EG Monster Island Chapter 29

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

I just booked my editor for the first two weeks of October, so I have until then to finish the first, second, and any other drafts I want to get done. Should be fun, and doable. Since we're approaching the endgame of the first draft, I'm planning on putting out another chapter on Wednesday. Look forward to it!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

“The next event will be the last,” Librarian Narwan appeared in the middle of our section of the dining room as we were winding down from dinner. “It will be a single elimination individual tournament. There are forty-eight individuals available to fight. No Bonds. Any weapons you wish, no more than five Inscriptions or Potions. It will start tomorrow. You will be rewarded if you make the top sixteen and for each victory beyond that.” He shook his head. “They will reveal the brackets tomorrow as well. Be ready.”

“Sir, should we keep working on the Volk Tempering method?” I asked.

“No. Two elements is your limit for now,” he said. “Before continuing, reach the third level of tempering in two more Elements, then match it with the Volk method. Now I will show all of you a technique for expanding your meridians. Follow.” He turned and walked out.

The six other diners were looking on with curiosity. One, an older gentleman, yelled out, “Dominate the tournament!”

“We will!” Xiao yelled back, leaping into the air. Ming shoved his shoulder lightly just before he landed, which turned him just enough to faceplant. “Right after I beat my brother!” Xiao rolled to his feet and rushed after Ming, who’d taken off in a sprint right after.

Laughing, the rest of us chased after them. I crossed into the rear courtyard just in time to see Xiao tackle Ming with an Aether infused leap. They rolled on the ground, wrestling for a few seconds before Ming got Xiao facedown with his arms pulled behind his back. “Still slightly too slow,” Ming tsked, then let go and hopped to his feet.

“I will get you one day,” Xiao glowered at him, then turned to smile at Milenna.

“If you are quite done,” Librarian Narwan stated calmly.

“Sorry, Master Narwan,” Xiao and Ming said, bowing.

Librarian Narwan huffed, then gestured. The air around us stilled, a barrier surrounding half the courtyard. “This technique is one taught to all of Azyl Academy’s top talents. Princess, I am sure you have one of equal quality. Come here.”

She walked up. He whispered in her ear, and she nodded, looking anxiously over at me for some reason. He tapped her shoulder, then his hands rose. A glimmering diagram of her meridian system appeared, hovering over her head. Aether flowed through it, cycling through each of her thirty three open meridians. An intricate pattern of runes was painted in her center. Every ten seconds, a pulse of Aether doubled the size of the flows and spiraled down her meridians.

“Each pulse will increase the diameter of your meridians by an almost imperceptible amount,” Librarian Narwan described the technique. “Every eighth pulse, the Aether should be quadrupled and only a single Element. Cycle from your strongest to weakest. You will then wait thirty seconds instead of ten before the next pulse. Every sixty-fifth pulse send sixteen times as much Aether with an equal amount of all Elements. This pulse, specifically, is going to be incredibly painful. You must maintain the runes, here,” he highlighted the thirty two different runes, “and they must stay aligned with your Affinity runes and Bond marks. Delay a full minute before continuing yet again. I will instruct you on the alignment before you send the first pulse. Begin to channel. Do not do more without permission.”

I nodded sharply before diving into my center. Okay, this goes here, I thought, starting forming the runes given. My nearly photographic memory helped here, and it still took nearly half an hour to fully form just this part of the technique. Even then, holding the Aether flows through all forty two of my meridians and keeping the runes formed properly challenged my Aether control.

Librarian Narwan talked me through aligning the technique, starting with my life meridian and moving around and through my Core Runes. I had to rotate the Bond Mark by twenty degrees, which I didn’t even know I could do. “Good, now, pulse with equal Aether,” he said, finally giving me permission to continue.

I tried, but my runes fell apart when I tried to double up. I restarted, getting a better feel for the setup, and tried again. Twenty minutes passed before I could succeed on the double pulse. “Just continue that for the next half hour,” Librarian Narwan said. “It is beneficial even if you cannot do the next step.”

“Will do, sir,” I whispered, most of my focus on maintaining the technique. I silently counted to ten, then pulsed it again. A wave of pain smashed through my body, each meridian screaming that it was ripping apart. Only a flex of my will kept the technique going. Light, I’ve gotten used to intense pain. That barely seemed to phase me. This is going to suck, like just about every technique I’ve used recently to improve. Why does gathering hurt so much!?

I didn’t realize I’d said the last sentence out loud. Librarian Narwan answered, “Because you are advancing quickly. You could instead only increase the flow by five percent and never beyond that. You would eventually reach the same level, but instead of gathering like this for two to three months, it would take five years. That would limit how far you could go. Gathering is infinitely easier as a young man than an oldster. Now, quit whining and continue.”

