“I'm fighting fairly, though, I'll only use my powers if my opponent goes to use theirs. But no matter what, I promise you I’ll win. Keep Havok close, I may need his healing afterwards.”
“Fair enough. I understand a little. I’d personally go straight in and freeze that fucker up, like an ice cube. I realize that’s not exactly your style.”
Over the next ten hours, we worked on clearing my Cognition Room. We cranked up the heating to match the planet’s surface temperature. Ember was right, as long as we were in the Mindscape, we were more or less impervious. We went to see Elyek a few times, stopped for snacks, and generally just let our bodies recover from the heat on occasion, but rarely for longer than ten minutes at a time.
Havok told us that new blood vessels were being formed, and he was assisting in their growth. I didn't know what he was talking about, but he assured me it was a good thing.
With the clearing, we were getting quicker and quicker all the time, pretty much throwing shit, on the shelves to the beat of Havok’s wild and heavy music. I’d even say there were a few hours in which I began to enjoy it. When we stopped, on Ember’s command, we were just under halfway through the room.
“Let's check your Mental Clarity now. Then we should get something to eat and rest up a little, ready to crack on with training some of your mental skills. Otherwise, we won't have time to sharpen you up.”
“Okay, boss,” I said, glumly. Although I knew she was right, I could have done with a bit of kicking-the-shit-out-of-a-training-bag for an hour, just for a change of pace.
Entering my Interface Room, I was pretty impressed by the changes:
Name: Shaun Sutherland
Age: 29 GY
Transcendence Level: 101
Strength: 203/1000
Agility: 74/1000
Speed: 108/1000
Intelligence: 46/1000
Constitution: 210/1000
Wisdom: 15/1000
Mental Resilience: 60/1000
Mental Clarity: 42%
Potential: 99%
“My level is 101! My Wisdom and Constitution went up, too!” I shouted and over-enthusiastically jumped into the air with a fist pump.
“Welcome to the one hundred club, Shaun. And now your Mental Clarity is nearly as high as mine, you’ve no excuses for being useless anymore.”
“I’m over the moon with it. But why is my wisdom so shit still? It seems to be related to Mental Clarity, but yours is much higher, even though we’re close on Clarity now.”
“I imagine it's because I've actually used my Mental Clarity to make informed decisions on occasion, whereas you haven’t.”
“Oh, right. That could be it, you cheeky bitch.”
“Don't worry. We’ll get you using your head, rather than your muscles. More interestingly, why has your Constitution gone up so much? Let me check on mine,” she disappeared from my Interface Room as soon as she finished talking, which was annoying.
I moved back into my normal state to find her there, smirking. “I’m level 101, too. My Constitution has also gone up by ten. I wonder if it's the heat we’re working under?” She said.
“That's great! And yeah. It must be why. What a fantastic side effect, we will have to see if we can keep that up.”
“Maybe train with low oxygen?”
“Probably cold too, we will probably have to go to a cold ass planet at some point.” I laughed.
“More than likely. Now come on, let’s go to the canteen.”
We went and filled up on food. Still just meat and veg for me, yet again. It was starting to get boring fast. I was beginning to feel the need to have some more exotic choices programmed in. Although I didn't think a curry would be a good choice right now. Afterwards, we went back to the gym to train.
“The main thing I think you’ll need to work on is seizing your opponent,” Ember said, standing a few paces away from me, “Now, seize me.”
I did as asked, quickly morphing into her Mindscape, then moving into her Nerve Center. I felt through the room in order to find the nerve bundles that operated her legs and arms. Once finding them, I took a grip and thought about paralyzing those limbs. With that done, I came out of her Mindscape to check. She had a wry look on her face.
“Well done, Shaun. It took you long enough, didn’t it? I’d have had you killed while you messed around in there.”
“It took a while to find which nerve bundles did what.”
“You’re supposed to be in a fight! Just grab everything, and think paralyze,” she kicked out of my control, subsequently getting her movement back. “Now, try again. But this time try to appear directly in my Nerve Center, then do as I said, because I'm gonna come over there and kick you in the nuts as soon as you close your eyes.”
