Chapter 180 - Boarding School

Shit! Mari instinctively fired a bolt of arcia energy towards Kyle faster than a bullet. But Kyle merely dodged it with a mere sidestep, the bolt travelling far ahead and dissipating on the metal walls of the entrance chamber beyond it, a long hallway.

“Impressive. You seemed to have learnt how to summon it at will now.” Kyle remarked, his Arcian eyes examining the flow of energy in her body.

Mari did not reply, cognizant that the well-dressed gentleman in front of her was the captor referred to by the now dead mercenary leader. She held both arms at the ready, channeling energy into the fists while backing off slowly. “Why did you capture me?”

“I did not capture you.”

“Seems like a prison here.” Mari motioned with her chin towards the broken handcuffs of the mercenary leader.

“Only for those who want to leave. Not many do.” Kyle smiled genially as he stepped into the chamber alone, Orisa standing behind him. “Recording systems online?”

“Confirmed.” Orisa nodded.

Re-cord-ing? Mari became even more suspicious, her body ready to lash out at a moment’s notice. She was done with being played around, and her first human kill had triggered a sense of desperation, willing to do anything to be free. “What do you want from me?”

“You are aware of your ability to control arcia energy freely – I simply want to see the limits of your abilities.”

“And if I want to leave?”

“You are always free to leave anytime you want. Assuming you can defeat me. I am your ‘captor’ after all.” Kyle spoke clearly, standing in the middle of the chamber, goading Mari into attacking him.

He’s not killing me outright – he obviously needs me for something. Mari examined her opponent carefully, noticing that he was only wearing a suit and nothing else, with no visible weapons apart from his fists, which were bare-knuckled as well.

“There will be time to play around longer in the future, but not today.” Kyle suddenly interrupted Mari’s train of thought, his body suddenly lunging towards Mari with a punch directed right at her face.

Mari ducked and rolled as the punch slammed into the already cracked chamber walls, causing the existing cracks to extend even further. The speed of the punch shocked her greatly, but she remained steadfast and recovered into a fighting stance, firing two arcia bolts towards Kyle.

Kyle weaved through the bolts, avoiding them as they flew past harmlessly, forming burn marks on the walls. “Lesson number two: never underestimate your opponent. Be prepared for anything.”

Annoyance crept into Mari’s face, her mouth twitching slightly at what she perceived as an obvious taunting, treating her as though she was a stupid kid. Despite her outward defiance, subconsciously she began to place Kyle at a higher threat than the mercenary leader, who had relied on backstabs to get the advantage of her. Who the fuck is this man?

She continued fire bolt after bolt while retreating, with Kyle easily sidestepping all of them as he slowly made his way over. “Lesson number three: insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Kyle held up three fingers in his hand, as though he was lecturing Mari.

Now Mari was seriously irritated, feeling like she was being played around with like a toy. The anger welled up inside her, intuitively causing more arcia energy to pool within her arms. The bolts came faster and faster as she picked up the pace, trying to overcome Kyle’s dodging speed.

Now! Mari suddenly launched four arcia bolts at the same instance, cutting off the escape route for Kyle to avoid the arcia bolt. “I got you!” She roared as she launched another four arcia bolts from her other arm, forming a barrage of eight.

Instead of trying desperately to avoid it, Kyle simply stood in place, with a sudden invisible forcefield blocking everything, the bolts deflecting off a bubble-like surface around Kyle. Mari’s eyes widened, but before she could react, Kyle was already in front of her face, his fist stopping a mere centimeter away from her nose.

She could see the rugged skin and old scars on his knuckles, heritage of the months he had spent punching other people. His skin too showed signs of hard work, something that was common amongst the older mine workers that she knew.

“Lesson number four: Nothing is over until you’re dead. As long as you are alive, you can always do something about anything.” Kyle held his fist in place. “Just like protecting your friends.”

