by J. Cee
“That hurts!” Ceph cried. Deflection Shield. His skin glowed.
“No,” Aeri said in frustration. “Don’t shield. Just attack!”
The Everborn paused, not sure what was happening. “I’m sure we can work something out? This has to be a misunderstanding.”
The fight finished quickly, but Aeri wasn’t happy. “Don’t waste your spirit on shields. You have plenty of blood points to absorb the damage.”
“But it hurts!” Ceph complained.
“Dying hurts more.” Aeri thumped him in the chest. “Learn how to fight properly. With high blood and low spirit, save your spirit for attacks. Use movement or other tricks to cut incoming damage. Don’t waste shields.”
Aeri checked her status. “I should be able to safely solo him if he shows up again. Watch me this time.”
“Yes, master.”
Ceph thought Aeri made a face at him, but he couldn’t be sure in the dark. He walked a short distance away from the blue building and crouched, ready to jump in if necessary.
The Everborn stepped out of the blue building for the fourth time that night. Aeri rushed him while casting a Soulstrike.
“Can’t you give me a break?” the Everborn asked.
Aeri didn’t respond. She continued her charge, lowering her shoulder to knock the Everborn to the ground. She cast one more Soulstrike and then retreated. Ceph whistled in appreciation. While Aeri’s physical attack didn’t hurt the Everborn’s blood pool, it disoriented him and slowed his counterattack. When the Everborn finally cast his own Soulstrike, Aeri was at a safe distance, reducing the incoming attack’s potency.
“I suck, don’t I?” The Everborn sounded like he was going to cry.
Aeri danced in and out of the fight, never using a shield despite having a much smaller blood pool than Ceph. She would trip, punch, or otherwise harass the Everborn physically with each round of attacks. She finally closed the distance and delivered a Soulstrike straight into his mouth.
The Everborn gagged in pain, coughing out his words. “I’m such a loser. Even here.” He was definitely crying now.
Aeri mercilessly punched his mouth again, simultaneously releasing one last Soulstrike. The Everborn’s body went still again.
Ceph fidgeted in discomfort at seeing the lopsided fight. Right now, he wasn’t sure if he was more frightened of Aeri or the Everborn.
“Wasn’t that too much?” Ceph asked. “That felt… brutal.”
Aeri walked over to Ceph and glared. “We fight to live or die.” Aeri gestured to the fallen bodies. “To them, this is all a kind of game. They have nothing to lose.”
Ceph stiffened. Aeri was definitely scaring him. Seeing his reaction, Aeri grabbed his shoulders gently. “Ceph, we can’t afford to make a single mistake. That’s the life of a Onceborn. That’s the reality. There are no second chances.”
“I know. It’s just that I’m not used to all of this. The fighting. Even when I was growing up, I never got into fights like the other boys did. I hated fighting.”
“Remember what you’re fighting for.”
“To stay alive?”
Aeri sighed. “No, Ceph. To save our people. To make sure no one else has to suffer like you did. Like your mother did.”
Ceph’s face darkened. “Don’t talk about my mom.”
“Sorry.” Aeri drew her hands away.
It was Ceph’s turn to sigh. “You’re right, though. I’m being selfish, aren’t I?”
Aeri raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say that.”
“Not fighting. It’s selfish in this case. Like you said. When I run, people get hurt.” Ceph looked down at his feet. “I hate being scared.”
“One step at a time.” Aeri smiled. “Why don’t you try the next one on your own. I’ll be here as backup.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’ll be fine. Give it a try.”
Ceph walked over to the blue building and waited next to the entrance. Aeri had traded places and was watching from his old hiding spot behind the barrels.
The Everborn stepped out of the blue building. He held his hands up.
“Do it. Kill me. Get it over with.”
Ceph had been ready to practice rushing in and out, like Aeri had done. Instead, he gawked.
The Everborn beckoned to him. “Go ahead. Kill me.”
Ceph shrugged and ran towards the Everborn. He sent Soulstrike after Soulstrike into the Everborn’s body. The whole time, the Everborn stood there motionless, except for the brief spasms of pain when an attack struck him.
Ceph paused. “Are you okay?”