“What? No. Don't do that!” I squawked, indignantly.
“You can easily stop me. Just don’t fuck around. Okay?”
I took a few deep breaths, then did exactly as she said. Without hesitation, I fully concentrated on appearing in her Nerve Center, rather than the corridor. Then I paralyzed anything I could get my arms around, which turned out to be everything. I really didn’t want to take a shot to the nuts. Coming back to normal state, I saw Ember lying on the floor, not two paces away from me, locked up solidly. Again, she freed herself from my control. I suppose this was good practice for her too.
“Brilliant!” she laughed, “Again, all you need is the right incentive. How did it feel? Any easier with the work we did in your Cognition Room?”
“You know what, it was actually a lot easier. Thanks, Ember.”
“I’ve noticed that the clearer your mind, the more time seems to pass when you’re in the Mindscape, like a small time dilation. It becomes more obvious each time I improve. At least I don’t think it’s an effect on time.”
“I had noticed. Yet another thing Ogun never told us about. So you think it’s just your brain's ability to process shit faster?”
“I can't think of any other reason for it that makes sense, so yeah.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s really cool. I’m glad we’ve practiced it a little, but in a fight like the one I'm about to have, I don’t want to paralyze someone's body completely. They’ll die, won’t they?”
“There’s a simple solution to that. Get in there, paralyze everything immediately, and then go through what you don’t want paralyzed. We both need to get used to what nerve bundles do what, so we can do it as second nature. I’ve been going through my own quite a lot.”
“Thanks for making me do this. I actually do feel much better about it.”
“Good. I’m glad. Now, come on. Let’s keep practicing. I want to go over telekinesis again with you, as well.”
I found telekinesis was so much easier, and I could also see why Ember was clearing her mind in her spare time. The leaps and bounds you could make with your skills were remarkable. I could now do all the tricks Ember had done with the balls, but better than that, I could lift my ass up from the floor by about ten feet, easily. Although horizontal movements were still precarious, I could do it.
We trained for quite a few more hours. When we were done, we invited Elyek to have a meal with us, and later offered to watch the bridge while they got some rest. Elyek refused, insisting they didn't need to sleep in the same way we did, and would take a few hours after we had slept.
I won’t lie, we were both dead on our feet to be honest. I really needed to rest, and I imagined Ember would have felt pretty much the same. We went to bed, too exhausted for anything other than hugs. I was out like a light in minutes.
When I woke up, Ember was gone. A minor pang of worry shot through me, but I stifled it. We were safe on our ship. All was good. I still got ready in a hurry and made my way to the bridge. Ember was there alone, messing with a hand terminal while draped over her chair, eating an apple.
“An apple? I hadn’t even thought to get fruit from the FSU.”
“Yeah. They're yummy too! You should go get one,” she replied.
“Nah, I don't really like fruit too much.”
She gave me a black look in return, and said no more about it.
“So, what's happening?” I asked, a little confused.
“I got up a few hours ago and took over from Elyek. I’ll continue until they wake, then I’ll come and help you train some more. First, how about you go and get us some breakfast. I was just eating this until you woke your lazy ass up. I could really do with a proper breakfast. After that, you could go and train until I get there. Then we’ll get to your favorite job of all, clearing again. It’s by far the most important thing for us to do, and the further we go with it, the more I see how important it is. It’s probably the one thing Ogun should have had us doing once we transcended. I don’t think he knew half as much as he pretended to.”
“Who knows what he was thinking. But fuck Ogun, we can look after ourselves just fine,” I said, before heading to the canteen to rustle us both up a fried breakfast. I was strong, and I held off on the fried bread. Putting the breakfasts on a tray, I grabbed a jug of coffee too. Ember seemed to be pleased with my choice, as she tucked in with relish.
