Here lies Kalarian Mensis. Father. Son. Husband. Hero.

  - Gravestone of Kalarian Mensis, Hero of the Alliance. Galtor-X.

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  Chapter 16: Even Shallow Waters Hide Deadly Threats

  With the theatrical finish of the Firewyrm from Kariel’s and Quito’s supersonic spear, a sense of relief permeated through me. All of a sudden, the various cuts and scratches made themselves known as the adrenaline I’d been riding began to wear off.

  But I didn’t dare to relax just yet. Though there were markedly less others still moving than at the start of the battle, those that were eyed us warily.

  ‘And of course there could be those waiting for the beast to fall before ambushing all of us together at our weakest’

  It appeared Axe has the same idea as me as he spoke up, piercing grey eyes scanning across the basin like a hawk.

  “No announcement means its not over yet. Don’t lose your concentration yet, if you sense anything move with that ability of yours, we act.”

  “Are there usually last-minute ambushes”, I asked, wincing as I staggered to my feet. I could feel a few wounds that were sure to be an ugly purple underneath my clothes.

  “Not usually. The announcements don't usually take this long in the first place...”, Axe trailed off. “But it never hurts to be cautious. This Hunt has just been one ambush after another”.

  ‘Thinking back on the events that led us here, it does seem to form a pattern. Probably not the best debut for someone with an energy sensing ability’

  I doubled down my concentration on my Truesight, though even with extra effort, the basin remained barren of true threats. Just as I was about to say this, my eyes widened and I opened my mouth to shout a warning.

  It seemed Axe had sensed my tension as his alertness sky-rocketed in a split-second, arms and legs writhing with unseen energy.

  “They’re coming”, I shouted out towards him, pointing to the far ridge where a few armoured figures were cresting the top.

  A familiar sight came into view as they reached the top and began beelining towards the few players still in the game.

  The sleek curves of their armour and their full reflective faceplates could have been from anywhere. But the plasma-edged swords they wielded left no room for doubt.

  “The ones from earlier”, Axe muttered. “But what’s their play? They can’t attack us now when the event’s over?”

  But even as they dashed closer towards the first of the gladiators in their paths, there was nothing from the everpresent overlords of the Colosseum. I spared a glance towards the sky, expecting to see some sort of hologram, but nothing greeted me except the vast expanse of purple.

  “Doesn’t look like they’re coming to help”

  A grim tone entered my voice. Their capabilities were unknown, Quito was the only one who fought them head on, but I sensed that they were far beyond the other Bronze ranked competitors around.

  “Let’s meet up with Kariel and Quito”, Axe spoke with urgency. “Quito’s surely out cold from that last attack and I doubt Kariel can defend him alone”.

  I nodded and we turned towards where that final spear shot came from. A thin film of dust had risen from the sudden battle, attempting to obscure our vision, though Truesight would not be mitigated by such mundane measures.

  “They’re not that far off our right”. Kariel’s mind seemed fine, though Quito’s was faint and flickering, the purple aura almost completely exhausted. “Kariel’s fine but it looks like Quito’s out cold”.

  “Let’s make a move then”, Axe replied as he tensed his powerful legs and dashed forwards, leaving furrows in the ground.

  By now, it seemed that the other fights had finished, and the dust had settled. What greeted me reinforced what I saw in my Truesight, and did not leave me reassured. Only the armoured figures remained standing.

  I counted fifteen of them, including the one we spoke with earlier, though he seemed unconcerned about us in particular.

  Kariel and Quito were only a few hundred metres away, but it seemed like fate had other plans in store.

  Several figures descend on us from all directions, swallowing up the distance with immense strides.

  “Watch out!”, I shouted out a warning quickly to Axe who skidded to a stop and took a defensive position at my back.

  “This doesn’t look too good”, he muttered, brows furrowed in a picture of intense concentration. “If we wanna make it to them, we’ll simply have to break through these guys with force”

  I nodded, keeping an eye on Kariel and Quito in the distance, though they appeared to be safe for now.

  The first of the armoured figures reached us on Axe’s side and halted several metres away. A light grin adorned Axe’s face as he muttered under his breath.

  “How kind of him to let me take the first move”

  With that, a coalescence of energy built around his legs as he pulled an arm backwards and dashed forwards.

  ‘He used a similar amount of energy against the Firewyrm earlier’

  I felt a wince of sympathy towards the armoured figure, though it was quickly replaced by shock. Originating from the figure’s placid mind, a powerful pressure began to emanate.