“Just get it over with,” the Everborn replied.
“Try a takedown. Like I did,” Aeri called from her position.
Ceph looked at her in disbelief. “But he’s…” Ceph gestured at the unmoving Everborn.
“Do it!” she ordered.
“Sorry about this,” Ceph murmured as he hooked one of the Everborn’s legs with his own, forcing it forward, while simultaneously pushing the Everborn’s chest backwards. The Everborn fell, his head bouncing once off the hard ground.
“Hurry up. Kill him!”
Ceph winced. He cast more Soulstrikes at the prone figure. The body wasn’t moving, but he couldn’t tell if the Everborn was dead. He cast another Soulstrike. The body exploded in a bloody mess.
Ceph screamed. “What the heck!”
Aeri made an exasperated noise. “Overkill. Once an Everborn’s blood pool vanishes, the body loses its strength. It becomes another piece of meat. Which you blew up.”
“I think I’ve had enough for tonight. Can we take a break?”
Aeri looked at the horizon. Dawn was approaching. “It’ll be light soon, and more people will be around. Fine, let’s head back to the tower. And don’t forget to spend your last power point.”
The two Onceborn headed for their hideout in the belltower. Five dead bodies, one mangled, lay in the street behind them. Ceph hadn’t asked whether they should hide the bodies. It wasn’t as if dead bodies were a rare sight in Xero, especially when the Everborn were involved.
Chapter 6
The two Onceborn spent the next week stalking low-ranked Everborn, rotating between different gateways. There was the blue building they had used the first night, a stone temple, a cellar under an inn, and a fountain pool.
The Everborn reacted differently to the attacks. Some were angry. Some were scared. A few never returned after the first death. One stubborn Everborn kept trying to fight them all night despite being hopelessly outmatched. They had killed that particular Everborn over twenty times. Ceph was grateful for that, because he was no longer guaranteed a power point after each victory. The Everborns’ auras had long turned blue to his Inspect skill.
By now, Ceph was rank forty, with a hundred twenty blood points, forty spirit points, and zero percent harmony. After increasing his spirit at Aeri’s insistence, he had assigned the rest of his power points to blood. If blood was the measure of his new life, Ceph wanted every last possible drop.
They were currently taking turns killing a low-ranked Everborn woman who kept climbing out of the swirling pool of a fountain sculpture. Ceph didn’t understand why anyone would use this gateway. Each time the woman resurrected, she emerged soaked from the watery entrance. That had to be annoying.
Soulstrike. Ceph held the Everborn in a choke with the crook of his left arm while delivering attacks with his right hand into her abdomen. He barely noticed the Everborn’s weak counterattacks chipping away at his own blood pool. He had gotten used to their brief sting. The greatest danger—annoyance, really—was that the Everborn would escape, which explained his current tactic.
“This is taking forever,” Ceph moaned.
Soulstrike. Soulstrike. Soulstrike. His thoughts were a constant stream of the same command, over and over. His right hand only flared with the violet light of an attack about once every second.
“Your own fault,” Aeri said.
Aeri was sitting on the fo
untain pool’s edge, dangling her feet in the water. She raised a hand and sent three Soulstrikes in rapid succession at the Everborn in Ceph’s grip.
“Hey, you almost hit me!” Soulstrike. Soulstrike. Soulstrike. Only a single Soulstrike emerged from Ceph’s hand. He sighed. “How do you attack so quickly? It’s that harmony thing, isn’t it?”
Aeri rolled her eyes. “I tried to explain, but all you do is dump your power points into blood.”
“But I like blood. Well, not how it looks or tastes. The having lots of it part.”
“Which is why your Soulstrikes are weak and slow. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
Ceph was going to respond, but the Everborn chose that moment to start gnawing on his arm.
“Stop that,” Ceph said. The Everborn wasn’t hurting his blood pool, but the bites were distracting. She didn’t stop.
Ceph looked up to see Aeri trying not to laugh. “What?”
“I’ve also been trying to tell you that Soulstrikes to the face are better for disorienting the enemy.”
Soulstrikes to the face? Ceph didn’t want to cause unnecessary pain, but the Everborn was still biting his arm.