After breakfast I went to the gym. Although I had been told to work on my Mental Abilities, I really felt the need to get my heart pumping. I did a 20-minute burst of exercise, consisting of a combination of calisthenics and bag work. I’d worked up a grand old sweat by the time I'd finished and happily moved to working on levitation. Though I was loathe to admit it, I was glad Ember had talked me into practicing. With a fresh mentality toward it, the skills were coming easier.
Ember joined me after a couple of hours. I was more than happy to start our clearance once more. We cranked the temperature right back up while we were working hard in our Mindscapes. It seemed an excellent way to acclimatize my body to the excessive heat, without even having to be there to suffer it.
By the end of the day, the mental cleansing, and the duress our bodies had been under from the heat, had taken an uncanny toll on us. We were absolutely exhausted.
There remained around one-quarter of the original mess left to store away, and I’d hit level 103. My Constitution had moved up another 15 points, Wisdom another five and Mental Clarity was sitting at 64%. I was a bit confused by that, but I’d probably just overestimated how much stuff had been there to tidy originally.
I was now ahead of Ember on level and Mental Clarity, and I felt bad for her, I'd have to make sure that I returned the favor after this combat. For now though, I just needed to rest. We expected the call to come tomorrow for my fight.
Not for the first time these past two days, I wished Calegg was here to offer advice on Torax fighting styles and customs in duels such as this. It would have been great to spar with him too, in preparation. Not to mention it would have been fun to kick the cheeky bastard’s ass a bit.
I woke before Ember the next day, full of nervous energy. We had acclimatized to the galactic 27-hour clock, but it was still mighty odd to me. Rolling out of bed, I jumped straight in the shower. The proper one, too, not the goddamn powdered one. Despite respecting its convenience, I still didn’t trust that piece of shit after my horrific ordeal at its hands on the Thoth.
By the time I got out, Ember was stirring. Opening her eyes, she looked at me with a puzzled expression. “You okay, Shaun? You're never up before me.”
“Yeah, totally. Just a bit pumped to get on with today.”
“It’s going to be okay. I may have understated my confidence in you the other day, but I’ve no doubt whatsoever that you’ll comfortably get through this.”
“Well, thanks for the confidence. It means a lot.”
We got dressed and went to see Elyek. When we arrived on the bridge, they were sitting nursing a cup of coffee.
“Sorry, Elyek. Do you need to go get rest before we make our way down to the planet?”
“Not at all. I have only just awoken myself. It was nice the other day to have the responsibility of watching over the ship taken away, if only for a few hours. We have talked about it before, it’s really a just-in-case scenario that we need to have someone here at all times. Plus, with regular cups of this fetid drink, I feel like I could stay up forever. I hated it at first, but I have discovered that the more I drink it, the more I have found myself looking forward to my next cup.”
“It gets you like that,” I agreed. “Do you want anything to eat? I think we're gonna grab something. I expect to hear from Calegg, soon.”
“No. I'm not hungry, thanks,” Elyek replied.
Ember and I went to the canteen. No sooner had we grabbed some scrambled eggs and toast than Elyek’s voice came over my comm.
“Captain. Calegg has just called and requested we make our way down to the planet as soon as we’re able.”
“Coming Elyek, do you want anything from the canteen?”
“No, I’m fine thanks.”
Without further ado, we scooped up our plates and coffees and headed to the bridge to enjoy our breakfasts with Elyek, as they took us down to the planet for an ass-kicking lunch.
C4
No Havok, No Problem.
Within an hour we were landing on Torax again, scrambled eggs a distant memory. Elyek handled the ship expertly. Admittedly far better than Calegg, but that was of little consequence. We were a team, all that mattered was that we worked together and did our jobs.
When we landed, Moulagg, Koparr and of course Calegg were there, waiting for us. Calegg came over and, to my surprise, hugged me before speaking.
“Everything is set, and we’ve 30 of our best Torax warriors ready to serve. They’ll follow you without question, if you defeat the leader. He’s ferocious, but he’s also very excited to be part of our crew, as are all of the others,” he spoke in a whisper as he leaned in conspiratorially. “Put on a good show. That’s all that’s needed. They’re all more than happy to be coming along. We have 30 willing crew members, and they're all top Torax warriors.”