  ‘No, not just him; the energy's coming from all of them’

  The realisation crept over me, filling me with horror.

  “Stop!”, I reached out a hand towards Axe’s figure, but it was too late.

  The powerful mental wave released from the figure like a burst dam. Unseen to the naked eye, but in my Truesight, a veritable torrent of energy was released and Axe took the full brunt of the attack.

  Credit to him, his psyker sigils writhed in rage in a vain attempt at defence, but his mind was ultimately unprotected and he staggered to the ground, momentum sliding him forwards until he rested at the figure’s foot.

  The wave passed over me next and I pretended to wince, crouching down and taking the moment to assess the situation.

  ‘Kariel and Quito are both down too, same with the few others who were still alive. It’s just me conscious’

  I felt a bitter smile form on my mouth. What were the chances that no-one else had any mental protection in the entire event?

  ‘I suppose it is rare, and perhaps Quito could have weathered it if he weren’t injured. Unlucky for us’

  Or perhaps, it wasn’t just luck. My mind raced as thoughts collided, forming and reforming countless plans in my mind, until a more relaxed grin graced my face.

  ‘If I can do this right, this might be my biggest step forwards since I’ve got here’

  My heart raced at the thought, but I forced myself to calm down. This would take perfect execution, but if I pulled it off, my rise would be guaranteed. The fifteen armoured figures soon made their ways towards me, the only one still standing in that cratered basin.

  Randomly, one of my teacher’s sayings came to mind.

  ‘Ascension is to make your own fate. The odds will always be stacked against you. But remember; we make our own odds’

  The words calmed me down as I felt the constant and powerful thrum of my Codex within me.

  The figure stepped over Axe’s motionless body and moved towards me. I readied myself, drawing my sword and priming [Influx]. He raised his plasma-edged blade and prepared to attack when a voice interrupted him, echoing across the unnaturally silent basin.

  “Wait a moment”

  It was familiar, and I turned to see another armoured figure approach. They all looked the same from the outside, but their armour could not deflect my Truesight and I recognised the layout of his mind and the shape of his soul.

  ‘The one we negotiated with earlier’

  At his command, the other figure thumbed a switch and his plasma-edge powered down. He took a step back as the other one approached.

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  “You”, he called out in that characteristically laid-back voice. “I thought I recognised your group, though I’m surprised to see one of you still standing. Apologies for earlier, I really didn’t mean to hurt your friend there”.

  ‘The only registered user of psychic abilities, and the only potential wildcard in whatever this plan is supposed to be just happened to get hurt by accident? I’m definitely not buying it”

  “Why should I trust anything you say”, I replied hostilely, the tip of my sword never faltering.

  He looked around as if in genuine surprise, before laughing.

  “Oh, I see how it seems we targeted you.” He shrugged. “Well, doesn’t matter to me what you believe.”

  “If that’s the case, why am I still standing here?”, I argued back. By now, the remainder of the armoured figures had reached us and were surrounding me in a circle. My Truesight was active, and my Codex seemed to veritably drool with hunger at the prospect of a good meal of energy.

  “Simply curiosity. Just wondering how someone with a mere low-tier reconnaissance ability happened to survive our attack with barely a scratch”. A flicker of amusement flashed across his mind before being crushed back into uniformity as his light voice took on a cold undertone.

  “No matter, we all have our secrets. I’m sorry for this, but we can’t have any anomalies at this stage. You either spill now, or you spill later. I’m sure you don’t need me to elaborate. You may be waiting for the announcer, but don’t worry they won’t be coming.”

  At this, the first sign of veritable glee arose from his mind, spilling out into the surrounding cognitive plane like blood into water.

  He pointed a gauntleted finger towards the sky before continuing. As if at his signal, a horde of metallic drones revealed themselves in the air above me before making controlled descents and landing on the ground.

  “I see how it is”, my voice was calm and I stood up straight, no longer feigning any wounds. My eyes hardened and I dropped my sword-tip towards the ground.

  “You see, do you?”, the figure seemed lost in his own world. “No drones means no watching eyes. Which means we can do whatever we want.”

  The surrounding figures drew out their swords and the low hum of plasma permeated the silence.

  “No-one watching indeed”.

  But I was still calm, my demeanour a marked change from my previous self. And it appeared he noticed it too, that glee receding for the unnatural quiet to take its place.

