Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex kept his magic at the ready. Even though the fight was over, he had absolutely no idea if Tael planned to actually honor the deal. He wasn’t about to bet their lives on a stranger’s honor. And, to be entirely fair, it wasn’t like they’d exactly played entirely by the rules.

Claire had cheated. It hadn’t been by much. They probably could have argued their case if a magical judge and jury had popped up around them. Technically speaking, the only thing she’d done was use her manipulation ability to kick Aaron’s ass into gear.

Alex wasn’t even sure exactly what it was that she’d done — but in no world was someone influencing your senses ever going to make you objectively better at fighting. She hadn’t buffed Aaron or given him any real advantage. If anything, she’d technically attacked him.

None of that was really going to change anybody’s mind. Tael’s hooded allies very well may have noticed Claire’s movements. If someone wanted to complain about the fight, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find basis for interference.

But Tael himself didn’t seem to have the faintest idea of what had happened. If he did, he didn’t care. The heavily armored man just held a hand out behind himself. One of the cloaked figures stepped forward. A shimmer of pale blue energy swirled over their palm before a small vial full of bright red liquid appeared above it.

They handed the vial to Tael, who popped the glass stopper off and poured its contents into his mouth. He let out a stiff breath. Loud cracks once again echoed through the air. His arm twisted and snapped, pulling itself back together. The severe damage his limb had taken repaired itself within seconds.

Aaron stared at him as if he still couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. It didn’t seem like he’d quite registered the fact that he’d won the fight. His eyes were still darting around the platform uneasily, presumably searching for the next threat.

“Well,” Claire said. “That’s that.”

“So it is,” Tael agreed. There was a second of terse silence. Then he spun his swords. Alex tensed, but the man simply returned the twin blades to the sheathes at his side. “Your champion has bested me. As such, we have been defeated. I will honor my word.”

“Just half of it will be fine,” Claire said.

Tael blinked. “I’m sorry?”

Alex couldn’t help but wonder the same thing.

“Just the coin,” Claire said. “We’ll pass on the items. There were no rules about me attacking my own ally, but I still utilized one of my abilities during the fight. It was strictly an offensive ability. But even still, that influenced the outcome of your battle. I don’t think it would be fair for us to take items for you in this scenario.”

Tael’s head tilted to the side. He studied Claire intently. “You attacked your own ally? How?”

“I don’t believe that information is relevant,” Claire said with a one-shouldered shrug. “But it was not a supporting ability. I can assure you of that. You can think of it more like swatting someone to get them moving. Not a very polite move. Quite rude, all things considered.”

“But effective so long as you don’t hit too hard or too often.” Tael said.

“Or if they like it,” Alex added in.

Tael squinted at him.

Right. Maxed his stat points out on honor and forgot to level humor.

“I see,” Tael said. He nodded. “You are correct. There was no breach of our terms in the strictest sense, but it was not an uninfluenced competition. Your suggestion is fair and honorable. We will give you a Cracked Coin, but we will not offer up magical items. I will count this loss as a lesson. In the future, I shall have to be wary of those who have been swatted sufficiently as well as those who enjoy being swatted.”

I’m not quite sure that was the lesson here. I wonder what Claire is playing at here, though. We don’t know for a fact that they saw her interfere… but it’s probably a safe guess to assume they did. Maybe she wanted to get ahead of that by mentioning it herself? That’s my best guess.

Tael’s other companion held a hand out. A weathered gold coin materialized in the air above their palm. They walked up to Alex, offering it up. The System shimmered through the air above it to identify the item.

Cracked Coin (Epic) — Consumable

Upon Destruction: Request a path through the Cracked Steps in the direction of a desired target. The path will lead toward the platform in the way of the existence most closely matching the request.

This item will create more efficient pathways and span farther distances the more times an item with its name is used by the same existence. Defeating another existence within the Cracked Steps will reward one Cracked Coin.

Alex took the coin, not letting his guard down until the masked individual had made their way back over to Tael’s side.

“What Family do you represent?” Tael asked. “I would know who defeated me.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Mirrorwane,” Claire said. “You haven’t heard of us yet. We’re still local to a newly Initialized planet. But you will.”

Tael paused. Then his head tilted to the side. A spark of interest flashed through his eyes. “Newly initialized? You are still Nativeworlders? And you have already found yourselves traveling the Cracked Steps?”

“Life works in mysterious ways,” Alex said with a wry grin. “One thing just leads to another. You know how it is.”

“Fascinating,” Tael said. “I wish you the best of luck. Newly Initialized planets are dangerous. I have never experienced an Initialization. But my father was a Nativeworlder, once. He has told me stories of their danger. Of how things seem like they are growing predictable, only for everything to turn itself on its head again moments later. I have great respect for those who manage to survive those upheavals. But if you have made it this far, then I suspect you will continue farther still. Do not let your honor wane. I will listen for when the Mirrorwane family emerges from its world and makes a name for itself amongst the greater System.”

Then Tael lifted his hand. A brilliant shimmer of golden light erupted from his palm. It expanded to cover his two companions, swallowing all three of them inappropriately glistening dome. The dome shrank in on itself in a flash. When the light faded, all three of them were gone.

Alex’s group stood alone on the platform once more.

