Chapter 108 – Fighting for Real

The two reincarnators spent every moment in a haze of frenetic activity. They understood the looming threat and knew the benefits of preparation. Every second moment was thrown into training. Teaching the girls was the simplest part of the day. An exercise in frustration for sure, they were six and attempting to apply military level discipline was a struggle but the girls were trying and that was all that they could really ask. Emotions aside, those sessions were the restful ones as they were nowhere near as physically or mentally draining as what they threw themselves into when they had time to train their own personal development..

For Tom, that included focusing on evolving Power Strike into a technique he could use remotely. It was a similar approach to how he had developed Instant Strike but with a less dedicated training arena. There was no magical floor that didn’t exist when he struck through it but existed a moment later when he stood on it. There was nothing like that which defied reality, but Adam did his best. Four constructs were repurposed and programmed by the administrator to help him. They wielded spears and performed the same moves he did in parallel. Sometimes there was a comfortable distance between them where they stood metres away from him and then there were the other periods where they got so close to him that they were like a second skin. Every movement mirrored perfectly and when he thrust forward, another spear moved next to it, just centimetres away from his own strike.

The repetition was literally painful as micro tears opened up that would have crippled his training volume if Touch Heal didn’t get a workout keeping both him and Kang going.

Tom kept the memory of the activation of Instant Strike clear in his mind the entire time. As he trained with the constructs when he thrust and activated Power Strike it was easy enough to imagine his spear and one or more the weapons moving in parallel with it being empowered at the same time. That or occasionally his own spear remaining untouched while the one an inch away from it got tagged instead.

The training was much like what he had done for Instant Strike. He went through the motions and performed to the best of his ability with no tangible progress. While he could imagine the weapon next to his own being affected, he never saw the flare of blue light over it, which would have proved his success.

Drenched in sweat, he pulled up for a short break and used his free cast of Touch Heal to first mend his legs and then arm muscles before addressing the signs of overwork such as lactic acid buildup. Nearly all the ten bonus mana was sucked up by the attempt. That gave him some pause. That much mana was sufficient to heal what would otherwise be a mortal wound. He hadn’t realised he had been training for long enough to need that level of support.

“You’ve been doing the same thing for almost an hour.” A small voice from the side of the room said.

He glanced at Briana. “Have I really?”

“Uh hah. Is this a reincarnator thing?”

Tom, at the wash area in the corner turned on the tap and splashed it all over him, mainly to wash off the sweat. “Is what a reincarnator thing? The training?”

“Yes. You doing the same thing over and over again. What’s the point?”

“It’s just like your magic. You have to practice until you can do it perfectly. It takes time.”

“Nah ha. None of them took this long.”

“Agreed. Spells don’t require this much effort. Unfortunately, I don’t have a perfect shortcut to give me what I want.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m developing a skill. That’s a flex of a soul. I basically have to build the muscle from scratch. Repetition reinforces lessons and brings me closer to success.”

“So, are you doing it because you’re a reincarnator? Because you’re an adult?”

He stopped and looked her straight in the eye. There had been something in her tone that unsettled him. “I’m the same person I’ve always been Bir. I’m still Ta, I was always Ta and while I’ve grown up a little, I’m still that boy.” He sighed. “It doesn’t take a genius to understand where you’re coming from. If I was in your place, I’d be confused too, but I’m still Ta. I’m not training this hard because I’m reincarnator. I’m doing it because any advantage I can get no matter how small could be the difference. This trial is death. Everything and anything I can do will help.”

He finished washing off and when he looked back, Briana was still watching him. 

“Are we going to die?”

“I hope not, and both Kang and I are doing everything we can do to stop it.”

“Can you help me train better?”

“At what?”

She looked away, embarrassed. “Fighting. Using spears, maybe magic, I don’t know. Can you just help me be stronger.”

“Briana, the most crucial thing you should do is listen and avoid the monsters. There is nothing you can conceivably do to get strong enough to make a difference.”

“I know that Tom!” she shouted. “But I want to get stronger. Can you help?”

“Um… Magic I’m not the best at that, but,” he scratched his head. “I think I can probably help with Spear fighting. Here, let me show you. Copy all my movements.” He remembered the kata that April had used that shadowy figure to show him, and he went through the same motions. “Learn to do all these.”

“And this will make me good.”

Tom laughed at that question. “With a lot of work, yes.”

It didn’t help with immediate objectives, and he could tell Kang was frowning at him even if he never said anything but his routine changed. Briana joined him morning and night to have her form corrected. Each session only took ten minutes, and it was worthwhile, if only in that it helped to normalise their relationship.

