When the void cleared, they found themselves back in the Arena in its most natural state. The grass withered away beneath Colt’s feet, going from a vibrant green lawn to a withered mass of dried and dying soil. From there, it broke apart further, turning to dust and joining the sand beneath. What once was trees, brush, and grass was now back to a desert.
The crowd around them cheered and went wild, the blue faces beaming.
“My loyal subjects. Today, upon our centennial games, we have victors of two of three. That means they qualify to face the final challenge. Their strife has been great, and upon reaching this round, they are battered and bruised. Nothing comes easy in life. War requires sacrifice, and to find your way to a victory requires pain.” Athena spoke, and her voice was everywhere. An overwhelming presence that crushed down on everyone around them.
The people went wild around them, their voices once more a screaming wall.
Distracting.
Colt cut the noise off around him, much the same way as he cut through the noise before. If they were little waves, he could keep up a small barrier around himself to slice those waves. The application of it made sense mentally, and since it was reverse engineering what he did with a lesser rank in the Edict, this much came naturally.
Blessedly, the cheering of the crowd stopped, and he could keep his mental state intact.
“They will face a copy of one of the fiercest creatures in existence. Fresh from hell itself. Behold, Cerberus!” Athena’s voice, however, had no difficulty penetrating his barrier. His Edicts couldn’t hold up to whatever nature of being that woman was.
The sand in front of them blackened, then widened, with a pit forming in the middle of it. What rose was a giant of a dog roaring with three fierce heads. Its fur was as black as night; molten lava dripped from its fangs as it let out an ear-piercing roar; this, too, had no difficulty getting through Colt’s barrier. Behind it curled a massive snake, the head waving slowly, its tongue flicking out and tasting the air. The monster was the size of a house. It radiated an overwhelming power.
It saw them and lurched forward—then stopped, jerked by a chain that trailed back into the pit from which the beast came.
“Though this is but a shadow of the real thing, do not be deceived. We’ve pulled forth the most powerful shadow we could, given the state of this world from which our contenders hail. This should be a challenge that may be impossible for beings of their capacity. There will be blood. There will be death. But we must ask, can these gladiators survive a last round that has slain hundreds?”
With Athena’s last proclamation, the pit from which Cerberus came was filled with sand. The chain that held the monster down eroded, then snapped with one last jerk.
Cerberus howled, and Colt let his control over cut stop, letting the sound of the crowd once more funnel in. Now, with the danger right in front of him, he could simply ignore it. His knife held tight as he started at the lumbering monster in front of him; more lava spit came from its mouth.
All he had was a tiny knife to face off against this behemoth.
Bring it.
The officer had been a whetstone, and this monster would only serve as a bigger one. If it could bleed, it could die. If his knife could cut it, he could kill it. Victory had to be the only thing in his head.
Nate and Nick walked next to him, while Julia stayed with Sarah. The girl had been crying ever since the trial ended, blathering on about ‘dumb npc’s’ and ‘why am I this sad?’ It was a sort of delusional nonsense that didn’t serve a purpose and had no place in a situation like this. No, what they needed was focus—a razor-edge of focus if they stood any chance of surviving.
Given the state of her arm, she wasn’t in much condition for a fight like this anyway.
“What do we do?” Nate asked as Cerberus sniffed the air. The monster was staring at them, and it was only a matter of time before it bounded after them and ate them.
“I will lead the attack. You support Nick. And Nick can fire off arrows to distract it while I fight. I can’t see the level yet, but I suspect we're dead if this thing hits any of us. So I’d rather everyone else stay as far away as possible. I’ve got to be fast enough not to get hit. It’s that simple.” It was dancing on the knife edge of death, but by now, he’d gotten comfortable there. It brought out his best.
“And if you die?” Nate said after a barest second.
There wasn’t any doubt in there; he wasn’t trying to discourage Colt. No, the practical man was trying to have a backup plan in case Colt couldn’t handle the big beast. Hard to find fault in that.
“It appears to have lava power. Have Julia drag Sarah as far away as possible, then regroup with you. Maybe her water will be able to do something. From there, you’ll have to figure it out.” Colt gave the orders with a cold voice.
He wouldn’t die, so it didn’t matter.
Victory was key.
Nate put a hand on his shoulder. “You have us at your back if the plan changes. I’ll run in and face down this thing as well, by your side, if you say.”
There was a bond of loyalty there, and Colt gave him a nod. Nate was willing to step into it even if it meant more likely than not certain death. He’d been a soldier, he’d had his brothers, and through the trial of the last couple of weeks, the soldier had found that bond in Colt, too. For that reason, he wouldn’t ask him to do this with him. Far too dangerous.
