Nightmare Realm Summoner

Aaron laughed.

Nobody else did. His smile fell away ash his eyes flicked over to the heavily armored, heavily set man. His gaze drifted over to the twin swords he held. Then Aaron cleared his throat. “I — uh — seriously? He’s an Adept!”

“And he won’t be using his Domain whatsoever. No Soul Manifestations,” Alex said. He arched an eyebrow. “Right?”

“I do not renege on deals spoken,” the man said with no little amount of grandiose energy. He was definitely quite into the whole noble speech thing. A part of Alex wondered if he was actually some member of royalty or an equivalent from some Outworlder family. The man pressed his fest into his chest plate, bringing the blade of his sword dangerously close to his nose. “A deal sworn is one that will never be withdrawn.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to beat that guy?” Aaron hissed. “He’s covered in armor!”

“Maybe you should have brought some yourself,” Alex said. “It’s for sale in Mirrorwane, you know. And I haven’t seen you complain during any of the other fights.”

“That’s because you and Claire did practically everything!” Aaron caught himself midway through starting another sentence. Then he ground his jaw shut and shook his head, his eyes narrowing. “No. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m complaining. This is what I asked for.”

“It is,” Claire agreed. “You sure you’re up to it? I’m going to be pissed if I have to give up something good because you get your ass handed to you. Last chance to back out.”

“If I back out here, then what was the point of bothering you to let me come along in the first place?” Aaron asked. His hands tightened into fists and he took a step forward. “I’ll fight you.”

“And I will accept your challenge.” The pudgy man stepped forward. At the same time, his two companions edged to the back of the platform to stay out of the fight. Both Alex and Claire did the same, leaving Aaron standing uncomfortably on his own. The large, armored man raised both of his swords before himself in some manner of odd salute. “I am known as Tael Quatro, the Star of Shining Gold and Liberator of the Westernmost Halls. State you name so that I may know whom I defeat.”

The fuck kind of title is that?

Aaron shifted his stance. He looked down at his entirely empty hands.

“Aaron.”

Claire coughed into her fist.

It wasn’t a laugh.

Probably.

“Aaron,” Tael repeated. He didn’t sound very impressed. “That is a… name. One of the names. Yes.”

“I’m still working on the titles and stuff,” Aaron said. “Sorry.”

“There is no need to apologize for your inadequacies. Losers must exist so that victors can be born. And no man who deserves his titles is ever born with them. Perhaps you will earn yours some day in the future.”

Tael crossed his blades before himself. Magical energy danced across their hilts. Coils of black flame erupted across the weapon in his left hand, while the one in his right ignited with a brilliant golden glow. The hair on Alex’s arms stood on end.

As odd as Tael was, there was some real magic in his weapons. It wasn’t weak magic, either. If he could feel it from all the way on the other side of the platform… this guy wasn’t just all talk.

Aaron could see that just as well as they could. He edged a step back, shifting uneasily. There wasn’t so much as a scrap of confidence in his stance. While it would have been disrespectful to say that he was already looking for an escape, Aaron certainly wasn’t raring for the fight. He looked like a fish out of water.

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Alex exchanged a glance with Claire. Neither of them said a word. They didn’t really have to. The difference in stances might as well have been a prophecy. Confidence was a pretty large part of any fight. And when Alex took even the smallest glance at the two men readying to fight before him, there was really only one logical conclusion that anyone could come to.

Aaron was totally fucked.

***

I’m so fucked.

Aaron’s tongue felt like sandpaper.

This was basically what he’d asked for. He knew that damn well. But he’d wanted to fight monsters. Not humans. And especially not humans built like a tank and covered in a massive suit of armor that was so shiny that it threatened to burn his eyes out. The shiny magic swords certainly weren’t helping either.

I’ve never had a real fight against someone that uses magic weapons! He’s definitely way smarter than a monster. And will my magic even work properly against someone like this? Shit. I really wasn’t ready for this at all. I’m an idiot.

His heart was beating so fast that he could have sworn it was trying to break free of his ribcage. Sweat had slicked the back of his neck and was soaking into his shirt and the fight hadn’t even begun yet.

“Are you prepared?” Tael asked.

At least he won’t kill me. Right? What if he was lying? And even if he doesn’t… Alex and Claire are never going to forgive me if I lose without putting up a fight. They’ll have to give up good magical items if I do. Damn it. What was I thinking?

Aaron was shaking. It was due in equal parts to adrenaline and the nerves threatening to take over his thoughts entirely. There was only thing he really had going for him here. Adept 1 or not, Tael wasn’t going to use his Soul Manifestation — and Aaron had maxed out his Mind Palace.

That meant, armor and weapons aside, they were roughly at the same spot in power. There was a world in which Aaron had a chance at winning this. That world was just feeling very, very distant.

Aaron swallowed. Then he raised his hands before him. To his immense annoyance, no matter how hard he tried, his fists wouldn’t stop trembling. He looked like a leaf about to tear free from its branch. This really wasn’t going well. The fight hadn’t even started yet and he was definitely looking like a compete pushover to Alex and Claire.

“Yeah,” Aaron said. He was somewhat proud to find that his voice didn’t sound nearly as panicked as it felt. It was only about 70% of as bad as he thought would be. That wasn’t too bad. He reached into his pocket, feeling the comforting weight of the quarter resting there. “I’m ready.”

Tael paused for a moment. His head tilted to the side. “Are… you going to bring out your weapon? The fight will be starting.”

“I don’t, uh, have one,” Aaron said. “Just this.”

He pulled his coin out.

Everyone stared at it.

The tips of his ears turned slightly red. This really wasn’t going his way at all.

“I… see,” Tael said slowly. It sounded like he was trying very hard to be polite. If anything, that felt even more insulting than if he’d laughed out loud. “May I ask what Stage you are, Aaron of no titles?”

“Initiate 9,” Aaron said.

“I now recognize why the ban upon Soul Manifestations was placed,” Tael said. He squinted at Aaron’s coin as if trying to determine if there was some secret hidden within it. “If this is your weapon, then I suspect you wield a magic I have not yet seen. I will be most curious to experience it. There is no ban on normal abilities, yes?”

“Just Soul Manifestations,” Claire confirmed from behind him. “Feel free to do whatever you want to aside from that. Just remember the terms. No killing blows.”

“I would never dream of it,” Tael promised. He lowered his stance. His features turned unreadable. “Are you prepared for the fight? I am going to attack you now.”

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “Let’s—”

Tael blurred.

His swords carved down through the air in two blurred streaks. Aaron’s eyes widened and he threw himself to the side, hitting the ground in a roll as the whoosh of metal carved through the space where he’d been moments before. He shot to his feet, his blood pounding like a roaring beast in his ears, only to find Tael bearing down on him before he could even catch his bearings.

The large man was far faster than he had any right to be. His glowing swords accelerated toward Aaron’s side, aiming to score across his chest. Aaron was forced to leap backward to avoid the fight ending then and there. He shifted, teeth gritting as he skipped back once more. He raised his coin, preparing to call on his magic—

His foot caught on a growth protruding from the ground.

The world flipped.

Aaron tripped, pitching back and hitting the ground with a pained grunt. The coin in his fingers slipped free. It traced a clean arc through the air over his head. He, along with everyone else, watched as the glittering coin vanished into the churning depths of the storms surrounding them.

And then it was gone.

You have to be shitting me.