Tech Duinn: An Ether Collapse Series (Ether Flows Book 1)

by Ryan DeBruyn

  Jophi jumped in. “Yes, but theoretically, a Planetary God can just create a powerful monster, mutate and evolve it, to serve the same goal.”

  Azrael widened his eyes at her interruption. Had she just chosen to make his explanation harder? She smiled and took a bite of rat. From their smug expressions, Azrael assumed they both knew he was lying and Jophi wanted to get in on Verimy’s revenge.

  He coughed and looked at Verimy, who was laughing and eating himself. Grumbling, Azrael stated, “That is true, but historically, large unintelligent monsters create larger and larger hunting zones until very few creatures live within that space. In those cases, the Planetary God that created them loses the accumulated filtering of all those living beings. Instead, those Legendary beasts consume land and Territories that could house millions of pieces of Conversion Ecostructure.”

  He wolfed down what he could after Verimy nodded at his answer. He stopped his shoveling when Verimy asked the next question. “Where do dungeons, like the one we are in now, fall into the Conversion Ecostructure?”

  This one was a bit easier at least, but Azrael glanced at the bathroom, wondering how Apep would answer this question. Turning back to Verimy, he rattled off the Sovereign Halls answer, “Dungeons are larger filters for Planetary Gods, but also use the secondary energy themselves. The theory is that they are actually the next step in the filtering process, creating some third level of energy that sapients are yet unaware of. Dungeons also provide challenges for sapient growth and can combine with Territories.”

  Verimy allowed him to eat another portion of his food before he followed up with the demand, “Elaborate on how dungeons combine with Territories.”

  That one was a substantial theoretical debate, and Azrael felt himself roll his eyes. Was all this really necessary? “All that is known for sure on the subject is that each Territory can house four dungeons. Those ‘Cardinal Dungeons’ regulate the wildlife and land within the Territory. Territory leaders can create zones for hunting, farming, and gathering. The Cardinal Dungeons also provide four unique dungeon Dives for those permitted entrance. The adventurers often attempt to clear all four challenges so that they can access the Prime Dungeon. Also known as the fifth challenge.”

  Jophi chimed in again, “The Prime Dungeon is a mutual creation of the four other dungeons, each one adding portions to it as they expand it. My father told me that people must clear the challenges of each floor before the dungeons can add another.”

  To his horror, Jophi reached over and snagged a piece of his toast. Azrael growled at her as she chirped a laugh. He quickly shoved what remained of his food into his mouth, not giving Verimy time to ask for a longer answer. He was done with this game.

  When Azrael looked up, Verimy had a vacant expression on his face. Azrael glanced over his shoulder, trying to find out what had taken Verimy’s attention. A moment later, a notification popped up.

  A Tournament has been arranged for the pleasure of our viewers!

  Tournament of the Beginner Combatants

  ● Team Sovereign Son will fight against Team Phoenix Rebirth at 4:00 pm today. This will be a single-elimination tournament and begins in the round of 64.

  Rules:

  Each team will contain four combatants.

  A combatant can be eliminated, withdraw, or forfeit a fight. Once the combatant has taken any of the above options, they will be considered a victory point for the opposing team.

  The first team to three victory points wins the round. If the bout ends in a tie, then a battle between surviving combatants will commence to break it.

  A combatant can continue to fight multiple opponents until they are eliminated, have withdrawn, or have forfeited.

  The current order of combatants for Team Sovereign Son:

  Azrael – Verimy – Jophi – Bat

  Is this correct?

  | No

  Good luck, Team Sovereign Son!

  Azrael clicked his cheek. That wasn’t precisely the agreement he had made with Oberan. However, he saw the cleverness in the maneuver. Azrael could essentially stop the others from fighting by winning three contests for each fight. However, if he chose to let someone else fight, then he would have already lost, which likely meant his death.

  The other option was for Azrael to select someone else to fight. But if he chose someone else to fight, he might give away his hand. He needed to appear heroic.

