last moment, Ember spun past his kick and into his inner guard. She flared her wings wide and enveloped him with their leathery span, blocking both his vision as well as the vision of anyone trying to watch the fight. Her tail whipped forward between her legs.
The Seeker screamed. When Ember lowered her wings, the Seeker was on his knees holding his stomach.
His crystal armor faded away as blood poured out of a gaping
wound in his belly. Ember sent a vicious chop to the Seeker's neck, and he fell forward with another muffled scream as his face hit the ground. Ember turned and walked calmly back to us.
I nodded in approval. Ember had managed to hide the Bloodstain on her tail that had pierced the Seeker's armor. I glanced about and saw various demons and Outsiders silently watching. When I glared at them, they shuffled away.
"Your pet is powerful," a female voice said.
The Seeker with twitching fingers from the registration line approached. Vessa. She threw back her gray hood to reveal flowing curls of teal hair.
"She's not exactly a pet. Neither of them are." I reached up to Allura and removed the collar around her neck.
Vessa smiled. She was probably around twenty, maybe a year or two younger. She still had the naturally youthful glow of a woman who had barely begun to enter her prime, but her dark blue eyes conveyed an air of maturity. And danger.
"Two succubi following you voluntarily? I'm not sure if that's more strange, or the fact that they willingly both share you." Vessa stepped closer, lowering her face to my chest as if to sniff me. "What so special about you?"
I shrugged casually. "You're welcome to find out if you like." I put my arm around Allura's waist. Ember moved over to grab my arm from the others side.
Vessa straightened up. Her lips curled upward in a smirk. "Are you sure you can handle me? I'm not some simple demon."
"We'll see. In the tournament, that is. And my succubi aren't simple demons, as you've seen."
The blue-haired girl laughed. "Another day, then. Perhaps another night as well." She raised her arm behind her.
My Swordsight caught a glimpse of a sight line, but it was too fast and weak for me to make out what was happening.
Vessa leaped onto the roof of the two-story building behind her. She waved once from the top of the building before disappearing over the side.
"See. She wants to join your collection," Allura said.
"You're still going on about that?" I asked.
"Our fates our tied to yours. Power comes from others as much as yourself."