His day consisted of equal parts, group strategy training, spell and skill development and using Living Wood to augment the weapons they had available. Tom was significantly better off than Kang who had to enhance all the metal in their armour. His job was mainly enhancing the handles of weapons and spears.

Lots of spears.

The method that Baptiste had shown him was a large focus of his as he changed the nature of the wood to bring out inherent properties to improve quality. An experimental change caused a shaft to become lighter without losing strength. For most purposes that was a negative as the heft of the weapon was important but by shortening the shaft he turned them into lethal javelins. It was a significant achievement but at odds with his main effort which was to make the wood denser, which proved to be both more challenging and time consuming. After finishing each spear, he would engrave a fancy motif into them and gift them to the girls. They each had quite the collection built up. Half a dozen spears each of which could have been considered to be a piece of art. Kang thought it was ridiculous, but after complaining on the first day he let it go.

After that he just observed and didn’t make any criticisms. The other reincarnation was too clever. He knew Tom was up to something which was annoying. He would have preferred it if the other man had remained oblivious.

Another two weeks passed, consumed by the haze of focused activity, and at ten o’clock sharp just like every other day they gathered to do their formation practice.

“It’s our last day in this room,” Kang enthused. “Let’s do everything perfect so this afternoon we can move to the dynamic environment.”

The girls committed the same number of mistakes as usual, but Kang praised them and marvelled at their improvement. Tom joined in, but just like with the gaslighting he struggled and was a lot less vocal than the other man.

They finished up and Tom made a point of pulling out five of the spears that he had created and then stored them back into his soul storage.

“Kang. I’m not sure I’ve got enough spears.”

The other boy’s eyes flashed to the girls. “You could take back the ones that you’ve…”

“Don’t be silly,” he interrupted hurriedly.

“It’s a simple solution. They don’t need more than one.”

Multiple arcs of lightning crackled from his fingers to slam into the ceiling. There were four separate bolts, Spark, Bolt, Extended Lightning Bolt and finally the combination of his trash spells. “Pretty,” he declared.

Kang had jumped in response to the noise and glowered at him. “That wasn’t necessary.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not stealing off the girls. I’ll be fine with less.”

“What game are you…” Kang started.

“Let’s spar,” Tom countered and interrupted the others boy’s speech with a punch.

A Quick Step took Kang back and out of the fight. He opened his mouth to continue the discussion, and that wasn’t something Tom could allow. A single point of mana through Spark caused Kang’s leg to spasm. The other boy had many positives, but he lacked a way to counter Tom’s electricity.

Outrage filled Kang’s eyes as he stumbled under the surprise attack. Tom took advantage to land a punch on the face.

“You cheating maggot.” Any semblance of control vanished as Kang launched himself into the fight.

Tom smiled as their earlier topic was forgotten. Danger Sense countered everything Kang tried. The difference in attributes was significant, but not enough to matter. He estimated there was a three-attribute gap in strength and two in agility between them. That compounded to give Kang a twenty percent physical advantage, but that did not bridge the information disadvantage.

The other boy threw a punch and overbalanced. Tom was able to step under him and then judo throw him to the ground.

Kang, who was breathing heavily didn’t jump up to restart the fight. Instead, gasping for air, he pinned Tom with an angry glare. “You didn’t have to sucker punch me at the start.”

“I did to.” He countered with mock annoyance. “I’m the one who gets injured in these mock fights.”

“You won.”

“But not cleanly. The gap between us is too high. I get pummelled but can react fast enough to stop you landing anything significant and then when you get tired you tap out before I can return the favour.”

“Well, take more risks and land more blows earlier.”

Tom considered that for a moment. “Nah, I’m happy to be defensive and ensure the win.”

Kang laughed at that. “Then stop complaining like a girl.” He flinched and checked the room, but the other two weren’t present.

“You seriously didn’t notice them leave?” He asked incredulously.

“I did. I just… shut up.”

Tom grinned. “What do you think they’re doing?”

Kang shrugged. “Hopefully training. Come on, let’s see.”

They found them in the padded room, playing tag with the single construct. It chased them while they used acrobatics and, in Eloise’s case her force step to stay ahead of it.

“They’ve been good,” Kang said quietly as he pushed Tom back and shut the door. “Let them play for a bit. 

Over the following two weeks, he made two more comments about his lack of spears this time making sure to do them while Kang wasn’t around. The girls unfortunately failed to get the hint and then with five full weeks having passed they couldn’t delay challenging the first floor any longer. Tom hadn’t achieved either of the upgrades he had been chasing, but Kang had gotten his shadow weapon ability working.  

