Volume 2.5: Chapter XV: Trial 4475: The Living Wraith

“To rob a bank…”

Arson didn’t know what else to say, but was surprised by the smile that reemerged on Master Breaker’s face. He knew that he couldn’t tell the man a lie, feeling he would be able to sniff out the fallacy in an instant; instead choosing something true.

“Why didn’t you just say so my boy, even I trained this way back when I was a mortal.”

Arson shrugged.

“Just scared, honestly.”

Thank the Maiden that I actually did want to break into that sparking bank…!

“I see, well this isn’t the place for that kind of training,” said Master Breaker with a gesture toward the unmoving scythe golems. He lead Arson back to the pillar, and in an instant they were in a room filled with roaming lights. The interior of the room set up with various buildings of multiple shapes and sizes, along with golems patrolling the area like guardsmen; lights shining from their heads like they’d been equipped with ancient mining gear.

“Welcome to the garden of darkness and light, child.”

“What is this place?”

“This is a place for masters of our art form to be tested, within this space all arts of stealth are suppressed to push the skills we use to infiltrate to their maximums.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“There is a relic in every building, some hidden, while some are In plain sight, your objective is to collect them all in a single run through the space without being seen,” explained Master Breaker.

Arson nodded, trying to map out the guard patrols. He felt that the challenge didn’t look to be all that difficult, but knew that any challenge given by the master’s of Origin was not to be taken lightly.

“Doesn’t seem too bad. Anything else I should know before I start?”

“No, you will learn the challenge of this place by training here, trust and believe me, not even true invisibility artists can make this environment bend to their wills…”

Arson quickly learned why his Master felt as he did about the training course. He’d not even made it a dozen feet toward his first target before a light shined on him, blinding him completely in a brief instant before he was pulled back to the starting position; teleported instantly by a rune that flared up on the golem that caught him.

Arson had barely even gotten a chance to start. Breaker’s laughter loud and authentic in a way that made Arson’s face flush with embarrassment.

“It seems your skills are more in the realm of runes than stealth craft I see.”

Arson sighed, yet again attempting the course, caught even more quickly the second time than his first try. However, things only got worse, as Arson became more desperate.

The guards left no space unturned in a way that showed Arson that his previous successes infiltrating anything were due to mortal errors. The highly diligent and efficient golems left no room for error, forcing Arson to train on a level of precision that he’d never experienced prior.

Not only was skulking through the training ground difficult beyond what he’d expected. He found that even the mass majority of his runes in regards to stealth didn’t work. Sound suppression, light deflection and reflection, and even outright illusionary runic arrays and formations were useless. The lights of the golems able to peel back anything touched by their grand illumination.

“They're sparking everywhere, around every corner, waiting in every room, what am I supposed to do without a single moment to breathe?”

"Your awareness is stronger than any student I’ve ever had, yet you never use those strange eyes of yours when you should.”

Arson struggled in ways he never had before. Breaker showed him many ways to increase his success throughout the training, giving Arson much to think about. Yet the more he overcame, the more difficult objectives he found with every step forward, in any direction taken.

He nearly made it inside the first building a multitude of times, only to be caught in increasingly more frustrating ways with each failure. Once hanging from a ledge of the roof by his fingertips, not but a moment from slipping inside an open window. Again, while easing open a rear door. As well as a countless number of times caught by the same golem that guarded the front entrance.

Arson tried to use his Closed Eye Dominion as directed by Breaker, becoming more adept with each try. He hated that he was annoyed by the constant struggle, but in love with the challenge that brought on his quickly advancing skill in stealth.

At the end of every day he would join back up with his doppelgängers at Acu’s manor. The group returned to Arson’s shadow showing him everything they’d learned while apart.

While Arson fought against Temper, and Glory, learning to use all of what they’d learned at an incredible rate while training within his cerebral Realm, Thinker shared a verbal history on everything he’d figured out about the history of Origin.

Bloom was constantly immersed in runic tinkering, but Arson still managed to pull apart much of what his clone did to advance. The volatility of runes power made it so that Arson had to train with him separately. The explosive combat between him and his copy was dangerous to the point of lost limbs. Some attacks even powerful enough to knock Arson from his cerebral realm entirely, leaving him with headaches that he had to meditate to recover from.