“Holy shit,” Aaron said, releasing an explosive breath. “Shit. I did fucking horrible. And what was that? What did you do, Claire? I swear I saw—”

“May,” Claire finished. “I won’t apologize. You’re right. You were doing terribly. So I gave you a bit of a push. Don’t worry. May wasn’t here. She never was. There was no risk to her at all. But I think you’ve figured that out already.”

“Which means that trick isn’t going to work a second time,” Aaron said with a sardonic smile.

“Is it going to need to?” Claire met his eye.

Aaron’s smile fell away. His jaw set. Then he shook his head. “No. It won’t. I was off balance. I let myself slip up and then did everything wrong. If you hadn’t interfered, I would have lost that fight. I’m sorry. I thought I was more prepared than this.”

“Not everything,” Alex said. “You dodged practically every single attack there, man. That wasn’t entirely incompetence. The fact you got out of that with just a few small cuts is actually pretty impressive, forget the part where you won the moment you started fighting back. If you’d told us that was entirely intentional, we’d be calling you a genius. It looked like you baited him into complacency and then attacked when he was overextended.”

Aaron snorted. “I wish. Claire just tricked me into thinking May was in danger and forced me to do the thing that I should have been doing from the start. It just…”

“Felt like your brain wasn’t working?” Claire finished.

“Yeah,” Aaron said with a grimace. “Exactly.”

“It’s normal,” Claire said. “People react differently when they’re in a very high pressure situation. You’d managed to adapt to fighting monsters, but a tournament with people’s expectations on your shoulders was new. You weren’t ready for it. It takes time for your brain to get to the point where it can adapt to thinking quickly situations like that. Nobody is going to get put into their first fight with massive expectations and not struggle at least a bit. ”

Aaron sent a sidelong glance at Alex. “But—”

“There’s something seriously wrong with Alex,” Claire said. “Forget him.”

“Hey,” Alex said. “That was uncalled for. I’m catching strays here.”

The corners of Aaron’s lips twitched. “Fair enough. I won’t let that happen again, though. I can normally take care of myself. I… really should get a few more coins, though. I’ve never lost it before.”

“What exactly does the coin do?” Alex asked.

“Just a bet,” Aaron said with a shake of his head. “I need some kind of bet or game for my abilities to work. They’re all built around it.”

“I didn’t see you playing any sort of game.”

“Time kind of freezes when I start a game,” Aaron replied, his brow furrowing in thought. “For both me and the person I’m challenging.”

“And… what, the winner gets their arm exploded?” Alex’s eyebrows crept up his forehead. “Just like that?”

“No. The terms of the game change. I’m… not actually sure what sets them yet,” Aaron admitted. “But they always benefit the winner and impede the loser. And I can kind of cheat at the games. As long as I’m strong enough, I can slightly influence the results.”

“Damn,” Alex said. He wasn’t talking Aaron up, either. That was a ridiculously powerful ability. Flipping a coin and having a better than 50% chance to instantly defeat or seriously debuff anyone was a really strong support ability. “That’s actually kind of ridiculous.”

“The effects would probably be reduced against someone powerful enough, but you’re right,” Claire mused. “I’m looking forward to seeing what your Partial Soul Manifestation can do. I’d imagine it’ll make you into a powerhouse. You might actually have potential to be one of the strongest combatants in Mirrorwane.”

“What? Me?” Aaron blinked. “Seriously? But I just completely butchered that. All my training and I nearly lost in the first real fight I took.”

Claire arched an eyebrow. “You did freeze up, yes. But you just said that wouldn’t happen again. And that wasn’t just some random person. It was the heir of some pretty powerful Outworlder family.”

Aaron’s eyes widened. “What? Are you serious?”

This was news to Alex as well. “How do you know?”

“It’s a guess,” Claire admitted. “But the way he carried himself — that was somebody who has an idealistic view of the world. All that blather about honor and respect, and yet actually sticking to his own ideals and enforcing them, it’s the kind of thing only someone rich and powerful can afford to do. Honor is not something afforded to the weak.”

“You got all that from the short amount of conversation we had?” Aaron asked.

“Well, that and the fact that he mentioned his father was a Nativeworlder and he wasn’t,” Claire said with a shrug. “I was pretty certain before. But that basically confirmed it. It means his dad was strong enough to survive a System Initializing his world. Those people with Tael were definitely his bodyguards. They were probably given instructions to make sure he didn’t get himself killed while learning about the world. It’s the kind of thing a ruler does when they want their kid to be well rounded. I’ve seen it.”

“That’s why you were honest with him, I take it?” Alex guessed. He rolled the Cracked Coin across his knuckles. “Sowing seeds for allies in the future?”

Claire just smiled. “You never know how big or powerful the family may be. Either way, I’d wager that support in the future is going to be much, much more useful than some random shit that they had on them. Magical items can be found anywhere. The potential backing of a family… not so much.”

“Were you aiming for this from the moment he suggested a friendly competition?” Aaron asked in disbelief.

Claire shrugged. Then she clapped Aaron on the shoulder. “Pretty much, yes. I did need you to win after I cheated, though. We wouldn’t have really done anything worthy of earning respect if you didn’t. So good job.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“No problem,” Claire replied. Her gaze drifted to the Cracked Coin in Alex’s hand. “So, shall we continue? I’m expecting to see a better performance in our next fight, and I’ll won’t be sitting back next time around. I doubt Alex will either. We haven’t had our fill yet, and I’m quite curious to see how far all of us can get.”