I nodded curtly at him, doubling the Aether flow. Minuscule tears formed in my meridians, then healed over the next few seconds. Each cycle strengthened and enlarged them. My Aether levels dropped, and I had to split my attention to pull in more Aether while maintaining the technique. In the corner of my vision, I saw Knight Kaminski walk into the courtyard and drop a Core Formation in the center of our impromptu circle. The density of the Aether in the courtyard increased, and it became easier to hold the flows properly.

After half an hour, I was ready to try a quadruple pulse. I mentally collected enough Lightning Aether from the swirling maelstrom in my center, then directed it along the path of the technique. My meridians stretched then tore, massive gouges bleeding Aether into my body around the injuries. The pulse quickly dropped in size, and I forced more to flow to continue down the rest of my system. It continued like a wrecking ball through me, and the damage slowly healed behind it. Well, that would be why we have to pause before restarting. Gotta fix all that. Ow, ow, ow.

I skipped the next quadruple pulse, letting my body recover. I didn’t skip the one after, knowing if I waited too long I would be too afraid to continue. My teeth ground together, my blood pressure spiked, as pain rolled through me. “Sir, would it be useful to use a healing powder?” I asked while waiting for the damage from Fire to heal.

“No. Only a few pills affect the meridians when not fixing the surrounding flesh first. The technique is perfectly safe, and will assist you with tempering in the other Elements as well. Continue,” Librarian Narwan growled.

I grimaced and continued. This time, I didn’t skip the next quadruple pulse, sending a massive ball of Air Aether through my meridians and scowling at the feeling of being sliced apart by tiny razor blades. I followed the Aether, watching as a tiny percent of my veins were tempered by the escaping Aether while my blood vessel meridians splintered. I grimaced but nodded, letting the technique wash through me and heal the damage.

Five more rounds of damage and healing left me a sweaty mess. I paused, keeping the baseline flow going for a full minute. Right as my internal clock said go, I took a deep breath and braided a strand of Aether out of all eight Elements. I threaded it into my life meridian, then released it to rip apart my insides. A rush of Essence came out of my Core, coating the Aether rope I’d created, and my meridians nearly disintegrated in front of the bulging technique. Immediately behind it, though, the Essence stitched them back together, increasing the effect of the technique significantly.

Of course, it increased the pain as well. My world narrowed, only the technique and the pain mattered. If I let anything else through, I knew I’d let the technique fall apart, and I wasn’t sure that my meridians wouldn’t explode and leave me crippled.

A bolstering wave of Wood Aether shot into my center and spread over my meridians. It stayed behind my Aether rope, letting my technique run, but healing the damage faster. The pain reduced slightly, but I didn’t let my focus slip. It took a total of three minutes to finish going through my system, and I let it dissipate once the final meridian was destroyed and rebuilt. I kept the basic flow going, just letting the Aether heal me more and absorbing the injected Aether.

“Are you okay?” Knight Kaminski asked, crouching in front of me.

“Uh, when did I lay down?” I asked, confused.

“You fell down screaming a couple of minutes ago. I could tell you were still conscious because of you continuing your technique, so I did what I could to support,” she said. I realized she was covered in sweat like I was.

“Thank you,” I said, struggling to a seated position. My back was covered in dirt. Well, at least I collapsed backwards, I laughed internally. “How is everyone else?”

“So far, you are the first to use the octupling part of the technique,” she said. I looked around to see everyone standing, eyes closed and face blank. Aleks and Ming were grimacing, shaking in pain, but not to the massive amount that the last stage of the technique would cause. “I fully expect everyone to react similarly to you.”

“It was bad, but not that bad, at first,” I folded my feet under me and stood, wobbling slightly. “My Core decided to spit out a large chunk of the Essence that was in it out when I octupled the Aether flow. It didn’t make it bigger, but my meridians were basically disintegrated in front of the technique, and rebuilt behind. It was beyond painful. The healing you did helped, some. I’m not sure if I would have been able to finish without you.” I bowed, slowly so I didn’t fall again.

“You are welcome. I can see your question, why we do not do that for everyone. Healing you that way took almost half my reserves as a Perfect Core gatherer. Any of the others would be unable to do anything at all to help. So do not forget how blessed you are. Now, keep going. You still have two hours of gathering to complete before it is bedtime,” she waved her hands at me.

“Of course,” I laughed, then sat down. “Safer this way. Uh, let my teammates know about the Essence please.” I dove into my center before she could respond, though I vaguely heard the laughter coming from her as she walked away.

Time fell away as I focused, counting through every iteration. Gunk covered me, impurities in and around my meridians being forced out through my pores and in my sweat, as I advanced slowly through the Circulation level of the Condensation tier of gathering. The next octuple laid me out again, but I wasn’t as affected. I stayed conscious and aware, keeping the Aether flowing. I held back half of the Essence my Core tried to use, reducing the enhancement and the pain.