The breathing exercise he’d learned just before entering Endless helped tremendously, making Arson’s downtime even during his longest days pass with ease.

Arson had believed that he was advancing quickly before, but while supported by his clones, his learning speed had tripled. Anything taught by his clones felt to be more remembered than experienced for the first time, making the standard of improvements far beyond what had been normal for Arson.

His masters saw the strides made, making the perception of his talent and growing genius stand out that much more. Arson’s consistent belief that what he was accomplishing was beneath the common level of experience only fueled his drive further, pushing him to limits he would have never met otherwise.

He’d been raised by a woman who told him the same legends and myths that children were told that made them want to become Cultivators. Except his guardian spoke from a first hand perspective, casually disclosing what was needed to overcome challenges seen as impossible by mortals and even many Cultivators alike.

Finally a day came where Arson felt he needed to test himself, gauging just how far he’d come since entering the city of Origin.

“Who is that?” Arson heard someone ask as he entered Rebellion’s dojo. He wore his hood to cover his features, wanting to use every aspect of his abilities without being tied to any of the master’s he’d been seen with or been connected to by rumor.

He chose to use the night scale version and increase the flow of life force running through his veins, as the abundance of mana in Origin never truly left him wanting in the magical resources department.

"It's time to let loose, guys," thought Arson, sending his words toward his Gestalt forms, knowing that they all were watching excitedly.

“Let the games begin.”

…

Acu found it odd that Rebellion suddenly sent a runner to have him come and visit his dojo. That was until he arrived at least.

He’d walked into the same viewing room where he and Rebellion had watched Arson's test to join the master’s dojo, to find Osiris, Merlin and Magnus, as well as Master Breaker and Rebellion himself.

“Hello, everyone, what did I miss?”

All in the room glanced at him, but none answered, all returning their eyes to the screens. Each wall in the eight sided room showing one figure from many differing vantage points.

“Is that…?”

“Who else could it be?” responded Breaker, chuckling unlike himself. Acu knew the man for nearly a century and had never heard the man even snicker, finding the man’s obvious joy completely out of character.

“How bad—“

“Bad,” said everyone in the room with the exception of Osiris who spoke next.

“It is only getting worse. I’m honestly glad that I haven’t let him take the shield I have been developing for him.”

“Yeah, the more I watch, the more I begin to believe that we have officially created a monster,” said Rebellion, sucking in a breath as the figure on screen spartan kicked a fighter through a wall.

“Well at least he’s not—“

Acu cut himself off. The hooded figure stealing the words from his mouth.

In one smooth motion the figure hit another combatant with a palm strike, knocking them backward. Before the combatant could even land on their feet properly, a scythe was summoned from thin air, and used to wrap around the back of the combatant with a simple rotation from the hooded figure’s wrist.

Snatched out of the air, the combatant was then easily flung into the air. The scythe in the hooded figures hand was replaced with a bow in an instant, and a plethora of arrows were fired, sending the combatant sailing through the air, toward the dome of healers in the middle of the dojo.

While the hooded figure had fired on his target, a hand made of light lifted from his back, shooting explosive orbs of water that both stunned those who rushed the figure with burst of electricity, knocking them back. Trails of mana visible to the master’s eyes as they drifted back toward the figure.

“You were saying,” said Magnus, glancing toward Acu with a smirk.

“Maybe it might be good if you didn’t give him that shield,” mumbled Acu underneath his breath.

“No, he will need it for enemies stronger than those his age,” responded Osiris.

“The brat is holding back,” said Rebellion, Breaker nodding in agreement before he too commented.

“I’ve never seen someone do that beside myself,” commented breaker with a point.

The hooded figure performed a sweeping kick on three opponents that rushed him from various angles, vanishing only to appear behind one of those he’d kicked, but not knocked unconscious, punching the young woman at the back of her skull in a swift motion.

The masters all shared a look, silence filling the area. Rebellion sighed and clapped before he put on a brilliant smile.

“Let us share a drink,” said the combat master. An attendant entered, and handed each master a glass of wine.

The group continued to watch, speaking casually as they sipped their drinks. The joyous moment was both a victory, and a moment of sadness as the entire council of masters knew what was to come next.

They’d long ago agreed that they would continue on their paths once they found a replacement. However, Arson was only one person, and though they all had their eyes on him, in the end, only one would be replaced by him.