“Sorry. I did ask you to stop.” He shifted his right hand from her stomach to her face. Soulstrike. The Everborn made a strangled cry and stopped biting. Ceph wagged his finger at the Everborn and moved his attacks to her stomach again.
“So how does harmony affect my attacks?” he asked Aeri.
“This is the third time we’re going over it, Ceph.”
“Yeah, but it’s confusing.”
Aeri gave Ceph an annoyed look. “Fine, tell me what you remember. What’s harmony?”
“Harmony’s like our connection with this world. The stronger we are, the more out of touch we become. Harmony brings us back into balance.”
“And how does that work?” Aeri waited with an expectant air.
“I don’t know. That’s the confusing part.”
The Everborn spoke up for the first time. “Are you kidding? You don’t understand harmony? That’s basic stuff for little kids. How could an idiot like you—”
Ceph sent a Soulstrike into the Everborn’s face, cutting her off. This time, he didn’t stop attacking her face.
“You’re right. About Soulstrikes to the face.”
Aeri raised an eyebrow. “Okay, harmony. The stronger you become, the more power points you have to spend to maintain a hundred percent, or perfect, harmony. The further you are from perfect harmony, either way, the less reliable your skills are.”
“I’m at zero percent harmony. Is that bad?”
“Not necessarily. Some artifacts or equipment require that. What’s your spirit pool?”
“Forty.” Ceph had no idea what artifacts were, but he figured he should understand harmony first.
“That means your Soulstrikes do anywhere from one to five points of damage. At perfect harmony, you would do five points of damage every single time.”
Ceph stared at Aeri. “Whoa! That’s a huge difference.” He paused his attacks to recheck his attributes. Corpus. “What about you? Can I see your Corpus?”
The Everborn twisted her head out from underneath Ceph’s hand to look up at him. “Oh for crying out loud. Did you just ask to see her Corpus? You know I can hear you.”
Ceph’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Without looking at the Everborn, he planted his hand once again on her face and renewed his attacks. Soulstrike. Soulstrike. Soulstrike. The Everborn cried out.
Aeri’s lips curled up into a devilish smile.
“Did I ask for something indecent?” Ceph whispered. He hoped that Everborn etiquette wasn’t as complicated as harmony.
“No, not indecent. But a bit personal.” Aeri laughed. “Here.”
Aeri activated the glowing sigils on her left inner forearm and turned her arm so that Ceph could see the writing. She had thirty-two blood, ninety-six spirit, and two hundred percent harmony. Her rank was also forty, like Ceph.
Ceph juggled the numbers in his head. “You’re rank forty, with that blood and spirit… so you put eight points into harmony?”
“Exactly.”
“Why? Don’t you get weaker if you’re further from perfect harmony?”
“Only in terms of reliability. Anything beyond perfect harmony gives a speed boost. At two hundred percent harmony, my movement, skill activation, and skill cooldown are all twice as fast as yours.”
“So should I have put points into harmony? Why didn’t you tell me to?”
Aeri put her hands on her hips. “Really?”
Now that he thought about it, Ceph didn’t exactly regret his extra large blood pool. Would he give up blood for harmony, or even spirit? No, he didn’t regret his choices, truth be told.
As Ceph mused over the complications of being Onceborn, the body in his arm went limp, its blood points having dropped to zero. He dropped the body with a splash into the fountain’s pool.
“Your turn,” Ceph said. He checked his status. “Ugh. That one didn’t give a power point.”
Aeri jumped down from her seat on the fountain’s edge. Then she froze.
“Someone’s approaching.”
A figure wearing a flowing robe walked towards them. Ceph’s pulse quickened as he remembered the Word. Inspect. The Everborn’s aura was yellow, which meant he was stronger than the two Onceborn.
“What do we do?” Ceph whispered.
“I’ll talk to him. If we fight, follow my lead.” Aeri greeted the approaching figure with a wave.
The Everborn was a short man with long curly hair. He wore an expensive-looking embroidered purple robe.
“My cousin’s been complaining about two lovebirds camping the starter gateways. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Lovebirds?” Ceph asked. Aeri scowled, motioning for him to keep quiet.