The mention of her friends angered her even more, knowing that they had been captured or killed by the mercenary group. Gideon! Mari’s body swelled even more with energy, a layer of intense arcia energy that began to burn hot around her.

Even the floor that she stepped on began to sizzle and warp, prompting Kyle to retract his fist and back away as Mari took the advantage, bristling with fury. “I could not protect my friends, but I sure as hell can avenge them!” She bellowed as she raced towards Kyle, throwing amateur punches and kicks.

Kyle merely backpedalled, but he could still feel the heat searing his skin even from a distance. “Orisa, recording? Focus on her.”

“Sir, the arica energy is interfering with recognition on any electromagnetic spectrum, it will not be recognizable as anything other than noise.”

“Similar to plasma?”

“Cannot confirm.”

Kyle frowned even as he continued to avoid, keeping track of how long Mari could keep up this enhanced state. He recalled Ares could also conjure a skin-layer of arcia energy to form a defence against his attacks, leading Kyle to think about the possible next evolution of ‘This is My Turf’

He used his Arcian eyes to examine Mari’s layer for as much as he could, finding out new things about how to manipulate arcia energy. Each wielder seemed to have a different concept on how to control arcia energy and sticks to that. It’s like magic, but there’s no such thing as magic in the Galactic Era.

Kyle did not believe the physical rules of the world had changed just yet – arcite was just another exotic to him that had yet to reveal the full inner workings, similar to radioactive isotopes or rare earth elements that had magical features at certain temperatures. Or it could even be a brand new particle we just never seen before, that requires a very unique circumstance to create.

“HAH!” Mari continued trying to hit Kyle, but without any combat training on her part, it was nearly impossible for her to land a hit on Kyle. She soon realized she had only gotten lucky with the mercenary leader because he was weakened and underestimated her strength, while Kyle was on guard. The gap in strength became even more apparent, but Mari was determined to at least land a hit onto Kyle.

However, a sudden fainting spell came over her, the layer of arcia energy suddenly dissipating in a small spark while Mari fell to the floor, collapsing.

“Three minutes. Vitals?” Kyle spoke to Orisa.

“Still normal – signs of arcia exhaustion similar to when you first brought her here.”

“Good. Keep recording.”  Kyle retrieved a basic quality arcia crystal from his pocket, tossing it onto the floor next to Mari. The arcia energy in the crystal immediately depleted rapidly, surging into Mari’s body as she continued to breathe heavily in exhaustion, her chest heaving rapidly.

The influx of new arcia energy stabilized her condition, allowing her to remain conscious. She quickly tried to sit up, but the residuals of the fainting spell gave her a vertigo effect, the room around her spinning slightly.

As her eyes finally refocused, she noticed Kyle was simply standing there, not attacking her at all. “What did you even capture me for? Just to brag about how strong you are?!” She mustered up the strength to ask, completely confused as to the purpose of all of this.

But Kyle did not respond, instead nodding to Orisa, motioning for her to bring someone in. Mari was utterly confused now, but her question was soon answered when Gideon reappeared through the entrance, alive and well.

“GIDEON!” Mari nearly screamed out her throat as she struggled to get up, nearly tripping before Gideon ran over to hug her, himself on the verge of tears. They shared a moment of respite, Mari’s underlying despair lifted to happiness and joy, knowing Gideon did not die.

“But how? I saw you shot through the heart.” Mari asked Gideon.

“Kyle saved me! He saved all of us! The whole mine has been liberated!” Gideon pointed to Kyle, further twisting Mari’s impression of Kyle. But her smart brain immediately latched on to what was happening.

He’s keeping Gideon here as blackmail! Mari had already gathered that Kyle was using her to test abilities, specifically her way of controlling arcia energy. No doubt Gideon was here to ensure that he always had leverage over her.

“Gideon, why don’t you bring Mari on a tour of the place? Orisa will accompany you.” Kyle smiled.