  “Whatever”, his tone was chilling. “We’ll pry answers from your mind-crippled body.”

  At his signal, a similar pressure to the one that took out Axe began to emanate from all of the figures, buffeting me in the centre like a piece of driftwood in a storm.

  But it wasn’t over yet. Their strangely similar minds reached some sort of synchronisation and with each individual pulse, it grew stronger, until I sensed a tsunami of mental energy coalesce.

  ‘I’m touched they think this highly of me. But it won’t be enough’

  Barely a second had passed, and the figure that spoke stepped forward and raised his hands. All of that mental energy converged around his mind, writhing and rippling against his will, but it could not break free. He condensed it until it became marble-sized.

  The magnitude of energy contained within was such that even the physical plane was affected. A wind picked up, swirling about and picking up sand and dust and a black orb that crackled with lightning of unseen colours formed between his raised hands.

  The other figures had formed a protective encirclement around him to protect him, though I had not made a single move since he began his attack.

  Perhaps, he noticed something was wrong at this point, but he was committed now.

  With a grunt of effort, he lowered his hands, pointing them at me, and let loose the marble-sized ball with the promise of complete annihilation.

  Its flight path seemed slow as it drew in my attention, blurring the surroundings until only it existed in my vision like a black hole hovering in the emptiness of the void. Though I quickly broke free, the fact that merely remnant mental energy it gave off was enough to induce such a vivid illusion spoke to the sheer power of the technique.

  But I stood still. And the orb did not stop moving.

  It continued on its path, unhurried, as though no object or force in the world could halt its inevitable march. The wind roared in my ears and my eyes watered blurring my vision; but I had no need to rely on such base senses.

  What only seemed like a black hole in the physical plane was a true one in the cognitive. The surrounding minds were ripped free of energy all across the basin as it hungered for more, forming a corona of energy much like that of a true singularity.

  That force ripped and pulled at my own mind, attempting to shred it to pieces even as the attack was halfway there, though it gained no purchase, repelled by the passive properties of my Codex and its [Edicts].

  But carelessness would be folly at this stage.

  Perhaps not even a second had passed in this way and the attack was almost upon me. My Truesight was almost complete obscured by the black marble and the gargantuan amount of energy it possessed, though I could make out the fifteen armoured figures huddled in the far distance.

  But I had not attention to spare on them. The marble was upon me.

  Just as it was about to make contact with my forehead, I muttered in my mind.

  ‘[Edict: Influx]’

  The marble paused for a second and the faint vertical scar on my forehead opened.

  At first nothing. Then the marble resumed its journey as if unconcerned with the events that occurred.

  The roaring winds by this stage had formed a dust storm around me, completely enveloping me from the outside. Inside this, the thing responsible for the ongoing natural disaster rippled for a second as if encountering a force that surpassed even it in magnitude.

  Slowly, it changed shape, elongating as though something was pulling at it that exceeded the force holding it together. A thin crack formed on the black surface, revealing a bright white light that shone out.

  Then, a noise loud enough that the breath of the wyvern was like a falling feather in comparison. White filled my vision, both normal and Truesight alike, though for different reasons.

  My normal vision may have been blinded, but my Truesight saw only an ocean of energy. An ocean that was now ownerless.

  A grin broke through my unconscious mask of concentration. This time, a new whirlpool formed with the opened scar on my forehead as the centre. All that cataclysmic energy that just a few seconds previous threatened to destroy everything at the peak of this volcano swirled around and fell into that scar like water down the drain.

  My Codex swelled, its ethereal framework strengthening as pure invigoration flowed through me as I shuddered in pleasure. A feeling akin to quenching a thirst I never knew I had flooded me with fulfillment.

  Most importantly, I felt the power ready to be unleashed at the front my mind, now completely under control thanks to [Edict: Influx].

  ‘An attack that combined the power of fifteen enhanced minds into a technique that fashions a black hole of raw mental energy. This is far beyond the calibre of normal participants in this Colosseum. If that was their opening move, they might have something up their sleeve even I can’t handle.’

  I withdrew from my brief introspection, blinking out the bright lights in my eyes and turned my attention back to the basin.

  Abruptly, silence had returned and the dust-storm was beginning to fall. A voice drawled out through the silence.

  “That may have been overkill. Oh well, guess we won’t be getting any answers after all.” The voice sighed. “Let’s get rid of this annoying dust and recover the bodies. We’ve got a job to finish”.