“Appreciated.”
Cerberus sniffed.
Cerberus stepped forward.
Colt ran toward it, his increased dexterity clearing the distance in seconds—his feet kicking sand as he ran, each push forward calculated as he moved. It had the intended effect: Cerberus focused solely on him, a moving target. The big beast was a dog, just one with three heads. In a way, he was like a ball rolling across the sand, a toy for the dog to chase down and chew up.
Unlike a dog, he had fangs that could crush a car and paws with claws that could turn a man into a paste.
Cerberus bounded forward, lava spewing from its mouth as it moved, wind curling around it with a tang. As soon as he was close enough, Colt got his inspect in.
———
Cerberus - Level 65
Description: The hound of hell from legends. Spawn of Typhon and Echidna, this is a massive three-headed beast with surprising cunning. It is said that Cerberus guards the entrance to the underworld. His job is to keep the dead from leaving and eat the living who try to enter. However, when away from the gates of hell, Cerberus doesn’t have too much of a compunction with eating any other living mortal he runs across. This is but a shadow of the mighty beast, but don’t let that fool you. It can and will kill you.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
One thing many people get wrong about Cerberus is his size; they tend to think, ‘Hey, it’s big, it’s just going to eat me.’ Well, let's get something straight. Cerberus will eat you. But Cerberus doesn’t have to only eat you. He’s a smart pup, and makes good use of those three skulls of his. As such, he has a grasp of shadow magic, fire magic, and a pretty nasty ability to affect souls. This hard-working dog needs to manage the unalive, after all. Best of luck!
Noteworthy Skills:
Soul Scathing Howl [Epic] - Level 13
Three Brains Are Better Then One [Rare] - Level 19
Shadow Mastery [Rare] - Level 14
Fire Magic [Uncommon] - Level 18
Venomous Bite [Uncommon] - Level 9
Edicts:
Sear (lesser)
Shadow (lesser)
*Inspect* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
———
The warning came a second before it was needed; Colt had been under the impression this beast was just going to try to chew him up. But as they closed in together, he saw that spark of intelligence in one of its three heads—a second later, it spewed a burst of law, which then balled up and burst into a fireball.
Colt dived to the side, twisting as his body kicked up sand. The heat scorched his hair and skin, and the air was harsh to breathe as he narrowly missed the conflagration.
Then his shadow twisted—a spike of black smoke flew up from it, aimed at his head. This, too, he skidded by, feeling the sharpened blackness tear into his cheek as he barely prevented a spike from going into his head. Then the earth rumbled, and Cerberus was there, its jaws unhinged as it lowered its muzzle, seeing fit to eat him whole.
Colt threw out his invisible way of death at that open mouth, then wrapped the Edict around his knife again as the first wave rose to meet the jaws coming down to eat him, launching a second invisible blade of death, struggling to maintain both. This one, he aimed slightly lower, at the neck of the middle head.
The first hit the jaw, the laws contesting one another. Lava coated its mouth, black shadowy smoke rising to defend and contest the contact point. His Greater Edict contested the two lesser ones and came to a halt before it could dig in and take half of Cerberus’ head off; that much was fine. Expected even, considering the level difference.
Cerberus wasn’t aware of the second line of death until it hit the monster’s throat.
The monster howled as a waterfall of blood fell from the slit in its middle neck; smoke and lava flared, and the blood that landed on Colt beneath it stung with a fierce heat. The cut stopped going as it fought back against both, but he’d got in his damage and bought a second.
Colt flew backward, scrambling away from Cerberus as he pulled all of his power into his legs.
In response, Cerberus howled.
Colt stopped in his tracks.
It tore at his insides, and the two invisible cuts the monster was fighting against vanished; the handle on his Edict torn away from him as the howl shriveled his grasp on the Edicts, as his soul instinctively tried to retreat back inside, afraid of a beast who would chew it and tear it to shreds. Even his legs felt like jelly, his head a sudden ache as it split and tore his concentration.
Move. He tried to command.
A shadow approached.
A snake head snapped down, fangs extended, dripping with a lava-like venom, and Colt pulled himself together enough to activate Phantom’s Gambit; he couldn’t move, but the snake snapped through where he was, hitting nothing but sand.
Move. Colt commanded again and felt the welling resonance inside of him. If he wanted to move, if he needed it, it was there. Cerberus was a mighty beast, a monster a man like him wasn’t meant to kill. Not like he was. Athena had banked on them all dying. She’d chosen her champion and set them in a situation where her battle was all but one. He could see that.