The Everborn noticed the bodies lying around the fountain. “Looks like you two have been busy tonight. Let me return the favor.” The Everborn’s hand glowed as he cast a Soulstrike at Aeri.
“Ceph, take the lead. Like we practiced,” Aeri said as she retreated.
Ceph tried to recall the two-member formations they had practiced the other day. He rushed in front of Aeri, blocking the Everborn’s attack with a Deflection Shield.
“Let him hit you. Call out the damage.”
Ceph groaned in anticipation of the upcoming pain. The Everborn’s next Soulstrike hit him squarely in the chest, drawing a cry of pain despite him being ready for it. Corpus. He glanced at his status.
“Ten points of damage.”
Aeri sent her own Soulstrike at the Everborn. His body glowed green with a new type of shield that Ceph hadn’t seen before. The shield didn’t disappear after Aeri’s attack struck.
“What’s that?” Ceph asked in a worried tone.
“No time to explain. Let him hit you again.” Aeri was still hiding behind Ceph.
Ceph grumbled. “You only want me for my body. I have spirit too, you know.” Ceph checked his status after the next attack. “Ten points again.”
Aeri sent another attack at the Everborn. After it hit, she whispered to Ceph. “We can win this. Forward when I say rush. Back when I say retreat. I’ll tell you when to shield or attack.”
Ceph didn’t like the idea of being used like a puppet, but he knew Aeri was better at fighting than him. He glanced backwards and nodded once in affirmation. “Got it.”
“Rush.” Ceph ran towards the Everborn with Aeri close behind him.
“Soulstrike.” Aeri and Ceph unleashed their attacks from close range. Aeri darted out from behind Ceph, dropping low with a vicious kick to the Everborn’s ankles that tripped him.
“Retreat.” Aeri used her faster movement speed to return to her defensive position behind Ceph, even as he retreated from the Everborn.
“Wait until he hits you again.”
“I feel like a dumb slab of meat shielding you like this.”
&nbs
p; “You’re the one that put all your points into blood. Now hush.”
Immediately after Ceph was struck again, the pair repeated the rush and retreat cycle.
“Your blood?”
Ceph saw that he had regained several points of blood from regeneration. “Ninety-five.”
Aeri continued directing the fight, ordering Ceph to use a shield once in a while. For several rounds, she also swapped positions with Ceph while his blood and spirit pools recovered. Then, they swapped back.
The rounds continued. It was a slow, methodical fight. Ceph gradually settled into the rhythm of the fight, forgetting his previous anxiety. Meanwhile, the Everborn grew increasingly flustered. Soon, the Everborn’s yellow aura shone with less than a quarter of its original magnitude, while Ceph and Aeri still had healthy blood pools.
Ceph felt a hint of excitement as the victory grew closer and closer. The last several fights against low-ranked Everborn had been disappointing. How many power points would this one give?
Then, Aeri saw a second figure approaching.
“Another yellow aura. Over there.”
The second Everborn was still too far away to join the fight, but the figure was on a clear path towards them.
“We need to run,” Aeri said in a quiet voice.
“We’re so close,” Ceph replied. “We’ve almost got this.”
“No, we need to run.”
“We don’t know whose side—”
“Look. He has a weapon. We have to go.”
Ceph saw the second Everborn drawing what looked like a long blade. “A sword?”
“Snap out of it.” Aeri took hold of Ceph’s arm and pulled him backwards.
Ceph shook his head. What was he thinking? He turned and followed Aeri, running down the street away from the two Everborn. A set of footsteps pounded after them. It was the first Everborn. The second one with the sword didn’t seem to be chasing them.
“Stay in the rear and shield when you can,” Aeri ordered.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Deflection Shield. Ceph blocked an incoming Soulstrike. Aeri stretched a hand behind her, aiming with one eye over her shoulder. The Soulstrike zoomed past Ceph, exploding against the ground beneath the pursuing Everborn’s feet. Ceph and Aeri lengthened their lead while the Everborn regained his footing. The Everborn stumbled again as a second Soulstrike from Aeri tore another small crater beneath him.