"Who will it be," thought Acu as he glanced between his peers and Arson still fighting on the various screens.

They all would have to determine who Arson would succeed either by a trial of combat between themselves, or Arson would have to choose what path he would follow above all others and learn everything his chosen master had to offer.

Rebellion sighed, shaking his head at the incredible level of combat being displayed by Arson, knowing that the weight of Arson’s choice would affect them all.

“Come on, everyone, let's all go reign him in before he brings down my bloody dojo brick by brick…”

…

Breathe… Duck. Conductive water orb, into a heavy counter, and spin to dodge.

Arson followed his mental instructions with ease. His eyes closed, he took deep breaths to remain calm in the middle of a violent storm of combat .

While his concentration was at an all time maximum he felt as if the world moved slowly around him, giving him enough time to make decisions. He tried not to lose himself in the combat as every time without fail that he grew too excited, he was struck.

With all the competitors battling inside the large space, he’d managed to make many enemies, painting an impressively large target on his back.

He’d started to dial down the brutality, becoming more and more forgiving to those he fought, and quickly paid for it. A group of ten previously beaten all rushing him at once.

At first he’d dismissed the collected attack as coincidence, but when the same group attacked him in full after recovering… He didn’t let the same circumstance become a common occurrence.

Broken bones made the healers positioned within the dome of light at the center of the room have to work that much harder to keep those he fought upright, giving Arson more time to breathe between combat.

Sweep the leg, and break the knee. Jump, and fire at the two charging. Rotate and spin kick the attempted back stab to disarm. Land and transition into a spartan kick.

Combat continued like this until Arson realized that no one approached him. He’d been left in a corner of the large area left alone. Arson sneered, looking down at his watch with a face that would have showed his disbelief if his face had not been draped in pure shadow. Yet Anastasia got the message just fine.

“You train with masters constantly, Arson, and those who fight at your level are decades older than you, yes they are still young in the grand scheme of things, but you need to understand that those as strong as you at your age are few and far between. You may not even find true competition in the tournament of scions, but I suspect that you will if you join a college Sekt and fight amongst them in their tournament planets.”

Arson laughed, charging toward the nearest battle at full speed, not having had enough of the combat, his lust for battle grew with every deep breath taken.

“What’s a tournament planet, I have never heard of that?”

“That is because it is a secret of the Sekts, disputes between the college Sekts are resolved by competitions not shown to the public, they take place on planets that either have been bereft of life, or hold ravenous ecosystems.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, I bet it does to a battle junkie in training like yourself. Pretty sure your family owns one.”

Arson paused.

“My family owns a planet?”

“Planets, plural, and yes. Your father is a king of realms and you weren’t aware that he owned planets, and your mother dabbles in things more than illegal, I’m pretty sure she owns the mortal sections of the milky way in a lower realm, and many others in higher realms.”

Arson couldn’t believe what he was being told, shaken by his lack of knowledge about his family being pushed even further.

“I mean... Sparks, if it weren’t for your grandfather’s actions, I’m sure your family would be the largest trader of slaves in all of the realms, Carter is the only relative left alive that still practices that trade, and I’m sure that is only because Arkanous couldn’t defeat him before he died.”

“Woah… that’s a lot to take in all at once…”

Arson let his mind wander and continued to fight his way through the room. The farther he explored the highs and lows of the dojo’s interior, the more fearsome the struggle to keep up became.

The younger opponents had fought on the edges of the dojo, leaving the more experienced fighters the room to fight closer toward the middle and inside the various structures meant to give fighters a more private experience.

A fact that Arson cared little about, quickly deciding to intrude on any and every fight he could dive into.

Finally, after a bout between him and a series of more advanced fighters resulted in a building coming down on his shoulders, and him being dragged unconscious into the center of the dojo where the healers worked on him slowly, Arson decided to stop for the day, training in his mind with his Gestalt forms while his body was analyzed by the healers.

After a while longer, he was finally woken by the medical team, to see all of his masters standing before him, wearing various emotions across their faces. Arson sat up, pulling back his hood once he realized that the group obviously knew it was him.

Sparks, Master Breaker did see me with my night scale hood on already, didn’t he…

“Hey, guys,” said Arson scratching his head nervously. Only for Acu to roll his eyes and shake his head slowly.

“Having fun, boy?”