  Clever. But he wouldn’t fall for it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Azrael waited in a much smaller antechamber than the Battle Royale starting room. Jophi threw both of her hands above her head as she exclaimed, "Fighting until you are injured is sensible, but trying to fight all of the battles is just stupid. We don’t even know the strength of our opponents. I don’t care how strong you think you are. I can fight, and it looks like Verimy is a combat class too!"

  Azrael had grown tired of arguing with her. Why was she so against his leadership?

  Oberan had made Azrael the team leader. He turned to Verimy instead. "I am going to use this as a training exercise. Did we all get the Dungeon Quest?"

  Verimy and Bat nodded. Jophi screamed at the ceiling, and both Bat and Verimy flushed, seeming to either be embarrassed for her or themselves. Azrael didn’t care and opened the quest they had received on entering the antechamber.

  Arena Chain Quest

  Single Elimination Tournament

  Win the Round of 64

  ● The dungeon created a competition for new combatants. Win the round of 64 to gain benefits and concessions from the arena. The better the score during the contest, the higher the rewards!

  Rewards:

  Etherience

  Points to buy Class-Appropriate Gear

  Failure:

  May result in death

  Azrael filled the silence that followed Jophi’s frustrated scream with a question, "Does anyone know exactly how the Combatant rankings even work?"

  Verimy, who had been here the longest, answered, "You move through the ranking systems to obtain longer breaks between fights, better food, and lodging. From my perusal of the mess hall, there are four ranks – and I only know two of the names. The bottom is Initiate, and the third is Champion. The top rank only exists after you defeat the fifteenth challenge, and I don’t know the second rank."

  Azrael nodded, glad to have that answered. His group hadn’t moved up in rank, but was being housed in a cell for combatants of the second tier. If the treatment he had seen so far was the benefit, he wouldn’t complain. He looked over to Verimy. "Do you know how long of a break between fights Initiates normally have?"

  Verimy shrugged. "I fought when I first got here and was scheduled to fight three days after, which would have been today. So my schedule is the same. But all three of yours changed because of this tournament and your deal with Oberan."

  Azrael had already been aware of that timeline. Maybe moving through the arena ranks may give them a longer break, and more tasks, but to beat the fifth challenge Dincarn couldn’t defeat seemed like a long shot. Since those tasks were their best option to escape, Azrael needed to consider it, but doubted it would help them.

  He looked at his status page to ensure that he had stopped hiding his last name. He then Analyzed his sword.

  King’s Tide – Soul Blade (*Click here to see actual information*)

  ● Level 10

  A soul sword of the Sovereign Class.

  Current Ether Pool: 210/210

  Enchantments: Strength X (+20), Stamina X (+15)

  With Verimy and Jophi’s help, he had Obfuscated his sword to look even more like a legendary Soul Blade. He hadn’t been Obfuscating it during his Battle Royale and hoped that most people who had seen it up close were currently dead. Or hadn’t Analyzed it. He also knew that his Strength and Stamina would possibly give his ruse away to his opponent or an intelligent combatant. But there was only so much he could do. There were a lot of things to think about when attempting to create a ruse this c
omplex, and he hoped he had gotten them all.

  According to Verimy and Jophi, he seemed to pass the test when they Analyzed him. Bat strangely could see right through everything he did. Azrael asked Bat, "What level is your Perception, again?"

  Bat’s ears twitched. "Me? It’s part of a Class trait, and mine is currently Greater level five."

  Wow. This pawn is turning out to be very valuable—maybe a rook? I am sure we can use that to some advantage, right?

  Verimy had Strong ranked Perception and couldn’t see through the Obfuscation skill. As a hunter, his skill was higher than average as well. Azrael figured he would use him and Jophi as the standard to fool. A countdown timer flashed into the corner of his interface, and a notification opened simultaneously.

  Preparation Time

  5 minutes of Preparation Time has started. Your first fighter is required to enter the entrance gate before the timer elapses. This time is to talk about strategy and adjust equipment.