For the first time, they approached the locked door and because of their clear intent the thick chains that had been restricting entry fell away.

There was no need to discuss anything further. Everyone knew the rules and together they entered.

No one was surprised to find themselves in a staging room with the entrance to the main trial still firmly shut. It was only once all four of them were present did the metal door behind them slam shut. After that condition was met, they were allowed to open the second door that led to the fighting floor proper. It was a restriction to ensure the entire team was present for the coming battles.

“This is no longer a game.” Kang warned them, sternly. “We’ll go for no more than two hours today. Even if the end is in view, we’re not completing it. After two hours we retreat and try again tomorrow. Do you all understand?”

“Yes boss,” Tom quipped.

“Come on, let’s go, already,” Eloise sniped. “We’ve discussed this plan lots.”

Briana remained silent.

“Good. Tom, lead away.”

With a flick of his mind, a spear appeared in his hand.

It was a shitty tier nothing version, but it was serviceable until he got something better. With the clues he had been placing for days, he figured ten or so broken spears and some more complaints would get the point across. He was determined to make the most of his new title. He was fully committed to obtaining a tier three spear, as it could make all the difference between survival and death in the upcoming fights.

His focus switched to the exit to the unknown, and any thoughts about social manipulation fled. This was life and death. He was going to be fighting something more than twice his rank. The very idea was chilling. The only reason success was even conceivable was because he was so physically weak that the majority of his combat prowess rested in his skills and spells. He was very aware that for the bulk of his life in Existentia and the tutorial what he was about to attempt was suicide, but all of his training with April prepared him for this moment.  

Carefully, he stepped across the threshold and found himself in a long dungeon like tunnel lined with irregularly cut bricks..

Instinctively, he checked above and behind him, but there were no immediate threats, so he switched his attention back to examining the environment they were going to be fighting in. It was the same as what you would find in an Earth computer game, but subtly not. While it was a corridor with tunnels that branched off at irregular intervals, the type of setup that would remind you of a prison.

It was also alien.

The dimensions were wrong. Doors and walkways rather than being rectangular were like a scaled up old-fashioned keyhole. The bottom thick rectangle was about his height and almost but not quite as wide, but that was dwarfed by the wider circular cross section. That cross section was over three metres wide. You could imagine that this was a passage made for something shaped in a similar way. A spherical torso on some number of legs and everything had been designed to cope with that aesthetic. 

For him, it was awkward. If he went on tiptoes, he could peer over the edge of the rectangular section, but there was a lot of empty space above them and to the sides. His pseudo Spark sensing domain could and did fill the volume, which reduced the risk of a surprise attack from above, but it was still unnerving.

“Do we need someone up here?” Kang asked even as he scrambled up to the higher level.

“No,” Tom told him. The lower level was three or four paces across, and they could both use their weapons mostly unimpeded. “Or at least not yet. It’ll depend on our opponent.”

“We’re at a disadvantage if they’re dropping from above.”

“Agreed. As I said it’ll depend on our opponent but for now get down here. We can’t afford to spread out that much.” The one thing Tom was certain of was that it would be too dangerous for them to be fighting on both levels. If they had to get out of the depression and fight on the curved surface, they would, but it was better for the first few encounters, at least, if their feet were on flat ground.

Hopefully, the trial was programmed to do the usual thing and ease them into the fight. If they were lucky, the first few encounters would be against singular or weaker enemies.

Kang shrugged and dropped down into his rear-guard spot.

Carefully, Tom proceeded forward.

Ten steps later and before they reached an offshoot corridor, the first enemy appeared. His Spark sensing domain had been extended to protect against stealth opponents, but it proved unnecessary. The monster was what could be best described as a hairless honey badger, and it came hurtling around the corner. It had pink folded skin and ran on all four legs with a feathered tail coming behind it and its head was at about Tom’s crotch area.

It spotted them instantly and hissed. Tom felt the time dilation kick in as its focus latched onto him. Thankfully, it was only a two times multiplier, which meant a monster on the slower side. That weakness in speed would be offset with strength elsewhere, but for their team this was the best case, result.

It charged him and when it reached a distance of six metres its nostrils dilated in a strange way which caused a sharp prick to his forehead. It was a mental attack, but his defences meant it was easy to ignore. Tom didn’t drop his level of wariness, but he had seen enough to know this was likely to be a straightforward, simple fight. If part of its power was locked into a mind attack, it wouldn’t have a surprise elsewhere. April had forced him to battle numerous similar monsters. He knew that while it was faster than him. It was far slower than the tip of his spear.