  A light breeze completely unlike the gale-force winds from a few seconds ago swept the breeze away, revealing the shape of the basin, still bathed in orange from the Firewyrm’s attacks that seemed like a lifetime ago.

  The fifteen figures had just begun to move when they stopped as one.

  A wide grin slowly spread on my face as I lifted my hands and patted on my chest. For the first time, I relished the sight as chaos filled their previously tranquil minds.

  “It seems as though you missed”, I jested mockingly. “Do you want to try again? If you’re too tired, I can wait. After all, as you said earlier, no-one’s coming to save me.”

  He and the rest of his group were silent as I saw a flicker of fear slip from their minds.

  I took a few steps forwards and they jolted backwards as though I had become more than a mere gladiator in their eyes. I chuckled at their reaction and their leader stuttered, pointing his hand at me while looking back and forth between his subordinates.

  “No, no, that attack definitely hit”, he muttered to himself. “Which means....”

  When he looked back up, the fear in his mind was gone, once again crushed into oblivion and replaced by calm. Though, the same could not be said for his subordinates, they deserved some credit as they quickly rallied behind their leader.

  He spoke up, though far more respectfully than before.

  “I didn’t know one of you was among their number.”

  I paused my slow advance towards their position, my thoughts racing.

  ‘It seems he’s got a misconception, though who am I to correct such a thing?’

  He bowed lightly before continuing.

  “But I’m afraid we can’t make any concessions on this matter”.

  They raised their blades in unison, though I noted a few trembled this time around.

  ‘Fear is far more insidious to suppress than any other emotion. It seems their true thoughts are slipping through’

  “Oh well, too bad. I suppose there only was one way this could end”.

  I sighed in faux-sincerity. If he mistook me for someone else even after everything I’d done, then I had no need to act in any particular way.

  ‘Not that it’ll matter for long’

  “Once again, apologies. This time, you won’t be able to make it out unscathed.”

  But, I would never get to see the outcome of that attack. I called out my second [Edict] in my mind.

  ‘[Edict: Efflux]’

  From that now-open scar, a wave of invisible energy pulsed towards them at an indescribable speed. It washed over their group, pulsing through their minds, shredding their conscious thought. At first, they were motionless.

  Then, they staggered on their feet and fell to the ground in an anti-climactic thud.

  Their leader, to his credit, fell to one knee and struggled to raise his head. His rasped out a few slurred words as his comrades fell behind him.

  "Our own at-attack? Ho-how..."

  I approached and he craned his neck upwards to look at me, my reflection staring back at me in his visor with unfeeling eyes. He raised his hands in a feeble attempt to ward me off, but his energy was fading.

  “We could...could wo-work together? G-goals...may n-not al-align but we c-can figure...figure it out?”

  I looked down at him coldly. Even as he spoke, his mind unspooled as whatever process granted him his unnatural mindscape struggled to hold it together. His words soon trailed off into gibberish and then eventually silence.

  His motionless figure, on one knee and in front of the fallen bodies of his comrades, provided a climactic end to the events of the Hunt.

  'I'm sure the Duke would've loved that, considering how much these people love entertainment.'

  As it was, no-one else was awake to see it; neither drones nor people. I checked over Axe and, although he was unconscious, his mind was unharmed by that attack earlier.

  The same could be said of Kariel and Quito, notwithstanding the wounds they had previously.

  ‘It seems like they weren’t aiming to kill but to incapacitate. And he spoke briefly about recovering the bodies. But if they needed bodies why go to all this effort? Surely it would have been easier to ambush us at the beginning and pick us off one by one?’

  But my questions only multiplied and there were no answers in sight. More immediately, the fallen drones were flickering back on so I quickly took position collapsed on the ground next to Axe.

  I was too tired to be vigilant by this point and I simply decided to blindly trust that with the drones watching, nothing untoward could happen.

  Perhaps I was tempting fate: especially on what had been a pretty inauspicious event so far, but my bone-deep exhaustion overwhelmed my caution.

  I had no need to feign unconsciousness lying in the ground behind Axe and as my eyes closed I was soon taken by the depths of sleep.

  Far above Axe's head, a singular drone unmasked and revealed itself against the twilight backdrop. Its blinking red light switched off, and it dropped to the ground, joining its fallen comrades and silence fell across the basin at last.

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