Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 32: Performing

Alex twisted aside, feeling the edge of light graze his cheek. It left only a shallow burn but sharp enough to warn him how close it had been piercing through his head. The second strike came immediately after, the spear re-configuring, its chain pulling back and thrusting again in a seamless motion.

He blocked with his bracer on his forearm, earning a surge of heat racing up his arm. The impact drove him back two steps, with his feet screeching across the arena floor.

He’s fast…certainly faster than before.

Alex’s vision came alight with overlays thanks to Obby’s work. The displays clicked through options, calculations flashing in less than a second. Even with Alex’s Heavenly enhanced agility, pure speed was out of reach now. He couldn’t meet Talbon blow for blow while that light aura was active.

But at the same time, he didn’t need to.

His lips curled upward. “Alright, let’s see how your light handles a little chaos.”

He mentally reached for his storage bracelet, pulling a pair of aether crystals into his palm. The runes etched along their surface glowed in answer to his will.

Talbon’s next strike cut toward his chest. Alex dropped one crystal and shattered it mid-air. A barrier of shimmering force erupted between them, the spear rebounding in a spray of gold. Alex threw the second crystal behind Talbon, and detonated it with a concussive boom that threw the man forward into Alex’s waiting fist.

Talbon spun to the side, avoiding the blow and Alex pivoted, slammed a knee into his gut instead, then drove an elbow into his back before retreating away.

The crowd roared in response to the exchange.

Talbon coughed as his light augmentation flickered around him. He took only a bare moment to re-establish the looping cycle of the spell, then he smiled faintly. “As expected, you’re full of surprises.”

Alex grinned back. “You have no idea.”

The two of them circled each other, a standard affair as each tried to gain an angle to approach.

The announcer’s voice still boomed overhead, excitement thick in every word he spoke, coaxing the audience even into a higher fervor.

“The Worldstrider and the Illuminary Disciple, and both are still standing! Let’s see who shines brighter!”

The spear came once again like a flash of gold and thunder.

Alex twisted, air whipping against his shoulder as the blade missed by less than an inch. His footwork carried him to Talbon’s left flank, spinning lightly on his heel as he sent out a kick with his other leg. But the spear retracted in a blink, collapsing then launching again, to force Alex to abandon his melee pressure and retreat.

Talbon took over the advancer role, sending out his weapon again and again.

Each strike lashed out with perfect control, the angles tight and well practiced. Alex met the rhythm of his opponent with his own movement. He performed a sidestep, a lean, a half-step turn, dodging each forward thrust of the spear with the help of Obby’s trajectory lines. The little pebble’s help, coupled with his sheer stat advantage, was finally paying dividends. Together, his body responded faster than his mind could track. He trusted Obby and his instincts to keep him just a breath ahead.

Still, Talbon didn’t let up.

The air around the man began to brighten as his barrage continued. A corona of light gathered at his back, spheres of condensed sunlight forming and spinning in a lazy orbit before suddenly shooting off one by one. Each sphere left a comet trail of golden radiance as it fired thin, cutting beams across the arena.

Alex blocked the first beam with a raised bracer. The attack was stopped, but it burned into the outer layer of his equipment, leaving a solder. Seeing the attack was too strong to brute-force block, he flicked his wrist, ejecting a concentrated pulse of aether from his palm in a [Projection Shield]. The air rippled as his projection scattered the second beam, then another, sending shards of burning energy spiraling harmlessly away.

While a well-time [Aether Burst] would’ve done the same with triple the force… it also would’ve drained him faster. This was far more controlled and conserved his comparatively smaller aether pool.

Each barrier met Talbon’s radiant volleys with explosions of concussions of light that created smoke between them as the crowd roared in encouragement.

Talbon halted his offensive at last. Alex could see the man’s chest rising and falling as he took large breaths. His eyes narrowed as he folded his spear down, the three segments clicking back into a single solid shaft.

“You’re not using your Martial Art…” he said pointedly. “And that aether you project it is a custom spell, isn’t it?”

Alex straightened, finally catching a breath. “No Martial Art is needed yet. And yes, it’s my own spell pattern. Saves energy and makes it quick to cast.” Alex didn’t mind explaining his spell, any decent Magus watching the fight would be able to figure out the information and it would be spread to other fighters anyway.

“Focusing on aether cost and efficiency. Because of your lack of a mage core.” It wasn’t a question. Talbon was only saying what Alex and everyone else knew. “You have no inner mage core to draw from. You rely on those gems embedded in your equipment, yes?”

Alex gave a small shrug. “No mage core, that part’s true.”

He didn’t confirm the rest. He wouldn’t mention the aether lattice over his body gate, or the gems in his spine, or the way his [Aether Attuned Body] could hold gathered ambient energy. That secret stayed buried for now.