  Good luck!

  Azrael checked his Soul Storage to find a ten stack and a five stack of Soul Strike stored. Then he walked into the double gated entrance and smiled—finally, it was starting. He did get a bit of a knot in his stomach. Some of it was nerves, but most of his fears were legitimate worries. This preparation time would become more useful at each level of competition. It made Azrael’s plan of fighting straight through more difficult as opponents learned his identity and current skills.

  Looking through the grate, he found two blind spots in the circular expanse of sand. Far to his right and left had the view mostly blocked from where he currently stood. That’s where he would try to fight. As long as he killed his opponent, then the next challenger would gain no advantage. That meant he couldn’t leave the decision up to the crowd.

  Jophi came to the door and vehemently stated, "Good luck, Azrael! Don’t overdo it—please?"

  Her demand to take over leadership failed. Is this a new avenue of attack?

  He looked at her with his head tilted. She seemed so sincere—and beautiful. He just couldn’t understand why she would talk to that guard—or what she had said. The timer continued to tick down.

  The possibility of death gave him courage. Azrael asked, "What did you tell that guard?"

  She blinked, and her eyebrows drew down, then a look of recognition crossed her face. She looked around and whispered, "The guard you saw is a member of the Cathodiem Guild stationed here. I asked him to get a message back to my father. I told him about my capture with you and Ogma.”

  She studied his face and must have seen something there because she added, “I didn’t tell him you were a Sovereign Son.”

  Her reaction seemed genuine. He rubbed his shoulder and feigned a shrug. "How can he get any communications off this rock?”

  They stared at each other, and her eyes narrowed further. She released the bar and turned away. "He can’t, Azrael. That’s why I know my father isn’t coming. None of our agents can get communication off this world. At least he doesn’t know of any way to," she mumbled.

  With her back to him and her soft voice, Azrael had barely heard her. As she walked away, he watched her go, and blinked at her retreating back. She clearly wanted to pin her hopes on a rescue of some sort. That was why he would never count on others to save him. He recited his lessons in his head. He could only count on himself.

  The counter dropped to zero, and the gate sprang open. Azrael blanked his mind with a centering breath and stepped into the arena. The other gate had been far enough away that he had only seen a shadow of someone within it for a moment, and it now stood empty.

  He searched the sands and then narrowed his eyes. He didn’t find anyone immediately, which told him the opponent was using Stealth or Invisibility. Azrael activated his Soul Cloak and sprinted to the right, wanting to get out of view of both doorways. He continued surveying the sands, looking for a sign of movement. His eyes caught flying sand in his peripheral, and he reacted instantly by dropping into a roll. Two daggers flashed in the space his chest had been. A black-wrapped individual wielded the serrated blades. Two strips of cloth hung in the air behind the form and Azrael Analyzed his attacker from the bottom of his roll.

  Caxir the Silent Wind

  Apprentice-Stalker

  Level 22

  Health Points: 135/135

  Azrael shot his body into a rigid position using his shoulders as a springboard and catapulted himself to his feet. He landed and turned to find the air empty again. Still, with an area to concentrate on, he could see shifting particles of sand that gave away the position of Caxir. He continued to sprint into the blind spot of the arena, keeping an eye on the shifting sands that followed.

  Once he felt comfortable where he was, Azrael swung his sword in a patterned backhand whip, entering the form of Mages Fanning. His blade clanged against something in the air, and Azrael turned his wrist, changing his blade’s course downward. He changed the direction again in a flourish, making the edge a diagonal attack at the invisible Caxir. His sword clanged again as Caxir attempted to trap it between both of its serrated knives.

  Azrael smiled and released a single hand from his hilt. Mages Fanning wasn’t a combat form, but more of an artistic rendering of what sword fighting could look like. Each blow was exaggerated and flowing. Azrael’s instructor told him never to use it in combat. In sparring, Azrael found that his opponents often underestimated him in this form or tried to catch and hold his weapon. He extended his arm and opened his palm, shouting, "Release five."