But Colt had a beast in him, too.
MOVE!
The edict flared outward; Movement wrapped around his limbs, and the world slowed. The snakehead that was currently phased through his body still as a statue. His heart hammered away already, his eyes strained. Every muscle was on fire as the Edict ran wild; it bucked, it flared, excitement to be drawn upon.
At most, he had a handful of seconds. More than before.
It must be enough.
Colt wrapped the Edict of Cut around his knife, then stepped away from the snake, his body reforming; he moved like water, a single step taking him back to the snake-tail, and a single slice moving at a speed fast enough to complete take it off; Cerberus started to move behind him, howling, fire building in two of its mouths.
In a burst of speed, he was there, leaped on top of the back of the beast. Cut expanded, its energy enhanced by movement, feeding from the overwhelming power of the Edict.
Colt’s heart rate sped; it felt like it wanted to burst out of his chest in a pulse of explosive fleshy gore.
He snapped the knife forward, expanding the edge outward, stretching the weapon from a small knife to a knife of a giant, a knife big enough to do the damage he needed to this monster. The edge tore through one neck, fire and shadow fought against him, pushing back on instinct, but it fell apart. Sliced too fast.
One head.
Two heads.
Colt struggled on the third neck; Cerberus was aware enough, he was moving beneath Colt, the formidable monster reacting to an attack that must have happened in three seconds to it, outside of the wrapping of the Movement Edict, and its defense was mounting. Movement was fading, bucking Colt’s control even more, fighting against him.
Colt cut through the skin of the third neck. Got an inch deep. Two inches.
He grit his teeth, his heart running as if in the last mile of a marathon—threatening to run straight out of his chest and collapse onto the sand, dead.
More. Colt pushed.
Cerberus fought back and fought for its life. There was more shadow and more fire. Flames were licking up its back. Colt could feel them beneath his feet as the entirety of the beast heated; a howl was erupting, too. He could feel the traveling disruption through the air. When it reached him, his Movement would break free, too much to control.
An arrow of light slammed into its last head, fired before Colt even used his Edict.
Cerberus lost focus for a tenth of a second. To Colt, it might as well have been five seconds in this state. More than enough to see, think, and react.
Colt screamed, throwing the rest of his power into the cut, entwining the greater Edict with the force of Movement, and the two slid right through the rest of Cerberus’ defense. The last head came off; time returned to normal as the Colt tumbled to the ground, his back hurt, shoulder broken as the steaming body of the thrice-beheaded dog collapsed next to him.
———
You have defeated Cerberus - Level 65
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have 6 Stat points to spend. You have gained 2 points of Dexterity and 2 points of Soul.
*Phantom’s Gambit* (Basic) has gained a level!
*Soul And Mind Fortitude* (Basic) has gained a level!
*Soul And Mind Fortitude* (Basic) has gained a level!
*Knives/Daggers Proficiency* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
———
Colt blinked; he heard a rush of sound around him; his feet burned. Blackened and wounded, his chest felt like someone had hung him in a boxing gym and let a ton of people use him like a bag. As he sat looking at the sky, too winded to think much past the pain and gratefulness for living, another notification took over.
———
Cerberus has become aware of you defeating one of his shadows. He is impressed by your strength and has seen fit to offer you a contract. You may now accept Cerberus as an Icon.
Note: This is your first Icon offer; you may only ever accept one Icon, as once you’ve accepted it, your path will forever be shaped by it. Icons are a connection to a powerful mantle, a legend, a myth, a figure of strength and renown that has become larger than life and has found its life in the Labyrinth. Your connection to this being is a contract, and that contract comes with ideals you must uphold. Icons can be deepened by agreeing to further ideals or accomplishing quests issued by your Icon. Following their path can boost the cultivation of great power, yet straying too far from their path may prove difficult. Choose carefully.
Icon: Cerberus
The path of the three-headed beast. An arbiter of the gate between life and death, this path deals with the spheres of both. But wait, there’s more; add in a dash of fire, shadow, and venom, and you end up with quite a complex path to follow. At times, it’s almost like you have to have three minds to juggle it all.
Luckily, this path begins by offering the following skill to help you with your first steps:
Skill: Split Mind [Rare]
Description: This skill allows the user to run co-currently by splitting their concentration and focus. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain much more than that. It’ll be like having two minds running at once, and I’m sure it’s easy to see the benefits that might be capable of.
Would you like to accept this Icon?
(Y/N)
———