“Yes of course! Mari, come! Everyone was waiting for you to recover!” Gideon excitedly patted Mari’s hand, tugging her away from the chamber. Mari obviously could not find it in her to refuse, letting herself be dragged along with Orisa following after them.

They walked through a long hallway before exiting the Oracle Chambers leading to a cliff that overlooked the ravine below, where a large city was slowly growing, filled with goblins and humans alike living and working together.

A gust of wind blew through her short black hair, a cooling feeling wrapping around her body while the crops of the terrace farming swayed in response to the air, hundreds of farmers scaling the hills and mountainsides in an idyllic landscape, the daylight streaming down through the trees.

Already from this height she could see small goblin kids laughing and playing in what seemed to be a series of artificial canals, splashing water at each other in the most carefree manner she could think about.

Despite the laidback scene in front of her, Mari couldn’t help but wonder why the kids were not working when it was already midday, accustomed to the long working hours of the mine. “Come on! There’s more.” Gideon urged, leading Mari down a carved-out sloped road that led down to the bottom of the ravine.

Mari could only describe it as a city in the forest, where the trees seemed to have integrated with the concrete buildings, plants and vines creeping up the walls in a manicured fashion to create a hybrid form. Some older goblin huts and tents still remained in the area, though they were also undergoing an upgrade, some tents expanding into wooden houses four stories high.

Smoke stacks loomed in the distance, the factories slightly separated from the main residential and commercial areas to reduce noise and pollution, making it a nearly heavenly place for Mari’s eyes, only slightly marred by the idea that Kyle, her captor, was the one most likely in charge of this place, or at least in a high position of control.

Gideon pointed out to her a few unique fruits at a market stall, along with roadside wooden carts selling cooked food for cheap, patronized by dozens of goblins of varying sizes. An evolved hobgoblin towered over her as it walked past, nearly frightening Mari, though Gideon was no longer scared.

“Gideon, who is Kyle? Did he do anything bad to you?” Mari asked as Gideon continued to lead her down the busy main road, where dazzling clothes, arctech equipment and wagons were being sold.

“Huh? He saved us, Mari! If he didn’t come to our aid, the entire mine would have been enslaved by the mercenaries!” Gideon explained.

“But isn’t he enslaving us here too? He’s keeping you guys here against your own wills! We should be free!” Mari pursued the topic further.

Gideon only grinned in response. “Wait till you see where we’re staying.”

Soon enough, they were led closer and closer to the cliff that they had originally climbed down from, with Mari noticing that there seemed to be yet another district with the cliff itself. High street shops, dazzling arctech lanterns and upscale food stalls serviced the various cave houses along the rim, with plenty of humans and goblins intermingling.

Gideon walked up to a seemingly inconspicuous entrance with a sign written in a goblin language that Mari could not read, the archway marble and the handles of the double door golden. Is this some noble’s palace? Mari couldn’t help wondering as the door swung open, two hobgoblins bowing to them.

Inside wasn’t the magnificent opulent hall that she had seen in paintings, but it was still spacious and cozy, something akin to an open inn. Mari was quickly greeted by a cacophony of shouts and scream, as all her friends rushed from their tables, crowing around her and barraging her with a series of questions.

Mari noticed the clothing of the kids were immaculate, fabric that might have costed her three month’s worth of mining. And she could swore some of her friends faces were already getting a bit fatter. She could hardly tell apart the questions that were coming in fast, as she was pulled and tugged in various directions, shown all across the place that they were staying at.

“It’s a live-in school! We don’t have to work here – just study, it’s so much easier!” One of her friends explained as she showed the dorms. It looked like it had been built rather recently, not perfect but not shabby either. The view in the rooms were spectacular, overlooking the bustling ravine city. The sight drew Mari in even more, unable to pull her eyes away.

Mari was just about to relax and enjoy the tour even more when a familiar man stood in the center of the main hall as she came back out of the dorms, putting her on guard yet again.

“Do you still feel like this is a prison?”