Talbon nodded once. “Very well then,” he said softly. “I’ll have to try harder to make you fight seriously.”

The Jade Tiger adept hardened his expression and took a new stance from before.

Aether surged from within him even faster, liquid light coursing through his veins and lighting him up like a college anatomy display. His entire form became a radiant silhouette too bright to look at directly. When the glare finally dimmed, Alex saw golden lines running under Talbon’s skin, looping through his muscles, bones, and organs in elegant spirals.

Alex’s fingers twitched. Aether crystals materialized in his palm with a thought, their inner light already at the ready. His other hand hovered near his waist, just above the concealed weapon.

Talbon’s lips moved, words slipping out in a spell chant.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Two golden barriers snapped into existence on either side of Alex. Each were walls of light that curved inward and sealed behind him. They gave off an oppressive heat as they boxed him in.

He could have escaped before the spell completed. His speed was more than enough, but he didn’t. He wanted to see what the Sect disciple would do next.

Talbon bent his knees. The light beneath his feet flared and the disciple’s body became a streak of gold.

The spear unfolded, chain links flashing as the weapon straightened to its full segmented length. The tip aimed dead for Alex’s chest.

Alex’s instincts screamed at him as the attack came, his mind calculating that he didn’t have the room, or the time, to dodge completely. Not anymore anyway. Talbon’s enhanced augmentor aura had closed the gap.

The speed difference was gone.

The spear’s tip sang as it came, and in that single, stretched-out heartbeat, Alex’s options collapsed to one.

Alex threw his hand forward, three aether crystals flying from his palm. They struck the air between him and Talbon and ignited in a chain of concussive bursts. The explosions cracked across the arena floor, scattering radiant dust and shoving Talbon off balance.

Alex’s other hand moved in the same moment, his fingers closing around the metal rod at his waist. A twist and a surge of will caused a blade of pale-blue light to spring to life from its hilt.

The spear’s tip lunged through the smoke of his aether crystals. Alex brought his aetherblade up and met it, gold and blue energy flaring on contact. The impact sent Talbon’s segmented weapon skittering sideways, scraping across his own conjured wall of light with a hiss and cracking the structure.

Talbon recovered, pulling his weapon back in and lashing forward again in a single move.

Once more, Alex caught the next thrust on his sword, twisting his wrist to redirect the spear’s path, then kicked backward against the glowing barrier behind him. The shockwave tore through the damaged wall, bursting it apart in a cascade of aether. Light scattered across the arena floor, and Alex shot backward through the gap, blade flashing in tight slashes as Talbon pursued.

The Sect disciple was fast. His attacks were relentless, midrange jabs, chained thrusts, collapsing strikes that shifted instantly into slashes or close-quarters punches. The Light mage’s body moved smoothly throughout it all.

Alex kept with him but only just barely. Step for step, dodging, deflecting, redirecting each blow at times falling short of perfect and gaining him a cut along his arm or leg. Still, his short sword blurred, a line of blue light weaving through Talbon’s golden streams.

But even with his higher attributes and new equipment, Alex could feel he was losing. Talbon’s Martial Art and augmentor spell were narrowing overpowering him, pushing his speed and strength just beyond what Alex could sustain. Every exchange shaved a fraction off his reaction time, earning him more and more glancing blows.

He needed to change the rhythm if he wanted to come out on top.

Talbon lunged, the spear cutting a crescent through the air. Alex moved his weapon, but instead of pressing the block, he twisted his arm, deactivated the sword, and let the energy blade vanish entirely.

The spear whooshed past his hand and passed just below his armpit.

Before Talbon could adjust, Alex stepped closer and reignited the weapon. The aether blade flashed into existence with a hum and sliced clean across the inside of Talbon’s forearm.

The man jumped back, eyes wide, clutching the large gash that now seeped blood over the platform at their feet.

“Hey,” he said, half-laughing through his surprise. “No fair.”

Alex just grinned, lifting his sword in a casual salute. “You’ve got your cool weapon trick. So do I. I think that’s more than fair, no?”

Talbon’s expression softened into amusement. “Very well,” he said. “Then I’ll stop holding back.”

They closed again, metal and aether colliding in pings of sound.

Now Alex was fighting on rhythm and off it with his aether blade. He began weaving feints and sudden gaps into the flow of their fight. Sometimes the blade winked out mid-swing, forcing Talbon to overcommit; sometimes it flared to life just as Talbon pulled back his defense, catching him across the shoulder or thigh. The unknown of his weapon’s activity made the Light mage hesitant to fully press his offense.

Every clash became a question mark, a gamble between Alex’s defending or countering.