I still fell to my knees, but I didn’t faceplant at least. “Pause before your next octuple,” Librarian Narwan said beside me.

I nodded, then worked through another set. After finishing the eighth quadruple pulse, I opened my eyes. Librarian Narwan held out a glimmering coin. “That’s from the first Dungeon.”

“Yes. Pull this into your center, but do not let it split. Use the Aether from this instead of your own. I wish to see what happens. I will be watching.”

“Will do.” I gulped, but reached forwards to grab it. I looked closely at it, watching the Aether inside vacillate between the ten different colors of Elemental Aether and its own light grey. I could feel it, now that I was touching it. My will enclosed the coin, just barely larger than a silver dollar back on Earth, and I pulled it into my right arm projection meridian. It was mostly for releasing Aether, but it was also the straightest shot from my skin to my center.

I kept it wrapped, forcing the bundle of Aether to flow without separating into the perfect Aether balance for my Affinities. It was difficult, but I managed. I carefully placed it into the flow of Aether for Librarian Narwan’s Meridian Expansion Technique. It was slightly more than eight times as much. I grimaced and then pushed it forward. I clenched, ready for the pain, when it impacted the first meridian.

It hurt like a good stretch of my hamstrings, not like I’d been stabbed. My meridian didn’t shatter, or break, or even tear, but it still increased in size by a tiny but perceptible amount. The pure Aether ran through me, strengthening my meridians and improving the technique.

“That was much better,” I said.

“Yes. It is too bad I have not been able to replicate these,” he frowned at me.

“Um, sir, give my portion to Jamila, Aleks, and the others please?” I asked. “I have Essence, and while it hurts like crazy it is similar in effectiveness. They don’t have anything similar to match.”

“Hmm,” he gave me a considering look. “Yes.”

“What about the Beast Cores from the other Dungeon?” Jon asked from nearby.

“They are similar, but stronger. Use the coins first,” Librarian Narwan commanded.

“Oh, give mine away as well,” Vaya said from my other side. Bridget and Jon chimed in as well.

“Yes, yes. You are all selfless in raising up your compatriots,” Librarian Narwan waved away our statements. “You will use one each at least.”

“Thank you, sir,” I bowed.

“Thank me by working harder.”

I nodded, then focused back on my gathering. I finished seven more cycles, using three quarters of my stored Essence, before Librarian Narwan interrupted me. “It is time to rest. Get a snack, take a shower, go to bed. Be ready for tomorrow,” he lifted me to my feet.

“Will do,” I said, a yawn splitting my face. I looked over to see Vaya struggling to her feet. I walked over, slightly unsteady but getting better. “You okay?”

“Yeah. That last part of the technique was a, what did you say before, a doozy?” She smiled shakily at me.

“Yup, a doozy. I don’t think it’s going to get better either. You can hold back some of the Essence at least, but it still hurts like the dickens. Come on, let’s see what snacks are available,” I smiled at her.

“How about you shower first. You reek,” Vaya waved her hand in front of her face.

“Hey, I’m,” I started, then stopped, sensing the trap ahead of me. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Meet you in the dining room in twenty minutes?”

She smiled at me, her cheeks dimpling in and causing my heart to pound, “Yup. Shoo.”

I laughed, then rushed off, looking over everyone and seeing the excitement on everyone’s face. I raced up the stairs, avoiding a couple of other guests and reaching my room in only seconds. After a quick scrub and a change of clothes, I ran back downstairs to get a few of the pastries the cook had set out for snack.

We collapsed into a set of comfy chairs set around a small fireplace with blue flames that acted like an air conditioner. The effect was fascinating and magical. “I did not realize how much the heat could grate, even when i do not really notice it,” Vaya scooted closer to the cold fire, leaning over my legs.

“I’m still amazed at how much I didn’t notice that the weather outside was sweltering,” I laughed, reaching forward to rub her back. She purred slightly, leaning into my hand. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“Yes. While I do not believe I will win, I will score at least in the top fifteen. You will get top five, or I will be cross with you,” she looked over her shoulder at me and gave me a fake angry glare.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a cheeky smile on my face.

She smacked my leg, “I am serious. You better not lose before I do.”

“I plan to win, though I’m not sure exactly how yet,” I said seriously.

“Good. Now, a little higher. I am very tense,” she commanded jokingly, jumping over into my lap and leaning forward so I could rub her shoulders and shoulder blades.

We sat like that for about half an hour, with Vaya melting into a relaxed puddle, before I couldn’t hold back a giant yawn. “Okay, bedtime,” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and under her legs, lifting her into a princess carry. She snuggled up against my chest and fell asleep. “And a super cute girlfriend. Let’s get you to your room.”

I walked up the stairs, her weight negligible beside my literal superhuman strength. I realized I was significantly stronger than I had been even that morning. Whoever fights me first is going to get a huge surprise. I can’t wait!