  A Soul Strike exited his palm, this one with five stacks of the skill. All he had needed was to know Caxir was standing still. The blades tore through something in the air, and he saw black wraps falling to the ground. Without warning, a blast of wind hit him along his entire front. His feet left the ground, and his body careened into the center of the arena. He landed on his heels and allowed the momentum to take him onto his butt, back, and then hands before springing to his feet again. Was that a spell?

  The announcer who had been silent behind the enchanted dome called out, "And there goes Caxir, one of the Windfolk. His wind has been set free forever." Suddenly the garb and the final moments made complete sense. The Windfolk were bodiless. Instead, they formed from a strange collection of the element of wind. They often wore Ether Wraps to help keep their element under pressure, which gave them more of a standard shape. This allowed them to wear other pieces of equipment on their forms, as most of the universe had physical bodies.

  Azrael knew his attack had been overkill, but ensuring the death of his opponent should protect his skills from the next combatant. He hoped he had been out of sight like he calculated. Azrael went over and touched the rags to loot them.

  Dancing Cloak

  ● This cloak will move around and strike at opponents as you fight. Its pieces of fabric attempt to confuse the enemy.

  Ether Pool: Medium

  Current Ether Pool: 12/50

  Enchantments: Attacking Dance V

  --

  Body Wraps of Wind’s Grace

  ● This five-foot length of wrap will increase the wearer’s grace.

  Ether Pool: Small

  Current Ether Pool: 5/15

  Enchantments: Dexterity I (+1), Agility I (+1)

  After looting the body, he moved back to his team’s entrance. As he approached, the doors opened and he could see his team pressed to the grates. Jophi exclaimed, "What happened? We couldn’t see you at all over there." That simple statement made him content. He had been successful in his plan.

  Before Azrael forgot, he turned away and charged his blade five times, and then released his skill, whispering, "Store," as quietly as he could. His skill didn’t fly off into the air, and he smiled again. That dropped his Ether pool to fifty percent but it began refilling based on his Ether regeneration. Perhaps he had a real chance of being the only combatant.

  Azrael entered the gate and heard the mechanism reverse, as a five-minute timer began to count down again. He lo
oked to Jophi and answered, "That was the whole point of going over there. As for what happened, I won against a Windfolk Assassin. Just let me put on this new equipment.”

  He wrapped the cloth around his left forearm from his wrist to his elbow and then placed the cloak over his shoulders. Again, these weren’t exceptionally helpful pieces of gear, but were more than he currently wore. Next, he checked his Etherience gains and found that he had been awarded just over two-hundred thousand from the Windfolk.

  The Etherience placed him under one hundred thousand away from a level up, and he hoped the next opponent would get him to level sixteen. He began thinking of what his next skill choice might be, and then stopped himself. The next opponent had to die first.

  Azrael looked at Verimy, who just nodded at him as if to say, ‘Your strategy is a good one.’

  Is that him finally acknowledging that I have some idea what I am doing?

  Azrael glanced at Bat, and his blue-skinned companion flicked his ears in what Azrael was calling a blink. A mental button was available to change combatants, which likely would raise the inner gate to allow a switch. Of course, that wasn’t what he wanted to do.

  Jophi looked like she wanted to say something, but their last interaction probably held her tongue. Azrael knew it was still rattling around in his head, and he looked to Verimy, his long-time trainer. Someone he had known since he was a kid. Was he wrong not to trust anyone?

  The time ticked away, and the gate opened again. A glance showed his Ether recovered to the eighty percent mark. Azrael took off out of the entry chamber. This time pumping his legs to the left of the opening as he tried to get out of view. A centaur charged from the other side and course-corrected towards him. Its hooves kicked up sand in a dust cloud behind the horseman, and it leveled a lance towards him. Behind the lance, Azrael saw the sleek brown fur, crossed with white accents. Its upper humanoid body was bare-chested and well-muscled.