But it didn’t stop there. Alex mixed in sudden kicks, half-faint thrusts, spinning parries that transitioned into barehanded strikes.

The duel carried on, both of them locked in a shifting of strikes and reposition.

Talbon tried to adapt. He began layering spells again, conjuring those same thin beams of condensed light that shot from his orbiting light-balls. Triangular barriers blinked into existence in an attempt to box Alex in, limiting his footing, controlling the angles he could move in.

Basic tactics, all things considered. Nothing Alex hadn’t seen before from Peter or Allie with their own light spells.

Alex used Obby’s displays to keep from being cornered, and kept his own focus on ensuring Talbon didn’t know what his next attack would be. He waited for the right moment to make his move. He needed a good push, just one.

Finally, Alex tossed a handful of rune-stamped statues onto the floor, little stone warriors that sprang to life and sprinted toward Talbon in a straight line.

“What—?” Talbon started.

The statues detonated before he could react. The concussive wave tore through the light formations he had hastily constructed, scattering golden dust through the air.

Alex grinned and reached into his belt. “Alright, let’s try this one.”

He pulled out what looked to anyone from Earth like an old flintlock pistol, retrofitted with glowing filaments and a crystallized chamber beneath the barrel. It looked ancient and experimental at once, a half-finished idea that he had pulled from Devon’s mad mind.

He raised the pistol, lined up the shot, and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

The weapon exploded with a flash that blinded Alex, Talbon, and half the audience. A bead of hyper-condensed aether screamed through the air, impossibly fast.

Talbon reacted instantly, slamming his spear down and conjuring three layered golden barriers in its path. The projectile blew through all three like fiber-wood, hitting his weapon square-on before detonating in a violent burst of pressure.

The shockwave rippled outward, slamming into Talbon’s chest and driving him back several meters. His augmentor enchantments skittered and faltered, before he was able to regain his control.

Alex looked down at the weapon in his hand. The barrel was cracked wide open, smoke trailing from the breach in the metal.

“Yeah,” he sighed, half to himself. “Didn’t think that’d work.”

He tossed the ruined pistol into the air and dismissed it back into his storage bracelet with a flick of his wrist.

Devon made it look easy.

Across the platform, Talbon straightened, golden lines crawling across his arms and shoulders again.

“Here we go then,” Alex murmured, setting his stance and lifting his blade.

Talbon’s expression had lost all playfulness. “I think its time we ended this, no? I will give this everything I have.”

Alex just smiled. “That’s what I was hoping for.”

Talbon vanished in a burst of light, his movement blurring with pure velocity. The air cracked behind him as he launched forward and his spear was poised for a killing strike.

Alex moved toward him, blade in hand, ready to perform his final trick.

To Talbon, the weapon had always been a short sword. Flashing on and off, sure. But it was a simple, close-range weapon. Wholly predictable.

So when Alex twisted his grip mid-thrust and channeled his intent through the weapon, the aether changed the blade, elongating and reforming into a gleaming long, ten foot lance that extended straight through the oncoming light mage.

Talbon didn’t even have time to stop. The tip drove clean through his chest.

The crowd gasped, then fell silent as the two of them froze in place, Talbon standing inches from Alex, his own spear hovering uselessly at his side.

Alex's words came out with full respect for the fighter. “Well fought, then.”

Talbon’s lips twitched in something between a grin and a grimace, blood bright against his teeth.

“Well… fou—” He coughed, a spray of blood flecking the air as Alex withdrew the weapon. The Sect disciple collapsed to his knees, his augmentor spell already dimming around him.

The medics rushed in before he hit the floor.

Alex didn’t wait for the verdict to be declared by the announcer. He bowed once to his opponent, to the crowd, and finally to the viewing box where the Empress sat. Then he turned and stepped toward the waiting platform that would lower him back beneath the arena.

The platform descended into the depths, taking him away.

The applause still echoed in his ears when he reached the ground.

He glanced up to the viewing box again. Beside Lady Xhiu on one of the upper tiers of the Empress’ viewing promenade. All eyes were on him. The crowd of nobles, diplomats, and sect envoys smiled and nodded.

He forced himself to keep his back straight even with his shallow wounds on his body, his hands folded politely behind him. He knew what this was, he was putting on a performance. This was how sponsors worked. He’d learned enough by now to know that every favor needed to be repaid, and the sponsors he had wrangled with the help of lady Xhiu wanted to see their investment was worth it.

Ahead of him, the next set of fighters were already walking out into the arena. Six of them stood waiting for the medics to finish and clear the platforms.

And among that half-dozen, someone caught his attention.

A slim, small, figure. Pale skin, dark eyes, and an utterly expressionless look on a young, childlike face.

“Kletos?”