Instantly he rotated his weapon and positioned it to meet the charge, but there was no need as the creature tripped and slid on the ground, its momentum carrying it over the five metres separating them before it came to a halt within Tom’s strike range. It was a simple move to impale it, with Power Strike flaring to increase the piercing ability of his spear tip and to make sure of the attack.

In moments, it was over.

Briana started screaming in shock behind him, probably in response to the brutality of the encounter.

“Quiet,” Kang hissed. 

“No need to yell,” Eloise agreed. “That fight wasn’t that hard.”

“Tom made it seem easier than it was,” Kang warned her immediately. “I can’t imagine that it would have been that simple without Power Strike. Now silence both of you.”

With a spear through the brain, it was lobotomised and dying, but the body still lived and there was data they needed to collect. He quickly shocked it with lightning and then knelt and placed a hand on its disgusting chest area.

He activated Touch Heal.

Time slowed once more, but because of the spell he had cast instead of an enemy. Diagnostic information flooded into his mind. The Heal Brain component offered solutions to the damage, but it was not confident that even if the physical weapon was removed, that magic could save the creature’s life. Tom ignored the suggestions and instead focused on a deep dive into the monster’s anatomical makeup.

Kang, while he worked moved up beside him with the thoroughly admonished girls facing back the other way. While they were stationary, they were on guard and were there to provide early warning if any other monsters materialised behind them.

“And?” Kang asked impatiently when Tom stirred from next to the body.

“The head’s the only weakness. Biologically, they have triple hearts and have a hardened circulatory system. You open an artery up and a valve will automatically close to divert blood away from the injury. We’re not bleeding them to death easily.”

“Joints?”

“Their bones are tough to cut and they’re thick. They don’t have anything like our elbows, knees and ankles that can be targeted.”

“Their tail?”

“From a combat perspective, decorative.”

“Damn,” Kang kicked the ground. “There’s no physical weaknesses to exploit apart from the head and we all know how difficult something like that is to target in a melee. It’ll make it harder if we run into a continuous wave type scenario. How about your lightning?”

“Resistant, but they have the same physiology as us in that they use electricity pulses to control themselves so they’re susceptible to being stunned.”

“Is that what caused the stumble?”

Tom shook his head. “I’m pretty sure they have some sort of mind spike ability.”

“Shit.” Kang cursed quietly. “This won’t be easy. Harder than we were forecasting that’s for sure.”

“They’re rank four and slow for that rating. Of course, they’re going to have strengths to offset their weaknesses and if we’re being honest overall, the mind attack felt weak. I think it succumbed to the reflect because they must be innately vulnerable to psionic attacks.”

“I guess we’ll go extra carefully until we know better.” He lowered his voice. “If they do real mental damage, we’re screwed. You’re the only one with any sort of resistance.”

“There’s fate invested. At worse it’ll be at a level I’ll be able to heal through.”

“True. I suppose we’ll find out. Now, can you stand watch?”

Tom nodded and moved into a guard position in front of the downed body.

Kang approached the corpse and brought the axe down onto its torso in what delivered by a six-year-old was a savage attack. The weapon bounced away and barely left a scratch.

The other reincarnator appeared unbothered. “As expected.” He swung the weapon again, and this time it glowed blue a moment before impact and looped off the head effortlessly. Then he swung a second time and shadows covered the blade. It cut almost as effortlessly.

“Susceptible to shadow.” Kang muttered in surprise. “Providing the mind spike’s not an issue. I can beat these easily enough.”

AG. I have to get Fate Points published and I'll be aiming for the second week of November is soemthing like that. To do that I'm changing my workflow so that my time in the morning will be spent editing a single chapter of fate points. Each chapter takes a couple of hours to do.

This is the time I usually spent finishing chapters I failed to do the previous day. Long story short my chapter delivery will become more erratic.

Two or three months ago I dropped down to four chapters a week to get more time for fate points but it didn't work because I just made those four chapters longer so you guys ended up with the same number of words.

We'll have to see how it turns out.

Health wise news hasn't been good. Last week I had a migraine that persisted for five days during which I could do most family stuff which was great but meant I didn't touch the computer for that time. Then Sunday my cough got worse so I'm now on antibiotics and last night I got terrible sleep because of a stomach complaint.

Not a good period. I blame my confirmed germ factory of an eight year old for brining them in.