“That’s good to know, Calegg old buddy. I don’t really want to hurt anyone too badly. Nor get hurt too much myself,” I laughed. “Now, lead the way, and let’s get this over with.”
Moulagg spoke next, “Unfortunately Shaun, I was outvoted by the council on the location of the duel. This whole endeavor has turned into something of a spectacle, and the whole city wants to be involved. I hope you can handle the heat here. I have at least been able to get you a cool dressing room. I am sorry this has grown to be quite different to the arrangement you originally agreed. I will understand if you wish to bow out. No honor will be lost, as the environment strongly favors our people. However, as long as you put on a performance, everything will be okay.”
“Well, I can't say I’m happy about it, but I won't back out,” I turned a little angrily to Calegg. “Why didn't you tell me about the venue in the extreme heat?”
He shrugged, “Wouldn’t have made any difference. I knew you’d still do it, and I’ve true faith you’ll perform admirably, and even if it was a real fight, probably win, somehow.”
“Okay… Thanks then, I think?”
Calegg patted me on the back as I shook hands with Moulagg and Koparr, then we set off to my seemingly fixed fight.
I still didn’t want to do this, and the fact that it was fixed made it worse in some ways. To make matters worse, I’d gotten myself incredibly worked up, and now I’d have to massively rein in my bubbling adrenalin.
The arena was like the rough, stone-hued Colosseum of ancient Rome. Although it lacked the fine architectural details, there was no doubt it was an important building to the Torax. Judging by the mass of bodies streaming into the entrance, I had the feeling that this was a spectacle not to be missed.
I was still hotter than Satan’s ass crack. I was coping much better with it than last time, and those increases to my Constitution were a godsend. But it still wasn’t comfortable by any stretch.
Ember, Calegg and Elyek were told by Koparr to follow him down a corridor. I quickly handed off Havok to Ember.
>
“You’ve got this, Shaun,” Havok said cheerfully, then added, “If you get fucked up, I’ll just come over and sort you out.”
“Thanks, pal. You’re a real blessing,” I replied, genuinely strengthened by his words.
“Don’t sweat it, Captain,” Calegg said, giving me an over-the-top wink.
“I find it hard to do anything else but sweat on this planet, Calegg.”
He laughed in response, while Ember hugged me and said quietly, “Just hurry up with it so we can get going.”
Surprisingly, those few words of nonchalant confidence empowered me the most. They all followed Koparr, while Moulagg beckoned me in a different direction.
We entered a sort of changing or training room. The first thing I noticed was that it felt noticeably cooler than outside, as promised, which I was very relieved about. When the door closed behind us, he turned to face me, a serious expression on his face. “I won’t lie, Captain Shaun, I don’t know how tough you are. Calegg said that with your axe you’re damn near unbeatable, but he was unsure what you could do with just your own body. The group I’ve picked out for you will do our people proud, and they’re very keen to go with you. So much so that our top man, Calparr, who you’ll be fighting, is happy to fight to a draw with you. That’ll appease everyone’s sense of honor. You’ll just need to put in a good showing. If it turns out you’re the better fighter, then I’ll ask you not to put a beating on him. He's going into this fight with the spirit of cooperation. Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely!” I exclaimed. Immediately afterwards, I realized I sounded like a right wet lettuce. “I can handle myself, but I don’t know your Torax capabilities. I really want to get off on the right foot with your people and not be kicked to shit. Or wallop your guy all over the shop,” I added, hopefully explaining that I wasn’t scared.
He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response.
“I’ll leave you now and take my seat. Wait for the gong, next head through that door. It won’t be too long a wait.” Then, he left.
I sat down on one of the stone benches that lined the wall, and waited in anticipation. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity, but it was probably only five minutes. My nerves were frayed to shreds. Even though I had learned the fight would be a fix, even after everything I’d been through.
Condition Evolution 3: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure Page 4
